Patent ID: 7978422

Claim:
An incident-light controlling apparatus having a first aperture formed in a substrate, and an incident-light controlling member that is substantially flat in its entirety and which rotates in its entirety around an axis of rotation as a center, and which controls light incident upon passing through the first aperture, by the incident-light controlling member rotating in its entirety between a first stationary position which coincides with the first aperture, and a second stationary position which is a position offset from the first aperture, the incident-light controlling apparatus comprising: a permanent magnet which is joined directly to the incident light-controlling member, at a position of the axis of rotation of the incident-light controlling member, and which is magnetized in a direction of a plane of rotation of the incident-light controlling member; and a pair of coils, each having a winding around a core, and disposed such that, an end portion of each coil is facing the permanent magnet, wherein the incident-light controlling member is rotated about the axis of rotation between the first stationary position and the second stationary position by an interaction between a magnetic field which is generated due to a state of the coils upon passing an electric power, and a magnetic field which is generated due to the permanent magnet, the incident-light controlling member having a second aperture smaller than the first aperture, the second aperture through which passes a portion of the light incident upon the first aperture; wherein the permanent magnet is formed to be circular cylindrical shaped, and the circular cylindrical shaped permanent magnet is used as a shaft of rotation of the incident-light controlling member and the circular cylindrical shaped permanent magnet is joined directly to the incident-light controlling member.