JP2012078428A - High pressure lamp lighting control method and image projection device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a high pressure lamp control method for suppressing scattering of fragments if the high pressure lamp is ruptured, and making waiting time for lamp re-lighting being equivalent to that in the related art if the high pressure lamp is not ruptured.SOLUTION: A high pressure lamp lighting control method comprises the following procedures of: a) storing cause of lights-out; b) reading out the cause of lights-out stored in the procedure a) in lighting a lamp; and c) lighting a lamp before rotating a cooling fan if the read-out cause is loss of a lamp, and rotating a cooling fan before lighting a lamp if the cause is other than loss of a lamp.

Description

The present invention relates to an image projection apparatus such as a projector that projects an image using light from a high-pressure lamp as a light source, and relates to a lighting control method for a lamp serving as a light source.

An image projection apparatus such as a projector that projects an image using a high-pressure lamp (hereinafter also simply referred to as a lamp) as a light source is a temperature sensor for preventing deterioration of the original performance due to a temperature increase during lighting of the lamp and during lighting. And a cooling fan are provided in the apparatus, the cooling fan is rotated based on temperature information from the temperature sensor, and the cooling air generated by this rotation is blown to a predetermined part to maintain a predetermined temperature. .

Further, if the temperature of the lamp is not lower than a predetermined temperature, the pressure inside the lamp bulb does not decrease, so that no discharge is performed and the lamp does not light up. For this reason, when it is desired to turn on the lamp immediately after the lamp is turned off, a waiting time of several minutes occurs until the lamp reaches a predetermined temperature. In order to shorten this waiting time, the cooling of the lamp is accelerated by blowing air from a cooling fan.
As described above, in the lamp lighting control, the lighting of the lamp and the rotation of the cooling fan are executed integrally.

In such a lamp lighting control method, a method of lighting a light source lamp after starting a cooling fan as described in Patent Document 1 and a rotation of a cooling fan after lighting a light source lamp as described in Patent Document 2 are performed. There is a method. Patent Document 3 discloses a technique for controlling the activation of a cooling fan before lighting based on the temperature of a light source lamp or the like.

JP2004-12778 JP 2006-32111 A JP-A-11-109504

In the lamp lighting control method described in Patent Document 1, the lamp is turned off due to an erroneous operation or the like, and the lamp is still in a high temperature state and is kept at a predetermined temperature even when it is desired to immediately turn on the lamp again. This is a useful method in that it is possible to shorten the time until the lamp is lit again by rotating the cooling fan as soon as possible in order to prevent the lamp from being lit again until the lamp is lowered.

However, the lamp is a consumable item, and there is a risk of bursting during lighting at the end of the lamp life. Therefore, in the lamp lighting control method according to the procedure described above, if the lamp is ruptured, the fragments of the lamp are scattered, and the broken pieces cause damage inside the image projection apparatus or are blown out by the cooling fan. There were safety disadvantages such as splattering and hurting the user due to the fragments, and damaging the equipment placed in the vicinity.

In order to deal with such a safety problem, a conventional method of covering the front of the lamp with a transparent protective material has been used. However, in order to cool the lamp, it is impossible to cover the entire lamp, and small debris comes out inside the apparatus through the gap of the cover, which is not a sufficient countermeasure.

In order to cope with such a problem, a lamp lighting control method for rotating the cooling fan after confirming the lamp lighting as described in Patent Document 2 can be considered.

However, in this lamp lighting control method, the cooling fan does not rotate unless the lamp is lit. Therefore, even if the lamp is turned off due to an erroneous operation or the like as described above, The lamp will not turn on until the temperature falls below a predetermined temperature. In addition, since the cooling fan does not rotate, the temperature of the lamp is left to natural cooling, so it does not immediately decrease to a predetermined temperature, and the waiting time cannot be shortened.

In addition, as described in Patent Document 3, a method of controlling the start of the cooling fan before lighting based on the lamp temperature or the like can be considered, but in this lamp lighting control method, the lamp is turned on before the cooling fan is started. When the lamp is ruptured because the state is unknown, the fragments scatter to the outside, and thus have the above-described safety disadvantages.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and determines the order of rotation of the cooling fan and lamp lighting based on the factor of lamp extinction, so that the lamp lighting control method has high safety and does not adversely affect usability. And an image projection apparatus that directly uses such a lamp lighting control method.

