JP2001066648A - Illumination device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To diffract the light exiting through an illumination device equipped with a light-transmitting element into a desired direction, to fast scan the space with the light in various directions, and to illuminate a wide range with light of low energy quantity. SOLUTION: In this illumination device, the light from a light source 102 is made to enter an illuminator 101 having a light-transmitting element 103 consisting of a substance having conjugate electrons on which a specified electric field is applied. By fast and continuously changing the intensity and direction of the electric field applied on the light-transmitting element 103, the exiting light is diffracted and scanned so as to emit light spots with low energy quantity in various directions. Thus, the space of a wide range can be effectively illuminated.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an illuminating device which exerts an illumination effect by scanning light emitted from a light source at a high speed.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In the case of illuminating indoors or outdoors, the power consumption becomes enormous as the number of objects to be irradiated with light increases. If a huge amount of power is required, it will be necessary to construct a facility to generate the power, which will result in the destruction of nature and costly construction, maintenance and management of power transmission facilities. There is a possibility that there are many undesirable points from the viewpoint of promoting

[0003]

Accordingly, in the present invention, a wide range of illumination can be effectively realized with low energy by scanning the traveling direction of light capable of illuminating a predetermined area in multiple directions at a high speed. It is intended to provide an illuminating device which can be used.

[0004]

The illumination device of the present invention comprises at least one or more light transmitting elements made of a substance having conjugated electrons, and electric field applying means for applying an electric field to the light transmitting elements. An illuminator in which a light refraction device to be provided is arranged, and a light source that emits light that enters light into each of the light transmitting elements of the light refraction device that constitutes the illuminator. The light refraction device is disposed in the illuminator, and the magnitude of the electric field applied to the light transmitting element constituting the light refraction device,
Or, the direction can be changed as appropriate,
The change in the electric field changes the electronic state of the substance having the conjugated electrons, thereby changing the refractive index of the light transmitting element.

According to the illuminating device of the present invention, the refractive index of the light transmitting element changes at high speed by changing the magnitude or direction of the electric field applied to the light transmitting element. I do. That is, by changing the magnitude or direction of the applied electric field at high speed and continuously, the refractive index of the light transmitting element can be changed continuously and at high speed. Light can be scanned at high speed from an illuminator, and illumination in a desired range can be performed with a low energy amount by using an afterimage phenomenon.

[0006]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An illumination device according to the present invention comprises at least one or more light transmitting elements made of a substance having conjugated electrons, and electric field applying means for applying an electric field to the light transmitting elements. It has an illuminator in which the light refraction device is arranged, and a light source that emits light that enters light into each of the light transmitting elements of the light refraction device that constitutes the illuminator. The light refraction device is disposed in the illuminator, and the magnitude or direction of the electric field applied to the light transmitting element by the electric field applying means can be changed as appropriate. The electronic state of the substance is changed so that the refractive index of the light transmitting element changes, and light incident on the light transmitting element and emitted therefrom can be scanned at high speed.

Hereinafter, an example of the lighting device of the present invention will be described.
Although described with reference to the drawings, the lighting device of the present invention is not limited to the examples shown below.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a lighting device according to the present invention.
The lighting device 100 includes an illuminator 101 that irradiates light to an indoor space 107 and a light source 102 that irradiates light L into the illuminator 101. The illuminator 101 has a light transmitting element 1 made of a substance having conjugated electrons.
And a light refraction device 105 comprising an electric field applying means 104 for applying an electric field to the light transmitting element 103.
Light is incident on the light transmitting element 103 through the light transmitting element 103. Light transmitting element 1 constituting the light refracting device 105
03 may be plural or singular.

Light transmitting element 1 constituting light refracting device 105
Numeral 03 is made of a substance having conjugated electrons. By changing the magnitude or direction of the electric field applied by the electric field applying means 104, the electronic state of the substance having conjugated electrons is changed, and light transmission is performed. The refractive index of the element 103 is changed.

In FIG. 1, light L from a light source 101 is incident on a light refracting device 105 in a lighting device 101 which is constituted by a light transmitting element 103 and an electric field applying means 104.

