PROJECTION DISPLAY DEVICE

This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. Section 119 of Japanese Patent Application No.2010-111109 filed May 13, 2010, entitled “PROJECTION DISPLAY DEVICE”. The disclosure of the above application is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a projection display device that modulates light from a light source by an imager, and enlarges and projects the modulated light on a projection plane. The present invention relates particularly to a projection display device that forms an image on an imager as an intermediate image between a projection lens and a mirror, and enlarges and projects the intermediate image by the mirror.

2. Disclosure of Related Art

Conventionally, in a projection display device such as a liquid crystal projector (hereinafter, called “projector”), expanding a projection angle of light from a projection optical system has been promoted for shortening a distance between a screen and the projector. In addition to expanding the projection angle, there is proposed a projector configured to perform slant projection such that projection light emitted from the projector is obliquely projected onto a screen.

In the thus configured projector, a projection lens unit and a reflection mirror can be used as a projection optical system, for example. In this configuration, an image on an imager is formed as an intermediate image between the projection lens unit and the reflection mirror, and the intermediate image is enlarged and projected by the reflection mirror. This realizes a shorter projection distance.

In addition, a control circuit board for driving and controlling the projector needs a relatively wide area. This may cause the projector body to be made large in size depending on how to dispose the control circuit board.

In general, the control circuit board is disposed within a main body cabinet above an optical engine formed by an imager or the like. However, the projector performing slant projection has a projection port oriented in a slant upward direction on a top surface of the main body cabinet, and light turned back by the reflection mirror travels to the screen through the projection port. In this arrangement, if the top surface of the main body cabinet projects upward near a front side of the projection port, the top surface may block out the projection light. Accordingly, the control circuit board cannot be disposed so close to the reflection mirror.

In addition, if the control circuit board is disposed relatively distant from the reflection mirror in a direction of projection, the main body cabinet (projector body) is prone to become larger in dimension in the direction of projection. If the projector is larger in dimension in the direction of projection, a throw distance (from the projection port to a screen) becomes longer when the projector is made closest to the screen. Accordingly, if the size of the projection screen is adjusted by moving the projector closer to or distant from the screen, it is not possible to reduce a minimum size of the projection screen, which narrows an adjustment range of projection screen size.

As described above, the projector configured to perform slant projection is subject to various restrictions in shape and size of the projector body. Accordingly, it is necessary to dispose the control circuit board in a position so as to prevent the projector body from being larger in size, with due considerations to these restrictions.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A projection display device in a main aspect of the present invention includes: a light source; an imager portion which modulates light from the light source; a projection portion which enlarges and projects the light modulated by the imager portion; a control circuit; and a main body cabinet in which the light source, the imager portion, the projection portion, and the control circuit portion are disposed. In this arrangement, the projection portion is formed by a projection lens portion into which the light from the imager portion is entered and a mirror portion which reflects the light having passed through the projection lens portion and lets the light travel toward a projection plane. The mirror portion is disposed so as to be shifted from an optical axis of the projection lens portion in a direction opposite to a direction in which the incident light from the projection lens portion is turned back. In addition, the control circuit portion is disposed in a space which is produced between the projection lens portion and the main body cabinet by a position gap between the projection lens portion and the mirror portion.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing and other objects and novel features of the present invention will be more fully understood from the following description of a preferred embodiment when reference is made to the accompanying drawings.

FIGS. 1A and 1B are diagrams (perspective views) showing an outer configuration of a projector in an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram (bottom view) showing an outer configuration of the projector in the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an inner structure of the projector in the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing schematically a configuration of the projection optical unit in the embodiment.

FIG. 5A and 5B are diagrams showing a configuration of a control circuit unit in the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a diagram of a configuration of the control circuit unit in the embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a configuration of an optical unit in the embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a main body cabinet with the optical unit not yet attached in the embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a diagram for describing a projection mode and an effect thereof of the projector in the embodiment.

