JPH0618340Y2 - Glasses using liquid crystal element - Google Patents

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to eyeglasses using a liquid crystal element having a viewing angle dependency from a certain direction such as a TN type liquid crystal element, and an eyeglass portion which can be attached to a helmet, a ski, It can be used as motorcycle goggles and glasses for stereoscopic TV.

[Prior art]

With respect to eyeglasses that use liquid crystal elements having different viewing angle characteristics depending on the viewing direction, there has been no technology that mentions the relationship between the viewing range of the eyeglasses and the viewing angle characteristics of the liquid crystal element.

Further, in a liquid crystal element panel having a viewing angle characteristic, a concept of using a viewing angle correction member on the viewing side of the panel has been proposed in order to improve the viewing performance of the panel (Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 62-46426). It is not possible to apply this to spectacles because the spectacles are composed of curved surfaces, and it is actually impossible to add the viewing angle correction member as a separate member to the spectacle surface, which makes it suitable as spectacles. I can't say.

[Purpose of device]

The present invention is a spectacle that uses a liquid crystal element having different viewing angle characteristics depending on the viewing angle, has a curved surface in the left-right direction and a linear shape in the up-down direction, and can obtain a good contrast ratio from the entire visual field range, resulting in good visual balance. The purpose is to provide means.

[Constitution of device]

The present invention is a spectacle that uses a liquid crystal element having a viewing angle characteristic that uses a polymer film as a substrate, and uses a liquid crystal with a curved surface in the left-right direction and a linear shape in the up-down direction, and the viewing direction that maximizes the contrast ratio of the liquid crystal surface. The present invention relates to spectacles using a liquid crystal element, which is characterized by arranging in a vertical direction.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

As shown in FIG. 1, the spectacles using liquid crystal in the present invention include a liquid crystal element (P) having a flexible polymer film as a substrate in the windshield portion 2 of a motorcycle helmet body 1.
The F-LCD) 3 is attached, and the liquid crystal element 3 has a function of limiting the amount of light incident on the eye according to the brightness of the outside world, and is used as a light control element. Eyeglasses provided with a liquid crystal element using such a polymer film as a substrate can be used as goggles as shown in FIG. 2 and also as sunglasses and eyeglass parts for stereoscopic TV as shown in FIG.

A liquid crystal device using a polymer film as a substrate can be configured with a curved surface more easily than a liquid crystal device using a glass substrate, which is difficult to form on a curved surface. It is desirable that the horizontal and vertical directions of the liquid crystal element are curved in accordance with the shape of the main body. However, since the plastic windshield has a thickness of about 1 mm and a polymer film having a thickness of 0.1 mm is attached to the windshield, it is not easy to bend it in the other direction if it is curved in one direction. Therefore, in the present invention, the liquid crystal element forms a curved surface 3a along the left-right direction of the helmet and is arranged in a straight line 3b in the up-down direction.

As a liquid crystal element, as one embodiment of the present invention, a known structure in which a twisted nematic (TN) type liquid crystal element utilizing optical rotation is placed between two orthogonal polarizers is used. In the absence of an applied voltage, light transmits due to the optical rotation of 90 degrees, and when the applied voltage reaches the threshold value, the molecules in the central portion stand vertically and lose the optical rotatory power, and the light is blocked.

This TN type liquid crystal element generally has a viewing angle characteristic that it is easy to see from a certain direction and hard to see from a certain direction, and in order to control the alignment of the liquid crystal element, by rubbing the upper and lower substrates in a certain direction, When a voltage is applied to the liquid crystal panel, the liquid crystal molecules tend to rise in a direction that coincides with the rubbing direction, and the optical rotatory power is easily eliminated when observed from this rising direction.

That is, the TN type liquid crystal element has a direction with a good contrast ratio defined by the rubbing direction, that is, a viewing direction (θ = 0).

In the present invention, when the TN type liquid crystal element having the polymer film as the substrate is configured as the glasses portion of the helmet body,
Focusing on the viewing angle characteristics of the TN type liquid crystal element, the present invention focuses on providing a good contrast ratio to each portion of the curved surface in the horizontal direction and the linearity in the vertical direction.

FIGS. 6 (a) and 6 (b) show the rubbing directions of the upper and lower substrates of the TN type liquid crystal element in the case of mixing the chiral liquid crystal having the left-handed optical rotation performance, and the case of mixing the chiral liquid crystal having the right-handed optical performance in the rubbing direction. The rubbing directions of the upper and lower substrates of the TN type liquid crystal element are indicated by arrows. FIG. 7 shows the viewing angle characteristics of the liquid crystal element, which is oriented in the rubbing direction of the upper substrate and the lower substrate shown in FIG. 6 (a), as a contrast ratio. Fig. 6 (b)
The viewing angle characteristics of the TN type liquid crystal element with the right-handed optical rotation performance of
It is the same as the viewing angle characteristic in the figure and is omitted. The values of θ and φ in FIG. 7 are determined by the rubbing direction as shown in FIG. 8, and a good contrast ratio is obtained at θ = 0. Is an angle, and φ represents an angle (angle with respect to the normal line) at which the light source or the light ray 4 is incident on the surface of the TN type liquid crystal element. Reference numeral 5 is a light receiver. The viewing direction described above is a direction of θ = 0 or a direction of viewing the TN type liquid crystal element in relation to the rubbing direction.

