JPH01189607A - Production of fiber bundle and photoconduction type display device using said bundle - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve productivity of fiber bundles and to obtain a photo conduction type display device which is uniform and has a high display grade by providing spacer materials to the circumference of at least a part of fibers and fixing the end faces of the fiber bundles by utilizing the volumetric change of the spacer materials. CONSTITUTION:The spacer materials are not required to be installed over the entire parts of the fibers 201. The spacers are installed around the end faces at one end of the arrayed fibers 201 and the end faces 202 are fixed by utilizing the contraction or expansion state of the spacer materials. The point to constitute another end face is heated from the outside by, for example, electrodes 203 for induction heating and is pressurized from the circumference under heating, by which said point is gradually contracted. The contracted end face is fixed and a fixed point 204 is cut at a cutting line 205. The optical fiber bundles which optically couple from an image forming means to a display surface are thereby provided with high productivity.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Industrial application field] The present invention relates to a light guiding type display device.

[Prior art] Conventional light guide type display devices include U, S, P, 4650280
The display screen was constructed by simply stacking blocks of bundled fibers, as disclosed in .

[Problems to be solved by the invention] However, in the conventional light guide type display device, the fiber bundling is complicated, and the length of the fiber used is extremely long.
This had the disadvantage of being an expensive device. In addition, a linear structure is visible due to boundaries caused by discontinuities between blocks or uneven brightness, resulting in a problem of deterioration of display quality. Therefore, the present invention aims to improve the productivity of fiber bundling, reduce the length of fibers used, and obtain a light guide type display device with uniform and high display quality.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In a method for manufacturing a fiber bundle having both ends fixed, a spacer material installed around at least a portion of the fibers changes in volume, causing contraction of the spacer material or
It is characterized in that at least one end face of the fiber bundle is fixed in the tensioned state.

Furthermore, the optical fiber produced by the above-described fiber bundle manufacturing method is used in a light guiding type display device whose main component is an image forming means and an optical fiber bundle that optically couples the image forming means to the display surface. It is characterized by

Furthermore, a light guiding type display device consisting of a plurality of units whose main components are an image forming means and an optical fiber bundle that optically couples the image forming means to the display surface can be manufactured using the above-mentioned fiber bundle manufacturing method. It is characterized by being constructed from a unit using optical fibers.

[Example 1] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a fiber used in the manufacturing method of the present invention. The fiber consists of a core 101 and a clad 102, and a spacer material 103 is provided around a part of the fiber.

FIG. 2 (al, (b), (e), and (d) are process diagrams showing a series of flows of the manufacturing method of the present invention. (
a) Align fibers 201 with spacers. (b) 1 One end surface 202 is fixed. (C) The spacer material is gradually contracted by heating from the outside. The contraction is performed centering on the other end surface. 203 is an electrode for induction heating. (d) The end face that has contracted once is fixed, and the fixed part 203 is cut. 204 indicates a cutting line.

In this example, polystyrene foam was used as the spacer material and heated to about 80 degrees by induction heating.

While heating, pressure was applied from two directions around the fiber bundle so that the cross-sectional shapes of the fiber bundles maintained similar shapes. The spacer material is selected depending on the characteristics of the fiber used, but there are other methods such as using a water-soluble resin to dissolve the contracted portion.

Further, the spacer material does not need to be installed over the entire fiber, but may be installed only around the end face where a volume change is required.

Incidentally, since plane deviation occurs on one end face of the fiber due to expansion or contraction of the fiber, it is recommended to cut or polish the fiber again if necessary. In this example, an ultraviolet curing resin was used to fix the fibers, and an ultrasonic cutter was used to cut the fibers.

FIG. 3 fat, (bl, fc), (d) is a process diagram of another manufacturing method of the present invention. (a) One fiber 301 is aligned.

In this state, the part 302 is fixed. (b) The spacer material 303 in a solution state is infiltrated. (C) 1. The spacer material is gradually expanded by external induction heating. 305 is an electrode for induction heating. After a predetermined expansion, it stops and becomes fixed. 304 is its fixed location.

(d) Cut the other fixed part 302.

