FR2948174A1 - Luminous wall for lamp of product, has deflector whose light beam is deflected toward convergent optical device, and luminous ray assembly carried from side face to another side face of light input area through light guide - Google Patents

Abstract

The wall has an elementary optical device formed with a light guide portion (9). A transmission zone transmits light toward a light input zone of another elementary optical device. A deflector deviates a part of the light from the input zone. A convergent optical device e.g. condenser and elliptic concave mirror, is provided with the deflector to modify the light from the deflector. A light beam of the deflector is deflected toward the convergent optical device. A luminous ray assembly is carried from a side face to another side face of a light input area (2) via a light guide.

Description

Luminous wall The quality of a directional projector is appreciated by many criteria, two of the most important are on the one hand a small footprint and on the other hand a high light output. It is understood above and below - by luminous efficiency the ratio between the brightness of the beam coming out of the device, and that of the beam emitted by the original light source, and - by brightness of an optical beam the product of the luminance, the emitter surface element and the emitting solid angle element. The objective pursued is thus to reduce the solid emitting angle element while at the same time minimizing the surface area of the rays of the headlamp to produce directional floodlights with high luminous efficiency, of free shape, for example flat . The method adopted is to decompose the original beam into a plurality of smaller beams, called elementary beams, whose emission angle is identical to that of the original beam, but whose transmitting surface element is smaller, - and then converge by known methods these elementary beams into a single beam. The method used to decompose the original beam consists in sending the beam into a light guide comprising a plurality of elementary optical devices called deflectors, each deflecting the light in a direction chosen by those skilled in the art. The first to have described it is perhaps ZINBERG IVAN H in its patent US2480178 (A) of August 30, 1949. This principle has been adopted for making projectors for automobiles or airplanes, backlighting devices. television or computer screens, and fixtures of all kinds (WO9318939 (Ai) of WU WEI-YU [US] / HUGHES AIRCRAFT CO [US] (1993-09-30); GB2274158 (A) of KOPPOLU PRASAD M et al., / FORD MOTOR CO (1994-07-13); FR2768218 (A1) to L HERMINE ALBAN / VALEO VISION [FR] (1999-353-12); FR2799263 (A1) to JOUSSET NICOLAS; NOUET REGIS / VALEO VISION [FR] (2001-04-06) Those skilled in the art also know how to use a plurality of light sources combined with a lenticular array to obtain directional light beams 40 This is an ancient invention described by FR2471012 (Al) JEAN-CLAUDE DEUTSCH / ATOMIC ENERGY COMMISSION (1981-06-12) - see in particular Figure 4 of this document. other forms by EP0372525 (A2) of PARK FRENCH PHYSCIST; WILBER CLARENCE STEWART / GEN ELECTRIC [US] (1990-06-13); JP2000284268 (A) TAKAHASHI SUSUMU / TOPPAN 45 PRINTING CO LTD / 2000-10-13; JP2001305315 (A) YAMAGUCHI AKIRA / FUJI PHOTO FILM CO LTD (2001-10-31); EP1566685 (A2) to YEE YOUNG-JOO [KR] et al. / LG ELECTRONICS INC [KR]; LG MICRON LTD [KR] (2005-08-24); WO2006080530 (A1) to KURODA KENJIRO [JP] et al. / TOPPAN PRINTING CO LTD [JP] et al. (2006-08-03); W02009004696 (A1) to LUIS MURILLO [JP] et al. / TOPPAN 50 PRINTING CO LTD [JP] et al. (2009-01-08). All these devices work in the sense that they make it possible to create lighting devices, but either they need a multiplicity of light sources, or they use a plate with holes to get out of the light of an optical guide and have a low yield. The invention consists in combining the two inventions - the splitting of a beam by division of an optical guide (Ivan Zinberg in 1949) on the one hand, and the concentration of a plurality of light sources by a lenticular array (Jean- Claude Deutsch in 1981) - is itself old, since in 1983, PIERRE CIBIE (CIBIE PROJECTORS [FR]) proposed in its patent FR2514105 {1983-04-08) a projector for a motor vehicle comprising a source light source and means for concentrating the radiation of this source on the end of a light pipe provided with a plurality of reflecting facets constituting as many virtual light sources and cooperating with a plurality of homologous dioptric elements to constitute a set elementary light beams that merge into a single beam. This invention has been taken over in particular by EP0814300 (AI) from DAIKU YASUHIRO [IT] / CASIO COMPUTER CO LTD (1997-12-29), by DE2736486 (Al) by YEVICK GEORGE J PROF / IZON CORP (1978-02-16 ) (see FIG. 4) and by EP0584545 (A1) of MASUELLI STEFANIA [IT] et al. CARELLO SPA [IT] (1994-03-02), but none of these devices function properly because almost all of the beam reflected by a mirror or other type of deflector is not actually directed to the lens associated with it. mirror. This has the consequence that the light reflected by a deflector also passes through another lens that is not designed to receive such rays.

