HK1146844A - An eyeglass-mounted type image display device - Google Patents

Description

Glasses-mounted image display device

Cross Reference to Related Applications

The present application claims priority from japanese application No.2009-074910, filed on 25/3/2009, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a glasses-mounted image display device that can be easily applied to existing glasses without interfering with folding of temples.

Background

In the eyeglass-mounted image display device, image light emitted from an image display unit (unit main body portion) attached to a temple portion of eyeglasses is incident on eyeballs of an observer through a light guide unit, and thus the image light is observed as an image. As a conventional technique relating to this, for example, JP2005-352024a proposes a spectacle-type interface device in which a camera unit for taking an image of a retina of an eyeball of a user and outputting an imaging signal of the retina, a wireless communication unit for transmitting the imaging signal from the camera unit by radio waves, and a power generation unit for supplying electric power to the camera unit and the wireless communication unit are respectively mounted on spectacles as one body.

In addition, as other conventional glasses-mounted image display devices, various types of devices have been proposed so far. For example, JP3871188B2 proposes a glasses-mounted image display device having the following structure: the receiving assembly houses a circuit structure for receiving data or images sent to the display device and is mounted on the user's temple by a clip assembly that clips the receiving assembly to an accessory. JP2001-66544A proposes a structure in which a display device that displays an image and a light bending element are mounted on a spectacle frame. JP2003-502713a proposes a structure in which a display and an eyepiece lens assembly are supported by a support of an opto-mechanical type, and an image from the display is received by the eyepiece lens assembly.

However, the conventional image display device of the aforementioned type has a problem that, as in JP2005-352024a, the optical unit is embedded in the lens portion of the eyeglasses, and therefore the existing eyeglasses cannot be used, and as in JP3871188B2, although the optical unit has a folding structure, the folding work of the optical unit needs to be performed separately from the folding work of the temples, which brings inevitable trouble to the storage work. Further, as in JP2001-66544, since the base of the eyeglass lens is provided with a hinge for folding the temple, the optical unit collides with a nose pad or the like when the temple is folded. With JP2003-502713a, since the optical unit is held in the same posture (cannot be folded) when the temples are folded, a part of the optical unit protrudes from the eyeglasses and cannot be stored in a compact state. There is therefore room for improvement.

An object of the present invention is to provide a glasses-mounted image display device which can be easily applied to existing glasses without hindering folding of temples due to an influence of an image display unit (optical unit section).

Disclosure of Invention

The glasses-mounted image display device according to the present invention includes: an image display unit having an image display panel and detachably attached to a temple of the glasses; and a light guide unit that directs the image light emitted from the image display panel to an eyeball of an observer through an incident end, an optical path, and an exit end, wherein the light guide unit is configured as a separate body that is arranged on an outer surface of the eyeglass lens separately from the image display unit.

In the foregoing structure, it is preferable that the image display panel is closer to the eyeglass lens than a hinge unit which serves as a base point for folding the temple. Further, it is preferable that the attachment area of the image display panel is located rearward of the eyeglass lenses, and a position in an up-down direction of the attachment area is located on a lower side or an upper side of an end piece connecting the temple to the eyeglass frame when viewed from a front of the eyeglasses, a lower boundary or an upper boundary of the attachment area is a lower edge or an upper edge of the lenses, and a position in a width direction of the attachment area is from the temple to an edge of the lenses in the width direction. More specifically, it is preferable that the mounting area of the image display panel is located rearward of the eyeglass lenses, and should be an area surrounded by an end piece connecting the temple and the frame, an outer edge of the eyeglass lenses in the width direction, an imaginary vertical line extending along the outer edge of the eyeglass lenses in the width direction on an outer side end of the temple, and an imaginary horizontal line connecting the imaginary vertical line and a lowermost edge or an uppermost edge of the eyeglass lenses, when viewed from the front of eyeglasses. Further, it is preferable that the light guide unit is arranged such that the image light emitted from the image display panel is incident on the incident end after passing through a lateral outer side of the eyeglass lens, and the image light emitted from the exit end is incident on an eyeball of the observer through the eyeglass lens.

The apparatus has a separate structure in which an image display unit having an image display panel is mounted on a temple of glasses, and a light guide unit guiding image light emitted from the image display panel to eyeballs of an observer is mounted on the temple of glasses, and thus, the image display unit and the light guide unit do not form an obstacle when the temple is folded, whereby one-time folding and easy application to existing glasses can be realized.

