Image display apparatus

• US 5,546,227 A
• Filed: 02/24/1994
• Issued: 08/13/1996
• Est. Priority Date: 02/24/1993
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Olympus Optical Corporation Limited (Olympus Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Olympus Optical Corporation Limited (Olympus Corporation)
• Inventors: Yasugaki, Masato, Iba, Yoichi, Konuma, Osamu
• Primary Examiner(s): Epps, Georgia Y.
• Assistant Examiner(s): MACK, RICKY LEVERN
• Application Number:
  US08/201,384
• Time in Patent Office: 901 Days
• Field of Search: 359/619, 359/625, 359/627, 359/629, 359/630, 359/631, 359/633, 359/634, 359/636, 359/638, 359/726, 359/727, 359/730, 359/731, 359/831, 359/833, 359/834
• US Class Current: 359/630
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 2027/011 comprising device for correcting geometrical aberrations, distortion
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 2027/0178 Eyeglass type eyeglass details G02C
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 27/0172 characterised by optical features

Abstract

An image display apparatus, e.g., a head-mounted display apparatus, which uses a half-mirror or a beam splitter prism and yet has an even more compact structure and provides a favorably flat image surface. A half-mirror (S) is obliquely disposed in front of an observer'"'"'s eyeball (1), and an image display device (3), e.g., a liquid crystal display device, and a magnifying reflecting mirror (4) are disposed to face each other across the half-mirror (S) and to extend parallel to the observer'"'"'s line of sight. To widen the field angle without increasing the size and weight of the optical system considerably, at least one surface (L) having positive refractive power is interposed between the eyeball (1) and the half-mirror (S). An even more compact arrangement is obtained by using a beam splitter prism in place of the half-mirror (S).

Claims

1. An image display apparatus comprising:

an image display device for displaying an image;

a semitransparent reflecting member provided in a direction of propagation of rays emitted from said image display device;

a magnifying reflecting mirror disposed so that rays emerging from said semitransparent reflecting member moves to and from said magnifying reflecting mirror and returns to said semitransparent reflecting member; and

an optical member of positive power which is provided on an optical path between said image display device and an eye point to which rays reflected by said magnifying reflecting mirror is led through said semitransparent reflecting member;

said magnifying reflecting mirror being a reverse reflecting mirror having a configuration in which a coating surface is provided on an optical member whose refractive index (n) is larger than 1 (n>

1) and which has positive power as a whole so that rays entering said optical member is reflected by said coating surface.

2. An image display apparatus according to claim 1, which satisfies the following condition:

space="preserve" listing-type="equation">|Fφ

.sub.3 /n.sub.3.sup.2 |<

1 (30)

where φ

₃ is the power of the reflecting surface of said reverse reflecting mirror;

n₃ is the refractive index for the spectral d-line of a medium of the optical member constituting said reverse reflecting mirror; and

F is the focal length of the entire optical system, exclusive of said image display device.

3. An image display apparatus according to claim 1, which satisfies the following condition:

space="preserve" listing-type="equation">|Fφ

.sub.3 /n.sub.3.sup.2 |<

0.6 (30)'"'"'

where φ

₃ is the power of the reflecting surface of said reverse reflecting mirror;

n₃ is the refractive index for the spectral d-line of a medium of the optical member constituting said reverse reflecting mirror; and

F is the focal length of the entire optical system, exclusive of said image display device.

4. An image display apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising at least one lens of positive power provided between said eye point and said semitransparent reflecting member.

5. An image display apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising at least one lens of negative power provided between said eye point and said semitransparent reflecting member.

6. An image display apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising at least one lens of positive power provided between said image display device and said semitransparent reflecting member.

7. An image display apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising at least one lens of negative power provided between said image display device and said semitransparent reflecting member.

8. An image display apparatus according to claim 1, which satisfies the following condition:

space="preserve" listing-type="equation">2<

R/F<

8 (31)

where R is the radius of curvature of said reverse reflecting mirror, and F is the focal length of the entire optical system, exclusive of said image display device.

