Infocus Systems, Inc.

Edmund D Passon

Brian G Heintz

Steven E Stark

A lamp module includes a lamp-reflector assembly supported within a plastic lamp frame for installation within an image projector to direct light toward a projection engine of the image projector. The lamp-reflector assembly includes a light source accurately positioned near the crown of an elliptical reflector and a plurality of precisely sized kinematic mounting features accurately spaced around the periphery of the reflector for mating with a plurality of complementary mounting points accurately located on the image projector about a light-path aperture of the projection engine. The kinematic mounting features preferably include a flat, a cone, and a V-groove; and the mounting points are preferably three convex hemispherical surfaces. Mating the kinematic mounting features to the mounting points imparts six independent constraints, three translational and three rotational, to eliminate the six degrees of positional freedom. Alternatively, the kinematic mounting features are spaced about the light-path aperture, and the hemispherical mounting points are formed directly onto the reflector about its periphery. A biasing mechanism biases the lamp-reflector assembly toward the light-path aperture to seat the kinematic mounting features against the mounting points and thereby precisely orient the lamp-reflector assembly relative to the light-path aperture.

Lamp module with kinematic mount

A multimedia projector (30) employing a color wheel (42) in a frame sequential color display system includes a light sensor (68) positioned to receive light scattered from a point in an optical path (34) after the color wheel. The light sensor detects particular colors of light propagating through red, green, and blue filter segments (R, G, and B) on the color wheel and toward a display device (50). The light sensor provides, without any adjustments, an inherently accurate timing mark signal (78) to a display controller (56) to ensure that red, green, and blue image data are properly synchronized with the respective filter segments R, G, and B. In particular, the light sensor receives polychromatic light through a yellow optical filter (74) to illuminate an optoelectric detector (70) that is responsive to visible and near IR light wavelengths. The photodetector drives a timing mark signal generator (80) to detect a sudden increase in yellow (red plus green) light, which indicates to the display controller that filter segment R has just rotated into the optical path.

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Best, Netherlands

Edmund D Passon