JPH02235013A - Laser pointer device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To offer a laser pointer device which is reduced in mean current consumption and can designate a spot (blink instruction) by blinking one point on a projection surface by incorporating an electronic circuit which makes a semiconductor laser emit laser beam intermittently. CONSTITUTION:The electronic circuit 3 is constituted by including an automatic light emitting circuit APC7 provided between a power source 4 and the semiconductor laser 1 and a switching circuit 8. When a switching pulse is applied from the switching circuit 8 to the APC circuit 7, the APC circuit 7 turns on/off the supply of the current from the power source 4 to the semiconductor laser 1 according to the on/off state of the switching pulse and the semiconductor laser 1 emits the light intermittently. The laser beam emitted by the semiconductor laser 1 is converged by an optical system 2 to form a spot on the projection surface 6. At this time, the semiconductor laser 1 emits the beam intermittently, so the spot formed on the projection surface 6 blinks to blink and designate one point on the projection surface 6.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a laser pointer device, and more particularly, the present invention relates to a laser pointer device, and in particular, a laser pointer device that focuses laser light generated by a semiconductor laser using an optical system to form a light beam and projects the light beam onto a projection surface. The present invention relates to a laser pointer device that specifies a spot by

[Conventional technology]

Conventional laser pointer devices use a screen. A continuous light beam of visible light is projected onto a projection surface such as a bulletin board or wall to indicate a spot on the projection surface (hereinafter referred to as "spot instruction").

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

The above-described conventional laser pointer device projects a continuous light beam onto the projection surface to indicate a single point, and therefore has a problem in that it consumes a large amount of current. Another problem is that when multiple users use laser pointer devices at the same time to point a spot on the same projection surface, it becomes difficult to identify which point is being pointed by which user. There was a point.

Furthermore, since it was possible to point out only one spot, it was not possible to point out a certain range on the projection surface, and there was a problem that the function was limited. In consideration of this, by incorporating an electronic circuit that causes a semiconductor laser that generates laser light to emit light intermittently, the average current consumption can be reduced, and one point on the projection surface can be blinked to provide a Subonoto instruction (hereinafter referred to as a blinking instruction). ) The object of the present invention is to provide a laser pointer device that enables the following.

Another object of the present invention is to direct a certain range on a projection surface with two or more spots (hereinafter referred to as multi-point instruction) by deflecting a light beam in synchronization with the intermittent light emission of a semiconductor laser. The purpose of this invention is to provide a laser pointer device that can perform the following functions. [Means for Solving the Problems] The laser pointer device of the present invention focuses a laser beam generated by a semiconductor laser using an optical system to form a light beam, and projects this light beam onto a projection surface to give a spot instruction. The laser pointer device according to the present invention is characterized in that it includes an electronic circuit that enables blinking instructions by causing the semiconductor laser to emit light intermittently.

Further, the laser pointer device of the present invention is a laser pointer device that performs suboto instruction by condensing laser light generated by a semiconductor laser using an optical system to form a light beam and projecting the light beam onto a projection surface. a reflecting mirror that reflects the light beam focused by the optical system;
A piezoelectric actuator vibrates the reflecting mirror to deflect the light beam, and a piezoelectric actuator that causes the semiconductor laser to emit light intermittently and at the same time drives the piezoelectric actuator in synchronization with the intermittent light emission, thereby deflecting the light beam onto the projection surface. It is characterized by having an electronic circuit that allows multiple points to indicate a certain range.

[Effect]

In the laser pointer device of the present invention, the electronic circuit causes the semi-solid laser to emit light intermittently, thereby enabling blinking instructions.

