JPH1184529A - Projector device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a compact and inexpensive projector device projecting a high-luminance picture by collecting and synthesizing only the high-luminance center parts of light beams condensed by a light condensing means from plural light sources, illuminating a finite aperture with the synthesized light and forming a picture. SOLUTION: The light beams emitted from electrode discharge type lamps 1a to 1c to the periphery are respectively condensed by condensing mirrors 3a to 3c. Light intensity patterns 10a to 10c are formed on the lamps 1a to 1c. A collecting means 12 collects and synthesizes only the partial high-intensity light beams 11a to 11c at the center parts of the patterns 10a to 10c, and the synthesized light 13 is inputted in a mixing rod 4. Since the emitted light from the mixing rod 4 is the uniformly distributed high-intensity light obtained by collecting the light beams at the high-intensity parts of the lamps 1a to 1c, an image generating element 6 is more brightly illuminated. Thus, a brighter projected picture on a screen 8 is obtained.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a projector for illuminating an image generating element such as a liquid crystal and projecting an image on a screen.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art First, a conventional projector will be described. FIG. 6 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a conventional normal luminance type projector device. 6, reference numeral 1 denotes a lamp of an electrode discharge type, 2 denotes light emitted from the lamp 1, 3 denotes a condensing mirror for condensing the light 2 emitted from the lamp, and 4 denotes an incident portion of the converging portion of the converging mirror 3. Mixing rod,
Reference numeral 5 denotes an illumination lens for condensing light emitted from the output part of the mixing rod 4, reference numeral 6 denotes an image generation element such as a liquid crystal arranged at the light collection part of the illumination lens 5, and reference numeral 7 denotes an image generated by the image generation element 6. Is a projection lens for projecting the image, 8 is a screen for projecting the image projected by the projection lens 7, 9 is at least a lamp 1, a condenser mirror 3, a mixing rod 4, an illumination lens 5, an image generation element 6, and a projection lens 7. It is an image projector configured.

Next, the operation of the projector device in the above-mentioned conventional example will be described with reference to FIG. The lamp emission light 2 emitted from the electrode discharge type lamp 1 to the surroundings is collected by the collection mirror 3. Here, since the electrode discharge type lamp 1 emits strong light in a region near the electrode,
In the light condensing part, a light intensity pattern is formed in which the intensity at the center is high and the intensity gradually decreases toward the periphery.
The light having such a light intensity pattern is used to generate the image forming element 6.
Is directly illuminated, uneven brightness (distribution) occurs on the screen on the screen 8 on which the image of the image generating element 6 is projected. Thus, as shown in FIG. 6, the light collected by the light collecting mirror 3 is input to the mixing rod 4. The mixing rod 4 is formed of a transparent medium such as glass, and has a side surface polished. The light incident on the mixing rod 4 is multiply reflected and mixed on the polished side surface as it travels inside the mixing rod 4. Therefore, light having an arbitrary intensity distribution at the input portion of the mixing rod 4
In the output section, light having a uniform distribution is emitted. Light having a uniform distribution emitted from the mixing rod 4 is coupled to the image generating element 6 by the illumination lens 5 and is incident. The light incident on the image generating element 6 uniformly illuminates the image generating element 6, and the image generated and illuminated by the image generating element 6 is projected on a screen 8 by a projection lens 7.

In order to improve the brightness of an image on a screen in such a projector device, measures such as increasing the brightness of a lamp and increasing the transmittance of an image generating element are conceivable. There is. As described above, when there is a limit to the improvement of the brightness of the used component, a method of using a plurality of image projectors in an overlapping manner is conventionally used. FIG. 7 shows a configuration diagram of a conventional high-brightness type projector device. In FIG. 7, reference numerals 9a, 9b, and 9c are equivalent to the image projector 9 described with reference to FIG. As described above, the brightness of an image can be improved by projecting the projection images from a plurality of the same image projectors on the screen in a superimposed manner.

