Point source scanning apparatus and method

Claim 2

A scanning display apparatus, comprising: an image signal source operative to produce an image signal; a scanning signal source generating a scanning signal; a light emitter coupled to the image signal source and responsive to the image signal to emit light; a support carrying the light emitter at a first portion of the support; and a drive circuit coupled to the support and responsive to the scanning signal to move at least the first portion of the support through a predetermined angular range, wherein the light emitter is moved through said predetermined angular range to scan the emitted light along a desired scan path.

Claim 3

The apparatus of claim 1, in which the light emitter comprises a plurality of light emitting devices emitting respective beams of light, and wherein the respective beams of light scan an image.

Claim 4

The apparatus of claim 2, in which the respective beams of light are of a monotone.

Claim 5

The apparatus of claim 2, in which the respective beams of light are of a differing color.

Claim 6

The apparatus of claim 1, in which the light emitter comprises a point source of light and a modulator positioned to receive the emitted light and responsive to the image signal.

Claim 7

The apparatus of claim 1, in which the light emitter is directly modulated in response to the image signal.

Claim 8

The apparatus of claim 1, in which the light emitter comprises a light emitting diode.

Claim 9

The apparatus of claim 1, in which the light emitter comprises a plurality of light emitting diodes of differing wavelength.

Claim 10

The apparatus of claim 1, in which the light emitter comprises a plurality of light emitting diodes of the same wavelength.

Claim 11

The apparatus of claim 1, in which the light emitter comprises a fiber optic.

Claim 12

The apparatus of claim 1, in which the light emitter comprises a light emitting plasma.

Claim 13

The apparatus of claim 1, in which the light emitter comprises a plurality of light emitting devices emitting respective beams of colored light, wherein the plurality of light emitting devices are aligned in a common plane, wherein the movement of the plurality of light emitters caused by the drive circuit occurs with the common plane, and wherein the image signal is operative with a timing to modulate each one of the light emitters to define an image pixel of a desired color at a given pixel location as each one of the light emitters is in position to address said image pixel.

Claim 14

The apparatus of claim 1, in which the drive circuit is an electromagnetic drive circuit.

Claim 15

The apparatus of claim 13, further comprising a clamp, in which the drive circuit comprises an electromagnetic coil and a permanent magnet, in which the support comprises a cantilever spring responsive to a changing magnetic field, the cantilever spring having a first end held fixed relative to the permanent magnet by the clamp and a second end which moves through said predetermined angular range in response to the changing magnetic field, and wherein the electromagnetic coil receives the scanning signal and in response generates the changing magnetic field.

Claim 16

The apparatus of claim 1, in which the drive circuit comprises a piezoelectric actuator.

Claim 17

The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the support and light emitter move at a resonant frequency of said support and light emitter.

Claim 18

The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the drive circuit moves the support through the predetermined angular range at a resonant frequency of said support and light emitter.

Claim 19

The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the scanning signal is a periodic, display synchronization signal.

Claim 20

The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the support is a cantilever spring and the movement of the cantilever spring is a twisting motion which causes the light emitter to rotate about an axis of rotation.

Claim 21

The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising an eyepiece receiving the emitted light, and wherein the emitted light is focused to define an exit pupil at a location adjacent the eyepiece where a viewer's eye may be positioned to perceive an image generated by the apparatus.

Claim 22

The apparatus of claim 1, in which the desired scan path occurs along a first axis, and further comprising a scanner having a mirror which receives the emitted light to deflect the emitted light along a second axis.

Claim 23

The apparatus of claim 20, in which the first axis is a horizontal axis and the second axis is a vertical axis, and the deflected emitted light moves along a raster pattern to scan an image.

Claim 24

A scanning display apparatus, comprising: an image signal source operative to produce an image signal; a scanning signal source generating a scanning signal; a light emitter coupled to the image signal source and responsive to the image signal to emit light; a support carrying the light emitter at a first portion of the support and moving in response to the scanning signal to move at least the first portion of the support through a predetermined angular range, wherein the light emitter is moved through said predetermined angular range to scan the emitted light along a desired scan path.

Claim 25

A scanning display apparatus, comprising: an image signal source operative to produce an image signal; a scanning signal source generating a scanning signal; a light emitter coupled to the image signal source and responsive to the image signal to emit light; a support carrying the light emitter at a first portion of the support and moving in response to the scanning signal to move at least the first portion of the support through a predetermined angular range, wherein the light emitter is moved through said predetermined angular range to scan the emitted light along a desired scan path.

Claim 26

The apparatus of claim 22, in which the light emitter comprises a plurality of light emitting devices emitting respective beams of light, and wherein the respective beams of light scan an image.

Claim 27

The apparatus of claim 22, in which the light emitter comprises a point source of light and a modulator positioned to receive the emitted light and responsive to the image signal.

Claim 28

The apparatus of claim 22, in which the light emitter comprises a light emitting diode.

Claim 29

The apparatus of claim 22, in which the light emitter comprises a fiber optic.

Claim 30

The apparatus of claim 22, in which the light emitter comprises a light emitting plasma.

Claim 31

A retinal scanning display apparatus, comprising: an image signal source operative to produce an image signal; a scanning signal source generating a first periodic scanning signal and a second periodic scanning signal; a light emitter coupled to the image signal source and responsive to the image signal to emit light; a support carrying the light emitter at a first portion of the support; a drive circuit coupled to the support and responsive to the first scanning signal to move at least the first portion of the support through a predetermined angular range, wherein the light emitter is moved through said predetermined angular range to scan the emitted light along a desired scan path for a first scanning axis; a scanner for scanning the emitted light along a second scan path for a second scanning axis; and an eyepiece receiving the emitted light being scanned for the first scanning axis and the second scanning axis, wherein the emitted light is focused to define an exit pupil at a location adjacent the eyepiece where a viewer's eye may be positioned to perceive an image.

