JP2001156337A - Light leading body for small-sized electric apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce the cost of a light leading body used for a small-sized electric apparatus, such as the electric razor, etc., as compared with the case where exclusively used light leading bodies are individually molded by only preparing one kind of light leading body and making the light leading body commonly usable, even when the number of light leading bodies used in the apparatus is different. SOLUTION: The light leading body 13 is constituted by integrally molding a plurality of unit light leading bodies 13a. The light leading bodies 13a are separated from each other by parting sections 17 formed of grooves. The body 13 can be used as it is or in such a way that the body 13 is cut into blocks each containing a necessary number of unit light leading bodies 13a. Therefore, a light leading body containing a small number of unit light leading bodies 13a can be obtained by only preparing one kind of light leading body 13.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a light guide applied to small electric devices such as an electric razor and a hair dryer. The light guide is used together with a light source typified by a light emitting diode to guide radiated light from the light source to the outside of the case of a small electric device, and to check the state of the device inside the case and the power on / off state.
It is used to display the off state, the voltage status of the secondary battery, and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art This type of light guide is disclosed in, for example,
No. 71893. There, the light guide is formed in a truncated quadrangular pyramid shape, and a light emitting diode is fitted therein so that the radiated light can be diffused and displayed.
The light emitting diode in this case indicates the control state of the motor for driving the inner blade of the electric shaver.

[0003]

As described above, the light guide and the light emitting diode are often used as indicators for displaying the voltage status of the secondary battery, the ON / OFF state of the motor start switch, and the like. In many cases, it is common to prepare light guides having different shapes and structures according to the types and types of small electric devices. For example, even when the number of light guides used differs between a standard electric shaver and a higher model, light guides for the standard type and a higher model are separately prepared. If a dedicated light guide is provided for each model as described above, the cost of the molding die increases, and the manufacturing cost of the electric shaver increases accordingly.

An object of the present invention is to allow a light guide to be shared even when the number of light guides to be used is different, thereby saving the cost required for molding the light guide, and correspondingly reducing the size of the compact electric guide. An object of the present invention is to reduce equipment manufacturing costs. Another object of the present invention is to provide a single type of light guide in which a plurality of unit light guides are integrally formed, and to apply a light guide having a different structure to a plurality of types of small electrical devices, or It is an object to provide a plurality of unit light guides, and to supply a plurality of types of light guides at low cost.

[0005]

The light guide of the present invention is mounted on the main body case 1 and guides and guides the radiated light from the light source 14 provided in the main body case 1 to the outside of the case. The light guide 13 is a plastic molded product integrally formed with a plurality of unit light guides 13a, including a flat substrate portion 15 and a light projecting portion 16 protruding from the plate surface of the substrate portion 15. Consists of Each unit light guide 13a is connected via a dividing portion 17 including a dangerous cross section, and one or more unit light guides 13a are
The light can be separated from the light guide 13 by dividing at the dividing portion 17.

[0006] The unit light guides 13a are configured so that the outer shape after division is the same. The light projecting part 16 is formed in a bottomed cylindrical shape by a cylindrical wall 19 protruding from a plate surface of the substrate part 15 and a light projecting wall 20 closing a protruding end of the cylindrical wall 19. Each unit light guide 1
A mounting portion 22 for the main body case 1 is provided on each of the substrate portions 15 of 3a. The dividing portion 17 is formed by a groove formed in the substrate portion 15. On the inner surface of the light projecting wall 20 of the light projecting unit 16, a light guide shaft 21 for projecting light emitted from the light source 14 to the light projecting wall 20 is provided in a projecting manner.

[0007]

The light guide 1 is formed by integrally molding a plurality of unit light guides 13a connected via the dividing portion 17.
3, the light guide 13 can be used as it is, of course, the light guide 13 is divided at the dividing portion 17, and only the unit light guide 13a or two or more unit light guides are provided. 13a can be used as a light guide. In other words, a plurality of types of light guides having different structures can be obtained only by preparing one type of light guide 13, so that the cost required for molding each light guide can be reduced, and a corresponding amount can be saved. Only the manufacturing cost of small electrical equipment can be reduced. Since the unit light guides 13a are connected via the dividing portion 17 including the dangerous cross section, a light guide including a predetermined number of unit light guiding members 13a can be obtained by simply cutting the dividing portion 17 in a folded manner. Can be easily obtained.

If the outer shape of each unit light guide 13a after division is the same, for example, from the light guide 13 having four unit light guides 13a to three unit light guides 13a Even when the light guide including the body 13a is divided, the remaining one unit light guide 13a can be effectively used as a light guide for a small electrical device having a display unit provided only at one place. Of course, all of the light guides 13 can be used by being divided into unit light guides 13a.