[0005]

As described above, in the conventional image projector apparatus, a plurality of image projectors must be used in order to improve the brightness of the screen image. But it was expensive. In addition, since a plurality of image projectors are used, there is a problem that images must be accurately overlapped at least on a screen, and that adjustment is difficult.

The present invention has been made to solve such a problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide a small, low-cost, high-brightness projector apparatus.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a projector apparatus including the following elements. (A) a plurality of light sources having the following elements; (a1) an electrode discharge lamp having a high luminance at the center of the light emitting portion; (a2) collecting light emitted from the light emitting portion of the electrode discharge lamp. Condensing means; (b) synthesizing means for collecting and synthesizing only the high-brightness central portion of each light condensed by the condensing means of the plurality of light sources; (c) the synthesizing means having a finite aperture Image generating means for illuminating the finite aperture with the light synthesized by the means and generating an image.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the projector device, the synthesizing means includes a plurality of optical fibers each of which inputs a high-brightness central portion of each light condensed by the condensing means of the plurality of light sources. An optical fiber bundling unit formed by bundling a plurality of optical fibers.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the optical fiber comprises an optical fiber bundle comprising a plurality of optical fibers.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the light input / output portion of the optical fiber bundle, the optical fiber bundle is bundled so that no gap is formed between the plurality of optical fibers constituting the optical fiber bundle.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the light input / output section of the optical fiber bundle, the cladding around the core for transmitting the light is removed from the plurality of optical fibers constituting the optical fiber bundle. Things.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, the cross section of the plurality of optical fibers constituting the optical fiber bundle is substantially rectangular.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, the cross section of the plurality of optical fibers constituting the optical fiber bundle is substantially hexagonal.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a projector device, wherein the first light source accommodates the plurality of light sources and the plurality of optical fibers.
And a second housing accommodating the image generating means, wherein the optical fiber bundling section is configured such that the light input side is the first housing.
And the light output side is connected to the second housing.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a projector device including a light source including a light collecting means for collecting light emitted from the sun.

[0016] The projector device according to claim 10 is
It is provided with a light source including a gas laser, a solid-state laser, or a semiconductor laser, and condensing means for condensing light emitted from the gas laser, the solid-state laser, or the semiconductor laser.

The projector device according to claim 11 is:
The light-emitting device is provided with light-collecting means for switching between collecting light emitted from the light-emitting portion of the electrode discharge lamp and collecting light emitted from the sun.

[0018]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Embodiment 1 FIG. Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a configuration block diagram of the projector device according to the first embodiment. In FIG. 1, 4, 5,
Reference numerals 6, 7, and 8 are the same as those of the above-mentioned conventional projector device, and a description thereof will be omitted. In FIG. 1, 1a to 1
c is a plurality of electrode discharge type lamps having a high brightness at the center, 3
Reference numerals a to 3c denote condensing mirrors as condensing means for condensing light emitted from the plurality of lamps 1a to 1c, respectively.
Reference numerals a to 10c denote intensity patterns of the light condensed by the condensing mirrors 3a to 3c, and reference numerals 11a to 11c denote a part of the high intensity light at the center of the condensed light intensity patterns 10a to 10c. , 12 are collecting means as a combining means for collecting and combining some of the high intensity lights 11a to 11c, 13 is a combined light combined by the collecting means 12, and 14 is at least the plurality of lamps 1a to 1c. , A light collecting mirror 3a to 3c, a mixing rod 4, an illumination lens 5, an image generating element 6, a projection lens 7, and a collecting means 12.

Next, the operation will be described. Light emitted from the electrode discharge type lamps 1a to 1c to the surroundings is collected by the collecting mirrors 3a to 3c, respectively. Here, since the electrode discharge type lamps 1a to 1c emit strong light in a region close to the electrodes, the light intensity is such that the intensity at the central portion is high in the condensing portion and the intensity gradually decreases toward the peripheral portion. Patterns 10a to 10c are formed. The collecting means 12 collects and combines only a part of the light 11a to 11c having a high intensity at the center of the light intensity patterns 10a to 10c, and inputs the combined light 13 to the mixing rod 4.

