Lighting device

Abstract

To further utilize a liquid crystal lens array.SOLUTION: A lighting device comprises: a liquid crystal layer which is formed between a first substrate and a second substrate; a pattern electrode layer which is disposed between the first substrate and the liquid crystal layer and is formed by arranging a plurality of electrodes in a predetermined pattern; a ground electrode layer which is disposed between the second substrate and the liquid crystal layer; a controller which controls voltage applied to the pattern electrode layer; a liquid crystal lens array in which each electrode of the pattern electrode layer forms each liquid crystal lens and which is formed by an aggregate of a plurality of liquid crystal lenses; and a light source which irradiates the liquid crystal lens array with light and causes light to be transmitted through the liquid crystal lens array. The controller controls voltage to each electrode to control a transmission state of light through the liquid crystal lens array, and the liquid crystal lens array is disposed so as to radiate light transmitted through the liquid crystal lens array as illumination light onto a predetermined object.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to an illumination device using a liquid crystal lens array. [Background technology]

[0002] As described in Patent Document 1, a liquid crystal lens array has been developed that utilizes the property of liquid crystals that the refractive index changes with voltage. Specifically, Patent Document 1 describes a lighting control device that does not have a moving part, in which the focal length of the liquid crystal lens is changed by variably adjusting the voltage of the electrodes sandwiching the liquid crystal layer. As an example, Patent Document 1 describes that the liquid crystal lens array can be used as a three-dimensional display device that takes horizontal parallax into consideration in an information processing terminal such as a smartphone or a tablet terminal. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2014-112157 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, the above-mentioned Patent Document 1 only describes the use of the liquid crystal lens array as a 3D display device, and does not describe any other applications, which causes a problem that the liquid crystal lens cannot be used in a more practical manner.

[0005] Therefore, an object of the present disclosure is to solve the above-mentioned problem of being unable to further utilize liquid crystal lenses. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] An illumination device according to one embodiment of the present disclosure includes: a first substrate and a second substrate; a liquid crystal layer formed between the first substrate and the second substrate; a patterned electrode layer disposed between the first substrate and the liquid crystal layer, the patterned electrode layer having a plurality of electrodes arranged in a predetermined pattern; a ground electrode layer disposed between the second substrate and the liquid crystal layer; A control unit that controls a voltage applied to the pattern electrode layer, a liquid crystal lens array formed by a collection of a plurality of the liquid crystal lenses, each of the electrodes of the pattern electrode layer forming a liquid crystal lens; a light source that irradiates light onto the liquid crystal lens array and transmits the light through the liquid crystal lens array; Equipped with the control unit controls a voltage applied to each of the electrodes to control a transmission state of light from the liquid crystal lens array; The liquid crystal lens array is arranged to irradiate a predetermined object with light transmitted through the liquid crystal lens array as illumination light. The structure is as follows.

[0007] In addition, in lighting devices, The control unit controls a focus of the light as the illumination light transmitted through the liquid crystal lens array by controlling a voltage applied to each of the electrodes. The structure is as follows.

[0008] In addition, in lighting devices, The control unit controls a voltage to each of the electrodes according to an arrangement of the electrodes. The structure is as follows.

[0009] In addition, in lighting devices, The control unit controls a voltage for each of the electrodes belonging to each electrode group, the electrode group being composed of a plurality of the electrodes set according to an arrangement of the electrodes. The structure is as follows.

[0010] In addition, in lighting devices, The control unit controls so as to apply a voltage only to each of the electrodes belonging to a specific electrode group. The structure is as follows.

[0011] In addition, in lighting devices, A collimator lens is provided to which light from the light source is incident and which is output to the liquid crystal lens array. The structure is as follows.

[0012] Moreover, the lighting device according to one embodiment of the present disclosure includes: a first substrate and a second substrate; a liquid crystal layer formed between the first substrate and the second substrate; an electrode layer disposed between the first substrate and the liquid crystal layer; a ground electrode layer disposed between the second substrate and the liquid crystal layer; A control unit that controls a voltage applied to the electrode layer; A liquid crystal lens having a light source that irradiates the liquid crystal lens with light and transmits the light through the liquid crystal lens; a collimator lens into which light from the light source is incident and which emits the light to the liquid crystal lens; Equipped with the control unit controls a voltage applied to the electrode layer to control a transmission state of light from the liquid crystal lens; The liquid crystal lens is arranged to irradiate a predetermined object with light transmitted through the liquid crystal lens as illumination light. The structure is as follows. Effect of the Invention

[0013] By being configured as described above, the present disclosure can achieve further utilization of liquid crystal lenses. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0014] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a lighting device according to the present disclosure. [Diagram 2]FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the liquid crystal lens array disclosed in FIG. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the liquid crystal lens array disclosed in FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0015] <Embodiment 1> The present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings, in which Fig. 1 shows an outline of the configuration of a lighting device, and Figs. 2 and 3 show an outline of the configuration of a liquid crystal lens array.

