JP2000222908A - Manufacture of linear illuminant - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To manufacture a compact linear illuminant, providing side light emission having strong directivity even with little power, allowing reduction of restriction of installation location with good mass-productivity and low costs. SOLUTION: In this manufacturing method, a linear illuminant outgoes incident light from a light source arranged at least at longitudinal one end of a light emitting means 2 comprising a transparent columnar light guide matter 4 from longitudinal side surface of the light emitting means 2. When at least one strip light reflecting layer 5 is formed along longitudinal side surface of the columnar light guide matter 4, the layer 5 is formed by printing system with inline at side surface of the light guide matter 4 extended in a extrusion process of the light guide matter 4.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a linear luminous body which is excellent in water resistance and environmental resistance and can be driven with low power consumption.
In particular, the present invention relates to a method for inexpensively manufacturing a linear luminous body suitably used for a scanner with excellent mass productivity.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, linear luminous bodies include a neon tube, a fluorescent tube, a cold cathode tube and the like, which require a high voltage and consume a power of about several tens of watts per meter. It is expensive and requires a device for lighting such as an inverter, so that the cost is high. In addition, when it is desired to bend and use, advanced glasswork by a skilled worker is required, resulting in a high cost. Furthermore, there were also problems in impact resistance and water resistance.

In order to solve these problems, an optical transmission tube in which a flexible tube is filled with a transparent core liquid or a flexible transparent polymer, or a device in which a plastic optical fiber is twisted have been proposed. In these, the light coming from the light source is made incident from one end of the tube and emitted from the side of the tube over a length of several tens of meters, so that the light source and the light emitting part can be separated and there is no risk of breakage. It can be used underwater, outdoors, or in an environment where there is a danger of explosion.It does not require complicated processing such as glasswork, and is easy to manufacture, and has good workability and workability. Was.

[0004]

However, the light tube is intended to emit light over a length of about several tens of meters, and the luminous efficiency of the side surface is low. For this reason,
Sufficient brightness cannot be obtained with a low-power light source.
A high-power light source of about 0 W has been used. Therefore, even when a short light tube of about several tens of centimeters emits light, a high-power light source is required as in the case of a neon tube or a fluorescent lamp.

In order to increase the brightness of the peripheral surface of the light transmission tube, it is conceivable to form irregularities on the inner surface of the tubular cladding or to disperse particles having a light scattering property in the core. Since light is emitted in all directions in the cross-sectional direction, it was not possible to obtain sufficiently high luminance in a desired direction.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention solves the above-mentioned conventional problems and is a linear illuminator capable of obtaining side emission having strong directivity even with a small power. An object of the present invention is to provide a method for producing a body with good mass productivity and at low cost.

[0007]

According to the present invention, there is provided a method of manufacturing a linear light-emitting body, comprising the steps of: applying light incident from a light source provided at at least one end in a longitudinal direction of a light-emitting means comprising a transparent columnar light guide; A linear light-emitting body for emitting light from a longitudinal side surface of the light emitting means, wherein at least one strip-shaped light reflecting layer is formed on the side surface of the columnar light guide along the longitudinal direction. In the method for manufacturing a columnar light guide, in the step of extruding the columnar light guide, a light reflection layer is formed in-line by a printing method on a side surface of the extruded columnar light guide.

[0008] In the linear luminous body manufactured in the present invention, the light passing through the columnar light guide is formed because the strip-like light reflection layer is formed along the longitudinal direction of the side surface of the columnar light guide. Since the light is reflected by the light reflecting layer and emitted from the side opposite to the light reflecting layer as a high-luminance band-like light having high directivity, strong side emission can be obtained, and the light must be in a very bright state. Can be.

According to the present invention, such a light reflecting layer can be easily and efficiently formed with high mass productivity by an in-line printing method.

The printing system employed in the present invention is preferably continuous offset printing, gravure printing or letterpress printing using a transfer roll made of rubber or foam having a rubber hardness of 50 ° or less.

The reflecting material contained in the light reflecting layer is one or two selected from the group consisting of metal oxide fine particles, inorganic compound fine particles, micro air cells, and transparent organic resin particles.
More than one kind is preferable, and a thermosetting resin or an adhesive is preferable as a binder for fixing such a reflective material.

In the present invention, the circumferential width (perimeter) of the light reflecting layer is preferably 50% or less of the outer circumferential length (diameter × 3.14) of the columnar light guide.

The linear illuminant produced by the method of the present invention is suitable as a linear illuminant for a scanner.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a front view showing an embodiment of a linear light-emitting body manufactured by the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a light-emitting means, and FIG.
FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line III-III in FIG. 2.

