U.S. patent application number 16/515524 was filed with the patent office on 2019-11-07 for illumination system and projection apparatus.
The applicant listed for this patent is Young Optics Inc.. Invention is credited to Jia-Bin Huang.
Application Number | 20190339599 16/515524 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 63669275 |
Filed Date | 2019-11-07 |
United States Patent
Application |
20190339599 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Huang; Jia-Bin |
November 7, 2019 |
ILLUMINATION SYSTEM AND PROJECTION APPARATUS
Abstract
An illumination system includes a green light source, a red
light source, a blue light source, a first splitter, a second
splitter, and a thermoelectric cooler. The first splitter is
disposed downstream of the light sources, the first splitter being
capable of reflecting a first color light beam and allowing a
second color light beam to pass. The second splitter is disposed at
the light paths of the light sources, and the second splitter being
capable of reflecting a third color light beam and allowing the
first color light beam and the second color light beam to pass,
wherein the color of the first color light beam, the second color
light beam, and the third color light beam are substantially
different. The thermoelectric cooler is thermally coupled to the
red light source, and neither the green light source nor the blue
light source is thermally couple to any thermoelectric cooler.
Inventors: |
Huang; Jia-Bin; (Hsinchu,
TW) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Young Optics Inc. |
Hsinchu |
|
TW |
|
|
Family ID: |
63669275 |
Appl. No.: |
16/515524 |
Filed: |
July 18, 2019 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
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15928146 |
Mar 22, 2018 |
|
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16515524 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H05K 1/181 20130101;
H05K 2201/10174 20130101; H05K 2201/10106 20130101; H05K 2201/10121
20130101; G02B 27/14 20130101; H01L 35/30 20130101; H04N 9/3144
20130101; G03B 21/16 20130101; G03B 21/2033 20130101; G03B 21/2013
20130101; H04N 9/3111 20130101; G03B 33/12 20130101; H05K 1/0203
20130101; H04N 9/3164 20130101; G02B 27/149 20130101; G03B 33/08
20130101; G03B 21/2066 20130101 |
International
Class: |
G03B 21/16 20060101
G03B021/16; G03B 21/20 20060101 G03B021/20; G03B 33/08 20060101
G03B033/08; G03B 33/12 20060101 G03B033/12; H04N 9/31 20060101
H04N009/31; G02B 27/14 20060101 G02B027/14; H05K 1/02 20060101
H05K001/02 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Mar 31, 2017 |
TW |
106111237 |
Claims
1. An illumination system, comprising: a green light source; a red
light source, comprising at least one semi-conductor die; a blue
light source; a first splitter, disposed downstream of the green
light source, the red light source, and the blue light source; the
first splitter being capable of reflecting a first color light beam
and allowing a second color light beam to pass; a second splitter,
disposed at the light paths of the green light source, the red
light source, and the blue light source, the second splitter being
capable of reflecting a third color light beam and allowing the
first color light beam and the second color light beam to pass,
wherein the color of the first color light beam, the second color
light beam, and the third color light beam are substantially
different; and a thermoelectric cooler, thermally coupled to the
red light source, and neither the green light source nor the blue
light source being thermally coupled to any thermoelectric
cooler.
2. The illumination system according to claim 1, wherein a
specified time period refer to time needed to play a single frame,
wherein, within the specified time period, the green light beam is
outputted for a time length of at least 45% of the specified time
period.
3. The illumination system according to claim 1, wherein the green
light beam having a duty of at least 60% or more.
4. The illumination system according to claim 1, wherein the
illumination system comprises no more than one thermoelectric
cooler.
5. The illumination system according to claim 1, wherein each of
the red light source, the green light source, and the blue light
source comprises at least one LED die respectively.
6. The illumination system according to claim 5, wherein each of
the green light source, the red light source, and the blue light
source has a circuit board respectively, the circuit board of the
red light source comprises a first side and a second side, the LED
die is disposed at the first side of the circuit board, the second
side is connected to a cold side of the thermoelectric cooler.
