JPS59148030A - Optical fiber-display device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain a thin, lightweight color display device by externally leading and emitting the internally transmitting light by a refractive index varying means which utilizes an electric field on the outside surface of an optical fiber. CONSTITUTION:A nitroglycerine film 5 is provided on the outer circumferential wall of the local part 3A of a clad 3, an electric power source 6 is connected by lead wires 7 and 8, and transparent electrodes 31 and 32 are formed. When a voltage V is applied from the power source 6 to the electrodes 31 and 32, a clad 3A varies in refractive index n2 by Kerr effect up to more than the refractive index n1 of a core 2. Therefore, light i1 leaks as transmitted light i2 in the boundary surface between the clad 3A and core 2. The light leaks only at the electrode part 3A and is seen brightly in a spot. The refractive index varying means of the optical fiber like this, i.e. a leaking means 10 from a halfway part is provided successibely to lead out the leaked light at an optional point on the optical fiber.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a display device using an optical fiber, and more particularly to an optical fiber display device in which light transmitted through the optical fiber leaks to the outside at a midpoint.

[Background technology and its problems]

2. Description of the Related Art Various display devices are known as means for displaying information such as television broadcast images and computers.

For example, an electron gun with a picture tube (CRT) that irradiates a p'' electron beam onto a phosphorescent surface and emits light is widely used. Due to the difficulty in making the picture tube thinner, there is a limit to how much it can be made lighter and thinner.Display devices using liquid crystals are also used as a way to overcome the above difficulties, but display speed, brightness, There are problems with colorization and longevity.

By the way, optical fibers have a diameter of 5 to 10 mm for transmitting light.
They are extremely thin glass fibers called μ, and are usually bundled in thousands to tens of thousands of fibers and used as cables.
It is used as an optical transmission means to transmit optical information from one end of a cable to the other end. The basic principle of optical fibers is that the transmitted light does not leak to the outer surface midway. That is, its structure is the same as shown in FIG.

The part that transmits light is called the core 2, which is a thin cylindrical quartz glass fiber, and the outer periphery of the core 2 is covered with a cladding 3.
It is surrounded by a glass outer coating called . Here, the refractive index of core 2 is nl%, and the refractive index of cladding 3 is n2
Then, nl>n2. Therefore, by making the incident angle θ of the incident light i from the incident part 1A of the optical fiber 1 smaller than the critical angle at the interface 4 between the core 2 and the cladding 3, the incident light i is transmitted through repeated total reflections and output. Reach part 1B. As mentioned above, the optical fiber 1 prevents light from leaking to the outside and can transmit information from the incident light to the other end, so it is widely used in gastrocameras and optical communication means. I had no intention of taking it out and using it.

[Purpose of the invention]

An object of the present invention is to provide a novel display device that is thin and lightweight, and can also be used as a color display device, by using the light leaked from the middle of the optical fiber.

[Summary of the invention]

That is, in the present invention, in order to achieve the above object, a means for changing the refractive index by an electric field is provided on the outer surface of the optical fiber, and the internally transmitted light of the optical fiber is changed to a cladding: 1I4.
This feature is characterized by the fact that the first part is leaked to the outside to prevent it from being emitted.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

In the description of the embodiment, the same reference numerals are used for the same components as those of the conventional example shown in FIG.

To explain the method of leakage of transmitted light from the midway part of the optical fiber with reference to Figure 2, nitroglycerin 5 is fixed as a coating on the outer peripheral wall of the cladding 3A, which is a local part of the cladding 3, and the nitroglycerin 5 is fixed as a coating. glycerin 5
0 Both ends 5A, 5B have external wiring [Tron λ6 is the lead wire?
, 8t koyori, 1 and 1.1 amisa ding t11a clear! ff
,,i□6. j31 and 32 are formed. In the above configuration, a voltage V is applied to the electrodes 31 and 32 by the external power supply 6.
By applying this, a so-called Kerr effect (CKerr effect) occurs, and the refractive index n2 of the cladding 3A in the applied portion changes.

That is, by changing the value of the voltage V, the cladding 3
It is possible to make the refractive index n2 of A smaller than the refractive index n1 of the core 2. Here, n 2) If n 1, the third
As shown in the figure, the optical fiber transmission light 11 is transmitted through the cladding 3.
The light is not totally reflected at the interface between A and the core 2, but leaks from that part to the outer surface as transmitted light 12.

In addition, the refractive index n2 of the cladding 3A changes according to the applied voltage V, and as the refractive index n2 becomes narrower in the range of n 2 (n I), even the smaller incident angle θ of the transmitted light j1 is transmitted. n2) In the range of n+, as n2 becomes larger, the transmitted light 12 has more components in the direction perpendicular to the optical fiber, so the amount of light becomes relatively large. It is thus possible to adjust the transmitted light meter according to the voltage V.

