Device for image projection

• US 6,002,505 A
• Filed: 05/28/1998
• Issued: 12/14/1999
• Est. Priority Date: 09/30/1996
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: JENOPTIK LDT GmbH (Rheinmetall AG)
• Original Assignee: LDT GmbH & Co. Laser-Display-Technologie KG
• Inventors: Enenkel, Martin, Kraenert, Juergen, Deter, Christhard, Vogel, Wolfgang
• Primary Examiner(s): Phan, James
• Application Number:
  US09/077,413
• Time in Patent Office: 565 Days
• Field of Search: 359/196-226, 353/50, 353/66, 353/77, 353/79, 353/81, 353/98, 353/122, 348/744, 348/764, 348/818, 348/819, 250/206, 250/221, 250/222.1
• US Class Current: 359/196.1
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 26/101 with both horizontal and vertical deflecting means, e.g. raster or XY scanners colour television using laser beams scanning a display screen H04N9/3129
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/3129 scanning a light beam on the display screen scanning a light beam on a screen in displays other than projection devices G09G3/02; scanning systems in general G02B26/10; projectors using laser light sources in general H04N9/3161

Abstract

In an arrangement for displaying images on a projection screen, which arrangement includes a laser, which emits a laser beam, and a deflecting device, which is provided for deflecting the laser beam, and an image-generating device which is connected to a controlling device for controlling the laser and the deflecting means. The image-generating device is switchable in two operating modes, the first operating mode being the standard operating mode for projecting, and the second being an operating mode in which the laser radiation is harmless to a person disposed in the region to which the laser has access. In this regard, a safety circuit is provided and comprises at least one sensor, by which a monitored region, which is larger than the region accessible to the laser, between the image-generating means and the projection screen is monitored as to the presence of objects, wherein the image-generating means is switchable into the second operating mode by means of the safety circuit, in the event of an object being present.

Claims

1. An arrangement for displaying images on a projection screen comprising:

a laser which emits a laser beam;

deflecting means for deflecting the laser beam;

image-generating means connected to a controlling device for controlling said laser and said deflecting means;

said image-generating means being switchable in two operating modes, the first operating mode being the standard operating mode for projecting, and the second being an operating mode in which the laser radiation is harmless to a person disposed in the region to which the laser has access; and

a safety circuit being provided and comprising at least one sensor by which a monitored region, which is larger than the region accessible to the laser, between said image-generating means and the projection screen is monitored as to the presence of objects, wherein the image-generating means is switchable into the second operating mode by said safety circuit, in the event of an object being present.

2. The arrangement according to claim 1, wherein the monitored region comprises the region which is accessible to the laser and an edge region which is provided for the timeous detection of objects which are moving toward the danger zone.

3. The arrangement according to claim 2, wherein the edge region is greater than 10% in each deflection predetermined by the deflecting means for the laser light beam.

4. The arrangement according to claim 1, wherein at least one sensor is a sensor for detecting changes in the electromagnetic radiation emanating from the monitored region.

5. The arrangement according to claim 1, wherein at least one sensor is a sensor for detecting heat radiation emanating from the monitored region.

6. The arrangement according to claim 5, wherein the heat radiation is in the wavelengths between 700 nm and 14 μ

m.

7. The arrangement according to claim 1, wherein at least one sensor is a motion detector based on the pyroelectric principle.

8. The arrangement according to claim 1, wherein at least one sensor is a thermopile sensor for contactless temperature measuring.

9. The arrangement according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of direction-sensitive sensors are provided for monitoring, in each case, partial regions of the monitored region.

10. The arrangement according to claim 9, wherein the direction-sensitive sensors are arranged as a flat matrix.

11. The arrangement according to claim 10, wherein the sensors are light-sensitive elements of a CCD matrix, an optical means which provides a planar projection of objects in the monitored region on said CCD-matrix, being provided for producing the direction sensitivity.

12. The arrangement according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the sensors is designed to detect acoustic waves emanating from the monitored region.

13. The arrangement according to claim 1, wherein at least one transmitter is provided for radiating at least one of electromagnetic and acoustic waves, the frequency and intensity of which are harmless to persons into the monitored region, and at least one sensor is provided for detecting these waves.

14. The arrangement according to claim 13, wherein a pilot laser radiating in the non-visible infrared wavelength range from 700 nm to a maximum of 14 μ

m is provided as the transmitter.

15. The arrangement according to claim 14, wherein the radiation of the pilot laser is superimposed, coaxially and/or divergently, upon the laser beam for projection.

16. The arrangement according to claim 14, wherein the pilot laser beam is adapted to be rastered, by means of a deflecting means, across a deflecting region which is greater than that for the image display.

17. The arrangement according to claim 14, wherein a filter for a wavelength of the pilot laser is connected upstream of the at least one sensor.

18. The arrangement according to claim 13, wherein an optical means is provided for focussing the waves on the sensor for detecting.

19. The arrangement according to claim 13, wherein the transistor is designed to be pulse-mode operated and a time delay measurement for the wave is connected downstream of the at least one sensor, said delay measurement being designed to be interrogated regarding the distance between a detected object and the laser for switching the image-generating means into different operating conditions during the time delay.

20. The arrangement according to claim 13, wherein the transmitter is an LED.

21. The arrangement according to claim 1, wherein at least one sensor for presetting a set value, the signal of which is obtainable independently of objects in the monitored region, and a comparison circuit, by which the signal of the sensor detecting the monitored region is comparable, are provided.