JP2001262955A - Lighting structure for cabinet - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a new lighting structure using a light emitting diode(LED). SOLUTION: A light source formed of LEDs 10 is buried in the edge surface of a door 1 in a cabinet F. A slight clearance Q is present between the mutually adjacent doors 1 and 1 or between a counter C and the door 1, so that the light projected from the LEDs 10 buried in the edge surfaces 1a, 1b and 1c of the door 1 is leaked through the clearance Q to make the profile of the door 1 appear. Accordingly, the arrangement of the whole cabinet can be confirmed even in lights-out at night, and the indoor state can be easily grasped. Since the profile of the door 1 is made to appear by the light, a visual effect never present in the past can be exhibited. Since the edge surface of the door 1 leaving open is clearly shown, it can be prevented that the door 1 is left open. Only a specified LED 10 is lighted, whereby it can be displayed in which position of the cabinet a specified article is housed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cabinet provided with a new lighting structure using light emitting diodes on a door.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 6 shows an example of a conventional kitchen facility. Generally, kitchen equipment, as shown in the figure,
The kitchen cabinet E includes a combination of a floor cabinet F installed on the floor and a wall cabinet G mounted on a wall above the kitchen cabinet E. A sink S is provided on a counter C of the floor cabinet F. A water faucet device D is installed in the room. The floor cabinet F incorporates a heating device including a stove K, a grill L, an oven or a range M.

[0003]

The kitchen in which kitchen equipment is installed is usually turned off when not in use at night. For this reason, there is a problem in that if it is necessary at night to pass through the kitchen without turning on the lights, it is difficult to understand the state of the room and it takes time to walk, and safety is not sufficiently secured. Further, since the interior of the cabinet cannot be seen when the door is closed, there is also a problem that it is difficult to distinguish where and what kind of articles are stored.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a lighting structure for a cabinet which can solve the above-mentioned conventional problems. A feature of the present invention is that a light source comprising a light emitting diode is provided on a cabinet door. It has been arranged. Since the light emitting diode is small in size and consumes little power, it is possible to construct a night light with an appropriate amount of light without being too bright. In addition, since the light emitting diode has a simple structure and excellent stability, it has advantages in that it is very easy to handle and low in cost. The light emitting diode is ON
By controlling / OFF so that only the light emitting diode of a specific door is illuminated, it is possible to display which door of the cabinet contains a predetermined article.

[0005] The lighting structure of the cabinet may be such that a light source made of a light emitting diode is arranged on a small face of a door of the cabinet. With this configuration, when the light emitting diode is illuminated, the contour of the door can be confirmed, so that it is possible to easily grasp the arrangement of the cabinet when the light is off at night.

Further, the lighting structure of a cabinet according to the present invention can be configured such that a light source made of a light emitting diode is buried in a door of the cabinet and the front side of the light source is covered with a light transmitting member. Alternatively, a configuration is also possible in which a light source made of a light emitting diode is disposed inside a cabinet, and a part or the whole of the door of the cabinet is formed of a light transmitting member. In any of these lighting structures, light from the light emitting diode is projected from the front of the door, so that relatively bright lighting means can be provided, and indirect lighting can be constructed.

[0007]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS [First Embodiment] Hereinafter, a case where the present invention is applied to a kitchen cabinet will be described as an example. However, the present invention can be similarly applied to general storage cabinets. In FIG.
A lower floor cabinet (hereinafter simply referred to as a cabinet) F constituting a kitchen cabinet (see FIG. 6)
An embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a door 1 is shown. In this example,
Light-emitting diode (hereinafter referred to as LED) on the small face of door 1
A light source 10 is embedded. (B)
Shows an example in which the LED 10 is embedded in all of the fore-edge surfaces 1a, 1b, and 1c on the upper end, the side surface, and the lower end of the door 1, but the LED 10 may be provided only on any one of the fore-edge surfaces. .

As a means for embedding the LED 10 in the door 1, for example, as shown in FIG. 2, the door 1 has a bonding structure of a back member 1R and an expression member 1S which can be divided into front and rear,
It is conceivable that a groove 1d is formed in one or both of the back member 1R and the front member 1S, and the LED 10 and its wiring 11 are mounted in the groove 1d.

As shown in FIG. 1A, adjacent doors 1, 1
It is normal to have some gap Q between each other or between the counter C and the door 1. Therefore, the LED 10 buried in the four small edges 1a, 1b, 1c of the door 1
When the light is projected at night, the light leaking from the gap Q emerges from the outline of the door 1 when the light is turned off at night. Therefore, if LEDs 10 are buried in the small faces of all the doors 1, even when the lights are turned off at night, the arrangement of the entire cabinet can be confirmed and the state of the room can be easily grasped. It is possible to safely pass through the room even without it. Moreover, according to the present invention, the nightlight can be dispensed with. In addition, since an unprecedented visual effect of raising the contour of the door 1 with light is exhibited, design and aesthetics are improved.

In this embodiment, since the LED 10 is buried in the forefront of the door 1, if the door 1 is forgotten to close and remains open, the forefront of the door 1 is clearly shown after the lights are turned off at night. Will be. Therefore, the effect of preventing the door 1 from being forgotten to be closed can be prevented.

Further, when a specific article is stored in the cabinet, only the LED 10 of the door 1 corresponding to the storage position is turned on to display in which position of the cabinet the specific article is stored. it can. In the drawings, the present invention is illustrated in a floor cabinet F.
Although only the embodiment applied to the above is shown, the present invention can be similarly applied to the wall cabinet G (see FIG. 6).

