JP4646540B2 - projector - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a projector, and more particularly to a projector provided with distance information acquisition means for performing a focusing operation, keystone distortion correction, and the like.

  Conventionally, in a projector that enlarges and projects an image corresponding to an input electrical signal onto a screen by a projection lens, the projection lens is moved in the optical axis direction based on distance information between the screen and the projector obtained by the distance information acquisition unit. There is known a projector including a distance sensor device for driving control to adjust focus, correct keystone distortion, and the like.

As such distance information acquisition means of the projector, for example, Patent Document 1 describes a distance measuring mechanism that measures the distance to the screen by comparing the received light intensity of the light receiving element that receives light from the light emitting element. Has been. In the distance measuring mechanism in this Patent Document 1, as an adjustment mechanism for changing the optical axis of the distance measuring mechanism, the vertically-controlled variable vertical prism or the light emitting element is moved in parallel up or down, or the light emitting element and the lens are integrally tilted. An optical axis moving means such as is used.
As another example, Patent Document 2 describes an apparatus that automatically arranges the twist of the main body by detecting the tilt of the screen by arranging two (or more) ultrasonic sensors in front of the projector.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 06-027431 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 02-282290

However, in the distance measuring mechanism described in Patent Document 1, as described above, as an adjustment mechanism for changing the optical axis of the distance measuring mechanism, an electrically controlled variable apex angle prism, a vertical translation means for a light emitting element, Alternatively, an optical axis moving means such as inclining the light emitting element and the lens integrally is used, which requires electrical control and an actuator, and the apparatus becomes large.
Moreover, in the thing of the said patent document 2, since it is necessary to acquire distance information using a some ultrasonic sensor, it is disadvantageous in cost and an apparatus also becomes large.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a projector including a distance information acquisition unit that can be downsized and can be configured with high reliability and low cost. is there.

The present invention provides a projector configured as follows.
That is, the projector of the present invention is a projector including distance information acquisition means for obtaining distance information to the image projection surface.
The distance information acquisition means includes an optical axis forming means for forming two or more optical axes for distance information acquisition corresponding to different areas on the image projection surface ,
The optical axis forming means is disposed within a distance measuring field of the distance measuring sensor section of the distance information acquiring means, and deflects at least one optical axis of the distance measuring sensor section in two or more different directions. It consists of parts .

  According to the present invention, it is possible to realize a projector including a distance information acquisition unit that can be reduced in size and can be configured with high reliability and low cost.

  The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described by the following examples.

[Example 1]
In the first embodiment of the present invention, the configuration of the projector including the distance information acquisition unit of the present invention described above is applied to a projector including a distance sensor device (distance information acquisition unit) for performing a focusing operation of the projector. Is.
FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram showing a configuration of a projector provided with a distance sensor device in the present embodiment. In FIG. 1, 1 is a projector. Reference numeral 2 denotes a projection lens that can be electrically driven and moved in the optical axis direction so that the focus can be adjusted, 3 is a display element using a liquid crystal panel, 4 is a distance sensor device, and the projector 1 is constituted by these members. Yes.

  Reference numeral 5 denotes a screen. As shown in FIG. 1, the projector 1 is configured to enlarge and project an image corresponding to an electric signal formed on the display element 3 onto the screen 5 by the projection lens. Then, when the image is enlarged and projected on the screen 5, control (not shown) is performed so that the image by the enlarged projection is focused based on the distance information between the screen 5 and the projector 1 obtained by the distance sensor device 4. Based on the distance information determined by the circuit, the projection lens 2 is electrically driven and controlled in the optical axis direction to perform a desired focus adjustment.

Here, the distance sensor device 4 includes a light receiving unit 4a, 4b configured by a pair of line sensors, and a distance measuring sensor unit 4d including a lens 4c configured by a pair of converging optical systems corresponding thereto, located within the distance measuring field of the distance measuring sensor unit 4d, due to the pair of prisms with each surface is different inclination with respect to the plane orthogonal to the optical axis has a function to deflect in different directions of the optical axis 4f, the 4g respectively And an optical axis deflection unit 4e which is an optical member.

