JP2005217324A - Light-receiving member of electronic equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a light-receiving member of electronic equipment with its light-receiving range from a remote controller widened without extremely increasing the surface area of the light-receiving member. <P>SOLUTION: The above problem is solved with the light-receiving member 10 of the electronic equipment 20 transmitting a light and comprising a light entering surface 11 to which a light enters, and a concave light-throwing-off surface 12 for emitting the light. The light entering surface 11 has a plane shape, a concave shape, or a convex shape. The concave shaped or the convex shaped light entering surface 11 with a curvature radius extremely larger than that of the light throwing-off surface 12 is approximately flat shaped. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present application relates to a light receiving member for receiving infrared rays or the like from a remote control device of an electronic device.

  Conventionally, a remote controller device (hereinafter referred to as a remote control device) that can remotely control electronic devices such as a television receiver, a CD (Compact Disc) recording / playback device, and a DVD (Digital Versatile Disc) recording / playback device. )) Is known.

  Specifically, the remote control device emits light (electromagnetic waves) such as infrared rays as a control signal, and the light receiving member having the light on the surface of the electronic device main body receives the light. When the received signal is detected by a detection member such as an infrared light receiving element provided inside the electronic device, the electronic device is controlled according to the signal. The light receiving member is also referred to as a light receiving lens because it has a property of transmitting light.

  For example, as shown in a schematic cross-sectional view in FIG. 1, a conventional light receiving member 50 on the surface of an electronic device 55 includes a surface 51 on the front side of the electronic device 55 that receives light from the remote control device 56, and this light is emitted. And an inner surface 52 of the electronic device 55. The front-side surface 51 and the inner-side surface 52 are flat and substantially parallel to each other, so that the surfaces 51 and 52 have a uniform thickness.

  However, when this conventional light receiving member 50 is used, the light receiving angle θ2 indicating the angle at which the light from the remote control device 56 can be received is limited to, for example, about 30 °. In order to receive light from the remote control device 56 from (range), it is necessary to increase the surface area of the front side surface 51 of the light receiving member 50.

  On the other hand, if the surface area of the light receiving member 50 is increased, the degree of freedom in design of the electronic device 55 is reduced. Therefore, a range in which light from the remote control device 56 is received without increasing the surface area of the light receiving member 50 (for example, There has been a desire to increase the light receiving angle θ2).

  Therefore, an object of the present application is to provide a light receiving member for an electronic device having a wide light receiving range without extremely increasing the surface area of the light receiving member.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the invention described in claim 1 has a light incident surface through which light is transmitted and a light incident surface, and a light exit surface that is a concave shape and emits light,
The light receiving member of the electronic apparatus is characterized in that a radius of curvature of the light incident surface is larger than a radius of curvature of the light exit surface.

  Hereinafter, with reference to FIG. 2 to FIG. 6, the light receiving member of the present embodiment and the electronic apparatus using the light receiving member will be specifically described. 2 is a top view of the light receiving member of the present embodiment, and FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA of the top view of FIG. FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a part of an electronic apparatus provided with the light receiving member of this embodiment, and FIG. 5A shows an example of the electronic apparatus provided with the light receiving member of this embodiment. FIG. 5B is a diagram illustrating a part of an electronic apparatus including a plurality of light receiving members, and FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of the electronic apparatus according to the present embodiment.

  As shown in the top view of FIG. 2 and the cross-sectional view of FIG. 3A, the light receiving member 10 of the present embodiment includes a flat surface 11 that is a flat shape into which infrared rays or the like from the remote control device 21 are incident, and a flat surface. A concave surface 12 which is a concave shape from which infrared rays or the like incident from the surface 11 exit, and a cylindrical surface 13 which is a cylindrical shape extending from the periphery of the flat surface 11 toward the concave surface 12 side, The cylindrical surface 13 includes an annular annular surface 14 extending in parallel to the flat surface 11 on the opposite side to the side having the flat surface 11 and the concave surface 12 from the end opposite to the flat surface 11.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the surface 12 on the inner side of the electronic device 20 of the light receiving member 10 has a concave shape, so that the light receiving angle θ <b> 1 for receiving light such as infrared light that is a control signal emitted from the remote control device 21. Can be made larger than before. That is, the light emitted from the remote control device 21 is received by the flat surface 11 and travels straight, and is refracted from the concave surface 12 to be condensed in the direction in which the light receiving element 22 is located. A larger light receiving angle θ1 can be ensured.

