JP2003139961A - Light emission mechanism and electronic apparatus having this mechanism - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To emit the light uniformly from a light emitting source toward a direction of a certain range without increasing the size of a casing of an electronic apparatus. SOLUTION: The light from an LED4 which is the light emitting source is reflected by a reflection surface 7' provided with ruggedness, by which the light is no more reflected only to the specific direction and the light can be uniformly emitted to the direction of the certain range.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a light emitting mechanism that is mounted on an electronic device or the like and emits light indicating the operating state of the electronic device, and in particular, reflects light from a light emitting source and emits the light from the electronic device or the like. The present invention relates to a light emitting mechanism and an electronic device including the mechanism.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an electronic device is often provided with a light emitting mechanism for emitting light to the outside of the electronic device.
The operating state of the electronic device is notified to the outside, that is, the user by turning on, off, or blinking the light.

In addition, the operating state of the electronic device may be notified to the outside due to the different colors of the emitted light. In these cases, the lighting state and color of light and the operating state of the electronic device are set in advance in association with each other.

For example, in a wireless communication terminal such as a mobile phone, when a signal is received, red light is set to blink at a specific cycle. The red light is turned on when the battery mounted in the wireless communication terminal is charged, and the green light is turned on when the battery is completely charged.

FIG. 1 shows that a typical conventional light emitting mechanism is mounted on an electronic device 1. In the electronic device 1,
A light emitting mechanism that indicates the operating state of the electronic device 1 to the outside is installed. The light emitting mechanism is provided with a lamp (lamp cover) 2. Light is emitted to the outside through the lamp 2.

FIG. 2 shows a cross section taken along the line AA shown in FIG. LED provided inside the housing of the electronic device 1
The (light-emitting diode) 4 emits light from the side surface (side light emission). The light emitted from the side surface of the LED 4 passes through the light incident portion 6 and is reflected by the reflecting surface 7 to be emitted in the X direction 14 and emitted directly in the Y direction 13.

LEDs 4 on the surface of the lamp 2 in the X direction 14
There may be a case where an area that does not emit light is emitted by the light emitted from. For example, as shown in FIG. 2, an area 12 that does not emit light occurs in a portion near the front housing 3 in the X direction 14. The closer the angle 8 between the circuit board 5 and the reflection surface 7 (referred to as the reflection angle) 8 shown in FIG. 2 is to 180 degrees, the larger the non-light emitting area.

When an area where no light is emitted occurs, the user may not be able to confirm the lighting state of the lamp 2 when looking at the electronic device 1. Further, the user may recognize that the light 2 is off, which may lead to an unexpected mistake in operation.

In order to prevent the generation of no light emitting area, the inclination of the reflecting surface may be made tighter. More precisely, the reflection angle 8 between the circuit board 5 and the reflection surface 7 should be smaller than that in the above-mentioned example.

FIG. 3 is shown in FIG. 1 in the case where the reflecting surface of the light emitting mechanism shown in FIG. 2 is further inclined with respect to the incident light and the distance between the light emitting source and the front case is further apart. The cross section at the cross section AA is shown. As shown in FIG. 3, the reflection angle 8 of the reflection surface is made smaller than the reflection angle 8 shown in FIG. 2 so that light can be emitted in the X direction. In this case, it is necessary to secure the area of the reflecting surface 7 in order to make all the regions in the X direction 14 emit light. In order to make all the regions in the X direction 14 emit light, it is necessary to increase the area of the reflecting surface 7 as the reflection angle 8 is closer to 90 degrees.

[0011]

When the area of the reflecting surface is increased, the distance C between the light emitting source and the front housing is compared with the distance C between the light emitting source and the front housing in the light emitting mechanism shown in FIG. Then you need to make it bigger.

When the distance C becomes large like the distance C ',
The volume of the light emitting mechanism in the housing increases, and the electronic device itself becomes large. As a result, there is a problem that the portability of the electronic device deteriorates.

Therefore, in view of the above-mentioned conventional technique, the present invention is provided with a light emitting mechanism that uniformly emits light from a light emitting source in a certain range direction without enlarging the housing of an electronic device and the mechanism. The electronic device is provided.

