Patent USRE18294E successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
Patent US5742331A successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
US5742331A
Expired / Lapsed
US
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Three-dimensional image display apparatus
Assignee: Panasonic Holdings Corp
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Filing: 1995-09-15
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Granted: 1998-04-21
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Expires: 2015-09-15
Abstract
Abstract The orientation of an image display device is maintained fixed relative to the viewer, the image display device is enclosed in a transparent body, and by detecting rotation angles of the image display device with respect to the transparent body, an image that is to be viewed when the transparent body is held in a hand or the like is displayed on the image display device, thereby enabling the viewer to view a displayed object from any desired direction as if he is holding the object in his hand. The three-dimensional image display apparatus has an image display device whose display surface is held fixed relative to the viewer, a transparent body for accommodating the image display device therein, an encoder for detecting rotation angles of the image display device with respect to the transparent body, an orientation detector for calculating the difference between the orientation of the transparent body and the orientation of the image display device on the basis of the output of the encoder, and an image generator for generating an image for display on the image display device in accordance with the output of the orientation detector.
Inventors
- 👤 Kenya Uomori
- 👤 Atsushi Morimura
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-07 09:35
CPC Classifications
H; H04; H04N; H04N13/00; H04N13/30; H04N13/398; H04N13/10; H04N13/106; H04N13/111; H04N13/117; H04N13/20; H04N13/275; H04N13/279; H04N13/302
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 33
Claim 1
Independent Claim
104 words
A three-dimensional image display apparatus comprising: an image display device for displaying an image; a transparent body enclosing said image display device; a support for supporting said image display device in movable fashion relative to said transparent body; an orientation controller for maintaining said image display device in a prescribed orientation; positional change detecting means for detecting one of a change in position and a change in orientation of said transparent body from a prescribed initial position of said transparent body; and image display altering means for altering an image displayed on said image display device in accordance with the result of the detection.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
104 words
A three-dimensional image display apparatus comprising: an image display device for displaying an image; a transparent body enclosing said image display device; a support for supporting said image display device in movable fashion relative to said transparent body; an orientation controller for maintaining said image display device in a prescribed orientation; positional change detecting means for detecting one of a change in position and a change in orientation of said transparent body from a prescribed initial position of said transparent body; and image display altering means for altering an image displayed on said image display device in accordance with the result of the detection.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
44 words
A three-dimensional image display apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said image display altering means alters said image displayed responsive to the change of the position or orientation of said transparent body as if the image content displayed were fixed to said transparent body.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
69 words
A three-dimensional image display apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said positional change detecting means includes an encoder for detecting the amount of rotation of said transparent body relative to said image display device, and an orientation detector for detecting the difference between the orientation of said transparent body and the orientation of said image display device on the basis of the amount of rotation detected by said encoder.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
42 words
A three-dimensional image display apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said orientation controller includes an actuator for maintaining said image display device in a prescribed orientation on the basis of the result of the detection fed from said positional change detecting means.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
133 words
A three-dimensional image display apparatus comprising: an image display device for displaying an image; a transparent body enclosing said image display device; a support for supporting said image display device in movable fashion relative to said transparent body; an orientation controller for maintaining said image display device in a prescribed orientation; positional change detecting means for detecting one of a change in position and a change in orientation of said transparent body from a prescribed initial position of said transparent body; viewer position detecting means for detecting the position of a viewer; and image display altering means for altering an image displayed on said image display device in accordance with the detected viewing position of the viewer and with the change of the position or orientation detected by said positional change detecting means.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
133 words
A three-dimensional image display apparatus comprising: an image display device for displaying an image; a transparent body enclosing said image display device; a support for supporting said image display device in movable fashion relative to said transparent body; an orientation controller for maintaining said image display device in a prescribed orientation; positional change detecting means for detecting one of a change in position and a change in orientation of said transparent body from a prescribed initial position of said transparent body; viewer position detecting means for detecting the position of a viewer; and image display altering means for altering an image displayed on said image display device in accordance with the detected viewing position of the viewer and with the change of the position or orientation detected by said positional change detecting means.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
34 words
A three-dimensional image display apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising display direction controlling means for turning said image display device toward the direction of the viewer detected by said viewer position detecting means.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
117 words
A three-dimensional image display apparatus comprising: an image display device for displaying an image; a transparent body enclosing said image display device, said transparent body constructed from a material of low light transmittance in order to obscure everything except the displayed image; viewer position detecting means for detecting the position of a viewer; image display altering means for altering said image displayed on said image display device so that said displayed image matches the detected viewing position of the viewer; and display direction controlling means for turning said image display device toward the direction of the viewer detected by said viewer position detecting means by moving said image display device with at least horizontal and vertical rotation.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
117 words
