Image display apparatus

• US 6,384,983 B1
• Filed: 09/08/2000
• Issued: 05/07/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 11/19/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Mixed Realty Systems Laboratory, Inc.
• Inventors: Inoguchi, Kazutaka, Yamazaki, Shoichi
• Primary Examiner(s): Epps, Georgia
• Assistant Examiner(s): Spector, David N.
• Application Number:
  US09/658,665
• Time in Patent Office: 606 Days
• Field of Search: 359/630, 359/631, 359/633, 359/636, 359/639, 359/640, 359/833, 359/834, 359/837, 345/7, 345/8
• US Class Current: 359/631
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 27/0172 characterised by optical features

Abstract

An image display apparatus has a display device for displaying image information and an optical system for guiding light from the display device to the eye. The optical system has a prism body of a positive refractive power including three or more surfaces with refractive powers differing depending upon azimuthal angles. The surface of the prism body closest to the display device is a surface in which refractive powers thereof differ depending upon azimuthal angles and in which a local curvature radius area having a positive refractive power on a local generating-line section (meridional section) is interposed between local curvature radius areas having a negative refractive power on the local generating-line section (meridional section).

Claims

1. An image display apparatus comprising display means for displaying image information, and optical means for guiding light from the display means to the eye, wherein said optical means comprises a prism body of a positive refractive power having three or more surfaces with refractive powers differing depending upon azimuthal angles, and wherein a surface of the prism body closest to the display means is a surface in which refractive powers thereof differ depending upon azimuthal angles and in which a local curvature radius area having a positive refractive power on a local generating-line section (meridional section) is interposed between local curvature radius areas having a negative refractive power on the local generating-line section (meridional section).

2. The image display apparatus of claim 1 wherein said prism body comprises a transmitting surface, a reflecting surface, and a reflecting surface in the order named in the opposite direction to passage of light, from the surface closest to the eye, and refractive powers on a local sagittal section at hit points between the respective surfaces of the prism body and a reference ray are arranged in such arrangement that the transmitting surface of a negative refractive power, the reflecting surface of a positive refractive power, and the reflecting surface of a negative refractive power are arranged in the order named in the opposite direction to passage of light, from the eye side.

3. The image display apparatus of claim 1 or 2 wherein the following condition is satisfied by a refractive index Nd of a material of said prism body:

4. The image display apparatus of claim 2 wherein the following condition is satisfied by an angle a between the reference ray and a tangent line to the surface closest to the eye on the local generating-line section (meridional section) at the hit point between the reference ray and the surface of said prism body closest to the eye;

5. The image display apparatus of claim 3 wherein the following condition is satisfied by an angle a between the reference ray and a tangent line to the surface closest to the eye on the local generating-line section (meridional section) at the hit point between the reference ray and the surface of said prism body closest to the eye;

6. The image display apparatus of claim 1 or 2 wherein said prism body comprises a transmitting surface, a reflecting surface, and a reflecting surface arranged in the order stated from the surface closest to said display means and wherein refractive powers on the local generating-line section (meridional section) at a hit point on each surface of the prism body, of a ray passing the center of the eye and a most marginal image on the far side from the eye out of most marginal images on the local generating-line section (meridional section) of the display means, are arranged in such arrangement that the transmitting surface of a negative refractive power, the reflecting surface of a positive refractive power, and the reflecting surface of a positive refractive power are placed in the order stated from the display means side.

7. The image display apparatus of claim 3 wherein said prism body comprises a transmitting surface, a reflecting surface, and a reflecting surface arranged in the order stated from the surface closest to said display means and wherein refractive powers on the local generating-line section (meridional section) at a hit point on each surface of the prism body, of a ray passing the center of the eye and a most marginal image on the far side from the eye out of most marginal images on the local generating-line section (meridional section) of the display means, are arranged in such arrangement that the transmitting surface of a negative refractive power, the reflecting surface of a positive refractive power, and the reflecting surface of a positive refractive power are placed in the order stated from the display means side.

8. The image display apparatus of claim 6 wherein the surface closest to the eye is a surface having two functions of transmitting action and reflecting action.

9. The image display apparatus of claim 7 wherein the surface closest to the eye is a surface having two functions of transmitting action and reflecting action.

10. An image display apparatus comprising display means for displaying image information, optical means for guiding light from the display means to the eye, and seethrough means for guiding light from the outside to the eye, wherein said optical means comprises a prism body of a positive refractive power comprised of three or more different surfaces, inclusive of two or more surfaces with refractive powers differing depending upon azimuthal angles, wherein said seethrough means is constructed in such structure that a correction prism is placed adjacent to or joined to said prism body in said optical means, that adjacent surfaces or joint surfaces are partially transmitting surfaces with little optical refractive power, and that the eye optical axis is approximately aligned with the outside optical axis, wherein a surface of the seethrough means closest to the outside is a decentered, curved surface which has a shape different from that of a surface of the seethrough means closest to the eye and in which refractive powers differ depending upon azimuthal angles, and wherein the following condition is satisfied by a curvature radius l_ry on a local generating-line section (meridional section) and a curvature radius l_rx on a local sagittal section at a hit point between a reference ray and the decentered, curved surface of the seethrough means closest to the outside:

11. The image display apparatus of claim 10 wherein said correction prism is placed in an outside region of said prism body.