In the light refracting device 105, an electric field applying means
104 changes the magnitude or direction of the applied electric field.
Changes the electronic state of the light transmitting element 103 and refracts it.
Since the rate changes, this electric field change is performed at high speed and continuously.
Change of the electronic state of the light transmitting element
Can be changed continuously and incident on the photorefractive device.
Light can be refracted at an angle corresponding to each refractive index,
Light L emitted from here ^'Scan in the desired traveling direction
be able to. Outgoing light L^'Scanning in the direction of travel
1 by utilizing the afterimage phenomenon of light due to
Effective indoor space 107 with low energy light
Can be illuminated.

The light refracting device 105 in the illuminator 101 constituting the lighting device 100 shown in FIG. 1 may be a single light refracting device as shown in FIG. 1, and a plurality of light refracting devices 105 are appropriately arranged. It may be. The light incident on the light transmitting element may be any of ultraviolet light, infrared light, visible light, monochromatic light, and polychromatic light.

Here, the afterimage phenomenon of light due to high-speed scanning in the traveling direction of light will be described below. In the following, a specific example in which illumination is performed with the same power as a flashlight will be described, but the present invention is not limited to this example.

For example, a flashlight for 1.5 volts
A bulb with a tolerance of 2.5 volts, 0.5 amps is used. Since the resistance of this light bulb is 5 [Ω],
When connected to a 1.5 volt battery, a current of 0.3 amps flows, so the power consumed by this bulb is 1.5 volts x 0.3 amps = 0.45 watts Become.

When illuminating a wall 3 m away with this flashlight, it is assumed that the spot is focused and a spot having a diameter of 10 cm is formed on the wall. Now, one side shown in FIG.
A case where the indoor space 107 of a room having a cube of [m] is illuminated will be considered as an example. In this case, since the portion other than the ceiling where the illuminator 101 is installed is illuminated,
The total area of the region that needs to be irradiated with light is 3 [m] × 3 [m] × 5 [surface] = 45 [m ² ] = 45 ×
It becomes 10 ⁴ [cm ² ]. When this area is scanned, for example, 100 times per second, and illuminated, the total area of the area that needs to be irradiated with light is 45 × 10 ⁴ [cm ² ] × 100 [times] = 45 × 10 ⁶
[Cm ² ]. On the other hand, by approximating the size of the spot of the light bulb described above, 10 [cm] × 10 [cm] = 100 [cm ² ] = 1 ×
10 ² and [cm ^2], by scanning a spot of this size, to fill the total area of the region where it is necessary to irradiate light, 45 × 10 ⁶ [cm ^2] / 1 × 10 ² [ cm ² ] = 45
× 10 ⁴ spots are required for one second. In order to realize this, the irradiation time per spot is 1 [sec] / 45 × 10 ⁴ [pieces] ≒ 2 × 10 ⁻⁶ [sec] /
[Individual]. That is, when illuminating a cubic room with one side of 3 [m], the human eye is continuously illuminated by scanning at a speed of about 2 [μsec] per spot. You can see it.

As described above, even if the illuminable area per spot is in a narrow range, by scanning this light at high speed, the human eye can continuously illuminate a wide range by the afterimage phenomenon. The effect that looks like is obtained. For example, by scanning the illumination area up to about 100 times per second, the human eye feels that every corner is irradiated. That is, even in the case of a miniature bulb using a 1.5 volt dry cell, by utilizing the afterimage phenomenon of the human eye, the same brightness as when using lighting equivalent to several hundred watts of power is used. Can be obtained.

Here, with respect to the light transmitting element 103 of the light refracting device 105 constituting the illuminating device shown in FIG. 1, the principle of refracting outgoing light in a required direction and scanning it at high speed will be described below. This will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 2 shows a state diagram in which light L is incident from the light source 3 to the light transmitting element 2 made of the same material as the light transmitting element 103 to which an electric field is applied by the electric field applying means 4. The light transmissive element 2 in FIG. 2 is made of a substance having conjugated electrons having a first optical surface 2a and a second optical surface 2b which are non-parallel surfaces. An electric field E is applied by an electric field applying means 4 composed of a first electrode 11 and a second electrode 12 of the electrodes.

In the electric field applying means 4, the first electrode 1
The first and second electrodes 12 are arranged to face each other with the light transmitting element 2 interposed therebetween, and by controlling the voltage between them, the electric field E applied to the light transmitting element 2 is controlled to a required value.
At this time, by changing the intensity and direction of the applied electric field, the electronic state of the constituent material of the light transmitting element 2 changes, and the refractive index changes. Accordingly, the incident light L passes through the light transmitting element 2. Can be bent in a predetermined direction. That is, when the refractive index of the light transmitting element 2 of the light incident on the light transmitting element from the light source 3 changes, the direction of the emitted light changes at high speed in response to the change. For example, as shown in FIG.
The direction of the outgoing light can be changed in the z-direction in the figure, from L ₁ to L ₂ .

