ILLUMINATION SYSTEM AND PROJECTION APPARATUS
An illumination system includes a green light source, a red light source, a blue light source, a first splitter, a second splitter, and a thermoelectric cooler. The first splitter is disposed downstream of the light sources, the first splitter being capable of reflecting a first color light beam and allowing a second color light beam to pass. The second splitter is disposed at the light paths of the light sources, and the second splitter being capable of reflecting a third color light beam and allowing the first color light beam and the second color light beam to pass, wherein the color of the first color light beam, the second color light beam, and the third color light beam are substantially different. The thermoelectric cooler is thermally coupled to the red light source, and neither the green light source nor the blue light source is thermally couple to any thermoelectric cooler.
This is a continuation application of prior application Ser. No. 15/928,146 filed on Mar. 22, 2018.
FIELD OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention relates to an illumination system and a projection apparatus, and more particularly to an illumination system and a projection apparatus provided with an enhanced heat dissipation structure.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONAs the light emitting diode source become popular, more projection apparatuses utilize light emitting diode (LED) as the light sources thereof. To satisfy the requirement of high luminous intensity, high-powered light emitting diodes are used as the light source. However, the high-powered light emitting diodes generate more heat, and the heat reduces lighting efficiency of the light emitting diode source. Therefore, in the conventional projection apparatuses, heat dissipation fins are often mounted to the light emitting diodes to improve heat dissipation efficiency. However, even if the heat dissipation fins are mounted to the light emitting diodes, heat resistance between the light emitting diode and air is not eliminated completely, which results in limited heat dissipation ability.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention provides an illumination system including a thermoelectric cooler (TEC) mounted between a light source and a heat dissipation element to eliminate heat resistance between light emitting diodes and atmosphere so as to increase heat dissipation efficiency.
For example, the illumination system of the present invention includes a first light source, a second light source, a third light source, and a thermoelectric cooler. The first light source is capable of outputting a first light beam, and the spectrum of the first light beam has a wavelength peak value within a range of 490 nm to 580 nm. The second light source is capable of outputting a second light beam, and the spectrum of the second light beam has a wavelength peak value within a range of 600 nm to 760 nm. The third light source is capable of outputting a third light beam, and the spectrum of the third light beam has a wavelength peak value within a range of 400 nm to 480 nm. The thermoelectric cooler is thermally coupled to the second light source.
The present invention will become more readily apparent to those ordinarily skilled in the art after reviewing the following detailed description and accompanying drawings, in which:
These embodiments refer to use “first”, “second”, etc. following with noun or element. Such terms should be understood as a nomenclature and should not be construed as giving the limitation on the number of the elements modified by such nomenclature unless a specific number has been given. Optical elements of the invention refer to an element partially or totally made of reflective or transparent material which usually includes glass or plastic. Light beam combination of the invention refers to a combination of more than one light beam into one light beam. “Element A thermally coupled to element B” of the invention refers to the element A and the element B has thermal conductive relation. For example, if the heat of the element A is transferred to element B via a thermal material layer such as thermal grease, then the element A and the element B are thermally coupled.
The light source of the invention refers to a light emitting diode, a laser diode or any other element, module or device capable of emitting light beam. However, the light source of the invention is not limited to semi-conductor light sources. In this embodiment, each of the light sources of the invention is an encapsulated LED module. The first light source 11 includes at least one light emitting element 111 and a circuit board 112. The light emitting element 111 is an LED die. The amount of the light emitting element 111 in the first light source 11 is one or more than one. In this embodiment, the amount of the light emitting element 111 is six, and each light emitting element 111 consumes 8 W of power. The light emitting element 111 is disposed above the circuit board 112 and protected by encapsulation resin such as silicone resin. In this embodiment, the first light source 11 is capable of outputting a first light beam L1. The spectrum of the first light beam L1 has a wavelength peak value within a range of 490 nm to 580 nm. That is the first light source 11 emits a green light beam. The light emitting element 111 of the first light source 11 emits the first light beam L1 directly or in another way. For example, phosphor may be mixed into the encapsulation resin to absorb light beam of shorter wavelengths (such as blue light beam) emitted by the first emitting element 111 so as to output the first light beam L1 by excitation. That is the wavelength of the light beam emitted from the light emitting element 111 is not necessarily the same as the light beam emitted by the first light source 11. By the way, the optical filter can be adapted to filter the light emitted by excitation of the phosphor as the first light beam L1. That is the wavelength of the light beam emitted from the light emitting element 111 is not necessarily the same as the light beam emitted from the second light source 11. The optical filter of the invention refers to a bandpass filter, a bandstop filter, a DM filter, a dichroic mirror, a DM prism, an X plate, an X prism, a polarizer beam splitter, a color wheel, a fluorescent wheel, a transflective sheet, a reflective mirror, a lens, a flat glass, any other element capable of filtering light beam, or at least one of the said elements or the combination of the said elements.
