Image display apparatus
First Claim
1. An image display apparatus, comprising:
- an image display device for displaying an image; and
an ocular optical system for projecting the image displayed by said image display device and leading the projected image to an observer'"'"'s eyeball,said ocular optical system having at least four surfaces which include, in order in which light rays pass in backward ray tracing from said observer'"'"'s eyeball to said image display device, a first surface which is a refracting surface, a second surface which is a reflecting surface of positive power facing said first surface and decentered with respect to an observer'"'"'s visual axis, a third surface which is a reflecting surface facing said second surface and decentered with respect to the observer'"'"'s visual axis that has been reflected by said second surface, and a fourth surface which is a refracting surface closest to said image display device,said four surfaces forming a prism, said prism being arranged such that a bundle of light rays emitted from said image display device passes through said prism and is led to a center and a periphery of a pupil of said observer'"'"'s eyeball,wherein;
at least two of said at least four surfaces have a finite curvature radius;
a space formed by said first to fourth surfaces is filled with a medium having a refractive index larger than 1;
said two reflecting surfaces are disposed such that a principal ray extending from said observer'"'"'s eyeball to said image display device does not intersect its own path in said ocular optical system; and
a first-order image of said image display device is formed on a retina of said observer'"'"'s eyeball.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An image display apparatus which enables observation of a clear image at a wide field angle, and which is extremely small in size and light in weight and hence unlikely to cause the observer to be fatigued. The image display apparatus has an image display device (7) and an ocular optical system for projecting the image of the image display device and leading the projected image to an observer'"'"'s eyeball (1). The ocular optical system has, in the order of backward ray tracing, a first surface (3) which is a refracting surface, a second surface (4) which is a decentered reflecting surface of positive power, a third surface (5) which is a decentered reflecting surface, and a fourth surface (6) which is a refracting surface. At least two of the four surfaces have a finite curvature radius. A space formed by the first to fourth surfaces (3 to 6) is filled with a medium having a refractive index larger than 1. The two reflecting surfaces are disposed such that the principal ray extending from the observer'"'"'s eyeball (1) to the image display device (7) does not intersect its own path in the ocular optical system. Thus, the first-order image of the image display device (7) is formed on the retina of the observer'"'"'s eyeball.
64 Citations
22 Claims
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1. An image display apparatus, comprising:
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an image display device for displaying an image; and an ocular optical system for projecting the image displayed by said image display device and leading the projected image to an observer'"'"'s eyeball, said ocular optical system having at least four surfaces which include, in order in which light rays pass in backward ray tracing from said observer'"'"'s eyeball to said image display device, a first surface which is a refracting surface, a second surface which is a reflecting surface of positive power facing said first surface and decentered with respect to an observer'"'"'s visual axis, a third surface which is a reflecting surface facing said second surface and decentered with respect to the observer'"'"'s visual axis that has been reflected by said second surface, and a fourth surface which is a refracting surface closest to said image display device, said four surfaces forming a prism, said prism being arranged such that a bundle of light rays emitted from said image display device passes through said prism and is led to a center and a periphery of a pupil of said observer'"'"'s eyeball, wherein; at least two of said at least four surfaces have a finite curvature radius; a space formed by said first to fourth surfaces is filled with a medium having a refractive index larger than 1; said two reflecting surfaces are disposed such that a principal ray extending from said observer'"'"'s eyeball to said image display device does not intersect its own path in said ocular optical system; and a first-order image of said image display device is formed on a retina of said observer'"'"'s eyeball. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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10. An image display apparatus, comprising:
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an image display device for displaying an image; and an ocular optical system for projecting the image displayed by said image display device and leading the projected image to an observer'"'"'s eyeball, said ocular optical system including a decentered optical element having at least four surfaces which include, in order in which light rays pass in backward ray tracing from said observer'"'"'s eyeball to said image display device, a first surface which is a refracting surface, a second surface which is a reflecting surface of positive power facing said first surface and decentered with respect to an observer'"'"'s visual axis, a third surface which is a reflecting surface facing said second surface and decentered with respect to said observer'"'"'s visual axis that has been reflected by said second surface, and a fourth surface which is a refracting surface closest to said image display device, said four surfaces forming a prism, said prism being arranged such that a bundle of light rays emitted from said image display device passes through said prism and is led to a center and periphery of a pupil of said observer'"'"'s eyeball, wherein at least two of said at least four surfaces have a finite curvature radius, and a space formed by said first to fourth surfaces is filled with a medium having a refractive index larger than 1, said ocular optical system further including at least one optical surface having refracting action, said decentered optical element and said at least one optical surface being disposed in an optical path extending from said image display device to said observer'"'"'s eyeball. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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Specification