Imaging device and vehicle

Abstract

The utility model relates to the technical field of optics, provides an imaging device and a vehicle, and aims to solve the problem that normal use of an image output element is affected by a sunlight backward flowing phenomenon. The imaging device comprises a first image output element, a second image output element and a dichroic element, wherein the dichroic element is used for reflecting first light rays emitted by the first image output element and transmitting second light rays emitted by the second image output element. When a sunlight backward flowing phenomenon occurs, sunlight firstly passes through the dichroic element, part of light modulated by the dichroic element is reflected to the first image output element, and the other part of light is transmitted to the second image output element. Therefore, the energy of the sunlight flowing backwards into the imaging device is dispersed, so that the damage of the sunlight flowing backwards to an image output element in the imaging device is effectively relieved.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to the field of optical technology, and in particular to an imaging device and a vehicle. BACKGROUND

[0002] In the related art, an imaging device generally includes an image output element, light emitted by the image output element is reflected by a transparent projection medium into a human eye, thereby achieving imaging. However, the imaging device is easily affected by sunlight backflow during use in the daytime. Specifically, sunlight is transmitted by the transparent projection medium onto the image output element, which easily causes the image output element to heat up, resulting in the image output element being difficult to use normally, and even causing a burning phenomenon. SUMMARY

[0003] Embodiments of the present application provide an imaging device and a vehicle to at least partially alleviate the problem of sunlight backflow affecting normal use of an image output element.

[0004] To achieve the above-mentioned purpose, according to a first aspect of the present application, an imaging device is provided, the imaging device comprising a first image output element, a second image output element, and a dichroic element, the dichroic element being configured to reflect first light emitted by the first image output element and to transmit second light emitted by the second image output element.

[0005] Optionally, the dichroic element is configured to reflect one of red light, green light, and blue light, and to transmit the other two of the red light, the green light, and the blue light.

[0006] Optionally, the dichroic element is configured to reflect two of red light, green light, and blue light, and to transmit the other one of the red light, the green light, and the blue light.

[0007] Optionally, the dichroic element is configured to reflect or transmit the red light, one of the first light and the second light being the red light.

[0008] Optionally, the imaging device further comprises a transparent projection medium, the transparent projection medium being located on an exit path of the first light and the second light, and being configured to reflect the first light and the second light.

[0009] Optionally, the imaging device further comprises an infrared filter, the infrared filter being located on a path of the first light and the second light exiting to the transparent projection medium.

[0010] Optionally, the infrared filter is configured to absorb infrared light or to reflect infrared light.

[0011] Optionally, the imaging device further comprises an imaging lens, the dichroic element, the imaging lens and the infrared filter are sequentially arranged along an exiting direction of the first light.

[0012] Optionally, the imaging device further comprises a polarization beam splitter, the dichroic element and the polarization beam splitter are sequentially arranged along the exiting direction of the first light, the polarization beam splitter is configured to reflect first polarized light and transmit second polarized light, the polarization directions of the first polarized light and the second polarized light are perpendicular to each other, and the first light and the second light are both the first polarized light.

[0013] Optionally, the imaging device further comprises a reflection element, the dichroic element, the reflection element and the polarization beam splitter are sequentially arranged along the exiting direction of the first light.

[0014] Optionally, a reflection surface of the reflection element comprises a free-form surface.

[0015] Optionally, the imaging device further comprises a polarization beam splitter, the dichroic element and the polarization beam splitter are sequentially arranged along the exiting direction of the first light, the polarization beam splitter is configured to reflect first polarized light and transmit second polarized light, the polarization directions of the first polarized light and the second polarized light are perpendicular to each other, and the first light and the second light are both the first polarized light.

[0016] Optionally, the imaging device further comprises a reflection element, the dichroic element, the reflection element and the polarization beam splitter are sequentially arranged along the exiting direction of the first light.

[0017] Optionally, a reflection surface of the reflection element comprises a free-form surface.

[0018] Optionally, at least one of the first image output element and the second image output element comprises a liquid crystal display screen.