From the viewing angle characteristics of FIG. 7, (1) in the viewing direction (θ = 0), the light beam has the largest contrast ratio with respect to a certain incident angle φ, and (2) when the incident angle φ exceeds 15 degrees. It can be understood that the contrast ratio becomes small, and (3) the contrast ratio is symmetrical with respect to the visual field direction (θ = 0).

As shown in FIG. 4, the eyeglasses according to the present invention have the liquid crystal curved in the left-right direction 3a, so that the normal line of the liquid crystal cell and the angle φ incident on the eye are smaller than in the case of a straight line. Therefore, it is not necessary to consider the decrease in contrast when φ becomes large. That is, it is not necessary to arrange the visual field directions in which the contrast ratio of the liquid crystal is maximum in the left and right directions.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 5, since the vertical direction 3b is linear, the normal line of the liquid crystal cell and the angle φ at which the light enters the eye are large, and the angle φ is close to 30 degrees at the ends. Therefore, the visual field direction in which the contrast ratio of the liquid crystal surface is maximum is arranged in the vertical direction so that the decrease in the contrast ratio when φ becomes large is minimized.

Therefore, in the present invention, since the angle φ is small in the lateral direction 3a forming the curved surface of the spectacles, the viewing angle characteristics of FIG. Since the angle φ is large in the direction 3b,
It is characterized in that the direction of θ = 0, 180 is set in the vertical direction of the spectacles.

In this configuration of the present invention, the liquid crystal element is placed in the vertical direction 3b of the glasses.
By arranging them in the direction of θ = 0,180 and in the direction of θ = 90,270 with respect to the left-right direction 3a, it is possible to obtain a good contrast ratio in any of the left, right, up, and down directions. Also, by adjusting the visual field direction to the vertical direction of the spectacles, the characteristic of the difference in the coral is obtained, and the visual recognition balance is good.

Further, in actual use of eyeglasses, a helmet shield for motorcycles and goggles for skis / motorcycles are usually used in a forward leaning posture, and the eyes see the liquid crystal element in the forward leaning posture from the bottom to the top. Therefore, the viewing direction (θ = 0)
Is oriented upward, that is, by arranging the side of θ = 0 on the lower side and the side of θ = 180 on the upper side, it is possible to obtain the effect of matching the usage state of the eyeglasses and preventing the sunlight above.

Since the glasses of the present invention are used under outdoor brightness,
When the required contrast ratio was measured by a sensitivity test to find out the actual correspondence with the measuring method obtained in FIG. 7, it was confirmed that a contrast ratio of about 10 was necessary. As can be seen from FIG. 7, the direction opposite to the visual field direction, that is, θ = 180
In terms of degrees, the contrast ratio is about 10 even if φ = 15 degrees, and the positions of the eyes and the liquid crystal element are arranged so that the normal angle φ is 15 degrees or less in the direction opposite to the viewing direction in FIG. This makes it possible to obtain a uniform contrast ratio in all directions. For example, when the position of the liquid crystal element with respect to the eyes is φ = 15 degrees or less, when the viewing direction is set to the downward direction (the side with θ = 0 is arranged on the upper side), the upper side of the liquid crystal element is relative to the lower side. This can be achieved by arranging it slightly forward.

In the present invention, the case of the TN type liquid crystal element has been described, but it is obvious that the present invention is also applied to the case where eyeglasses are formed by using another type of liquid crystal element having a viewing angle characteristic.

[Effect of device]

In the present invention, by setting the viewing direction of the liquid crystal element in the vertical direction of the spectacles, it is possible to obtain a good contrast from all directions of the spectacles composed of the liquid crystal element, and φ in the opposite direction to the viewing direction. By setting the liquid crystal element for the eye so that the angle is 15 degrees or less, there is an advantage that a more uniform contrast can be obtained.

[Brief description of drawings]

1 to 3 show an application example in which the liquid crystal element of the present invention is used as spectacles, and FIG. 4 shows a relationship between the left and right direction of the spectacles using the liquid crystal element of the present invention and an incident light ray to the eye. FIG. 5 is an explanatory view showing the relationship between the vertical direction of eyeglasses using the liquid crystal device of the present invention and the incident light ray on the eye, and FIGS. 6 (a) and 6 (b) are left optical rotation performance and right optical rotation performance. FIG. 7 is an explanatory view showing the relationship between a rubbing direction and a viewing direction (θ = 0) of a TN type liquid crystal device having a light emitting element, FIG. 7 is an explanatory view showing the viewing angle characteristics of FIG. 6 (a), and FIG. 8 is FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram regarding φ and θ in FIG. 3 ... Glasses using liquid crystal elements, 3a ... Horizontal glasses, 3b ... Vertical glasses.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. In a spectacle using a liquid crystal element having a viewing angle characteristic using a polymer film as a substrate, the liquid crystal element having a curved surface in the left-right direction and a linear shape in the up-down direction, the contrast ratio of the liquid crystal surface is maximized. Eyeglasses using a liquid crystal element, characterized in that the viewing direction is arranged vertically.