This application claims the priority benefit of China application serial no. 202020720153.4, filed on May 6, 2020. The entirety of the above-mentioned patent application is hereby incorporated by reference herein and made a part of this specification.
The invention relates to an optical module and an optical device, and more particularly, to a wavelength conversion module and a projector.
Recently, projection devices dominated by solid-state light sources such as light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and laser diodes have gradually gained a place in the market. Since the laser diodes have a luminous efficiency higher than about 20% compared with the LEDs, in order to break the light source limitation of the LEDs, a technology of exciting a phosphor by a laser light source to generate a solid color light source required for a projector has been gradually developed. In addition, a laser projection device uses a laser beam provided by a laser diode to excite a phosphor to emit light as a projector illumination source, so as to meet the requirements of a projector with different brightness.
In a current laser projector, a phosphor adhesive layer is generally coated on a highly-reflective metal substrate to form a phosphor wheel, and then a laser beam emitted by a laser light source device excites the phosphor layer of the phosphor wheel on the metal substrate to generate beams of different colors (such as a green light and a yellow light). Moreover, the laser beam (such as a blue light) may directly pass through the phosphor wheel via a hollow slot on the metal substrate or a light-transmitting plate disposed on the metal substrate, thereby generating various color lights. In order to avoid that the phosphor layer at a certain position is continuously irradiated by the laser beam to cause excess temperature, a motor is generally used to drive the phosphor wheel to rotate such that the laser beam is sequentially irradiated to the phosphor layers at different positions with the rotation of the phosphor wheel, and a heat dissipation effect is achieved using an air flow generated during the rotation of the phosphor wheel, or a heat dissipation fan is further used to perform heat dissipation on the phosphor layers. However, this design mode requires a large-area phosphor layer on the metal substrate and the motor, which greatly increases the manufacturing costs, and when rotating, the phosphor wheel will generate noise due to vibration.
The information disclosed in the “BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION” section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the described technology and therefore it may contain information that does not form the prior art that is already known to a person of ordinary skill in the art. Further, the information disclosed in the “BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION” section does not mean that one or more problems to be resolved by one or more embodiments of the invention was acknowledged by a person of ordinary skill in the art.
The invention provides a wavelength conversion module and a projector, which can reduce manufacturing costs, have a good heat dissipation effect, and can reduce the noise of the projector during operation.
Other objectives and advantages of the invention may be further understood from the technical features disclosed in the invention.
In order to achieve one, some, or all of the aforementioned objectives or other objectives, an embodiment of the invention provides a wavelength conversion module, which includes a heat dissipation structure and at least one wavelength conversion layer. The heat dissipation structure has a reflection surface and a heat dissipation surface opposite to each other. The wavelength conversion layer is disposed on the reflection surface and located on a transmission path of an excitation beam. The wavelength conversion layer is configured to convert a wavelength of the excitation beam. The heat dissipation structure is configured to perform heat dissipation on the wavelength conversion layer through the heat dissipation surface.
In order to achieve one, some, or all of the aforementioned objectives or other objectives, an embodiment of the invention provides a projector, which includes a light source, a wavelength conversion module, a light valve, and a projection lens. The light source is configured to provide an excitation beam. The wavelength conversion module includes a heat dissipation structure and at least one wavelength conversion layer. The heat dissipation structure has a reflection surface and a heat dissipation surface opposite to each other. The wavelength conversion layer is disposed on the reflection surface and located on a transmission path of an excitation beam. The wavelength conversion layer is configured to convert a wavelength of the excitation beam to form a converted beam. The heat dissipation structure is configured to perform heat dissipation on the wavelength conversion layer through the heat dissipation surface. The light valve is configured to convert the converted beam into an image beam. The projection lens is configured to project the image beam.
Based on the foregoing, the embodiments of the invention have at least one of the following advantages or effects. In the invention, the wavelength conversion layer is disposed on the reflection surface of the heat dissipation structure, so that the converted beam excited by the wavelength conversion layer being irradiated by an excitation beam is reflected by the reflection surface of the heat dissipation structure and then transmitted to a light valve, and heat generated when the wavelength conversion layer is irradiated by the excitation beam is directly transmitted to the heat dissipation surface of the heat dissipation structure and thus dissipated on the heat dissipation surface. That is, the invention combines the heat dissipation structure and the wavelength conversion layer while meeting the requirements of wavelength conversion and heat dissipation. Therefore, it is not necessary to dispose a large-area phosphor layer on a metal substrate to form a phosphor wheel and use a motor to drive the phosphor wheel to rotate in order to meet the requirements of heat dissipation as in the conventional design mode, so that manufacturing costs can be reduced and the noise of the projector during operation can be reduced.
