Fan assembly for displaying an image

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11495154-B2
Application number	US-202117461622-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 30, 2021
Priority date	Jul 28, 2017
Publication date	Nov 8, 2022
Grant date	Nov 8, 2022

Abstract

Apparatus and methods for displaying an image by a rotating structure are provided. The rotating structure can comprise blades of a fan. The fan can be a cooling fan for an electronics device such as an augmented reality display. In some embodiments, the rotating structure comprises light sources that emit light to generate the image. The light sources can comprises light-field emitters. In other embodiments, the rotating structure is illuminated by an external (e.g., non-rotating) light source.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A display apparatus for displaying a representation of an image, the display apparatus comprising:
a fan assembly comprising:
a rotatable structure;
a motor configured to rotate the rotatable structure; and
a plurality of light sources positioned relative to the rotatable structure so as to direct light toward the rotatable structure;

a non-transitory memory configured to store image data to be displayed by the display apparatus, the image data comprising one or more views of the image at a viewing direction; and
a processor operably coupled to the non-transitory memory, the motor, and the plurality of light sources, the processor comprising executable instructions to:
drive the motor to rotate the rotatable structure about a rotation axis, the rotatable structure positioned at a rotation angle as a function of time,
access the image data,
map the image data to the plurality of light sources based at least in part on the rotation angle, and
illuminate the plurality of light sources based at least in part on the mapped image data,
wherein the fan assembly comprises a cooling fan for a wearable augmented reality display device.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a display including the plurality of light sources, wherein the plurality of light sources is arranged in a two-dimensional array.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the display comprises a spatial light modulator.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the plurality of light sources is configured to focus light onto a portion of the rotatable structure.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the plurality of light sources comprise at least one of a light field sub-display, a light emitting diode (LED), a liquid crystal, a light emitting diode (LED), an organic LED, or a laser.

6. The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the rotatable structure comprises a plurality of elongated elements configured to redirect the light focused thereon to display the representation.

7. The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein at least one of the plurality of elongated elements comprises a fan blade having a shape configured to induce an airflow and to redirect the light focused thereon to display the representation.

8. The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the shape of the fan blade comprises a contoured surface varied along a radially extending length of the fan blade, wherein light emitted by a first light source of the plurality of light sources propagates a first distance to the contoured surface that is different than light emitted by a second light source of the plurality of light sources.

9. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of light sources comprises a pixel array that comprises a plurality of pixels, at least one of the plurality of pixels configured to produce light directed toward the rotatable structure, wherein a shape of the rotatable structure is configured to redirect light from a first pixel at an angle that is different from an angle for a second pixel.

10. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising an assembly including the rotatable structure, a hub disposed along the rotation axis, and a second plurality of light sources disposed on at least one of the hub or the rotatable structure.

11. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a hub disposed at the rotation axis, wherein at least a portion of the plurality of light sources are positioned relative to the rotatable structure so as to direct light onto the hub.

12. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein each light source has a position relative to the rotation axis, and wherein to illuminate the plurality of light sources the processor is programmed to scale intensity or a duration of the illumination of a light source based on the position from the rotation axis.

13. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising an assembly including the rotatable structure, a housing having an opening centered at the rotation axis between the rotatable structure and the plurality of light sources, and an elongate member extending across the opening between the rotatable structure and the displayed image, the elongate member configured to control transverse loading of the assembly based in part on the rotation of the rotatable structure and the illumination of the plurality of light sources.

14. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising:
a housing having an opening between the rotatable structure and the plurality of light sources, the opening exposing a first portion of the rotatable structure to light emitted by the plurality of light sources, the housing further comprising a cover that covers a second portion of the rotatable structure,
wherein the processor further comprises executable instructions to map the image data to a first subset of light sources of the plurality of light sources corresponding to the first portion of the rotatable structure.

15. The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein image data is not mapped to a second subset of light sources of the plurality of light sources corresponding to the second portion of the rotatable structure.

16. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the motor is configured to rotate the rotatable structure at a rotation rate based at least in part on an image quality.

17. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a microphone configured to receive audio, and wherein the processor comprises executable instructions to:
receive an audio input from the microphone;
recognize that the audio input comprises an audio command; and
initiate an action to modify the illumination of the plurality of light sources based on the audio command.

18. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a proximity sensor configured to detect an entity within a predetermined distance of the display apparatus, and wherein the processor comprises executable instructions to initiate an action based on the proximity sensor detecting the entity.

Assignees

• Magic Leap Inc

Inventors

• Rohena Guillermo Padin
• Remsburg Ralph
• Kaehler Adrian
• Rynk Evan Francis

Classifications

• G09G2320/0666

  for control of colour parameters, e.g. colour temperature · CPC title

• G08B21/18

  Status alarms (G08B21/02 takes precedence) · CPC title

• G06F3/167

  Audio in a user interface, e.g. using voice commands for navigating, audio feedback · CPC title

• G09G2354/00

  Aspects of interface with display user · CPC title

• G09G3/003 Primary

  to produce spatial visual effects · CPC title