Sensory integration system and image display device and concave mirror for use in the same system

• US 5,833,340 A
• Filed: 09/06/1995
• Issued: 11/10/1998
• Est. Priority Date: 09/06/1994
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Inventors: Yoshikawa, Hiroki, Ohishi, Tetsu, Tanide, Hideo
• Primary Examiner(s): DOWLING, WILLIAM C
• Application Number:
  US08/524,173
• Time in Patent Office: 1,161 Days
• Field of Search: 353/98, 353/99, 353/37, 353/77, 353/94, 353/69, 353/70, 353/79, 359/451, 359/631, 359/459, 359/853, 359/867, 359/868, 359/869, 359/893, 348/443
• US Class Current: 353/98
• CPC Class Codes: G03B 21/00 Projectors or projection-type viewers; Accessories therefor devices for changing pictures G03B23/00

Abstract

A concave mirror which has rigidity higher than an aluminum foil mirror and is light-weight and low cost compared with a polished glass mirror is composed of at least one concave mirror unit of a synthetic resin material molded to a concave shape and an aluminum reflecting layer vapor deposited on a front or rear surface of the concave mirror unit. A low cost image display device capable of projecting an image onto the concave mirror without using any specially designed projection lens includes at least a projection type cathode ray tube having a flat or substantially flat phosphor surface panel and a transmission type screen and the concave mirror. A multi-screen system which includes a plurality of the image display devices juxtaposed to provide an increased horizontal view angle is provided. Further, a sensory integration system using the image display device is provided.

Claims

1. A sensory integration system comprising at least an image display apparatus including an image projector and a concave mirror for reflecting the real image projected from said image projector to a viewer, said concave mirror being composed of at least a concave mirror piece of synthetic resin material and a reflecting layer formed on one surface of said concave mirror piece.

2. The sensory integration system claimed in claim 1, wherein one side of opposing sides of said concave mirror is longer than the other side of said mirror.

3. The sensory integration system claimed in claim 1, wherein radius of curvature of a peripheral portion of said concave mirror is smaller than radius of curvature of a center portion of said concave mirror.

4. The sensory integration system claimed in claim 1, wherein said one surface of said concave mirror is a concave side surface of said concave mirror and said reflecting layer is formed by vapor-deposition of aluminum, and further comprising a protective layer of a low melting point glass material formed on said reflecting layer by vapor deposition.

5. The sensory integration system claimed in claim 1, wherein said synthetic resin material is transparent and said one surface of said concave mirror is a convex side surface of said concave mirror and said reflecting layer of said concave mirror is formed by vapor deposition of aluminum, and further comprising a transparent or opaque protective layer formed on said reflecting layer.

6. The sensory integration system claimed in claim 3, wherein said concave mirror has a radius of curvature of 1 m or more and a lateral length of 1 m or more.

7. The sensory integration system claimed in claim 1, wherein said concave mirror comprises a combination of a plurality of said concave mirror pieces.

8. The sensory integration system claimed in claim 7, wherein the plurality of said concave mirror pieces is supported by a frame with a gap between each of the said concave mirror pieces and said frame such that said concave mirror pieces are movable with respect to the frame.

9. The sensory integration system claimed in claim 1, wherein an aspect ratio of lateral length to vertical length of said concave mirror is about 4:

3 or larger.

10. An image display apparatus comprising:

a video source for displaying a real image; and

,

a concave mirror made of a synthetic resin for reflecting the image displayed on said video source, said concave mirror comprising a reflecting layer formed on one surface thereof, a peripheral portion of said concave mirror having a radius of curvature smaller than a radius of curvature of a center portion of said concave mirror.

11. A sensory integration system comprising at least an image display apparatus including:

a video source for producing a real image, said video source including a video projector of a rear face projection type; and

,

a real image screen portion for displaying the real image from said video source, said real image screen being concave on the side of said video source and having an aspect ratio of lateral length to vertical length of about 4;

3 or larger.

12. A sensory integration system comprising at least an image display apparatus including:

a video source for producing a real image, said video source including a projection tube having a flat or substantially flat phosphor panel and a substantially spherical screen; and

,

a real image screen portion for displaying the real image from said video source, an aspect ratio of lateral length to vertical length of said real image screen portion being about 4;

3 or larger.