[0019] According to a second aspect of the present application, a vehicle is provided, which comprises the imaging device according to the first aspect.

[0020] For the imaging device provided by the embodiments of the present application, when the sunlight backflow phenomenon occurs, the sunlight will first pass through the dichroic element, part of the light modulated by the dichroic element is reflected to the first image output element, and the other part of the light is transmitted to the second image output element. Therefore, this makes the energy of the sunlight backflowing into the imaging device dispersed, thereby effectively alleviating the damage of the sunlight backflow to the image output elements in the imaging device.

[0021] Other features and advantages of the present application will be described in detail in the following detailed description. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0022] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application, the following will briefly introduce the drawings needed to be used in the embodiments description. Obviously, the drawings in the following description only some embodiments of the present application, and for those skilled in the art, other drawings can also be obtained from these drawings without creative labor.

[0023] In order to more completely understand the present application and its beneficial effects, the following will be combined with the drawings to carry on the following description, wherein the same reference numerals in the following description represent the same parts.

[0024] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of an imaging device and its optical path according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0025] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of the optical path of sunlight backflow into the imaging device according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0026] Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of an imaging device and its optical path according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0027] Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of the optical path of sunlight backflow into the imaging device according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0028] Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of an imaging device and its optical path according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0029] Explanation of reference numerals:

[0030] 100, imaging device; 101, human eye; 11, first image output element; 110, first light; 12, second image output element; 120, second light; 130, sunlight;

[0031] 20, dichroic element;

[0032] 30, transparent projection medium;

[0033] 40, infrared filter;

[0034] 50, imaging lens;

[0035] 60, polarization beam splitter;

[0036] 70, reflecting element;

[0037] 80, polarization beam splitter. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0038] With reference to the drawings of the embodiments of the present application, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be clearly and completely described. Obviously, the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present application, rather than all the embodiments of the present application. Based on the embodiments in the present application, all the other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative effort belong to the protection scope of the present application.

[0039] Some embodiments of the present application provide an imaging device, such as Figure 1 and Figure 2 As shown in the figure, the imaging device 100 comprises a first image output element 11, a second image output element 12 and a dichroic element 20. The dichroic element 20 is located on the light emitting side of the first image output element 11 and the second image output element 12, and is used to reflect the first light 110 emitted by the first image output element 11 and transmit the second light 120 emitted by the second image output element 12.

[0040] A bundle of first light 110 and a bundle of second light 120 that are incident on the dichroic element 20 can converge into a light after being modulated by the dichroic element 20, and the light can enter the human eye 101 after being reflected by the transparent projection medium 30. The dichroic element 20 can modulate a plurality of bundles of first light 110 and a plurality of bundles of second light 120 into a plurality of lights, and the plurality of lights can enable the human eye 101 to see the picture information output by the first image output element 11 and the second image output element 12 after entering the human eye 101.

[0041] For the above-mentioned imaging device 100, when the sunlight backflow phenomenon occurs, as shown in the figure, Figure 2 The sunlight 130 will first be modulated by the dichroic element 20, and part of the light will be reflected to the first image output element 11 and the other part of the light will be transmitted to the second image output element 12 after being modulated by the dichroic element 20. Therefore, this makes the energy of the sunlight 130 backflowing into the imaging device 100 dispersed, thereby effectively alleviating the damage of the sunlight backflow to the above-mentioned image output elements in the imaging device.

[0042] It is worth noting that when the sunlight 130 is modulated by the dichroic element 20, the color of the part of the light reflected to the first image output element 11 is the same as the color of the first light 110 emitted by the first image output element 11, and the color of the part of the light transmitted to the second image output element 12 is the same as the color of the second light 120 emitted by the second image output element 12.

[0043] In some examples, the dichroic element 20 is configured to reflect one of red light, green light, and blue light, and to transmit the other two of red light, green light, and blue light. For example, the dichroic element 20 is configured to reflect red light, and to transmit green light and blue light; or the dichroic element 20 is configured to reflect green light, and to transmit red light and blue light; or the dichroic element 20 is configured to reflect blue light, and to transmit green light and red light.