The distance sensor unit 4d of the distance sensor device 4 of the present embodiment can measure the distance in one direction alone.
Similarly, the optical axis deflecting unit 4e alone has two portions that simply pass light without having the power of convergence and divergence, and deflects the light passing through these portions in two different directions. Has the effect of In order to improve the performance of the distance sensor device 4, it is conceivable that the optical axis deflecting unit 4e has, for example, convergence or divergence power. In that case, the light rays for distance measurement may be appropriately formed on the light receiving portions 4a and 4b of the line sensor that finally constitutes the distance measuring sensor portion 4d. For example, it is possible to cope by shifting the position of the lens 4c constituting the distance measuring sensor unit 4d or changing the degree of convergence.

Here, the distance sensor device 4 has two optical axes 4f and 4g. The optical axis 4f corresponds to the area 5a on the screen, and the optical axis 4g corresponds to the area 5b on the screen.
In the above configuration, when the distance image is projected by the distance sensor device 4 from the projector 1 to the area 5a, the distance data corresponding to the area 5a can be obtained, and the distance data corresponding to the area 5b is projected. When the projection image is measured by the distance sensor device 4, distance information corresponding to the region 5b can be acquired. Therefore, when the distance is measured by the distance sensor device 4, the distance information to the screen can be obtained from the phase difference between the two line sensors based on the distance data corresponding to the areas 5a and 5b.

[Example 2]
In the second embodiment of the present invention, the configuration of the projector including the distance information acquisition unit of the present invention described above is applied to a projector including a distance sensor device (distance information acquisition unit) for performing a focusing operation of the projector. Is.
Since the present embodiment is different from the first embodiment only in the configuration of the distance sensor device provided in the projector, and other parts are the same as those in the first embodiment, the description of the parts overlapping with the first embodiment is omitted.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the configuration of the distance sensor used in the projector in this embodiment. In FIG. 2, 14 is a distance sensor device of the present embodiment. The distance sensor device 14 includes a distance measuring sensor unit 14d including a light receiving unit 14a and 14b configured by a pair of line sensors and a lens 14c configured by a pair of converging optical systems corresponding to the light receiving units 14a and 14b. It consists of a half mirror 14e and a mirror 14f arranged in the distance measuring field 14d. As shown in FIG. 2, the distance measuring optical axis is divided into an optical axis 14g and an optical axis 14h.

In such a configuration, the distance measuring optical device 14 is divided into two by the half mirror 14e, as shown in FIG. 2, so that the distance sensor device 14 is not shown by setting the mirror 14f to an appropriate angle. It is possible to correspond to distance information of two different areas on the screen.
In the case of the distance measuring apparatus according to the present embodiment, distance information of a plurality of areas on the screen can be obtained by sequentially forming distance measurement images in areas corresponding to the two optical axes 14g and 14h. .

  In the second embodiment, an embodiment in which two optical members, one half mirror and one mirror, are used. However, for the purpose of the present invention, for example, a prism including a half mirror surface is used. May be. A diffractive optical element may be used as an optical member for dividing the optical axis. In this case, it is sufficient that there is at least one diffractive optical element as an optical member.

[Example 3]
The third embodiment is different from the second embodiment in that the number of divisions of the distance measuring optical axis is two, but the difference is that the number of division of the optical axis is three. Since this is the same as 2, the description of the same part as in Example 2 is omitted.
FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the configuration of a distance sensor used in the projector according to the present embodiment. In FIG. 3, reference numeral 24 denotes a distance sensor device of the present embodiment. The distance sensor device 24 includes a light receiving unit 24a, 24b configured by a pair of line sensors, a distance measuring sensor unit 24d including a lens 24c configured by a pair of converging optical systems, and the distance measuring sensor unit 24d. The half mirror 24e arranged in the distance measuring field, another half mirror 24f, and two mirrors 24g. As shown in FIG. 3, the distance measuring optical axis is divided into an optical axis 24h, an optical axis 24i, and an optical axis 24j.
In such a configuration, the distance measuring device 24 has its distance measuring optical axis divided into three by the half mirrors 24e and 24f as shown in FIG. 3, so that the mirror 24g can be set at an appropriate angle. It is possible to deal with distance information of three different areas on a screen (not shown).
The half mirror 24e sets the transmittance and the reflectance to the same level, and the other half mirror 24f sets the reflectance to 1/3 and the transmittance to 2/3. The light quantity balance from 24h, 24i, and 24j becomes good.

