CN1385731A - Coated reflective optical engine and its manufacturing process - Google Patents

Abstract

An optical engine with coated film reflection is composed of a casing, a light source, multiple reflecting elements, a lens set and an imaging unit. The reflecting element made of glass material is used as reflecting element by directly plating one or more reflecting material layers on the inner side wall of the shell of the optical engine, and the shell is designed into a structure which can be easily demoulded and assembled. The positioning mechanism of the glass lens of the traditional reed, screw, etc. is completely saved, so that the number of parts is reduced, the assembly working hour and the manufacturing cost are further reduced, and the reduction of the quality of the scanned image caused by the looseness or displacement of the reflecting element is avoided.

Description

Coated reflective optical engine and its manufacturing process

The present invention relates to a coating reflective optical engine and its manufacturing process, in particular to a kind of optical engine suitable for optical scanners, which is used as a reflector by directly coating a layer of reflective material on the inner wall of the optical engine. Optical engine device and its fabrication process.

Please refer to FIG. 1 for a typical embodiment of a flat bed optical scanner 1 (Optical Scanner) currently available on the market. It is mainly that a document carrier glass 12 (Document Window Glass) is provided on the upper surface of a scanner 1 casing 11 to hold a document to be scanned (not shown in the figure), and an optical engine 14 is driven by a driving device 13 (OpticalChassis) linearly moves along the direction of the guide rod 15 in the hollow casing 11 to scan the image of the original on the glass 12 .

Please refer to FIG. 2 , which is an A-A sectional view of the optical engine 14 of the conventional optical scanner 1 shown in FIG. 1 . The optical engine 14 includes: a hollow housing 141, a light source 142 positioned at an appropriate position on the upper side of the housing 141, a plurality of reflective mirrors 143, a lens group 144 (Lens Set), and a charge-coupled device 145 ( CCD). The light emitted by the light source 142 strikes the original on the glass 12 (not shown in the figure), and after the reflected light enters the housing 141 of the optical engine 14, it is reflected and folded by a plurality of reflective mirrors 143 to increase the optical path distance (Optical Length) to an appropriate length, the image is imaged on the charge-coupled device 145 through the focusing of the lens group 144, and the scanned image data is converted into an electronic signal.

The traditional optical engine 14 as shown in Figure 1 and Figure 2, because its reflective lens 143 is to be formed by silver-plating on a glass sheet, needs to be fixed with reed 146, fixture mechanism or the mode that cooperates screw locking. It is fixed at a predetermined position inside the casing 141 . Not only the additional positioning elements such as the reed 146 clamp mechanism will directly increase the number of parts and production costs, the space occupied by many parts will prevent the size of the optical engine from being further reduced, and the assembly man-hours and labor costs will increase. Moreover, as long as the number of assembled parts is large, it is inevitable that parts loose or uneven clamping force will lead to positional deviation of the reflective mirror 143 , resulting in reduced scanning image quality. Even, the traditional technology of clamping the reflective mirror 143 with the reed 146 as a clamping mechanism may cause the elastic fatigue of the reed 146 to reduce the clamping force after long-term use, or the machine may be subjected to vibrations due to transportation. The condition of the mirror 143 being loose or misaligned leads to a decrease in the quality of the scanned image, which needs to be improved.

The main purpose of the present invention is to provide a coating reflective optical engine and its manufacturing process, which can reduce the number of parts inside the optical engine, reduce the time and cost of assembly and manufacturing, reduce the volume of the optical engine, and avoid loosening or pricing of reflective elements offset.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a coated reflective optical engine and its manufacturing process, which can have an optical engine housing structure that is easy to produce and assemble, so as to reduce the time and cost of producing and assembling the optical engine housing.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned purpose, the coating reflective optical engine of the present invention includes: a housing, which has a hollow accommodation space, and defines two corresponding inner walls around the accommodation space; The angle is set in the accommodating space of the casing, which can properly reflect and bend the light entering the casing; a lens group can gather the light deflected by the reflective element; and an imaging device can gather the light through the lens group The light can be imaged on the imaging device to be converted into image data.

Wherein, a plurality of reflection planes corresponding to each other with predetermined angles and positions are formed on two corresponding inner side walls of the accommodating space of the housing for setting the plurality of reflection elements, and the reflection planes are directly molded by plastic injection. It is formed on two corresponding inner sidewalls of the casing, and each reflective element is formed by directly laying a coating layer of reflective material on the reflective plane.

