JP2012063613A - Head-mounted display device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve impact resistance without worsening wearing feeling, and protect an optical unit from a comparatively large impact.SOLUTION: In the head-mounted display device 1 including an optical unit 3 which has a first magnetic member and displays an image, and a frame 2 which is mounted on the head of a wearer, the frame 2 includes a mounting portion 4 having a second magnetic member which makes the first magnetic member generate a magnetic attractive force enough to support the optical unit 3. The head-mounted display device can reduce an impact received by the optical unit 3 by disconnecting connection between the optical unit 3 and the mounting portion 4 when the optical unit 3 receives the impact.

Description

  The present invention relates to a head-mounted display device.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a head mounted display (HMD), a device having a buffer material in a housing of an optical unit is known in order to prevent the optical axis in the optical unit from being displaced by an impact ( For example, see Patent Document 1.)

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-174988

  However, in the case of Patent Document 1, the outside of the housing is not protected, and when a relatively large impact is applied to the optical unit, it is difficult to sufficiently prevent the housing and the accompanying internal components from being damaged. . Although it is possible to improve the impact resistance by increasing the cushioning material, such a configuration is not suitable for an HMD that requires a reduction in size and weight in order to reduce the feeling of wearing.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and is a head-mounted display device capable of improving impact resistance and protecting an optical unit from a relatively large impact without increasing the wearing feeling. The purpose is to provide.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides the following means.
The present invention includes an optical unit that has a first magnetic member and displays an image, and a frame that is worn on a wearer's head, the frame being attached to the optical element with respect to the first magnetic member. Provided is a head-mounted display device including a mounting portion having a second magnetic member that generates a magnetic attractive force large enough to support a unit.

According to the present invention, the wearer can observe an image by attaching the optical unit to the attachment portion of the frame by a magnetic attractive force, attaching the frame to the head, and placing the optical unit in front of the eyes.
In this case, when a sufficiently large impact is applied to the magnetic attractive force acting between the first magnetic member and the second magnetic member in contact with an object or the like, the impact is applied to the optical unit. By disconnecting the connection between the optical unit and the mounting portion, the impact received by the optical unit is reduced. Thereby, with a simple configuration, the impact resistance can be improved without increasing the feeling of wearing, and the optical unit can be protected from a relatively large impact.

In the above invention, one of the first magnetic member and the second magnetic member includes a plurality of rod-shaped magnets arranged radially with the same magnetic pole as the center, and the first magnetic member The other of the second magnetic members may include a magnet having the other magnetic pole.
By doing so, the optical unit is attached by the magnetic attraction force so that the magnet included in the second magnetic member is arranged at the substantially central position of the radially arranged magnet included in the first magnetic member. Is positioned with respect to. Thereby, an optical unit can be easily attached to an appropriate position.

In the above invention, the optical unit includes a lens frame member to which an observation optical system for guiding an image input from the outside to the pupil of the wearer is fixed, and the first magnetic member is attached to the lens frame member. May be fixed.
By doing so, the optical unit is positioned with respect to the lens frame member. Therefore, even if the position of the lens frame member in the optical unit is shifted due to an impact or the like, it is displayed on the optical unit with respect to the wearer's pupil. The position of the video to be recorded can be kept constant.

Moreover, in the said invention, the said 1st magnetic member is provided in the said optical unit, The lens-frame member which consists of a magnetic body to which the observation optical system which guides the image | video input from the outside to the said wearer's pupil was fixed And the second magnetic member may be a magnet.
By doing in this way, a structure can be simplified using the lens-frame member with which the conventional optical unit is provided.

Moreover, in the said invention, it is preferable that the said lens-frame member consists of either iron, cobalt, nickel, or ferritic stainless steel.
By doing so, it is possible to stably support the optical unit by generating a sufficiently large magnetic attractive force between the lens frame member and the magnet.

In the invention described above, the frame may include a third magnetic member that generates a large magnetic attractive force capable of supporting the optical unit between the frame and the first magnetic member.
In this way, when the image is not observed, the optical unit can be held at a position retracted from the front of the eye by removing the optical unit from the attachment portion and attaching it to the third magnetic member.