[0044] As an example, in the case where the dichroic element 20 is configured to reflect red light, and to transmit green light and blue light, the first light 110 emitted by the first image output element 11 is red light, and the second light 120 emitted by the second image output element 12 is at least one of blue light and green light. For sunlight that back-illuminates the imaging device 100, the red light is reflected to the first image output element 11, and the blue light and green light are transmitted to the second image output element 12.

[0045] In other examples, the dichroic element 20 is configured to reflect two of red light, green light, and blue light, and to transmit the other one of red light, green light, and blue light. For example, the dichroic element 20 is configured to reflect red light and green light, and to transmit blue light; or the dichroic element 20 is configured to reflect red light and blue light, and to transmit green light; or the dichroic element 20 is configured to reflect blue light and green light, and to transmit red light.

[0046] As an example, in the case where the dichroic element 20 is configured to reflect red light and green light, and to transmit blue light, the first light 110 emitted by the first image output element 11 is at least one of red light and green light, and the second light 120 emitted by the second image output element 12 is blue light. For sunlight that back-illuminates the imaging device 100, the red light and green light are reflected to the first image output element 11, and the blue light is transmitted to the second image output element 12.

[0047] It is worth noting that the image content output by the first image output element 11 and the second image output element 12 is the same, and the difference between the two is the color of the image.

[0048] In some embodiments, the dichroic element 20 is configured to reflect or transmit red light. For example, the dichroic element 20 is configured to reflect red light. As another example, the dichroic element 20 is configured to transmit red light. One of the first light 110 and the second light 120 is red light. That is, one of the first image output element 11 and the second image output element 12 emits only red light.

[0049] It can be seen that the red light in the visible light band has a strong thermal effect. By separating the red light with a strong thermal effect, the mixing of the red light and the light of other colors can be effectively avoided, so that the image output element (the first image output element 11 or the second image output element 12) irradiated by these lights generates less heat, thereby effectively improving the working performance of the image output element.

[0050] In some examples, the dichroic element 20 can be a dichroic mirror, which can reflect or transmit light with a specific wavelength, so as to reflect one or two of the red light, the green light and the blue light, and transmit the remaining light of the red light, the green light and the blue light.

[0051] In some embodiments, as shown in Figure 1 and Figure 2 The imaging device 100 further includes a transparent projection medium 30, which is located on the exit path of the first light 110 and the second light 120 and is used to reflect the first light 110 and the second light 120.

[0052] Under the reflection of the transparent projection medium 30, the mixed light of the first light 110 and the second light 120 can enter the human eye, so as to realize the user's viewing of the content presented by the first image output element 11 and the second image output element 12.

[0053] In some examples, the transparent projection medium 30 can be a windshield. In this case, the imaging device 100 can be applied to a head-up display (HUD), so that the driver can view the image information (for example, image information consistent with the instrument panel content) output by the first image output element 11 and the second image output element 12, thereby improving the driving experience of the driver.

[0054] In some embodiments, as shown in Figure 3 and Figure 4 The imaging device 100 further includes an infrared filter 40, which is located on the path of the first light 110 and the second light 120 exiting to the transparent projection medium 30. In this case, when the sunlight backflows, it will pass through the infrared filter 40, and the infrared filter 40 can filter out the light in the infrared band in the sunlight, thereby reducing the energy of the sunlight backflowing to the first image output element 11 and the second image output element 12, so as to effectively alleviate the adverse effects of the sunlight backflow on the first image output element 11 and the second image output element 12.

[0055] In the sunlight radiation spectrum, the radiation of the light rays in the infrared band accounts for about 43% of the total radiation of sunlight. Therefore, by arranging the infrared filter 40, the influence of sunlight backflow can be reduced by about 43%, so as to effectively ensure the normal use of the first image output element 11 and the second image output element 12.

[0056] In some examples, the infrared filter 40 is used to absorb infrared light. In this case, the infrared filter 40 can have a lower cost, thereby reducing the manufacturing cost of the imaging device 100.

