Head-mounted display system and components

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10139627-B2
Application number	US-201515328994-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 11, 2015
Priority date	Aug 13, 2014
Publication date	Nov 27, 2018
Grant date	Nov 27, 2018

Abstract

A head-mounted display system including a contact lens having a first region and a second region adjacent the first region, an eyewear lens having an inner surface facing the contact lens, and an illuminator configured to produce an imaged light output directed toward the inner surface of the eyewear lens. A first imaged light ray produced by the illuminator is incident on the inner surface and is reflected by the eyewear lens to the first region. The first region is configured to transmit the first imaged light ray, and the second region is configured to reflect or absorb a second imaged light ray produced by the illuminator and reflected from the eyewear lens. The eyewear lens is configured to transmit an ambient light ray to the second region and the second region is configured to transmit the ambient light ray.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A display system comprising:
a contact lens having a first region and a second region adjacent the first region;
an eyewear lens having an inner surface facing the contact lens and having an outer surface opposite the inner surface; and
an illuminator configured to produce an imaged light output directed toward the inner surface of the eyewear lens,
wherein the eyewear lens is disposed proximate the contact lens and proximate the illuminator such that a first imaged light ray produced by the illuminator is incident on the inner surface and is reflected by the eyewear lens to the first region, the first region is configured to transmit the first imaged light ray, the second region is configured to reflect or absorb a second imaged light ray produced by the illuminator and reflected from the eyewear lens, the eyewear lens is configured to transmit an ambient light ray incident on the outer surface to the second region, and the second region is configured to transmit the ambient light ray.

2. The display system of claim 1 , wherein the first region includes an optical element disposed to focus light from the illuminator.

3. The display system of claim 2 , wherein the contact lens includes a polymeric substrate and the optical element is embedded in the polymeric substrate.

4. The display system of claim 1 , wherein the contact lens comprises a lens substrate incorporating a micro-perforated first multilayer birefringent polymeric optical film.

5. The display system of claim 4 , wherein the second region is an annular region and the first region is a central region, and wherein the first multilayer birefringent polymeric optical film is disposed in the annular region and does not extend into the central region.

6. The display system of claim 5 , wherein the contact lens includes a second multilayer birefringent polymeric optical film in the central region.

7. The display system of claim 1 , wherein the contact lens comprises a lens substrate and having a portion configured to direct a light incident on the portion of the contact lens into a pupil of a user, the portion including the first region and the second region, the second region surrounding the first region, wherein the first region incorporates one or more optical elements, the one or more optical elements not extending into the second region, the one or more optical elements comprising glass having a refractive index greater than 1.8.

8. The display system of claim 1 , wherein the first region is not simply connected and either the first region is bounded by the second region or the second region is bounded by the first region, and wherein the second region incorporates at least one optical film spanning the second region, the at least one optical film not extending into the first region.

9. The display system of claim 8 , wherein the first region comprises a plurality of discrete zones surrounded by the second region.

10. The display system of claim 8 , wherein the first region comprises a continuous zone having an outer boundary and at least one disconnected portion of the second region is disposed within the outer boundary.

11. The display system of claim 1 , wherein the eyewear lens comprises a diffusely reflective circular polarizer, wherein the eyewear lens has an inner major surface configured to face a user and an outer major surface opposite the inner major surface, and the diffusely reflective circular polarizer diffusely reflects light having a first circular polarization incident on the inner major surface.

12. The display system of claim 1 , wherein the eyewear lens comprises a layer incorporating nanoparticles providing wavelength-selective reflection, the wavelength-selective reflection including a first reflection band having a FWHM bandwidth less than about 150 nm.

13. The display system of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the contact lens and the eyewear lens incorporates a notch reflective polarizer.

14. The display system of claim 13 , wherein the notch reflective polarizer reflects light having a first polarization in a first reflection band having a FWHM bandwidth no greater than about 60 nm.

15. The display system of claim 14 , wherein the notch reflective polarizer reflects light having the first polarization in a second reflection band having a FWHM bandwidth no greater than about 60 nm, the second reflection band not overlapping with the first reflection band.

16. A contact lens comprising a first region and a second region and incorporating a multilayer optical film having a plurality of layers, each layer continuously extending through the first and second regions of the contact lens, the plurality of layers comprising at least one stack of microlayers arranged into a plurality of optical repeat units, each optical repeat unit comprising a first microlayer that is birefringent in the second region and substantially isotropic in the first region such that in the first region, the plurality of layers substantially transmits orthogonal first and second polarization states, and such that in the second region, the plurality of layers substantially transmits the first polarization state and substantially reflects the second polarization state.

17. The contact lens of claim 16 , wherein the multilayer optical film is micro-perforated.

18. An eyewear lens comprising a reflective polarizer, wherein the eyewear lens has an inner surface configured to face a user and an outer surface opposite the inner surface, and wherein the reflective polarizer comprises microstructures configured to reflect at least a portion of a light incident on the inner surface of the eyewear lens at an off-normal angle in a range of about 10 degrees to about 80 degrees into a direction substantially normal to the eyewear lens.

19. The eyewear lens of claim 18 , wherein the microstructures include diffraction features or Fresnel mirrors.

Assignees

• 3M Innovative Properties Co

Inventors

• Benoit Gilles Jean-Baptiste
• Ouderkirk Andrew J
• Mcdowell Erin A
• Riddle Brian K
• Meyer Kenneth Andrew Penner

Classifications

• G02C2202/20

  Diffractive and Fresnel lenses or lens portions · CPC title

• G02B27/0172 Primary

  characterised by optical features · CPC title

• G02C7/04

  Contact lenses for the eyes (disinfection or sterilisation of contact lenses A61L12/00) · CPC title

• G02B2027/0178

  Eyeglass type (eyeglass details G02C) · CPC title

• G02C2202/16

  Laminated or compound lenses · CPC title