On the other hand, the refractive index of the cladding 3 other than the cladding 3A, which is the portion where the electrodes 31 and 32 are disposed, does not change and the transmitted light does not pass therethrough. Therefore, light leaks only in the cladding 3A of the electric field applied portion, and appears to shine in a spot-like manner. By arranging a large number of optical fiber refractive index changing means, ie, leakage means 10 from the middle part of the optical fiber having the above-mentioned structure, in series on the optical fiber, leaked light can be taken out at any point on the optical fiber.

FIG. 4 shows the above-mentioned leakage means 10 continuously connected to the optical fiber.
This shows the state in which the Here, the light incident on the optical fiber is incident on one end 1 of the optical fiber by the light source 11.
If only the light comes from C, the leaked light becomes darker (attenuated) as it approaches the other end 1D due to light loss in the middle. Particularly in large display devices that use long optical fibers, the edge display becomes dark. In order to eliminate the above drawback, as shown in FIG.
.

It is preferable to install light sources 11 and 12 in 1D and irradiate from both ends to equalize the amount of light at each part of the optical fiber.

The optical fibers 20 provided with the transmission light leakage mechanism having the above configuration are arranged closely and in parallel to each other as shown in FIG. When a scanning voltage is applied, the transmitted light leakage part moves depending on the applied voltage, and the optical meter of the transmitted light leakage part changes in proportion to the applied voltage, so it can be used as a display device for images, etc. is possible. That is, optical fibers are arranged in parallel on a support plate 19 in the form of panels, light sources 13 and 14 are arranged at both ends, and each optical fiber is connected to an electric wire at an appropriate interval.
By plating the panel, the panel can be used as a large flat display device.

Next, an embodiment in which the above display device is used as a color display device is shown in FIGS. 6 and 7.

FIG. 6 shows a method using three types of light sources. That is, three optical fibers are used as one thread, and the optical fiber 2OA receives only the light from the light source 15 that selectively emits red light, and similarly, the optical fiber 20B receives the light from the light source 16 that selectively emits green light. Only light enters the optical fiber 20. In C, only the light from the light source 11 that selectively emits blue light is incident.

Therefore, the optical fibers 20A, 20B.

By arranging three 20C optical fiber bundles 24 in parallel, a color display device can be obtained.

In FIG. 7, a red light transmission filter 21 is disposed at the end of the optical fiber 20D, and a red light transmission filter 21 is provided at the end of the optical fiber 20D.
A green light transmitting filter 22 is disposed at the end of the optical fiber 20E, and a blue light transmitting filter 23 is disposed at the end of the optical fiber 20F. The above three optical fibers 20D and 20E.

20F, a single light beam (light from the cool air 18) is always equally incident on each fiber. With the above configuration, a bundle 25 of three optical fibers 20D, 20E, and 20F can be arranged in parallel as in the case of FIG. 6. It can be used as a color display device.The above-mentioned optical fibers may be constructed using quartz glass fibers or plastic fibers in exactly the same way.Here, plastic fibers can be used as optical fibers. When used, manufacturing costs can be significantly reduced.

As is clear from the description of the above embodiments, it is possible to construct a color display device using light leaked from the middle of an optical fiber. Further, since the display portion of the display device is composed of only the optical fiber 20 and its support plate 19, it can be made extremely thin and lightweight. On the other hand, the optical fiber is extremely
The spot of leaked light is very fine.
As a display device, it has extremely high resolution.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As is clear from the above description, since the present invention is a display device characterized by using light leaked from the middle of an optical fiber, the display device can be thin and I! Since it is possible to perform quaternization, there is no heat generation, and the simple structure can be used as a color display device, and its resolution is also very excellent.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view showing the configuration of a ≠half≠ optical fiber. FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view showing the refractive index changing means on the outer surface of the optical fiber in the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a vertical view showing a state in which transmitted light is transmitted by the refractive index changing means. FIG. 4 is a schematic front view of an e-fiber having a transmission light continuous leakage mechanism. FIG. 5 is a schematic front view of an optical fiber display device constructed using the optical fibers shown in FIG. 4. FIGS. 6 and 7 are R, G, and B,
FIG. 2 is a schematic front view showing the method. 1... Optical fiber 2... Core 3... Clad 5... Nitroglycerin 6... External power supply
10... Ku + Ji rate changing means 11 to 18...
Light source 19...Support plate 20...Optical fiber installed with transmission light continuous leakage mechanism Patent applicant Nnyami Shiki Company representative Patent attorney Kodo Koike 1) Sakae Mura - Part J
rg 2nd m 3m Fig. 4 0 Fig. 5

Claims (1)

[Claims] An optical fiber display device characterized in that an optical fiber is provided with a refractive index changing means by an electric field on the outer surface thereof, and the internally transmitted light of the optical fiber is leaked to the outside to emit light.