Here, a conventional light source 1 as shown in FIG.
The effect of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 2 in comparison with the case where individual focused lights are input to the mixing rod 4.
FIG. 2A shows a conventional illumination system. Light emitted from the lamp 1 is collected by the collecting mirror 3.
Here, the light intensity pattern 10 of the light condensing part is as described above,
The pattern is such that the strength is high at the center and gradually decreases toward the periphery. On the other hand, in order to illuminate the image generating element 6 having a finite aperture as brightly as possible,
It is necessary to use as much of the light of the light intensity pattern 10 as possible. At the same time, since uniform illumination light is required as described above, the mixing rod 4 is inserted, and its opening is set so that light of the light intensity pattern 10 can be input as much as possible. Therefore, although the intensity pattern 15 of the light output from the mixing rod 4 becomes uniform, the light intensity at the peak value is lower than the peak value of the input light intensity pattern 10.

FIG. 2B shows an illumination system according to the present invention. In this method, the lamps 1a to 1a
1c, the light 11a to 11c having a high intensity at the inner central portion of the light intensity patterns 10a to 10c collected by the light collecting mirrors 3a to 3c, respectively, are collected and synthesized. Light 13 is input to the mixing rod 4. Therefore, the intensity of the input light does not decrease even in the peripheral portion of the mixing rod 4, and therefore, in the light output from the mixing rod 4, uniform light having a high intensity whose peak value hardly decreases from the peak of the input light is obtained. can get.

In FIG. 1, the light emitted from the mixing rod 4 is a light having a high intensity and a uniform distribution obtained by assembling the light of the high intensity portions of the lamps 1a to 1c as described above. The image generating element 6 can be illuminated more brightly than in the case of using it, whereby a brighter projected image on the screen 8 can be obtained.

In this method, since the same image generating element 6 is used, the work of aligning a plurality of screens on a screen is not required as compared with the case where a plurality of conventional image projectors are used. Further, only the lamp and the collecting means are added, and there is no need to change any parts from the mixing rod to the screen.

Embodiment 2 FIG. FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram showing a specific configuration of the collecting means 12 shown in the first embodiment. In FIG. 3, 1a-1c, 3a-3c, 4, 11a
11c and 13 are the same as those of the projector device of the first embodiment, and the description thereof will be omitted. In FIG. 3, reference numeral 16d denotes an optical fiber bundling portion having an output end surface area substantially equal to the input end surface area of the mixing rod 4;
Reference numeral 6c denotes an optical fiber obtained by dividing the optical fiber binding portion 16d according to the number of the lamps 1a to 1c, and the optical fibers 16a to 16c are provided at the light collecting portions of the lamps 1a to 1c.

In FIG. 3, the optical fiber bundle 16d has substantially the same cross-sectional area as the mixing rod 4 as described above. The cross-sectional area of each of the optical fibers 16a to 16c split on the side of the lamps 1a to 1c decreases in inverse proportion to the number of lamps. Therefore, the lamps 1a to 1c
The optical fibers 16a to 16c installed in the light condensing sections of the light condensing sections have some of the lights 11a to 11
Only c can be input and transmitted. Some of the high-intensity lights 11a to 11c are
The light is input from the optical fiber bundling section 16d, and is input to the mixing rod 4.

As described above, Embodiment 1 according to the present invention
The collecting means 12 as the synthesizing means described in (1) is realized by the optical fibers 16a to 16c and the optical fiber binding section 16d. Optical fibers have excellent flexibility and can be installed relatively freely. Therefore, in the high-brightness image projector 14 shown in FIG.
1c can be freely arranged, and there is an advantage that designing such as heat radiation becomes easy.