[0014]

The light emitting mechanism of the present invention comprises:
A light emitting source, which emits light from a lamp of an electronic device and emits light, and a reflecting surface which is a surface on which the light is incident as incident light and which reflects the incident light and which is provided with unevenness. It was done.

Further, the electronic apparatus of the present invention comprises a light emitting mechanism for emitting light from a lamp, a light emitting source for emitting light, and the light entering as incident light and reflecting the incident light. And a reflection surface provided with irregularities.

According to the above structure, the light emitting mechanism is provided in the electronic device, and the reflecting surface of the lamp is provided with the uneven surface shape, whereby the light reflecting direction can be controlled. Therefore, even if the overall shape of the lamp is limited, it is possible to uniformly illuminate the entire exterior surface of the lamp that appears on the outer surface of the device.

[0017]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Similar to the electronic device shown in FIG. 1, the electronic device 1 according to the present embodiment has a lamp 2
The front housing 3, the top housing 3 ′, the side housing 3 ″, and a housing facing the respective housings (3, 3 ′, 3 ″) are provided. The lamp 2 is provided at a part of the boundary between the front housing 3 and the top housing 3 ', and is arranged from the front housing 3 to the top housing 3'. The front housing 3 is provided with a display screen 31, operation keys 32 for operating the electronic device, and the like.

As shown in FIG. 1, light is emitted from the lamp 2 in two directions, that is, on the front surface and the upper surface,
The light 2 is usually arranged on the electronic device 1. Thus, when the lamp 2 is installed over two surfaces, the light emitted from the lamp 2 is more diffused than when the lamp 2 is installed on only one surface. Therefore, the light emitted from the lamp 2 can be more easily confirmed.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the light emitting mechanism according to the first embodiment of the present invention, taken along the line AA shown in FIG. The difference from the conventional light emitting mechanism is the shape of the reflecting surface 7 '. Other parts are the same as those of the light emitting mechanism shown in FIG. That is, the light emitting mechanism according to the first embodiment includes the lamp 2, the LED 4, the circuit board 5, the light entrance portion 6, and the reflecting surface 7 ′. Reflective surface 7 '
Is provided at an end portion of the upper surface housing 3 ′ between the upper surface housing 3 ′ and the front surface housing 3. The LED 4 is provided below the reflection surface 7 '. The LED 4 is installed on the circuit board 5 and emits light by the current supplied from the circuit board 5.
The circuit board 5 is arranged substantially perpendicular to the upper housing 3 '.

In this case, the LED 4 emits side light, which emits light from its side surface. The emitted light is incident on the light entering portion 6
Then, it is reflected by the reflection surface 7 ′ and emitted in the X direction 14. Further, the light that has entered the light incident portion 6 and is not reflected by the reflection surface 7 ′ is directly emitted in the Y direction 13 to the outside.

The lamp 2 is provided at a position closest to the outside between the front housing 3 and a portion of the upper housing 3'where the reflecting surface 7'is provided. That is, the top case 3'and the front case 3 are smoothly connected. Light 2 has light entrance 6
The light emitted by the LED 4 that has passed through is emitted to the outside. The light 2 is usually made of transparent or opalescent material.

The dimensions in which the respective parts of the light emitting mechanism are arranged are as follows, for example. C in FIG. 4 is 5.25.
mm, of which the width of the end of the upper housing 3'where the reflecting surface 7'is installed is 1.75 mm, and the two parts of the lamp (X
Direction) is 3.5 mm. The length of the lamp 2 in the Y direction is 3.85 mm. Furthermore, the length from the lower part of the lamp 2 to the side surface where the LED 4 emits light is 7.25 mm. Furthermore, the length from the lower part of the reflecting surface 7'to the side surface where the LED 4 emits light is 7.7 mm.

