US 12,007,568 B2
Eyewear with integrated heads-up display
Jonathan M Rodriguez, II, Los Angeles, CA (US); and Kimberly A. Phifer, Brooklyn, NY (US)
Assigned to SNAP INC., Santa Monica, CA (US)
Filed by Snap Inc., Santa Monica, CA (US)
Filed on Sep. 2, 2022, as Appl. No. 17/929,373.
Application 17/929,373 is a continuation of application No. 16/948,081, filed on Sep. 2, 2020, granted, now 11,435,587.
Application 16/948,081 is a continuation of application No. 16/123,853, filed on Sep. 6, 2018, granted, now 10,816,805.
Application 16/123,853 is a continuation of application No. 14/806,840, filed on Jul. 23, 2015, granted, now 10,095,034.
Prior Publication US 2023/0042383 A1, Feb. 9, 2023
This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.
Int. Cl. G02B 27/01 (2006.01)
CPC G02B 27/0172 (2013.01) [G02B 2027/0178 (2013.01)] 17 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An eyewear device comprising:
an eyewear frame configured for head-mounted wear;
a lens mounted on the eyewear frame to occupy a field of view a wearer of the eyewear device, the lens providing an optical medium for display light traveling within the lens, and the lens being transmissive to ambient light; and
an integrated near-eye display mechanism configured to display visual information to the wearer, the display mechanism comprising:
a display structure that is located within the lens and that is configured to direct into view of the wearer display light incident thereon while traveling within the optical medium provided by the lens, the display structure being transmissive to ambient light traveling through the lens, the lens thus being display-enabled; and
a projector that is housed by the eyewear frame and that is configured to project display light for computer-generated imagery directly into the optical medium, such that a path travelled by the display light comprises, sequentially:
from the projector into the optical medium of the lens at projector-lens interface located within the eyewear frame, the display light traveling between the projector and the projector-lens interface without exiting an interior volume of the eyewear frame and without entering any intervening optical medium external to the eyewear frame;
from the projector-lens interface, via the optical medium provided by the lens on to the display structure, from the display light thereupon being redirected by the display structure the wearer; and
from the display structure towards the wearer, the display light exiting the optical medium to enable viewing of the computer-generated imagery by the wearer.