Further, in the above invention, the optical device includes a pair of left and right optical units disposed in both eyes of the wearer, and a pair of left and right mounting portions to which the respective optical units are attached, the first magnetic member and the The second magnetic member may be a magnet having opposite magnetic poles on the left and right.
By doing so, a repulsive force is generated between one of the left and right optical units and the other left and right mounting portions, so that it is possible to prevent the right and left from being mistaken when mounting the optical unit to the mounting portion. Can do.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to improve the impact resistance without increasing the feeling of wearing, and to protect the optical unit from a relatively large impact.

1 is an overall configuration diagram of an HMD according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a top view which shows the structure of an optical unit and an attaching part. It is a figure which shows an example of the arrangement | sequence of the magnet provided in the optical unit. It is a figure which shows the magnet provided in the attaching part. It is a figure which shows the modification of the magnetic member provided in the optical unit and the attaching part. It is a figure which shows another modification of the magnetic member provided in the attaching part. It is a figure which shows another modification of the magnetic member provided in the optical unit.

Below, HMD1 which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention is demonstrated with reference to drawings.
As shown in FIG. 1, the HMD 1 according to the present embodiment includes a frame 2 (mounting unit) that is mounted on the user's head and a pair of left and right optical units 3 that are arranged in front of the user's eyes and display an image. And an attachment portion 4 for attaching the optical unit 3 to the frame 2.

  The frame 2 includes an annular frame main body 2a formed so as to surround the temporal region from the user's frontal head, and a state in which the frame main body 2a is mounted on the head at a substantially center of the frame main body 2a. And a shaft 2b extending substantially along the center line of the wearer's face. A pad 2c made of an elastic member is provided at a position corresponding to the front head so that the frame main body 2a can be stably mounted in accordance with the shape of the user's head.

The frame main body 2a has a magnetic member 5 (third magnetic member 5) at a position arranged above the eyes of the wearer. The magnetic member 5 may be a magnetic material such as metal or a magnet. When a magnet is used as the magnetic member 5, a magnet having a magnetic pole directed to the center of the magnet provided in the optical unit 3 described later is used.
A guide rail 6 is attached to the shaft 2b so as to be able to swing in the circumferential direction so as to intersect substantially vertically.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the optical unit 3 includes a display element 7 that displays an image input from an external device, a circuit board 8 on which a circuit that controls the operation of the display element 7 is formed, and a display element 7. An observation optical system comprising a prism 9 for guiding the image displayed in the direction of the wearer's pupil. The display element 7, the circuit board 8, and the prism 9 are fixed to a lens frame (lens frame member) 10, and their relative positions are held constant. The observation optical system and the lens frame 10 are housed in a housing 11.

  As shown in FIG. 3, a plurality of (four in the illustrated example) rod-shaped magnets (first magnetic members) are provided on the surface of the lens frame 10 that is disposed on the back side with respect to the wearer's pupil. 12 is provided. These magnets 12 are arranged radially with the same magnetic pole as the center. Further, in the left and right optical units 3, the magnetic poles directed toward the center are opposite. Hereinafter, in order to simplify the description, in the optical unit 3 arranged on the left side of the wearer, it is assumed that the magnet 12 is arranged with the S pole as the center.

  The attachment portion 4 is provided on the guide rail 6 so as to be movable in the longitudinal direction on both sides of the shaft 2b. As shown in FIG. 4, the attachment portion 4 has a magnet (second magnetic member) 13 on one surface. Here, the magnet 13 has a magnetic pole opposite to the magnetic pole directed toward the center of the magnet 12 provided in the corresponding optical unit 3 of the left and right sides. In other words, in the present embodiment, the N pole magnet 13 is provided on the mounting portion 4 disposed on the left side of the wearer.

