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US 12,718,708 B2Granted
Optical planetarium and planetarium system having same
AssigneeOhira Tech Ltd.
InventorTakayuki Ohira
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An optical planetarium includes a projector configured to project images of stars; a diurnal-axis support mechanism configured to allow the projector to rotate about a diurnal axis; a latitude-axis support mechanism configured to allow the projector to rotate about a latitude axis that is orthogonal to the diurnal axis; an azimuth-axis support mechanism configured to allow the projector to rotate about an azimuth axis that is set vertically; and a latitude-axis inclination angle changing mechanism configured to allow an angle between the latitude axis and a horizontal plane to be changed within a predetermined range.
Claims3
A planetarium system, comprising:
- a) an optical planetarium, comprising:
- a projector configured to project images of stars;
- a diurnal-axis support mechanism configured to allow the projector to rotate about a diurnal axis;
- a latitude-axis support mechanism configured to allow the projector to rotate about a latitude axis that is orthogonal to the diurnal axis;
- an azimuth-axis support mechanism configured to allow the projector to rotate about an azimuth axis that is set vertically;
- and
- a latitude-axis inclination angle changing mechanism configured to allow an angle between the latitude axis and a horizontal plane to be changed within a predetermined range,
- wherein the latitude-axis inclination angle changing mechanism is provided above the azimuth-axis support mechanism and wherein the latitude-axis inclination angle changing mechanism is configured to allow the latitude axis to rotate about a swing axis that is orthogonal to the azimuth axis and the latitude axis;
- and
- b) a controller configured to control angles about the diurnal axis, the latitude axis, the azimuth axis, and the swing axis;
- wherein the controller has control modes including:
- a swing-axis fixed mode of specifying an angle about the swing axis and calculating angles about the diurnal axis, the latitude axis, and the azimuth axis;
- and
- an azimuth-axis fixed mode of specifying an angle about the azimuth axis and calculating angles about the diurnal axis, the latitude axis, and the swing axis, and
- wherein the controller is configured to control an operation of the optical planetarium while performing switching between the swing-axis fixed mode and the azimuth-axis fixed mode;
- and
- wherein, when operating in the azimuth-axis fixed mode, the controller restricts the angle about the swing axis within a predetermined range and switches the control mode to the swing-axis fixed mode before the angle about the swing axis becomes larger than or smaller than the predetermined range.
14 more elements
A planetarium system, comprising:
- a) an optical planetarium, comprising:
- a projector configured to project images of stars;
- a diurnal-axis support mechanism configured to allow the projector to rotate about a diurnal axis;
- a latitude-axis support mechanism configured to allow the projector to rotate about a latitude axis that is orthogonal to the diurnal axis;
- an azimuth-axis support mechanism configured to allow the projector to rotate about an azimuth axis that is set vertically;
- and
- a latitude-axis inclination angle changing mechanism configured to allow an angle between the latitude axis and a horizontal plane to be changed within a predetermined range,
- wherein the latitude-axis inclination angle changing mechanism is provided above the azimuth-axis support mechanism and wherein the latitude-axis inclination angle changing mechanism is configured to allow the latitude axis to rotate about a swing axis that is orthogonal to the azimuth axis and the latitude axis;
- and
- b) a controller configured to control angles about the diurnal axis, the latitude axis, the azimuth axis, and the swing axis;
- wherein the controller controls angles about the diurnal axis, the latitude axis, the azimuth axis, and the swing axis so that an angle between the diurnal axis and the azimuth axis is larger than a predetermined value.
8 more elements
A planetarium system, comprising:
- a) an optical planetarium, comprising:
- a projector configured to project images of stars;
- a diurnal-axis support mechanism configured to allow the projector to rotate about a diurnal axis;
- a latitude-axis support mechanism configured to allow the projector to rotate about a latitude axis that is orthogonal to the diurnal axis;
- an azimuth-axis support mechanism configured to allow the projector to rotate about an azimuth axis that is set vertically;
- and
- a latitude-axis inclination angle changing mechanism configured to allow an angle between the latitude axis and a horizontal plane to be changed within a predetermined range,
- wherein the latitude-axis inclination angle changing mechanism is provided above the azimuth-axis support mechanism and wherein the latitude-axis inclination angle changing mechanism is configured to allow the latitude axis to rotate about a swing axis that is orthogonal to the azimuth axis and the latitude axis;
- and
- b) a controller configured to control angles about the diurnal axis, the latitude axis, the azimuth axis, and the swing axis;
- wherein the controller controls angles about the diurnal axis, the latitude axis, the azimuth axis, and the swing axis so that an angular velocity or an angular acceleration of rotation about the diurnal axis or the azimuth axis is less than a predetermined value.
8 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.