However, the drawings are only for illustration and do not limit the scope of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

In the following, an embodiment of the invention is described referring to the drawings.

In this embodiment, a lamp unit 14 is equivalent to a “light source” recited in the claims; an imager unit 15 is equivalent to an “imager portion” recited in the claims; a projection optical unit 17 is equivalent to a “projection portion” recited in the claims; a projection lens unit 101 is equivalent to a “projection lens portion” recited in the claims; a reflection mirror 102 is equivalent to a “mirror portion” recited in the claims; a main control board 210 and an extension interface board 220 are equivalent to a “circuit board” recited in the claims; a terminal panel 240 is equivalent to a “terminal portion” recited in the claims; a holder 250 is equivalent to a “holding member” recited in the claims. The foregoing correspondence in description between the claims and this embodiment are merely examples, and do not limit the claims to this embodiment.

FIGS. 1A, 1B and FIG. 2 are diagrams showing an external construction of a projector embodying the invention. FIG. 1A is a perspective view of the projector when viewed from a front side, and FIG. 1B is a perspective view of the projector when viewed from a rear side. FIG. 2 is a bottom view of the projector. To simplify the description, arrows respectively indicating forward, rearward, leftward, and rightward directions are depicted in FIGS. 1A, 1B and FIG. 2. Hereinafter, the arrows indicating forward, rearward, leftward, and rightward directions are depicted in the same manner as above in the other drawings, as necessary.

The projector of the embodiment is a so-called short focus projector. Referring to FIGS. 1A and 1B, the projector is provided with a main body cabinet 1 having a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape. The main body cabinet 1 is constituted of a lower cabinet 2, and an upper cabinet 3 which is placed on the lower cabinet 2 from above.

A top surface of the main body cabinet 1 is formed with a first slope 1a inclined downward and rearward, and a second slope 1b continuing from the first slope 1a and inclined upward and rearward. The second slope 1b faces obliquely upward and forward, and a projection port 4 is formed in the second slope 1b. Image light emitted obliquely upward and forward through the projection port 4 is enlarged and projected onto a screen disposed in front of the projector.

Further, the top surface of the main body cabinet 1 is formed with a lamp cover 5. The top surface of the main body cabinet 1 is formed with a lamp opening for use in exchanging a lamp unit, and a filter opening for use in exchanging a filter disposed in a fan unit for cooling the lamp unit. The lamp cover 5 is a cover for covering the lamp opening and the filter opening. Further, the top surface of the main body cabinet 1 is provided with an operation portion 6 constituted of a plurality of operation keys.

A terminal port portion 7 is formed in a right surface of the main body cabinet 1. A terminal panel 240 having various terminals such as AV terminals is attached to the terminal port portion 7. The terminal panel 240 constitutes a part of a control circuit unit to be described later. Audio Visual (AV) signals such as an image signal and an audio signal are inputted and outputted to and from the projector through the AV terminals. Further, an air inlet 8 is formed in the right surface of the main body cabinet 1 at a position above the terminal port portion 7. The air inlet 8 is constituted of multitudes of slit holes, and external air is drawn into the main body cabinet 1 through the air inlet 8.

A first air outlet 9 and a second air outlet 10 are formed in a left surface of the main body cabinet 1. Each of the first and second air outlets 9, 10 is constituted of multitudes of slit holes, and air inside the main body cabinet 1 is discharged to the outside of the projector through the first and second air outlets 9, 10. Further, a sound output port 11 is formed in a rear surface of the main body cabinet 1. Sounds in accordance with images are outputted through the sound output port 11 at the time of image projection.

Referring to FIG. 2, a fixed leg 12 is disposed in the middle of a front portion on a bottom surface of the main body cabinet 1, and two adjustable legs 13 are disposed at a rear end thereof. By expanding or contracting the two adjustable legs 13 up and down, it is possible to adjust the inclination of the main body cabinet 1 in forward/rearward directions and leftward/rightward directions. Thus, it is possible to adjust the upward/downward position and the leftward/rightward inclination of an image projected on a screen.