In this example, AZDN was added to the ultraviolet curable silicone resin.
A resin in which a foaming material such as (azobisisobutyronitrile) was dissolved was used. This takes advantage of the fact that the foam material decomposes and becomes an expanded resin at the same time as the monomer is polymerized. Half-polymerization of the monomer was performed using ultraviolet rays, and foaming was performed by heating to about 90 degrees by induction heating. When a predetermined II tension was applied, complete polymerization was carried out using ultraviolet rays. Note that the output plane and the input plane are flat due to the expansion and contraction of the fiber, which causes the plane of one end of the fiber to shift.
Cut or polish again if necessary. Also,
An ultraviolet curing resin was used to fix the fibers, and an ultrasonic cutter was used to cut them.

The present invention can be applied not only to the above-mentioned method, but also to any spacer material that has the function of causing a volume change and changing the fiber spacing.

The following light guide type display device was constructed using the fiber bundle produced as described above.

FIG. 4 shows an overall view of the light guiding type display device of the present invention. 4
01 is one block constituting the screen, and the blocks have a structure in which they intersect with each other at the image output end of the light guide serving as the screen. 402 is the other end surface of the light guide 403, which is an image input end. 404 is an optical shutter which is an image forming means, and in this embodiment, it is a liquid crystal display (hereinafter referred to as LC).
(referred to as D) was used.

Further, 405 is a light source device.

The light guide used in the present invention transmits the power of light, and one light guide forms one pixel on the exit surface. An optical fiber is suitable as such a light guide, and in consideration of weight, price, flexibility, workability, etc., a plastic fiber is more preferable.

Here, by alternately shifting the fiber bundles produced by the method described above, the arrangement on the exit plane was made intertwined. FIG. 5 is a perspective view of one block composed of the above-mentioned fibers. By alternately shifting the fiber bundles 501 manufactured by the above-described method, the arrangement on the output surface was made to be intersected. On the other hand, the fiber bundle on the incident surface side connected to the optical shutter is
It is possible to have a rectangular cross section without being shifted. The entrance surface 503 having a rectangular cross section corresponds to the display surface of the optical shutter. Therefore, by assuming that the information input into the fiber from the optical shutter side is shifted in the opposite direction in accordance with the shift of the output end, the displayed information becomes normal. The cross-sectional shape of each fiber is designed so that one fiber corresponds to the R, G, B pixel trio of the optical shutter.

In this example, these were bundled to form blocks as shown in Table 1.

Table 1 Fiber Plastic Fiber 0.5mm
Outer diameter exit surface Linear magnification ratio to the entrance surface 5:11/2 shift, RGB mixed transmission Input surface Rectangular cross section Number of pixels 180X180 (R, G, B l-
(Unit) Number of fibers: 180×180 Furthermore, it is also possible to make one fiber correspond to a large number of pixels. In this case, even if there is information loss for about one pixel, specific color information will not be completely lost for the pixel on the exit surface, and this has the advantage that the influence will be small.

FIG. 6 ta+, [b) is an enlarged view of a part of the display surface.

The fibers 601 are fixed with resin 602 and are aligned at the output end face. Figure 6 fat is R2O
, B When the volume of the spacer material changes for the fiber trio 603, Fig. 6 (bl is the case where spacer material is provided for each fiber.The resin is used to minimize light leakage between fibers. It is designed to absorb leaking light.For this reason, in this example, dyeing was carried out in various colors, and dyeing black gave the most favorable results for each color.Also, this By dyeing it like this, the gaps for expansion on the display surface are made less noticeable,
At the same time, it has become possible to improve the clarity of images.

[Embodiment 2] FIG. 7 shows an overall view of a light guiding type display device composed of units of the present invention. Diagonal line 701 is 1 that makes up the screen
The units have a structure in which they intersect with each other at the image output end 702 of the light guide, which becomes the screen, in order to improve the uniformity of the screen. Furthermore, 704 is a support body for the units, and each unit is housed in an insertion space of the support body. Furthermore, a broken line 703 in the figure indicates the upper and lower ranges actually used for display, and the floor plan outside the broken line is masked.

Figure 8 is a cutaway view of the unit taken out.

