Patent Application
20070263307
The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the invention, and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve for explaining the principles of the invention.
In the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments, reference is made to the accompanying drawings which form a part hereof, and in which is shown by way of illustration specific embodiments in which the invention may be practiced. In this regard, directional terminology, such as “top,” “bottom,” “front,” “back,” etc., is used with reference to the orientation of the Figure(s) being described. The components of the present invention can be positioned in a number of different orientations. As such, the directional terminology is used for purposes of illustration and is in no way limiting. On the other hand, the drawings are only schematic and the sizes of components may be exaggerated for clarity. It is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and structural changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology used herein is for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting. The use of “including” “comprising,” or “having” and variations thereof herein is meant to encompass the items listed thereafter and equivalents thereof as well as additional items. Unless limited otherwise, the terms “connected,” “coupled,” and “mounted” and variations thereof herein are used broadly and encompass direct and indirect connections, couplings, and mountings. Similarly, the terms “facing,” “faces” and variations thereof herein are used broadly and encompass direct and indirect facing, and “adjacent to” and variations thereof herein are used broadly and encompass directly and indirectly “adjacent to”. Therefore, the description of “A” component facing “B” component herein may contain the situations that “A” component facing “B” component directly or one or more additional components is between “A” component and “B” component. Also, the description of “A” component “adjacent to” “B” component herein may contain the situations that “A” component is directly “adjacent to” “B” component or one or more additional components is between “A” component and “B” component. Accordingly, the drawings and descriptions will be regarded as illustrative in nature and not as restrictive.
Referring to
The adjusting unit 240 is suitable for adjusting the relative positions of the holder 210 and the bracket set 230 and includes a first adjusting element 242, a second adjusting element 244 and an elastic element 246. The first adjusting element 242 is disposed through the bracket set 230 and suitable for pushing the holder 210 to adjust the relative positions of the holder 210 and the bracket set 230 along a first axis direction Al. The second adjusting element 244 is disposed through the bracket set 230 and suitable for pushing the holder 210 to adjust the relative positions of the holder 210 and the bracket set 230 along a second axis direction A2. Both ends of the elastic element 246 are respectively connected onto the bracket set 230 and the holder 210; in more detail, both ends of the elastic element 246 respectively hitch the bracket set 230 and the holder 210. The elastic element 246 is suitable for providing the holder 210 a pull force Fc with a direction towards the bracket set 230 and different from both the first axis direction A1 and the second axis direction A2.
Referring to
In more detail, the first adjusting element 242 is disposed through the first bracket 232 along the first axis direction A1 and one end of the first adjusting element 242 comes into contact with the second bracket 234. Since the second connection element 260 has restricted on the relative movement of the second bracket 234 and the holder 210 along the first axis direction A1 already, thus, adjusting the first adjusting element 242 a first push force Fd1 is produced which is exerted onto the holder 210 from the first bracket 232 along an opposite direction of the first axis direction A1, that is to say, the direction of the first push force Fd1 is away from the bracket set 230. As a result, the first push force Fd1 adjusts the relative positions of the holder 210 and the first bracket 232 (the bracket set 230) along the first axis direction A1.
Similarly, the second adjusting element 244 is disposed through the second bracket 234 along the second axis direction A2 and one end of the second adjusting element 244 comes into contact with the holder 210. Thus, by adjusting the second adjusting element 244 a second push force Fd2 is produced which is exerted onto the holder 210 from the second bracket 234 along an opposite direction of the second axis direction A2 that is to say, the direction of the second push force Fd2 is away from the bracket set 230, so that the relative positions of the holder 210 and the second bracket 234 (the bracket set 230) along the second axis direction A2 are adjusted.
Since the direction of the pull force Fc exerted by the elastic element 246 onto the holder 210 is different from both the first axis direction A1 and the second axis direction A2, the pull force Fc is resolved into a first pull force Fc1 and a second pull force Fc2 (in turn, the first pull force Fc1 and the second pull force Fc2 compose the pull force Fc). The direction of the first pull force Fc1 is parallel to the first axis direction A1, while the direction of the second pull force Fc2 is parallel to the second axis direction A2.