In this embodiment, the optical fiber 1
Although 6a to 16c have been described as being made of one optical fiber, each of them may be an optical fiber bundle made up of a plurality of optical fibers. That is, the optical fiber 16
a may be an optical fiber bundle composed of a plurality of optical fibers, and similarly, the optical fibers 16b and 16c may be optical fiber bundles composed of a plurality of optical fibers. The plurality of optical fiber bundles may be bundled.

Embodiment 3 FIG. 4 shows a method of eliminating a gap in an optical input / output unit of an optical fiber bundle. In FIG. 4, reference numeral 16 denotes one optical fiber, 1
Reference numeral 7 denotes an optical fiber bundle in which a plurality of optical fibers 16 are bound. In an ordinary optical fiber bundle, the optical fiber 16
Are bound, a gap is generated between them as shown in FIG. When light is received by the optical fiber bundle, light entering such a gap cannot be propagated and results in loss. Therefore, it is desirable that the gap be small. In the third embodiment, the optical fiber 16 is heated and melted on the optical input side and the optical output side end faces of the optical fiber bundle 17, so that the fused optical fiber bundle end face 18 shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 7, the gap between the optical fibers 16 is eliminated. If a thick glass rod is used as a light guide without using an optical fiber bundle, loss due to a gap can be prevented. However, in this case, since the flexibility of the light guide is lost, it is difficult to actually assemble the projector device. In the third embodiment, since only the region near the end face of the optical fiber bundle 17 is melted and solidified, the advantage of ease of layout due to the flexibility of the optical fiber bundle is not lost.

Incidentally, the optical fiber usually comprises a core portion which actually propagates light and a cladding portion provided around the core portion. Here, when the clad portion is present at the end face of the optical fiber bundle 17, light incident on the clad portion cannot be propagated, resulting in a loss. Therefore, in a region near the end face of the optical fiber bundle 17, the clad portion is removed, only the core portion is bound, and the optical fiber bundle 17 is further fused. Accordingly, it is possible to prevent a loss of light from entering the gap and the clad, which is disadvantageous when using the optical fiber bundle, and to improve the light use efficiency.

Embodiment 4 Further, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, each of the optical fibers 16a to 16c may be an optical fiber bundle composed of a plurality of optical fibers. A rectangular optical fiber bundle may be used. By arranging and bundling optical fibers each having a substantially square cross section, the gap between the optical fibers can be reduced, and the loss here can be reduced.

Embodiment 5 Further, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, each of the optical fibers 16a to 16c may be an optical fiber bundle composed of a plurality of optical fibers. A rectangular optical fiber bundle may be used. By aligning and bundling optical fibers each having a substantially hexagonal cross section, the gap between the optical fibers can be reduced, and the loss here can be reduced. When an optical fiber having a substantially hexagonal cross section is used, the optical fiber can be bundled into a substantially circular shape. On the other hand, the light distribution at the focusing portion of the lamp is substantially circular. Therefore, when the optical fibers each having a substantially hexagonal cross section are bound, the focused light of the lamp can be more efficiently coupled.

Embodiment 6 FIG. FIG. 5 is a configuration block diagram of a projector device according to the sixth embodiment. In FIG. 5, 1
Reference numerals a to 1c, 4 to 8, 16, and 16a to 16c are the same as those of the projector device according to the first and second embodiments, and a description thereof will be omitted. In FIG. 5, reference numeral 19 denotes at least lamps 1a to 1c and optical fibers 16a to 16
c is a light source unit composed of at least a mixing rod 4, an illumination lens 5, an image generation element 6, and a projection lens 7, and a light source unit 19 and a projection unit 2.
0 is connected by an optical fiber binding unit 16d.