The lamp 2 is in the upper surface direction (Y
Direction 13) and the lateral direction of the front housing 3 (X direction 14) 2
It is desirable to emit the light generated inside the housing in all directions between the directions. Therefore, X direction 14, Y
It is necessary to emit light from all the exterior surfaces 11 of the lamp 2 so that the light emitting state can be confirmed from any of the directions 13. FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of the circle B shown in FIG. Figure 5
The characteristics of the reflecting surface 7'are shown. As shown in FIG. 5, the cross section of the reflecting surface 7 ′ has saw-like irregularities,
Mountains and valleys appear repeatedly at regular intervals. The depth of the valley and the height of the mountain are determined in consideration of the reflection direction in the X direction 14. That is, the reflection direction in the X direction 14 is determined by the reflection angle 15 of the reflection surface in the valley shown in FIG. For example, the reflection angle 15 is set between 135 degrees and 140 degrees.

The interval between valleys or peaks on the reflecting surface is characterized by the pitch (P) 16 which is an amount proportional to the interval. The pitch 16 is related to how the lamp 2 looks when viewed from the X direction 14. That is, when the pitch 16 is large, a striped pattern of dark and bright portions can be seen in the lamp 2. On the contrary, when the pitch 16 is small, the lamp 2 appears to shine uniformly. Therefore, it is necessary to make the pitch 16 fine so that the striped pattern cannot be seen. For example, it is set between 0.2 mm and 0.3 mm. Note that these dimensions and the like can be individually defined according to the mounting state of the light emitting mechanism. By forming the unevenness on the reflecting surface as described above, even if the reflecting angle 8 is close to 180 degrees, the reflecting angle 15 formed on the reflecting surface 7 ′ is set in correspondence with the reflecting angle 8, It is possible to observe the light emitted uniformly from the X direction.

Therefore, even if the size of C is reduced to make the electronic device thinner and the reflection angle 8 approaches 180 degrees, the light reflected by the reflection surface 7'is visible from the X direction 14 and Y Since the light directly emitted from the LED 4 can be seen from the direction 13, the entire outer surface 11 of the lamp 2 can be uniformly illuminated. In addition, the pitch and the reflection angle 15 described above are the reflection surface 7 ′.
Although constant above, those values may be changed depending on the position on the reflecting surface. The light emitted from LED4 is
The incident angle is slightly different depending on the position on the reflecting surface.
By changing the pitch and the reflection angle 15 in consideration of this incident angle, it is possible to set the image to look more uniform in the X direction 14. That is, the pitch and the reflection angle 15 are calculated as a function of the position on the reflection surface 7 ′ so as to be seen uniformly from the X direction 14.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged view of a portion corresponding to a circle B shown in FIG. 4, which is a light emitting mechanism according to the second embodiment of the present invention. Except for the shape of the reflecting surface, it is the same as the light emitting mechanism in the first embodiment. That is, the reflecting surface 7 ″ is provided with irregularities at random. It is sufficient that the irregularities have the heights of the peaks and valleys in the first embodiment. For example, there is a method in which a flat reflecting surface is embossed to give a predetermined unevenness in a die process.

This embodiment, like the first embodiment,
Since it is not necessary to form an accurate uneven shape on the reflecting surface, it is possible to reduce the manufacturing cost.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along the line AA shown in FIG. 1 showing the light emitting mechanism according to the third embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 8 is an enlarged view of the circle D shown in FIG. In this embodiment, the shape of the reflection surface is the shape of the reflection surface 7'or the reflection surface 7 '' of the first or second embodiment. The difference from those embodiments is that the reflecting surface 7 '
Alternatively, the reflection layer 17 is newly provided on the uneven surface of the reflection surface 7 ″. The reflective layer 17 is formed of a material having a high reflectance by printing or the like on the uneven surface of the reflective surface. The light that reaches the reflecting surface 7 ′ or the reflecting surface 7 ″ is partially reflected, and the rest is transmitted and then escapes. Reflective layer 1
7 is for preventing this transmission, and can increase the amount of reflected light. As a result, the reflected light can be seen well from the X direction 14. Further, since the amount of reflected light can be increased, it is possible to reduce the brightness of the LED 4 and reduce the current consumption. In the present embodiment, the reflective layer 17 is provided only on the reflective surface 7 ′ or the reflective surface 7 ″, but the reflective layer 17 is provided on any surface except the exterior surface 11 of the lamp 2 and the light entrance portion 6. It can be formed and can further prevent the transmission of light. The light emitting mechanism described in the embodiment of the present invention has a lamp that indicates the status of the electronic device, and may be a device that guides light to the surface of the device by the light source inside the device. Therefore, it can be applied to all devices. The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and can be implemented with various modifications within the technical scope thereof.