Indeed, to allow the cooperation between a virtual light source and a dioptric element is not enough, because it is also necessary to prevent this source from cooperating with another dioptric element. Since 1983, the date of the invention of Pierre Cibié, no satisfactory device has been proposed, despite the considerable expectation of the market, which is proved by the number of patent applications with this objective, and by the considerable economic importance depositors. This considerable demand can be explained by the existence of a rapidly growing market which is that of all devices with a liquid crystal display such as computers, cameras, telephones, etc., because the screen must be backlit with a flat device having the highest luminous efficiency possible. By emitting light only towards the eyes of the user, it increases the battery life while allowing greater reading comfort in daylight. The proposed device is a luminous wall 1 receiving a luminous flux by a light input zone 2 in a transparent element called light guide 9, comprising at least two juxtaposed elementary optical devices 11 and 12, an elementary optical device 11 comprising a portion of said light guide 9 itself comprising: a light input zone 112 a light transmission zone 114 towards the light input zone 122 of an adjacent optical element device 12, a or a plurality of so-called lateral faces having portions which are smooth and totally reflect the light rays reaching them with a high incidence, and at least one deflector 113 which deflects a portion of the light coming directly or indirectly from said input zone 112. the light, and a convergent optical device said condenser 115 associated with at least one deflector 113, again modifying said read beam divergent minire from the deflector considered to reduce its emission angle, the essential - at least 75% - the brightness of said light beam received by a deflector 113 is deviated exclusively to the condenser 115 with which it is associated, characterized by the fact: 55 - and that the essential - at least 75% - of the brightness of the light beam arriving at a condenser 115 comes from or deviators 113, 113a, 113b and following which it is associated. it being specified that the light beam received by a deflector 113 above means all the light rays carried by said light guide 9, both directly from the light entry zone 2 and by a total reflection of light. a so-called lateral face to another. According to other characteristics of the invention: the whole of the useful surface of the condensers 115, 125 and following occupies 80% of the surface of the luminous wall. a deviator receives light only from a single source of real or virtual light and the latter is substantially punctual, whether it is located at a short distance or at infinity; said parts of the light guide faces which are smooth and completely reflect the light rays arriving at a high incidence comprise convergent diopters whose external face is not perfectly parallel to the longitudinal axis of said guide, but form with it has an angle less than that for which a light ray having the maximum inclination with respect to said longitudinal axis is totally reflected; the deflector 113 is a mirror; said deflector 113 is a plane mirror; the deflector 113 is located inside said light guide 9; The center of the mirror 113 is located at the upstream end of the shortest optical path passing through the optical center of the condenser, whose condenser output direction is that determined by those skilled in the art as being the emission axis of the optical beam produced by the condenser 115 considered; the plane of the mirror 113 is perpendicular to the bisector of the two following lines: the downstream end of the shortest optical path of the real or virtual light source at the center of the deflector 113; the upstream end of the optical path shorter of the center of the deflector 113 at the optical center of the condenser 115 associated therewith; The condenser 115 whose external face is not coincident with a face of the light guide 9 is separated from said light guide by a volume 10 said separating volume consisting of a material whose index is lower than that of said guide light 9; the projection of a deflector 113 on the facial plane is less than 40 quarters of the projection of a condenser 115 on the same plane, it being specified that above is meant by a facial plane a plane perpendicular to the mean direction outputting a condenser 115 from light rays from a deflector 113; the totality of the light rays received by the input zone 2 of the light 45 is deflected by all the deviators 113; said deflector 113 is centered in the immediate vicinity of a focus of said condenser 115, the central radius of the beam emitted by a deflector 113 is perpendicular to the common line between a plane parallel to the focal plane of the associated condenser 115 and a parallel plane at a plane tangential to said facial plane of the light wall 1 at the location of said condenser. said condenser 115 is a converging lens; said convergent lens 115 is a Fresnel lens; said condenser 115 is a concave mirror; said condenser 115 is a Fresnel concave mirror; said condenser 115 is an elliptical concave mirror, the deflector being located at one of the centers of the ellipse; said condenser 115 is a parabolic concave mirror; the maximum thickness of said separator volume 10 in the path of the light rays from said deflector 113 to said condenser 115 is less than half the distance between said deflector 113 and said condenser 115; - the outer wall of said light guide which is opposite the deflector 113a 10 is a converging spherical diopter, the center of the sphere being substantially coincidental with the center of said deviator 113a; said condenser 115 deflects all the rays coming from said deviator 113 substantially in the same direction; said condenser 115 deflects all the rays coming from said deflector 113 in a direction substantially perpendicular to said facial plane of said luminous wall 1; - The light wall 1 comprises a mirror 7 located on the side of the light wall 1 which is opposite to said input zone 2 of the light; the light wall 1 comprises a second mirror 7a situated on the opposite side to that of the mirror 7, and the two mirrors 7 and 7a mutually send back the light rays which pass through said light guide; - there are opposing deviators; the opposite deflectors 113a and 113n are juxtaposed and associated with the same condenser 115; The zone 2 for entering the light in the light wall is located outside said mirror 7a; the assembly 1000 of the condensers 115, 125 and following is movable relative to the set of deviators 113, 123 and following; the device is provided with a means for modifying the angle between the axis 30 joining the center of a deflector 113 and the optical center of the condenser 115 which is associated with it, and all the condensers move simultaneously because they are in solidarity with each other; the device is provided with means for modifying the distance between the assembly 1000 of the condensers 115, 125 and following and all the deviators 113, 123 and following; a condenser 115 consists of two convergent lenses 115a and 115b, whose optical centers are substantially aligned with the center of the deflector I13a with which it cooperates; said light guide 9 comprises an elongated volume whose cross section has a curvature constituting the condenser 115; said light guide 9 is a flexible rod; - said light guide 9 comprises juxtaposed unit elements connected by ball joints - the part of the rear face of the light wall which does not include 45 deviators 113, 123 and following emits light; the part of the rear face of the light wall which does not include deviators 113, 123 and following comprises a mirror 8 reflecting the ambient light towards the front of the luminous wall; several deviators associated with the same condenser; the light wall comprises several sets of deviators associated with the same set of condensers, and these sets of deviators are powered by separate light sources; two light walls 1X and 1Y according to the invention are associated in series, the light wall 1X receiving light from a light source, and retransmitting it to the light wall 1Y; The light wall receives light from a light source of a device 1X comprising a light input zone 2X and a series of at least two elementary optical devices juxtaposed 11X, 12X and following, an elementary optical device 11X comprising: a lateral zone 112X referred to as the light entry zone, - an optical device referred to as a diffuser 113X which has the property of deflecting a light beam by causing it to diverge, - an optical device called a concentrator 115X which has the property of 15 deflecting a light beam by causing it to converge; and a light transmission side region 114X to the light input zone 122X of the adjacent optical element device 12X. the invention is a product (screen, computer, automobile, etc.) provided with a luminous wall 1 according to the invention. The invention will be well understood, and other objects, advantages and characteristics thereof will appear more clearly on reading the description which follows, which is illustrated by FIGS. 1 to 30 which all represent perspective views of light walls according to the invention. FIG. 1 shows a luminous wall comprising three elementary optical devices 11, 12 and 19 juxtaposed, in a first embodiment of the invention. Figure 2 shows various possible forms of elementary optical devices in said first embodiment of the invention. FIG. 3 shows the detail of the different parts of an elementary optical device, in said first embodiment of the invention. Figure 4 shows another embodiment of the invention. FIG. 5 shows another variant of a light wall according to the invention, comprising a mirror 7 opposite the light input zone 2. Figure 6 shows a way of associating in series two light walls according to the invention to form a flat screen backlight panel. The light wall 1X comprises a light guide 9X provided with mirrors 113X, 123X 40 and 133X deviating light towards sets of mirrors 115X, 125X and 135X elliptical sections, which in turn reflect the light rays to the input area light 2Y of the optical wall 1Y. Each mirror 113Xa, 113Xb and following constituting a set of mirrors 115 is located at the focus of the generating ellipse of the corresponding mirror. The person skilled in the art knows how to calculate such a set of mirrors so that all the reflected rays are substantially horizontal. A unitary device 11 of the light wall 1Y comprises two sets of contiguous vertical spherical elemental lenses 115aY and 115bY, cooperating with a vertical mirror 113Y located inside the light guide 9Y. Figures 7 and 8 show alternative light walls according to the invention, the condensers 114, 124 and following are convergent in one direction, but are convergent or divergent depending on the case in another direction. Figure 9 shows a cylindrical luminaire according to the invention.

