Patent ID: 6154320
Filing Date: 2000-11-28
Classification: G02B,H04N

Abstract:
A polarizing illumination device, comprising:a light source that emits a light beam;a beam-splitting lens that separates the light beam emitted from said light source into a plurality of intermediate beams;a polarizing separation element that spatially separates each of the intermediate beams into an S-polarized beam and a P-polarized beam, the polarizing separation element including a light-incident side, a light-emitting side, a polarizing separation plane that separates the P-polarized beam and the S-polarized beam by transmitting one of the P-polarized beam and the S-polarized beam therethrough toward the light-emitting side of the polarizing separation element and reflecting another of the P-polarized beam and the S-polarized beam, and a reflecting plane disposed substantially parallel to said polarizing separation plane that reflects the another of the P-polarized beam and the S-polarized beam reflected by said polarizing separation plane toward the light-emitting side of the polarizing separation element;a selective phase plate that aligns a polarization direction of one of the P-polarized beam and the S-polarized beam separated by said polarizing separation element with a polarization direction of another of the P-polarized beam and the S-polarized beam; anda light-shielding element that prevents each of the intermediate beams from directly entering said reflecting plane interposed between said beam-splitting lens and said polarizing separation element.