As described above, when the optical fiber bundle is used, the light source unit 19 is housed in the first housing and the projection unit 20 is used.
Is housed in the second casing, and the optical fiber
d, the light source unit 19 and the projection unit 2 can be easily connected.
0 can be separated. Further, if a low-loss optical fiber is used, light loss due to propagation through the fiber can be ignored and a long separation distance can be set. Usually, the life of the lamp is several thousand hours, and therefore, in this type of projector apparatus, maintenance for lamp replacement is required relatively frequently. On the other hand, the image generating element 6 and the like require almost no maintenance. Therefore, by separating the light source unit 19 and the projection unit 20, the projection unit 20 requiring little maintenance is set at a high place or a narrow place where maintenance is usually difficult, and the light source unit 19 is easy to perform maintenance. Free layout can be set according to various uses such as setting at a place.

Embodiment 7 In the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, the sun can be used as a light source, and the power from the lamp can be reduced by condensing light from the sun on an optical fiber bundle with a lens or the like.

Embodiment 8 FIG. Further, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, by switching between the electrode discharge lamp of gas such as xenon and metal halide and the sun as a light source, it is possible to save power consumption of the lamp in fine weather and daytime. .

Embodiment 9 In addition, in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, by using a gas laser, a solid-state laser, or a semiconductor laser as a light source, a projector device with higher luminance and a longer life of the light source can be obtained.

[0037]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention,
A plurality of light sources each including an electrode discharge lamp having a high luminance at a central portion of the light emitting unit, and a condensing unit for condensing light emitted from the light emitting unit of the electrode discharge lamp; By collecting and synthesizing only the high-brightness central portions of the respective light beams condensed by the converging means, high-luminance illumination light can be obtained over the entire finite aperture surface of the image generating means. This eliminates the need for a work of aligning a plurality of screens on a conventional screen, and provides a small, low-cost, high-brightness projector apparatus with a small number of parts.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the synthesizing means includes a plurality of optical fibers each of which inputs a central portion of each light collected by the plurality of light sources, which is high in brightness, to each of the plurality of optical fibers. Since the light composed by the combining means is illuminated over the entire finite aperture surface of the image generating means by forming the optical fiber binding section in which a plurality of optical fibers are bundled, a high-brightness image is projected on the screen. Can be.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, by using an optical fiber bundle as the light guiding means,
The degree of freedom in the layout design of the light source in the projector device is improved.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, since the plurality of optical fibers constituting the optical fiber bundle are bundled so as not to form a gap, the loss due to the gap between the optical fiber bundles can be reduced, and the lamp can be reduced. The light use efficiency of the emitted light is improved, and a bright screen screen can be obtained.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, since the clad portion is removed from the plurality of optical fibers constituting the optical fiber bundle, it is possible to prevent the loss of light incident on the clad portion and to reduce the lamp output. The light use efficiency of the emitted light is improved, and a bright screen screen can be obtained.

According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, the cross-section of the plurality of optical fibers constituting the optical fiber bundle is approximately 4
By using the square shape, an optical fiber bundle having no gap can be formed, the light use efficiency of the light emitted from the lamp can be further improved, and a bright screen screen can be obtained.

According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, the cross section of the plurality of optical fibers constituting the optical fiber bundle is approximately 6
By using the square shape, an optical fiber bundle having no gap can be formed, the light use efficiency of the light emitted from the lamp can be further improved, and a bright screen screen can be obtained.

According to the eighth aspect of the present invention, there are provided a first housing for housing a plurality of light sources and a plurality of optical fibers, and a second housing for housing image generating means. By connecting the bodies with the optical fiber binding unit, a free layout is possible according to the environment in which the projector device is set, and the maintainability can be improved.

According to the ninth aspect of the present invention, the use of the light source comprising the light condensing means for condensing the light emitted from the sun makes it possible to obtain a projector device with low power consumption.

According to the tenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a light source comprising a gas laser, a solid-state laser, or a semiconductor laser, and a condensing means for condensing light emitted from the gas laser, the solid-state laser, or the semiconductor laser. By using
A higher-luminance and longer-life projector device can be obtained.