[Second Embodiment] In the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, a frame 12 is provided on the door 1 of the cabinet F so as to surround four rounds.
The frame 12 was made of a light-transmitting member to form a light-transmitting frame, and an LED 10 was disposed on an end face of the door 1 main body so as to face the light-transmitting frame 12 as shown in FIG. Things. Note that the translucent frame 12 can be provided so as to face only the front side of the door 1 as shown in FIG. Here, the translucency may be translucent as well as transparent.

[0013] The door 1 constructed as described above is provided with an LED 10
Is projected through the translucent frame 12 and radiated toward the indoor side. Therefore, the present embodiment can provide an illumination structure with a larger amount of light than the first embodiment shown in FIG. Therefore, the lighting structure of the present embodiment shown in FIG. 3 has an effect that it can be used as indirect lighting in addition to the effect exhibited by the first embodiment.

[Third Embodiment] FIG. 4 shows an example in which the entire door 1 of the cabinet F is made of a translucent member, and LEDs 10 are provided on the inner surface of the side plate 2 and / or the back plate 3. In this example, the light projected from the LED 10 of the side plate 2 and / or the back plate 3 passes through the translucent door 1 and is radiated to the indoor side. The LED 10 also plays a role of lighting in the cabinet F. It should be noted that the door 1 may be entirely translucent or only a part thereof translucent.

[Fourth Embodiment] As shown in FIG. 5, an opening 4 is formed at an appropriate position of a door 1, and a light transmitting plate 5 is formed in the opening 4.
The LED 10 disposed on the backing plate 6 fixed to the back side of the door 1 faces the opening 4 so that the lighting structure according to the present invention can be provided. In this example, since the LED 10 integrally provided on the door 1 projects light from the front side of the door 1, the efficiency of projecting light indoors is good. Therefore, even with a small number of LEDs 10, it is possible to construct an indirect illumination with a large amount of light.

[Other Embodiments] The embodiments of the present invention can be variously applied depending on the situation. The type of LED provided on the door may not be a single type, and the color tone of the LED may be changed for each door, or a plurality of color LEDs may be provided for the same door. By using a combination of LEDs having different color tones and emitting light of a specific color tone, necessary information such as the type of the stored article can be transmitted to the user. Although the lighting structure of the present invention depends on the brightness of the room in which the lighting structure is installed, the lighting structure can be used not only during the night but also during the day. The arrangement of the LEDs is shown by way of example only, and may be arbitrarily changed. In addition, the present invention does not prevent modification as appropriate according to the state of implementation.

[0017]

According to the lighting structure of a cabinet according to the present invention, the arrangement of the cabinet can be confirmed when the light is turned off at night, so that the state of the room can be easily grasped. Therefore, it is possible to safely pass through the room without turning on the main illumination. Also, by adopting the present invention,
The conventional nightlight can be dispensed with. A light emitting diode (LE) employed as a light source by the lighting structure according to the present invention.
D) has a simple structure, is excellent in stability, and has low power consumption, so that low-cost lighting means can be provided. Further, by emitting only specific LEDs, the user can be informed of information such as the position of the cabinet in which the specific LED is stored, for example. In addition, the present invention exerts an unprecedented visual effect, and thus imparts new aesthetics and design to the cabinet.

[Brief description of the drawings]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a main part of a cabinet to which the present invention is applied, and FIG. 1 (B) is a door of a cabinet incorporating an LED, according to a first embodiment of the present invention. It is a perspective view which takes out and shows.

FIG. 2 is a front cross-sectional view according to the first embodiment of the present invention, showing a main part of a door incorporating an LED.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a main part of a cabinet to which the present invention is applied, and FIG. 3B is a perspective view showing a main part of a cabinet to which the present invention is applied, and FIG. (C) is a plan sectional view showing a main part of another example of the cabinet incorporating the LED.

FIG. 4 is a side sectional view of a cabinet according to a third embodiment of the present invention, to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a main part of a cabinet to which the present invention is applied, and FIG. 5B is a perspective view showing a main part of a cabinet to which the present invention is applied, and FIG. FIG. 3 is a side sectional view showing a main part of FIG.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing an example of a conventional kitchen facility.

[Explanation of symbols]

1. Cabinet door 1a ... Small edge (upper end) 1b ...
Small surface (side surface) 1c Small surface (lower end) 1d Groove
1R: Back surface member 1S: Front member 2 ... Side plate 3 ... Back plate 4 ... Opening 5 ... Translucent plate 6 ... Backing plate 10 ... Light emitting diode (LED) 11 ... Wiring 12 ... Translucent frame
C: Counter D: Water faucet E: Kitchen cabinet F: Floor cabinet G: Wall cabinet K: Stove L: Grill M: Range Q: Gap S: Sink

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A lighting structure for a cabinet, wherein a light source comprising a light emitting diode is arranged on a door of the cabinet. 2. The lighting structure of a cabinet according to claim 1, wherein a light source made of a light emitting diode is arranged on a small face of the door of the cabinet. 3. The lighting structure of a cabinet according to claim 1, wherein a light source made of a light-emitting diode is embedded in a door of the cabinet, and a front side of the light source is covered with a translucent member. 4. A lighting structure for a cabinet, wherein a light source made of a light emitting diode is disposed inside the cabinet, and a part or the whole of a door of the cabinet is formed of a translucent member.