[0016] The lighting device in this embodiment uses a liquid crystal lens array 3 as described below, and irradiates a predetermined object with light transmitted through the liquid crystal lens array 3. The lighting device includes a light source 1, a collimator lens 2, and the liquid crystal lens array 3, as shown in FIG.

[0017] The light source 1 is installed, for example, at a predetermined location, and irradiates light onto the collimator lens 2. For example, the light source 1 is an LED light source or a laser light source.

[0018] The collimator lens 2 is a lens configured to receive light emitted from the light source 1 and output parallel light. The collimator lens 2 is disposed at a position a predetermined distance away from the light source 1, receives light from the light source 1, and outputs parallel light to the liquid crystal lens array in response. Note that the collimator lens 2 is not necessarily provided, and the light from the light source 1 may be incident on the liquid crystal lens array via another lens or without a lens.

[0019] The liquid crystal lens array 3 includes a patterned electrode layer formed by arranging a plurality of electrodes in a predetermined pattern, and each electrode of the patterned electrode layer forms a liquid crystal lens, and is configured by an assembly of a plurality of liquid crystal lenses. Specifically, the liquid crystal lens array 3 includes a liquid crystal layer formed between a first substrate and a second substrate, a patterned electrode layer disposed between the first substrate and the liquid crystal layer and formed by arranging a plurality of electrodes in a predetermined pattern, a ground electrode layer disposed between the second substrate and the liquid crystal layer, and a control unit 10 that controls the voltage applied to the patterned electrode layer. In addition, an insulating layer and a high resistance layer are disposed between the patterned electrode layer and the liquid crystal layer. Each of the substrates and the electrode layer are all formed of a transparent material.

[0020] The pattern electrode layer includes a plurality of first electrodes and a plurality of second electrodes, as described in Patent Document 1, for example, and a liquid crystal lens is formed at a location where a pair of the first and second electrodes are arranged. Specifically, a voltage is applied by the control unit 10, and the orientation of liquid crystal molecules in the liquid crystal layer between one first electrode and one second electrode and the ground electrode is changed, thereby forming a liquid crystal lens. As a result, the liquid crystal lens array 3 in this embodiment is configured by arranging a plurality of liquid crystal lenses 31, as shown in FIG. 2. The configuration of the liquid crystal lens array 3 can be realized by a known liquid crystal lens array such as that mentioned in Patent Document 1, and since the configurations of various liquid crystal lens arrays are known, a detailed description of the configuration is omitted.

[0021] Here, in the liquid crystal lens array 3 in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, the liquid crystal lenses 31 are arranged in a lattice pattern. In addition, in the liquid crystal lens array 3, as shown in FIG. 3, groups (electrode groups) consisting of a plurality of liquid crystal lenses 31 are formed according to the arrangement of the liquid crystal lenses 31. For example, a group G1 is formed by a plurality of liquid crystal lenses 31 arranged at the upper left position of the liquid crystal lens array 3. Similarly, a group G2 is formed by a plurality of liquid crystal lenses 31 arranged at the upper right position of the liquid crystal lens array 3, a group G3 is formed by a plurality of liquid crystal lenses 31 arranged at the lower left position of the liquid crystal lens array 3, and a group G4 is formed by a plurality of liquid crystal lenses 31 arranged at the lower right position of the liquid crystal lens array 3. The arrangement positions and groups of each liquid crystal lens 31 are stored in association with the positions of the electrodes corresponding to each liquid crystal lens 31 so as to be identifiable by the control device 10.

[0022] The control unit 10 controls to change the focal length of each liquid crystal lens 31 by variably adjusting the voltage applied to each electrode constituting each liquid crystal lens 31. For example, the control unit 10 controls the illumination light emitted from the liquid crystal lens array 3 to be condensed at a predetermined focal length as shown by reference character L1 in Fig. 1, controls the illumination light emitted from the liquid crystal lens array 3 to be parallel as shown by reference character L2, or controls the illumination light emitted from the liquid crystal lens array 3 to be diffused as shown by reference character L3.

[0023] Furthermore, the control unit 10 may control the voltage for each electrode constituting each liquid crystal lens 31. For example, the control unit 10 may change the voltage applied to the corresponding electrode depending on the arrangement position of each liquid crystal lens 31. As an example, the control unit 10 may control the voltage so that the focal length of the liquid crystal lens 31 at one position differs from that of the liquid crystal lens 31 at another position, and may control the voltage so that the intensity of illumination light of the liquid crystal lens 31 at one position differs from that of the liquid crystal lens 31 at another position.

