Patent Application
20060286890
This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 2005-0051342, filed on Jun. 15, 2005, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the entire contents of which is incorporated herein by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present general inventive concept relates to a lamp assembling apparatus of a lamp unit, and more particularly, to a lamp assembling apparatus in which a lamp is adjusted in position and coupled to a lamp housing of a lamp unit, and a method thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, an optical engine is mounted to a projection system such as a regular projector or a projection television to realize a picture and enlarge and project the realized picture onto a screen. Such an optical engine includes a lamp unit to emit light, an illuminator to focus the light emitted from the lamp unit, a display device to realize a picture with the light passed through the illuminator, and a projection lens to project the picture realized by the display device onto the screen.
Further, the projection system can be classified into different categories according to the methods used to realize a picture. For example, the projection system can be classified into a projection system that employs a cathode ray tube (CRT) for realizing a picture without using the lamp unit, a projection system that employs a display device such as a lamp unit, a liquid crystal display (LCD), or a digital micro-mirror device (DMD) for realizing a picture, etc.
Also, the lamp unit includes a lamp to emit the light, and a lamp housing to accommodate and support the lamp. The lamp is adjusted in position to be brought into focus, and then coupled to the lamp housing, thereby being mounted to the optical engine.
However, in the conventional lamp assembling apparatus, a user adjusts the position of the lamp against the lamp housing by using naked eyes to bring the lamp into focus, and then manually mounts the lamp to the lamp housing in the state that the lamp is brought into focus. Therefore, it is difficult to enhance productivity. Further, it is difficult to obtain uniform quality because the adjusted position of the lamp mounted to the lamp housing may be different in precision according to different users.
Also, in the conventional lamp assembling apparatus, an inspection process for inspecting the luminous intensity and the flicker of the lamp unit is manually performed by the user.
The present general inventive concept provides a lamp assembling apparatus capable of enhancing productivity, securing uniform quality, and enhancing inspection quality.
Additional aspects and advantages of the present general inventive concept will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the general inventive concept.
The foregoing and/or other aspects of the present invention may be achieved by providing a lamp assembling apparatus to assemble a lamp unit usable with an optical engine, which comprises a lamp, and a lamp housing to support the lamp, the lamp assembling apparatus comprising an illuminator through which light emitted from the lamp of the lamp unit passes;, a screen on which an image is formed by the light passed through the illuminator, a lamp control unit to adjust a position of the lamp against the lamp housing, a lamp fastening unit to fasten the lamp to the lamp housing when the lamp position is adjusted by the lamp control unit, and a controller to determine a state of the lamp with respect to the lamp unit according to an image formed on the screen, and to control the lamp control unit and the lamp fastening unit to bring the lamp into focus and fasten the lamp to the lamp housing according to the state of the lamp.
The lamp control unit may comprise a lamp holder to hold the lamp in a state that the lamp is movably coupled to the lamp housing, and a holder transferring part to transfer the lamp holder to move the lamp relative to the lamp housing in a direction transverse to the light emitted from the lamp.
The controller may comprise an image detector to detect the image formed on the screen, and a position adjuster to control the holder transferring part by determining the image detected by the image detector.
The lamp housing may comprise a plurality of coupling parts to which a plurality of screws are coupled, and the lamp may comprise a plurality of coupling holes corresponding to the plurality of coupling parts and each coupling hole having a larger diameter than a threaded part of the screw.
The lamp fastening unit may comprise a screw fastener to fasten the screw to prevent the lamp from moving relative to the lamp housing, a fastener transferring part to support and transfer the screw fastener to allow the screw fastener to fasten the screw.
The controller may further comprise a fastening adjuster to control the fastener transferring part and the fastener to fasten the screw in a state that the lamp is adjusted in position by the position adjuster.
The holder transferring part may transfer the lamp holder in three axis directions.
The lamp assembling apparatus may further comprise a palette to support the lamp unit, and a transferring unit which comprises a guide to support and guide the palette, and a transferring member to transfer the palette along the guide.
The transferring unit may comprise a power supply placed along the guide to supply power to the palette, and the palette may comprise a power connecting part contactable with the power supply, and a connector electrically connected to the power connecting part and coupled to a cable of the lamp unit.