According to the eleventh aspect, it is possible to switch between condensing the light emitted from the light emitting portion of the electrode discharge lamp and condensing the light emitted from the sun. In fine weather and in the daytime, the light emitted from the sun is condensed, so that the power consumption of the lamp can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration block diagram of a projector device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an effect of the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram showing a specific configuration of the collecting means shown in the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 illustrates a method of eliminating a gap between optical input / output units of an optical fiber bundle.

FIG. 5 is a configuration block diagram of a projector device according to Embodiment 6 of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a conventional normal luminance type projector device.

FIG. 7 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a conventional high-brightness type projector device.

[Explanation of symbols]

1a-1c electrode discharge type lamp, 2 lamp emission light,
3a-3c Condensing mirror, 4 mixing rod, 5
Illumination lens, 6 Image generation element, 7 Projection lens, 8
Screen, 9 image projector, 10a, 10b,
10c Light intensity pattern, 11a, 11b, 11c
Some light with high intensity, 12 collecting means, 13 synthetic light,
14 High-brightness image projector, 15 Light intensity pattern output from mixing rod 4, 16, 16a-
16c optical fiber, 16d optical fiber binding part, 17
Optical fiber bundle, 18 Optical fiber bundle end face after melting, 19 Light source section, 20 Projection section.

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Hiromitsu Watanabe 2-3-2 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Mitsui Electric Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Yoshihito Hirano 2-3-2 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Rishi Electric Co., Ltd.

Claims (11)

[Claims] 1. A projector device comprising the following elements. (A) a plurality of light sources having the following elements; (a1) an electrode discharge lamp having a high luminance at the center of the light emitting portion; (a2) collecting light emitted from the light emitting portion of the electrode discharge lamp. Condensing means; (b) synthesizing means for collecting and synthesizing only the high-brightness central portion of each light condensed by the condensing means of the plurality of light sources; (c) the synthesizing means having a finite aperture Image generating means for illuminating the finite aperture with the light synthesized by the means and generating an image. 2. The combining means, comprising: a plurality of optical fibers for inputting a central portion of each of the light beams collected by the plurality of light sources having high luminance, respectively; and a plurality of the optical fibers. The projector device according to claim 1, further comprising an optical fiber binding unit. 3. The projector according to claim 2, wherein the optical fiber is an optical fiber bundle including a plurality of optical fibers. 4. The optical fiber bundle according to claim 3, wherein the optical fiber bundle is bundled in the light input / output portion so that no gap is generated between the plurality of optical fibers constituting the optical fiber bundle. Projector device. 5. The optical fiber bundle according to claim 1, wherein, in the light input / output unit, a clad around the core that propagates the light has:
5. The projector device according to claim 4, wherein said projector device is removed from a plurality of optical fibers constituting said optical fiber bundle. 6. The projector device according to claim 4, wherein the optical fiber bundle has a cross section of a plurality of optical fibers constituting the optical fiber bundle being substantially quadrangular. 7. The projector device according to claim 4, wherein said optical fiber bundle has a cross section of a plurality of optical fibers constituting said optical fiber bundle being substantially hexagonal. 8. A first housing for housing the plurality of light sources and the plurality of optical fibers, and a second housing for housing the image generating means, wherein the optical fiber binding unit includes The projector device according to claim 2, wherein an input side of the projector is connected to the first housing, and an output side of the light is connected to the second housing. 9. The projector device according to claim 1, wherein said light source comprises a light collecting means for collecting light emitted from the sun. 10. The light source according to claim 1, wherein the light source comprises a gas laser, a solid-state laser, or a semiconductor laser, and condensing means for condensing light emitted from the gas laser, the solid-state laser, or the semiconductor laser. 2. The projector device according to 1. 11. The light condensing means switches between condensing light emitted from a light emitting portion of the electrode discharge type lamp and condensing light emitted from the sun. Item 2. The projector device according to item 1.