  In the case of the distance measuring apparatus according to the present embodiment, the distance between a plurality of areas on the screen is formed by sequentially projecting and forming images for distance measurement on areas corresponding to the three optical axes 24h, 24i, and 24j. Information can be obtained.

[Example 4]
Example 4 was placed in a distance measuring field of the distance measuring sensor unit, only structure of the flop rhythm is different from example 1, because the other portions are the same as in Example 1, overlapping with Example 1 Description of the parts to be performed is omitted.
Figure 4 is an explanatory view of an optical member obtained by integrating the four prisms Ru using the distance sensor in this embodiment. In FIG. 4, 34d is a distance measuring sensor unit in the distance sensor device 34, and 34e is an optical axis deflecting unit. The optical axis deflection unit 34e is formed of an optical member in which four prisms each having different inclinations with respect to the optical axis orthogonal plane are integrated so that the number of divisions of the optical axis is four.

According to each of the embodiments of the present invention described above, the distance sensor device is configured to have at least two or more optical axes for obtaining distance information corresponding to different areas on the screen. For example, the screen is inclined. In this case, a plurality of distance measurement data can be obtained by a distance sensor device that does not involve a movable part, and the reliability and durability of the distance sensor device can be improved, and the size can be reduced.
The distance sensor device includes a distance sensor unit having a sensor visual field for obtaining distance information, and an optical member that is disposed in the visual field of the distance sensor unit and includes at least one optical axis deflecting unit that changes the optical axis. As a result, a single distance measuring sensor unit can be configured, and cost reduction and size reduction can be achieved.
In addition, the distance sensor device is configured to sequentially project a predetermined pattern onto an area on the screen corresponding to at least two or more optical axes, and to acquire distance information at a plurality of locations. Data can be acquired reliably.
Further, since the distance measurement pattern is projected from the projection lens, a projection image for distance measurement can be easily created.
Further, as in the second embodiment or the third embodiment, a plurality of optical axes can be freely set by configuring the optical sensor with a distance sensor unit and a half mirror for dividing the optical axis of the distance sensor unit. It becomes possible to set.

It is a conceptual diagram which shows the structure of the projector provided with the distance sensor apparatus (distance information acquisition means) in Example 1 of this invention. It is a figure explaining the structure of the distance sensor used for the projector in Example 2 of this invention. It is a figure explaining the structure of the distance sensor used for the projector in Example 3 of this invention. Illustration of an optical member obtained by integrating the four prisms Ru using the distance sensor in the fourth embodiment of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols

1: Projector 2: Projection lens 3: Display element 4, 14: Distance sensor device (distance information acquisition means)
4d, 14d: Ranging sensor unit 4e: Optical axis deflecting unit 14e: Half mirror 5: Screen (image projection surface)

Claims (5)

In a projector equipped with distance information acquisition means for obtaining distance information to the image projection surface,
The distance information acquisition means includes an optical axis forming means for forming two or more optical axes for distance information acquisition corresponding to different areas on the image projection surface ,
The optical axis forming means is disposed within a distance measuring field of the distance measuring sensor section of the distance information acquiring means, and deflects at least one optical axis of the distance measuring sensor section in two or more different directions. A projector characterized in that it is configured by a section . 2. The projector according to claim 1 , wherein the optical axis deflecting unit is configured by an optical member in which a plurality of prisms each having a different inclination with respect to a plane orthogonal to the optical axis are integrated. In a projector equipped with distance information acquisition means for obtaining distance information to the image projection surface,
The distance information acquisition means includes an optical axis forming means for forming two or more optical axes for distance information acquisition corresponding to different areas on the image projection surface,
The optical axis forming means is disposed within a distance measuring field of the distance sensor unit of the distance information acquisition means, and a half mirror and a mirror for dividing the optical axis of the distance sensor part into two or more different directions features and to pulp projector that is constituted by an optical member having a. It said distance information obtaining means, any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that it is configured to acquire the distance information corresponding to the ranging pattern projected at a plurality of the image projection surface Projector. The projector according to claim 4 , wherein the ranging pattern is configured to be projected from a projection lens of the projector.

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