The lamp assembling apparatus may further comprise an aging process unit to age the lamp unit for a predetermined time, a lamp control process unit to adjust the position of the lamp and fasten the lamp using the lamp control unit and the lamp fastening unit after the lamp is aged, and a lamp inspection process unit to inspect the lamp unit after a lamp control process of the lamp control process unit.
The transferring unit may transfer the palette to the aging process unit, the lamp control process unit and the lamp inspection process unit.
The aging process unit, the lamp control process unit and the lamp inspection process unit may comprise aging, lamp control, and lamp inspection chambers, respectively, to prevent the light emitted from the lamp from being shown to an area outside the chambers.
The palette may comprise an accommodating part to accommodate a ballast and a lamp driving circuit of the lamp unit therein.
The lamp inspection unit may inspect at least one of the luminous intensity and a flicker of the light emitted from the lamp.
The lamp inspection process unit may further comprise a projection lens to project the light passed through the illuminator, an illumination sensor to sense the luminous intensity of the light projected from the projection lens, a flicker sensor to sense the flicker of the light projected from the projection lens, and an inspection display to receive and display sensed values from the illumination sensor and the flicker sensor.
The transferring member may comprise a chain contactable with the palette and a transferring motor to transfer the chain.
The foregoing and/or other aspects of the present invention may also be achieved by providing a lamp assembling apparatus comprising a lamp injecting part to provide a lamp unit in which a lamp is temporarily coupled to a lamp housing, an aging process unit to control an aging process of the lamp of the lamp unit, a control process unit having an image unit to form an image of the lamp unit using light, a lamp control unit to adjust a position of the lamp with respect to the lamp housing using the light between the lamp and the lamp housing, and a controller to bring the lamp into focus according to the image, an inspection process unit to inspect an assembly state of the lamp unit, and a lamp discharging part to discharge the lamp unit.
The foregoing and/or other aspects of the present invention may also be achieved by providing a method of a lamp assembling apparatus comprising forming an image on a screen by a light projected by a lamp, adjusting a position of the lamp against a lamp housing using the light, fastening the lamp to the lamp housing when the lamp position is adjusted in position, determining a state of the lamp according to the image formed on the screen, and bringing the lamp into focus and fastening the lamp to the lamp housing according to the state of the lamp.
These and/or other aspects and advantages of the present general inventive concept will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of the embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompany drawings of which:
Reference will now be made in detail to the embodiments of the present general inventive concept, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout. The embodiments are described below in order to explain the present general inventive concept by referring to the figures.
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The lamp bracket 103 of
A plurality of coupling holes 105 are formed on the lamp bracket 103 so that the lamp 101 may be coupled to the lamp housing 111 by a plurality of fastening screws 107. The coupling holes 105 have a larger diameter than a threaded part 108 of the fastening screws 107. Because the coupling holes 105 have a larger diameter than the threaded part 108 of the fastening screws 107, the lamp 101 can move a predetermined distance relative to the lamp housing 111 in the state that the lamp 101 is loosely coupled to the lamp housing 111 by the fastening screws 107. That is, a movable distance of the lamp 101 is determined by a difference in the diameters between the diameters of the coupling holes 105 and the diameters of the threaded part 108 of the fastening screws 107. Therefore the movable distance of the lamp 101 can be changed by adjusting the diameters of the coupling holes 105 and the threaded part 108 of the fastening screws 107. Further, the coupling hole 105 prevents a head part 109 of the fastening screw 107 from breaking away when the coupling holes 105 are coupled to the coupling part 113 with the fastening screws 107. For example, the coupling holes 105 have a smaller diameter than the head part 109 of the fastening screws 107.