Further, in the principle diagram shown in FIG. 2, the case where a pair of electrodes are arranged on the paper surface, that is, perpendicular to the yz plane in the drawing with the light transmitting element 2 interposed therebetween has been described. The light refraction device 105 applied to the illumination device 100 of the present invention shown in FIG. 1 is not limited to this example, and the light transmissive element is arranged in a paper plane, that is, in a plane direction parallel to the yz plane. A pair of electrodes are provided in parallel with the
The present invention can be similarly applied to a case where an electric field applying means using more than a pair of electrodes is arranged.

In FIG. 3, a pair of electrodes are arranged perpendicularly to the paper plane, that is, the yz plane in the figure, and the third electrode 13 and the fourth electrode 13 are arranged in a plane direction parallel to the yz plane. An example of a configuration in which the electric field applying means 40 composed of the electrode 14 is arranged in parallel with the light transmitting element 2 interposed therebetween is shown. In each of the electric field applying means 4 and 40 having such an arrangement, the light transmitting element 2
When an electric field is applied to the light transmitting element 2 to change its intensity and direction, the electronic state of the constituent material of the light transmitting element 2 changes accordingly, the refractive index changes, and the incident light L passes through the light transmitting element 2. Can be bent in a predetermined direction.

The illumination device 10 of the present invention shown in FIG.
0, as shown in FIG.
A configuration in which three pairs of electrodes are arranged may be employed. In the example shown in FIG. 4, the first electrode 11 and the second electrode 12 have a positional relationship that is perpendicular to the paper surface, that is, the yz plane in the drawing, and perpendicular to the first electrode 11 and the second electrode 12. ,
Fifth electrode 15 of a pair of electrodes transparent to incident light
And an electric field applying means 50 comprising the sixth electrode 16 is arranged. The fifth electrode 15 and the sixth electrode 16 which are electrodes transparent to these incident lights
Can be formed of, for example, ITO or SiO _x .

Further, in the above-described example, the case where the fifth electrode 15 and the sixth electrode 16 are a pair of electrodes which are transparent to incident light has been described. It is not limited to, an electrode partially having a portion that is transparent to incident light, an electrode partially having a translucent portion, may be formed of a material that is entirely translucent. it can.

In the example in which a plurality of electrode pairs are arranged as the electric field applying means, the first electrode 11 and the second electrode 12
, A predetermined electric field is applied between the third electrode 13 and the fourth electrode 14, and a predetermined electric field is also applied between the fifth electrode 15 and the sixth electrode 16. Apply a predetermined electric field,
The direction and intensity of these electric fields are adjusted, the electronic state of the constituent material of the light transmitting element 2 is changed accordingly, the refractive index thereof is changed, and the incident light L is passed through the light transmitting element 2 to a predetermined level. Direction.

The light refracting device 105 constituting the illuminating device 100 of the present invention shown in FIG. 1 may have a structure in which two or more light transmitting elements are arranged. For example, the example of the light refraction device shown in FIG. 5 has a configuration in which two light transmission elements, that is, a first light transmission element 31 and a second light transmission element 32 are arranged on the same straight line. is there. In this case, the second light transmitting element 32 is the first light transmitting element 3 in this example.
It is assumed that the same shape as in FIG. 1 is rotated by 90 ° around the y-axis in FIG.

First optical surface 31 of first light transmitting element 31
On the a side, a light source 33 that emits any one of ultraviolet light, infrared light, visible light, monochromatic light, and polychromatic light is disposed, and light emitted from the light source 33 is transmitted to the first light transmitting element 31 and the second light transmitting element. Through the light-transmitting element 32.

Further, both the first light transmitting element 31 and the second light transmitting element 32 are provided with electric field applying means 35 for applying an electric field of a predetermined size and direction. The electric field applying means 35 is, for example, a first light transmitting element 3 and a second light transmitting element 3.
A pair of electrodes 36 and 37 and electrodes 38 and 37 arranged in parallel across 1 and 32 can be applied.