It is noted that the spectrum refers to a pattern formed by splitting a multi-color light beam with a color splitting system, such as a grating or a prism, and the pattern is formed by a plurality of color light beams arranged sequentially according to the wavelengths (or frequencies) thereof. The only portion in the said spectrum of electromagnetic wave that is visible to human eye is called visible light beam spectrum. The light in the visible light beam spectrum is called visible light. The wavelength peak value corresponds to the highest intensity value in the visible light.
The second light source 12 includes a light emitting element 121 and a circuit board 122. The light emitting element 121 is an LED die. The amount of the light emitting element 121 is one or more than one. In this embodiment, the amount of the light emitting element 121 is one. The light emitting element 121 is disposed above the circuit board 122 and protected by encapsulation resin such as silicone resin. In this embodiment, the second light source 12 is capable of outputting a second light beam L2. The spectrum of the second light beam L2 has a wavelength peak value within a range of 600 nm to 760 nm. That is the second light source 12 emits red light beam. The light emitting element 121 of the second light source 12 emits the second light beam L2 directly or in another way. For example, phosphor may be mixed into the encapsulation resin to absorb light beam of shorter wavelengths emitted from the light emitting diode 121 (such as blue light beam) light beam so as to output the second light beam L2 by excitation. By the way, the optical filter can be adapted to filter the light emitted by excitation of the phosphor as the first light beam L2. That is the wavelength of the light beam emitted from the light emitting element 121 is not necessarily the same as the light beam emitted from the second light source 12.
The third light source 13 includes a light emitting element 131 and a circuit board 132. The light emitting element 131 is an LED die. The amount of the light emitting element 131 is one or more than one. In this embodiment, the amount of the light emitting element 131 is one. The light emitting element 131 is disposed above the circuit board 132 and protected by encapsulation plastic such as silicone resin. In this embodiment, the third light source 13 is capable of outputting a third light beam L3. The spectrum of the third light beam L3 has a wavelength peak value within a range of 400 nm to 480 nm. That is the third light source 13 emits blue light beam. The light emitting element 131 of the third light source 13 emits the third light beam L3 directly or in another way. For example, phosphor may be mixed into the encapsulation resin to absorb light beam of shorter wavelengths emitted from the light emitting element 131 (such as blue light beam) light beam so as to output the third light beam L3 by excitation. By the way, the optical filter can be adapted to filter light emitted by excitation of the phosphor as the first light beam L3. That is the wavelength of the light beam emitted from the light emitting element 131 is not necessarily the same as the light beam emitted from the third light source 13.
The thermoelectric cooler (TEC) 14 of the present invention refers to a semiconductor element which has temperature difference generated between two opposite sides thereof when current (preferable direct current) flows through it. The temperature difference is affected by the magnitude of current. The greater temperature difference is induced by a larger current. The thermoelectric cooler 14 has a cold side 141 and a hot side 142. When the current flows through the thermoelectric cooler 14, the temperature difference is induced between the cold side 141 and the hot side 142. The cold side 141 can provide cooling functions. Referring to
The first conductive material layer 143 and the second conductive material layer 145 are suitable for conducting heat. The semi-conductor material layer 144 includes one or more pairs of serially connected P-type semiconductor material and N-type semiconductor material. When a current flows through the semi-conductor material layer 144, those carriers (by electron holes and electrons mechanism) in the P-type semiconductor material and the N-type semiconductor material move away from the first conductive material layer 143 to reduce the temperature of the first conductive material layer 143, and thus the upper surface of the first conductive material layer 143 becomes the cold side 141. The carriers also move towards the second conductive material layer 145 to increase the temperature of the second conductive material layer 145 connected to the semi-conductor material layer 144, and thus the lower surface of the second conductive material layer 145 becomes the hot side 142.