The lamp lighting control method according to the present invention includes the following procedure.
a) Procedure for saving the cause of lamp extinguishing b) Procedure for reading out the factor for extinguishing the lamp saved in step a) when the lamp is lit c) If the read factor is "Lamp unlit" In order, otherwise, operate the cooling fan in order, then turn on the lamp.

The image projection apparatus according to the present invention reads a storage means for storing the factor of lamp extinguishing, and the factor for extinguishing the lamp stored in the storage means. When the read factor is “lamp unlit”, the lamp is turned on, Control means for generating an operation command in the order of cooling fan rotation, otherwise in the order of cooling fan rotation and lamp lighting.

According to the present invention, since the cooling fan rotation and the lamp lighting operation are interchanged according to the lamp extinction factor stored when the lamp is lit, the light source lamp is maintained while maintaining the waiting time when the lamp is lit. A lamp lighting control method capable of preventing fragment scattering at the time of bursting can be provided. Further, it is possible to provide an image projection apparatus that can directly use such a lamp lighting control method.

It is a principal part block diagram which shows the part relevant to lamp lighting control with the image projector which becomes this invention. It is a schematic flowchart figure which shows the factor preservation | save procedure of lamp extinction. It is a schematic flowchart figure which shows the lamp lighting control procedure which becomes this invention. It is a flowchart figure which shows the lamp lighting process sequence in FIG. It is a flowchart figure which shows the cooling fan starting process sequence in FIG.

Next, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is an essential block diagram showing a part related to lamp lighting control in an image projection apparatus according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic flowchart showing a procedure for storing information about lamp extinction, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a lamp lighting processing procedure during the lamp lighting procedure of FIG. 3, and FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a cooling fan starting processing procedure during the lamp lighting control procedure of FIG. is there.

As shown in FIG. 1, the image projection apparatus 10 includes a main power source 1, a lamp power source 2, a high-pressure lamp 3, a control unit 4, a temperature sensor 5, a cooling fan 6, and a storage unit 7.
The main power source 1 receives a commercial power source (not shown), generates power sources used by the lamp power source 2 and the control unit 4, and supplies them to each. However, power supply to the lamp power supply 2 is controlled by a signal from the control unit 4 when the high-pressure lamp 3 is turned on.

The lamp power supply 2 receives power supplied from the main power supply 1, generates power to drive the high-pressure lamp 3, and supplies the power to the high-pressure lamp 3 in response to a lighting command from the control unit 4. The lamp power supply 2 monitors the current supplied to the high-pressure lamp 3, determines whether the high-pressure lamp 3 is turned on, and sends the result to the control unit 4. Further, the lamp power supply 2 cuts off the power to the high-pressure lamp 3 in response to a turn-off command from the control unit 4, monitors the supply current as described above, determines whether the high-pressure lamp 3 is turned off, and determines the result. 4 to send. Also, the lamp power supply 2 sends out the extinguishing of the high-pressure lamp 3 to the control unit 4 even when the extinguishing of the high-pressure lamp 3 is detected when there is no extinguishing command from the control unit 4.

The high-pressure lamp 3 is lit by receiving this driving power source and serves as a light source when an image is enlarged and projected by a known means.

A plurality of temperature sensors 5 are installed in the image projection apparatus 10 such as in the vicinity of the high-pressure lamp 3 to detect the temperature of each part and send it to the control unit 4. The control unit 4 controls the rotation of the cooling fan 6 by setting the number of rotations of the cooling fan based on the temperature information from the temperature sensor 5 in order to maintain the temperature of each part at a predetermined temperature. A plurality of cooling fans 6 are provided inside the image projection apparatus 10 to cool each part. Further, the rotation information at this time is sent to the control unit 4.

The control unit 4 controls the lamp power supply 2 and the cooling fan 6 described above and inputs the success or failure of the control as a result. Also, temperature information of each part is input from the temperature sensor 5.
When the high-pressure lamp 3 is turned off while the light is on, the cause of the light-off is stored in the storage unit 7 as information. Then, when the high pressure lamp 3 is turned on, this information is used to start the cooling fan 6 and then the high pressure lamp 3 is turned on, or the high pressure lamp 3 is turned on and then the cooling fan 6 is turned on. Decide whether to perform startup processing.
The storage unit 7 stores information such as the lighting time of the high-pressure lamp 3 as well as the cause of extinguishing the high-pressure lamp 3 according to the present invention. The storage unit 7 is preferably a non-volatile memory so that information is not lost even when the power is turned off.

