JP2003181115A - Call lamp - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a call lamp in which a wide area can be secured for a diffusion panel without expanding the lamp or increasing the number of the lamps. <P>SOLUTION: A light source 4 is located in a side face 2a of a planar transparent light transmission plate 2, a large number of reflection planes 8a for reflecting a light beam from the light source 4 are formed by forming a large number of grooves 8 on a rear side 2b of the light transmission plate 2, and a diffusion panel 10 is located on a front side 2c of the light transmission plate 2. The light transmission plate 2 is formed from a material with a large refraction factor. Besides, the light source 4 can be composed of red, blue and green light emitting elements as well. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a calling lamp provided for each gaming machine arranged on an installation island.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a large number of game machines such as pachinko machines and throttle machines are arranged to form an installation island. In addition, a call lamp that is turned on by a call switch operated by the player is provided on the upper side of each gaming machine. Such a call lamp has a diffuser plate made of a semitransparent synthetic resin provided on the entire surface of a frame body as disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-135960, and a call switch is provided between the frame body and the diffuser plate. Built-in lamp that lights up by the operation of. The light from the lamp,
Alternatively, the diffuser plate is illuminated with light from a reflector plate arranged on the rear side of the lamp so that the diffuser plate looks bright.

[0003]

However, in such a conventional device, when the area of the diffusion plate is large, it is necessary to increase the distance between the diffusion plate and the lamps, or if a large number of lamps are not arranged, the diffusion is not performed. There is a problem that the calling lamp becomes large because the plate cannot be made to appear uniformly bright.

An object of the present invention is to provide a paging lamp in which the area of the diffusion plate can be increased without increasing the size or increasing the number of lamps.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention takes the following means in order to solve the object. That is, in the calling lamp provided for each gaming machine arranged on the installation island, the light source is arranged on the side surface of the light guide plate having flat plate-like transparency, and the light rays from the light source are reflected on the back surface side of the light guide plate. That is, a calling lamp is characterized in that a large number of reflecting surfaces are formed, and a diffusion plate is arranged on the surface side of the light guide plate.

The light guide plate is preferably made of a material having a high refractive index with respect to air. Alternatively, the light source may be composed of red, blue, and green light emitters. Further, the light guide plate may have a wedge shape whose thickness decreases toward a side surface opposite to the light source. A plurality of the reflecting surfaces may be arranged in a staggered pattern. Further, a large number of grooves may be formed on the back surface side of the light guide plate to form a large number of the reflection surfaces. Alternatively, a large number of reflective films may be formed on the back surface side of the light guide plate to form a large number of the reflective surfaces.

[0007]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 is a base member, and the base member 1 is attached to a curtain plate or the like of an installation island (not shown). The light guide plates 2 are arranged on both sides of the base member 1. The light guide plate 2 is formed in a flat plate shape, has transparency, and is formed of an acrylic resin in this embodiment.

A light source 4 is arranged on one side surface 2a of the light guide plate 2, and in the present embodiment, a light source 4 composed of a red light emitting body 4R, a blue light emitting body 4B and a green light emitting body 4G is arranged. . These cover the light guide plate 2 and the light source 4, and the base member 1
There is provided a cover member 6 attached to the.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the light guide plate 2 includes
A large number of grooves 8 are formed on the back surface 2b side of the base member 1 side. By forming this groove 8, a reflecting surface 8a is formed. In this embodiment, the reflecting surfaces 8a are arranged in a staggered pattern. The reflecting surface 8a is formed so as to reflect the light beam from the light source 4 toward the surface 2c. In addition, the back surface 2b of the light guide plate 2 is configured to be in contact with the air layer.

The light guide plate 2 is made of a material having a large (absolute) refractive index, for example, an acrylic resin plate. When the back surface 2b is in contact with the air layer, the critical angle θ of the acrylic resin is 42.2 degrees, and when the light guide plate 2 is formed in a flat plate shape, the incident light ray inside the light guide plate 2 is totally reflected. The light emitted from the light source 4 travels while being repeatedly reflected in the light guide plate 2. However, when the reflection causes an energy loss in the reflection surface 8a, the light efficiency of the light guide plate 2 becomes low and the light guide plate 2 The light amount distribution inside also decreases as the distance from the light source 4 increases.

