Apparatus for uniformly illuminating a light valve
US6332688A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | May 15, 1995 |
| Grant date | Dec 25, 2001 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | May 15, 2015 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG02F1/133605
- WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A light energy efficient and low cost optical system for providing uniform illumination of a light valve. The light source is an extended source generally emitting a non-uniform spatial distribution of light power. The source light is focused into the entrance end of a light transmitting tunnel having reflecting interior wall surfaces and having cross sectional and length dimensions chosen to deliver, at the exit end of the tunnel, light which is substantially uniform is power distribution, over the surface area of the exit end, due multiple reflections from the tunnel walls. The exiting light is advantageously used to uniformly illuminate a light valve. The invention includes a combination of mirrors arranged about the source light to most effectively collect and direct the light.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.