9. An image display apparatus including a face-mounted unit which has an image display device, a semitransparent reflecting member, and a magnifying reflecting mirror, and a support member for retaining said face-mounted unit on an observer'"'"'s head;

said semitransparent reflecting member being provided in a direction of propagation of rays emitted from said image display device so that an optical path is formed to extend from said image display device to said semitransparent reflecting member; and

said magnifying reflecting mirror being disposed so that a complete optical path for forward and backward travel of rays is provided between said semitransparent reflecting member and said magnifying reflecting mirror;

wherein an optical member of positive power is provided on an optical path, including said complete optical path, between said semitransparent reflecting member and an eye point that is determined by said image display device, said semitransparent reflecting member and said magnifying reflecting mirror;

wherein said magnifying reflecting mirror is a surface reflecting mirror that reflects rays at an entrance-side surface thereof; and

wherein said image display apparatus satisfies the following condition;

space="preserve" listing-type="equation">0.5<

|n.sub.2φ

.sub.1 /φ

.sub.2 |<

4

where φ

₁ is the power of said surface reflecting mirror;

φ

₂ is the power of said optical member having positive power; and

n₂ is the refractive index for the spectral d-line of said optical member having positive power.

10. An image display apparatus including a face-mounted unit which has an image display device, a semitransparent reflecting member, and a magnifying reflecting mirror, and a support member for retaining said face-mounted unit on an observer'"'"'s head;

said semitransparent reflecting member being provided in a direction of propagation of rays emitted from said image display device so that an optical path is formed to extend from said image display device to said semitransparent reflecting member; and

said magnifying reflecting mirror being disposed so that a complete optical path for forward and backward travel of rays is provided between said semitransparent reflecting member and said magnifying reflecting mirror;

wherein an optical member of positive power is provided on an optical path, including said complete optical path, between said semitransparent reflecting member and an eye point that is determined by said image display device, said semitransparent reflecting member and said magnifying reflecting mirror;

wherein said magnifying reflecting mirror is a surface reflecting mirror that reflects rays at an entrance-side surface thereof; and

wherein said image display apparatus satisfies the following condition;

space="preserve" listing-type="equation">1<

|n.sub.2 φ

.sub.1 /φ

.sub.2 |<

3

where φ

₁ is the power of said surface reflecting mirror;

φ

₂ is the power of said optical member having positive power; and

n₂ is the refractive index for the spectral d-line of said optical member having positive power.

11. An image display apparatus including a face-mounted unit which has an image display device, a semitransparent reflecting member, and a magnifying reflecting mirror, and a support member for retaining said face-mounted unit on an observer'"'"'s head;

said semitransparent reflecting member being provided in a direction of propagation of rays emitted from said image display device so that an optical path is formed to extend from said image display device to said semitransparent reflecting member; and

said magnifying reflecting mirror being disposed so that a complete optical path for forward and backward travel of rays is provided between said semitransparent reflecting member and said magnifying reflecting mirror;

wherein an optical member of positive power is provided on an optical path, including said complete optical path, between said semitransparent reflecting member and an eye point that is determined by said image display device, said semitransparent reflecting member and said magnifying reflecting mirror;

wherein said magnifying reflecting mirror is a surface reflecting mirror that reflects rays at an entrance-side surface thereof; and

wherein said optical member of positive power is a lens system having positive power.

12. An image display apparatus according to claim 11, wherein said lens system having positive power is provided between said image display device and said semitransparent reflecting member.

13. An image display apparatus according to claim 11, wherein said lens system having positive power is provided between said eye point and said semitransparent reflecting member.

14. An image display apparatus including a face-mounted unit which has an image display device, a semitransparent reflecting member, and a magnifying reflecting mirror, and a support member for retaining said face-mounted unit on an observer'"'"'s head;

said semitransparent reflecting member being provided in a direction of propagation of rays emitted from said image display device so that an optical path is formed to extend from said image display device to said semitransparent reflecting member; and

said magnifying reflecting mirror being disposed so that a complete optical path for forward and backward travel of rays is provided between said semitransparent reflecting member and said magnifying reflecting mirror;

wherein an optical member of positive power is provided on an optical path, including said complete optical path, between said semitransparent reflecting member and an eye point that is determined by said image display device, said semitransparent reflecting member and said magnifying reflecting mirror;

wherein said magnifying reflecting mirror is a surface reflecting mirror that reflects rays at an entrance-side surface thereof; and

wherein said image display apparatus satisfies the following condition;

space="preserve" listing-type="equation">2<

R/F<

3

where R is the radius of curvature of said surface reflecting mirror, and F is the focal length of the entire optical system, exclusive of said image display device.