13. A sensory integration system comprising at least an image display apparatus including a video source for producing a real image, the video source including a projection tube with an inverse radius of curvature H, a real image screen portion having an inverse radius of curvature S for displaying the real image projected from said video source by a projection lens having an inverse radius of curvature L, and a concave mirror for reflecting the real image displayed on said real image screen, where:

space="preserve" listing-type="equation">S=A(L-H),

where A is a constant in a range from 0.50 to 0.78.

14. The sensory integration system claimed in claim 13, wherein the constant A is in a range from 0.57 to 0.71.

15. The sensory integration system claimed in claim 13, wherein said concave mirror is of a synthetic resin and has a reflecting layer formed on one surface thereof.

16. The sensory integration system claimed in claim 13, wherein one side of opposing sides of said concave mirror is longer than the other side of said mirror.

17. The sensory integration system claimed in claim 13, wherein radius of curvature of a peripheral portion of said concave mirror is smaller than radius of curvature of a center portion of said concave mirror.

18. The sensory integration system claimed in any of claims 13, wherein an optical path of a projection optical system in said video source is bent by a flat mirror.

19. The sensory integration system claimed in claim 13, wherein said video source includes red, green and blue projection type cathode ray tubes and said red, green and blue projection type cathode ray tubes are in-line arranged in a horizontal plane substantially perpendicular to said screen portion.

20. The sensory integration system claimed in claim 13, wherein said video source is housed in a housing having a substantially isosceles triangle shape in plan view with a front side being wider.

21. The sensory integration system claimed in claim 13, wherein a horizontal linearity of a center portion of an image displayed on said real image screen portion is larger than that of a peripheral portion of the image.

22. An image display apparatus comprising:

a video source for displaying a real image; and

,

a concave mirror made of a synthetic resin for reflecting the image displayed on said video source, said concave mirror comprising;

a reflecting layer formed on one surface thereof, said reflecting layer being formed by vapor-deposition of aluminum, and

a protective layer of a low melting point glass material formed on said reflecting layer by vapor deposition.

23. An image display apparatus comprising:

a video source for displaying a real image; and

,

a concave mirror made of a transparent synthetic resin for reflecting the image displayed on said video source, said concave mirror comprising a reflecting layer on a convex side surface of said mirror, said reflecting layer being formed by vapor deposition of aluminum, and a transparent or opaque protective layer on said reflecting layer.

24. An image display apparatus comprising:

a video source for displaying a real image; and

,

a concave mirror for reflecting the image displayed on said video source, a peripheral portion of said concave mirror having a radius of curvature smaller than a radius of curvature of a center portion of said concave mirror, said concave mirror having opposing sides with one side being longer than the other side.

25. A concave mirror made of a synthetic resin for reflecting an image displayed on a video source for displaying a real image, said mirror comprising a reflecting layer formed on one surface thereof, said mirror comprising a peripheral portion which has a radius of curvature smaller than a radius of curvature of a center portion of said concave mirror.

26. A concave mirror for reflecting an image displayed on a video source for displaying a real image, said concave mirror having:

a reflecting layer found on one surface thereof, said reflecting layer being formed by vapor-deposition of aluminum, and

a protective layer of a low melting point glass material formed on said reflecting layer by vapor deposition.

27. A concave mirror for reflecting an image displayed on a video source for displaying a real image, said concave mirror being of a transparent synthetic resin and having a reflecting layer found on a convex side surface thereof, said reflecting layer being formed by vapor deposition of aluminum, and protective layer on said reflecting layer.

28. A concave mirror for reflecting an image displayed on a video source for displaying a real image, said concave mirror having opposing sides with one side being longer than the other side, said concave mirror having a peripheral portion of said concave mirror which has a radius of curvature smaller than a radius of curvature of a center portion of said concave mirror.

29. An image display apparatus comprising a video source for displaying a real image and a concave mirror having a reflecting layer formed on one surface thereof for reflecting the image displayed on said video source, a radius of curvature of a peripheral portion of said concave mirror being smaller than a radius of curvature of a center portion of said concave mirror.