The projector of the embodiment may be installed in a suspended state from a ceiling with the main body cabinet 1 being upside down, other than an installation manner that the bottom surface of the main body cabinet 1 is placed on an installation plane such as a desk surface or a floor surface. Further, a front surface of the main body cabinet 1 is a flat surface without the terminal panel 240 and the air inlet 8. Accordingly, it is possible to install the projector of the embodiment in such a manner that the front surface of the main body cabinet 1 is placed on an installation plane. In this case, an image is projected on the installation plane itself.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an internal structure of the projector. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a state that the upper cabinet 3 is detached, when viewed from a front side. To simplify the description, in FIG. 3, an imager unit 15 and a projection optical unit 17 are indicated by the dotted lines. Further, the position of the air inlet 8 is indicated by the one-dotted chain line.

Referring to FIG. 3, a lamp unit 14, and the imager unit 15 for modulating light from the lamp unit 14 to generate image light are disposed on a front portion of the lower cabinet 2.

The lamp unit 14 is constituted of a light source lamp, and a lamp holder for holding the light source lamp; and is configured so as to be detachably attached from above. A fan unit 16 is disposed behind the lamp unit 14. The fan unit 16 supplies external air (cooling air) drawn through the air inlet 8 to the light source lamp to cool the light source lamp. The lamp holder is formed with an air duct for guiding the cooling air from the fan unit 16 to the light source lamp.

The imager unit 15 includes a color wheel and a Digital Micromirror Device (DMD). The color wheel separates white light from the light source lamp into light of respective colors such as red, green, blue in a time-sharing manner. The DMD modulates the light of the respective colors emitted from the color wheel based on an image signal.

The projection optical unit 17 is disposed at a rear position of the imager unit 15. The projection optical unit 17 enlarges image light generated by the imager unit 15, and projects the enlarged image light onto a projection plane such as a screen.

FIG. 4 is a diagram schematically showing an arrangement of the projection optical unit 17. In FIG. 4, the imager unit 15, a control circuit unit 23, and a noise filter unit 24 are schematically shown, in addition to the projection optical unit 17.

The projection optical unit 17 is constituted of a projection lens unit 101, a reflection mirror 102, and a housing 103 for housing the projection lens unit 101 and the reflection mirror 102. The projection lens unit 101 has a plurality of lenses 101a. The reflection mirror 102 is a curved mirror or a free curved mirror.

As shown in FIG. 4, image light emitted from the imager unit 15 is entered into the projection lens unit 101 at a position shifted from the optical axis L of the projection lens unit 101 in a direction toward the top surface of the main body cabinet 1. The entered image light receives a lens function by the projection lens unit 101, and is entered into the reflection mirror 102. Thereafter, the projection angle of the image light is expanded by the reflection mirror 102, and the image light is projected onto a projection plane (screen) via a light ray passage window 104.

As described above, image light is entered into the projection lens unit 101 at a position shifted from the optical axis L of the projection lens unit 101 in a direction toward the top surface of the main body cabinet 1. In view of this, the reflection mirror 102 is disposed at a position shifted from the optical axis L of the projection lens unit 101 toward the bottom surface of the main body cabinet 1. Here, the reflection mirror 102 has a reflection surface larger than the lens surface of each lens 101a constituting the projection lens unit 101. Accordingly, the shift amount of the reflection mirror 102 with respect to the optical axis L of the projection lens unit 101 is relatively large. Consequently, there is defined a relatively large space G between a lower surface of the projection lens unit 101 and the bottom surface of the main body cabinet 1 (lower cabinet 2). The space G is defined from the position where the projection lens unit 101 is disposed to the position where the imager unit 15 is disposed.

Referring back to FIG. 3, a power source unit 18 is disposed behind the fan unit 16. The power source unit 18 is provided with a power source circuit to supply electric power to each electric component of the projector. A speaker 19 is disposed behind the power source unit 18. Sounds outputted through the speaker 19 are released to the outside through the sound output port 11.