7. The illumination system according to claim 6, further comprising
a heat dissipation device thermally coupled to a heat side of the
thermoelectric cooler, the green light source has power consumption
rate of no less than 48 Watts.
8. The illumination system according to claim 1, wherein the first
splitter and the second splitter forms an X-shape structure.
9. The illumination system according to claim 1, wherein the first
splitter has one side slantly facing the green light source and the
blue light source.
10. The illumination system according to claim 9, wherein the
second splitter has one side slantly facing the red light source
and another side slantly facing the green light source.
11. A projection apparatus, comprising: a green light source; a red
light source, comprising at least one semi-conductor die; a blue
light source; a thermoelectric cooler, thermally coupled to the red
light source; a light valve, disposed downstream of the red light
source, the blue light source and the green light source; a
projection lens, disposed downstream of the light valve; and a
prism, disposed at a light path between the light valve and the
projection lens; wherein, neither the blue light source nor the
green light source is thermally coupled to any thermoelectric
cooler.
12. The projection apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the
green light beam having a duty of at least 60% or more.
13. The projection apparatus according to claim 11, further
comprising: a first splitter, disposed downstream of the green
light source, the red light source, and the blue light source, the
first splitter being capable of reflecting a first color light beam
and allowing a second color light beam to pass; and a second
splitter, disposed at the light paths of the green light source,
the red light source, and the blue light source, and the second
splitter being capable of reflecting a third color light beam and
allowing the first color light beam and the second color light beam
to pass, wherein the color of the first color light beam, the
second color light beam, and the third color light beam are
substantially different.
14. The projection apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the
first splitter and the second splitter forms an X-shape
structure.
15. The projection apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the
green light source, the red light source, and the blue light source
comprises at least one LED die respectively.
16. The projection apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the
first splitter has one side slantly facing the green light source
and the blue light source.
17. The projection apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the
second splitter has one side slantly facing the red light source
and another side slantly facing the green light source.
18. The projection apparatus according to claim 13, further
comprising a heat dissipation device thermally coupled to a heat
side of the thermoelectric cooler and the green light source has
power consumption rate of no less than 48 Watts.
19. The projection apparatus according to claim 18, further
comprising a heat fin set, thermally coupled to the thermoelectric
cooler.
20. The projection apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the
projection apparatus comprises no more than one thermoelectric
cooler.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This is a continuation application of prior application Ser.
No. 15/928,146 filed on Mar. 22, 2018.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The present invention relates to an illumination system and
a projection apparatus, and more particularly to an illumination
system and a projection apparatus provided with an enhanced heat
dissipation structure.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] As the light emitting diode source become popular, more
projection apparatuses utilize light emitting diode (LED) as the
light sources thereof. To satisfy the requirement of high luminous
intensity, high-powered light emitting diodes are used as the light
source. However, the high-powered light emitting diodes generate
more heat, and the heat reduces lighting efficiency of the light
emitting diode source. Therefore, in the conventional projection
apparatuses, heat dissipation fins are often mounted to the light
emitting diodes to improve heat dissipation efficiency. However,
even if the heat dissipation fins are mounted to the light emitting
diodes, heat resistance between the light emitting diode and air is
not eliminated completely, which results in limited heat
dissipation ability.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0004] The present invention provides an illumination system
including a thermoelectric cooler (TEC) mounted between a light
source and a heat dissipation element to eliminate heat resistance
between light emitting diodes and atmosphere so as to increase heat
dissipation efficiency.