The linear luminous body 1 manufactured by the present invention comprises a light emitting means 2 comprising a transparent columnar light guide 4 and a light emitting means 2 comprising the same.
Light source device 3 disposed at least at one end in the length direction
And one or a plurality of strip-shaped light reflection layers 5 are formed on the side peripheral surface of the columnar light guide 4 along the length direction thereof.

In the present invention, the light reflecting layer 5 is formed in-line by a printing method on the side surface of the extruded columnar light guide in the step of extruding the columnar light guide 4.

As the printing method, continuous offset printing, gravure printing or letterpress printing using a transfer roll made of rubber or foam having a rubber hardness of 50 ° or less is preferably employed. By using a transfer roll made of rubber or a foam, continuous printing on a curved surface or an uneven surface becomes possible. The hardness of the transfer roll is more preferably 40 ° or less, particularly preferably 35 ° or less.

According to such a continuous in-line printing method, the light reflecting layer 5 can be printed simultaneously with the production of the columnar light guide 4, thereby increasing the productivity and reducing the production cost of the linear luminous body. It can be further reduced.

In the present invention, a transparent material having a high refractive index is used as a material constituting the columnar light guide 4, and can be selected from plastics, elastomers and the like according to the purpose. Specific examples of the constituent material of the columnar light guide 4 include polystyrene, styrene / methyl methacrylate copolymer, (meth) acrylic resin, polymethylpentene, allyl glycol carbonate resin, spirane resin, amorphous polyolefin, polycarbonate,
Polyamide, polyarylate, polysulfone, polyallylsulfone, polyethersulfone, polyetherimide, polyimide, diallylphthalate, fluororesin, polyestercarbonate, norbornene-based resin (ART
ON), transparent materials such as alicyclic acrylic resin (Optrez), silicone resin, acrylic rubber, silicone rubber, and the like ("(meth) acryl" means "acryl and methacryl").

The light reflecting layer 5 is preferably formed using a paint containing a reflecting material such as a white pigment or a scattering material, wherein the white pigment or the scattering material is a transparent material such as silicone resin particles or polystyrene resin particles. Organic resin particles, Al ₂ O ₃ , T
Metal oxide particles such as iO ₂ and SiO ₂ , sulfate particles such as BaSO ₄ , carbonate particles such as CaCO ₃ , inorganic compound particles such as glass fine powder and glass balloon, and micro air cells. The species can be used alone or in combination of two or more.

In consideration of the reflection efficiency and the printability of the paint, the average particle size of the particles of the white pigment and the scattering material is 0.0
It is preferably about 1 to 20 μm, particularly about 0.05 to 1 μm, and the content in the light reflecting layer is 0.5 to 5 μm.
It is preferably about 0% by weight, especially about 20 to 40% by weight.

As the paint, a thermosetting resin such as an acrylic resin, a urethane resin, an epoxy resin or the like, or an adhesive having an acrylic, rubber, or elastomeric adhesive as a binder can be used.

The width of the light reflecting layer 5 formed by the method of the present invention is preferably 50% or less, particularly preferably 20% or less, of the outer circumference (entire circumference) of the columnar light guide 4. If the thickness of the printed light reflection layer 5 is excessively thin, the light reflection efficiency is not sufficient. Conversely, if the thickness is excessively large, the light reflection efficiency does not greatly differ, but the printing cost rises. In addition, the thickness of the light reflection layer 5 is preferably about 20 to 200 μm.

By forming the light reflecting layer 5 on the columnar light guide 4, the light L incident on the columnar light guide 4 from the light source is reflected by the light reflecting layer 5 as shown in FIG. High luminance side emission can be obtained from the columnar light guide 4.

The linear luminous body 1 produced by the method of the present invention is particularly useful as a linear luminous body of a scanner.

The diameter of the columnar light guide 4 according to the present invention is not particularly limited. However, when the linear light emitter 1 is used as a scanner, the diameter of the columnar light guide 4 is usually 2 to 2
0 mm, especially 3 to 8 mm, and the circumferential width (length in the circumferential direction) of the light reflecting layer 5 is 50% of the outer circumferential length of the columnar light guide 4.
Hereinafter, for example, it is preferably 0.1 to 50%, particularly preferably 20% or less.

In the present invention, it is preferable to use an LED as the light source device. LED emission color is red,
There are blue, green, yellow, orange, white, etc., but they can be arbitrarily selected and used according to the purpose. In addition, the number of LEDs may be one, or a plurality of LEDs may be used to increase the amount of light. In this case, an LED may be provided only at one end of the light emitting means 2 and light may be incident only from the one end, or LEDs may be provided at both ends of the light emitting means 2 and light may be incident from both ends. In particular, when light is incident from both ends, side emission with higher uniformity and higher luminance can be obtained.