Next, the cause of the extinction of the high-pressure lamp 3 and its storage will be described.
The high-pressure lamp 3 is turned off during the following cases.
1) This is a case where the high-pressure lamp 3 is turned off by a normal procedure such as a user's turning-off operation.
2) This is a case where power from the outside of the image projector 10 is cut off.
3) This is a case where the control unit 4 detects an abnormality and determines that it is necessary to turn off the high-pressure lamp 3 for safety. There are a plurality of abnormalities, for example, when temperature information from the temperature sensor 5 exceeds a predetermined temperature or when the rotation of the cooling fan is outside a predetermined range.
4) This is a case where the high-pressure lamp 3 is turned off in a situation that does not apply to these three cases (the turning-off of the high-pressure lamp 3 is also referred to as lamp loss).

In the case of 1) to 3), the high pressure lamp 3 is turned off by the control from the control unit 4, but in the case of 4), the control is not from the control unit 4 and the cause is unknown and the high pressure lamp 3 is Although it has been extinguished and cannot be specified, it may be extinguished because the high pressure lamp 3 has burst. In such cases 1) to 4), the control unit 4 encodes the cause of extinction of the high-pressure lamp 3 for each case and stores it in the storage unit 7.

Next, the procedure for storing the cause of extinguishing the high-pressure lamp 3 will be described with reference to FIG.
In the cases 1) to 3), the control unit 4 performs lamp extinction control. That is, the control unit 4 sends a lamp turn-off command to the lamp power supply 2 (step S201). The lamp power supply 2 cuts off power to the high-pressure lamp 3 to turn off the lamp, and sends success / failure to the control unit 4. Control unit 4 When it is confirmed that the lamp has been turned off in response to this result (YES in step S202), the cause of turning off is stored in the storage unit 7 (step S203).
The saving factor is coded. In the case of 1), a normal end code is stored, in the case of 2) a power-off code is stored, and in the case of 3), a code corresponding to each abnormality is stored.
If the lamp does not turn off (NO in step S202), a code corresponding to the inability to turn off is stored in the storage unit 7 (step S204), and then the power supplied to the lamp power supply is cut off (step S205).

In the case of 4), the control unit 4 has received a signal to turn off the high-pressure lamp 3 from the lamp power source 2 even though it has not output a turn-off command to the lamp power source 2. The high-pressure lamp 3 has already been turned off. Therefore, the light-off control is not performed. In this case, the control unit 4 stores an error lamp lamp code in the storage unit 7 and then performs an error process corresponding to the lamp error lamp.

Next, the lamp lighting control method according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.
When the user's lighting operation is input to the control unit 4, the control unit 4 reads the previous cause of extinguishing the high-pressure lamp 3 from the storage unit 7 (step S301).

[Procedure for lamp unlit]
If the cause of extinguishing the high-pressure lamp 3 is lamp loss (YES in step 302), there is a possibility that the lamp has exploded, and there is a possibility that fragments will scatter when the cooling fan is rotated. For this reason, before turning on the cooling fan, a lamp lighting process is performed to check whether the lamp can be turned on (step S303).

[Lamp lighting processing]
The lamp lighting process will be described with reference to FIG.

The control unit 4 outputs a lamp lighting command to the lamp power supply 2 (step S401). In response to this command, the lamp power source 2 generates a predetermined power source and supplies it to the high-pressure lamp 3 as described above. Then, the supply current to the high-pressure lamp 3 is monitored, and whether or not the high-pressure lamp 3 is turned on is determined based on whether or not this current has reached a predetermined value (step S402). If it is determined that the high pressure lamp 3 has been lit, the lamp lighting process is completed (YES in step S402).

