Projector having a projection angle adjusting mechanism

• US 8,251,521 B2
• Filed: 09/03/2008
• Issued: 08/28/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 09/14/2007
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Panasonic Corporation (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Panasonic Corporation (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Mizushima, Tetsuro, Yamamoto, Kazuhisa, Kurozuka, Akira, Yamamoto, Kakuya, Sugiyama, Keiji
• Primary Examiner(s): Epps, Georgia Y
• Assistant Examiner(s): CHOWDHURY, SULTAN U.
• Application Number:
  US12/677,959
• Publication Number:
  US 20100220293A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,455 Days
• Field of Search: 353/20, 353/31, 353/33, 353/34, 353/37, 353/46, 353/48, 353/49, 353/69, 353/70, 353/119, 385/115, 385/116, 385/118, 385/119, 385/901, 372/6, 372/25, 372/26, 372/101, 349 5- 9, 352/244, 352/198, 352/203
• US Class Current: 353/98
• CPC Class Codes: F21W 2131/406 for theatres, stages or film studios
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 26/105 with one or more pivoting mirrors or galvano-mirrors G02B26/101 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 27/48 Laser speckle optics
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/06 the relative position of the fibres being the same at both ends, e.g. for transporting images
• CPC Class Codes: G03B 21/005 Projectors using an electronic spatial light modulator but not peculiar thereto
• CPC Class Codes: G09F 19/12 using special optical effects
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/3105 for displaying all colours simultaneously, e.g. by using two or more electronic spatial light modulators simultaneous projection in colour photography G03B33/10; beam splitting or combining systems per se G02B27/10
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/3147 Multi-projection systems displays in general H04N9/12; video walls G06F3/1446, G09G2300/026
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/315 Modulator illumination systems general applications of lighting devices F21V; general optical systems G02B; lamp houses for projectors not peculiar to the presence of an electronic spatial light modulator G03B21/20
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/3161 using laser light sources using laser beams scanning the display screen H04N9/3129

Abstract

A multipurpose projector is provided with a fiber bundle including a plurality of cores fixedly arranged on an input plane and an output plane, laser beam sources for emitting laser beams having directivities, an optical guide unit for modulating the laser beams emitted from the laser beam sources and guiding the modulated laser beams to the input plane of the fiber bundle, a projection lens for enlarging and projecting the laser beams emerging from the output plane of the fiber bundle to a display space, and a projection angle adjusting mechanism disposed on the side of the output plane of the fiber bundle for adjusting projection angles of the laser beams projected from the projection lens. Thus, the projector can have its projection space freely operated and enlarged to extend its application not only to image display, but also to illumination and decoration with colored light.

Claims

1. A projector, comprising:

a fiber bundle including a plurality of cores fixedly arranged on an input plane and an output plane;

a laser beam source for emitting a laser beam having a directivity;

an optical guide unit for modulating the laser beam emitted from the laser beam source into a two-dimensional image and guiding the modulated laser beam as the two-dimensional image to the input plane of the fiber bundle;

a projection lens for enlarging and projecting the laser beam, as the two-dimensional image, emerging from the output plane of the fiber bundle to a display space; and

a projection angle adjusting mechanism for adjusting a projection angle of the projection lens.

2. A projector according to claim 1, further comprising a main projection lens for enlarging and projecting the laser beam modulated by the optical guide unit to another display space without guiding it to the fiber bundle.

3. A projector according to claim 2, further comprising an optical element for splitting or switching the laser beam modulated by the optical guide unit to or between the main projection lens and the fiber bundle.

4. A projector according to claim 3, wherein:

the optical element includes a reflective polarizing element,

the optical guide unit includes a modulation element or an optical component for rotating a polarization direction of the modulated laser beam, and

the reflective polarizing element splits or switches the laser beam according to the polarization direction of the modulated laser beam.

5. A projector according to claim 1, wherein the cores of the fiber bundle are non-periodically arranged.

6. A projector according to claim 1, wherein the number of the cores of the fiber bundle is smaller than the number of pixels of a spatially modulated image.

7. A projector according to claim 1, wherein core diameters of the fiber bundle are larger in an outer peripheral part than in a central part of the fiber bundle.

