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:
Sep. 03, 2013
Filed:
Dec. 27, 2011
Katsumi Tanaka, Matsumoto, JP;
Katsumi Tanaka, Matsumoto, JP;
Seiko Epson Corporation, Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
An illuminator includes: a light source that emits light; a first lens array including a plurality of first lenslets; a second lens array including a plurality of second lenslets corresponding to the plurality of first lenslets; a polarization conversion element that converts light fluxes from the second lens array into polarized light fluxes and outputs the polarized light fluxes; and a superimposing lens that superimposes sub-light fluxes from the polarization conversion element, wherein the plurality of first lenslets and the plurality of second lenslets are each arranged in a matrix, the polarization conversion element is formed of a plurality of columns of polarization conversion units that convert the light fluxes from the plurality of second lenslets into the polarized light fluxes on a column basis, and the number of columns of the polarization conversion units is fewer than the number of columns of the first lenslets and the second lenslets.