[0057] In other examples, the infrared filter 40 is used to reflect infrared light. In this case, the infrared filter 40 can have the effect of filtering the light rays in the infrared band well, thereby effectively reducing the negative impact of sunlight backflow on the first image output element 11 and the second image output element 12.

[0058] In some embodiments, as shown in Figure 3 and Figure 4 The imaging device 100 further includes an imaging lens 50, and the dichroic element 20, the imaging lens 50, and the infrared filter 40 are arranged in sequence along the exit direction of the first light rays 110. Since the first light rays 110 and the second light rays 120 can converge after passing through the dichroic element 20, the dichroic element 20, the imaging lens 50, and the infrared filter 40 are also arranged in sequence along the exit direction of the second light rays 120.

[0059] Due to the arrangement of the imaging lens 50, the imaging lens 50 can adjust the exit path of the first light rays 110 and the second light rays 120, thereby facilitating the adjustment of the size and clarity of the finally displayed image, and further improving the imaging quality of the imaging device 100.

[0060] In some examples, the imaging lens 50 can be a convex lens.

[0061] In some embodiments, as shown in Figure 3 The imaging device 100 further includes a polarization beam splitter 60, and the dichroic element 20 and the polarization beam splitter 60 are arranged in sequence along the exit direction of the first light rays 110. The polarization beam splitter 60 is used to reflect first polarized light and transmit second polarized light, and the polarization directions of the first polarized light and the second polarized light are perpendicular to each other. The first light rays 110 and the second light rays 120 are both the first polarized light.

[0062] Therefore, the first light rays 110 and the second light rays 120 can be reflected after passing through the polarization beam splitter 60, and finally incident on the human eye 101, so that the user can watch the picture information output by the first image output element 11 and the second image output element 12.

[0063] Specifically, after the first light ray 110 and the second light ray 120 are reflected by the polarizing beam splitter 60 to the transparent projection medium 30, and then reflected by the transparent projection medium 30 to the human eye 101, the human eye 101 can view the virtual image related to the image information of the first image output element 11 and the second image output element 12 along the backward extension line of the light ray reflected by the transparent projection medium 30.

[0064] On the other hand, when sunlight backflows into the imaging device 100, such as Figure 4 As shown, sunlight 130 first passes through polarizing beam splitter 60. Since sunlight 130 is natural light, it can be equivalently decomposed into two beams of polarized light with equal intensity and perpendicular polarization directions. One beam has the same polarization direction as the first polarized light, and the other beam has the same polarization direction as the second polarized light. Therefore, the polarized light with the same polarization direction as the second polarized light is transmitted without passing through dichroic element 20, while the polarized light with the same polarization direction as the first polarized light is reflected to dichroic element 20, and then modulated by dichroic element 20 before being directed to the first image output element 11 and the second image output element 12. Because the polarized light with the same polarization direction as the second polarized light is transmitted, 50% of the energy in the natural light is reduced, effectively minimizing the impact of sunlight backflow on the first and second image output elements 11 and 12.

[0065] When the imaging device 100 includes an infrared filter 40 and an imaging lens 50, the infrared filter 40, imaging lens 50, polarizing beam splitter 60, and transparent projection medium 30 are arranged sequentially along the emission direction of the first ray 110. The polarizing beam splitter 60 is located close to the transparent projection medium 30, which can reduce the energy of natural light in the first instance, thereby effectively avoiding the problem of excessive temperature rise inside the imaging device 100 due to sunlight backflow.

[0066] In some examples, such as Figure 3 As shown, the imaging device 100 also includes a reflective element 70, a dichroic element 20, a reflective element 70, and a polarizing beam splitter 60 arranged sequentially along the emission direction of the first ray 110.

[0067] In this case, the emission directions of the first ray 110 and the second ray 120 can be modulated by using the reflective element 70 and the polarizing beam splitter 60, so that they can be directed to the corresponding positions on the transparent projection medium 30, thereby ensuring that the imaging device 100 forms a good imaging effect.

[0068] The number of reflective elements 70 can be one or more, and this application embodiment does not limit this.