First optical surface 31 of first light transmitting element 31
a is inclined in the z-axis direction in FIG. Further, the second light transmitting element 32 moves the first light transmitting element 31 around the y-axis by 9 degrees.
Since it is rotated by 0 °, the second optical surface 32a is inclined in the x-axis direction in FIG.

The first light transmitting element 32 is formed by a first electric field applying means 35a and a second electric field applying means 35b constituted by a pair of electrodes 36 and 37 and electrodes 38 and 37.
A predetermined electric field is applied to each of the first light transmitting element 31 and the light L from the light source 33 is incident on the first optical surface 31a. In this case, the first and second electric field applying means 35a and 35b have different electric fields E ₁ and E, respectively.
₂ can be applied.

In the first light transmitting element 31, since the incident surface and the outgoing surface are inclined in the yz plane in FIG. 5, the light emitted from the first light transmitting element 31 is refracted in the z direction. . In addition, since the incident surface and the outgoing surface of the second light transmitting element 32 are inclined in the xy plane in FIG. 5, the light emitted from the second light transmitting element 32 is refracted in the x direction.

As described above, the light entrance surface and the light exit surface of the light transmitting elements 31 and 32 are aligned with the xy plane and the yz plane shown in FIG.
By making it inclined in one of the plane and the xz plane, the light emitted from each light transmitting element is refracted in a desired direction, and the intensity and direction of the electric field of the electric field applying unit 35 are set to predetermined values. By continuously changing each of the electrodes 36 and 37 and the electrodes 38 and 37, the emitted light can be freely scanned.

In the example shown in FIG. 5, the case where the first light transmitting element 31 and the second light transmitting element 32 are arranged separately from each other has been described. The light transmitting element applied to the light refraction device described above is not limited to this example. In another example shown below, a case will be described in which two or more light transmitting elements are in contact with each other on one main surface, and one anisotropic light transmitting element is configured as a whole.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a light transmitting element 60 which is a main part of another example of the light refracting device constituting the illumination device. 7A shows a side view of the light transmitting element 60 as viewed from the yz plane side, and FIG. 7B shows a top view of the light transmitting element 60 as viewed from the xy plane side.

As shown in the side view of FIG. 7A, the a-plane of the light transmitting element 60 shown in FIG. 6 has its oblique side inclined with respect to the yz plane. The b surface of the light transmitting element 60 is shown in FIG.
As shown in the top view, the oblique side is inclined with respect to the xz plane.

In FIG. 8, an electric field of a predetermined strength and direction is applied to the light transmitting element 60 shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B by an electric field applying means 110 comprising a pair of electrodes 111 and 112, for example. FIG. 3 shows a schematic side view of a state where light is incident on the light transmitting element 60 from FIG. As shown in FIG.
The incident light L is first refracted by the a-plane and changes in the z-direction in FIG. Further, as shown in FIG. 9, the light is refracted by the b-plane, and changes in the x direction in FIG. That is, when the anisotropic light transmitting element 60 as shown in FIG. 6 is used, finally, the emitted light can be freely scanned in the xz plane.

Here, the light transmitting element 103 of the light refracting device 105 constituting the illuminating device 100 shown in FIG. 1 is made of a substance having conjugated electrons, which will be described in detail below. .

In molecular theory, a structure in which every other double bond and a single bond are connected is called a conjugated double bond, and a structure in which every other triple bond and a single bond are connected is a conjugated triple bond. Called the structure. These are collectively called a conjugated multiple bond structure. A material having such a structure can be applied as a material of the light transmitting element 103.

Further, a structure having only one double bond and a structure having only one triple bond are also included in the structure of the conjugated multiple bond. In these, not only those having the same atoms bonded but also those having a structure in which different kinds of atoms are bonded to form a conjugated multiple bond.
Further, for example, those having a structure having a double bond and an unpaired electron such as an allyl group, and, for example, such as acetamide,
A structure having a double bond and a lone electron pair is also included. In addition, a case where there is superconjugation due to pseudo π (pi) electrons, such as a methyl group, is also included here as a substance having conjugated electrons.

That is, a conjugated electron is a π electron, an unpaired electron, a lone electron pair, or a pseudo π electron. Thus, a substance containing at least one of the conjugated electrons is referred to as a substance having conjugated electrons.

The conjugated electrons described above have a property that they are easily affected by an external electric field. This is because conjugated electrons move along interatomic bonds when an external electric field is applied. In particular, in a substance having a structure of a conjugated multiple bond composed of many π electrons, the spread of π electrons becomes large, so that the π electrons move more easily and are strongly affected by an external electric field.