[0005] For example, the illumination system of the present
invention includes a first light source, a second light source, a
third light source, and a thermoelectric cooler. The first light
source is capable of outputting a first light beam, and the
spectrum of the first light beam has a wavelength peak value within
a range of 490 nm to 580 nm. The second light source is capable of
outputting a second light beam, and the spectrum of the second
light beam has a wavelength peak value within a range of 600 nm to
760 nm. The third light source is capable of outputting a third
light beam, and the spectrum of the third light beam has a
wavelength peak value within a range of 400 nm to 480 nm. The
thermoelectric cooler is thermally coupled to the second light
source.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0006] The present invention will become more readily apparent to
those ordinarily skilled in the art after reviewing the following
detailed description and accompanying drawings, in which:
[0007] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of an
illumination system of the present invention;
[0008] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a thermoelectric cooler of
FIG. 1;
[0009] FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of another embodiment of an
illumination system of the present invention;
[0010] FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of control signals for an
embodiment of a first light source, a second light source and a
third light source of the present invention;
[0011] FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of another embodiment of an
illumination system of the present invention; and
[0012] FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a
projection apparatus of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0013] These embodiments 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
a specific number has been given. Optical elements of the invention
refer to an element partially or totally made of reflective or
transparent material which usually includes glass or plastic. Light
beam combination of the invention refers to a combination of more
than one light beam into one light beam. "Element A thermally
coupled to element B" of the invention refers to the element A and
the element B has thermal conductive relation. For example, if the
heat of the element A is transferred to element B via a thermal
material layer such as thermal grease, then the element A and the
element B are thermally coupled.
[0014] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of an
illumination system of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 1,
the illumination system 1 includes a first light source 11, a
second light source 12, a third light source 13 and a
thermoelectric cooler (TEC) 14. The elements of the illumination
system 1 of this embodiment are described as follows.
[0015] The light source of the invention refers to a light emitting
diode, a laser diode or any other element, module or device capable
of emitting light beam. However, the light source of the invention
is not limited to semi-conductor light sources. In this embodiment,
each of the light sources of the invention is an encapsulated LED
module. The first light source 11 includes at least one light
emitting element 111 and a circuit board 112. The light emitting
element 111 is an LED die. The amount of the light emitting element
111 in the first light source 11 is one or more than one. In this
embodiment, the amount of the light emitting element 111 is six,
and each light emitting element 111 consumes 8 W of power. The
light emitting element 111 is disposed above the circuit board 112
and protected by encapsulation resin such as silicone resin. In
this embodiment, the first light source 11 is capable of outputting
a first light beam L1. The spectrum of the first light beam L1 has
a wavelength peak value within a range of 490 nm to 580 nm. That is
the first light source 11 emits a green light beam. The light
emitting element 111 of the first light source 11 emits the first
light beam L1 directly or in another way. For example, phosphor may
be mixed into the encapsulation resin to absorb light beam of
shorter wavelengths (such as blue light beam) emitted by the first
emitting element 111 so as to output the first light beam L1 by
excitation. That is the wavelength of the light beam emitted from
the light emitting element 111 is not necessarily the same as the
light beam emitted by the first light source 11. By the way, the
optical filter can be adapted to filter the light emitted by
excitation of the phosphor as the first light beam L1. That is the
wavelength of the light beam emitted from the light emitting
element 111 is not necessarily the same as the light beam emitted
from the second light source 11. The optical filter of the
invention refers to a bandpass filter, a bandstop filter, a DM
filter, a dichroic mirror, a DM prism, an X plate, an X prism, a
polarizer beam splitter, a color wheel, a fluorescent wheel, a
transflective sheet, a reflective mirror, a lens, a flat glass, any
other element capable of filtering light beam, or at least one of
the said elements or the combination of the said elements.
[0016] It is noted that the spectrum refers to a pattern formed by
splitting a multi-color light beam with a color splitting system,
such as a grating or a prism, and the pattern is formed by a
plurality of color light beams arranged sequentially according to
the wavelengths (or frequencies) thereof. The only portion in the
said spectrum of electromagnetic wave that is visible to human eye
is called visible light beam spectrum. The light in the visible
light beam spectrum is called visible light. The wavelength peak
value corresponds to the highest intensity value in the visible
light.
