Liquid crystal shutter array having microlenses corresponding to the pixel electrodes
First Claim
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1. A liquid crystal shutter array comprising:
- a matrix of pixel electrodes, a common electrode disposed in opposition to said pixel electrodes with a gap therebetween filled with a liquid crystal, a pair of transparent substrates for supporting said pixel electrodes and said common electrode by sandwiching said pixel electrodes and said common electrode therebetween, polarization plates stacked on the respective outside of said transparent substrates, photomasks embedded in one of said polarization plates disposed at the light output side of said liquid crystal, said one of the polarization plates having opening portions between adjacent embedded photomasks, the opening portions corresponding to pixel electrodes, microlenses formed in at least one of said transparent substrates such that said microlenses correspond to said pixel electrodes, a refractive index of light of each of said microlenses being set in a manner so that an incident angle θ
of light incident on said liquid crystal through said microlenses satisfies;
##EQU5## where P, a, and d respectively represent a length of each of said photomasks, a length of a portion where each of said photomasks and corresponding ones of said pixel electrodes overlap each other, and a thickness of said one transparent substrate at the light output side of said liquid crystal.
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Abstract
A liquid crystal shutter array requiring no separate focusing lens system. Microlenses for focusing the light incident upon a matrix of pixel electrodes are formed in a transparent substrate of the shutter assembly. A refractive index of light of each of the microlenses is set in a manner such that the incident angle θ of the light incident on the liquid crystal of the shutter through the microlenses satisfies; ##EQU1## where P, a, and d respectively represent the size of each of the photomasks, the length of a portion wherein each of the photomasks and corresponding ones of the pixel electrodes overlap, and the thickness of the transparent substrate on the light output side.
204 Citations
7 Claims
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1. A liquid crystal shutter array comprising:
a matrix of pixel electrodes, a common electrode disposed in opposition to said pixel electrodes with a gap therebetween filled with a liquid crystal, a pair of transparent substrates for supporting said pixel electrodes and said common electrode by sandwiching said pixel electrodes and said common electrode therebetween, polarization plates stacked on the respective outside of said transparent substrates, photomasks embedded in one of said polarization plates disposed at the light output side of said liquid crystal, said one of the polarization plates having opening portions between adjacent embedded photomasks, the opening portions corresponding to pixel electrodes, microlenses formed in at least one of said transparent substrates such that said microlenses correspond to said pixel electrodes, a refractive index of light of each of said microlenses being set in a manner so that an incident angle θ
of light incident on said liquid crystal through said microlenses satisfies;
##EQU5## where P, a, and d respectively represent a length of each of said photomasks, a length of a portion where each of said photomasks and corresponding ones of said pixel electrodes overlap each other, and a thickness of said one transparent substrate at the light output side of said liquid crystal.- View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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Current AssigneeFujifilm Corporation (Fujifilm Holdings Corporation), Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.)
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Original AssigneeFuji Photo Film Co Limited (Fujifilm Holdings Corporation), Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.)
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InventorsNakamura, Takeshi, Miyakawa, Tadashi, Akimoto, Kazuhiko, Shioji, Mitsuaki, Yanagihara, Kazuhiko, Oishi, Hisao
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Primary Examiner(s)Miller, Stanley D.
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Assistant Examiner(s)MAI, HUY KIM
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Application NumberUS07/120,450Time in Patent Office571 DaysField of Search350/334, 350/339 F, 350/342, 350/114, 350/339 RUS Class Current349/95CPC Class CodesB41J 2/465 using masks, e.g. light-swi...G02F 1/133526 Lenses, e.g. microlenses or...