Claim 32

A retinal scanning display apparatus, comprising: an image signal source operative to produce an image signal; a scanning signal source generating a first periodic scanning signal and a second periodic scanning signal; a light emitter coupled to the image signal source and responsive to the image signal to emit light; a support carrying the light emitter at a first portion of the support; a drive circuit coupled to the support and responsive to the first scanning signal to move at least the first portion of the support through a predetermined angular range, wherein the light emitter is moved through said predetermined angular range to scan the emitted light along a desired scan path for a first scanning axis; a scanner for scanning the emitted light along a second scan path for a second scanning axis; and an eyepiece receiving the emitted light being scanned for the first scanning axis and the second scanning axis, wherein the emitted light is focused to define an exit pupil at a location adjacent the eyepiece where a viewer's eye may be positioned to perceive an image.

Claim 33

The apparatus of claim 28, in which the first axis is a horizontal axis and the second axis is a vertical axis, and the emitted light moves along a raster pattern to scan the image.

Claim 34

The apparatus of claim 28, in which the light emitter comprises a plurality of light emitting devices emitting respective beams of colored light, and wherein the respective beams of colored light scan an image.

Claim 35

The apparatus of claim 28, in which the light emitter comprises a light emitting diode.

Claim 36

The apparatus of claim 28, in which the light emitter comprises a fiber optic.

Claim 37

The apparatus of claim 32, in which the drive circuit is an electromagnetic drive circuit.

Claim 38

The apparatus of claim 32, in which the drive circuit comprises a piezoelectric actuator.

Claim 39

The apparatus of claim 32, wherein the drive circuit moves the support through the predetermined angular range at a resonant frequency of said support and light emitter.

Claim 40

The apparatus of claim 38, in which the light emitter comprises a light emitting plasma.

Claim 41

The apparatus of claim 38, in which the light emitter comprises a plurality of light emitting devices emitting respective beams of colored light, wherein the plurality of light emitting devices are aligned in a common plane, wherein the movement of the plurality of light emitters caused by the drive circuit occurs with the common plane, and wherein the image signal is operative with a timing to modulate each one of the light emitters to define an image pixel of a desired color at a given pixel location as each one of the light emitters is in position to address said image pixel.

Claim 42

The apparatus of claim 28, in which the drive circuit is an electromagnetic drive circuit.

Claim 43

The apparatus of claim 28, in which the drive circuit comprises a piezoelectric actuator.

Claim 44

The apparatus of claim 28, wherein the drive circuit moves the support through the predetermined angular range at a resonant frequency of said support and light emitter.

Claim 45

The apparatus of claim 28, wherein the support is a cantilever spring and the movement of the cantilever spring is a twisting motion which causes the light emitter to rotate about an axis of rotation.

Claim 48

The method of claim 42, in which the scanning signal is periodic having a period which includes a first portion and a second portion, and in which the step of moving comprises: during the first portion of the scanning signal period, driving motion of the support and light emitter in a first direction to a first extreme position in response to the scanning signal; during a second portion of the scanning signal period, driving motion of the support and light emitter in a second direction opposite the first direction to a second extreme position in response to the scanning signal; and repeating the steps of receiving, driving in a first direction and driving in a second direction for subsequent periods of the scanning signal to generate oscillatory motion of the support and light emitter in alternating first and second directions during the respective first and second portions of said subsequent scanning signal periods to scan a plurality of lines of image pixel components of an image.

Claim 49

The method of claim 42, in which the support carries a plurality of light emitters, and wherein the step of modulating comprises modulating the plurality of light emitters with the image signal to generate respective modulated light beams at a timing which creates image color pixels.

Claim 50

The method of claim 42, further comprising the step of receiving the emitted light at an eyepiece which focuses the emitted light to define an exit pupil at a location adjacent the eyepiece where a viewer's eye may be positioned to perceive an image.

Claim 51

The method of claim 42, in which the desired scan path occurs along a first scanning axis, and further comprising the step of: receiving the emitted light at a scanner mirror which moves relative to a second scanning axis; and deflecting the emitted light with the mirror along the second scanning axis.

Claim 52

The method of claim 46, in which the first scanning axis is a horizontal axis and the second scanning axis is a vertical axis, and wherein the deflected emitted light moves along a raster pattern to scan an image.

Claim 53

The method of claim 42, in which the support is responsive to a changing magnetic field, and further comprising the step of generating a changing magnetic field with the drive circuit in response to the scanning signal to drive motion of the support.

Claim 54

The method of claim 42, in which the support is coupled to a piezoelectric actuator, and further comprising the step of deforming the piezoelectric actuator in response to the scanning signal to drive motion of the support.

Claim 55

The method of claim 42, in which the light emitter is a point source of light, and in which the step of modulating comprises modulating the point source with the image signal to generate modulated light defining, over time, a plurality of image pixel components.

Claim 56

The method of claim 42, in which the light emitter comprises a plurality of point sources of light of respective color, wherein the plurality of point sources are aligned in a common plane, in which the step of modulating comprises modulating the plurality of point sources with the image signal, in which the step of moving comprises moving the plurality of point sources through the predetermined angular range in the common plane, and wherein the image signal is operative with a timing to modulate each one of the point sources so that the plurality of point sources cumulatively define an image pixel of a desired color at a given pixel location as each one of the plurality of point sources is in position to address said image pixel.

Claim 57

The method of claim 42, in which the support carries a plurality of light emitters which output respective beams of light, and wherein the step of modulating comprises modulating the respective beams of light with the image signal to generate respective modulated light beams at a timing which creates image color pixels.