Headup display apparatus

Abstract

A display apparatus for use in a vehicle includes an irradiation source for irradiating a light of an image, a redirection component for redirecting the light of the image, an optical component for magnifying the image that enters therein, and a reflection component for reflecting the light of the image for an occupant of the vehicle. The redirection component is disposed at an angle to a light axis of the light of the image irradiated by the irradiation source in a light path between the irradiation source and the optical component, and the redirection component corrects a distortion of the virtual image being perceptible for the occupant of the vehicle by at least one of the optical component and the reflection component.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description made with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 shows an illustration of a headup display apparatus in a first embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 shows a side view of an optical system in the headup display apparatus in the first embodiment;

FIG. 3 shows a side view of a light path in a case of the headup display apparatus in the first embodiment;

FIG. 4 shows a transparent perspective view of an adjustable (free-form) surface mirror in the first embodiment;

FIGS. 5A and 5B show illustrations of a side view of the optical system having the free-form surface mirror and a Fresnel lens in the first embodiment;

FIG. 6 shows a side view of the light path in the case of the headup display apparatus in a modification of the first embodiment;

FIG. 7 shows a side view of the light path in the case of the headup display apparatus in another modification of the first embodiment;

FIG. 8 shows a side view of the optical system in the headup display apparatus in a second embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 9 shows a side view of the optical system in the headup display apparatus in a modification of the second embodiment;

FIG. 10 shows a perspective view of the Fresnel lens in another modification of the second embodiment;

FIG. 11 shows a side view of the optical system in the headup display apparatus in another modification of the second embodiment;

FIG. 12 shows a perspective view of the Fresnel lens in yet another modification of the second embodiment;

FIG. 13 shows a side view of the optical system in the headup display apparatus in yet another modification of the second embodiment;

FIGS. 14A and 14B show illustrations of an optical component in still yet another modification in the second embodiment;

FIG. 15 shows a side view of the optical system in the headup display apparatus in still yet another modification of the second embodiment;

FIGS. 16A and 16B show illustrations of the optical component in still yet another modification in the second embodiment; and

FIG. 17 shows an illustration of a relationship between the optical component and a virtual image in a general display device.

Claims

1. A display apparatus for use in a vehicle comprising: an irradiation source for irradiating a light of an image;a redirection component for redirecting the light of the image;an optical component for permeably magnifying the image in a course of permeation therethrough when the light of the image redirected by the redirection component enters therein; anda reflection component for permeably reflecting the light of the image for visual perception of the light of the image as a virtual image by an occupant of the vehicle when the light of the image magnified by the optical component enters therein,wherein the redirection component is disposed at an angle to a light axis of the light of the image irradiated by the irradiation source in a light path between the irradiation source and the optical component, andthe redirection component corrects a distortion of the virtual image in the visual perception by the occupant of the vehicle by at least one of the optical component and the reflection component.

2. The display apparatus as in claim 1, wherein the redirection component lacks an axis of rotational symmetry at a point where the light axis of the light of the image irradiated by the irradiation source crosses the redirection component.

3. The display apparatus as in claim 1, wherein the redirection component corrects the distortion of the image caused by the optical component in the course of the permeation therethrough when the image redirected by the redirection component enters the optical component.

4. The display apparatus as in claim 1, wherein the redirection component corrects the distortion of the image caused by the reflection component in a course of at least one of permeation therethrough and reflection thereby when the image is redirected by the redirection component after magnification by the optical component.

5. The display apparatus as in claim 1, wherein an incident side surface of the optical component is disposed perpendicularly to the light axis of the image redirected by the redirection component.

6. The display apparatus as in claim 1, wherein an incident side surface of the optical component is disposed at a predetermined angle to the light axis of the image redirected by the optical component, andthe predetermined angle is defined as an angle that allows a redirection of an ambient light toward an outside of a view of the occupant of the vehicle when the ambient light is reflected by the incident side surface after entering from an output side surface on an opposite side relative to the incident side surface in the optical component.

7. The display apparatus as in claim 1, wherein an output side surface of the optical component is disposed perpendicularly to the light axis of the image redirected by the optical component.

8. The display apparatus as in claim 5, wherein an output side surface of the optical component is disposed perpendicularly to the light axis of the image redirected by the optical component.

9. The display apparatus as in claim 6, wherein an output side surface of the optical component is disposed perpendicularly to the light axis of the image redirected by the optical component.

10. The display apparatus as in claim 1, wherein an output side surface of the optical component is disposed at a predetermined angle to the light axis of the image redirected by the optical component, andthe predetermined angle is defined as an angle that allows a redirection of an ambient light toward an outside of a view of the occupant of the vehicle when the ambient light is reflected by the output side surface after entering from the output side surface on an opposite side relative to the incident side surface in the optical component.

11. The display apparatus as in claim 5, wherein an output side surface of the optical component is disposed at a predetermined angle to the light axis of the image redirected by the optical component, andthe predetermined angle is defined as an angle that allows a redirection of an ambient light toward an outside of a view of the occupant of the vehicle when the ambient light is reflected by the output side surface after entering from the output side surface on an opposite side relative to the incident side surface in the optical component.

12. The display apparatus as in claim 6, wherein an output side surface of the optical component is disposed at a predetermined angle to the light axis of the image redirected by the optical component, andthe predetermined angle is defined as an angle that allows a redirection of an ambient light toward an outside of a view of the occupant of the vehicle when the ambient light is reflected by the output side surface after entering from the output side surface on an opposite side relative to the incident side surface in the optical component.

13. The display apparatus as in claim 1, wherein the image irradiated by the irradiation source is magnified by the optical component and the redirection component, anda magnification rate of the image by the optical component is greater than the magnification rate of the image by the redirection component.

14. The display apparatus as in claim 1, wherein the optical component is Fresnel lens.

15. The display apparatus as in claim 1, wherein the Fresnel lens has an axis of rotation symmetry.

16. The display apparatus as in claim 1, wherein the Fresnel lens is a cylindrical Fresnel lens,the cylindrical Fresnel lens has a magnification rate in a first direction that is defined by a curvature of the reflection component in a second direction, andthe magnification rate of the Fresnel lens in a third direction that is perpendicular to the first direction is defined by the curvature of the reflection component in a fourth direction that is perpendicular to the second direction.

17. The display apparatus as in claim 14, wherein the Fresnel lens is formed on a transparent plane board.

18. The display apparatus as in claim 14, wherein the Fresnel lens has at least one of an incident side surface and an output side surface formed on a transparent curved board.

19. The display apparatus as in claim 1, wherein an incident side surface of the optical component that receives an incident light of the image reflected by the redirection component and an output side surface of the optical component that outputs the light of the image that is redirected by the redirection component are disposed in a twisted position relative to each other.

20. The display apparatus as in claim 1, wherein the light of the image irradiated by the irradiation source is redirected by at least one reflector including the redirection component beside being magnified by the optical component.

21. The display apparatus as in claim 1, wherein a plurality of light axes of the light of the image irradiated by the irradiation source exist on a same plane in a light path between irradiation by the irradiation source and entrance to the optical component.

22. The display apparatus as in claim 20, wherein a plurality of light axes of the light of the image irradiated by the irradiation source exist on a same plane in a light path between irradiation by the irradiation source and entrance to the optical component.

23. The display apparatus as in claim 1, wherein the optical component is made of plural materials with respectively different refractive indexes.

24. The display apparatus as in claim 1, wherein the redirection component is selectively replaceable according to a reflection characteristic of the reflection component.

25. The display apparatus as in claim 1, wherein the virtual image has a relationship of similarity with the image irradiated by the irradiation source.