Wherein, the coating layer can be silver, chromium, aluminum, platinum, or an alloy thereof, and is directly arranged on the reflective plane in one of the following ways: Evaporating Sputtering, Sputtering, and chemical deposition (Chemical Deposition).

In a preferred embodiment, the coating layer is further coated with a protective material, such as PE plastic film or other polymer materials with high light transmittance.

In another preferred embodiment, the housing is composed of a cover and a body. Moreover, a number of corresponding fastening structures are provided at corresponding positions where the body and the cover are combined, so that the body and the cover can be directly snapped together and positioned by the fastening structures.

Preferably, the cover is further provided with a light source platform for supporting a light source, and a long and narrow light-transmitting groove for light to enter the casing. Alternatively, in another embodiment of the design, the light source platform is arranged on the body, and a narrow and long light-transmitting groove is provided on the cover corresponding to the position of the light source platform.

Preferably, the bottom of the main body is further provided with at least one opening for assisting film removal.

In a preferred embodiment of the coating reflective optical engine manufacturing process of the present invention, the following steps are included:

(A) forming the shell;

(A1) selectively performing surface smoothing on the reflective plane of the shell;

(A2) selectively determine the number of layers of the coating layer according to the required light reflectivity;

(B) Coating at least one layer of reflective material on the reflective planes of the casing to form the coating layer; and

(B1) Selectively coating a protective material on the coating layer to protect the coating layer.

The device structure, features and manufacturing process of the present invention are described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of a conventional optical scanner.

FIG. 2 is an A-A sectional view of an optical engine of the conventional optical scanner of FIG. 1 .

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the first preferred embodiment of the coated reflective optical engine of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart of the manufacturing process of the coated reflective optical engine of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram of another embodiment of the housing of the coated reflective optical engine of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram of yet another embodiment of the casing of the coated reflective optical engine of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view of the housing shown in FIG. 6 .

FIG. 8 is a diagram of another embodiment of the housing of the coated reflective optical engine of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is yet another embodiment of the casing of the coated reflective optical engine of the present invention.

One of the characteristics of the optical engine with coating reflection of the present invention is to directly coat one or more layers of coatings of reflective material on the inner wall of the housing of the optical engine by changing the traditional reflective mirror element made of glass material layer, used as a reflective element, and the housing is designed to be easily demolded and assembled. Not only the traditional reeds, clamps, screws and other positioning mechanisms are completely omitted, the number of parts is reduced, the volume of the housing can be further reduced, the assembly man-hours and manufacturing costs of the optical engine are reduced, and there is no risk of loosening or moving of the reflector. Bits cause a decrease in the quality of the scanned image.

Please refer to Fig. 3, which is a schematic diagram of a first preferred embodiment of the optical engine 2 of the coating reflection of the present invention, the optical engine 2 of the coating reflection includes: a housing 21, a light source 22, a plurality of coatings A reflection element, a lens group 24 , and an imaging device 25 constituted by the layer 23 .

The housing 21 has a hollow accommodation space, and two corresponding inner walls 211, 212 are defined around the accommodation space. The reflective planes 2111 , 2121 , 2122 corresponding to each other are used to set and attach the plurality of coating layers 23 . The reflective planes 2111, 2121, 2122 are directly formed on the two corresponding inner sidewalls 211, 212 of the housing 21 by plastic injection molding, and can be optionally polished to improve surface smoothness.

The light source 22 is arranged at an appropriate position on the upper side of the casing 21, and it can provide light to strike the original carrying glass 12, and its reflected light enters the casing 21, and is formed by the plurality of coating films arranged at appropriate corresponding angles. After the layer 23 is properly reflected and deflected, the light deflected by the reflective element is collected by the lens group 24 and imaged on the imaging device 25 to convert the scanned image into electronic image data. In the preferred embodiment, the imaging device 25 is a charge-coupled device (CCD), however it could also be a CMOS image capture device. Preferably, the coating layer 23 can be coated with a protective material 26 to protect the coating layer 23 . The protective material 26 is preferably a high-molecular polymer with high light transmittance, such as PE or PV plastic film.

Since the reflective element of the present invention directly arranges the coating layer 23 of reflective material on the reflective planes 2111, 2121, 2122, there is no need to assemble the glass reflector with an additional positioning mechanism as in the conventional technology. Therefore, the structure of the optical engine of the present invention is not only simpler, but also the reduction of reflective elements and related positioning mechanism elements not only makes the overall structure lighter and smaller, but also saves time, labor and cost in the assembly process. Not only do you not have to worry about the loosening and shifting of traditional reeds, clamps, screws and other positioning mechanisms to affect the quality of scanned images, but also the volume of the optical engine 2 of the present invention can be further reduced by omitting these positioning mechanisms.