8. A projector according to claim 1, wherein the optical guide unit includes a spatial modulation element for modulating the laser beam emitted from the laser beam source and a reduction projection optical system for reducing and projecting the laser beam modulated by the spatial modulation element to the input plane of the fiber bundle.

9. A projector according to claim 8, further comprising a main projection lens for enlarging and projecting the laser beam reduced and projected by the reduction projection optical system to another display space without guiding it to the fiber bundle.

10. A projector according to claim 2, wherein the optical guide unit includes a spatial modulation element for modulating the laser beam emitted from the laser beam source and, in the case of guiding the laser beam only to the input plane of the fiber bundle, an illumination area reducing unit for reducing an illumination area of the spatial modulation element.

11. A projector according to claim 1, wherein:

the laser beam source modulates the light intensity of the laser beam, and

the optical guide unit further includes a scanning mirror for scanning and spatially modulating the laser beam and a condenser lens for condensing the laser beam scanned by the scanning mirror on the input plane of the fiber bundle.

12. A projector according to claim 11, further comprising a main projection lens for enlarging and projecting the modulated laser beam to another display space without guiding it to the fiber bundle,

wherein the scanning mirror scans an imaging plane of the laser beam to the fiber bundle and the main projection lens.

13. A projector according to claim 10, further comprising a speckle noise removing mechanism for temporally changing the phase of the laser beam enlarged and projected by the main projection lens.

14. A projector according to claim 1, wherein:

the optical guide unit includes a spatial modulation element for modulating the laser beam emitted from the laser beam source and a condensing optical system for condensing the laser beam modulated by the spatial modulation element on the input plane of the fiber bundle without focusing it on the input plane of the fiber bundle, and

the projection lens enlarges and focuses the laser beam emerging from the output plane of the fiber bundle.

15. A projector according to claim 1, wherein:

the projection angle adjusting mechanism repeatedly vibrates the projection lens during a period of projecting the laser beam from the projection lens, and

the projection angle of the laser beam projected from the projection lens is adjusted during a movement of the display space.

16. A projector according to claim 1, further comprising an input plane vibrating mechanism for temporally vibrating the input plane of the fiber bundle in an in-plane direction.

17. A projector according to claim 1, wherein the input and output planes of the fiber bundle have rectangular shapes.

18. A projector according to claim 2, wherein either one of the modulated laser beam enlarged and projected by the projection lens and that enlarged and modulated by the main projection lens is a positive image and the other is a negative image.

19. A projector according to claim 18, further comprising a coupling lens for coupling a laser beam emitted from the projection lens and a laser beam emitted from the laser beam source,

wherein the optical guide unit includes a spatial modulation element for modulating the laser beam emitted from the laser beam source, and

the laser beam source modulates the light intensity of the laser beam to be emitted in accordance with an image signal input to the spatial modulation element.

20. A projector according to claim 1, wherein:

the optical guide unit includes a spatial modulation element for modulating the laser beam emitted from the laser beam source,

the spatial modulation element switches a direction of a modulation pattern in the case of rotating the orientation of an image enlarged and projected from the projection lens by 180°

,

the projection angle adjusting mechanism axially rotates the projection lens in the case of rotating the orientation of the image enlarged and projected from the projection lens by an angle below 90°

, and

the spatial modulation element switches the direction of the modulation pattern and the projection angle adjusting mechanism axially rotates the projection lens in the case of rotating the orientation of the image enlarged and projected from the projection lens by an angle equal to or larger than 90° and

below 180°

.

21. A projector according to claim 1, wherein:

the optical guide unit includes a spatial modulation element for modulating the laser beam emitted from the laser beam source, and

a screen size S_s of the spatial modulation element, a laser beam emission numerical aperture NA_s of the spatial modulation element, a cross-sectional area S_F of the fiber bundle and a numerical aperture NA_F of the fiber bundle satisfy the following equations (1) and (2).

S_s×

(NA_s)²<

4×

S_F×

(NA_F)² 

 

(1)

NA_s<

0.1 

 

(2)

22. A projector according to claim 1, wherein the projection angle adjusting mechanism illuminates the display space in a defocus state by relatively changing a distance between the output plane of the fiber bundle and the projection lens.