[0017] The second light source 12 includes a light emitting element
121 and a circuit board 122. The light emitting element 121 is an
LED die. The amount of the light emitting element 121 is one or
more than one. In this embodiment, the amount of the light emitting
element 121 is one. The light emitting element 121 is disposed
above the circuit board 122 and protected by encapsulation resin
such as silicone resin. In this embodiment, the second light source
12 is capable of outputting a second light beam L2. The spectrum of
the second light beam L2 has a wavelength peak value within a range
of 600 nm to 760 nm. That is the second light source 12 emits red
light beam. The light emitting element 121 of the second light
source 12 emits the second light beam L2 directly or in another
way. For example, phosphor may be mixed into the encapsulation
resin to absorb light beam of shorter wavelengths emitted from the
light emitting diode 121 (such as blue light beam) light beam so as
to output the second light beam L2 by excitation. By the way, the
optical filter can be adapted to filter the light emitted by
excitation of the phosphor as the first light beam L2. That is the
wavelength of the light beam emitted from the light emitting
element 121 is not necessarily the same as the light beam emitted
from the second light source 12.
[0018] The third light source 13 includes a light emitting element
131 and a circuit board 132. The light emitting element 131 is an
LED die. The amount of the light emitting element 131 is one or
more than one. In this embodiment, the amount of the light emitting
element 131 is one. The light emitting element 131 is disposed
above the circuit board 132 and protected by encapsulation plastic
such as silicone resin. In this embodiment, the third light source
13 is capable of outputting a third light beam L3. The spectrum of
the third light beam L3 has a wavelength peak value within a range
of 400 nm to 480 nm. That is the third light source 13 emits blue
light beam. The light emitting element 131 of the third light
source 13 emits the third light beam L3 directly or in another way.
For example, phosphor may be mixed into the encapsulation resin to
absorb light beam of shorter wavelengths emitted from the light
emitting element 131 (such as blue light beam) light beam so as to
output the third light beam L3 by excitation. By the way, the
optical filter can be adapted to filter light emitted by excitation
of the phosphor as the first light beam L3. That is the wavelength
of the light beam emitted from the light emitting element 131 is
not necessarily the same as the light beam emitted from the third
light source 13.
[0019] The thermoelectric cooler (TEC) 14 of the present invention
refers to a semiconductor element which has temperature difference
generated between two opposite sides thereof when current
(preferable direct current) flows through it. The temperature
difference is affected by the magnitude of current. The greater
temperature difference is induced by a larger current. The
thermoelectric cooler 14 has a cold side 141 and a hot side 142.
When the current flows through the thermoelectric cooler 14, the
temperature difference is induced between the cold side 141 and the
hot side 142. The cold side 141 can provide cooling functions.
Referring to FIG. 2, in this embodiment, the thermoelectric cooler
14 serves as a heat dissipation element. The thermoelectric cooler
14 includes a first conductive material layer 143, a semi-conductor
material layer 144 and a second conductive material layer 145. The
semi-conductor material layer 144 is disposed between the first
conductive material layer 143 and the second conductive material
layer 145. The first conductive material layer 143 is thermally
coupled to the second light source 12 as to transfer heat generated
by the second light source 12 from the first conductive material
layer 143 to the second conductive material layer 145. In this
embodiment, the first conductive material layer 143 and the second
conductive material layer 145 are ceramic plates respectively.
[0020] The first conductive material layer 143 and the second
conductive material layer 145 are suitable for conducting heat. The
semi-conductor material layer 144 includes one or more pairs of
serially connected P-type semiconductor material and N-type
semiconductor material. When a current flows through the
semi-conductor material layer 144, those carriers (by electron
holes and electrons mechanism) in the P-type semiconductor material
and the N-type semiconductor material move away from the first
conductive material layer 143 to reduce the temperature of the
first conductive material layer 143, and thus the upper surface of
the first conductive material layer 143 becomes the cold side 141.
The carriers also move towards the second conductive material layer
145 to increase the temperature of the second conductive material
layer 145 connected to the semi-conductor material layer 144, and
thus the lower surface of the second conductive material layer 145
becomes the hot side 142.
