Head-up display device

• US 9,835,774 B2
• Filed: 07/22/2014
• Issued: 12/05/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 07/24/2013
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: DENSO Corporation
• Original Assignee: DENSO Corporation
• Inventors: Yamaguchi, Masayuki, Fujikawa, Takayuki, Ando, Hiroshi
• Primary Examiner(s): Howard, Ryan
• Application Number:
  US14/906,275
• Publication Number:
  US 20160170099A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,232 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 35/00 Instruments specially adapted for vehicles; Arrangement of instruments in or on vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2300/205 using a head-up display
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 2027/0118 comprising devices for improving the contrast of the display / brillance control visibility
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 26/105 with one or more pivoting mirrors or galvano-mirrors G02B26/101 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 27/0101 characterised by optical features G02B27/0172 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 5/02 Diffusing elements; Afocal elements
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 5/0263 with positional variation of the diffusing properties, e.g. gradient or patterned diffuser
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 5/1861 Reflection gratings characterised by their structure, e.g. step profile, contours of substrate or grooves, pitch variations, materials G02B5/1809, G02B5/1828, G02B5/1833, G02B5/1838 and G02B5/1847 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G03B 21/2013 Plural light sources
• CPC Class Codes: G03B 21/2033 LED or laser light sources
• 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

Each of a plurality of optical elements that are arrayed in a lattice pattern in a screen member which diffuses a laser beam incident from a projector to guide the laser beam toward a projection surface has a curved surface on a side thereof, and the curved surface has a common convexly curved shape, and diffuses the laser beam which is emitted from the curved surface toward the projection surface. The respective optical elements include a plurality of reference elements which serve as a reference and a plurality of peripheral elements which are adjacent to the respective reference elements. The respective reference elements and the respective adjacent peripheral elements are formed by offsetting surface vertexes of the curved surfaces in a stepwise manner. Offset amounts generated between the respective reference elements and the respective adjacent peripheral elements are different from each other.

Claims

1. A head-up display device that displays a virtual image of a display image to be visible from an interior of a moving body by projecting the display image onto a projection surface of the moving body, the device comprising:

a projector that projects a laser beam of the display image; and

a screen member that includes a plurality of optical elements arrayed in a lattice pattern, the screen member guiding the laser beam toward the projection surface by diffusing the laser beam incident on the optical elements from the projector, wherein

each of the plurality of optical elements has a curved surface on one side thereof, the curved surface having a common curved shape of one of a convex curve and a concave curve, the curved surface diffusing the laser beam emitted from the curved surface toward the projection surface,

the plurality of optical elements include a plurality of reference elements that serve as a reference and a plurality of peripheral element adjacent to the plurality of reference elements,

the curved surface of each of the plurality of reference elements has a surface vertex that is offset from a surface vertex of each of the adjacent plurality of peripheral elements, and

each of the plurality of reference elements has a different offset amount with each of the adjacent plurality of peripheral elements.

2. The head-up display device according to claim 1, wherein:

the plurality of reference elements and the plurality of peripheral elements are alternately two-dimensionally arrayed along array directions, mutually adjacent ones of the plurality of reference elements and the plurality of peripheral elements along each of the array directions forming element pair sets, and

a plurality of different types of the element pair sets are arranged in a fixed order along each of the array directions, the offset amount between the pair of the reference element and the peripheral element being different for each type of the element pair sets.

3. The head-up display device according to claim 2, wherein

each of the plurality of optical elements diffuses and emits the laser beam by reflecting the laser beam on the curved surface,

jp, Ip, and n are defined as an integer of 0 or more,

jm and Im are defined as an integer of 1 or more,

k and m are defined as an odd number of 1 or more,

a wavelength of the laser beam is defined as λ

,

ε

1, ε

2, ε

3, ε

4, and ε

5 are defined as numerical values that meet a condition that the numerical values are greater than −

λ

/32 and less than λ

/32, and

the plurality of different types of the element pair sets include;

a first element pair set having the offset amount between the pair of the reference element and the peripheral element, the offset amount being represented by an expression {(8jp+1)/16}*λ

+ε

1 or an expression {(8jm−

1)/16}*λ

+ε

1;

a second element pair set having the offset amount between the pair of the reference element and the peripheral element, the offset amount being represented by an expression (k/8)*λ

+ε

2;

a third element pair set having the offset amount between the pair of the reference element and the peripheral element, the offset amount being represented by an expression {(8Ip+3)/16}*λ

+ε

3 or an expression {(8Im−

3)/16}*λ

+ε

3;

a fourth element pair set having the offset amount between the pair of the reference element and the peripheral element, the offset amount being represented by an expression (m/4)*λ

+ε

4; and

a fifth element pair set having the offset amount between the pair of the reference element and the peripheral element, the offset amount being represented by an expression (n/2)*λ

+ε

5.

4. The head-up display device according to claim 3, wherein

the projector projects the laser beam of a plurality of colors including a green laser beam that appears in a range of a peak wavelength of 490 nm to 530 nm, and

λ

is set to the peak wavelength of the green laser beam.

5. The head-up display device according to claim 3, wherein

the projector projects the laser beam of a plurality of colors including a red laser beam that appears in a range of a peak wavelength of 600 nm to 650 nm, and

λ

is set to the peak wavelength of the red laser beam.

6. The head-up display device according to claim 1, wherein

each of the plurality of reference elements has different sag amounts between the surface vertex thereof and each of the adjacent plurality of peripheral elements that is adjacent to the each of the plurality of reference elements through a linear boundary, and

the different sag amounts vary according to the offset amount for a corresponding one of the plurality of reference elements.

7. The head-up display device according to claim 6, wherein

each of the plurality of reference elements has a same peak pitch with the adjacent plurality of peripheral elements, and

each of the adjacent plurality of peripheral elements has a different sag amount.