A three-dimensional image display apparatus comprising: an image display device for displaying an image; a transparent body enclosing said image display device, said transparent body constructed from a material of low light transmittance in order to obscure everything except the displayed image; viewer position detecting means for detecting the position of a viewer; image display altering means for altering said image displayed on said image display device so that said displayed image matches the detected viewing position of the viewer; and display direction controlling means for turning said image display device toward the direction of the viewer detected by said viewer position detecting means by moving said image display device with at least horizontal and vertical rotation.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
43 words
A three-dimensional image display apparatus according to claim 7, further comprising a transparent movable cover for covering said image display device, and cover direction changing means for turning said cover toward the direction of the viewer detected by said viewer position detecting means.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
30 words
A three-dimensional image display apparatus according to claim 1, said transparent body is constructed from a material of low light transmittance in order to obscure everything except the displayed image.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
30 words
A three-dimensional image display apparatus according to claim 5, said transparent body is constructed from a material of low light transmittance in order to obscure everything except the displayed image.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
38 words
A three-dimensional image display apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said image display device includes a concave mirror projecting a mirror image of a displayed image, formed on said concave mirror, the mirror image being presented for viewing.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
38 words
A three-dimensional image display apparatus according to claim 5, wherein said image display device includes a concave mirror projecting a mirror image of a displayed image, formed on said concave mirror, the mirror image being presented for viewing.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
27 words
A three-dimensional image display apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said orientation controller includes a gyro mechanism for maintaining said image display device in a prescribed orientation.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
27 words
A three-dimensional image display apparatus according to claim 5, wherein said orientation controller includes a gyro mechanism for maintaining said image display device in as prescribed orientation.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
45 words
A three-dimensional image display apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said image display device is enclosed by a transparent spherical body, and wherein said transparent body covers the transparent spherical body, and the space between said transparent body and said transparent spherical body is liquid-filled.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
45 words
A three-dimensional image display apparatus according to claim 5, wherein said image display device is enclosed by a transparent spherical body, and wherein said transparent body covers the transparent spherical body, and the space between said transparent body and said transparent spherical body is liquid-filled.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
52 words
A three-dimensional image display apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising display direction designating means for the viewer to designate the direction from which to view a displayed image, wherein said image display altering means generates an image for display as viewed from the direction designated by said display direction designating means.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
52 words
A three-dimensional image display apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising display direction designating means for the viewer to designate the direction from which to view a displayed image, wherein said image display altering means generates an image for display as viewed from the direction designated by said display direction designating means.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
52 words
A three-dimensional image display apparatus according to claim 7, further comprising display direction designating means for the viewer to designate the direction from which to view a displayed image, wherein said image display altering means generates an image for display as viewed from the direction designated by said display direction designating means.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
29 words
A three-dimensional image display apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said image display device presents at least two images with different viewpoints independently to the left and right eyes.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
29 words
A three-dimensional image display apparatus according to claim 5, wherein said image display device presents at least two images with different viewpoints independently to the left and right eyes.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
29 words
A three-dimensional image display apparatus according to claim 7, wherein said image display device presents at least two images with different viewpoints independently to the left and right eyes.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
23 words
A three-dimensional image display apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said image display device is movable with at least horizontal and vertical rotation.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
55 words
A three-dimensional image display apparatus according to claim 7, further comprising: rotation measuring means for measuring the position of said image display device; and perspective transformation means for altering said image displayed on said image display device responsive to the detected viewing position of the viewer and the measured position of said image display device.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
32 words
A three-dimensional image display apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said transparent body is moveable in six degrees of freedom, whereby said transparent body moves with varying three-dimensional position and rotation components.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
32 words
A three-dimensional image display apparatus according to claim 5, wherein said transparent body is moveable in six degrees of freedom, whereby said transparent body moves with varying three-dimensional position and rotation components.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
32 words
A three-dimensional image display apparatus according to claim 7, wherein said transparent body is moveable in six degrees of freedom, whereby said transparent body moves with varying three-dimensional position and rotation components.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim
29 words
A three-dimensional image display apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said transparent body is moveable with at least one of varying three-dimensional position components and varying three-dimensional rotation components.
Claim 32
Dependent Claim
29 words
A three-dimensional image display apparatus according to claim 5, wherein said transparent body is moveable with at least one of varying three-dimensional position components and varying three-dimensional rotation components.
Claim 33
Dependent Claim
29 words
A three-dimensional image display apparatus according to claim 7, wherein said transparent body is moveable with at least one of varying three-dimensional position components and varying three-dimensional rotation components.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 2001-04-20 | 2001-10-20 | 2002-04-21 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2005-04-20 | 2005-10-20 | 2006-04-21 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2009-04-20 | 2009-10-20 | 2010-04-21 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |