JP2013167670A - Reflection type imaging element, manufacturing method of reflection type imaging element, and optical system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a reflection type imaging element that can be manufactured with a simple method, and has a small area that does not contribute to imaging.SOLUTION: A reflection type imaging element 100A according to the present invention includes a first reflection type element 10a, and a second reflection type element 10b arranged on the first reflection type element 10a. The first reflection type element 10a includes a plurality of first unit reflection type elements 11a to 11c, and the second reflection type element 10b includes a plurality of second unit reflection type elements 11d to 11f. The plurality of first and second unit reflection type elements 11a to 11f include at least one of a triangle unit reflection type element and a parallelogram-shape unit reflection type element.

Description

  The present invention relates to a reflective imaging element capable of forming an image of a projection object in a space, a method for manufacturing the reflective imaging element, and an optical system having the reflective imaging element.

  Recently, an optical system that forms an image of a projection object in a space using a reflective imaging element has been proposed (for example, Patent Documents 1 to 3). The optical system has a reflective imaging element and a projection, and an image displayed in space (hereinafter referred to as “aerial image”) is in a plane-symmetric position with the reflective imaging element as a symmetry plane. The image of the projection object is formed. This optical system uses specular reflection of a reflective imaging element, and in principle, the ratio of the size of the image of the projection object and the image projected in space is 1: 1.

  The reflective imaging element includes an optical element (also referred to as a “unit imaging element”) that includes a hole penetrating in the thickness direction of a flat substrate and is composed of two mirror elements perpendicular to the inner wall of each hole. .) (For example, see FIG. 4 of Patent Document 1), or two mirror surfaces orthogonal to the inner wall surface of each cylindrical body, including a plurality of transparent cylindrical bodies protruding in the thickness direction of the substrate An apparatus having an optical element composed of elements is disclosed (for example, see FIG. 7 of Patent Document 1).

  In the reflective imaging elements disclosed in Patent Documents 1 and 2, tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of square holes each having a side of about 50 μm to 200 μm are formed on a substrate having a thickness of 50 μm to 200 μm. The inner surface of each hole is mirror-coated by electroforming, nanoprinting or sputtering. In particular, Patent Document 2 discloses a reflective imaging element capable of observing an aerial image from various directions by a large number of people.

  For reference, the entire disclosure of Patent Documents 1 to 3 is incorporated herein by reference.

  On the other hand, the size of the aerial image obtained when the projection object is imaged in space using the above-described reflective imaging element is the same as the size of the projection object. Therefore, when a large aerial image is desired, the object to be projected must be enlarged, and the reflective imaging element must be enlarged.

  Patent Document 4 discloses a manufacturing method capable of manufacturing a small reflective imaging element (sometimes referred to as “reflective element”) simply and efficiently with high accuracy. In Patent Document 4, a reflective element is manufactured by stacking two mirror sheets (sometimes referred to as a unit reflective element).

JP 2008-158114 A International Publication No. 2008/111426 International Publication No. 2009/136578 JP 2011-81300 A

  FIG. 5A is a schematic diagram of an optical system having a large reflective imaging element 900 formed by arranging a plurality of unit reflective elements 90 and a display panel 70 disclosed in Patent Document 4. FIG. 5B is a schematic plan view of the unit reflection type element 90. FIG. A region surrounded by a broken line 90 </ b> Z in FIG. 5A is a region that mainly receives light from the projection object (for example, a liquid crystal display panel) 70.

As shown in FIG. 5A, in an optical system having a reflective imaging element 900, a display panel 70 such as a liquid crystal display panel is often used as an object to be projected. The display panel 70 is generally rectangular. In an optical system using the display panel 70 and the reflective imaging element 900, when the clockwise direction is the positive direction and the counterclockwise direction is the negative direction, the reflective type is used. Due to the optical characteristics of the imaging element 900, the angles formed by the line perpendicular to the long side of the display panel 70 and the two specular elements 14 of the reflective imaging element 900 are 45 ° and −45 °, respectively. If the reflective imaging element 900 is not disposed above the display panel 70 (arranged as shown in FIG. 5), a desired aerial image 80 cannot be obtained.