The first pull force Fc1 takes a direction opposite to that of the first push force Fd1 and the second pull force Fc2 takes a direction opposite to that of the second push force Fd2. Taking no account of friction force, the first pull force Fc1 is counterbalanced by the first push force Fd1, while the second pull force Fc2 is counterbalanced by the second push force Fd2. Therefore a balance state is maintained between the holder 210 and the bracket set 230. Furthermore, the relative positions of the holder 210 and the bracket set 230 along both the first axis direction A1 and the second axis direction A2 are adjusted by adjusting the first adjusting element 242 and the second adjusting element 244 for changing the balance state between the holder 210 and the bracket set 230.
Since the light beam gets incident into the light integration rod 220 along, for example, a third axis direction A3, thus, adjusting the relative position between the holder 210 and the bracket set 230 implies to adjust the position of the light integration rod 220 where the light beam gets incident into the light integration rod 220; thereby, the homogenized effect of the light beam is regulated. In the present embodiment, the third axis direction A3 is perpendicular to both the first axis direction A1 and the second axis direction A2, while the first axis direction A1 is laid out to be perpendicular to the second axis direction A2 to simplify the structure of the light integration rod module 200.
The first adjusting element 242 and the second adjusting element 244 can be implemented by means of adjusting screws, the elastic element 246 can be a pull coil spring, and the first connection element 250 and the second connection element 260 can be positioning screws, for example. The present invention limits neither the kinds of the first adjusting element 242, the second adjusting element 244, the elastic element 246, the first connection element 250 and the second connection element 260, nor whether the first axis direction A1 is perpendicular to the second axis direction A2.
In addition to a spring, the present invention can also utilize other components as the elastic element 246, for example, a wire spring.
Referring to
The first adjusting element 242 exerts a first push force Fd1 onto the holder 210 through the first bracket 232 along the opposite direction of the first axis direction A1, so as to adjust the relative positions of the holder 210 and the first bracket 232 (the bracket set 230) along the first axis direction A1. Since a direction of a first pull force Fc1 exerted by the U-shape portion 246a of the wire spring onto the holder 210 is along the first axis direction A1, taking no account of friction force, the first pull force Fc1 is counterbalanced by the first push force Fd1. Therefore a balance state is maintained between the holder 210 and the bracket set 230.
Similarly, the second adjusting element 244 exerts a second push force Fd2 onto the holder 210 through the first bracket 232 along the opposite direction of the second axis direction A2, so as to adjust the relative positions of the holder 210 and the second 234 bracket (the bracket set 230) along the second axis direction A2. Since a direction of a second pull force Fc2 exerted by the L-shape portion 246b of the wire spring onto the holder 210 is along the second axis direction A2, taking no account of friction force, the second pull force Fc2 is counterbalanced by the second push force Fd2. Therefore, a balance state is maintained between the holder 210 and the bracket set 230.
Although the U-shape portion 246a and the L-shape portion 246b of the wire spring are connected together, however, while adjusting the holder 210, the first pull force Fc1 along the first axis direction A1 and the second pull force Fc2 along the second axis direction A2 are independent from each other and without affecting mutually.
Referring to
Note that when adjusting the relative positions of the holder 210 and the bracket set 230, the first pull force Fc1 and the second pull force Fc2 of the elastic element 246 come into balance respectively with the first push force Fd1 and the second push force Fd2. Therefore, the present invention does not require extra auxiliary adjusting screws or the elastic element 246 to prevent the holder 210 and the bracket set 230 from having a relative displacement or a rotation not along the first axis direction A1 and the second axis direction A2.
In comparison with the conventional light integration rod module 100 (as shown in
Referring to
Referring to
In this way, the heat produced by the light integration rod module 200 is able to be quickly conducted to the heat-dissipation fin 270 via the holder 210 or the heat-dissipation fin 272 on the bracket set 230, and further to the ambient. Therefore the light integration rod module 200 of the present invention has a better heat-dissipation effect. The layout with the heat-dissipation fin 270 disposed on the holder 210 is described as exemplary hereinafter.