[0021] In addition, the illumination system 1 further includes a
light combining optical element 15. A portion or whole of the light
combining optical element 15 is made of transparent and reflective
material such as glass or plastic. The light combining optical
element 15 combines more than one light beams to become one light
beam. Referring to FIG. 1, in this embodiment, the light combining
optical element 15 includes a first light beam splitter 151 and a
second light beam splitter 152. The first light beam splitter 151
and the second light beam splitter 152 are mutually crossly
arranged to form an X-shape structure. The first light beam
splitter 151 and the second light beam splitter 152 are used to
split light beam having different wavelengths. The first splitter
151 is capable of reflecting the second light beam L2 and allowing
the first light beam L1 and the third light beam L3 to pass. The
second splitter 152 is configured to reflect the third light beam
L3 and allow the first light beam L1 and the second light beam L2
to pass. In another embodiment, the light combining optical element
can include two parallel light beam splitters. More specifically,
one splitter has one side slantly facing the first light source 11
and the other side slantly facing the second light source 12. The
other splitter has one side parallel facing the previously
mentioned splitter and the other side slantly facing the third
light source 13 and a light beam emergent plane so as to combine
the light beams.
[0022] After each element is described, an embodiment is introduced
to describe the relations of the elements. Referring to FIG. 1, the
light combining optical element 15 is disposed between the first
light source 11, the second light source 12 and the light source
13. The thermoelectric cooler 14 is thermally coupled to the second
light source 12. More specifically, the circuit board 122 of the
second light source 12 has a first side 1221 and a second side 1222
opposite to the first side 1221. The light emitting element 121 is
disposed on the first side 1221, and the second side 1222 is
connected to the cold side 141 of the thermoelectric cooler 14. In
addition, a thermal interface material layer (not illustrated),
such as thermally conductive pads, thermally conductive grease,
thermally conductive gel or thermally conductive tape, is disposed
between the thermoelectric cooler 14 and the second light source
12.
[0023] As the relative relation of said elements, optical paths of
the light beam from the first light source 11, the second light
source 12 and the light source 13 are described as follows. The
light combining optical element 15 enables the first light beam L1,
the second light beam L2 and the third light beam L3 to propagate
along a substantially identical path and then combines the first
light beam L1, the second light beam L2 and the third light beam
L3. More specifically, the first light beam L1 output by the first
light source 11 passes through the first light beam splitter 151
and the second light beam splitter 152. The second light beam L2
output by the second light source 12 is reflected by the first
light beam splitter 151 so as to propagate along the substantially
identical optical path along which the first light beam L1 passes
through the light combining optical element 15. The third light
beam L3 output by the third light source 13 is reflected by the
second light beam splitter 152 so as to propagate along the
substantially identical optical path along which the first light
beam L1 passes through the light combining optical element 15.
[0024] The thermoelectric cooler 14 of the illumination system 1 is
disposed on the second side 1222 of the second light source 12 to
dissipate heat generated by the second light source 12. The
thermoelectric cooler 14 can reduce the heat resistance between the
second light source 12 and environmental air. More specifically,
the heat resistance between the second light source 12 and air can
be reduced to a degree of approximately 0.degree. C./W. The second
side 1222 of the second light source 12 has a temperature close or
even lower than the environment temperature so as to promote heat
dissipation efficiency of the second light source 12. It can
improve reduction issues on lighting efficiency of the second light
source 12 due to accumulated heat. The luminous intensity of the
illumination system 1 is ensured thereby.
[0025] FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of another embodiment of an
illumination system of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 3,
an illumination system 1a is similar to the illumination system 1
of FIG. 1. The main difference between them is that the
illumination system 1a further includes a heat dissipation device
16 thermally coupled to the hot side 142 of the thermoelectric
cooler 14. More specifically, the heat dissipation device 16 can be
fin type (heat fin set), heat pipe type, vapor chamber type or
coolant loop type, and it is mounted to the hot side 142 of the
thermoelectric cooler 14 to promote heat dissipation
efficiency.