  By doing in this way, the magnet 13 provided in the left attachment portion 4 is brought to a substantially central position of these magnets 12 by the magnetic attractive force acting between the magnet 12 provided in the left optical unit 3. Be attracted. Thereby, the left optical unit 3 can be positioned and attached to the left attachment portion 4 such that the lens frame 10 is disposed at a predetermined position with respect to the attachment portion 4. Similarly, the right optical unit 3 can be positioned at a predetermined position and attached to the right attachment portion 4. At this time, the lens frame 10 is made of a non-magnetic material or a sufficiently weak magnetic material so that the magnetism of the lens frame 10 does not affect the magnetic attractive force between the magnets 12 and 13.

  Here, the magnitude of the magnetic attractive force between the magnet 12 on the optical unit 3 side and the magnet 13 on the mounting portion 4 side is sufficiently larger than the weight of each optical unit 3, and the wearer must manually hold the optical unit 3. Is a size that can be removed from the mounting portion 4 relatively easily. Specifically, the magnitude of the magnetic attractive force between the magnet 12 on the optical unit 3 side and the magnet 13 on the mounting portion 4 side is preferably about 5 to 15 kg. By doing so, when the optical unit 3 is stably held at the position of the mounting portion 4 and the frame 2 or the optical unit 3 is in contact with an object and receives an impact, other parts such as the housing 11 are provided. The connection between the mounting unit 4 and the optical unit 3 which are connected at a lower strength than that of the optical unit 3 is disconnected.

Next, the operation of the HMD 1 configured as described above will be described.
In order to observe an image with the HMD 1 according to the present embodiment, the frame 2 is attached to the head, and the image is input to the optical unit 3 from an external device. The wearer slides each optical unit 3 in the horizontal direction along the guide rail 6 so that the image is arranged in front of his / her pupil, and the guide rail so that the image can be observed at an appropriate viewing angle. The optical unit 3 is swung up and down about 6 as a central axis. Thereby, the image | video image | photographed with the external device can be observed in front of eyes in an appropriate state.

  When the wearer does not need to observe an image, the wearer removes the optical unit 3 from the mounting portion 4 and attaches the optical unit 3 to the magnetic member 5 of the frame 2 disposed above the eyes by a magnetic attraction force. The unit 3 can be retracted from the front of the eye to a position that does not enter the field of view.

  When a relatively large impact is applied to the HMD 1 by the operator dropping the HMD 1 or hitting an object due to carelessness or the like, the attachment unit 4 and the optical unit 3 that are connected by a relatively weak magnetic attraction force. The space is cut and the optical unit 3 is detached from the frame 2. The user can use the HMD 1 again by attaching the detached optical unit 3 to the attachment portion 4.

  At this time, the wearer can attach each optical unit 3 to a predetermined position of the attachment portion 4 by being guided by the magnetic attractive force acting between the magnets 12 on the attachment portion 4 side. Here, when the wearer mistakenly tries to attach the left optical unit 3 to the right attachment portion 4, the magnetic poles of the magnets 12 and 13 are reversed between the left and right optical units 3 and the attachment portion 4. Can not be attached by repulsion.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, when the HMD 1 receives a relatively large impact, the optical unit 3 is detached from the frame 2 by the impact, so that a part of the energy of the impact is optical. It is consumed in the cutting of the magnetic attractive force between the unit 3 and the mounting portion 4, and the impact applied to the optical unit 3 is reduced. Accordingly, there is an advantage that the optical unit 3 can be protected from a relatively large impact while having a simple configuration that does not increase the wearing feeling. In addition, even if the optical unit 3 is detached from the frame 2, there is an advantage that the wearer does not mistake the right and left sides and that the optical unit 3 can be easily attached to an appropriate position with respect to the attachment portion 4.

  Furthermore, since the magnet 12 on the optical unit 3 side is fixed to the lens frame 10 instead of the housing 11, the optical unit 3 can be attached even if the position of the lens frame 10 is shifted in the housing 11 due to an impact. When attached to the part 4 again, the relative position between the observation optical system and the attachment part 4 is kept the same as before the optical unit 3 was detached from the attachment part 4. Therefore, the wearer can start observing an image in an appropriate state adjusted at first by simply attaching the optical unit 3 to the attachment portion 4.

