JP2011203518A - Cooling device and projector - Google Patents

Abstract

A cooling device capable of improving cooling efficiency and miniaturization and a projector including the cooling device are provided.
A cooling device includes a cooling fan that generates cooling air, and a duct that causes the cooling air generated by the cooling fan to flow and discharge the air to an optical device. Inside the duct 66R, the G discharge duct 66G, and the B discharge duct 66B), there is a flow converter 70 that converts the flow state of the cooling air. In addition, the flow converting unit 70 includes a protruding piece 71 as a protruding portion protruding from the inner wall 662 of the R discharge duct 66R, the G discharge duct 66G, and the B discharge duct 66B.
[Selection] Figure 3

Description

  The present invention relates to a cooling device and a projector including the cooling device.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is known a projector that modulates a light beam emitted from a light source with a light modulation device based on an image signal and projects an emitted optical image as image light. Such projectors are designed to have high brightness, and the amount of heat generated by light sources, light modulators, and the like is increasing. For this reason, it is more important than ever to cool these heated optical devices.

  Under such circumstances, in Patent Document 1, the cooling fan that generates the cooling air and the cooling air generated by the cooling fan are branched into the first cooling air and the second cooling air, and the first cooling air is supplied. The air cooling duct that flows into the entrance / exit side spaces A and B of the liquid crystal unit and the direction of the second cooling air are changed so that the inside of the entrance / exit side spaces A and B is different from the first cooling air. And a cooling device that cools the liquid crystal unit.

JP 2009-75212 A

  However, in Patent Document 1, the cooling air is branched into a first cooling air and a second cooling air, and the air cooling duct and the air guide plate are used to enter the entrance / exit side spaces A and B from different directions. Since it has to be made to flow in, the structure of the cooling device is likely to be complicated, and the cooling device is likely to be increased in size. Therefore, there has been a demand for a cooling device that improves the cooling efficiency and can be miniaturized.

  SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is to solve at least a part of the problems described above, and the invention can be implemented as the following forms or application examples.

  Application Example 1 The cooling device according to this application example is a cooling device that discharges cooling air to an object to be cooled, and cools the cooling fan that generates cooling air and the cooling air generated by the cooling fan to flow. A duct for discharging to a target object, and a duct having a flow conversion section for converting a flow state of cooling air is provided inside the duct.

  According to such a cooling device, by having the flow conversion part inside the duct, for example, the cooling air that has flowed as a substantially laminar flow in the previous stage of the flow conversion part is converted into a substantially turbulent flow by the flow conversion part. Make it flow. The cooling air converted into the substantially turbulent flow is discharged from the duct to the object to be cooled, so that the cooling efficiency can be improved as compared with the case of discharging the substantially laminar cooling air to the object to be cooled. it can. Moreover, since it is not necessary to discharge cooling air from different directions to the object to be cooled, the structure of the cooling device can be simplified and the cooling device can be downsized.

  Application Example 2 In the cooling device according to the application example described above, it is preferable that the flow converting portion is configured by a protruding portion that protrudes from the inner wall of the duct into the duct. According to such a cooling device, the laminar flow can be efficiently converted into the turbulent flow by the protruding portion protruding into the duct from the inner wall of the duct.

  Application Example 3 In the cooling device according to the application example, it is preferable that the flow conversion unit converts the flow state of the cooling air into a substantially spiral flow. According to such a cooling device, the cooling efficiency can be further improved by converting the flow state of the cooling air into a substantially spiral flow.

  Application Example 4 In the cooling device according to the application example described above, it is preferable that the flow conversion unit includes a plurality of protrusions, and the plurality of protrusions are arranged in a substantially spiral shape. According to such a cooling device, the plurality of protrusions are arranged in a substantially spiral shape, whereby the flow state of the cooling air can be efficiently converted into a substantially spiral flow.