[0026] In addition, the illumination system 1a further includes a
first thermal interface material layer 17 and a second thermal
interface material layer 18. For example, the first thermal
interface material layer 17 and the second thermal interface
material layer 18 are thermal grease, thermal conductive adhesive
or thermal conductive tape, which has good heat conductive
properties. In this embodiment, the first thermal interface
material layer 17 is disposed between the cold side 141 of the
thermoelectric cooler 14 and the second side 1222 of the circuit
board 122, and connected to the cold side 141 and the second side
1222. The second thermal interface material layer 18 is disposed
between the hot side 142 of the thermoelectric cooler 14 and the
heat dissipation device 16, and connected to the hot side 142 and
the heat dissipation device 16. Thus, the heat generated by the
circuit board 122 is easily conducted to the cold side 141 of the
thermoelectric cooler 14, and the heat from the hot side 142 of the
thermoelectric cooler 14 is easily conducted to the heat
dissipation device 16.
[0027] In this embodiment, the illumination system 1a is suitable
for a projection apparatus. The projection apparatus is capable of
converting illuminating light beam into image light beams so as to
project the image thereof. The images include a plurality of frames
generated in time sequence. By adjusting the percentage of each of
the said light beams of different color in a time period of one
single frame, the luminous intensity of output light beam of the
illumination system 1a can thereby be increased. FIG. 4 is a
schematic diagram of controlling signals for an embodiment of a
first light source, a second light source and a third light source
of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 4, when the duty of
first light beam L1 reaches 45%, or say, emitted for a time length,
within the specified time period, for at least 45% of the specified
time period, the luminous intensity of emergent light beam of the
illumination system 1a is already raised. In another embodiment,
the time ratio described above can be understood as the percentage
of the amount of time that each light beam received by light valve
in each second. It is preferable that the first light beam L1 is
emitted, for a time length of at least 50% of the specified time
period within the time of specified time period. And it is the best
that the first light beam L1 is emitted, for a time length of at
least 60% of the specified time period within the time of specified
time period. In this embodiment, the time length for playing a
single frame is 16.6 ms. The first light beam L1 is emitted, within
the specified time period, for a time length of at least 65.3% of
the specified time period (as shown by the control signal S1), the
second light beam L2 is emitted for a time length, within the
specified time period, being 33.95% of the specified time period
(as shown by the control signal S2), and the third light beam L3 is
emitted for a time length, within the specified time period, being
32.55% of the specified time period (as shown by the control signal
S3). When the sum of the time period percentage of each light beam
is more than 100%, it means that more than one light source are
turned on simultaneously in the specified time period of playing a
single frame.
[0028] FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of another embodiment of an
illumination system of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 5,
an illumination system 1b is similar to the illumination system 1
of FIG. 1. The main difference between them is that the
illumination system 1b further includes other thermoelectric
coolers 14a and 14b. The thermoelectric coolers 14a and 14b are
disposed in the first light source 11 and the third light source 13
to promote the heat dissipation efficiency thereof.
[0029] On the other hand, the heat dissipation device 16, the first
thermal interface material layer 17 and the second thermal
interface material layer 18 of FIG. 3 can also be applied in the
illumination system 1b. In another embodiment, only one or two of
the first light source 11, the second light source 12 and the third
light source 13 is/are thermally coupled to the thermoelectric
coolers according to system requirement.
[0030] In the embodiment of FIG. 3, each of the first light source
11, the second light source 12 and the third light source 13 is
equipped with a thermoelectric cooler 14 to improve heat
dissipation efficiency. As shown in the table 1, the temperature of
each light source in the illumination system 1b and the temperature
of each light source in a conventional system are measured under
the same condition and shown in the table 1. The illumination
system 1b reduces the temperature of each light source more than
the conventional illumination system does (each light source is
equipped with heat dissipation device but no thermoelectric coolers
are disposed between the light source and the thermoelectric
coolers). The illumination system 1b of the present invention can
reduce the temperature of the first light source 11, the second
light source 12 and the third light source 13 more than the
conventional illumination system.
TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 First light Second light Third light
Environment source source source temperature Conventional
44.7.degree. C. 34.5.degree. C. 46.9.degree. C. 25.degree. C.
illumination system Illumination 35.5.degree. C. 17.9.degree. C.
39.5.degree. C. 25.degree. C. system 1b
[0031] FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a
projection apparatus of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 6,
the projection apparatus 2 of the present invention includes a
first light source, a thermoelectric cooler, a light valve 23 and a
projection lens 24.
[0032] The light source is configured to emit illuminating light
beam Li. The light source in this embodiment is an element, a
module or a device capable of emitting light beams in different
colors. Furthermore, the light source includes the first light
source 11, the second light source 12 and the third light source 13
which are configured to provide red light beam, green light beam
and blue light beam sequentially or provide white light beam (the
red light beam, the green light beam, and the blue light beam emit
simultaneously). In another embodiment, the light source can also
be an element, a module or a device capable of emitting white light
beam. More specifically, the light source may be a mercury lamp, a
white LED light source or a white LD light source. The illuminating
light beam Li can be splitted into red light beam, green light beam
and blue light beam according to a time sequence by a color wheel
or other color splitting element. The emitting sequence of red
light beam, green light beam, blue light beam and white light beam
is also adjustable according to requirement.
[0033] The thermoelectric coolers are thermally coupled to the
light source for cooling the light source. The amount of the
thermoelectric cooler can be one or more than one. The
thermoelectric coolers are connected to the corresponding light
sources. More specifically, the amount of the thermoelectric cooler
in this embodiment is three (the thermoelectric coolers 14, 14a and
14b). The thermoelectric coolers 14, 14a and 14b are connected to
the first light source 11, the second light source 12 and the third
light source 13 respectively to increase heat dissipation
efficiency of each light source. In addition, the thermoelectric
coolers can also be disposed in the first light source 11 only as
the illumination systems 1 and 1a, or the thermoelectric coolers
are disposed in one or more than two of the first light source 11,
the second light source 12 and the third light source 13.
[0034] The light valve 23 is a device capable of converting
illuminating light beam to image light beam. More specifically, the
light valve is reflective light valve such as digital micro-mirror
device (DMD) or liquid crystal on silicon panel (LCOS Panel) or
transmissive light valve such as liquid crystal display panel
(LCD). In this embodiment, the light valve is a digital
micro-mirror device including a plurality of light beam processing
structures 231. Each of the light beam processing structures 231
corresponds to a pixel. The light beam processing structure 231 is
a reflective mirror.
[0035] In addition, the projection apparatus 2 of this embodiment
further includes a total internal reflection prism (TIR prism) 25
configured to reflect the illuminating light beam Li to the light
valve 23. Although the projection apparatus 2 of FIG. 6 utilizes
the total internal reflection prism 25, the invention is not
limited thereto. In another embodiment, the total internal
reflection prism 25 can be replaced by a reverse total internal
reflection prism (RTIR prism) or a field lens. In addition, the
projection apparatus may utilize transmissive light valve, and the
amount of the light valve can be more than one (for example three),
and the invention is not limited thereto.
[0036] In this embodiment, the light source is configured to emit
illuminating light beam Li, and the light valve 23 is configured to
convert the illuminating light beam Li to image light beam Lm. The
projection lens is configured to project the image light beam Lm to
form images on a screen.
[0037] Since the projection apparatus 2 of this embodiment includes
thermoelectric coolers, heat dissipation efficiency is promoted and
the quality and brightness of images of the projection apparatus 2
are thus approved.
[0038] While the invention has been described in terms of what is
presently considered to be the most practical and preferred
embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention needs not be
limited to the disclosed embodiment. On the contrary, it is
intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements
included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims which
are to be accorded with the broadest interpretation so as to
encompass all such modifications and similar structures.
* * * * *