Generally, reflection on a metal surface is inefficient,
Usually, a loss of about 10% to 15% is involved, so that the energy of light becomes half or less when the reflection is repeated three times. On the other hand, total reflection is perfect reflection without energy loss, and the reflectance is 100%. Even if the reflection is repeated tens of times, the energy loss is 0, and the light quantity distribution in the light guide plate 2 becomes uniform.

A diffusion plate 10 is attached to the cover member 6 so as to face the surface 2c of the light guide plate 2. Diffuser 1
At 0, unevenness having a diffusion effect is formed on the diffusion surface 10a facing the surface 2c of the light guide plate 2. The diffusion plate 10 is
It is made of a transparent material or a translucent material.

Next, the operation of the calling lamp of this embodiment described above will be described. First, when a player operates a call switch (not shown), the light source 4 is turned on. The light emitted from the light source 4 is guided into the light guide plate 2 from the side surface 2 a of the light guide plate 2. When light enters the light guide plate 2 from the side surface 2a, about 7% loss occurs due to surface reflection on the side surface 2a. An incident light ray that has entered the light guide plate 2 travels toward the tip side inside the light guide plate 2 while being totally reflected by the back surface 2b or the front surface 2c of the light guide plate 2. That is, when the light guide plate 2 is made of acrylic resin, the critical angle θ is 42.2 degrees, and in the flat light guide plate 2, the back surface 2b or the front surface 2c is totally reflected without energy loss. Proceed toward the tip side.

On the other hand, the light incident on the reflecting surface 8a is reflected by the reflecting surface 8a and irradiates the diffusing plate 10 from the surface 2c.
In the diffusion plate 10, light is diffused by the diffusion surface 10a,
The entire surface of the diffuser plate 10 becomes brighter almost uniformly. That is, due to the reflection on the reflecting surface 8a, it seems that there are many apparent light sources, and it looks bright over a wide range. When the light reflected by the large number of reflecting surfaces 8a further passes through the diffuser plate 10, it is diffused, and it seems that the entire wide area of the diffuser plate 10 emits light uniformly.

By using a red light emitting body 4R, a blue light emitting body 4B, and a green light emitting body 4G for the light source 4, it is possible to emit light in color. The light source 4 can also be implemented as a monochromatic light source. Further, in the above-described embodiment, the groove 8 is formed to form the reflection surface 8a. However, the present invention is not limited to this. The reflective surface may be formed by forming a reflective film having a high reflectance such as silver.

The present invention is not limited to such an embodiment as described above, and can be carried out in various modes without departing from the scope of the present invention.

[0017]

As described in detail above, the calling lamp of the present invention does not increase in size even if the area of the diffuser plate is widened.
There is an effect that it is not particularly thick and that it is not necessary to increase the number of light sources.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a calling lamp according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a light guide plate and a diffusion plate of this embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view illustrating total reflection inside the light guide plate of the present embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Base member 2 ... Light guide plate 2a ... side surface 2b ... back surface 2c ... surface 4 ... light source 4B, 4G, 4R ... Luminous body 6 ... Cover member 8 ... Groove 8a ... Reflecting surface 10 ... Diffusion plate 10a ... Diffusing surface

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. In a calling lamp provided for each gaming machine arranged on an installation island, a light source is disposed on a side surface of a light guide plate having flat plate-like transparency, and a light source from the light source is provided on a back surface side of the light guide plate. A calling lamp characterized in that a plurality of reflecting surfaces for reflecting light rays are formed, and a diffusion plate is arranged on the surface side of the light guide plate. 2. The calling lamp according to claim 1, wherein the light guide plate is made of a material having a large refractive index. 3. The calling lamp according to claim 1, wherein the light source is made of a red, blue, and green light emitter. 4. The calling lamp according to claim 1, wherein the light guide plate has a wedge shape whose thickness decreases toward a side surface opposite to the light source. 5. The call lamp according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of the reflecting surfaces are arranged in a staggered pattern. 6. The calling lamp according to claim 1, wherein a large number of grooves are formed on the back surface side of the light guide plate, and a large number of the reflection surfaces are formed. 7. The calling lamp according to claim 1, wherein a large number of reflective films are formed on the back surface side of the light guide plate to form a large number of the reflective surfaces.