[0069] As an example, the reflecting surface of the reflecting element 70 comprises a free-form surface. For example, the reflecting surface of the reflecting element 70 can be a free-form surface. With the free-form surface, the exit directions of the first light rays 110 and the second light rays 120 can be modulated more effectively, so that the first light rays 110 and the second light rays 120 can be directed to the corresponding positions on the transparent projection medium 30 to a greater extent, thereby improving the imaging effect of the imaging device 100.

[0070] In some other embodiments, as shown in FIG. 1B, the imaging device 100 further comprises a polarizing beam splitter 80, the dichroic element 20 and the polarizing beam splitter 80 are sequentially arranged along the exit direction of the first light rays 110, and the polarizing beam splitter 80 is configured to transmit first polarized light and reflect second polarized light, the polarization directions of the first polarized light and the second polarized light being perpendicular to each other. In this case, the first light rays 110 and the second light rays 120 are both the first polarized light. Figure 5

[0071] Therefore, the first light rays 110 and the second light rays 120 can be transmitted after passing through the polarizing beam splitter 80, so as to finally be incident on the human eye 101, thereby enabling the user to view the picture information output by the first image output element 11 and the second image output element 12.

[0072] When the imaging device 100 is subjected to sunlight backflow, the sunlight will first pass through the polarizing beam splitter 80. The sunlight 130 is natural light, which can be equivalently decomposed into two polarized lights with equal intensity and perpendicular polarization directions. Therefore, the polarized light with the same polarization direction as the second polarized light is reflected and does not pass through the dichroic element 20, while the polarized light with the same polarization direction as the first polarized light is transmitted to the dichroic element 20 and then modulated by the dichroic element 20 to be directed to the first image output element 11 and the second image output element 12. Since the polarized light with the same polarization direction as the second polarized light is reflected and does not finally act on the first image output element 11 and the second image output element 12, 50% of the energy of the natural light can be reduced, thereby effectively reducing the influence of the sunlight backflow on the first image output element 11 and the second image output element 12.

[0073] In some examples, the imaging device 100 further comprises a reflecting element 70, the dichroic element 20, the reflecting element 70 and the polarizing beam splitter 60 are sequentially arranged along the exit direction of the first light rays 110.

[0074] In this case, the reflecting element 70 and the polarizing beam splitter 60 can be used to modulate the exit directions of the first light rays 110 and the second light rays 120, so that the first light rays 110 and the second light rays 120 can be directed to the corresponding positions on the transparent projection medium 30, thereby ensuring that the imaging device 100 forms a good imaging effect.

[0075] ​The number of the reflecting elements 70 can be one or more, which can be set according to the arrangement positions of the first image output element 11 and the second image output element 12 and the light path requirement of the first light 110, and the present application does not limit the embodiments.

[0076] As an example, the reflecting surface of the reflecting element 70 comprises a free surface. For example, the reflecting surface of the reflecting element 70 can be a free surface. The free surface can be used to more effectively modulate the exit directions of the first light 110 and the second light 120, so that the first light 110 and the second light 120 can be largely projected to the corresponding positions on the transparent projection medium 30, thereby improving the imaging effect of the imaging device 100.

[0077] In some embodiments, at least one of the first image output element 11 and the second image output element 12 comprises a liquid crystal display screen.

[0078] The liquid crystal display screen has the characteristics of low cost, high resolution, high contrast, and high reliability, so that the reliability of the imaging device 100 can be improved.

[0079] For example, the first image output element 11 is a liquid crystal display screen; or, the second image output element 12 is a liquid crystal display screen; or, the first image output element 11 and the second image output element 12 are both liquid crystal display screens.

[0080] Some embodiments of the present application also provide a vehicle comprising the imaging device 100 of any of the above embodiments.

[0081] Due to comprising the imaging device 100, the vehicle has the technical effects of the imaging device 100 described above, which will not be repeated here.

[0082] The imaging device 100 described above can be applied to a HUD in a vehicle, for example.

[0083] In the description of the present application, the terms “first” and “second” are only for descriptive purposes, and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of the indicated technical features. Therefore, the features defined with “first” and “second” can explicitly or implicitly include one or more features. In the description of the present application, the meaning of “multiple” is two or more, unless otherwise specifically limited.