Furthermore, in the laser pointer device of the present invention, the reflection mirror reflects the light beam focused by the optical system, the piezoelectric actuator vibrates the reflection mirror to deflect the light beam, and the electronic circuit intermittently controls the semiconductor laser. By simultaneously emitting light and driving a piezoelectric actuator in synchronization with this intermittent light emission, it is possible to point out multiple points in a certain range on the projection surface. [Example] Next, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing essential parts of a laser pointer device according to an embodiment of the present invention. The laser pointer device of this embodiment includes a semiconductor laser 1 that generates visible laser light, an optical system 2 that includes a lens, etc. that converges the laser light from the semiconductor laser 1 into a parallel light beam, and a semiconductor laser 1 that generates visible laser light. Laser 1
The main parts thereof include an electronic circuit 3 for controlling light emission of the semiconductor laser 1 and a power source 4 including a battery or the like for driving the semiconductor laser 1 and the electronic circuit 3. The reference numeral 5 indicates a housing of the laser pointer device, and the reference numeral 6 indicates a projection surface such as a screen, a bulletin board, or a wall onto which the light beam from the laser pointer device is projected.

FIG. 2 is a circuit block diagram showing the configuration of the electronic circuit 3. As shown in FIG. The electronic circuit 3 includes an automatic optical output control circuit (hereinafter abbreviated as an APC circuit) 7 connected between the power supply 4 and the semiconductor laser 1, and the APC circuit 7 connected from the power supply 4 to the semiconductor laser 1.
It is configured to include a switching circuit 8 that controls on/off the supply of current flowing into the circuit. In addition,
A frequency control signal or a pulse width control signal for controlling the frequency or pulse width of the switching pulse applied to the APC circuit 7 is input to the switching circuit 8 as a blinking control signal. Next, the operation of the laser pointer device of this embodiment configured as described above will be explained with reference to the timing charts shown in FIGS.

When a switching pulse as shown in FIG. 3 (al) is generated from the switching circuit 8 and applied to the APC circuit 7, the APC circuit 7 outputs the semiconductor laser from the power supply 4 according to the on/off state of the applied switching pulse. 3 (bl
As shown in the figure, the semiconductor laser I emits light intermittently.

Note that when the switching pulse is on, the semiconductor laser l stops emitting light, and when the switching pulse is off, the semiconductor laser l emits light. The laser light generated by the semiconductor laser 1 is condensed by the optical system 2 into a substantially parallel light beam, and is projected onto the projection surface 6 as shown by the dashed line, thereby producing a spot on the projection surface 6. At this time, since the semiconductor laser 1 emits light intermittently as described above, the spot generated on the projection surface 6-A blinks, and one point on the projection surface 6 is instructed to blink.

If the frequency or pulse width of the switching pulse outputted from the switching circuit 8 is appropriately controlled based on the blinking instruction state using the blinking control signal, a desired blinking frequency or blinking brightness can be obtained. Therefore, even if multiple users use a laser pointer device at the same time to blink at the same point on the projection surface, by making the blinking frequency or blinking brightness different, it is possible for any user to It becomes possible to easily identify which one is flashing. In addition, by setting the cycle of the switching pulse to a cycle shorter than the time that an afterimage remains in the human eye, it is possible to reduce the average current and achieve the same continuous display as before. By using both the continuously visible spot instruction and the blinking instruction, it becomes possible to more easily identify the correspondence between the user of the laser pointer device and the indicated point. Incidentally, by controlling the switching circuit 8 so that no switching pulse is outputted by the blinking control signal and causing the semiconductor laser 1 to emit light continuously, it is also possible to perform continuous spotting instructions as in the conventional method.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing essential parts of a laser pointer device according to another embodiment of the present invention. The laser pointer device of this embodiment uses a semiconductor laser 1 that generates visible laser light.
1, an optical system 12 that condenses the laser light from the semiconductor laser 11 into a parallel light beam, a first reflective mirror 13 that reflects the parallel light beam from the optical system 12, and a first reflective mirror. A piezoelectric actuator 14 such as a bimorph type to which a mirror 13 is attached, a second reflecting mirror l5 that further reflects the light beam reflected by the first reflecting mirror l3, and a semiconductor laser 11 and a piezoelectric The main parts thereof include an electronic circuit 16 for driving the actuator 14, and a power source 17 for operating the semiconductor laser 11, the piezoelectric actuator 14, and the electronic circuit 16. Note that the reference numeral 1 represents the housing of the laser pointer device, and the reference numeral 19 represents the projection surface.

