Decentration Optical System for Flexible Image Display Placement
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional optical systems for image display devices face limitations in flexibility and aberration correction, particularly when trying to project images onto a viewer's eyeball without causing distortion or requiring coaxial alignment of optical axes, which restricts the placement of image display devices and can result in cumbersome designs.
Innovation Solution
A decentration optical system with at least five optical surfaces, where multiple surfaces are decentered and rotationally asymmetric, allowing for non-coaxial alignment of entrance and exit optical axes in the Y-Z and X-Z planes, filled with a medium of refractive index 1.3 or greater, and incorporating specific surface configurations for total reflection and aberration correction.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If conventional optical systems use coaxial alignment of optical axes, then aberration correction is simplified, but flexibility in device placement is reduced and system size increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies asymmetry by introducing decentration of optical surfaces and using rotationally asymmetric surfaces instead of conventional symmetric optical elements. This allows the optical axes to be non-coaxial, providing flexibility in device placement while maintaining aberration correction capability through the asymmetric surface designs.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent moves from conventional two-dimensional optical design to three-dimensional decentration in multiple planes (Y-Z plane and X-Z plane). By decentering surfaces in both Y-Z and X-Z planes, the system achieves spatial flexibility while correcting aberrations that would be difficult to correct in conventional planar designs.
2Reliability
If multiple decentered and rotationally asymmetric surfaces are used, then flexibility in placement and aberration correction improve, but manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses rotationally asymmetric surfaces with specific mathematical formulations (including X odd-numbered degree terms) to correct aberrations. These asymmetric surfaces are designed to provide the necessary optical correction while being manufacturable through precision molding or grinding techniques.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent specifies particular parameter ranges to balance performance and manufacturability, including refractive index (1.3 or greater), angle ranges (5°≦α≦45°), and specific surface configuration parameters. These parameter constraints ensure that the complex asymmetric surfaces can be manufactured within reasonable tolerances.
3Volume of moving object
If the optical system is designed for non-coaxial alignment, then compact design is enabled, but alignment precision requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent incorporates alignment marks and reference features directly into the optical element design. The decentration amounts and angles are predetermined in the design phase, allowing for pre-alignment during assembly. This preliminary preparation reduces the need for complex post-assembly alignment procedures.
Solution Approach 2:
The optical surfaces are designed with self-aligning features where the asymmetric surface geometries themselves provide alignment references. The decentration configurations are built into the element structure, allowing the components to self-align during assembly without requiring external alignment equipment or complex adjustment mechanisms.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This configuration allows for high flexibility in image display device placement, reduces the size and weight of optical systems, corrects aberrations such as coma and astigmatism, and enables clear, undistorted image projection onto the viewer's eyeball, even when the device is positioned obliquely, without the need for special coatings.
Implementation Method 1
the space formed by the at least five optical surfaces is filled up with an optical medium having a refractive index of 1.3 or greater
Implementation Method 2
at least one internal reflection at the third surface of the decentration optical system is defined by total reflection
Data Source
AI summary
The invention provides a decentration optical system comprising at least five optical surfaces. The optical surfaces are each decentered with respect to an axial chief ray in the Y-Z plane in the XYZ coordinate space, and at least one surface is decentered in the X-Z plane orthogonal to the Y-Z plane. At least two of the multiple optical surfaces are rotationally asymmetric surfaces, and at least one of the at least two rotationally asymmetric surfaces is a rotationally asymmetric surface having an X odd-numbered degree term.