Figure 10 shows a variant particularly adapted to vehicle lights. Figure 11 shows a variant of the light wall of Figure 10, with a more complex shape.

FIG. 12 shows a luminaire according to the invention in the form of a thin disc. FIG. 13 shows an alternative elementary optical device with spherical lenses with hexagonal pupils. FIG. 14 shows the front face of a wall made up of such elementary optical devices.

Figure 15 shows a device similar to that of Figure 14, provided with two sets of diverters 113a and 113b emitting light through the same set 1000 of condensers 115, in two different directions. FIG. 16 shows an elementary optical device comprising a parallel-faced plate 9 which acts as a light guide, a deflector 13 which is composed of two plane mirrors reflecting the horizontal light rays towards the condenser 115, which is a convergent spherical lens separated from the parallel-sided blade by a void space 10. Fig. 17 shows a sectional view of the basic optical device of Fig. 16, showing the two planar mirrors 113a and 113b composing the deflector 113. Fig. 18 is a view perspective three quarter rear of a luminous wall composed of elementary optical devices identical to those of Figure 16, to see the deviators 113, 123 and following and the convergent lenses 115, 125 respectively located vis-à-vis. The dashed line 25 shows the path the path of a light ray reflecting on the walls of the parallel-sided blade 9, and intercepted at the return by a mirror of a deflector 113 to be reflected to a lens 115. The faces front and rear of the blade parallel faces 9 are transparent and the reflection of the light beam is total because the incidence of the latter 30 is strong, while the face on the left in Figure 18 is a mirror 7. The figure 19 is a perspective view of the front face of the light wall of FIG. 18. FIG. 20 is a perspective view of the rear of a light wall 35 similar to that of FIG. 18, but with a different layout. elementary optical devices, so that all rays horizontally traversing the parallel-faced blade 9 meet at least one deflector 113 - and a flexible parallel-face blade which can be deformed by the user. FIG. 21 is a perspective view of two light walls according to the invention, which are identical and each comprise two sets 1000 and 1001 of lenses 115, 125 and following instead of a single set 1000 as in most of the preceding figures. . Figure 22 is a perspective view of a lamp according to the invention. Fig. 23 is a perspective view which illustrates the operation of the lamp shown in Fig. 22. Fig. 24 is a perspective view of a simplified light wall, reduced to a rod of oval section, this section being shown in FIG. FIG. 26 shows a device made by juxtaposing devices similar to that of FIG. 24. FIG. 27 is a perspective view of a unitary element of a wall consisting of the assembly of such unit elements, which is shown in Figure 28.