In a preferred embodiment, the material of the housing 21 can be plastic, which can be produced by die casting or injection, or can also be aluminum metal, which can be produced by aluminum extrusion; however, the housing 21 can also be made of other materials. Made of material. The material of the coating layer 23 of the reflective material can be silver, chromium, aluminum, platinum, or other good reflective materials, which can be formed by evaporation (Evaporating Sputtering), sputtering (Sputtering), chemical deposition (Chemical Deposition) or other methods. On the reflective planes 2111, 2121, 2122, the thickness of the coating layer 23 may be a single layer or multiple layers. Traditionally, due to the light-gathering effect of the lens group 24, thicker or more layers of coating layer 23 need to be coated on the reflective plane 2122 closer to the lens group 24, so as to avoid light attenuation due to absorption or scattering, and Further, the light reflectivity is improved, and a relatively flat and smooth reflective surface is also required. As for the reflective plane 2111 farther away from the lens group 24, the coating layer 23 plated thereon can be relatively thinner.

Please refer to Fig. 4, it is a preferred embodiment of the optical engine manufacturing process of coating reflection of the present invention, comprises the following steps:

(Step 31) Design an optical engine, and make the inner wall of the housing of the optical engine directly have a number of reflective planes that can be coated and arranged at corresponding angles to each other, and then manufacture a corresponding production mold according to the design of the optical engine.

(Step 32) Molding the casing, for example, casting the casing, or manufacturing the casing by mold plastic injection molding, or forming the casing of the optical engine by other processing methods (such as a milling machine or a CNC machine tool) body part.

(Step 33 ) If necessary, for example, when a higher-resolution optical scanner requires a flatter reflective surface, surface smoothing treatment, such as polishing or grinding, may be performed on the reflective plane of the housing.

(Step 34 ) If necessary, the number of coating layers to be vapor-deposited can be determined according to the actual required reflectance.

(Step 35 ) Forming the predetermined number of coating layers on the reflection plane by vapor deposition, sputtering, chemical deposition or other processing methods.

(Step 36) If necessary, a protective plane of a protective material may be covered on the coating layer to avoid damage or scratch of the coating layer. The protective material is a high-molecular polymer with high light transmittance, such as PE or PV film.

(Step 37) Complete the optical engine with a specific reflectivity.

In the other embodiments described below, since most of the components are the same or similar to the previous embodiments, the same or similar components will be given the same names and numbers and will not be described again, but will only be added after the original number An English letter number for distinction.

Please refer to FIG. 5 for another preferred embodiment of the housing 21a of the coated reflective optical engine of the present invention. For the convenience of demoulding when actually producing the housing 21a, this preferred embodiment is to divide the housing 21a into two parts, a cover body 213 and a body 214, to manufacture respectively, and then assemble the two parts into a This housing 21a is formed. Wherein the cover 213 is further provided with a light source platform 2131 for receiving the light source 22 and a narrow and long light-transmitting groove 2132 for allowing light to enter the casing 21a. The corresponding positions where the main body 214 and the cover 213 are combined are provided with a number of corresponding matching fastening structures 2133, 2142 (such as the cooperation between the hook and the concave hole, etc.), so that the main body 214 and the cover 213 can be locked together through the fastening. The structures 2133, 2142 are snapped together and positioned directly.

Please refer to Fig. 6 and Fig. 7, in yet another preferred embodiment of the housing 21b of the coating reflective optical engine of the present invention, the housing 21b is also composed of a cover 213b and a body 214b. . The corresponding positions where the main body 214b and the cover 213b are combined are also provided with a plurality of corresponding engaging structures of the hooks 2133b and the concave holes 2142b. The difference lies in that the main body 214b of this embodiment is provided with the light source support platform 2141b for receiving the light source 22, and the position corresponding to the light source support platform 2141b on the cover body 213b is provided with a narrow and long light-transmitting groove 2132b For light to enter the housing 21b. Preferably, the body 214b can be produced by aluminum extrusion or cold extrusion and can be made of metal. The cover body 213b can be produced by plastic injection or mold casting and can be made of metal or plastic.

Please refer to FIG. 8 , in yet another preferred embodiment of the housing 21c of the coating reflective optical engine of the present invention, the housing 21c is also composed of a cover 213c and a body 214c. The difference is that the bottom of the main body 214c in this embodiment is provided with at least one opening 2143 for assisting film removal, which makes the housing 21c easier to design and produce, and at the same time reduces the weight of the optical engine.