FIG. 5 is a circuit block diagram showing the configuration of the electronic converter 16. The electronic circuit 16 applies a first switching pulse to the APC circuit 2l and the APC circuit 21 connected between the power supply 17 and the semiconductor laser 1l to turn on/off the supply of current flowing from the power supply 517 to the semiconductor laser 1l. A switching circuit 22 that controls the APC circuit 21 to turn off, and a second switching pulse that is output from the switching circuit 22 with a delay of half the time when the switching pulse is off with respect to the first switching pulse. a counter 23 that counts and inverts the output every predetermined count value;
The drive circuit 24 drives the piezoelectric actuator 14 according to the output of the piezoelectric actuator 14. Note that the switching circuit 22 has the first voltage applied to the APC circuit 21.
A frequency control signal or a pulse width control signal that controls the frequency or pulse width of the switching pulse and the second switching pulse applied to the counter 23 is input as a blinking control signal. Also,
A count value switching signal for switching a predetermined count value whose output is to be inverted is inputted to the counter 23. Next, the operation of the laser pointer device of this embodiment configured as described above will be explained in FIG. 6 (al to fe).
This will be explained with reference to the timing chart shown in FIG.

When a first switching pulse as shown in FIG. 6(a) is generated from the switching circuit 22 and applied to the APC circuit 21, the APC circuit 21 turns on/off in accordance with the on/off of the applied switching pulse. The supply of current flowing from the t source l7 to the semiconductor laser 11 is turned on/off, and as a result, the semiconductor laser 11 emits light intermittently as shown in FIG. When the semiconductor laser l1 is on, the semiconductor laser l1 stops emitting light, and the first
When the switching pulse is off, the semiconductor laser 1
l emits light. On the other hand, the fc generated from the switching circuit 22 in FIG.
The second switching pulse as shown in
3, and the counter 23 inverts its output every time it finishes counting three switching pulses, as shown in FIG. 6 id+, for example. And Fig. 6 [d] and (
As shown in al, when the output of the counter 23 is on, the drive circuit 24 operates to drive the piezoelectric actuator 14.
When the piezoelectric actuator 14 is driven and the output of the counter 23 is turned off, the piezoelectric actuator 14 returns to its natural state by its own elasticity. Therefore, as the output of the counter 23 is repeatedly inverted, the piezoelectric actuator l4 vibrates.

The laser beam generated by the semiconductor laser 1l is transmitted to the optical system 12.
The light is condensed into a substantially parallel light beam and is incident on the first reflecting mirror 13. Now, the piezoelectric actuator 14 is driven and the first reflecting mirror 13 is vibrated to move back and forth tS around the fixed position of the piezoelectric actuator l4 with respect to the housing l8, so that the incident light beam changes temporally. As a result, the light beam incident on the first reflecting mirror 13 is reflected at different reflecting angles in terms of time, and the piezoelectric It is deflected in conjunction with the vibration of the actuator 14. The light beam deflected by the first reflecting mirror l3 is further reflected by the second reflecting mirror 15, and is deflected and scanned at high speed between the dashed dot line and the dashed double dotted line, resulting in four spots on the projection surface 19. occurs (4th
(see figure), a certain direct klA range on the projection surface work 9 is designated at multiple points.

When the frequency or pulse width of the first switching pulse and the second switching pulse outputted from the switching circuit 22 are changed by the blinking control signal from this multi-point 1 indication state, the blinking period or lighting of the semiconductor laser l1 is changed. At the same time as time changes, the frequency or vibration width of the piezoelectric actuator l4 changes, so the spacing or length of the four spots produced on the projection surface l9 changes accordingly (i.e., (The linear range changes). Further, when the counter 23 switches a predetermined count value whose output is inverted in response to a count value switching signal, the number of spots generated on the projection surface 19 is increased or decreased. In particular, if the count value is increased, a certain straight line range on the projection surface l9 can be indicated by a dotted line.