  When the image of the rectangular display panel 70 is imaged in the air using the reflective imaging element 900, the reflective imaging element 900 is surrounded by a useless area that does not contribute to imaging (line 90Z in FIG. 5). An area other than the area) occurs. As shown in FIG. 5B, the extending direction (longitudinal direction) of the plurality of mirror elements 14 included in the unit imaging element 90 (the direction parallel to the direction T1 in FIG. 5B) is the front surface. This is because it is parallel to the side 90a or 90b that defines the outer edge of the reflective imaging element 900 when viewed, and therefore must be arranged as shown in FIG. On the other hand, if a useless area that does not contribute to the imaging of the reflective imaging element 900 is cut, the manufacturing cost increases.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and a main object thereof is to provide a reflective imaging element that can be manufactured by a simple method and has a small area that does not contribute to imaging.

  A reflective imaging element according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a first reflective element and a second reflective element disposed on the first reflective element, and the first reflective element includes a plurality of reflective elements. A first unit reflection type element, the second reflection type element has a plurality of second unit reflection type elements, and the plurality of first and second unit reflection type elements are triangular unit reflection type elements and It has at least one of the parallelogram unit reflection type elements.

  In one embodiment, each of the plurality of first and second unit reflective elements is a triangle or a parallelogram.

  In one embodiment, each of the plurality of first unit reflective elements includes a plurality of first mirror elements and a plurality of first light-transmitting elements, and each of the plurality of first light-transmitting elements is the The plurality of first specular elements are provided between two adjacent first specular elements, and the plurality of first specular elements and the plurality of first light-transmitting elements extend in a first direction. Each of the plurality of second unit reflective elements has a plurality of second mirror elements and a plurality of second light transmissive elements, and each of the plurality of second light transmissive elements includes the plurality of second light transmissive elements. The second mirror surface element is provided between two adjacent second mirror surface elements, and the plurality of second mirror surface elements and the plurality of second light transmissive elements are second orthogonal to the first direction. It extends in the direction of.

  An optical system according to an embodiment of the present invention includes the above reflective imaging element and a display panel disposed on the light incident side of the reflective imaging element, and is displayed on the display surface of the display panel. An image is formed at a plane-symmetric position with the reflective imaging element as a symmetry plane.

  The method of manufacturing a reflective imaging element according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a step (A) of preparing a plurality of transparent substrates each having a mirror surface element formed on each surface, and the plurality of the plurality of mirror surface elements formed on the surface. (B) forming a laminated structure by superimposing transparent substrates on each other, and cutting the laminated structure to form a triangular unit reflective element and a parallelogram unit reflective element; A step (C) of forming a reflective element by combining the unit reflective element and the parallelogram unit reflective element.

  According to the present invention, a reflective imaging element that can be manufactured by a simple method and has a small area that does not contribute to imaging is provided.

(A) is a typical perspective view of reflective type imaging element 100A in an embodiment by the present invention, (b) is a schematic perspective view of reflective type element 10a, and (c) is reflective. It is a typical perspective view of the type | mold element 10b, (d) is a typical disassembled perspective view of the reflection type elements 10a and 10b, (e) demonstrates the mirror surface element 14 and the translucent element 15. FIG. It is a typical perspective view. (A) is a schematic exploded perspective view of the reflective elements 10a and 10b, and (b) is a schematic perspective view of a reflective imaging element 100B according to another embodiment of the present invention. (A)-(c) is a typical perspective view explaining the manufacturing method of the unit reflection type element 58, (d)-(f) is typical which explains the manufacturing method of the unit reflection type element 68. FIG. FIG. (A) is a typical perspective view explaining the optical system 1000 in embodiment by this invention, (b) is a typical top view of the optical system 1000. FIG. (A) is a schematic plan view of an optical system having a square reflective imaging element 900, and (b) is a schematic plan view of a unit reflective element 90 included in the reflective imaging element 900. It is.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings, but the present invention is not limited to the illustrated embodiments.

  With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, a reflective imaging element 100A according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 1A is a schematic perspective view of the reflective imaging element 100A, FIG. 1B is a schematic perspective view of the first reflective element 10a, and FIG. FIG. 1D is a schematic perspective view of the second reflective element 10b, and FIG. 1D is a schematic exploded perspective view of the first and second reflective elements 10a and 10b. FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B are schematic perspective views for explaining the super large reflective imaging element 100B.

  As shown in FIGS. 1A to 1D, the reflective imaging element 100A includes a first reflective element 10a and a second reflective element 10b disposed on the first reflective element 10a. Have The first reflective element 10a has a plurality of unit reflective elements 11a to 11c, and the second reflective element 10b has unit reflective elements 11d to 11f.