Please refer to FIG. 9 , which is yet another preferred embodiment of the casing 21d of the coated reflective optical engine of the present invention. The embodiment shown in FIG. 9 is substantially the same as that shown in FIG. 7 , and the housing 21d is also composed of two parts: a cover 213d and a body 214d. The corresponding position where the body 214d is combined with the cover body 213d is also provided with a number of corresponding engaging hooks 2133d and the buckle structure of the concave hole 2142d, and the light source platform 2141d is also provided on the body 214d for The light source 22 is supported, and at the position corresponding to the light source platform 2141d on the cover body 213d, the narrow and long light-transmitting groove 2132d is provided to allow light to enter the housing 21d. The difference is that in this embodiment, a number of openings 2143d are provided at the bottom of the main body 214d at the position corresponding to the protruding reflective plane for assisting the release of the film, so that the casing 21d can be more easily injected or molded. Design and production, and at the same time reduce the weight of the optical engine.

To sum up, compared with the traditional technology shown in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2, the optical engine with coating reflection of the present invention and its manufacturing process have at least the following advantages:

(1) The production cost is lower. By directly disposing the coating layer of reflective material on the optical engine housing, not only can the manufacturing cost be lower than that of the glass reflective lens, but also save the manufacturing and assembly cost of traditional positioning mechanisms such as clamps and reeds.

(2) Easy assembly and reduced man-hours. The coating layer is directly formed on the reflective plane of the casing, which not only saves time and effort, but also has low cost. There is no need to worry that traditional positioning mechanisms such as reeds, clamps, and screws are also loose and shifted to affect the quality of scanned images, and the volume of the optical engine of the present invention can be further reduced by omitting these positioning mechanisms.

(3) The reflectivity can be controlled by the number of coating layers, which can have better flexibility in use.

(4) The housing is divided into two parts, the cover body and the main body, and then the buckling structure is used to directly buckle and assemble the two parts. No other locking elements are needed at all, and the housing of the present invention is easier to demould and assemble. Production, and it is also easier to evaporate the coating layer on the reflective plane.

The preferred embodiments described above illustrate the present invention in detail, but not limit the scope of the present invention. For example, although the aforementioned preferred embodiments of the present invention are based on the optical engine of an optical scanner as an embodiment, it can also be applied on the optical engine of the copier. For example, although the present invention is described with an optical engine with three mirrors as an example, it can also be applied to an optical engine with double mirrors or four mirrors.

Claims (29)

1. the light engine of plated film reflection, it is characterized in that: it includes: a housing, its have a hollow accommodation space and around accommodation space definition two corresponding madial walls are arranged; A plurality of reflecting elements are arranged at suitable corresponding angle in the accommodation space of housing, and can doing the light that enters housing suitably, reflection be folded to; One lens group can be assembled the light that is folded to through reflecting element; And, an imaging device, the light of assembling through lens group can image in this imaging device to be converted to view data; It is characterized in that: on two corresponding madial walls of the accommodation space of housing, be formed with some at a predetermined angle with the position plane of reflection in correspondence with each other for these a plurality of reflecting elements are set, and each reflecting element is to constitute by the coatings of directly laying reflective material on the plane of reflection.

2. the light engine of plated film reflection as claimed in claim 1, it is characterized in that: it is arranged at a upside appropriate location of housing wherein more to include a light source, and it can provide required light.

3. the light engine of plated film reflection as claimed in claim 1, it is characterized in that: wherein this imaging device is to be charge coupled cell (CCD).

4. the light engine of plated film as claimed in claim 1 reflection is characterized in that: wherein this plane of reflection is to penetrate on the two corresponding madial walls that integrated mode is formed directly into housing with plastic cement.

5. the light engine of plated film reflection as claimed in claim 1 is characterized in that: wherein, this plane of reflection is to handle through surface smoothing.

6. the light engine of plated film as claimed in claim 1 reflection is characterized in that: wherein on this coatings more coated the protection material is arranged.

7. the light engine of plated film reflection as claimed in claim 6, it is characterized in that: wherein this protection material is the high molecular polymer for high transmission rate.

8. the light engine of plated film as claimed in claim 1 reflection is characterized in that: wherein the material of this coatings can be following wherein a kind of: silver, chromium, aluminium, platinum and alloy thereof.

The light engine of 9 plated films as claimed in claim 1 reflection is characterized in that: wherein coatings is that in the following manner wherein a kind of directly is laid on the plane of reflection: evaporation (EvaporatingSputtering), sputter (Sputtering), and chemogenic deposit (Chemical Deposition).