A DMD cooling fan 20 is disposed on the right of the imager 15. The DMD cooling fan 20 supplies external air drawn through the air inlet 8 to the imager unit 15 so as to cool the DMD.

A lamp exhaust fan 21 is disposed on the left of the lamp unit 14. The lamp exhaust fan 21 draws the air that has cooled the light source lamp, and discharges the air to the outside through the first air outlet 9.

A power source exhaust fan 22 is disposed on the left of the power source unit 18. The power source exhaust fan 22 draws warmed air inside of the power source unit 18, and discharges the warmed air to the outside through the second air outlet 10. By flowing the air from the inside of the power source unit 18 to the power source exhaust fan 22, fresh external air is supplied into the power source unit 18 through the air inlet 8.

As shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, in the projector of the embodiment, the control circuit unit 23 and the noise filter unit 24 are disposed in the space G defined below the projection lens unit 101 and the imager unit 15.

The noise filter unit 24 is provided with a circuit board mounted with a noise filter and a fuse thereon, and supplies electric power inputted from a commercial AC power source to the power source unit 18 after noise removal.

FIGS. 5A, 5B, and 6 are diagrams showing a configuration of the control circuit unit 23. FIG. 5A is a perspective view of the control circuit unit 23 in which the main control board 210 and the extension interface board 220 are not yet built into the holder 250. FIG. 5B is a perspective view of the control circuit unit 23 in which the main control board 210 and the extension interface board 220 are built into the holder 250. FIG. 6 is a plan view of the holder 250 as seen from underneath.

Referring to FIGS. 5A, 5B, and 6, the control circuit unit 23 is formed by the main control board 210, the extension interface board 220, a fixing board 230, a terminal panel 240, and the holder 250.

The main control board 210 has a control circuit for controlling various drive parts such as a light source lamp, a DMD, and the like. In addition, the main control board 210 has at a right end thereof various terminals 211 and has at a center thereof a connector 212 for connection with a DMD wiring board 15a.

The main control board 210 has total six attachment holes 213 formed at four corners, between two front corners, and between two back corners. In addition, the main control board 210 has positioning holes 214 formed next to the attachment holes 213 at the three corners other than the left and back corners. In FIG. 5A, the attachment holes 213 and the positioning holes 214 at the right and front corners are hidden by the terminal panel 240.

The extension interface board 220 has terminals 221 other than the terminals disposed on the main control board 210.

The fixing board 230 is made of a metallic material, and has the fixing portion 231 and the shielding portion 232 vertically integrated. The fixing portion 231 has one surface on which the interface board 220 and the main control board 210 are vertically aligned and fixed, and has the other surface on which the terminal panel 240 is fixed. The shielding portion 232 has a large number of openings 232a with metallic meshes (not shown). As shown in FIG. 3, when the control circuit unit 23 is attached to the main body cabinet 1, the shielding portion 232 is disposed on an inner side of the air inlet 8. External air taken in by the air inlet 8 flows into the main body cabinet 1 through the openings 232a. The shielding portion 232 blocks out electromagnetic waves that are about to leak outward from the air inlet 8.

The terminal panel 240 has openings shaped to be suitable for the terminals 211 and 221. The terminals 211 and 221 are exposed from these openings. Although not shown, the fixing portion 231 of the fixing board 230 has also openings through which the terminals 211 and 221 pass.

The holder 250 is made of a metallic material (for example, aluminum), and has an upper plate 251, and a front plate 252 and a back plate 253 on front and back sides of the upper plate 251, respectively.