When the molecule is not electrically neutral and has a positive or negative electric bias, it is more strongly affected by an external electric field. As described above, when an external electric field is applied to a substance having conjugated electrons, the distribution of conjugated electrons in a molecule changes as compared with a case where no external electric field is applied. This change in the electronic state changes depending on the direction and strength of an external electric field applied to the substance having conjugated electrons. That is, when the original electronic state of a molecule is affected by an external electric field, the state changes to a different electronic state. This means that the substance has new electrical characteristics depending on the direction and magnitude of the applied external electric field.

When an external electric field is applied to a substance having conjugated electrons, the light absorption intensity of the molecules also changes. If this molecule is not electrically neutral and has a positive or negative electric bias, it is more strongly affected by an external electric field, and the light absorption intensity also changes greatly.

Here, when a state change occurs due to the external influence of the molecule of the substance having a conjugated electron described above,
The time required for this state change will be described using light absorption as an example.

The above-mentioned substance having conjugated electrons absorbs light such as ultraviolet rays, visible light, infrared rays, etc. as an increase in the kinetic energy of the conjugated electrons, and as a result, the range of movement of the electrons is widened. Light absorption occurs within the time required for light to pass through the molecule. For example, if the wavelength is 500 [n
m] takes 500 minutes to travel by one wavelength.
× 10 ⁻⁹ [m] / 3 × 10 ⁸ [m / s], which is 1.67 × 10 ⁻¹⁵ [s], that is,
It is about 2 femtoseconds ( ^10-15 seconds). That is, it is understood that the change in the electronic state of the molecule of the substance having a conjugated electron due to light absorption occurs in about 2 femtoseconds (10 ^-15 seconds).

The outside of a molecule of a substance having a conjugated electron
As for the state change due to the influence, other characteristics are also described above.
The same can be said for the absorbed light. That is, conjugated
Electronic state change of molecules of a substance containing
Approximately 2 femtoseconds [10 ^-15Seconds)
Call

The state of the substance that changes due to the external influence includes, for example, various optical characteristics, for example, a refractive index. The refractive index of a substance has a relation of the square of the refractive index = (dielectric constant) × (magnetic permeability), and is a physical quantity unique to the substance. Therefore, this refractive index also undergoes a state change due to the effect of the external electric field, and the change takes place for 2 femtoseconds (10
^-15 seconds). As described above, the extremely short time required for the state change of a substance having a conjugated electron due to an external electric field means that in the lighting device of the present invention, an electron having a mass of about 1/1800 as compared with an atom. (Conjugated electrons) can be moved.

For example, it is known that the refractive index n of a lithium niobate crystal changes due to an external electric field. For example, assuming that light having a wavelength λ = 682.8 [nm] is incident and the intensity of the external electric field is 5 [V / μm], a change in the refractive index Δ
It has been confirmed that n = 5 × 10 ^-4 (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 52-111439). Similarly, for Sr _0.75 Ba _0.25 Nb ₂ O ₆ , the external electric field strength was 0.05 [ V / μm],
It has been confirmed that the change in the refractive index Δn = 4 × 10 ⁻⁴ (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 50-11547).

The light transmitting element 103 described above can be made of a substance having various conjugated electrons shown below. For example, carotenoid-based materials include β-
Carotene, phycoxanthin, and the like, flavone, flavonol, and anthocyan-based materials can be applied to flavin, anthocyanin, and the like, and porphyrin-based materials can be tetrapyrrole derivatives and the like. In addition, amino acids, nucleic acids, hydrocarbon compounds such as ethylene, and other conjugated electron-bearing substances having a triple bond, such as polyacetylene;
Etc. can also be applied.

In addition, as long as the substance has a so-called conjugated electron, the substance is not limited to an organic substance, but can be similarly applied to an inorganic substance such as glass and silicon dioxide.

Also, mixtures of the above-mentioned various organic substances and various inorganic substances, and further, mixtures of these organic substances and inorganic substances can be applied according to applications.

