The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Dec. 10, 2002
Filed:
Jun. 28, 2001
Seiko Epson Corporation, Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
In a second lens array A of an illumination optical system according to the present invention, the position of curved faces of third minute lenses A is displaced from the position of curved faces of second minute lenses A . Such displacement makes the size of a first region W on an illuminating area LA, which is irradiated with light transmitted by polarizing separation films , substantially equal to the size of a second region W on the illuminating area LA, which is irradiated with light reflected by the polarizing separation films and reflection films . This arrangement effectively prevents the significant reduction of the illuminating efficiency occurring in a prior art illumination optical system that utilizes a polarization conversion optical system.