[0029]

According to the light emitting mechanism of the present invention, the light reflected by the reflecting surface can be seen from a certain direction, and the light from the light emitting source can be directly seen from a different direction. Can be illuminated uniformly.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external view showing that a typical conventional light emitting mechanism is mounted on an electronic device.

FIG. 2 shows a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA shown in FIG.

3 is a light emitting mechanism in which a reflection surface of the light emitting mechanism shown in FIG. 2 is further inclined with respect to incident light, and a distance between a light emitting source and a front housing is further apart, and which is shown in FIG. The sectional view in the cross section AA shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the light emitting mechanism according to the first embodiment of the present invention, taken along the line AA shown in FIG. 1.

5 is an enlarged view of circle B shown in FIG. 4. FIG.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged view of a portion corresponding to a circle B shown in FIG. 4, which is a light emitting mechanism according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA shown in FIG. 1, showing a light emitting mechanism according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is an enlarged view of circle D shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 electronic equipment 3 front housing 3'top housing 3 ″ side housing 4 LED 5 circuit board 6 Light incident part 7 Reflective surface 8 Reflection angle α 9, 9 ', 9 "direct light 10, 10 ', 10 "Light reflected and emitted 11 Appearance 13 Y direction 14 X direction 15 Reflection angle γ 16 pitches (P) 17 Reflective layer 31 Display screen 32 operation keys

Claims (12)

[Claims] 1. A light emitting mechanism for emitting light from a lamp of an electronic device, comprising: a light emitting source for emitting light; and a surface on which the light is incident as incident light and reflects the incident light, wherein unevenness is provided. A light emitting mechanism comprising: a reflection surface provided. 2. The light emitted from the light emitting source is light emitted from the electronic device by being reflected on the reflection surface and light emitted directly from the electronic device without being incident on the reflection surface. The light emitting mechanism according to claim 1. 3. The unevenness of the reflecting surface is set such that the direction in which the light is reflected is determined depending on the position where the incident light incident on the reflecting surface is reflected. The light emitting mechanism according to claim 1. 4. The reflection surface is provided with peaks periodically, and the valleys sandwiched by the peaks are arranged linearly, and the lines are parallel to each other and sandwiched by the lines of the valleys. The light emitting mechanism according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein each top line is also provided in parallel with each valley line, and the light is reflected by the slope of each mountain. 5. The light according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein a reflective layer for preventing light transmission is formed on a surface through which light emitted from the light emitting source passes. Injection mechanism. 6. The light emitting mechanism according to claim 1, further comprising a reflecting layer formed on the reflecting surface of the reflecting surface to prevent light transmission. . 7. An electronic device comprising a light emitting mechanism for emitting light from a lamp, a light emitting source for emitting light, and a surface for receiving the light as incident light and reflecting the incident light, An electronic device comprising: a reflective surface having irregularities; 8. The light emitted from the light emitting source is the light reflected from the reflection surface and emitted from the electronic device, and the light emitted from the electronic device directly without entering the reflection surface. The electronic device according to claim 7, wherein: 9. The unevenness of the reflecting surface is set so that the direction in which the light is reflected is determined depending on the position where the incident light incident on the reflecting surface is reflected. The electronic device according to claim 7 or 8. 10. The reflecting surface is provided with peaks periodically, and the valleys sandwiched by the peaks are arranged linearly, and the respective lines are parallel to each other, and are sandwiched by the lines of the valleys. The electronic device according to any one of claims 7 to 9, wherein each top line is also provided in parallel with each valley line, and the light is reflected by the slope of each mountain. 11. The electron according to claim 7, wherein a reflective layer that prevents transmission of light is formed on a surface through which light emitted from the light emitting source passes. machine. 12. The electronic device according to claim 7, wherein a reflective layer that prevents transmission of light is formed on the light reflective surface of the reflective surface.