Incidentally, in the above embodiment, only the first reflecting mirror l3 is disposed in relation to the piezoelectric actuator 14, but by also relating the second reflecting mirror 15 to another piezoelectric actuator, the deflection angle of the light beam can be adjusted. It is possible to increase the size of the straight line range that can indicate multiple points, or to indicate multiple points not only in a one-dimensional range such as a straight line but also in two-dimensional ranges such as squares and circles. Furthermore, it is assumed that the first switching pulse and the second switching pulse outputted from the same switching circuit 22 are respectively applied to the APC circuit 21 and the counter 23, but the first switching pulse applied to the APC circuit 2l If the delay relationship between the pulse and the second switching pulse applied to the counter 23 is maintained by half the time during the off time, these may be output from different switching circuits. Needless to say. It should be noted that the delay relationship between the first switching pulse and the second switching pulse, which is only half the time during the OFF time, is the difference between the spot generated on the projection surface 19 when the piezoelectric actuator 14 moves forward and backward. The piezoelectric actuator 14 is a condition required to synchronize the positions.
Since it is not always necessary to synchronize the spot position on the projection surface 19 when the piezoelectric actuator 14 moves forward and backward, it is not necessary to synchronize the spot position on the projection surface 19 when the piezoelectric actuator 14 moves forward and backward. When increasing the number of spots, it is not necessary to synchronize the phase relationship between the first switching pulse and the second switching pulse.

Furthermore, although the case has been described in which the first reflecting mirror l3 is attached to the surface of the piezoelectric actuator 14, the first reflecting mirror 13 is not only attached but also, for example, a metal film or the like is deposited on the surface of the piezoelectric actuator 14. It may also be formed by other methods such as direct formation.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, according to the present invention, by causing the semiconductor laser to emit light intermittently, the average current consumption can be reduced compared to the case where the semiconductor laser is caused to emit light continuously. In addition, it is now possible to instruct a point on the projection surface to blink, and even when multiple users use the laser pointer device at the same time, it is now possible to easily identify the point to be indicated by each user. There is.

Further, according to the present invention, by deflecting the light beam generated by the semiconductor laser in conjunction with the intermittent light emission of the semiconductor laser, a certain range on the projection surface can be indicated at multiple points (particularly by dotted lines). This has the effect of dramatically expanding the scope of application of the laser pointer device.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing the main parts of a laser pointer device according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a circuit block diagram showing the configuration of the electronic circuit in FIG. )) is a timing chart of the electronic circuit shown in FIG. 2, FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing the main parts of a laser pointer device according to another embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 5 is a timing chart of the electronic circuit shown in FIG. 4. A circuit block diagram showing the configuration of FIG. 6 ta+ (61 is a timing chart of the electronic circuit shown in FIG. 5.・Electronic circuit, 4.17・Power supply, 5,l8・Housing, 6.19・Projection surface, 7.21・Automatic light output control circuit (APC circuit), 8,2
2. Switching circuit, 13... First reflecting mirror 14... Piezoelectric actuator, 15... Second reflecting mirror 2 3... Counter, 24... Drive circuit.

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) In a laser pointer device that directs a spot by condensing laser light generated by a semiconductor laser using an optical system to form a light beam and projecting this light beam onto a projection surface, the semiconductor laser emits light intermittently. 1. A laser pointer device characterized by having an electronic circuit that enables a blinking instruction by causing the laser pointer to blink. (2) In a laser pointer device that directs a spot by condensing a laser beam generated by a semiconductor laser using an optical system to form a light beam and projecting this light beam onto a projection surface, the laser beam is focused by the optical system. a reflection mirror that reflects a light beam; a piezoelectric actuator that vibrates the reflection mirror to deflect the light beam; and a piezoelectric actuator that causes the semiconductor laser to emit light intermittently and at the same time drives the piezoelectric actuator in synchronization with the intermittent light emission. A laser pointer device comprising: an electronic circuit that makes it possible to point out a certain range on the projection surface at multiple points.