Disclosure of Invention
The invention aims to provide a waveguide device and AR display equipment, which can adjust the imaging position of output light to a certain extent, further meet the wearing requirement of users with abnormal eyesight, avoid the problem that the volume of the waveguide device and even the AR display equipment is overlarge on the basis, and are beneficial to the miniaturization of the AR display equipment.
In order to solve the above technical problems, the present invention provides a waveguide device, including:
The optical lens comprises a waveguide unit, a coupling-in grating, a refractive coupling-out element and a refractive lens, wherein the coupling-in grating is arranged on the end part of the waveguide unit and is used for coupling projection light into the waveguide unit;
The optical waveguide unit and the diopter coupling-out element are jointly embedded into the diopter lens and are arranged in the diopter lens and perpendicular to the optical axis of the diopter lens;
the deflection directions of the projection light rays in the waveguide unit are different from each other at different positions on the refraction coupling-out element, and the refraction coupling-out element and the refraction lens are used for converting the projection light rays in the waveguide unit into converging light rays or diffusing light rays together at one side, close to human eyes, of the refraction lens, so that the projection light rays are imaged at a preset position.
In an alternative embodiment, the refractive out-coupling element is an HOE reflection grating or an HOE transmission grating.
In an alternative embodiment, the refractive outcoupling element comprises an outcoupling grating and an HOE lens with optical power.
In an alternative embodiment, the refractive lens is a plastic light transmissive lens.
In an alternative embodiment, the refractive lens is a convex lens or a concave lens.
In an alternative embodiment, the incoupling grating is a transmissive grating, which is not embedded within the refractive lens.
In an alternative embodiment, the incoupling grating is a reflective grating, and the waveguide unit is arranged such that the end of the incoupling grating is not embedded within the refractive lens.
The application also provides an AR display device, which is characterized by comprising the waveguide device and a projection optical machine;
the projection light machine is used for projecting projection light rays to the waveguide device;
the waveguide device is used for coupling the projection light into the waveguide unit through the coupling-in light and coupling out the projection light through the refraction coupling-out element.
The waveguide device comprises a waveguide unit, a coupling grating, a refraction coupling-out element and a refraction lens, wherein the coupling grating is used for coupling projection light into the waveguide unit, the coupling grating is used for coupling the projection light into the waveguide unit, the refraction coupling-out element is used for coupling the projection light into the waveguide unit, the refraction lens is arranged in the refraction lens in a mode that the waveguide unit and the refraction coupling-out element are jointly embedded, the refraction lens is perpendicular to an optical axis of the refraction lens, the refraction lens is a transparent lens with diopter, deflection directions of different positions on the refraction coupling-out element to the projection light in the waveguide unit are different, and the refraction coupling-out element and one side, close to a human eye, of the refraction lens are used for jointly converting the projection light into converging light or diffusing light in the waveguide unit, so that the projection light forms an image at a preset position.
The waveguide device is provided with the refraction coupling-out element which is attached to the waveguide unit and can couple out projection light rays in the waveguide unit and adjust the diopter of the coupled projection light rays so that the projection light rays can be imaged at a preset position, and the refraction lens is also provided, so that the diopter of imaging light rays in the environment can be adjusted, and the imaging position of the environment light rays can be adjusted to a certain extent. Through the cooperation between the diopter coupling-out element and the diopter lens, the projection light and the ambient light output by the waveguide device can have certain diopter, and the vision of a wearer with abnormal vision can be met.
Furthermore, the waveguide unit and the refraction coupling-out element are integrally embedded into the diopter lens, so that the problem that gaps exist between the diopter lens and the waveguide unit is avoided, the occupied space volume of the waveguide device can be reduced, the number of medium layers required to pass through the waveguide device for light to pass through can be reduced, the light energy loss is reduced, the waveguide device is applied to AR display equipment, the volume of the AR display equipment can be reduced, and the brightness of output light is improved.
The application also provides AR display equipment, which has the beneficial effects.
Detailed Description
In a waveguide device, the waveguide unit is generally a planar structure. In a conventional waveguide unit, an end portion of the waveguide unit is attached to a coupling-in waveguide unit for coupling the projection light into the waveguide unit, and the projection light is totally reflected in the waveguide unit, and a coupling-out element for coupling the projection light out in parallel is disposed on one side surface of the waveguide unit.
For the waveguide unit outputting the projection light rays as parallel light, the imaging position of the projection light rays is at infinity, and the waveguide unit is suitable for users with normal eyesight to watch. But only blurred vision is observed for a user with near or far vision.
In order to facilitate the user with abnormal eyesight such as myopia or hyperopia to directly watch the image displayed by the projection light, the waveguide unit can be matched with a diopter lens for correcting the eyesight of the user, the diopter lens is generally a convex lens or a concave lens, and obviously, the diopter lens and the outer surface of the waveguide unit are curved and concave, so that the diopter lens and the waveguide unit cannot be directly attached and connected, and a gap is necessarily reserved between the diopter lens and the waveguide unit.