[0024] More specifically, when the liquid crystal lenses 31 of the liquid crystal lens array 3 are classified into groups according to their arrangement as shown in FIG. 3, the control unit 10 may control the voltage to be applied to the electrodes corresponding to the liquid crystal lenses 31 belonging to each group by varying the voltage. For example, the control unit 10 may control the liquid crystal lenses 31 belonging to only the group G1 to emit illumination light, and the liquid crystal lenses 31 belonging to the other groups G2, G3, and G4 to emit illumination light. For example, the control unit 10 may control the illumination light to be applied to each of the groups G1, G2, G3, and G4 so that the illumination light irradiation states are different from each other. For example, the illumination light from the group G1 may be collected at a certain focal length, the illumination light from the group G2 may be collected at another focal length, the illumination light from the group G3 may be irradiated in parallel, and the illumination light from the group G4 may be irradiated in a diffused manner. Note that the above-mentioned irradiation control is an example, and the voltage to the electrodes corresponding to each liquid crystal lens 31 may be controlled so that the illumination light irradiation states are different from each other.

[0025] As described above, by configuring an illumination device using the liquid crystal lens array 3, the following applications become possible. For example, by using it as a small illumination device to illuminate a surgical target in a hospital operating room, the position and size of the focused spot that illuminates the surgical target can be changed. In addition, as a small illumination device, for example, it can be used as a projector or a headlight. In addition, by using it as a large illumination device in a stadium such as a baseball field, it is possible to focus light on the mound to illuminate only the mound, or to brightly illuminate the entire stadium. Furthermore, by using it as an ultra-small illumination device in a microscope, the position and size of the illumination spot can be changed according to the size of the subject. In addition, the above-mentioned illumination devices using the liquid crystal lens array in the present disclosure are only examples, and the applications as an illumination device are not limited to those described above, and it may be used as any illumination device.

[0026] In the above, the lighting device is configured using a liquid crystal lens array, but the lighting device may be configured using one liquid crystal lens. That is, the liquid crystal lens array 3 shown in FIG. 1 may be replaced with one liquid crystal lens, light may be irradiated from the light source 1 to the collimator lens 2, parallel light from the collimator lens 2 may be emitted to one liquid crystal lens, and the control unit 10 may control the voltage to the liquid crystal lens to control the focal length of the illumination light emitted from the liquid crystal lens. This may reduce the size of the spot of the illumination light emitted from one liquid crystal lens to be used as a spotlight, or may be used as a lighting device that irradiates illumination light that brightly illuminates the entire area without concentrating the illumination light. In this way, a lighting device for various uses can be realized with a simple configuration.

[0027] Although the present disclosure has been described above with reference to the above-mentioned embodiments, the present disclosure is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments. Various modifications that can be understood by a person skilled in the art can be made to the configuration and details of the present disclosure within the scope of the present disclosure. Furthermore, each of the above-mentioned embodiments can be appropriately combined with other embodiments. [Explanation of symbols]

[0028] 1 light source 2 Collimator lens 3 Liquid crystal lens array 31 Liquid crystal lens 10 Control section

Claims

1. The first substrate and the second substrate, A liquid crystal layer formed between the first substrate and the second substrate, A pattern electrode layer is disposed between the first substrate and the liquid crystal layer, and is formed by arranging a plurality of electrodes in a predetermined pattern, A ground electrode layer disposed between the second substrate and the liquid crystal layer, The system comprises a control unit that controls the voltage applied to the pattern electrode layer, Each of the electrodes in the pattern electrode layer forms a liquid crystal lens, and a liquid crystal lens array is formed by an assembly of multiple liquid crystal lenses, A light source that irradiates the liquid crystal lens array with light transmitted through the liquid crystal lens array, Equipped with, The control unit controls the transmission state of light from the liquid crystal lens array by controlling the voltage to each electrode constituting each of the liquid crystal lenses. The liquid crystal lens array is arranged to irradiate a predetermined object with light transmitted from the liquid crystal lens array as illumination light. moreover, The liquid crystal lenses forming the liquid crystal lens array are classified into electrode groups consisting of a plurality of liquid crystal lenses according to their arrangement, and a plurality of such electrode groups are formed. The control unit controls the voltage to each electrode forming each of the liquid crystal lenses belonging to each of the electrode groups for each of the electrode groups. Lighting device.

2. The lighting device according to Claim 1, The liquid crystal lens forming the liquid crystal lens array is formed by a plurality of liquid crystal lenses arranged in the same region, and a plurality of electrode groups consisting of the same number of liquid crystal lenses are formed. Lighting device.

3. The lighting device according to Claim 2, The plurality of liquid crystal lenses forming the liquid crystal lens array are arranged in a grid pattern, and furthermore, the liquid crystal lenses belonging to each electrode group are also arranged in a grid pattern. Lighting device.

4. A lighting device according to claim 1, The control unit controls the voltage to each electrode forming each of the liquid crystal lenses belonging to each of the plurality of electrode groups, and controls the light transmitted from the liquid crystal lens array belonging to the same electrode group to be focused at a predetermined focal length, irradiated parallel, irradiated diffusely, or not irradiated at all. Lighting device.

5. A lighting device according to claim 1, The system includes a collimator lens into which light from the light source is incident and emitted toward the liquid crystal lens array. Lighting device.

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