Referring to
In the embodiment, to advance the heat-dissipation effect of the optical engine 20, the case 23 has an opening 23a, and the heat-dissipation fin 270 is exposed outside the case through the opening 23a. Once the heat produced by the light integration rod 220 is conducted to the heat-dissipation fin 270, the air convection takes away the heat. In this way, the heat is not accumulated inside the case 23, which makes the optical engine 20 maintain a stable quality. Furthermore, since the components inside the optical engine 20 do not need to endure a high temperature which may lead to damage, thus, the optical engine 20 can have a longer lifetime. In a similar way, the heat-dissipation fin 272 of the present invention is also suitable for the optical engine 20.
In a reflective optical engine of the present invention, the light valve 22 can be, but not limited to, a digital micro mirror device (DMD). For example, the light valve 22 can be a liquid crystal on silicon (LCOS), while in a transmissive optical engine, the light valve 22 can be a transmissive LCD panel. In addition, for a precise incidence into the light valve 22 of the light beam, anyone skilled in the art can use optical components, for example, mirrors or total internal reflection prisms (TIR prisms) to adjust the optical path of the light beam, or make some appropriate modifications according to the above-described spirit of the present invention, all of which belong to the scope or spirit of the invention.
However, the methods to advance the heat-dissipation effect of the present invention is not limited to exposing the heat-dissipation fins 270 and 272 outside the case 23. In the following, another yet embodiment is described.
Referring to
Once the heat produced by the light integration rod module 300 is conducted to the heat-dissipation fin 370, since the heat-dissipation portion 32a is adjacent to the heat-dissipation fin 370, the heat-dissipation fin 370 is able to transfer the heat to the heat-dissipation portion 32a by means of conduction or radiation. Then, the heat on the case 32 is took away by means of air convection, which advances the heat-dissipation effect of the optical engine 30.
To further advance the heat-dissipation effect of the optical engine 30, the light integration rod module 300 can further include a heat-conductive material 380, which is disposed between the heat-dissipation fin 370 and the heat-dissipation portion 32a to improve the efficiency of transferring heat from the heat-dissipation fin 370 to the heat-dissipation portion 32a. Note that in both the embodiments of the optical engine 20 of
In summary, the light integration rod module and the optical engine of the present invention have at least the following advantages:
1. In comparison with the conventional light integration rod module, the adjusting unit of the present invention includes a first adjusting element, a second adjusting element and an elastic element only. By using these three elements, the position where the light beam gets incident into the light integration rod (i.e. the relative positions of the holder and the bracket set) can be adjusted, which contributes to lower the component number and the cost and further to reduce the working hours for assembling.
2. The holder and the bracket set have simpler structures, which contributes to save the fabrication costs of the holder and the bracket set.
3. In an embodiment, the heat-dissipation fin of the present invention is disposed on the holder and exposed outside the case, which is able to effectively take away the heat of the light integration rod and assure the optical engine to maintain a stable quality during operating.
The foregoing description of the preferred embodiment of the invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form or to exemplary embodiments disclosed. Accordingly, the foregoing description should be regarded as illustrative rather than restrictive. Obviously, many modifications and variations will be apparent to practitioners skilled in this art. The embodiments are chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and its best mode practical application, thereby to enable persons skilled in the art to understand the invention for various embodiments and with various modifications as are suited to the particular use or implementation contemplated. It is intended that the scope of the invention be defined by the claims appended hereto and their equivalents in which all terms are meant in their broadest reasonable sense unless otherwise indicated. Therefore, the term “the invention”, “the present invention” or the like is not necessary limited the claim scope to a specific embodiment, and the reference to particularly preferred exemplary embodiments of the invention does not imply a limitation on the invention, and no such limitation is to be inferred. The invention is limited only by the spirit and scope of the appended claims. The abstract of the disclosure is provided to comply with the rules requiring an abstract, which will allow a searcher to quickly ascertain the subject matter of the technical disclosure of any patent issued from this disclosure. It is submitted with the understanding that it will not be used to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims. Any advantages and benefits described may not apply to all embodiments of the invention. It should be appreciated that variations may be made in the embodiments described by persons skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the present invention as defined by the following claims. Moreover, no element and component in the present disclosure is intended to be dedicated to the public regardless of whether the element or component is explicitly recited in the following claims.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 95116722 | May 2006 | TW | national |