Fig. 29 is a perspective view of two sections of a light wall according to the invention, and a light guide portion 9 connected to two unitary devices 11 and 12. Fig. 30 is a perspective view of a luminous wall according to the invention, whose condensers are concave parabolic mirrors. A deflector 113 is located in the focus of the parabola generating the associated condenser 115. The present invention is an improvement of that of Pierre Cibié cited above, of sending a light beam into a light guide comprising a plurality of elementary optical devices said deviators, each deflecting the light in a direction chosen by the man of the art, and using a plurality of homologous dioptric elements to form a set of elementary light beams that merge into a single beam.

It satisfies an additional objective which is to reduce the product of the solid emitting angle element of the device by its transmitting surface element (product also called geometrical beam extent), and defines a particular geometry of the device, according to which a condenser 115 emits light only from a single deflector, the beam emitted by the deflector considered itself having characteristics such that the condenser emits light rays only in the direction or directions desired, and that most of its surface is useful. It is not enough to provide virtual light sources (the deviators) and to cooperate with homologous condensers to achieve this result. It is also necessary to prevent parasitic light rays from reaching the condenser, without losing light energy by using masks and without generating new virtual light sources with mirrors or other prisms. Preferably it is also necessary to limit to the minimum the emitter surface element of the device, that is to say not to waste space unnecessarily. Translated in terms of technical interest for an important application of the invention which is the backlighting of the LCD screens, this additional objective satisfied by the invention - to reduce the surface element of the device - makes it possible to concentrate the light emitted by a device to the eyes of the user using the minimum of space. This allows considerable energy savings and therefore battery life for portable devices, while increasing the brightness perceived by the user, even in daylight. The proposed means consists in disposing deviators and condensers so that the light beam received by a deflector 113 is deflected mainly towards the condenser 115 with which it is associated, that the light beam reaching a condenser 115 comes mainly from the deviator (s) which are associated. It is advantageous that the angle of the light beam received by a deflector is as small as possible, because this angle is one of the components of that of the beam returned by the deflector. It is desirable that the condenser has the smallest pupil possible, that is to say it is reduced in area to its only useful part. The light source can be provided with a parabolic reflector 6, but the best solution consists in associating two light walls iX and lY according to the invention in series, the light wall 1X receiving light from a light source, and retransmitting it to the luminous wall lY in the form of low angle light beams. It is not necessary that the upstream light wall 1X be made according to the present invention, since the brightness of said light beam received by a deflector 113X can be diverted to a neighboring condenser, and the brightness of the light beam reaching a 115X condenser can also come from all the neighboring deviators. In an arrangement shown in FIG. 1, a deviator receives light only from a single source of real or virtual light, and the latter is substantially punctual. It is then easy to organize the mirror arrangement serving as deviators 113, 123 and following, so that the beam deflected by a deflector is directed exclusively to the associated condenser 115.

In practice, a light source is not perfectly punctual. It is therefore necessary to focus the beam by successive reflections on the walls of a light guide 9, but the beam angle deviated by a deflector is then increased by the angle at which the light source is seen from the deflector.

The mode of implementation of the invention shown in FIGS. 16 to 20 is particularly advantageous for the following reasons: the light source may not be perfectly punctual, since it is precisely the light rays that are not perfectly parallel to said plane facial which are reflected by the deviators 113, 123 and following; the deviators 113, 123 and following are simple flat mirrors; the light reflected by a deflector 113 is almost exclusively returned to the condenser 115 associated therewith, and not to the condensers adjacent to the condenser 115; the luminous wall can be very thin; - And it can have a very complex shape since the blade 9 can have a free form as shown in Figure 20, and that entire device can be made of flexible material and deformable by the user.

FIG. 16 shows an elementary optical device comprising a parallel-faced plate 9 which acts as a light guide, a deflector 13 which is composed of two plane mirrors reflecting the horizontal light rays towards the condenser 115, which is a convergent spherical lens separated from the parallel-sided blade by a void space.