However, the current AR display device requires the development of miniaturization, the addition of the refractive lens on the basis of the waveguide unit increases the overall volume of the waveguide device, and a gap is left between the refractive lens and the waveguide unit to further increase the overall volume of the waveguide device, which is not beneficial to the miniaturization of the AR display device.
Therefore, the application provides a technical scheme capable of adjusting diopter of projection light and reducing spatial structures of the waveguide and the AR display device to a certain extent.
In order to better understand the aspects of the present invention, the present invention will be described in further detail with reference to the accompanying drawings and detailed description. It will be apparent that the described embodiments are only some, but not all, embodiments of the invention. All other embodiments, which can be made by those skilled in the art based on the embodiments of the invention without making any inventive effort, are intended to be within the scope of the invention.
As shown in fig. 1 to fig. 4, fig. 1 to fig. 4 are schematic views of four different optical path structures of a waveguide device according to an embodiment of the present application, where the waveguide device may include:
The optical waveguide device comprises a waveguide unit 1, a coupling-in grating 2, a refraction coupling-out element 3 and a refraction lens 4, wherein the coupling-in grating 2 is arranged at the end part of the coupling-in waveguide unit 1 and is used for coupling projection light into the waveguide unit 1;
Wherein the waveguide unit 1 and the diopter coupling-out element 3 are jointly embedded into the diopter lens 4 and are arranged in the diopter lens 4 and perpendicular to the optical axis of the diopter lens 4, and the diopter lens 4 is a light-transmitting lens with diopter;
The refractive coupling-out element 3 is arranged at different positions to respectively deflect the projection light rays in the waveguide unit 1, and is used for converting the projection light rays in the waveguide unit 1 into converging light rays or diffusing light rays together with one side, close to the human eye, of the refractive lens 4, so that the projection light rays are imaged at preset positions.
As shown in fig. 1 to 4, the projection light machine 5 is incident into the waveguide unit 1 from the end of the diopter lens 4, and the reflection angle of the projection light transmitted in the waveguide unit 1 is made to satisfy the total reflection condition, that is, the projection light is transmitted in the waveguide unit 1 by total internal reflection, based on the deflection effect of the light by the coupling-in grating 2.
A refractive-coupling element 3 is further provided on the surface of the waveguide unit 1. When the projection light inside the waveguide unit 1 is incident on the interface between the waveguide unit 1 and the refractive out-coupling element 3, a part of the projection light may be coupled out and transmitted through the refractive lens to exit to the human eye, and another part continues to be totally reflected inside the waveguide unit 1 until the next time it is incident again on the waveguide unit 1 and the refractive out-coupling element 3.
In conventional waveguide devices, the light coupled out of the waveguide unit 1 is generally incident in parallel into the human eye. In this embodiment, the diopter of the coupled projection light is adjusted by the diopter coupling-out element 3, so that the angles of the projection light coupled out from different positions are the same from one end close to the coupling-in grating 2 to one end far from the coupling-in grating 2, the projection light coupled out from different positions on each waveguide unit is in a converging light or a diverging light, and accordingly, the imaging position of the projection light is adjusted to a non-infinity position. For a user with myopia, the refractive coupling-out element 3 can modulate the projection light into diffuse light to be incident into the human eye, and for a user with hyperopia, the refractive coupling-out element 3 can modulate the projection light into convergent light to be incident into the human eye, so that diopter of projection light imaging is adjusted.
However, when the waveguide device is applied to an AR display apparatus, not only projection light is incident into human eyes through the waveguide unit 1, but also light of a physical object scene in the environment is transmitted through the waveguide unit 1 to be incident into human eyes. Obviously, for users with abnormal eyesight, the objects in the real environment cannot be seen clearly through the waveguide unit 1 with the flat plate structure, and for this reason, the diopter lens 4 with diopter is adopted in the embodiment to realize adjustment of the imaging diopter of the object light in the environment. The diopter lens 4 may be provided as a convex lens or a concave lens based on the vision condition of the user.
In this embodiment, through the cooperation between the diopter lens 4 and the waveguide unit 1 with the diopter coupling-out element 3, diopter is performed on the ambient light and the projection light incident into the human eye respectively, so that a user with abnormal eyesight can see a clear augmented reality image through the waveguide device.
As described above, the refractive lens 4 is generally a convex lens or a concave lens, that is, the surface of the refractive lens 4 is a curved surface, so that the refractive lens 4 and the waveguide unit 1 cannot be directly bonded, therefore, in the application, considering that the refractive lens 4 has a certain thickness, the waveguide unit 1 and the refractive coupling-out element 3 can be jointly embedded into the refractive lens 4, thereby realizing the integrated arrangement of the refractive lens 4 and the waveguide unit 1 without gaps, avoiding the problem of oversized structure of the waveguide device on the basis of simultaneously realizing diopter adjustment of light incident into human eyes, and being beneficial to the development of miniaturization of AR display equipment. In addition, because no gap is arranged between the diopter lens 4 and the waveguide unit 1, no air medium exists between the diopter lens 4 and the waveguide unit 1, one medium layer can be reduced in the transmission process of the projection light in the waveguide device, and then the light energy loss of the projection light transmitted between different medium layers is reduced.