The shape of the light transmitting element 103 constituting the illuminating device 100 of the present invention is not limited to the shape shown in each of the above examples, and FIGS. 10A to 10H show a part of another example. Thus, it can be applied to various shapes. For example, a plate shape shown in FIG.
0B, spheroidal shape shown in FIG. 10C, FIG.
FIG. 1D shows a meniscus lens shape, FIG. 10E shows a triangular prism shape, FIG.
10G, semi-cylindrical shape shown in FIG. 10G, rod shape having a hollow shown in FIG. , A solid body with the sides of a square pillar bent outward, a solid body with at least one side of a polygonal pillar bent outward or inward, a solid body with the generatrix of a cone bent outward, and other curved surfaces and flat surfaces , And various shapes capable of refracting incident light, such as a solid body combining a plurality of curved surfaces, and the like.

Further, the substance having the conjugated electron is
If they are solid, they can be processed into various shapes.If they are liquids, they can be processed by sealing them with a container made of a material transparent to incident light such as glass or quartz of various shapes. It can be applied as a transmissive element. Further, when the substance having the conjugated electrons is a gas, it is possible to apply the gas by sealing a container made of a material transparent to incident light, such as glass or quartz of the various shapes. it can.

The wavelength of the light incident on the light transmitting element is
It is necessary to select according to the substance applied to the light transmitting element. Hereinafter, this will be described. Light transmitting element 10
In the case where butadiene, hexatriene, tryptophan, and phytochromobilin are used as the substance applied to No. 3, examples of the wavelength of the incident light L applied to each of them are shown in (Table 1). In Table 1, the size of the conjugate system is π
The wavelength of the longest absorption band is the wavelength indicating the peak position of the absorption band on the longest wavelength side.

[0054]

[Table 1]

As shown in Table 1, in butadiene, the wavelength of the longest absorption band, that is, the wavelength showing the maximum absorption of the absorption band is 235 nm. The wavelength may be about 1.4 times as long as 300 nm or more. For hexatriene, the wavelength of the longest absorption band is 273.
nm, and considering the spread of the absorption band, the wavelength of the applied light can be 350 nm or more. For tryptophan, the wavelength of the longest absorption band is 280 nm, and the wavelength of light to be applied can be 400 nm or more in consideration of the spread of the absorption band. For phytochromobilin, the wavelength of the longest absorption band is 690 nm, and the wavelength of light to be applied can be 800 nm or more in consideration of the spread of the absorption band.

As described above, the wavelength of light to be applied is selected to be longer than the longest absorption wavelength because the absorption of a substance having a conjugated electron has a width in an absorption band, not a line spectrum. Therefore, unless the light has a wavelength longer by at least the width of the absorption band than the longest absorption wavelength, the light is absorbed.

Next, as shown in FIG. 11, an incident angle = 60 is applied to the prism 70 made of the substance having the conjugated electrons.
° is the case where light is incident, the prism 70
When the refractive index n is changed in the range of 1.28 to 1.32, the refraction angle r of the emitted light and the change amount Δr of the refraction angle with respect to the case where n is 1.30 are represented by ( It is shown in Table 2).

[0058]

[Table 2]

When the incident angle is 60 °, the refraction angle is r °, and the refractive index is n, the following relational expression is established. r = sin ⁻¹ ｛n × sin [90 ° −sin ⁻¹ (sin
60 ° / n)]｝

According to (Table 2), the refractive index n is 0.
01, the traveling direction of the emitted light is about 3.57.
It can be seen that the degree also changes. At this time, the change in the dielectric constant is only about 0.09 from about 1.69 to about 1.72.
It was found to change by about 3, or about 1.5%.

As described above, the lighting device 100 of the present invention
Is an illumination in which a light refraction device 105 including at least one or more light transmitting elements 103 made of a substance having conjugated electrons and an electric field applying unit 104 for applying an electric field to the light transmitting elements 103 is arranged. Device 101 and the light transmitting element 10 of the light refraction device 105 constituting the illuminator 101
3 and a light source 102 that emits light that enters light. The light refraction device 105 is disposed in the illuminator 101 and constitutes the light refraction device 105.
The magnitude or direction of the electric field applied to the electric field 03 can be changed as appropriate.
The electronic state of a substance having conjugated electrons changes, and the refractive index of the light transmitting element changes.

According to the illuminating device 100 of the present invention, by continuously changing the magnitude or direction of the electric field applied to the light transmitting element, the refractive index of the light transmitting element can be changed at high speed and continuously according to this. The light spot emitted from the light transmitting element can be scanned at high speed. In other words, by scanning the spot of light that irradiates a narrow area at high speed and continuously, it is possible to obtain the same illumination effect as performing wide-area light irradiation by using the afterimage phenomenon of the human eye. Thus, illumination in a desired range can be effectively performed with low energy light.