FIG. 17 shows a section of the elementary optical device of FIG. 16, making it possible to see the two plane mirrors 113a and 113b constituting the deflector 13. The dotted light beam is also seen in dashed lines, reaching the deflector 113b and the beam reflected towards the condenser 115 FIG. 18 is a perspective view of the rear of a light wall composed of elementary optical devices identical to those of FIG. 16, making it possible to see the deviators 113, 123 and following and the convergent lenses 115, 125 located respectively in vis-à-vis. The dashed line shows the path of a light ray reflecting on the walls of the parallel-sided blade 9, and intercepted by a mirror of a deflector 113 to be reflected back to a lens 115. The front and rear faces of the blade with parallel faces 9 are transparent and the reflection of the light beam is total because the incidence of the latter is strong, while the face on the left in Figure 18 is a mirror 7. Figure 19 is a view in perspective from the front of the light wall of FIG. 18. Apart from the surfaces devoted to the deflectors 113, it is desirable for the light rays to be reflected on surfaces that are parallel to each other, and for the condenser 115 whose external face is not confused with a face of the light guide 9 is separated from said light guide by a volume 10 said separator volume consisting of a material whose index is less than that of said light guide 9. U n such separator volume 10 is advantageously constituted by a volume of air. There are three exceptions to this rule: - The walls of the dioptres of the condensers are far enough away from the beam received by the deviators to not be able to deflect them, which is the case of Figures 7 and 8 for example. 9 - These walls are aligned with the longitudinal axis of the light guide 9 as illustrated in Figures 24 to 28 - These walls form with said longitudinal axis an angle sufficiently small for a light ray having the maximum inclination relative to said axis longitudinal is totally reflected. Said separator volume 10 is preferably as thin as possible, so as not to unnecessarily increase the beam-emitting surface element deflected by the deflector 113 towards the condenser 115. In a preferred solution, its maximum thickness is less than a quarter of the distance between said deflector 113 and said condenser 115. When, for manufacturing or aesthetic reasons, the separating volume 10 can not be very thin, as is the case for the wall 1X of FIG. 6, the external wall the light guide 9 containing the deflector 113 which is opposite the deflector 113a is advantageously a spherical or cylindrical convergent diopter, the center of the circle being substantially coincidental with the center of said deflector. Thus, the rays emitted by the deflector are practically not deflected at the output of the light guide. There is shown, for example in FIGS. 16 to 19, a gap separating the parallel face plate 9 and the assembly 1000 of the lenses 115, 125 and following, but it can also be a layer of lower refractive index than that constituting the parallel face plate 9, as shown in Figure 20. A particularly interesting embodiment is to deposit successively on the front face of said parallel face plate 9 a layer of a transparent material with low refractive index, and then to print convergent lenses on this layer of low refractive index material. Figure 4 illustrates one of the worst ways to implement the invention, with deviators 113, 123 and following that emit light in all directions. A light source 5 located at the focus of a parabolic deflector 6 emits light rays into the edge of the light guide 9. The rays reach the other edge of said light guide 9 which includes a mirror 7 returning them to said parabolic deflector except those which have frosted surfaces constituting the deviators. A deflector 113 is provided with a complementary optical device such as reflecting surfaces 1131 and 1132 in order to direct all or part of the light rays coming out of said deflector 113 to a condenser 115, but all the rays coming to the condenser do not constitute a beam bright homogeneous, and the performance of the device is so bad. In this simplified version, the deviators 113, 123 and following may for example be surfaces that are not smooth and deflect the light rays mainly in directions different from that which would cause a total reflection. It can be a frosted or a translucent white paint. A deflector 113 may also be constituted by the addition on one side of said light guide 9 of a film of a translucent or transparent material, this film having a refractive index lower than that of said light guide 9. Instead of to be reflected, light rays arriving at a location provided with this film are deflected and the location considered becomes bright. FIG. 4 shows such a device comprising simplified deviators on the front face of said light guide 9, but they could also be arranged on its rear face. The mirror 113 is advantageously a mirror located inside said light guide 9 to limit the angle of the reflected beam. Indeed, a prism has the disadvantage of adding to the deflection the increase in angle of the beam resulting from the passage from one medium to another of lower refractive index. A deflector 113 may be a spherical, aspherical, cylindrical, convergent mirror (see FIG. 3) or divergent, but it is advantageously a plane mirror, so as not to increase the angle of the deflected beam.

The center of the mirror is advantageously located at the upstream end of the shortest optical path passing through the optical center of the condenser, whose condenser output direction is that determined by those skilled in the art as being the axis of the condenser. emission of the optical beam produced by the device. the plane of the mirror is advantageously perpendicular to the bisector of the two following straight lines: the downstream end of the shortest optical path of the real or virtual light source at the center of the deflector on the one hand, and the upstream end of the optical path on the one hand; shorter from the center of the deflector to the optical center of the condenser on the other hand.

The central radius of the beam emitted by a deflector 113 is advantageously perpendicular to the common line between a plane parallel to the focal plane of the associated condenser 115 and the plane parallel to a tangent to the light wall 1 at the location of said condenser. In order for an elementary optical device of the luminous wall 1 object of the invention to emit light rays in a precise direction, a deflector is advantageously the smallest possible. Advantageously, the projection of a deflector 113 on said facial plane is less than a quarter of the projection of a condenser 115 on the same plane, it being specified that above is meant by a facial plane a plane perpendicular to the mean direction the output of a condenser 115 from the light rays from a deflector 113. To emit a beam having a small angle, it is advantageous for said deflector 113 to be centered in the immediate vicinity of a focus of said condenser 115. and their dimensions condition the distribution of the light emitted along the light guide 9. It can advantageously be arranged such that all of the light rays received by the input zone 2 of the light is deflected by all the deviators 113, as is the case for the devices shown in Figures 1, 5, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 29, but it is not mandatory. It is also possible to provide the luminous wall 1 with a mirror 7 situated on the side of the luminous wall 1 which is opposite to said zone 2 for entering the light. In this case, the light that has not been diverted along the one-way trip starts in the other direction. It is also possible, in this case, to provide the light wall 1 with a second mirror 7a situated on the side opposite to that of the mirror 7, and the two mirrors 7 and 7a mutually send back the light rays that pass through said light guide. In this case, it is necessary to provide the device with opposing deviators. Two opposing deflectors 113a and 113n are advantageously juxtaposed and associated with the same condenser 115. The zone 2 for entering the light into the luminous wall may be located outside said mirror 7a, as illustrated in FIGS. 22 and 23. It is advantageous to in these examples it is located at a significant distance from the 45 deviators so that the rays reaching the deviators are substantially parallel and the light beam is homogenized by several successive reflections on the walls of the light guide 9. A condenser 115 can be a convergent lens, but when the angle of the received beam is very large, it is advantageous to use a concave mirror 50 as shown in FIG. 30. In both cases, these elements may be respectively Fresnel lenses or mirrors, and even be composed of small juxtaposed elements located in different planes. Those skilled in the art must ensure that the entire useful area of the condensers 115, 125 and following occupies the largest part (for example at least 80%) of the surface of the luminous wall, which can be achieved by contiguous cylindrical condensers, or spherical arranged in honeycomb.