  Application Example 5 In the cooling device according to the application example described above, it is preferable that the protruding portion of the flow converting portion is continuously formed in a substantially spiral shape. According to such a cooling device, since the protrusions are continuously formed in a substantially spiral shape, the flow state of the cooling air can be efficiently converted into a substantially spiral flow.

  Application Example 6 In the cooling device according to the application example described above, it is preferable that the flow conversion unit is formed in the vicinity of the discharge port of the duct. According to such a cooling device, the cooling air converted into the turbulent flow can be efficiently discharged from the discharge port. Therefore, the cooling target can be cooled while maintaining the cooling efficiency due to the turbulent flow.

  Application Example 7 A projector according to this application example includes any one of the above-described cooling devices and a light modulation device that modulates a light beam emitted from a light source based on an image signal.

  According to such a projector, by providing the cooling device having the above-described effects, it is possible to efficiently cool the light source, the light modulation device, or the like that has generated heat as the object to be cooled, and reduce malfunction due to heat. At the same time, the service life can be extended.

FIG. 2 is a plan view schematically showing a configuration of an optical system of the projector according to the first embodiment. The perspective view which shows a cooling device. The perspective view which shows the discharge outlet part of a cooling device. The schematic sectional drawing of a cooling device. FIG. 6 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a cooling device according to a second embodiment.

Hereinafter, embodiments will be described with reference to the drawings.
(First embodiment)

  FIG. 1 is a plan view schematically showing the configuration of the optical system of the projector 1 according to the first embodiment. The configuration and operation of the optical system of the projector 1 will be briefly described with reference to FIG.

  The projector 1 is a device that modulates a light beam emitted from a light source based on an image signal and enlarges and projects it on a screen (not shown). The projector 1 includes an exterior housing 11 (see FIG. 4) that constitutes an exterior. Inside the exterior housing 11, an optical unit 4, a cooling device 5 (see FIG. 2), and a control unit that controls the operation of the projector 1. A circuit configuration section (not shown) including (not shown) is provided.

  The optical unit 4 of this embodiment includes a light source device 41, an illumination optical device 42, a color separation optical device 43, a relay optical device 44, an optical device 45, an optical component casing 46, and a projection optical device 47.

  The light source device 41 includes a light source lamp 411 and a reflector 412. The light source device 41 reflects the light beam emitted from the light source lamp 411 by the reflector 412 and emits it to the illumination optical device 42. Note that the light source lamp 411 of the present embodiment employs a discharge lamp such as an ultrahigh pressure mercury lamp.

  The illumination optical device 42 is for making the illuminance uniform in a plane orthogonal to the illumination optical axis A with respect to the light beam emitted from the light source device 41. The illumination optical device 42 includes lens arrays 421 and 422, a polarization conversion element 424, and a superimposing lens 425. The illumination optical device 42 includes three field lenses 426. The field lens 426 is disposed in front of the three light modulation devices of the optical device 45, and converts each partial light beam emitted from the lens array 422 into a light beam parallel to its central axis.

  The color separation optical device 43 separates the illumination light flux from the illumination optical device 42 into three color light devices of red (R) light, green (G) light, and blue (B) light, and corresponding three light modulation devices. It guides light. The color separation optical device 43 includes dichroic mirrors 431 and 432 and a reflection mirror 433. Since the optical path length of the relay optical device 44 is longer than the optical path lengths of the other color lights with respect to the color light (R light in the present embodiment) separated by the color separation optical device 43, the relay optical device 44 is caused by light divergence or the like. The use efficiency of light is prevented from decreasing, and the light modulation device (in this embodiment, a light modulation device for R light) is led. The relay optical device 44 includes an incident side lens 441, a relay lens 443, and reflection mirrors 442 and 444.