For the diopter lens 4 in this embodiment, a lens made of plastic material may be used, when the diopter lens 4 is formed, a part of liquid lens material may be poured into the grinding tool first, then the waveguide unit is put into the grinding tool, finally the rest of liquid lens material is poured into the grinding tool, and after the liquid lens material is solidified, the inlaid connection between the waveguide unit 1 and the diopter lens 4 may be achieved.
Of course, it should be noted that, in this embodiment, the diopter adjustment of the diopter of the coupled projection light by the diopter coupling-out element 3 further realizes adjustment of the projection position of the projection light, and is not only used for users with abnormal eyesight, but also can set the imaging position of the projection light according to the technical scheme in this embodiment for users with normal eyesight, so as to realize the effect of three-dimensional display of virtual images.
As can be seen from fig. 1 to 4, a refractive lens 4 having a non-uniform thickness is provided in a layer of the waveguide unit 1 outputting the projection light, and the refractive power of the projection light is obviously adjusted, so that the imaging position of the projection light coupled out by the refractive coupling-out element 3 is actually set in consideration of the effect of the refractive coupling-out element 3 and the refractive lens 4 on the projection light.
For the refractive out-coupling element 3, a surface grating, such as an HOE grating, may be used, and for the refractive out-coupling element 3, either a reflective or transmissive out-coupling may be used, as shown in fig. 1 and 3, when the refractive out-coupling element 3 is disposed on a side of the waveguide unit 1 facing away from the outgoing projection light, the refractive out-coupling element 3 is an HOE reflective grating, reflecting out the projection light, and when the refractive out-coupling element 3 is disposed on a side of the waveguide unit 1 facing the outgoing projection light, the refractive out-coupling element 3 is an HOE transmissive grating.
In addition, the refraction out-coupling element 3 described above is a component integrating refraction and out-coupling functions, and in the practical application process, the refraction out-coupling element 3 may also include two parts, namely a refraction unit and an out-coupling unit. As shown in fig. 4, the refractive outcoupling element 3 comprises an outcoupling grating 31 and an HOE lens 32 with optical power, which may be an HOE light-transmitting mirror or an HOE mirror.
As already mentioned, the projection light in the waveguide unit 1 is coupled in by the coupling-in grating 2, which coupling-in grating 2 can likewise be a reflective coupling-in grating and a transmissive coupling-in grating, in particular can be determined depending on the position of the coupling-in grating 2 arranged on both surfaces of the waveguide unit 1. In addition, in order to further reduce the amount of loss of light when the projection light is incident into the waveguide unit 1, one end of the waveguide unit 1 where the coupling-in grating 2 is disposed may be exposed outside the diopter lens 4, that is, the end of the waveguide unit 1 where the coupling-in grating 2 is disposed is not embedded in the diopter lens 4.
As shown in fig. 2 and 3, since the waveguide unit 1 is disposed at the end coupled to the grating 2, the portion of the incident projection light is not embedded into the curved lens, so that the projection light can be directly incident into the waveguide unit 1 from the projection light machine 5 without being transmitted through the refractive lens 4 and then incident into the waveguide unit 1, thereby reducing the light energy loss of the projection light transmitted through the refractive lens 4.
The application also provides an embodiment of an AR display device comprising a waveguide device and a projection light engine as described in any of the preceding claims.
The projection light machine is used for projecting projection light rays to the waveguide device;
the waveguide device is used for coupling the projection light into the waveguide unit through the coupling-in light and coupling out the projection light through the refraction coupling-out element.
In the AR display equipment, the waveguide device capable of adjusting the coupling diopter of the projection light and the diopter of the ambient light is adopted, so that the adjustment of imaging positions of the projection light and the ambient light is further realized, and the diopter lens and the waveguide unit in the waveguide device are inlaid, so that the volume of the waveguide device is prevented from being too large, and the AR display equipment is miniaturized.
It is noted that relational terms such as first and second, and the like are used solely to distinguish one entity or action from another entity or action without necessarily requiring or implying any actual such relationship or order between such entities or actions. Moreover, the terms "comprises," "comprising," or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements is inherent to. Without further limitation, an element defined by the phrase "comprising one does not exclude the presence of other like elements in a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises an element. In addition, the parts of the above technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application, which are consistent with the implementation principles of the corresponding technical solutions in the prior art, are not described in detail, so that redundant descriptions are avoided.
In this specification, each embodiment is described in a progressive manner, and each embodiment is mainly described in a different point from other embodiments, so that the same or similar parts between the embodiments are referred to each other.