  In the present embodiment, the plurality of magnets 12 are provided radially on the optical unit 3 and the one magnet 13 is provided on the mounting portion 4. However, the configuration of the magnetic member provided on the optical unit 3 and the mounting portion 4 is described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and it is only necessary that the mounting portion 4 is configured to support the optical unit 3 with a magnetic attractive force.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 5, the lens frame 10 may be made of a magnetic material without providing a magnet in the lens frame 10. By doing in this way, the structure of the optical unit 3 can be simplified further and weight reduction can be achieved. As a magnetic material used at this time, for example, a ferromagnetic material such as iron, cobalt, nickel, or ferritic stainless steel is used so that a sufficiently large magnetic attractive force is generated between the magnet 13 on the attachment portion 4 side. preferable.

  Alternatively, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, magnetic members 14 and 15 that attract each other may be arranged at positions where the lens frame 10 and the attachment portion 4 coincide with each other. For example, the lens frame 10 and the attachment part 4 may be provided with magnets having different magnetic poles, or a magnet is provided on one of the lens frame 10 and the attachment part 4 and the other of the lens frame 10 and the attachment part 4 is magnetized. You may provide the metal piece which has. Even in this case, the optical unit 3 can be positioned and attached to the attachment portion 4 at a predetermined position.

  In the present embodiment, the lens frame 10 and the attachment portion 4 are connected to each other by the magnetic attraction force with the case 11 interposed therebetween. Instead, the lens frame 10 is attached to the case 11. The lens frame 10 and the attachment part 4 may be directly connected by being exposed from a part. In this case, an uneven shape to be fitted may be provided at a position where the lens frame 10 and the attachment portion 4 are adjacent to each other. By doing in this way, when the optical unit 3 is attached to the attachment part 4, the positioning precision with respect to the attachment part 4 of the lens frame 10 can further be improved by fitting of uneven | corrugated shape.

  Moreover, although this embodiment demonstrated what provided the left-right paired optical unit 3 arrange | positioned in front of a user's both eyes as HMD1, this invention is not limited to this structure. For example, as the HMD 1, one provided with one optical unit arranged only in front of one eye may be used.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Head-mounted display apparatus 2 Frame 2a Frame main body 2b Shaft 2c Pad 3 Optical unit 4 Attaching part 5 Magnetic member (3rd magnetic member)
6 Guide rail 7 Display element (observation optical system)
8 Circuit board (observation optical system)
9 Prism (observation optical system)
10 Mirror frame (mirror frame member)
11 Housing 12 Magnet (first magnetic member)
13 Magnet (second magnetic member)
14 Magnetic member (first magnetic member)
15 Magnetic member (second magnetic member)

Claims (7)

An optical unit having a first magnetic member and displaying an image;
A frame to be worn on the wearer's head,
A head-mounted display device, wherein the frame includes a mounting portion having a second magnetic member that generates a magnetic attractive force large enough to support the optical unit with respect to the first magnetic member. One of the first magnetic member and the second magnetic member includes a plurality of rod-shaped magnets arranged radially with the same magnetic pole as the center,
The head-mounted display device according to claim 1, wherein the other of the first magnetic member and the second magnetic member includes a magnet of the other magnetic pole.   The optical unit includes a lens frame member to which an observation optical system that guides an image input from the outside to the pupil of the wearer is fixed, and the first magnetic member is fixed to the lens frame member. 2. A head-mounted display device according to 2. The first magnetic member is provided in the optical unit, and is a lens frame member made of a magnetic body to which an observation optical system for guiding an image input from the outside to the wearer's pupil is fixed,
The head-mounted display device according to claim 1, wherein the second magnetic member is a magnet.   The head-mounted display device according to claim 4, wherein the lens frame member is made of iron, cobalt, nickel, or ferritic stainless steel.   The head-mounted display device according to claim 1, wherein the frame includes a third magnetic member that generates a large magnetic attractive force capable of supporting the optical unit between the frame and the first magnetic member. A pair of left and right optical units disposed in both eyes of the wearer;
A pair of left and right mounting parts to which each optical unit is mounted;
The head-mounted display device according to claim 1, wherein the first magnetic member and the second magnetic member are magnets having magnetic poles opposite to each other on the left and right.

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