  Each of the plurality of unit reflection elements 11 a to 11 c includes a plurality of mirror surface elements 14 and a plurality of light transmitting elements 15. Each of the plurality of light transmitting elements 15 is provided between two adjacent mirror surface elements 14 of the plurality of mirror surface elements 14. The plurality of specular elements 14 and the plurality of translucent elements 15 are extended in the first direction L1. Note that the first direction L1 is not parallel to any of the sides Z1 and Z2 that define the outer edge of the reflective imaging element 100A in a front view.

  Each of the plurality of unit reflection elements 11d to 11f includes a plurality of mirror surface elements 14 and a plurality of light transmitting elements. Each of the plurality of light transmitting elements 15 is provided between two adjacent mirror surface elements 14 of the plurality of mirror surface elements 14. The plurality of mirror surface elements 14 and the plurality of light transmissive elements 15 extend in a second direction L2 orthogonal to the first direction L1. Note that the second direction L2 is not parallel to any of the sides Z1 and Z2 that define the outer edge of the reflective imaging element 100A in a front view.

  The plurality of unit reflection type elements 11a to 11f include at least one of a triangular unit reflection type element and a parallelogram unit reflection type element. Each of the plurality of unit reflection elements 11a to 11f is preferably a triangle or a parallelogram. Here, the parallelogram is a parallelogram excluding a rectangle such as a square or a rectangle that has the same four interior angles. For example, as shown in FIG. 1D, each of the first and second reflective elements 10a and 10b includes two triangular unit reflective elements 11a, 11c, 11d, and 11f and one parallelogram. The unit reflection type elements 11b and 11e are combined to form a rectangle (sometimes referred to as “tiling”). The reflective imaging element 100A shown in FIG. 1A is manufactured by arranging the second reflective element 10b on the first reflective element 10a so as to have the above-described relationship.

  Next, the mirror surface element 14 and the translucent element 15 will be described with reference to FIG.

  As shown in FIG.1 (e), each of the some translucent element 15 has a rectangular parallelepiped shape, for example, is formed from the glass material, for example. A specular element 14 is formed on one surface of each of the plurality of translucent elements 15. The mirror surface element 14 is made of, for example, Al (aluminum). As shown in FIG. 1B, in the reflective elements 10a and 10b, the specular elements 14 and the translucent elements 15 are alternately arranged in stripes.

  Each translucent element 15 has a width a, a thickness b, and a length X. The width a is, for example, not less than 50 μm and not more than 1000 μm. The aerial image becomes higher definition as the width a becomes smaller. The thickness b is, for example, 100 μm or more and 10,000 μm or less. It is preferable to set the thickness b so as to influence the light quantity ratio described later and to obtain a high light quantity ratio. The width a and the thickness b satisfy the relationship b> a. The length X may be appropriately determined depending on the purpose of use. In the reflective imaging element 100A, the width a is 100 μm, and the refractive index n of all the light transmitting elements 15 is 1.5, for example. The thickness b is, for example, 300 μm. The thickness b is also the thickness of each of the reflective elements 10a and 10b, whereby the thickness of the reflective element 100A is 2b.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 2A, if two or more triangular unit reflection type elements 11a, 11c, 11d and 11f and two or more parallelogram unit reflection type elements 11b and 11e are used, FIG. An ultra-large (for example, 60 inches) reflective imaging element 100B shown in (b) can also be formed.

  Furthermore, in addition to the triangular unit reflection type elements 11a, 11c, 11d and 11f, and the parallelogram unit reflection type elements 11b and 11e, a square or rectangular unit reflection type element or other unit reflection type elements are provided. In combination, a large reflective imaging element 100A or 100B may be formed.

  As described above, when the shape of the unit reflection type elements 11a to 11f is a triangle or a parallelogram, the rectangular reflection type imaging element 100A can be manufactured, and a region not contributing to imaging can be reduced.

  Next, a method of manufacturing the triangular or parallelogram unit reflection type elements 58 and 68 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3A to FIG. 3F are schematic perspective views for explaining a manufacturing method of the unit reflection type elements 58 and 68.

  First, a metal thin film (for example, Al (aluminum)) is formed on a translucent substrate (for example, a glass substrate) 26 by a sputtering method or the like. The mirror surface element 14 described above is formed by the metal thin film, and the light transmitting element 15 described above is formed by the light transmitting substrate 26.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 3A, the metal thin film is sandwiched between the substrates 26 (which may be referred to as “metal thin film substrates”) 26 without the metal thin films facing each other. As described above, a plurality of metal thin film substrates 26 are stacked to form a laminated structure 56.