The light guide 802 is composed of the fiber bundle described in the first embodiment. 8 is the image input end which is the other end of the optical fiber. Reference numeral 803 denotes an optical shutter which is an image forming means, and in this embodiment, an LCD was used.

804 is a light source device for projecting light. Further, 805 is a fiber for brightness detection, which is drawn out from several points on the display surface. 807 is a brightness detector that receives light from a detection fiber, and here a photodiode is used.

These are installed to ensure uniformity of brightness across the entire screen.The brightness of the entire screen is set using signals from the brightness detector of each unit, and the brightness is adjusted by sending feedback to the unit's light source device and LCD. I am doing it. Note that the light source, LCD control circuit, drive circuit, etc. are omitted in the figure for simplicity.

Furthermore, the output end is directly exposed from the housing of the unit, and this part is firmly bonded to eliminate flexibility. On the other hand, the fiber bundle on the incident surface side connected to the optical shutter is not shifted and can have a rectangular cross section. The entrance surface 801 having a rectangular cross section corresponds to the display surface of the optical shutter. Therefore, by assuming that the information input into the fiber from the optical shutter side is shifted in the opposite direction in accordance with the shift of the output end, the displayed information becomes normal. This is L consisting of matrix pixels.
This is because CD allows for accurate positioning. The cross-sectional shape of each fiber is designed so that one fiber corresponds to the R, G, B pixel trio of the LCD. Furthermore, it is also possible to make one fiber correspond to a large number of pixels. In this case, even if information is missing for about one pixel, it has the advantage that the effect on the output is small. In this example, the fiber bundles were further bundled to form units as shown in Table 2.

Table 2 Fiber Plastic Fiber 0.5mm
Outer diameter exit surface vs. entrance surface Linear expansion ratio 5:11/6 shift, RGB mixed transmission Input surface Rectangular cross section Number of pixels 100X100 (R, G, B) Rio unit) Number of fibers 100X 100 Optical shutter Matrix LCD 100x 300 (Pixel unit ) Light B250 w Halogen Lamp Brightness Adjustment Inter-Unit Feedback Method At this time, in order to improve the uniformity of the light emitting surface, it is preferable to control the light emitting direction on the entire light emitting surface at once. Although serration processing, matte finish processing, sandblasting processing, etc. are known as control processing for the emission direction, in this embodiment, sandblasting processing is performed all at once to provide a diffusion processing.

In this example, an LCD using a thin film transistor shown in Table 3 (hereinafter referred to as TFT-LCD) was used as an image forming means.

Table 3 Display mode TN mode driving method TPT active matrix pixel number
100X 300 Display effective area 80X80 mm Color RGB dichroic filter
By creating a structure similar to that of a filter and making it into a unit, we were able to reduce the fiber length and obtain a light guide type display device with high display quality that makes it difficult to see boundaries and provides a uniform display. .

[Example 3] FIG. 9 shows another embodiment of the light guiding type display device of the present invention.

901 is a fiber bundle which is an enlarging optical system, and 902 (shaded area) is the image input end of the other end face. 904 is a liquid crystal projection device which is an image forming means.

The difference from Example 1.2 is that the LCD is not directly installed at the image input end, but the image is input via an imaging optical system.

FIG. 10 is a basic configuration diagram of the liquid crystal projection device used in this example. 1001 is a light source device, 1002 is an LCD,
1003 is a projection optical system, and 1004 is a fiber bundle. Such projection devices include: (1) those using a transmission type optical shutter (Appl, Phys, Lett,
Vol, 21392 (1972)l, (2) Using a reflective optical shutter (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 56-43681)
(3) Using an optical writing type optical shutter (Television Society Technical Report 0PT-216 January 1986)
(4) A method using a matrix type optical shutter (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 61-99118) is known. Although the present invention can be used without any problem, here, a color projector using a TFT-LCD shown in FIG. 11 was used. This uses a dichroic element 1101 to synthesize three primary colors, and has higher light utilization efficiency than a method using color filters, so a brighter display can be obtained. Furthermore, matrix type L CD
1+02 is the entrance surface 1103 which is a fiber matrix.
Accurate pixel positioning is achieved by projecting the image onto the image plane. 1104 is a light source device, 1105 is a dichroic mirror for spectroscopy, 1106 is a mirror, and 1107 is a projection optical system. In addition, since the three primary colors can be input into the fiber at once, the number of fibers used can be reduced, which has the effect of reducing the overall fiber length.