When the mounting portion 22 for the main body case 1 is provided on each of the substrate portions 15 of the unit light guide 13a,
Even when the unit light guide 13a is used alone, the mounting portion 2
The positioning and fixing with respect to the main body case 1 can be easily performed by using the base 2. The mounting portion 22 is formed by a hole, a groove, a projection, or the like, and is fixed by welding, for example, in a state of engaging with the projection or the hole provided in the main body case 1. The light guide 13 and the unit light guide 13a can be positioned by fitting the light projecting portion 16 formed in a bottomed cylindrical shape into the holding portion 24 provided in the main body case 1.

If the dividing portion 17 is formed as a groove, the bending force and the shearing force at the time of dividing can be concentrated on the groove bottom of the dividing portion 17, so that the dividing operation can be facilitated. Since the divided section is not distorted like a saw blade, there is no need to perform a finishing process after the division, and the divided unit light guide 13a can be used as it is.

According to the light projecting portion structure in which the light guide shaft 21 protrudes from the inner surface of the light projecting wall 20, the transmitted light passing through the light guiding shaft 21 is displayed separately from the transmitted light passing through the light projecting wall 20. it can. Moreover, the transmitted light on the light guide shaft 21 side has a higher luminance than the transmitted light on the light projecting wall 20 side.
Is clearly lit.

[0012]

1 to 5 show an embodiment in which the light guide of the present invention is applied to an electric shaver. In FIG. 2, the electric razor has a head portion including an inner blade 2 and an outer blade 3 at an upper portion of a main body case 1. Inside the main body case 1, a motor 4, a secondary battery 5, and a vibrator 6 for driving the inner blade for converting the rotational power of the motor 4 into reciprocating motion are provided. A sharp blade unit 7 is provided on the upper part of the front side surface of the main body case 1, and a switch knob 8 for starting a motor and a switching knob 9 for raising and lowering the sharp blade unit 7 are provided below the sharp blade unit 7. Reference numeral 10 denotes an outer blade holder.

The main body case 1 is formed by joining a front case 1a and a rear case (not shown) each formed in a gutter-shaped cross section in a lid-to-cover shape. An indicator 12 for displaying the voltage status of the secondary battery 5 and that the battery is being charged is provided.
The indicator 12 includes a light guide 13 and a pair of left and right light emitting diodes (light sources) 14.

In FIG. 1, the light guide 13 is an injection-molded product made of a transparent plastic material in which a pair of left and right unit light guides 13a are integrally formed. Each unit light guide 13a
13a is provided with a flat board portion 15 and a light projecting portion 16 protruding from one surface of the board portion 15, and is formed by a vertical dividing groove (dividing portion) 17 formed in the left and right center of the plate surface. It is divided into left and right.

The light projecting portion 16 is formed in a bottomed cylindrical shape by a cylindrical wall 19 protruding from the substrate portion 15 and having an elliptical cross section and a light projecting wall 20 closing the protruding end thereof. Are arranged so as to be shifted toward the side edges of the unit light guides 13a. The light emitting diode 14 is provided on the inner surface of the light projecting wall 20.
A light guide shaft 21 for projecting light emitted from the light source to the light projecting wall 20 is protrudingly provided. At the upper and lower edges of each substrate section 15 that intersects the center of the long axis of the light projecting section 16, a mounting section 22 for the main body case 1 is cut out in a U-shape.

In order to mount the light guide 13, the front case 1
A holding portion 24 for receiving the light projecting portion 16 is provided on the inner surface of a, and fixing ribs 25 which engage with the mounting portion 22 are provided projectingly above and below the holding portion 24. The hole surrounded by the holding portion 24 is formed so as to penetrate the front case 1a in and out. Accordingly, when the left and right light projecting portions 16 are fitted into the holding portions 24, the light projecting walls 20 are exposed on the outer surface of the case as shown in FIG. In this state, the protruding end of the fixing rib 25 engaging with each mounting portion 22 is melted by an ultrasonic welding machine, crushed and deformed, thereby forming the light guide 1.
3 can be inseparably fixed to the front case 1a. A rib 26 is provided between the left and right holding portions 24 to receive the substrate portion 15 in a state perpendicular to the dividing grooves 17 (see FIG. 3). Therefore, even if an external force acts on the inner surface of the peripheral portion of the dividing groove 17, the external force can be received by the rib 26 and the light guide 13 can be reliably prevented from breaking along the dividing groove 17.