  Next, using a wire saw or the like, the laminated structure 56 is cut along the broken line Z1 shown in FIG. 3A to form a triangular structure 57 shown in FIG. Further, the two triangular structures 57 are bonded together along the broken line Z2 shown in FIG. 3D to form the parallelogram structure 67. When bonding the two triangular structures 57, it is preferable to use a transparent adhesive (for example, an acrylic adhesive).

  Again, it returns to FIG.3 (b).

  Next, the triangular structure 57 is cut along the broken lines Z3 and Z4 shown in FIG. The cutting along the broken line Z4 determines the thickness of the unit reflection type element. By this cutting, a triangular unit reflection type element 58 shown in FIG. 3C is formed.

  On the other hand, the parallelogram structure 67 is cut along the broken line Z5 shown in FIG. The cutting along the broken line Z5 determines the thickness of the unit reflection type element. By this cutting, a parallelogram unit reflection type element 68 shown in FIG. 3F is formed.

  Next, an optical system 1000 using the reflective imaging element 100A or 100B will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4A is a schematic perspective view of the optical system 1000, and FIG. 4B is a schematic plan view of the optical system 1000. 4A and 4B show an aerial image 80 that is formed, and FIG. 4A shows an observer E.

  The optical system 1000 shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B includes a reflective imaging element 100A (or 100B) and a display panel arranged on the light incident side of the reflective imaging element 100A (or 100B). 70 and forms an image displayed on the display surface of the display panel 70 at a plane-symmetrical position with the reflective imaging element 100A (or 100B) as a symmetry plane. The size of the reflective imaging element 100A (or 100B) can be determined corresponding to the size of the display panel 70.

  Since the reflective imaging elements 100A and 100B are formed by tiling triangular or parallelogram unit reflective elements 11a to 11f, the reflective imaging elements 100A and 100B can have the same rectangular shape as the display panel 70. Therefore, unlike the square reflective imaging element 900 shown in FIG. 5A, it is not necessary to cut a region that does not contribute to display, and the manufacturing cost can be reduced.

  As described above, the reflective imaging elements 100A and 100B are reflective imaging elements that can be manufactured by a simple method and have a small area that does not contribute to imaging.

  The present invention can be widely applied to an optical system having a reflective imaging element capable of forming an image of a projection object in space and a display panel.

11a, 11b, 11c, 11d, 11e, 11f Unit reflective element 15 Translucent element 14 Specular element 10a, 10b Reflective element 100A Reflective imaging element L1, L2 Direction a Length b Thickness X Width

Claims (5)

A first reflective element and a second reflective element disposed on the first reflective element;
The first reflective element has a plurality of first unit reflective elements, the second reflective element has a plurality of second unit reflective elements,
The plurality of first and second unit reflective elements include a reflective imaging element having at least one of a triangular unit reflective element and a parallelogram unit reflective element.   2. The reflective imaging element according to claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of first and second unit reflective elements is a triangle or a parallelogram. Each of the plurality of first unit reflection type elements includes a plurality of first mirror surface elements and a plurality of first light transmission elements, and each of the plurality of first light transmission elements is the plurality of first mirror surfaces. Provided between two adjacent first specular elements of the elements, wherein the plurality of first specular elements and the plurality of first light-transmitting elements extend in a first direction;
Each of the plurality of second unit reflective elements has a plurality of second mirror elements and a plurality of second light-transmitting elements, and each of the plurality of second light-transmitting elements is the plurality of second mirror surfaces. Provided between two adjacent second specular elements of the elements, wherein the plurality of second specular elements and the plurality of second light transmissive elements are in a second direction orthogonal to the first direction. The reflective imaging element according to claim 1, wherein the reflective imaging element is extended. A reflective imaging element according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
A display panel disposed on the light incident side of the reflective imaging element;
An optical system for imaging an image displayed on a display surface of the display panel at a plane-symmetrical position with the reflective imaging element as a symmetry plane. A step (A) of preparing a plurality of transparent substrates each having a mirror element formed on each surface;
A step (B) of forming a laminated structure by superimposing the plurality of transparent substrates on which the mirror surface elements are formed;
The laminated structure is cut to form a triangular unit reflective element and a parallelogram unit reflective element, and then the triangular unit reflective element and the parallelogram unit reflective element are combined for reflection. A process for producing a reflective imaging element, comprising the step (C) of forming a mold element.

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