15. An image display apparatus including a face-mounted unit which has an image display device, a semitransparent reflecting member, and a magnifying reflecting mirror, and a support member for retaining said face-mounted unit on an observer'"'"'s head;

said semitransparent reflecting member being provided in a direction of propagation of rays emitted from said image display device so that an optical path is formed to extend from said image display device to said semitransparent reflecting member; and

said magnifying reflecting mirror being disposed so that a complete optical path for forward and backward travel of rays is provided between said semitransparent reflecting member and said magnifying reflecting mirror;

wherein an optical member of positive power is provided on an optical path, including said complete optical path, between said semitransparent reflecting member and an eye point that is determined by said image display device, said semitransparent reflecting member and said magnifying reflecting mirror; and

wherein said semitransparent reflecting member is formed from a prism having a half-mirror surface, and wherein at least two different kinds of medium are present between said half-mirror surface and said magnifying reflecting mirror, one of the two different kinds of medium constituting said prism.

16. An image display apparatus according to claim 15, wherein said optical member of positive power is a surface of positive power that is provided on an end surface of said prism.

17. An image display apparatus according to claim 15, wherein said prism satisfies the following condition:

space="preserve" listing-type="equation">ν

.sub.d >

30

where V_d is the Abbe'"'"'s number of said prism for the spectral d-line.

18. An image display apparatus according to claim 15, further comprising a lens of negative power provided between said prism and said magnifying reflecting mirror.

19. An image display apparatus according to claim 18, wherein said lens of negative power satisfies the following condition:

space="preserve" listing-type="equation">ν

.sub.d <

50

where V_d is the Abbe'"'"'s number of said lens of negative power for the spectral d-line.

20. An image display apparatus according to claim 15, further comprising a cemented lens of a positive lens and a negative lens provided between said prism and said magnifying reflecting mirror.

21. An image display apparatus according to claim 20, wherein the cemented surface of said cemented lens is formed from a convex surface of said positive lens and a concave surface of said negative lens.

22. An image display apparatus including a face-mounted unit which has an image display device, a semitransparent reflecting member, and a magnifying reflecting mirror, and a support member for retaining said face-mounted unit on an observer'"'"'s head;

said semitransparent reflecting member being provided in a direction of propagation of rays emitted from said image display device so that an optical path is formed to extend from said image display device to said semitransparent reflecting member; and

said magnifying reflecting mirror being disposed so that a complete optical path for forward and backward travel of rays is provided between said semitransparent reflecting member and said magnifying reflecting mirror; and

wherein an optical member of positive power is provided on an optical path, including said complete optical path, between said semitransparent reflecting member and an eye point that is determined by said image display device, said semitransparent reflecting member and said magnifying reflecting mirror;

wherein said optical member of positive power is provided between said semitransparent reflecting member and said eye point; and

wherein said optical member of positive power is a lens having positive power.

23. An image display apparatus including a face-mounted unit which has an image display device, a semitransparent reflecting member, and a magnifying reflecting mirror, and a support member for retaining said face-mounted unit on an observer'"'"'s head;

said semitransparent reflecting member being provided in a direction of propagation of rays emitted from said image display device so that an optical path is formed to extend from said image display device to said semitransparent reflecting member; and

said magnifying reflecting mirror being disposed so that a complete optical path for forward and backward travel of rays is provided between said semitransparent reflecting member and said magnifying reflecting mirror;

wherein an optical member of positive power is provided on an optical path, including said complete optical path, between said semitransparent reflecting member and an eye point that is determined by said image display device, said semitransparent reflecting member and said magnifying reflecting mirror;

wherein said optical member of positive power is provided between said semitransparent reflecting member and said eye point; and

wherein said optical member of positive power satisfies the following condition;

space="preserve" listing-type="equation">0.1φ

<

φ

.sub.1 <

0.5φ

where φ

₁ is the power of said optical member having positive power, and φ

is the power of the entire optical system, exclusive of said image display device.