The upper plate 251 has an opening 254 through which the DMD wiring board 15a passes and an opening 255 for storing the bottom portion of the projection optical unit 17 at an incident end side. As shown in FIG. 6, the front plate 252 and the back plate 253 have six attachment pieces 256 corresponding to the six attachment holes 213 of the main control board 210. The attachment pieces 256 have respective attachment holes 256a. In addition, the two attachment pieces 256 of the front plate 252 on the both sides and the attachment piece 256 of the back plate 253 at a right end have respective positioning projections 256b corresponding to the positioning holes 214 of the main control board 210.

Further, the front plate 252 and the back plate 253 have at left ends respective attachment pieces 257 for attaching the holder 250 to the main body cabinet 1. These attachment pieces 257 have also attachment holes 257a.

As shown in FIG. 5A, the main control board 210 and the extension interface board 220 are stored from underneath in a storage space surrounded by the upper plate 251, the front plate 252, and the back plate 253. When stored in place within the storage space, the main control board 210 contacts the six attachment pieces 256 from underneath, and the three positioning holes 214 of the main control board 210 fit onto the corresponding positioning projections 256b of the attachment pieces 256. Accordingly, the six attachment holes 213 of the main control board 210 are aligned with the corresponding attachment holes 256a of the attachment pieces 256. Among the six attachment holes 213 of the main control board 210, the two central attachment holes 213 and the corresponding attachment pieces 256 are fastened to each other by screws. Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 5B, the main control board 210 and the extension interface board 220 are fixed to the holder 250, whereby the control circuit unit 23 is completely assembled. At this point of time, the attachment holes 213 of the main control board 210 at the four corners and the corresponding attachment pieces 256 are not fastened to each other by screws.

When the imager unit 15 (not shown in FIG. 5B) is attached to the top surface of the holder 250, the DMD wiring board 15a connected to the DMD is inserted through the opening 254 into the storage space of the holder 250 as shown in FIG. 5B. Then, a connector (not shown) formed on the DMD wiring board 15a is connected to the connector 212 on the main control board 210. The DMD wiring board 15a has a signal line for the DMD through which drive signals from the DMD driver on the main control board 210 are transmitted to the DMD.

In addition, the main control board 210 may discharge electromagnetic waves during operation, but the holder 250 made of a metallic material can block out such electromagnetic waves.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a configuration of the optical unit U. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the main body cabinet 1 with the optical unit U not yet attached.

As shown in FIG. 7, the lamp unit 14, the imager unit 15, the projection optical unit 17, the fan unit 16, and the DMD cooling fan 20 are fixed to the holder 250 of the control circuit unit 23, by an appropriate fixing method such as screwing or the like. Accordingly, the control circuit unit 23, the lamp unit 14, the imager unit 15, the projection optical unit 17, the fan unit 16, and the DMD cooling fan 20 are integrated into one optical unit U.

As shown in FIG. 8, for fixation of the optical unit U, the lower cabinet 2 is provided with four attachment portions 25 corresponding to the four attachment pieces 256 of the holder 250 not yet screwed at incorporation of the main control board 210, two attachment portions 26 corresponding to the two attachment pieces 257 at the left end of the holder 250, and one attachment portion 27 corresponding to an attachment piece (not shown) provided on the housing 103 of the projection optical unit 17.

The optical unit U is fixed to the bottom surface of the lower cabinet 2 as shown in FIG. 3, the seven attachment pieces 256 and 257 by screws to the corresponding seven attachment portions 25, 26, and 27 by fastening. As described above, the attachment holes 213 of the main control board 210 are aligned with the attachment holes 256a of the four attachment pieces 256. Therefore, the main control board 210 is fastened together with the attachment pieces 256 to the attachment portions 25 by screws. Accordingly, the main control board 210 is firmly fixed by screws at the total six points to the holder 250.

If the main control board 210 is broken, the main control board 210 needs to be removed from the holder 250 for repair or replacement with a new main control board 210. In this case, an engineer (service person) unscrews the seven screws fixing the optical unit U and removes the optical unit U from the main body cabinet 1. After that, he/she unscrews the two screws to remove the main control board 210 from the holder 250.