In addition, the illumination system 1 further includes a light combining optical element 15. A portion or whole of the light combining optical element 15 is made of transparent and reflective material such as glass or plastic. The light combining optical element 15 combines more than one light beams to become one light beam. Referring to
After each element is described, an embodiment is introduced to describe the relations of the elements. Referring to
As the relative relation of said elements, optical paths of the light beam from the first light source 11, the second light source 12 and the light source 13 are described as follows. The light combining optical element 15 enables the first light beam L1, the second light beam L2 and the third light beam L3 to propagate along a substantially identical path and then combines the first light beam L1, the second light beam L2 and the third light beam L3. More specifically, the first light beam L1 output by the first light source 11 passes through the first light beam splitter 151 and the second light beam splitter 152. The second light beam L2 output by the second light source 12 is reflected by the first light beam splitter 151 so as to propagate along the substantially identical optical path along which the first light beam L1 passes through the light combining optical element 15. The third light beam L3 output by the third light source 13 is reflected by the second light beam splitter 152 so as to propagate along the substantially identical optical path along which the first light beam L1 passes through the light combining optical element 15.
The thermoelectric cooler 14 of the illumination system 1 is disposed on the second side 1222 of the second light source 12 to dissipate heat generated by the second light source 12. The thermoelectric cooler 14 can reduce the heat resistance between the second light source 12 and environmental air. More specifically, the heat resistance between the second light source 12 and air can be reduced to a degree of approximately 0° C./W. The second side 1222 of the second light source 12 has a temperature close or even lower than the environment temperature so as to promote heat dissipation efficiency of the second light source 12. It can improve reduction issues on lighting efficiency of the second light source 12 due to accumulated heat. The luminous intensity of the illumination system 1 is ensured thereby.
In addition, the illumination system 1a further includes a first thermal interface material layer 17 and a second thermal interface material layer 18. For example, the first thermal interface material layer 17 and the second thermal interface material layer 18 are thermal grease, thermal conductive adhesive or thermal conductive tape, which has good heat conductive properties. In this embodiment, the first thermal interface material layer 17 is disposed between the cold side 141 of the thermoelectric cooler 14 and the second side 1222 of the circuit board 122, and connected to the cold side 141 and the second side 1222. The second thermal interface material layer 18 is disposed between the hot side 142 of the thermoelectric cooler 14 and the heat dissipation device 16, and connected to the hot side 142 and the heat dissipation device 16. Thus, the heat generated by the circuit board 122 is easily conducted to the cold side 141 of the thermoelectric cooler 14, and the heat from the hot side 142 of the thermoelectric cooler 14 is easily conducted to the heat dissipation device 16.
In this embodiment, the illumination system 1a is suitable for a projection apparatus. The projection apparatus is capable of converting illuminating light beam into image light beams so as to project the image thereof. The images include a plurality of frames generated in time sequence. By adjusting the percentage of each of the said light beams of different color in a time period of one single frame, the luminous intensity of output light beam of the illumination system 1a can thereby be increased.
On the other hand, the heat dissipation device 16, the first thermal interface material layer 17 and the second thermal interface material layer 18 of
In the embodiment of
The light source is configured to emit illuminating light beam Li. The light source in this embodiment is an element, a module or a device capable of emitting light beams in different colors. Furthermore, the light source includes the first light source 11, the second light source 12 and the third light source 13 which are configured to provide red light beam, green light beam and blue light beam sequentially or provide white light beam (the red light beam, the green light beam, and the blue light beam emit simultaneously). In another embodiment, the light source can also be an element, a module or a device capable of emitting white light beam. More specifically, the light source may be a mercury lamp, a white LED light source or a white LD light source. The illuminating light beam Li can be splitted into red light beam, green light beam and blue light beam according to a time sequence by a color wheel or other color splitting element. The emitting sequence of red light beam, green light beam, blue light beam and white light beam is also adjustable according to requirement.
The thermoelectric coolers are thermally coupled to the light source for cooling the light source. The amount of the thermoelectric cooler can be one or more than one. The thermoelectric coolers are connected to the corresponding light sources. More specifically, the amount of the thermoelectric cooler in this embodiment is three (the thermoelectric coolers 14, 14a and 14b). The thermoelectric coolers 14, 14a and 14b are connected to the first light source 11, the second light source 12 and the third light source 13 respectively to increase heat dissipation efficiency of each light source. In addition, the thermoelectric coolers can also be disposed in the first light source 11 only as the illumination systems 1 and 1a, or the thermoelectric coolers are disposed in one or more than two of the first light source 11, the second light source 12 and the third light source 13.
The light valve 23 is a device capable of converting illuminating light beam to image light beam. More specifically, the light valve is reflective light valve such as digital micro-mirror device (DMD) or liquid crystal on silicon panel (LCOS Panel) or transmissive light valve such as liquid crystal display panel (LCD). In this embodiment, the light valve is a digital micro-mirror device including a plurality of light beam processing structures 231. Each of the light beam processing structures 231 corresponds to a pixel. The light beam processing structure 231 is a reflective mirror.