Other objectives, features and advantages of the present invention will be further understood from the further technological features disclosed by the embodiments of the present invention wherein there are shown and described preferred embodiments of this invention, simply by way of illustration of modes best suited to carry out the invention.
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 to explain 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 are 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 are 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 directly faces “B” component or one or more additional components are 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 are between “A” component and “B” component. Accordingly, the drawings and descriptions will be regarded as illustrative in nature and not as restrictive.
The light valve 130 is located on a transmission path of the illumination beam L and is configured to convert the illumination beam L into an image beam L2. The projection lens 140 is located on a transmission path of the image beam L2 and is configured to project the image beam L2 out of the projector 100.
Referring to
Under the above disposing mode, the wavelength conversion layer 124 is irradiated by the excitation beam L1 to excite the converted beam L1a, the converted beam L1a is reflected by the reflection surface 122a of the heat dissipation structure 122 and then transmitted to the light valve 130, and heat generated when the wavelength conversion layer 124 is irradiated by the excitation beam L1 is directly transmitted to the heat dissipation surface 122b of the heat dissipation structure 122 and thus dissipated on the heat dissipation surface 122b. That is, the heat dissipation structure 122 and the wavelength conversion layer 124 are combined while the requirements of wavelength conversion and heat dissipation are met. Therefore, it is not necessary to dispose a large-area phosphor layer on a metal substrate to form a phosphor wheel and use a motor to drive the phosphor wheel to rotate in order to meet the requirements of heat dissipation as in the conventional design mode. In other words, the wavelength conversion module 120 may be a fixed device, that is, the wavelength conversion module 120 may have no additional driving device, so that manufacturing costs can be reduced and the noise of the projector 100 during operation can be reduced.
In the embodiment, the wavelength conversion layer 124 may, for example, convert the excitation beam L1 into a yellow converted beam L1a, and the yellow converted beam L1a may become a red beam and a green beam through a filter element (not shown), and may be transmitted to the light valve 130 together with the blue beam (excitation beam L1) provided by the light source 110. In other embodiments, the wavelength conversion layer 124 may convert the excitation beam L1 into converted beams L1a of other colors, which is not limited in the invention.
As shown in
The wavelength conversion module 120 of the embodiment may further include a lens 126. The lens 126 is located on the transmission path of the excitation beam L1. The excitation beam L1 is configured to reach the wavelength conversion layer 124 after passing through the lens 126 and be converted into the converted beam L1a, is reflected by the reflection surface 122a, and is configured to be transmitted to the light valve 130 through the lens 126 after being reflected by the reflection surface 122a.
In detail, a main wavelength of the first converted beam L1b is different from that of the second converted beam L1c, a wavelength range of the first converted beam L1b is a wavelength range of a red light, and a wavelength range of the second converted beam L1c is a wavelength range of a green light. In an embodiment, the wavelength range of the first converted beam L1b and the wavelength range of the second converted beam L1c may be partially overlapped.
It is to be particularly noted that the wavelength conversion module 120B shown in
Based on the foregoing, the embodiments of the invention have at least one of the following advantages or effects. In the invention, the wavelength conversion layer is disposed on the reflection surface of the heat dissipation structure, so that the converted beam excited by the wavelength conversion layer being irradiated by the excitation beam is reflected by the reflection surface of the heat dissipation structure and then transmitted to a light valve, and heat generated when the wavelength conversion layer is irradiated by the excitation beam is directly transmitted to the heat dissipation surface of the heat dissipation structure and thus dissipated on the heat dissipation surface. That is, the invention combines the heat dissipation structure and the wavelength conversion layer while meeting the requirements of wavelength conversion and heat dissipation. Therefore, it is not necessary to dispose a large-area phosphor layer on a metal substrate to form a phosphor wheel and use a motor to drive the phosphor wheel to rotate in order to meet the requirements of heat dissipation as in the conventional design mode, so that manufacturing costs can be reduced and the noise of the projector during operation can be reduced.
The foregoing description of the preferred embodiments 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 a person 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 does not necessarily limit 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. Moreover, these claims may refer to use “first”, “second”, etc. following with noun or element. Such terms should be understood as a nomenclature and should not be construed as giving the limitation on the number of the elements modified by such nomenclature unless specific number has been given. 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 a person 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 |
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202020720153.4 | May 2020 | CN | national |