Some types of condensers offer additional benefits. A condenser which is a cylindrical lens merged with one of the so-called side faces of the light guide 9, as illustrated in FIGS. 24 to 28, makes it possible to produce a particularly simple device according to the invention. said light guide 9 may be a flexible rod and / or comprise juxtaposed unit elements connected by ball joints. A condenser that is an elliptical concave mirror concentrates the rays in one of its foci when the deflector is located at the other focus of the ellipse. The ellipse can be used as an extrusion profile, depending on whether it is desired to concentrate the rays along a straight line as illustrated by the condensers 115X, 125X and 135X of the light wall shown in FIG. 6, or as a revolution profile to focus the rays on a single point. It is also possible to use an ellipse as an extrusion profile of a transparent material, to make a variant of the device illustrated in FIG. 24, whose concave elliptical mirror would concentrate the rays emitted in the form of a convergent beam along a line parallel to the axis of the device. - A condenser 115 which is a parabolic concave mirror emits its rays in the form of a beam with parallel rays, the parabola is used as profile revolution or extrusion. - A condenser consisting of two convergent lenses 115a and 115b, whose optical centers are substantially aligned with the center of the deflector 113a with which it cooperates is substantially less bulky than a condenser using only one lens, and it has advantage of being located closer to the deflector, and thus to recover a wider deflected beam. A lens or a mirror 115 may be cylindrical, spherical, aspherical or any other more complex form known to those skilled in the art so that the light rays from the deflector 113 are distributed according to the specifications of the device. In the case where the condensers are lenses or cylindrical mirrors, it is advantageous for the longitudinal axis of symmetry of the cylinders to be horizontal, so that the light is more dispersed in width than in height, because the spectators are most often dispersed horizontally only vertically. The device shown in Figure 26 is in this respect an excellent backlight device for a family television screen. Those skilled in the art can determine the geometry of a condenser according to the objectives assigned to the device. Said condenser 115 may, for example, deflect all the rays coming from a deflector 113 substantially in the same direction. It can also deflect all the rays coming from said deflector 113 in a direction substantially perpendicular to the main plane of said light wall.

In particular, it can converge all the light rays to a point s at any distance from the wall by choosing the appropriate characteristics of the condensers and the locations of the deviators. The invention makes it possible in this case to create weapons, especially in the case where the light used is largely located in the infra-red. The device according to the invention functions indeed for any type of radiation. It can also adapt the surface and the shape of the deviators to distribute at will the light received from the light source between the basic optical devices. Figure 2 shows different possible forms of elementary optical devices according to the invention, which differ from each other by the ratio between the surface of the deflector and that of the condenser. The two basic optical devices 12 and 13 of Figure 2 are joined by a diverter which is an air prism. This illustrates the possibility of assembling elementary optical devices by all types of prisms to create light walls of non-planar free shapes.

This may be useful for adapting the shape of a light wall to architectural or other needs, but also to change the orientation of the light rays returned by each elementary optical device. Figures 7 and 8 show variants of light walls according to the invention, the condensers 115, 125 and following converge only in one direction, but are convergent or divergent depending on the case in another direction. In the arrangement of FIG. 7, each condenser converges the light rays coming from the associated deviator onto a segment or a point, which is advantageous for example when the light wall is associated with a set of filters, which can then be to be small. In this particular version, the convergent lenses may be short-focal, In this case, the light received from said light input zone 2 and reflected by a deflector 113 is focused on a so-called F point and diverges again in its direction. away from the luminous wall. We can focus on all these points Fl F2, F3 and following elements constituting an image that is backlit by the light wall. Thus, the rest of the front face of the light wall remains free and allows in particular to let the ambient light into the light wall by its front face. An improvement of the device consists in that the portion of the rear face of the light wall which does not include deviators 113, 123 and following emits light. It may for example include a mirror 8 reflecting the ambient light forward of the light wall.

Figure 3 shows the detail of the different parts of an elementary optical device. In particular, there are areas 118a and 118b that can be transparent and pass other light sources in the direction of the condenser 115, for example ambient light. Figures 14 and 15 show how to arrange a mirror 8 for these areas 30 to reflect ambient light to improve the brightness of the device. The light wall may also include several sets of diverters associated with the same set of condensers. These sets of deviators can be powered by a single light source, through the same light guide 9, or powered by separate light sources. FIG. 14 shows the front face of a light wall made of elementary optical devices, provided with a light source 5 and a parabolic reflector 6 sending light into the side wall of said light guide 9. A mirror 8 sends back the ambient light towards the front face of the light wall. Advantageously, the three sides of said light guide other than that receiving light from the light source 5 are mirrors. The light escapes as deviators 113, 123 and following. Figure 15 shows a device similar to that of Figure 14 seen from the back, provided with two sets of light-emitting diverters 113a and 113b 45 through the same set 1000 of condensers 115, in two different directions. The deflectors are advantageously located at the front of the rear parallel-face plate 9b, and at the rear of the parallel-front plate 9a, to lie in the plane of focus of the following condensers 115, 125 and 50. Another improvement of the device is to allow the user to change the geometry of the device. A preferred solution is that the assembly 1000 of the condensers 115, 125 and following is movable relative to all the deviators 113, 123 and following. The device illustrated in FIG. 21 makes it possible to modify the orientation of the beam emitted by the device. It is important that this shift does not result in the light rays coming from a deflector 113 no longer completely reach the condenser 115 associated therewith. An improvement consists in using condensers with two successive convergent lenses. It is illustrated by FIG. 21 which shows two sets of condensers 1000 and 1001 which are both mobile relative to the set of deviators 113, 123 'and following, which are integral with the parallel-face blade 9. The centers The lenses of the two lenses constituting a condenser are mechanically aligned with the center of the deflector 113 with which this condenser cooperates, because the plates 9, 1000 and 1001 are interconnected by rods 2001, 2002 and following.