When the image display unit is attached to the temple, the image display panel arranged in the image display unit is closer to the eyeglass lens than the hinge unit which serves as a base point for folding the temple, and therefore, the distance between the image display panel and the incident end of the light guide unit can be reduced. This allows a smaller display panel (or an increased viewing angle).

Since the image display unit is mounted on the temple, it is not necessary to provide a cable or the like to supply power or a signal to the hinge unit even if the image display panel embedded in the image display unit is closer to the lens than the hinge unit.

The image display panel of the image display unit is mounted behind the lenses and is located in an area surrounded by an eyeglass end piece (a member that is integral with the eyeglass frame and connects the frame to the temple), an outer edge of the eyeglass lens in the width direction, an imaginary vertical line that extends along the outer edge of the eyeglass lens in the width direction at an outer end of the temple, and an imaginary horizontal line that connects the imaginary vertical line and a lowermost edge or an uppermost edge of the eyeglass lens, whereby the projection from each of the upper, lower, left, and right sides is reduced, which does not (unlikely) block the viewer's view when the viewer wears the eyeglasses, and does not impair the sense of beauty.

The light guide unit is arranged such that image light emitted from the image display panel is incident on the incident end through the lateral outside of the eyeglass lens, and the image light emitted from the exit end is transmitted through the eyeglass lens to be incident on the eyeball of the observer, thereby preventing the image quality from being degraded, and furthermore, an eyepiece visibility adjusting mechanism (when the image light passes through the eyeglass lens and is incident on the incident end of the light guide unit, the image quality of the displayed image is degraded due to a different type of eyeglass lens) is eliminated.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is an external perspective view showing a state in which a glasses-mounted image display device according to the present invention is mounted on existing glasses.

Fig. 2 is a view showing a right half plane of fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an external perspective view of the light guide unit.

Fig. 4 is a view showing the rear side of the glasses shown in fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a view illustrating a state in which temples of the glasses shown in fig. 1 are folded.

Fig. 6A is a diagram showing a preferred arrangement region of the image display panel.

Fig. 6B is a diagram showing a preferred arrangement region of the image display panel.

Fig. 6C is a diagram showing a preferred arrangement region of the image display panel.

Fig. 7 is a diagram showing another embodiment of an image display device according to the present invention.

Fig. 8 is a diagram showing still another embodiment of an image display device according to the present invention.

Detailed Description

The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Fig. 1 is an external perspective view (right-eye type) exemplarily showing an embodiment of an image display device according to the present invention in a state of being mounted on glasses, and fig. 2 is a plan view showing a right half of the glasses shown in fig. 1 having the image display device.

Reference numeral 1 in the figure denotes a pair of spectacles. The pair of eyeglasses 1 is constituted by lenses 1a and 1b, a frame 1c holding the lenses 1a and 1b, end pieces 1d and 1e integrally coupled to the ends in the left-right width direction of the frame 1c, respectively, and temples 1f and 1g, the temples 1f and 1g being coupled to the ends in the left-right width direction of the frame 1c via a hinge unit h₁And h₂Foldably coupled to the end pieces 1d and 1 e.

Reference numeral 2 denotes an image display device attached to the eyeglasses 1. The image display device is composed of an image display unit 2a and a rod-shaped light guide unit 2b (of the type shown in the figure having a trapezoidal appearance in which image light is totally reflected in a zigzag manner in a light guide path) mounted on a right temple by a mounting member, the image display unit 2a having a built-in image display panel 2a₁And a circuit for driving the image display panel.

As shown in fig. 3, the light guide unit 2b of the image display device 2 includes: incident end 2b₁From the image display panel 2a₁The emitted image light passes through the lateral outer side of the eyeglass lens and then passes through the incident end 2b₁Incidence; emitting terminal2b₂Through which the image light having passed through the optical path passes₂Through the spectacle lens towards the eye of the observer. The region where the optical path is formed is subjected to surface treatment (coating film or the like) to prevent external light from entering. In addition, the eyepiece optical unit 2b₃Arranged at the exit end 2b₂Upper ocular optical unit 2b₃Is constituted by an eyepiece lens having a curvature depending on the position of a virtual image, which displays an image using an image light.

The image display unit 2a is mounted and held on the temple 1f by, for example, a screw type holder 3, and as shown in fig. 1 and 2, the image display panel 2a embedded in the image display unit 2a₁Hinge h₁Closer to the lens 1 a.

In the image display apparatus having the foregoing structure, the sub-image display panel 2a₁The emitted image light passes through the incident end 2b of the light guide unit 2b₁Optical path, exit end 2b₂And an eyepiece optical unit 2b₃And then directed towards the eyeball of the observer. Here, since the image display panel 2a is provided₁And an incident end 2b of the light guide unit 2b₁With only a small gap therebetween from the image display panel 2a₁Cannot be seen from the edge (periphery), and a compact display panel can be used.

