Patent ID: 6402325
Filing Date: 2002-06-11
Classification: G02B,G03B,H04N

Abstract:
An illuminating optical system comprising:a light source device having multiple light sources, each emitting a light beam centered about an optical axis of an associated light source; and an integrator section that is illuminated by the light source device, said integrator section including two lenticular lens arrays arranged along a light path, one nearer the light source device than the other, each having multiple lens regions which together cause the light intensity distribution that is transmitted by the integrator section to be more uniform than light incident on the integrator section from said light source device; wherein at least two of the multiple light sources are oriented so as to cause the optical axes of the emitted light beams to be non-parallel to one another and directed so that the emitted light beams partially overlap at the lenticular lens array nearer the light source device; and each lens array element of the lenticular lens array which is farther from the light source device is smaller in area in those regions which receive light from a region of the lenticular lens array nearer the light source device and are illuminated by overlapping light beams as compared with those regions which receive light from a region of the lenticular lens array nearer the light source device and are illuminated by light from only a single light source device.