It is also possible to provide the device with a means of modifying the distance between the assembly 1000 of the condensers 115, 125 and following and the set of deviators 113, 123 and following. Such a modification has the effect of modifying the emission angle of the elementary light beams, and may for example allow to concentrate more or less the beam emitted by the device. By coupling the modifying means with the focal length adjustment of the lens of a camera, this makes it possible to adapt the illumination of the subject to the focal length chosen by the operator (version not shown). In a preferred embodiment, the light wall comprises a light modulation and / or filtering device such as an electronic or printed image. This device may for example be arranged on the side of the condensers 115, 125 and following. The invention is then an electronic screen or a backlit display. To design a very large number of different types of optical apparatus, it is possible to add all types of complementary optical elements 25 between the light wall and the viewer, such as for example: modulation and / or filtering devices light (liquid crystal displays, filters, color filter matrices, translucent printed images that can be coded to cooperate with a lenticular array), 30 - spherical or cylindrical lenses, Fresnel lenses, for example to expand in a given direction the field illuminated by the luminous wall, - prismatic deflectors, secondary lenticular arrays for creating 3D animations, etc. Filters or other optical elements can also be associated with an input area of the light 112, a deviator 113 , a light transmitter 114 and / or a condenser 115. The light wall can emit light simultaneously in different predefined directions. To do this, it suffices to associate several deviators 113, 113a and following with a concentrator 115. The person skilled in the art who knows how to handle the images encoded for lenticular networks can obtain all the effects of the lenticular networks (3D, animation, etc. .) by arranging said deviators as the pixels of an encoded image. To obtain 3D images, all you need to do is to have colored filters in front of the deviators considered. It is particularly advantageous to take up the pixel layout proposed by the patent published under No. WO9820392 by Franck Guigan et al., And to use capacitors which are spherical lenses. The luminous wall may also comprise three light sources of different colors and three sets of deviators associated with the same set 1000 of condensers, for example to constitute a transmitter of electronic images in color. A pixel can be constituted on this frosted by the projection of a color by the deviator located vis-a-vis, that of a second color by the deviator of the upper line and that of a third color by the deflector of the lower line. In the arrangement of FIG. 8, the light rays coming from a deflector 113 diverge downwards and upwards, which can make it possible, for example, to specialize the lines of elementary optical devices by elementary color. One line may emit red, the next green, the third blue, and so on. The three colors are then mixed on a not shown projection surface, which may for example be a frosted surface. Additive synthesis is thus done on the frosted to create pixels of all possible colors. With the same method of constructing pixels by the projection of light emanating from neighboring deflectors, a luminous wall according to the invention may also comprise six light sources of different colors R1, R2, V1, V2, Bi and B2, and six sets of deviators associated with the same set 1000 of condensers, for example to illuminate alternately two different images with two additive syntheses R1 V1 Bi on the one hand, and R2 V2 and B2 on the other hand, each of the two syntheses being blocked by a filter of a pair of glasses so that the two eyes of the viewer see different images (application to 3D). The emission of the green and blue red colors in the direction of the lines of basic optical devices can be done by three light walls according to the invention associated as shown in Figure 6. The upstream light walls 1c and 1d can then each be replaced by three luminous walls each emitting their color towards a line on three. It is also possible to place colored filters on the deflectors of the light walls 1Y and 1d.

