Illumination apparatus

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9753275-B2
Application number	US-201414532390-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 4, 2014
Priority date	Nov 5, 2013
Publication date	Sep 5, 2017
Grant date	Sep 5, 2017

Abstract

An illumination apparatus includes a first unit, a second unit, and a third unit. The first unit includes an excitation light source that produces excitation light. The second unit includes a light-for-illumination phosphor. The light-for-illumination phosphor produces and outputs light for illumination when the light-for-illumination phosphor receives excitation light. Furthermore, the second unit produces and outputs light for projection. The light for illumination and the light for projection are outputted in a time division manner. The third unit includes a light shaping member. The third unit shapes the light for illumination by the light shaping member and guides the shaped light for illumination to the outside as illumination light, and shapes the light for projection by the light shaping member and guides the shaped light for projection to the outside as projection light.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An illumination apparatus comprising:
a first unit including an excitation light source that produces excitation light;
a second unit including a light-for-illumination phosphor and a light-for-projection phosphor, the second unit being configured to produce and output light for illumination and to produce and output light for projection when the light-for-illumination phosphor receives the excitation light, the light for illumination and the light for projection being output in a time division manner; and
a third unit including a light shaper, the third unit being configured to shape the light for illumination by the light shaper and to guide the shaped light for illumination outside as illumination light, and to shape the light for projection by the light shaping member and to guide the shaped light for projection outside as projection light,
wherein, the second unit further includes a dichroic mirror, the dichroic mirror allowing the excitation light from the first unit to pass through the dichromic mirror, and also reflecting light having a wavelength longer than a wavelength of the excitation light from the first unit,
the produced light for illumination and the produced light for projection are emitted toward the dichromic mirror, and then reflected on the dichromic mirror to be guided to the third unit, and
switching between the illumination light and the projection light to be output is performed at a speed higher than a speed that a user's eyes can perceive.

2. The illumination apparatus according to claim 1 ,
wherein the second unit further includes a fluorescence emitter that includes the light-for-illumination phosphor.

3. The illumination apparatus according to claim 2 ,
wherein the fluorescence emitter further includes the light-for-projection phosphor.

4. The illumination apparatus according to claim 3 ,
wherein the fluorescence emitter is a phosphor wheel having a rotating plate,
the light-for-illumination phosphor and the light-for-projection phosphor are respectively provided at different positions on the rotating plate, and
the excitation light is incident on the light-for-illumination phosphor and the light-for-projection phosphor in the time division manner.

5. The illumination apparatus according to claim 4 ,
wherein the rotating plate includes: a light-for-illumination emitting region provided with the light-for-illumination phosphor; a light-for-projection emitting region provided with the light-for-projection phosphor; and a transmission region through which the excitation light passes.

6. The illumination apparatus according to claim 5 ,
wherein the excitation light is blue light,
the light-for-projection phosphor includes a red phosphor and a green phosphor, the red phosphor performing fluorescence emission of red light when the red phosphor receives the blue light, and the green phosphor performing fluorescence emission of green light when the green phosphor receives the blue light, and
the light-for-projection emitting region includes a red fluorescence emitting region and a green fluorescence emitting region, the red fluorescence emitting region being provided with the red phosphor, and the green fluorescence emitting region being provided with the green phosphor.

7. The illumination apparatus according to claim 4 ,
wherein the light-for-illumination phosphor and the light-for-projection phosphor are provided in regions which are obtained by dividing the rotating plate in a rotation direction of the rotating plate.

8. The illumination apparatus according to claim 4 ,
wherein the light-for-illumination phosphor and the light-for-projection phosphor are provided in regions which are obtained by concentrically dividing the rotating plate in a radial direction of the rotating plate.

9. The illumination apparatus according to claim 8 ,
wherein the second unit further includes a light path switcher that switches between: a light path of the excitation light to cause the excitation light to be incident on the light-for-illumination phosphor; and a light path of the excitation light to cause the excitation light to be incident on the light-for-projection phosphor.

10. The illumination apparatus according to claim 2 ,
wherein the second unit further includes a color selector, the color selector having a color filter portion and a transmission portion, the color filter portion selectively allowing light of a predetermined color, included in the light for illumination, which is produced by the fluorescence emitting member, to pass through the color filter portion, and the transmission portion allowing the light for illumination to pass through the transmission portion.

11. The illumination apparatus according to claim 10 ,
wherein the fluorescence emitting member is a phosphor wheel having a rotating plate, and
the color selector rotates in synchronization with the phosphor wheel.

12. The illumination apparatus according to claim 11 ,
wherein the color filter portion and the transmission portion are provided in regions which are obtained by dividing the color selection member in the rotation direction of the color selection member.

13. The illumination apparatus according to claim 12 ,
wherein the color filter portion includes a red filter, a green filter, and a blue filter, the red filter selectively allowing red light included in the light for illumination to pass through the red filter, the green filter selectively allowing green light included in the light for illumination to pass through the green filter, and the blue filter selectively allowing blue light included in the light for illumination to pass through the blue filter, and
the red filter, the green filter, and the blue filter are provided in the regions which are obtained by dividing the color selection member in the rotation direction of the color selection member.

14. The illumination apparatus according to claim 1 ,
wherein the second unit further includes a light source that emits the light for projection.

15. The illumination apparatus according to claim 14 ,
wherein the light source includes: a red light source that emits red light; a green light source that emits green light; and a blue light source that emits blue light, and
each of the red light, the green light, and the blue light is guided to the third unit as the light for projection.

16. The illumination apparatus according to claim 2 ,
wherein the fluorescence emitter produces plural kinds of the light for illumination having different colors.

17. The illumination apparatus according to claim 1 ,
wherein a spectrum of the illumination light includes a peak wavelength having a half width that is greater than a half width of a peak wavelength in a spectrum of the projection light.

18. The illumination apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the light for illumination is incident on a predetermined region external to the illumination apparatus and improves color rendering properties of an illuminated object.

19. The illumination apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the light for projection is displayed on a predetermined region external of the illumination apparatus and improves color reproduction capability.

Assignees

• Panasonic Ip Man Co Ltd

Inventors

• Motoya Atsushi
• Yamauchi Kentaro
• Kawamura Ryo

Classifications

• G03B21/2066

  Reflectors in illumination beam (in projection beam G03B21/28) · CPC title

• G02B26/008 Primary

  in the form of devices for effecting sequential colour changes, e.g. colour wheels · CPC title

• G03B21/208

  Homogenising, shaping of the illumination light · CPC title

• H04N9/3114

  by using a sequential colour filter producing one colour at a time · CPC title

• G03B33/08

  Sequential recording or projection (G03B33/02, G03B33/04, G03B33/06 take precedence) · CPC title