On the other hand, if it is determined that the high-pressure lamp 3 is not lit, the high-pressure lamp 3 is turned on again (NO in step S402). The lighting process of the high-pressure lamp 3 is repeated after a predetermined time has elapsed by a predetermined number of failures (number of times the lamp lighting process has failed) (steps S403 and S404). If it is determined that the high-pressure lamp 3 has been lit within a predetermined number of failures, the lamp lighting process is completed (YES in step S403).

This is because the high pressure lamp 3 is not lit unless the temperature falls below a predetermined temperature, and therefore, the lighting command is repeated a predetermined number of times after a lapse of a predetermined time so that the high pressure lamp 3 does not have an abnormality such as a rupture. However, this is for distinguishing between the case where the lamp does not light and the case where there is actually an abnormality such as a rupture.

  By the way, when the cause of extinction of the high-pressure lamp 3 is a lamp burst, the lamp is naturally not lit, so the number of failures exceeds a predetermined number (NO in step S404). Then, since the process shifts to an error process (step S406), the lamp lighting process is not completed, so the process does not shift to the cooling fan activation process (step S304 in FIG. 3). Therefore, since the cooling fan 6 does not rotate, even if the high-pressure lamp 3 bursts and is damaged, it does not scatter.

[Procedure for cases other than lamp unlighted]
When the cause of extinguishing the high-pressure lamp 3 is other than lamp loss (NO in step S302 in FIG. 3), it can be determined that the lamp has not exploded. Therefore, the cooling fan start-up process is executed in order to execute the rotation of the cooling fan 6 as before (step S304 in FIG. 3).

[Cooling fan startup processing]
The cooling fan activation process will be described with reference to FIG.
The control unit 4 reads the temperature information from the temperature sensor 5 (step S501), sets the rotation speed of the cooling fan 6 so as to perform cooling suitable for the read temperature information (step S502), and the cooling fan 6 at this rotation speed. Is controlled to rotate. That is, when the temperature of the high-pressure lamp 3 is high, the rotational speed of the cooling fan 6 is increased, and when the temperature is low, the rotational speed of the cooling fan is decreased. The cooling fan 6 rotates by this control and sends the rotation speed to the control unit 4. Therefore, the control unit 4 compares this rotation speed with the set rotation speed and determines whether or not it is within the set rotation speed range. (Step S503).

If it is determined that it is within the range (YES in step S503), the process proceeds to the lighting process of the high-pressure lamp 3 while rotating the cooling fan 6 as it is (step S303 in FIG. 3).
On the other hand, when it is determined that it is out of range (NO in step S503), the process proceeds to error processing (step S504) and does not proceed to the lamp lighting process.

When the process proceeds to the lamp lighting process, the lamp lighting process described above is executed.
Accordingly, even when the high pressure lamp 3 is turned on immediately after it is turned off, the cooling fan 6 is rotated in accordance with the temperature even if the high pressure lamp 3 is not turned on by a single lighting process due to a high temperature above a predetermined temperature. Since the procedure of cooling the high-pressure lamp 3 with the cooling air accompanying the rotation by a number is the same as the conventional procedure, the waiting time required for relighting is the same as the conventional procedure.

  As described above, when the high-pressure lamp 3 is ruptured and fragments are present, the cooling fan 6 does not rotate and the fragments are not scattered. Further, if the high-pressure lamp 3 is not abnormal and the high-pressure lamp 3 is turned on by a single lighting process or a lighting process within a predetermined number of times of failure, the time until the high-pressure lamp 3 is turned on is the same as before. .

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Main power supply 2 Lamp power supply 3 High pressure lamp 4 Control part 5 Temperature sensor 6 Cooling fan 7 Memory | storage part

Claims (2)

The lamp lighting control method characterized by including the following procedures.
a) Procedure for saving the cause of lamp extinguishing b) Procedure for reading out the factor for extinguishing the lamp saved in step a) when the lamp is lit c) If the read factor is “Lamp unlit”, turn on the lamp and turn on the cooling fan In order, otherwise, operate the cooling fan in order, then turn on the lamp. An image projection apparatus for projecting an image using light from a high-pressure lamp as a light source,
The storage means for storing the lamp extinction factor and the lamp extinction factor stored in the storage means are read. If the read factor is “lamp unlit”, the lamp is turned on and the cooling fan is rotated in this order. In other cases, the image projection apparatus includes a control unit that generates an operation command in the order of cooling fan rotation and lamp lighting.

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