[0084] In the above embodiments, the description of each embodiment has its own emphasis, and the parts not described in detail in a certain embodiment can be referred to the related description of other embodiments.

[0085] The embodiments, implementation manners and related technical features of the present application can be combined or replaced with each other without conflict.

[0086] The above are only the preferred embodiments of the present application, and do not limit the present application in any form, but any simple modification, equivalent change and modification made to the above embodiments without departing from the technical solution of the present application and according to the technical essence of the present application are still within the scope of the technical solution of the present application.

Claims

1. An image forming apparatus characterized by comprising: Comprise: a first image output element (11); a second image output element (12); and a dichroic element (20) for reflecting first light rays (110) emitted by the first image output element (11) and for transmitting second light rays (120) emitted by the second image output element (12). The dichroic element (20) is configured to reflect one of red light, green light and blue light, and to transmit the other two of the red light, the green light and the blue light; or 2. The imaging device of claim 1, wherein, The dichroic element (20) is configured to reflect two of red light, green light and blue light, and to transmit the other one of the red light, the green light and the blue light. The dichroic element (20) is configured to reflect or transmit the red light, one of the first light rays (110) and the second light rays (120) being the red light.

3. The imaging apparatus according to claim 2, characterized by The imaging device (100) further comprises a transparent projection medium (30) located in an exit path of the first light rays (110) and the second light rays (120) for reflecting the first light rays (110) and the second light rays (120).

4. The imaging apparatus according to any one of claims 1-3, wherein, The imaging device (100) further comprises an infrared filter (40) located in a path of the first light rays (110) and the second light rays (120) exiting to the transparent projection medium (30).

5. The imaging apparatus according to claim 4, characterized by The infrared filter (40) is configured to absorb infrared light or to reflect infrared light.

6. The imaging apparatus according to claim 5, wherein The imaging device (100) further comprises an imaging lens (50), the dichroic element (20), the imaging lens (50) and the infrared filter (40) being sequentially arranged along an exit direction of the first light rays (110).

7. The imaging apparatus according to claim 5, wherein The imaging device (100) further comprises a polarization beam splitter (60), the dichroic element (20) and the polarization beam splitter (60) being sequentially arranged along the exit direction of the first light rays (110), the polarization beam splitter (60) being configured to reflect first polarized light and to transmit second polarized light, the polarization directions of the first polarized light and the second polarized light being perpendicular to each other, the first light rays (110) and the second light rays (120) both being the first polarized light.

8. The imaging apparatus according to any one of claims 1-3, wherein The imaging device (100) further comprises a reflecting element (70), the dichroic element (20), the reflecting element (70) and the polarization beam splitter (60) being sequentially arranged along the exit direction of the first light rays (110).

9. The imaging apparatus according to claim 8, wherein A reflecting surface of the reflecting element (70) comprises a free-form surface.

10. The imaging apparatus according to claim 9, wherein ​ 11. The imaging apparatus according to any one of claims 1-3, wherein The imaging device (100) further comprises a polarization beamsplitter (80), the dichroic element (20) and the polarization beamsplitter (80) are sequentially arranged along an exiting direction of the first light ray (110), the polarization beamsplitter (80) is configured to transmit first polarized light and reflect second polarized light, the polarization directions of the first polarized light and the second polarized light are perpendicular to each other, and the first light ray (110) and the second light ray (120) are both the first polarized light.

12. The imaging apparatus according to claim 11, wherein The imaging device (100) further comprises a reflecting element (70), the dichroic element (20), the reflecting element (70) and the polarization beamsplitter (80) are sequentially arranged along an exiting direction of the first light ray (110).

13. The imaging apparatus of claim 12, wherein, A reflecting surface of the reflecting element (70) comprises a free-form surface.

14. The imaging apparatus according to any one of claims 1-3, wherein, At least one of the first image output element (11) and the second image output element (12) comprises a liquid crystal display screen.

15. A vehicle characterized by comprising: An imaging device (100) according to any one of claims 1-14.

Images