  The optical device 45 modulates each color light incident on each light modulation device based on an image signal, and synthesizes it with a color synthesis optical device. The optical device 45 includes three liquid crystal panels 451, three incident-side polarizing plates 452, three emission-side polarizing plates 453, and a cross dichroic prism 454 as a color synthesizing optical device that constitute a light modulation device. The three liquid crystal panels 451 include an R light liquid crystal panel 451R as an R light light modulation device, a G light liquid crystal panel 451G as a green light light modulation device, and a B light as a B light light modulation device. The liquid crystal panel 451B is used. Note that the three liquid crystal panels 451 constituting the light modulation device of the present embodiment adopt a transmission type.

  The projection optical device 47 has a projection lens 471 and enlarges and projects the image light combined by the optical device 45 (color combining optical device) onto the screen. The optical component housing 46 has a predetermined illumination optical axis A set therein, and accommodates the optical devices 41 to 45 described above at predetermined positions with respect to the illumination optical axis A. The optical devices 41 to 45 and 47 described above are used as an optical system of various general projectors, and thus detailed description thereof is omitted.

  FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the cooling device 5. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a discharge port portion of the cooling device 5. FIG. 4 is a schematic sectional view of the cooling device 5. FIG. 2 also shows an optical device 45 in addition to the cooling device 5. FIG. 3 shows a discharge port 661R portion of the R discharge duct 66R of the cooling device 5. FIG. 4 shows a cross section of an R discharge duct 66R as the discharge duct 65 of the cooling device 5 for convenience of explanation. The configuration and operation of the cooling device 5 will be described with reference to FIGS.

  In the projector 1, the polarization conversion element 424, the optical device 45 (the liquid crystal panel 451, the incident side polarizing plate 452, the emission side polarizing plate 453) and the like generate heat due to the light beam emitted from the light source device 41. The cooling device 5 of this embodiment applies this optical device 45 as a cooling object.

  The cooling device 5 includes a cooling fan 50 that generates cooling air and a duct 60 that causes the cooling air generated by the cooling fan 50 to flow and discharge the cooling air to an object to be cooled. In addition, the duct 60 includes a flow conversion unit 70 described later.

  The cooling fan 50 employs a sirocco fan in this embodiment. The sirocco fan has a structure that discharges outside air sucked in from the rotation axis direction in the direction of centrifugal force due to rotation. The duct 60 is discharged from the cooling fan 50 and the intake duct 61 that flows outside air sucked from the intake port 111 (see FIG. 4) installed in the exterior housing 11 (see FIG. 4) of the projector 1 to the cooling fan 50. And a discharge duct 65 for flowing outside air (cooling air).

  In the present embodiment, the discharge duct 65 is branched into three ducts corresponding to each color light of the optical device 45. Specifically, the discharge duct 65 includes three ducts, an R discharge duct 66R, a G discharge duct 66G, and a B discharge duct 66B, which bend the outside air discharged from the discharge port 501 of the cooling fan 50 in a substantially vertical direction. Branch off.

  The R discharge duct 66R, the G discharge duct 66G, and the B discharge duct 66B are disposed below the corresponding liquid crystal panels 451 of the optical device 45 as shown in FIG. The R discharge duct 66R, the G discharge duct 66G, and the B discharge duct 66B discharge the outside air (cooling air) discharged from the cooling fan 50 upward from the discharge ports 661R, 661G, and 661B. .

  As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the R discharge duct 66 </ b> R has a flow converting portion 70 inside. The flow converting unit 70 is for disturbing the flow state of the cooling air flowing inside the R discharge duct 66R. The flow converting portion 70 is configured by having a plurality of protruding pieces 71 as protruding portions on the inner wall 662 of the R discharge duct 66R. The protruding piece 71 protrudes in a substantially vertical direction (normal direction) with respect to the inner wall 662, and the plurality of protruding pieces 71 are arranged in a substantially spiral shape. Note that the protruding piece 71 may protrude with an inclination instead of the vertical direction with respect to the inner wall 662. In the present embodiment, four protruding pieces 71 are provided. The number of protruding pieces 71 may be plural.