The lamp housing 111 includes the housing through part 112 through which the light emitted from the lamp 101 passes, and the coupling part 113 provided outside the area of the housing through part 112 and to which the fastening screws 107 passing through the coupling holes 105 of the lamp 101 are coupled. In
As illustrated in
The base 131 includes a power connecting part 132 electrically contactable with a power supply 17 of the transferring unit 10 (
The power connecting part 132 may include a plurality of sub-power connecting parts corresponding to the respective power supplies 17 of the transferring unit 10. The power connecting part 132 is longitudinally recessed at the bottom of the base 131 along a transferring direction with respect to the transferring unit 10, and in which the recessed portion of the connecting part 132 is made of a conductive material to electrically contact the power supply 17. In this embodiment, by way of example, there may be three power connecting parts 132. Among the three power connecting parts 132, a middle one is a ground terminal, and the two opposite sides of the ground terminal are positive and negative terminals. Here, the power connecting part 132 is electrically connected to supply the power from the power supply 17 of the transferring unit 10 to the connector 147, the ballast 123 and the lamp driving circuit 125.
The transferring coupling part 134 is provided as a plurality of parts corresponding to the sub-transferring members 14 of the transferring member 13 of the transferring unit 10. The transferring coupling part 134 is longitudinally recessed at the bottom of the base 131 along the transferring direction. For example, a pair of transferring coupling parts 134 are provided outside the power connecting parts 132 in correspondence to the sub-transferring member 14. The transferring coupling part 134 is provided with a plurality of projections 135 which are inserted in and engaged with the sub-transferring member 14, e.g., shaped like a chain. Therefore, when the sub-transferring member 14 moves in a state where the plurality of projections 135 are inserted in the sub-transferring member 14, the palette 130 moves along with the plurality of projections 135.
As illustrated in
The guide 11 is provided in the upper and lower transferring units 21 and 23 to guide the plurality of palettes 130 in the transferring direction.
As illustrated in
The sub-transferring member 14 may include a pair of chains corresponding to the pair of transferring coupling parts 134 provided in the palette 130, and may be provided in the upper and lower transferring units 21 and 23.
The transferring motor 15 may also include a pair of motors 15 (
The power supply 17 is provided in the guide 11 and supplies a predetermined amount of power to the plurality of palettes 130. According to the present embodiment, the power supply 17 protrudes in three lines spaced apart from each other, and is coupled to the power connecting part 132 of the palette 130. The power supply 17 may include a plurality of power supplies 17 provided in the respective lines spaced apart from each other, so that they are not short-circuited by the power connecting part 132. Since the plurality of power supplies 17 are provided in the respective lines spaced apart from each other, a contact surface between the power supply 17 and the power connecting part 132 may be decreased. Therefore, when the palette 130 is transferred along the transferring unit 10, the friction and wear due to contact between the power supply 17 and the power connecting part 132 are decreased. Among the three power connecting parts 132, the middle is a ground terminal, and the opposite sides are positive and negative terminals.
As illustrated in
The lower transferring unit 23 includes the aging process unit 85, and is provided with the power supply 17 corresponding to three lines to supply the power from the power supply 17 to the palette 130 during the aging process of the aging process unit 85.
The vertical transferring unit 25 includes a lifting down transferring unit 26 to lift down the palette 130 toward the lower transferring unit 23 and supporting the lamp unit 100 received from the lamp injecting part 80 of the upper transferring unit 21, and a lifting up transferring unit 27 to lift up the lamp unit 100 after the aging process along with the palette 130 toward the upper transferring unit 21 as illustrated in
The lifting down transferring unit 26 and the lifting up transferring unit 27 are provided at opposite sides of the upper transferring unit 21 and the lower transferring unit 23. The lifting down transferring unit 26 transfers the palette 130 while the palette 130 is not supplied with the power, conversely the lifting up transferring unit 27 transfers the palette 130 while the palette 130 is supplied with the power. That is, the power is supplied to the palette 130 from the aging process unit 85 to the lamp inspection process 70 even during the time the palette 130 is lifted up to the inspection process 70, so that the lamp 101 can emit light anytime therein.
In the lamp injecting part 80, the lamp unit 100 on the palette 130 is connected to the cable (not shown) of the lamp unit 100 through the connector 147 of the palette 130. At this time, the lamp 101 of the lamp unit 100 is temporarily coupled to the lamp housing 111 by the fastening screws 107 so that the lamp 101 is movable relative to the lamp housing 111. Alternatively, in the lamp injecting part 80, the lamp unit 100 can be seated on the palette 130 by automation.