24. An image display apparatus comprising:

an image display device for displaying an image;

a semitransparent reflecting member provided in a direction of propagation of rays emitted from said image display device;

a magnifying reflecting mirror disposed so that rays passing through said semitransparent reflecting member moves to and from said magnifying reflecting mirror and returns to said semitransparent reflecting member; and

an optical member of positive power which is provided between said image display device and an eye point which rays reflected by said magnifying reflecting mirror forms in a direction in which the reflected rays are reflected by said semitransparent reflecting member;

said magnifying reflecting mirror being a reverse reflecting mirror having a configuration in which a coating surface is provided on an optical member whose refractive index (n) is larger than 1 (n>

1) and which has positive power as a whole so that rays entering said optical member is reflected by said coating surface.

25. An image display apparatus comprising:

an image display device for displaying an image;

a semitransparent reflecting member provided in a direction of propagation of rays emitted from said image display device;

a magnifying reflecting mirror disposed so that rays reflected by said semitransparent reflecting member moves to and from said magnifying reflecting mirror and returns to said semitransparent reflecting member; and

an optical member of positive power which is provided between said image display device and an eye point which rays reflected by said magnifying reflecting mirror forms in a direction in which the reflected rays are transmitted by said semitransparent reflecting member;

said magnifying reflecting mirror being a reverse reflecting mirror having a configuration with a cemented surface defined by said optical member whose refractive index (n) is larger than 1 (n>

1) and which has positive power as a whole so that rays entering said optical member are reflected by said cemented surface.

26. An image display apparatus including a face-mounted unit which has an image display device, a semitransparent reflecting member, and a magnifying reflecting mirror, and a support member for retaining said face-mounted unit on an observer'"'"'s head, said image display apparatus comprising:

said semitransparent reflecting member being provided in a direction of propagation of rays emitted from said image display device so that an optical path is formed to extend from said image display device to said semitransparent reflecting member;

said magnifying reflecting mirror being disposed so that an optical path for a round-trip travel of rays is provided between said semitransparent reflecting member and said magnifying reflecting mirror; and

an optical member of positive power which is provided between said image display device and an eye point that is determined by said image display device, said semitransparent reflecting member and said magnifying reflecting mirror;

said magnifying reflecting mirror being a reverse reflecting mirror having a configuration with a cemented surface defined by said optical member whose refractive index (n) is larger than 1 (n>

1) and which has positive power as a whole so that rays entering said optical member are reflected by said cemented surface.

27. An image display apparatus including a face-mounted unit which has an image display device, a member having both reflecting and transmitting functions, a magnifying reflecting mirror, a support member for retaining said face-mounted unit on an observer'"'"'s head, said image display apparatus comprising:

said member having both reflecting and transmitting functions being provided in a direction of propagation of rays emitted from said image display device so that an optical path is formed to extend from said image display device to said member having both reflecting and transmitting functions;

said magnifying mirror being disposed so that a turn-back optical path for a complete travel of light rays is provided between said member having both reflecting and transmitting functions, and said magnifying reflecting mirror;

said magnifying reflecting mirror having a refractive index n which is larger than 1, said magnifying reflecting mirror further having a configuration including a coating surface that forms a back-coated mirror, said turn-back optical path being defined by said back-coated mirror; and

an optical system that includes said back-coated mirror and said member having both reflecting and transmitting functions, and which has a positive power as a whole, said optical system being arranged to lead an image of said image display device to an observer'"'"'s eyeball.

28. An image display apparatus according to claim 27, wherein said face-mounted unit is provided with a pair of left and right image display devices, a pair of left and right members having both reflecting and transmitting functions, and a pair of left and right back-coated mirrors.

29. An image display apparatus according to claim 27 or 28, wherein said image display device is provided in said face-mounted unit so that said image display device is disposed in front of a face of an observer.

30. An image display apparatus according to claim 27 or 28, wherein each of said magnifying reflecting mirror and said member having both reflecting and transmitting functions is formed of a prism member, which includes a medium having a refractive index, n that satisfies the condition:

space="preserve" listing-type="equation">n>

1.