31. The image display apparatus claimed in claim 29, wherein said concave mirror comprises a combination of a plurality of concave mirror pieces.

32. The image display apparatus claimed in claim 31, wherein each of the plurality of said concave mirror pieces is supported by a frame with a gap with respect to said frame such that said concave mirror pieces are movable with respect thereto.

30. An image display apparatus comprising a video source for displaying a real image and a concave surface for giving a true representation of the image displayed on said video source, a radius of curvature of a peripheral portion of said concave surface being smaller than a radius of curvature of a center portion of said concave surface, said concave surface having a radius of curvature of 1 m or more and a lateral length of 1 m or more.

33. An image display apparatus comprising a video source for displaying a real image and a concave surface for giving a true representation of the image displayed on said video source, a radius of curvature of a peripheral portion of said concave surface being smaller than a radius of curvature of a center portion of said concave surface, an aspect ratio of lateral length to vertical length of said concave surface being about 4:

3 or larger.

34. A concave mirror having a reflecting layer formed on one surface thereof for reflecting an image displayed on a video source for displaying a real image, a radius of curvature of a peripheral portion of said concave mirror being smaller than a radius of curvature of a center portion of said concave mirror.

47. The concave mirror claimed in claim 34, wherein said concave mirror comprises a combination of a plurality of said concave mirror pieces.

48. The concave mirror claimed in claim 47, wherein each of the plurality of said concave mirror pieces is supported by a frame with a gap with respect to said frame such that said concave mirror pieces are movable with respect thereto.

35. An image display apparatus comprising:

a video projector of a rear face projection type for producing a real image;

a real image screen is concave on the side of said video projector for displaying the real image from said video projector, an aspect ratio of lateral length to vertical length of said real image screen portion is about 4;

3 or larger.

36. The image display apparatus claimed in claim 35, wherein said video source comprises a projection tube having a flat or substantially flat phosphor panel and a substantially spherical screen.

37. An image display apparatus comprising:

a video source for producing a real image, including a projection tube having a phosphor panel with an inverse of a radius of curvature H;

a real image screen portion having an inverse of a radius of curvature S for displaying the real image projected from said video source by a projection lens having an inverse of a radius of curvature L; and

a concave mirror for reflecting the real image displayed on said real image screen, wherein the following relation is established;

space="preserve" listing-type="equation">S=A(L-H),

where A is a constant in a range from 0.50 to 0.78.

38. The image display apparatus claimed in claim 37, wherein the constant A is in a range from 0.57 to 0.71.

39. The image display apparatus claimed in claim 37, wherein said concave mirror is of a synthetic resin and has a reflecting layer formed on one surface thereof.

40. The image display apparatus claimed in claim 37, wherein one side of opposing sides of said concave mirror is longer than the other side of said mirror.

41. The image display apparatus claimed in claim 37, wherein radius of curvature of a peripheral portion of said concave mirror is smaller than radius of curvature of a center portion of said concave mirror.

42. The image display apparatus claimed in claim 37, wherein an optical path of a projection optical system in said video source is bent by a flat mirror.

43. The image display apparatus claimed in claim 37, wherein said video source includes red, green and blue projection type cathode ray tubes and said red, green and blue projection type cathode ray tubes are in-line arranged in a horizontal plane substantially perpendicular to said screen portion.

44. The image display apparatus claimed in claim 37, wherein said video source is housed in a housing having a substantially isosceles triangle shape in plan view with a front side being wider.

45. The image display apparatus claimed in claim 37, wherein a horizontal linearity of a center portion of an image displayed on said real image screen portion is larger than that of a peripheral portion of the image.

46. A concave mirror for reflecting an image displayed on a video source for displaying a real image, said concave mirror having a radius of curvature of 1 m or more and a lateral length of 1 m or more, the radius of curvature of a peripheral portion of said concave mirror being smaller than the radius of curvature of a center portion of said concave mirror.

49. A concave mirror for reflecting an image displayed on a video source for displaying a real image, a radius of curvature of a peripheral portion of said concave mirror being smaller than radius of curvature of a center portion of said concave mirror, an aspect ratio of lateral length to vertical length of said concave mirror being about 4:

3 or larger.