Fig. 4 is a diagram showing the rear side of fig. 1. The main body unit 4a of the holder 4 has a box shape having a through hole into which the light guide unit 2b is inserted, and the main body unit 4a is provided with: an arm 4b rotatably coupled to the hinge h₁Pivot (vis) S of (a); and a resilient tongue 4c, the resilient tongue 4c forming a region that will clamp the lens between the resilient tongue 4c and the side wall of the main unit 4 a. The eyeglass lens 1a and the frame 1c are sandwiched together between the elastic tongue piece 4c and the side wall of the body portion 4a, and are sandwiched, whereby the light guide unit 2b is arranged and fixed on the outer surface of the lens 1a (the light guide unit 2b is arranged such that the incident end 2b is₁Located outside the lens 1a and the exit end 2b2 is located in front of the lens 1 a).

Fig. 5 shows a state in which the temples 1f are folded for the glasses having the structures shown in fig. 1 to 4. In the image display device according to the present invention, the arm 4a of the holder 4 is rotatably coupled to the pivot S of the hinge h 1. Thus, even if the temple 1f is folded, the installation posture of the light guide unit 2b can be stably maintained, which does not interfere with the folding of the temple 1 f.

Preferably, the image display panel 2a is embedded in the image display unit 2a₁Located rearward of the region M shown in fig. 6A to 6C, that is, the lens 1a, and connected by the eyeglass end piece 1d (a member which is integral with the frame and connects the frame to the temple), the outer edge "e" of the eyeglass lens 1a (or the frame 1C) in the width direction, a perpendicular line L extending along the outer edge "e" of the eyeglass lens 1a in the width direction at the outer end (a position having the maximum convex curvature) of the temple 1f, and a lowermost edge u or an uppermost edge u connecting the perpendicular line L and the eyeglass lens 1a₁Is enclosed by the horizontal line L1, thereby minimizing the protrusion from the upper, lower, left, and right sides. Therefore, the image display device 2 does not obstruct the field of vision of the observer when the observer wears the glasses, and can also enhance the aesthetic feeling.

Fig. 7 and 8 show another embodiment of the image display device 2 according to the present invention. As shown in fig. 7, the image display unit 2a may be fixed to be located at the outer end of the temple 1 f. Further, as shown in fig. 8, an image display panel 2a embedded in the image display device 2a₁Is directed to the frame 1c and is connected to the incident end 2b of the light guide unit 2b₁The image display panel 2a is mounted with a gap therebetween₁In a position in front of the lens 1 a.

In the present invention, the case where the light guiding unit 2b is trapezoidal in shape is shown, wherein the incident end 2b is passed through₁The incident image light is totally reflected in a zigzag manner in the trunk portion of the light guide unit 2b and comes out of the exit end 2b₂And (4) injecting. However, the light guide unit 2b having a shape as shown in fig. 8 (reflecting through one surface) may also be employed. There is no limitation to this.

Industrial applicability

It is possible to provide a glasses-mounted image display device which can be easily applied to existing glasses and can be compactly stored.

Claims (4)

1. A glasses-mounted image display device, comprising:

an image display unit having an image display panel and detachably attached to a temple of the glasses; and

a light guide unit through which image light emitted from the image display panel of the image display unit passes through an incident end, a light path, and an exit end toward an eyeball of an observer,

the light guide unit is configured as a separate body disposed on an outer surface of the eyeglass lens, separate from the image display unit.

2. The eyeglass-mounted image display apparatus as set forth in claim 1,

the image display panel is closer to the eyeglass lens than a hinge which serves as a base point for folding the temple.

3. The eyeglass-mounted image display apparatus as set forth in claim 2,

the attachment area of the image display panel is located behind the eyeglass lenses, and the position of the attachment area in the up-down direction is located on the lower side or the upper side of an end piece that connects the temple to the eyeglass frame when viewed from the front of the eyeglasses, the lower boundary or the upper boundary of the attachment area is the lower edge or the upper edge of the lenses, and the position of the attachment area in the width direction is from the temple to the edge of the lenses in the width direction.

4. The eyeglass-mounted image display apparatus as set forth in claim 1,

the light guide unit is arranged such that the image light emitted from the image display panel is incident on the incident end through a lateral outer side of the eyeglass lens, and the image light emitted from the exit end is incident on an eyeball of the observer through the eyeglass lens.