In the lamp discharging part 90, the cable (not shown) is separated from the connector 147 to discharge the lamp unit 100 from the palette 130. At this time, an inspected result of the lamp inspection process 70 is checked through an inspection display 78, and the lamp unit 100 is sorted out according to the state thereof. Alternatively, in the lamp discharging part 90, the lamp unit 100 can be sorted out and discharged from the palette 130 by automation.
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The lamp holder 42 holds the back of the lamp 101. That is, the lamp holder 42 is in contact with the back of the lamp 101, and inhales the air around the lamp 101 to provide suction, thereby holding the lamp 101. However, the lamp holder 42 may hold the back of the lamp 101 by a pair of tongs, a magnetic force, etc.
The holder transferring part 43 moves the lamp holder 42 in three axis directions. For example, the holder transferring part 43 moves frontward and backward to control the lamp holder 42 to hold the lamp 101, and moves left and right, and up and down allowing the lamp 101 to move relative to the lamp housing 111 in the direction transverse to the light which passes through the housing through part 112. The holder transferring part 43 includes a supporting frame 44, a holder left and right transferring body 45 coupled to the supporting frame 44 to move in the left and right directions, a holder up and down transferring body 46 coupled to the holder left and right transferring body 45 to move in the up and down directions, and a holder front and back transferring body 47 supporting the lamp holder 42 and coupled to the holder up and down transferring body 46 to move in the front and back directions. Further, the holder transferring part 43 includes a driving motor (not shown) provided in the holder up and down transferring body 46 and the holder front and back transferring body 47 and allowing them to move relative to each other, and a transferring screw 48 moved by the driving motor, and a guide member 49 to guide the relative movement due to the transferring screw 48. The holder left and right transferring body 45 can move with respect to the supporting frame 44 by a linear motor (not shown). Alternatively, the holder left and right transferring body 45 may move by the driving motor and the transferring screw like the holder up and down transferring body 46 and the holder front and back transferring body 47. Likewise, the holder up and down transferring body 46 and the holder front and back transferring body 47 may move with respect to each other by the linear motor.
Therefore, the lamp 101 is held in the lamp holder 42 by the holder transferring part 43, and can be moved up, down, left and right relative to the lamp housing 111.
As illustrated in
The screw fastener 56 includes a screw driver 57 provided in a front portion to fasten the coupling screws 107, and a screw driver driving part 58 to rotatably support the screw driver 57. Here, four screw fasteners 56 are provided corresponding to four coupling screws 107. Alternatively, two screw fasteners or one screw fastener may be provided.
The fastener transferring part 61 includes a fastener left and right transferring body 63 movable left and right relative to the supporting frame 44, and a fastener front and back transferring body 65 coupled to the fastener left and right transferring body 63 to move front and back relative to the fastener left and right transferring body 63. Further, the fastener transferring part 61 may include a linear motor (not shown) to move the fastener left and right transferring body 63 and the fastener front and back transferring body 65 relatively to each other.
The fastener front and back transferring body 65 corresponds to the number of the screw fasteners 56. For example, four fastener front and back transferring bodies 65 may be provided corresponding to four screw fasteners 56.
The fastener left and right transferring body 63 may form a pair to be placed in left and right sides of the supporting frame 44. The pair of fastener left and right transferring bodies 63 may support one pair of fastener front and back transferring bodies 65.
Therefore, the lamp 101 is firmly fastened to the lamp housing 111 by the lamp fastening unit 55.
As illustrated in
The image detector 52 detects the image projected on the screen 35 formed by the light emitted from the lamp unit 100 that passes through the illuminator 33. Here, the image detector 52 is provided in the lamp control chamber 31 to detect the image projected on the screen 35. The image detector 52 transmits the detected image to the position adjuster 53. On the screen 35, the same patterns may appear to be spaced apart from each other, and the patterns can be formed by the foregoing lamp driving circuit 125.