In addition, the projection apparatus 2 of this embodiment further includes a total internal reflection prism (TIR prism) 25 configured to reflect the illuminating light beam Li to the light valve 23. Although the projection apparatus 2 of
In this embodiment, the light source is configured to emit illuminating light beam Li, and the light valve 23 is configured to convert the illuminating light beam Li to image light beam Lm. The projection lens is configured to project the image light beam Lm to form images on a screen.
Since the projection apparatus 2 of this embodiment includes thermoelectric coolers, heat dissipation efficiency is promoted and the quality and brightness of images of the projection apparatus 2 are thus approved.
While the invention has been described in terms of what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention needs not be limited to the disclosed embodiment. On the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims which are to be accorded with the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar structures.
Claims
1. An illumination system, comprising:
- a green light source;
- a red light source, comprising at least one semi-conductor die;
- a blue light source;
- a first splitter, disposed downstream of the green light source, the red light source, and the blue light source; the first splitter being capable of reflecting a first color light beam and allowing a second color light beam to pass;
- a second splitter, disposed at the light paths of the green light source, the red light source, and the blue light source, the second splitter being capable of reflecting a third color light beam and allowing the first color light beam and the second color light beam to pass, wherein the color of the first color light beam, the second color light beam, and the third color light beam are substantially different; and
- a thermoelectric cooler, thermally coupled to the red light source, and neither the green light source nor the blue light source being thermally coupled to any thermoelectric cooler.
2. The illumination system according to claim 1, wherein a specified time period refer to time needed to play a single frame, wherein, within the specified time period, the green light beam is outputted for a time length of at least 45% of the specified time period.
3. The illumination system according to claim 1, wherein the green light beam having a duty of at least 60% or more.
4. The illumination system according to claim 1, wherein the illumination system comprises no more than one thermoelectric cooler.
5. The illumination system according to claim 1, wherein each of the red light source, the green light source, and the blue light source comprises at least one LED die respectively.
6. The illumination system according to claim 5, wherein each of the green light source, the red light source, and the blue light source has a circuit board respectively, the circuit board of the red light source comprises a first side and a second side, the LED die is disposed at the first side of the circuit board, the second side is connected to a cold side of the thermoelectric cooler.
7. The illumination system according to claim 6, further comprising a heat dissipation device thermally coupled to a heat side of the thermoelectric cooler, the green light source has power consumption rate of no less than 48 Watts.
8. The illumination system according to claim 1, wherein the first splitter and the second splitter forms an X-shape structure.
9. The illumination system according to claim 1, wherein the first splitter has one side slantly facing the green light source and the blue light source.
10. The illumination system according to claim 9, wherein the second splitter has one side slantly facing the red light source and another side slantly facing the green light source.
11. A projection apparatus, comprising:
- a green light source;
- a red light source, comprising at least one semi-conductor die;
- a blue light source;
- a thermoelectric cooler, thermally coupled to the red light source;
- a light valve, disposed downstream of the red light source, the blue light source and the green light source;
- a projection lens, disposed downstream of the light valve; and
- a prism, disposed at a light path between the light valve and the projection lens;
- wherein, neither the blue light source nor the green light source is thermally coupled to any thermoelectric cooler.
12. The projection apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the green light beam having a duty of at least 60% or more.
13. The projection apparatus according to claim 11, further comprising:
- a first splitter, disposed downstream of the green light source, the red light source, and the blue light source, the first splitter being capable of reflecting a first color light beam and allowing a second color light beam to pass; and
- a second splitter, disposed at the light paths of the green light source, the red light source, and the blue light source, and the second splitter being capable of reflecting a third color light beam and allowing the first color light beam and the second color light beam to pass, wherein the color of the first color light beam, the second color light beam, and the third color light beam are substantially different.
14. The projection apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the first splitter and the second splitter forms an X-shape structure.
15. The projection apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the green light source, the red light source, and the blue light source comprises at least one LED die respectively.
16. The projection apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the first splitter has one side slantly facing the green light source and the blue light source.
17. The projection apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the second splitter has one side slantly facing the red light source and another side slantly facing the green light source.
18. The projection apparatus according to claim 13, further comprising a heat dissipation device thermally coupled to a heat side of the thermoelectric cooler and the green light source has power consumption rate of no less than 48 Watts.
19. The projection apparatus according to claim 18, further comprising a heat fin set, thermally coupled to the thermoelectric cooler.
20. The projection apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the projection apparatus comprises no more than one thermoelectric cooler.
Type: Application
Filed: Jul 18, 2019
Publication Date: Nov 7, 2019
Inventor: Jia-Bin Huang (Hsinchu)
Application Number: 16/515,524