10. the light engine of plated film reflection as claimed in claim 1, it is characterized in that: wherein this housing is by comprising that a lid and a body are constituted.

11. the light engine of plated film reflection as claimed in claim 10 is characterized in that: wherein more be provided with a light source cushion cap and enter in the housing for light for bearing one light source and a long and narrow light tank on this lid.

12. the light engine of plated film reflection as claimed in claim 10, it is characterized in that: wherein should on this body, more be provided with a light source cushion cap, and on lid, then be provided with a long and narrow light tank and enter in the housing for light corresponding to light source cushion cap position for bearing one light source.

13. the light engine of plated film reflection as claimed in claim 10 is characterized in that: wherein this body bottom more is provided with at least more than one perforate in order to auxiliary demoulding.

14. the light engine of plated film reflection as claimed in claim 10, it is characterized in that: wherein this body and the corresponding position that lid combines are provided with the fastening structure of some corresponding cooperations, can make body combine the location with lid by the direct buckle of this fastening structure.

15. the light engine of a plated film reflection, it is characterized in that: include: a housing, its have a hollow accommodation space and around the accommodation space definition two corresponding madial walls are arranged, on this two corresponding madial wall and be formed with some at a predetermined angle with the position plane of reflection in correspondence with each other; And a plurality of coatings are to constitute by reflective material directly is laid on these some planes of reflection, and can doing the light that enters housing suitably, reflection be folded to.

16. one kind in order to make the manufacturing process of plated film catoptrics engine as claimed in claim 15, it is characterized in that: include the following step: (A) this housing of moulding; And (B) on these some planes of reflection of this housing, plate at least the reflective material of one deck to form this coatings.

17. the manufacturing process of the light engine of plated film reflection as claimed in claim 16 is characterized in that: wherein, more include the following step afterwards in step (A): (A1) plane of reflection at housing carries out the surface smoothing processing.

18. the manufacturing process of the light engine of plated film reflection as claimed in claim 17 is characterized in that: wherein this surface smoothing processing is to be polishing processing.

19. the manufacturing process of the light engine of plated film reflection as claimed in claim 16 is characterized in that: wherein, more include the following step afterwards in step (A): the number of plies that (A2) determines coatings according to required light reflectivity.

20. the manufacturing process of the light engine of plated film reflection as claimed in claim 16, it is characterized in that: wherein the material of this coatings can be selected one in following material: silver, chromium, aluminium, platinum and alloy thereof.

21. the manufacturing process of the light engine of plated film as claimed in claim 16 reflection is characterized in that: wherein coatings is what follows to select one directly to be laid on the plane of reflection in the mode: evaporation (Evaporating Sputtering), sputter (Sputtering), and chemical Shen long-pending (ChemicalDeposition).

22. the manufacturing process of the light engine of plated film reflection as claimed in claim 16 is characterized in that: wherein, more include the following step afterwards in step (B): (B1) coated protects material with the protection coatings on this coatings.

23. the manufacturing process of the light engine of plated film reflection as claimed in claim 22, it is characterized in that: wherein this protection material is the high molecular polymer for high transmission rate.

24. the manufacturing process of the light engine of plated film as claimed in claim 16 reflection is characterized in that: wherein this plane of reflection is to penetrate on the two corresponding madial walls that integrated mode is formed directly into housing with plastic cement.

25. the manufacturing process of the light engine of plated film reflection as claimed in claim 16, it is characterized in that: wherein this housing is by comprising that a lid and a body are constituted.

26. the manufacturing process of the light engine of plated film reflection as claimed in claim 25 is characterized in that: wherein more be provided with a light source cushion cap and enter in the housing for light for bearing one light source and a long and narrow light tank on this lid.

27. the manufacturing process of the light engine of plated film reflection as claimed in claim 25, it is characterized in that: wherein should on this body, more be provided with a light source cushion cap, and on lid, then be provided with a long and narrow light tank and enter in the housing for light corresponding to light source cushion cap position for bearing one light source.

28. the manufacturing process of the light engine of plated film reflection as claimed in claim 25 is characterized in that: wherein this body bottom more is provided with at least more than one in order to auxiliary demoulding.

29. the manufacturing process of the light engine of plated film reflection as claimed in claim 25, it is characterized in that: wherein this body and the corresponding position that lid combines are provided with the fastening structure of some corresponding cooperations, can make body combine the location with lid by the direct buckle of this fastening structure.

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