Similarly, for the emission color of the LED,
A single color or a plurality of colors may be used. For example, when the linear illuminant of the present invention is installed in a scanner, it can emit a single color in black and white and emit red, green and blue in color.

The LED may be turned on all the time or may be turned on and off.

The linear illuminant shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 is an embodiment of the linear illuminant produced by the method of the present invention. It is not limited to one.

For example, the light emitting means 2 may be inserted into a transparent resin pipe to protect it. Further, in order to protect the light emitting means 2 and to seal the entire linear light emitting body, the whole may be covered with a transparent heat-shrinkable tube.

The number of light reflecting layers is not limited to one, and a plurality of light reflecting layers may be provided. By providing a plurality of light reflecting layers, a plurality of light beams having directivity can be obtained. In this case, it is preferable that the sum of the widths of the plurality of light reflecting layers is 50% or less of the outer peripheral length of the columnar light guide.

To attach the linear light-emitting body thus manufactured to the scanner, the linear light-emitting body is fixed to a scanner joint by a method such as bonding or caulking.

The LED is also fixed in the same manner, and the connection point with the lead wire is made of a material such as epoxy resin or silicone rubber in order to insulate and prevent water, steam, flexible gas or liquid from entering. Protected.

[0036]

The present invention will be described more specifically with reference to examples, comparative examples and reference examples.

Example 1 In the step of extruding an acrylic columnar light guide having a diameter of 6.0 mm, an acrylic paint containing 50% by weight of a silicone resin particle having a diameter of 0.4 μm as a reflector was offset in an in-line manner. By printing, width 1.
0 mm (5% of the outer peripheral length of the columnar light guide), thickness 100 μ
m light reflecting layer was formed in the length direction of the columnar light guide.

The transfer roll used was a rubber roll having a rubber hardness of 30 °.

Opposite side to the light reflection layer forming side when an LED (applied current: 20 mA, emitted light amount: 1.0 lumen) light is incident as a light source from both ends of the obtained columnar light guide (length: 20 cm). Was measured with a Minolta CS100 colorimeter and found to be 50-80 over the entire length.
High luminance of cd / m ² was obtained.

COMPARATIVE EXAMPLE 1 A light emitting means was manufactured in the same manner except that the light reflecting layer was not formed, and light was incident from both ends in the same manner, and the side luminance was measured. ~ 1
It was remarkably low at 0 cd / m ² .

Reference Example 1 A light emitting means was manufactured in the same manner as in Example 1 except that a rubber roll having a rubber hardness of 55 ° was used as a transfer roll. Could not be formed.

[0042]

As described above in detail, according to the present invention, a linear illuminant which can obtain side emission with strong directivity even with low power, is compact, and can greatly reduce the restrictions on the installation place. The luminescent material can be manufactured with good mass productivity and at low cost.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing an embodiment of a linear light-emitting body manufactured by the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a light emitting unit.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line III-III in FIG. 2;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Linear luminous body 2 Light emitting means 3 Light source device 4 Columnar light guide 5 Light reflection layer

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A linear illuminator that emits light incident from a light source provided at at least one end in the length direction of a light emitting unit made of a transparent columnar light guide from a longitudinal side surface of the light emitting unit. A method for manufacturing a linear light-emitting body in which at least one strip-shaped light reflecting layer is formed on a side surface of the columnar light guide along a length direction thereof, extruding the columnar light guide. In the molding step, a method for producing a linear light-emitting body, wherein a light-reflecting layer is formed in-line by a printing method on a side surface of the extruded columnar light-guide. 2. The printing method according to claim 1, wherein the printing method is continuous offset printing, gravure printing or letterpress printing using a transfer roll made of rubber or foam having a rubber hardness of 50 ° or less. A method for producing a linear luminous body. 3. The light-reflecting layer according to claim 1, wherein the reflecting material contained in the light-reflecting layer is one or two selected from the group consisting of metal oxide fine particles, inorganic compound fine particles, micro air cells, and transparent organic resin particles. A method for producing a linear luminous body, characterized by the above. 4. The linear light-emitting body according to claim 1, wherein the binder for fixing the reflecting material contained in the light reflecting layer is a thermosetting resin. Method. 5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the binder for fixing the reflecting material contained in the light reflecting layer is an adhesive. 6. The linear light emission according to claim 1, wherein a circumferential width of the light reflecting layer is 50% or less of an outer circumferential length of the columnar light guide. How to make the body. 7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the linear illuminant is used for a scanner.