The position adjuster 53 reads the image detected by the image detector 52 and controls the holder transferring part 43, thereby focusing the lamp 101 temporarily coupled to the lamp housing 111. Here, the position adjuster 53 determines whether the patterns of the image transmitted from the image detector 52 have a space within a predetermined reference space range in the up, down, left and right directions. As a result, when the space between the patterns deviates from the reference space range, the position adjuster 53 measures a deviated degree of the patterns and controls the holder transferring part 43 on the basis of the deviated degree. The position adjuster 53 controls the holder transferring part 43 and moves the lamp 101 relative to the lamp housing 111. The position adjuster 53 controls the holder transferring part 43 so that the lamp holder 42 holds the lamp 101, and then moves the lamp holder 42 frontward to the lamp 101. Then, the position adjuster 53 controls the holder transferring part 43 to move the lamp holder 42 in the left, right, up and down directions on the basis of the deviated degree with respect to the reference space range. Then, the image detector 52 detects the image on the screen 35, and transmits the detected image to the position adjuster 53. Then, the position adjuster 53 determines the transmitted image and controls the holder transferring part 43 again. The position adjuster 53 repeats controlling the holder transferring part 43 until the space between the patterns is within the reference space range. Further, when the space between the patterns is within the reference space range, the position adjuster 53 may control the holder transferring part 43 so that the screw fastener 56 more easily and firmly fastens the fastening screws 107, thereby allowing the lamp 101 to closely contact the lamp housing 111.
The image detector 52 and the position adjuster 53 are repeatedly operated to bring the lamp 101 temporarily coupled to the lamp housing 111 into focus until the space between the patterns of the image detected by the image detector 52 is within the reference space range with respect to the up, down, left and right directions. Here, the reference space range can be obtained by adding an allowable error to an average space between the patterns of the detected image, and may vary according to the kinds of the lamp unit 100.
The fastening adjuster 54 controls the fastener transferring part 61 and the screw fastener 56 to firmly fasten the lamp 101 temporarily coupled to the lamp housing 111 after the position adjuster 53 completely adjusts the position of the lamp 101 against the lamp housing 11. Here, the fastening adjuster 54 first controls the fastener transferring part 61 to move the screw fastener 56 in the left and right directions and then in the front direction to make the screw fastener 56 contact the fastening screws 107. Then, the fastening adjuster 54 drives the screw fastener 56 so that the fastening screws 107 firmly fasten the lamp 101 to the lamp housing 111.
According to the present embodiment, the lamp inspection process of the lamp inspection process unit 70 is provided to inspect the luminous intensity and/or the flicker of the lamp unit 101. Further, the lamp inspection process unit 70 may be provided to inspect other items required in the lamp unit 100.
As illustrated in
The illumination sensor 75 senses the brightness of the light emitted from the lamp 101 and displays the sensed results on the inspection display 78 in the lamp discharging part 90, and thus the lamp unit 100 may be sorted out and discharged based on the sensed results displayed on the inspection display 78.
The flicker sensor 76 is used to sense a flicker phenomenon, that is, a wavering visual sensation of a periodic change in the brightness of the light emitted from the lamp 101. A value sensed by the flicker sensor 76 is displayed on the inspection display 78. Here, the value is compared with a predetermined reference value and its acceptability is then determined. The acceptability of the sensed value of the flicker sensor 76 is displayed in the inspection display 78 in the lamp discharging part 90, and thus the lamp unit 100 may be sorted out and discharged based on the sensed value displayed on the inspection display 78.
With this configuration, operations of the lamp assembling apparatus 1 according to an embodiment of the present general inventive concept will be described below with reference to
Therefore, the lamp assembling apparatus according to an embodiment of the present general inventive concept includes the lamp control unit 41, the lamp fastening unit 55 and the controller 51 to adjust the position of the lamp 101 and then fasten the lamp 101 to the lamp housing 111, so that the lamp 101 is automatically mounted to the lamp housing, thereby enhancing productivity and securing uniform quality in the lamp assembling process.
Further, the lamp inspection process includes the illumination sensor, the flicker sensor and the inspection display, so that the luminous intensity and the flicker of the lamp unit are automatically inspected, thereby easily inspecting the lamp unit and enhancing the inspection quality.
Although a few embodiments of the present general inventive concept have been shown and described, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made in these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the general inventive concept, the scope of which is defined in the appended claims and their equivalents.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005-0051342 | Jun 2005 | KR | national |