  The flow converter 70 is configured in the same manner as the R discharge duct 66R in the G discharge duct 66G and the B discharge duct 66B. The flow converting unit 70 is formed in the vicinity of the discharge port (in the present embodiment, the discharge ports 661R, 661G, 661B) with respect to the discharge duct 65.

The operation of the cooling device 5 will be described.
As shown in FIG. 4, when the cooling fan 50 is driven, outside air sucked from the intake port 111 flows in the intake duct 61 and is introduced into the cooling fan 50 as indicated by an arrow A. As indicated by an arrow B, outside air (cooling air) discharged from the discharge port 501 of the cooling fan 50 flows in the discharge duct 65. The flow state of the cooling air so far is substantially laminar. The cooling air flowing in the discharge duct 65 flows into the three branched R discharge ducts 66R, the G discharge duct 66G, and the B discharge duct 66B.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the cooling air that has flowed into the R discharge duct 66 </ b> R is substantially as shown by an arrow C by a plurality of projecting pieces 71 arranged so as to be substantially spiral in the flow converting portion 70. It is converted into a spiral flow state (turbulent flow) and discharged from the discharge port 661R toward the optical device 45 in a substantially spiral shape.

  Cooling air as a substantially spiral turbulent flow discharged from the discharge port 661R of the R discharge duct 66R is located above the discharge port 661R, the R light liquid crystal panel 451R, the incident side polarizing plate 452, the emission side polarized light. By spraying on the plate 453, heat generated in the R light liquid crystal panel 451R, the incident side polarizing plate 452, and the emission side polarizing plate 453 is taken and cooled.

  The cooling air that has flowed into the G discharge duct 66G and the B discharge duct 66B is also changed in the flow state in the same manner as the cooling air that has flowed into the R discharge duct 66R, and is substantially spirally formed from the discharge ports 661G and 661B. Cooling air is discharged. Then, the G light liquid crystal panel 451G, the B light liquid crystal panel 451B, and the like, which are positioned above, are similarly cooled by the discharged cooling air.

According to the first embodiment described above, the following effects can be obtained.
The cooling device 5 of the present embodiment includes a cooling fan 50 and a duct 60 (discharge duct 65), and flows inside the discharge duct 65 (R discharge duct 66R, G discharge duct 66G, B discharge duct 66B). A conversion unit 70 is included. The cooling air is converted into a substantially spiral flow state (turbulent flow) by the plurality of projecting pieces 71 arranged in a substantially spiral shape of the flow converting portion 70, and the discharge ports 661R, 661G, 661B. To the optical device 45. By blowing substantially spiral cooling air onto the optical device 45, the heat dissipation efficiency of the optical device 45 can be improved, and as a result, the cooling efficiency for the optical device 45 can be improved.

  According to the cooling device 5 of the present embodiment, it is only necessary to discharge cooling air from one direction (downward) to the optical device 45 that is a cooling target, and there is no need to discharge cooling air from different directions. Therefore, the structure of the cooling device 5 can be simplified and the cooling device 5 can be downsized.

  According to the cooling device 5 of the present embodiment, the flow conversion unit 70 is formed in the vicinity of the discharge ports 661R, 661G, and 661B of the discharge duct 65, so that the cooling air converted into a substantially spiral shape is discharged to the discharge ports 661R, 661R. 661G and 661B can be efficiently discharged. Therefore, the optical device 45 can be cooled while maintaining the cooling efficiency by the substantially spiral cooling air.

  According to the cooling device 5 of the present embodiment, a substantially spiral turbulent flow is blown to the optical device 45 as the cooling air, so that the optical device 45 (liquid crystal panel 451) is compared to the case of blowing a substantially laminar cooling air. , The adhesion of dust to the incident side polarizing plate 452 and the emission side polarizing plate 453) can be reduced.