In a version not shown, two sets of deviators are associated, the deviators of a first set are arranged on the front face of a first parallel-sided blade, and those of a second set are arranged on the rear face of a second parallel-faced blade contiguous to the front of said first blade. The two sets of deviators are then located in the same plane, and each emits the light emitted by the light source associated with one or other of the parallel-sided blades. A series of elementary optical devices can also emit light in one direction and another series in another. The light sources 30 corresponding to the transmissions in the different directions can be switched on and off sequentially, and the images intended for the different directions can be displayed in the same sequence. The faces of said light guide 9 according to the invention are not necessarily flat or developable shapes. FIG. 24 is a perspective view of a simplified light wall, very inexpensive, reduced to a rod of oval section of which part of the wall constitutes a cylindrical lens 115, and whose face opposite this condenser comprises a diverter 113 located substantially in the plane of focus of said cylindrical lens 115. A section of this rod is shown in Figure 25. This rod can be rigid or flexible. It 40 may comprise stiffeners (not shown) to be able to be wound in one plane. A luminous wall according to the invention may also consist of the juxtaposition of such rods, as shown in FIG. 26. In the example of this figure, the deflectors are concave mirrors, which diffuse a divergent beam into a beam. 45 direction parallel to the longitudinal axis of said rod, but converge in a direction perpendicular to this axis. The condenser converging the beam only in the direction perpendicular to said longitudinal axis, the light beam from each elementary optical device 11 is thus controlled in both directions and can be a directional beam. Figure 9 shows a luminaire according to the invention. It comprises a light source 5 directed upwards by a parabolic reflector 6. The light is then distributed by the deviators and emitted horizontally in all directions. Such a luminaire can be placed on a table and illuminate it without blinding people whose eyes are located above the luminaire. Fig. 12 shows a planar luminaire according to the invention. It comprises a light source 5 directed horizontally by two deviators 6a and 6b. The light is then distributed by the deviators and deflected by the diopters 115, 125 and following to exit vertically from the luminaire. Such a luminaire can be placed on a table and ceiling without blinding people whose eyes are located above the luminaire. Inverted and fixed in height, it can light a table or a room without blinding people who are not placed directly in his field. An unrepresented variant of this luminaire may be of convex shape, and fold like an umbrella.

For other applications, it may however be very useful to orient the light rays from the light wall in other directions. This is the case of the examples of FIGS. 10 and 11. FIG. 10 shows a variant that is particularly adapted to vehicle headlights. The light rays are emitted horizontally but the wall itself is very inclined to adapt to the shape of the vehicle body at this location. Those skilled in the art can design and arrange the convergent lenses 115, 125 and following to make them converge or diverge as desired as needed.

A wall according to the invention may be flat or curved. The curvature can be very complex, both in the direction of propagation of light rays, or in the direction perpendicular to this direction. Figure 11 shows a variant of the light wall of Figure 10, with a more complex shape. It shows one of the many methods that the skilled person can implement to adapt the light wall to the shape of a body. The main applications of the present invention are the backlighting devices for video screens (televisions, computers, cameras, game consoles, telephones, dashboards, etc.) or for printed images (photo frames, billboards, signs , etc.), fixed or animated 3D vision devices, radiant heaters and weapons, lights, headlamps of all types (including headlights for automobiles, boats and aircraft, and lighting urban), car and road signage, toys and gadgets.

Claims (10)

Revendications1. Light wall 1 receiving a light flux through a light input zone 2 in a transparent element called light guide 9, comprising at least two juxtaposed elementary optical devices 11 and 12, an elementary optical device 11 comprising: a portion of said guide light source 9 itself comprising: - a light input zone 112 - a light transmission zone 114 towards the light input zone 122 of an adjacent optical element device 12 - one or more said side faces having portions which are smooth and totally reflect the light rays reaching them with a high incidence, - and at least one deviator 113 which deflects part of the light coming directly or indirectly from said zone 112 of entry of the light , and a convergent optical device said condenser 115 associated with at least one deflector 113, again modifying said divergent light beam from t of the deviator considered to reduce its emission angle, characterized in that: - the essential - at least 75% - of the luminosity of said light beam received by a deflector 113 is deviated exclusively to the condenser 115 to which it is associated, - and that the essential - at least 75% - of the brightness of the light beam arriving at a condenser 115 comes from or deviators 113, 113a, 113b and following which it is associated. it being specified that the light beam received by a deflector 113 above means all the light rays conveyed by said light guide 9, both directly from the light entry zone 2 and by total reflection of light. a so-called lateral face to another. 2. Light wall 1 according to claim 1 characterized in that said condenser 115 is an elliptical concave mirror, and the associated deviator 113 is located at one of the centers of the ellipse considered; 3. Light wall 1 according to claim 1 characterized in that it comprises a mirror 7 located on the side of the optical guide 9 which is 40 opposite said light input zone 2, a second mirror 7a located on the opposite side to that of the mirror 7, that the two mirrors 7 and 7a mutually send back the light rays that pass through said light guide, and that there are opposing deflectors 113a and 113b juxtaposed and associated with the same condenser 115. 45 4. Luminous wall 1 according to claim 1 characterized in that the assembly 1000 of the condensers 115, 125 and following is movable relative to all deviators 113, 123 and following. 5. Light wall 1 according to claim 1 characterized in that a condenser 115 consists of two convergent lenses 115a 50 and 115b, whose optical centers are substantially aligned with the center of the deflector 113a with which it cooperates. 6. Luminous wall 1 according to claim 1 characterized in that said light guide 9 comprises an elongated volume whose cross section comprises a curvature which constitutes the condensers 115, 55 125 and following. 15 20 7. Light wall 1 according to claim 1 characterized in that the portion of the rear face of the light wall which does not include deviators 113, 123 and following emits light. 8 light wall 1 according to claim 1 characterized in that it comprises several deviators associated with the same condenser. 9. Light wall 1 according to claim 1 characterized in that it receives light from a light source of a device 1X comprising a light input zone 2X and a series of at least two optical devices elementary juxtaposed 11X, 12X and following, an elementary optical device 11X comprising: a lateral zone 112X called light input zone, - an optical device said 113X diffuser which has the property of deflecting a light beam by causing it to diverge, a device said optical hub 115X which has the property of deflecting a light beam by converging it, and a lateral zone 114X of light transmission to the input light zone 122X of the adjacent elementary optical device 12X. 10. Product with a luminous wall 1 according to claim 1.20