Accordingly, this embodiment eliminates the need to follow a troublesome procedure: firstly removing the imager unit 15 and the projection optical unit 17 above the control circuit unit 23 from the main body cabinet 1; and then removing the control circuit unit 23 from the main body cabinet 1. This facilitates replacement of the main control board 210.

As the foregoing, in this embodiment, when the reflection mirror 102 is disposed so as to be shifted from an optical axis of the projection lens unit 101, a space G is produced under the projection lens unit 101 between the reflection mirror 102 and the main body cabinet 1. The produced space G is used to dispose the main control board 210 and the extension interface board 220 in the space G. Disposing the boards in this manner makes the projector 1 less prone to be larger in dimension in the direction of projection. Accordingly, it is possible to make the outer shape of the projector 1 compact without deteriorating the projection capability of the projector 1.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing one projection mode in this embodiment. In this embodiment, the main control board 210 and the extension interface board 220 are disposed in the space G as described above, which prevents a dimension D1 of the main body cabinet 1 from becoming larger in the direction of projection. In this case, the direction of projection is the front-back direction shown in FIG. 9.

In this embodiment, since it is possible to prevent the dimension D1 from becoming larger as stated above, a shortest value of a throw distance (distance between the screen and the projection port 4 in the direction of projection) D2 can be reduced. The throw distance D2 becomes shortest when a front surface c of the main body cabinet 1 is pressed against a wall as shown in FIG. 9.

In the projection mode of FIG. 9, it is possible to change a size of an image projected onto the screen with variations in the throw distance D2 by moving the projector backward and forward. In this embodiment, since the shortest value of the throw distance D2 can be reduced, a projected image can be made smaller in size, thereby providing a wider adjustment range of projected image size by moving the projector backward and forward.

In this embodiment, since the main control board 210 and the extension interface board 220 are disposed in the space G, it is possible to prevent the main body cabinet 1 from becoming larger in height. Accordingly, the main body cabinet 1 does not block out projection light emitted from the projection port 4. This allows the projector to be made compact without deteriorating the projection capability.

In addition, in this embodiment, the main control board 210 and the extension interface board 220 are vertically aligned in the storage space of the holder 250, that is, in the space G. Accordingly, the control circuit unit 23 can be smaller in dimension in the direction of projection, which makes it possible to further prevent that the dimension D1 of the main body cabinet 1 becomes larger in the direction of projection.

Further, in this embodiment, the terminal panel 240 is provided on the right surface of the main body cabinet 1 in a position corresponding to the space G in which the main control board 210 and the extension interface boad 220 are disposed. Accordingly, it is possible to form the air inlet 8 above the terminal panel 240, that is, in a position corresponding to the imager unit 15 and the projection lens unit 101, without interference by the terminal panel 240. This allows the air inlet 8 to be made wider in area without interference by the terminal panel 240. Therefore, it is possible to supply a large amount of intake air to the main body cabinet 1 and cool favorably heat-generating portions inside the main body cabinet 1, such as the DMD of the imager unit 15, and the like.

Although an embodiment of the present invention is as described above, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment. In addition, the embodiment of the present invention can be appropriately modified in various manners within the scope of technical ideas shown in the claims.

For example, in the foregoing embodiment, the DMD is used as an imager constituting the imager unit 15. Alternatively, a liquid crystal panel may be used instead.

In addition, in the foregoing embodiment, the lamp unit 14 having a light source lamp is used. Alternatively, any light source other than a lamp light source, for example, a laser light source or an LED light source may be used instead.

Further, in the foregoing embodiment, the holder 250 holds the extension interface board 220 together with the main control board 210. Alternatively, in addition to the extension interface board 220 or instead of the extension interface board 220, the holder 250 may hold any other circuit board, for example, a communication circuit board, together with the main control board 210. Such a communication circuit board has a communication circuit for performing communications between the projector and another device such as a personal computer or the like.

PROJECTION DISPLAY DEVICE

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Abstract

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Priority Claims (1)