According to the projector 1 of the present embodiment, by providing the cooling device 5 having the above-described effects, the optical device 45 can be efficiently cooled, and the malfunction of the optical device 45 due to heat is reduced, resulting in a long life. Can be achieved. Further, since the adhesion of dust to the optical components such as the liquid crystal panel 451 can be reduced, the projected image quality can be maintained.
(Second Embodiment)

  FIG. 5 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing the cooling device 8 according to the second embodiment. FIG. 5 shows a cross section of the R discharge duct 66R for convenience of explanation. The configuration and operation of the cooling device 8 will be described with reference to FIG.

  The cooling device 8 of the present embodiment is configured in the same manner as in the first embodiment except that the configuration of the flow conversion unit 80 is different from the configuration of the flow conversion unit 70 in the first embodiment. In FIG. 5, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected to the structure similar to 1st Embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the flow converting portion 80 is configured inside an R discharge duct 66R. The flow converting portion 80 is configured to have a protruding piece 81 as a protruding portion formed continuously in a spiral on the inner wall 662 of the R discharge duct 66R. The protruding piece 81 protrudes in a substantially vertical direction (normal direction) with respect to the inner wall 662. Note that the protruding piece 81 may protrude with an inclination instead of the vertical direction with respect to the inner wall 662. The flow converting unit 80 is configured similarly in the G discharge duct 66G and the B discharge duct 66B.

  In the cooling device 8 configured in this way, when the cooling air flows into the R discharge duct 66R, the cooling air is indicated by the arrow D by the projecting piece 81 that is substantially spirally continuous in the flow converting unit 80. Then, it is converted into a substantially spiral flow state (turbulent flow) and discharged from the discharge port 661R toward the optical device 45 (not shown in FIG. 5) in a substantially spiral shape. Subsequent cooling of the optical device 45 is the same as in the first embodiment. The cooling air is similarly converted in the G discharge duct 66G and the B discharge duct 66B.

  According to the second embodiment described above, the following effects are obtained in addition to the effects of the first embodiment.

  Since the cooling device 8 of the present embodiment has the protruding piece 81 in which the flow converting unit 80 is continuously formed in a substantially spiral shape, the cooling air is compared with the spiral flow state in the first embodiment. In addition, it can be converted into a spiral fluidized state. Therefore, the heat dissipation efficiency of the optical device 45 can be further improved, and as a result, the cooling efficiency for the optical device 45 can be further improved.

  Note that the present invention is not limited to the first and second embodiments described above, and various modifications and improvements can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. A modification will be described below.

  (Modification 1) The cooling devices 5 and 8 of the first and second embodiments apply the optical device 45 as a cooling object. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the light source device 41, the polarization conversion element 424, a member that generates heat in the projector 1, and the like can be applied as a cooling object. In addition, as a method of application, a cooling device may be individually configured for a cooling object. As another application method, the discharge duct 65 is branched and extended to the position of the object to be cooled (for example, the polarization conversion element 424), and the flow conversion units 70 and 80 are formed inside the extended duct. But you can.

  (Modification 2) In the cooling devices 5 and 8 of the first and second embodiments, the flow converters 70 and 80 are provided with discharge ducts 65 (R discharge duct 66R, G discharge duct 66G, B discharge duct 66B. ) On the inner wall 662. However, the flow converting portions 70 and 80 may be separately installed on the inner wall 662 without being formed integrally with the inner wall 662.

  (Modification 3) In the cooling devices 5 and 8 according to the first and second embodiments, the flow converters 70 and 80 are provided with the discharge duct 65 (R discharge duct 66R, G discharge duct 66G, B discharge duct 66B). ) In the vicinity of the discharge ports 661R, 661G, and 661B, but may not be formed in the vicinity, and may be formed in the discharge duct 65.

  (Modification 4) In the cooling device 5 of the first embodiment, the flow converting portion 70 is constituted by a plurality of protruding pieces 71, and the protruding pieces 71 are arranged in a substantially spiral shape. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the plurality of protruding pieces may be randomly arranged. Thereby, the flow state of the cooling air can be disturbed, and the cooling air discharged from the discharge duct 65 can be converted into a turbulent flow that improves the cooling efficiency.