When the switch knob 8 is turned on and the voltage of the secondary battery 5 is lower than a predetermined value, the indicator 1
2, the light emitting diode 14 on the side of the light emitting unit 16 on the right side in FIG. 2 is turned on to indicate that charging is required. After the switch knob 8 is returned to the off state, when a power supply cord is connected to the socket at the lower end of the main body case 1, the light emitting diode 14 on the side of the light emitting unit 16 on the left side in FIG. Indicates that it is inside. The light emitted from the light emitting diode 14 is guided to the light projecting wall 20 via the internal space of the light projecting unit 16 and causes the entire light projecting wall 20 to emit, for example, green. At the same time, a part of the emitted light is guided by the light guide axis 21, and the central part of the light projecting wall 20 is
The color is developed to the same size as the cross-sectional area of No. 1. The luminance of this colored portion is higher than the luminance of the preceding colored portion and can be clearly recognized. Therefore, even in a bright place, each light emitting section 16
It is possible to surely know the lighting status of.

Although the specifications are almost the same as those of the above-mentioned electric shaver, the indicator 12 is composed of one unit light guide 13a and the light-emitting diode 14 as shown in FIG. 5 to reduce the cost of the electric shaver. There is. In this case, the light guide 13 is folded along the dividing groove 17 to obtain one unit light guide 13a, which is assembled to the front case 1a. Since the unit light guides 13a after division have the same shape and structure, all the unit light guides 13a can be used without waste.

FIGS. 6 and 7 show another embodiment of the light guide 13. FIG. In FIG. 6, the light guide 13 is constituted by four unit light guides 13a, and four types of light guides 13 including one, two, three or four unit light guides 13a are obtained. I did it. Other components are the same as those in the above-described embodiment, and the same members are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof will be omitted. The same applies to the following embodiments.

The light guide 13 shown in FIG. 7 shows a modification of the dividing portion 17, in which (a) the dividing portion 17 is formed by an intermittent groove, and (b), the adjacent unit light guides 13a, 13a. Are divided into right and left by a dividing groove 17 which is inclined with respect to the upper and lower sides. In this case, the left and right unit light guides 13a also have the same shape after division, so that all the unit light guides 13a
-13a can be used without waste.

In addition to the above embodiments, the unit light guides 13a,
The external shapes of the light projecting unit 16, the substrate unit 15, and the like can be freely changed to a circular shape, an elliptical shape, or the like as necessary, and are not limited to the shapes described in the embodiments. The light guide 13 (or the unit light guide 13a) can be assembled to the main body case 1 from the outer surface side of the case. In this case, the light projecting portion 16 may be provided on the inner and outer surfaces of the substrate portion 15 in some cases.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing a structure of a light guide and a mounting portion thereof.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the electric shaver.

FIG. 3 is an internal rear view showing a light guide mounting structure.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line AA in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a front view showing a different use form of the light guide.

FIG. 6 is a front view showing another embodiment of the light guide.

FIG. 7 is a front view showing another embodiment of the dividing portion.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Main body case 13 Light guide 13a Unit light guide 14 Light source (light emitting diode) 15 Substrate 16 Light emitting part 17 Dividing part 22 Mounting part

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A light guide 13 mounted on the main body case 1 for guiding radiation light from a light source 14 provided in the main body case 1 to the outside of the case, wherein the light guide 13 is a flat plate. A plurality of unit light guides 13a formed integrally with each other, each of the unit light guides including a substrate portion 15 in a shape of a circle and a light projecting portion 16 protruding from a plate surface of the substrate portion 15; 13a is connected via a dividing portion 17 including a dangerous cross section, and one or more unit light guides 13a can be separated from the light guide 13 by dividing at the dividing portion 17 for small electric equipment. Light guide. 2. The light guide for a small electric device according to claim 1, wherein each unit light guide 13a is configured to have the same outer shape after division. 3. A light-emitting unit 16 is formed in a bottomed cylindrical shape by a cylindrical wall 19 protruding from the plate surface of the substrate unit 15 and a light-transmitting wall 20 closing a protruding end of the cylindrical wall 19. The light guide for a small electric device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein each of the substrate portions (15) of the light guide (13a) is provided with a mounting portion (22) for the main body case (1). 4. The light guide for a small electric device according to claim 1, wherein the dividing portion is formed by a groove formed in the substrate portion. 5. The small electric device according to claim 3, wherein a light guide shaft for guiding the radiated light from the light source to the light projecting wall is protruded from an inner surface of the light projecting wall of the light projecting section. For light guide.