Projector having retractable housings

Details Projector having retractable housings Projector having retractable housings

2003-07-01

2004-12-21

Nguyen, Judy (Department: 2851)

Optics: image projectors

Housing

C353S061000, C353S052000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06832838

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a projector, and more particularly to a projector having retractable housings to reduce the noises.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, a projector has become an indispensable apparatus in the teaching or meeting occasions. More particularly, with the popularization of the notebook computers, the digital projector is more suitable for the above-mentioned occasions.
The projector needs a light source with high brightness so as to clearly project images onto a display screen. However, the light source with high brightness may cause a high-temperature condition in the projector. Therefore, the currently used projector needs a fan to dissipate heat generated from the light source, which is the main heat source in the projector, control the proper thermal flow field, and prevent high temperature environment from damaging the electronic elements and optical elements in the projector.
Recently, the volume of the projector is getting smaller and smaller. However, if the volume of the projector is reduced, the redundant space within the projector has to be removed. In this case, the hot air streams are directly exhausted at high speed to cause great noises because no more slowdown space for the air streams is left in the projector.
FIG. 1
is a schematic top view showing a conventional projector, and
FIG. 2
is a side view showing the projector of FIG.
1
. Referring to
FIGS. 1 and 2
, the projector includes a casing
110
, a light source
128
, an optical engine
130
, fans
120
and
122
, and a plurality of circuit boards
132
. The casing
110
is formed with inlet ports
112
and
114
, through which air streams
124
may flow into the casing
110
, and outlet ports
116
and
118
, through which the air streams
124
may flow out of the casing
110
. The light source
128
, which is the main heat source, emits light rays to the optical engine
130
. Then, the optical engine
130
processes the light rays and projects an image onto a display screen. The fans
120
and
122
introduce the air streams
124
into the casing
110
through the inlet ports
112
and
114
and dissipate heat from the outlet ports
116
and
118
.
A buffer chamber
126
, which is defined among the fan
120
, casing
110
and outlet ports
116
, may be regarded as a slowdown space for the air streams
124
from the buffer chamber
126
to the casing
110
. When a designer wants to reduce the volume of the projector, it is possible to consider that the buffer chamber
126
may be reduced so as not to influence the normal functions of the projector. However, reducing the buffer chamber
126
may reduce the slowdown space for the air streams
124
and cause the air streams
124
to flow out via the outlet ports
116
at high speed. In this case, relatively great noises may be generated.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the invention is to provide a projector capable of reducing noises.
Another object of the invention is to provide a miniaturized projector that is portable and causes smaller noises.
To achieve the above-mentioned objects, the invention provides a projector including a casing, a light source, an optical engine, inlet ports and outlet ports formed on the casing, and a fan mounted in the casing. The fan sucks air streams from the inlet ports into the casing and forces the air streams to flow out of the casing via the outlet ports. A buffer chamber is defined among the fan, the outlet ports, and the casing. The casing includes a first housing and a second housing. The first housing is retractable relative to the second housing so that a volume of the buffer chamber may be changed.
The projector may further include a light source mounted to the casing and positioned between the inlet ports and the fan. In addition, the projector may further include a rack attached to the first housing, and a driving gear for driving the rack so as to move the first housing.
The inlet ports and the outlet ports may be formed on the second housing and the first housing, respectively. The first housing is retractable relative to the second housing along a direction perpendicular or parallel to a direction of the air streams or along an arbitrary direction.


REFERENCES:
patent: 540414 (1895-06-01), Wrench
patent: 5692821 (1997-12-01), Rodriguez, Jr. et al.
patent: 5779343 (1998-07-01), Denley
patent: 5820242 (1998-10-01), Rodriguez et al.
patent: 5951136 (1999-09-01), Furuhata et al.
patent: 6709115 (2004-03-01), Chimura et al.

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