  (Modification 5) In the cooling device 8 of the second embodiment, the flow converting unit 80 has one protruding piece 81 formed continuously in a substantially spiral shape, but it may have a plurality. Good. In this case, it is realized by installing projecting pieces continuously formed in a substantially spiral shape similar to the projecting pieces 81 on the inner walls 662 between the pitches of the projecting pieces 81. Thereby, even if the length which installs the flow conversion part 80 is shortened, the desired spiral flow state can be ensured by forming a plurality of protruding pieces. In addition, the cooling device 8 can be downsized by shortening the length of the flow conversion unit 80.

  (Modification 6) The cooling devices 5 and 8 according to the first and second embodiments directly cool air to the liquid crystal panel 451, the incident-side polarizing plate 452, and the emission-side polarizing plate 453 using the optical device 45 as a cooling object. It is cooled by spraying. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, it can be applied to a case where an apparatus for cooling by attaching a heat radiating member such as a heat sink to cool it is used as an object to be cooled, and can improve the heat radiating efficiency of the heat radiating member. it can. In that case, the heat dissipation member can be downsized.

  (Modification 7) In the optical unit 4 of the first and second embodiments, the optical device 45 employs a transmissive light modulator (transmissive liquid crystal panel 451). However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a reflective light modulation device may be employed.

  (Modification 8) In the optical unit 4 of the first and second embodiments, the optical device 45 adopts a so-called three-plate method using three light modulation devices corresponding to R light, G light, and B light. Yes. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a single plate type light modulation device may be adopted. Further, a light modulation device for improving the contrast may be additionally employed.

  (Modification 9) In the optical unit 4 of the first and second embodiments, a lens integrator optical system including lens arrays 421 and 422 is used as the illumination optical device 42 that equalizes the illuminance of the light beam emitted from the light source device 41. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a rod integrator optical system including a light guide rod can also be used.

  (Modification 10) In the optical unit 4 of the first and second embodiments, the light source lamp 411 of the light source device 41 employs a discharge lamp such as an ultra-high pressure mercury lamp, but a laser diode, LED (Light Various solid light emitting elements such as an Emitting Diode), an organic EL (Electro Luminescence) element, and a silicon light emitting element may be employed.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Projector, 5 and 8 ... Cooling device, 45 ... Optical device, 50 ... Cooling fan, 60 ... Duct, 65 ... Discharge duct, 66B ... Discharge duct for B, 66G ... Discharge duct for G, 66R ... Discharge duct for R , 70, 80... Fluid conversion part, 71, 81... Protruding piece, 451... Liquid crystal panel, 661.

Claims (7)

A cooling device that discharges cooling air to an object to be cooled,
A cooling fan for generating the cooling air;
A duct for causing the cooling air generated by the cooling fan to flow and discharging it to the object to be cooled,
The cooling device characterized by having a flow conversion part for converting the flow state of the cooling air inside the duct. The cooling device according to claim 1,
The said flow conversion part is comprised by the protrusion part which protrudes in the said duct from the inner wall of the said duct, The cooling device characterized by the above-mentioned. The cooling device according to claim 2,
The said flow conversion part converts the flow state of the said cooling air into the substantially helical flow, The cooling device characterized by the above-mentioned. The cooling device according to claim 3,
The flow converting portion has a plurality of the protruding portions,
The cooling device according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of protrusions are arranged in a substantially spiral shape. The cooling device according to claim 3,
The cooling device, wherein the protruding portion of the flow converting portion is formed continuously in a substantially spiral shape. It is a cooling device as described in any one of Claims 1-5, Comprising:
The cooling device, wherein the flow conversion part is formed in the vicinity of a discharge port of the duct. The cooling device according to any one of claims 1 to 6,
A projector comprising: a light modulation device that modulates a light beam emitted from a light source based on an image signal.

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