Although the structure of the light guide section in Example 3 used the same fiber bundle as in Example 2, it may also be one in which fiber bundles having a simple rectangular cross section were laminated. In any case, the accurate matrix arrangement of fiber bundles and the projection device have made it possible to form images in which precise pixel positions can be specified.

By coupling the image forming portion using the optical shutter with the fiber through the coupling optical system in this manner, a light guide type display device that is bright, has higher resolution, and has excellent display quality can be obtained. Additionally, the cost of fibers could be further reduced.

Although the embodiments have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and it is also possible to use a self-luminous image forming means such as a CRT, and can be widely applied to light guide type display devices. be.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, a fiber optical system with high productivity can be provided. Furthermore, since standard production is possible, costs can be reduced. Furthermore, by configuring the display surface using units, it is possible to reduce the amount of fiber used, further lowering the cost of the system, and also having the effect of reducing the thickness and weight of the system. Furthermore, in the event of a failure, the unit can be removed and repaired, and replacement can be easily performed, which has the effect of improving maintainability. It also has the effect of allowing you to select the number of units to use and support any scale. Furthermore, there is the advantage that a small-scale light source device and optical shutter can be used. Furthermore, it is possible to control the brightness between units, and it is possible to obtain a light guide type display device with a uniform display surface and high display quality.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a fiber used in the manufacturing method of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is an overall view of the light guide type display device of the present invention. Figure 5 is a perspective view of one block taken out Figure 6 (a)
[b) is an enlarged view of a part of the display surface. FIG. 7 is an overall view of a light guiding type display device composed of units of the present invention. FIG. 8 is a cutaway perspective view of one unit taken out. FIG. 9 is a configuration diagram of a light guide type display device in Example 3. FIG. 10 is a configuration diagram of a liquid crystal projection device. FIG. 11 is a configuration diagram of a color projector. 101... Core 102... Clad 103... Spacer material 201... Fiber 202 with spacer...
・One end face 203...Fixed location 204...Cutting line 301...Fiber 302...Fixed location 303...Spacer material in solution state 304...Other bonded location 305...Guidance Heating electrode 401...Block 402...Image input end 403...Light guide 404...Light shutter 405...Light source device 501...Fiber bundle 503...Incidence surface 601... - Fiber 602... Resin 603... Fiber trio 701... Unit 702... Image output end 703... Display range 704... Support body 801... Image input end 802... Light guide Body 803...Light shutter 804...Light source device 805...Fiber for brightness detection 806...Fiber bundle 807...Brightness detector 901...Fiber bundle 902 which is an enlarging optical system...
- Image input end 904...Liquid crystal projection device +003...Light source device 1002...LCD 1003...Projection optical system 1004...Fiber bundle 1101...Dichroic element 1102...Matrix type LCD ・1103 ...Incidence surface 1 of fiber matrix
104...Light source device 1105...Dichroic mirror 1106...Mirror ll07...Projection optical system and above Applicant Seiko Epson Co., Ltd. Agent Patent attorney Tsutomu Mogami (1 other person)

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) In a method for manufacturing a fiber bundle with both ends fixed, a spacer material installed around at least a portion of the fibers changes in volume, and when the spacer material is contracted or expanded, at least one end surface of the fiber bundle is A method for manufacturing a fiber bundle characterized by being fixed. (2) A light guide type display device whose main components include an image forming means and an optical fiber bundle optically coupling the image forming means to a display surface, which is manufactured by the method for manufacturing a fiber bundle described in item 1. A light guide type display device characterized by using a bundle of optical fibers. (3) In a light guide type display device comprising a plurality of units whose main components are an image forming means and an optical fiber bundle optically coupling the image forming means to a display surface, the fiber according to item 1 A light guide type display device comprising a unit using an optical fiber bundle produced by a bundle manufacturing method.