[0063]

According to the illuminating device 100 of the present invention, by continuously changing the magnitude or direction of the electric field applied to the light transmitting element, the refractive index of the light transmitting element can be increased at a high speed in response to the change. It could be changed continuously, and the spot of light emitted from the light transmitting element could be scanned at high speed.

That is, by scanning the spot of light for irradiating a narrow area at high speed and continuously, the same illumination effect as that of irradiating light over a wide area utilizing the afterimage phenomenon of the human eye can be obtained. Can be obtained, and the desired range of illumination can be effectively performed with a low energy amount of light;
A lighting device capable of greatly reducing power consumption for lighting can be provided.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of a lighting device according to the invention.

FIG. 2 shows a principle diagram of an example of a light refraction device constituting the illumination device of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a principle view of another example of the light refraction device constituting the illumination device of the present invention.

FIG. 4 shows a principle view of another example of the light refraction device constituting the illumination device of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a principle view of another example of the light refraction device constituting the illumination device of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a schematic perspective view showing an example of a light transmitting element constituting a light refraction device portion of the illumination device of the present invention.

FIG. 7 shows a schematic side view of an A light transmitting element. B shows a schematic top view of the light transmitting element.

FIG. 8 is a schematic side view showing a state in which light is incident on an example of the light refraction device.

FIG. 9 is a schematic top view showing a state in which light is incident on an example of the light refraction device.

FIGS. 10A to 10H show examples of the shape of a light transmitting element of a main part of a light refraction device constituting an illumination device.

FIG. 11 shows a state diagram of refraction of outgoing light when the incident angle of light on the prism is 60 °.

[Explanation of symbols]

2,60 light transmitting element, 2a first optical surface, 2b second optical surface, 3,33 light source, 4,35,40,50 electric field applying means, 11 first electrode, 12 second electrode, 1
3 3rd electrode, 14 4th electrode, 15 5th electrode, 16 6th electrode, 31 1st light transmission element, 32
Second light transmitting element, 35a first electric field applying means, 3
5b second electric field applying means, 36 first electrode, 37
Second electrode, 38 Third electrode, 70 Prism, 10
0 lighting device, 101 light collector, 102 light source, 103
Light transmitting element, 104 electric field applying means, 105 light refraction device, 106 optical waveguide, 107 indoor space, 111,
112 electrodes

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Kura Yamoto 6-7-35 Kita-Shinagawa, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo Inside Sony Corporation (72) Inventor Toru Sugimoto 22-15 Kurosuda, Aoba-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa Prefecture F term (reference) 2K002 AA07 AB06 AB07 AB08 BA06 CA03 CA06 HA03

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. An illuminator in which a photorefractive device including at least one or more light transmitting elements made of a substance having conjugated electrons and electric field applying means for applying an electric field to the light transmitting elements is arranged. And a light source that emits light that enters light into each of the light transmitting elements of the light refraction device that constitutes the illuminator. The light refraction device is disposed in the illuminator, and the light transmission The magnitude or direction of the electric field applied to the element can be changed as appropriate, and the change in the electric field changes the electronic state of the substance having the conjugated electrons, thereby changing the refractive index of the light transmitting element. An illuminating device, wherein light that changes and enters a light transmitting element is scanned at high speed from the illuminator. 2. A first material comprising a substance having conjugated electrons.
, A second light transmitting element made of a substance having conjugated electrons, and electric field applying means for applying an electric field to the first light transmitting element and the second light transmitting element. The lighting device according to claim 1, further comprising an illuminator on which the light transmitting element is arranged. 3. The lighting device according to claim 2, wherein the first light transmitting element and the second light transmitting element are arranged separately. 4. The lighting device according to claim 2, wherein the first light transmitting element and the second light transmitting element are arranged in contact with each other on one main surface. 5. The lighting device according to claim 1, wherein the electric field applying means is at least a pair of electrodes arranged in parallel with the light transmitting element interposed therebetween. 6. At least a part of said electric field applying means,
The lighting device according to claim 1, wherein the lighting device is transparent or translucent for transmitting incident light. 7. The lighting device according to claim 1, wherein the light incident on the light transmitting element is any one of ultraviolet light, infrared light, visible light, monochromatic light, and polychromatic light.