  Note that when light emitted from the remote control device 21 enters the light receiving member 10, the medium such as air is different from the medium of the light receiving member, and is actually refracted due to the refractive index of the both media. However, in FIG. 4 and FIG. 1 explaining the prior art, the refraction of light passing through a flat surface is omitted.

  The shape around the flat surface 11 and the concave surface 12 is usually circular as shown in FIGS. 2 and 5, but is not limited thereto, and may be, for example, an ellipse, an ellipse, or a quadrangle. Good. When the flat surface 11 is circular, the diameter of the flat surface 11 represented by R in FIG. 2 is not particularly limited, but is, for example, about 8 mm.

  Thus, the size of the flat surface 11, that is, when the light receiving member 10 is provided in the electronic device 20, the area of the surface 11 that receives the infrared rays and the like of the remote control device 21 is the same as the conventional area. The area of the light receiving surface 11 does not have to be extremely large. Therefore, the design of the electronic device 20 can be designed relatively freely without reducing the degree of freedom of design of the electronic device 20 provided with the light receiving member 10, and the design can be improved.

  The concave surface 12 may be a spherical surface or an aspherical surface as long as it has a concave shape. In the case where the concave surface is a spherical surface, the radius of curvature of the concave surface 12 is not particularly limited, but is set to, for example, about 6 mm in order to easily collect incident light from the remote control device 21. In addition, it is preferable that the curved surface has a radius of curvature of about 1 to 2 times the diameter of the flat surface 11. Moreover, the design property of the electronic device 20 improves by making the concave surface 12 into a smooth curved surface.

  The thickness between the flat surface 11 and the concave surface 12 represented by T1 and T2 in FIG. 3 varies depending on the shape of the concave surface 12 specifically, but the thickness of the thinnest portion T1 is 1 mm. The thickness is preferably about 2 mm at the thickest portion T2. Moreover, it is preferable that the thickness between the flat surface 11 and the concave surface 12 has a difference of 1 mm between the thickness T1 of the thinnest portion and the thickness T2 of the thickest portion.

  Further, the thickness of the cylindrical surface 13 represented by T3 in FIG. 3 and the height of the cylindrical surface 13 represented by H in FIG. 3 are not particularly limited, but usually the thickness T3 is about 1 mm and the height H Is about 3.5 to 4 mm.

  The size of the concave surface 12 (diameter in the case of a circle) is determined according to the size of the flat surface 11 (diameter R in the case of a circle) and the thickness T3 of the cylindrical surface 13. .

  The width of the annular surface 14 represented by W in FIGS. 2 and 3 is not particularly limited, but is set to, for example, about 1.5 mm in order to facilitate attachment to the electronic device 20. The annular surface 14 is provided for attachment to the electronic device 20. For example, the annular surface 14 may be further provided with a protrusion or the like, and may be easily attached to the electronic device.

  In the above embodiment, the light incident surface of the light receiving member 10 has been described as a flat shape with reference to FIG. 3A. However, as shown in FIG. 3B, the light incident surface of the light receiving member 10a. May be a concave surface 11a, or, as shown in FIG. 3C, the light incident surface of the light receiving member 10b may be a convex surface 11b.

  Thus, when the light incident surface of the light receiving member is concave or convex, the radius of curvature of the light incident surfaces 11a and 11b is set larger than the radius of curvature of the light exit surface 12. The relationship between the radius of curvature of the light entrance surface and the light exit surface is usually the radius of curvature of the light entrance surface >> the radius of curvature of the light exit surface, and the others are not particularly limited. For example, the radius of curvature of the light exit surface 12 described above is used. The radius of curvature of the light incident surface can be about 50 mm with respect to about 6 mm. Thus, the light incident surface of the light receiving member has a substantially flat shape. At this time, the configurations of the light receiving members 10a and 10b other than the light incident surfaces 11a and 11b are the same as those of the light receiving member 10 described above. The flat-shaped light incident surface 11 is also considered to have an infinite curvature radius, and thus is included in the light incident surface 11 having a larger radius of curvature than the light exit surface 12.

  By making the surface on the inner side of the electronic device 20 of the light receiving member 10 into the concave surface 12, the light receiving angle θ2 that has been about 30 ° can be changed to, for example, the light receiving angle θ1 of about 50 °. Can be spread.

  The material of the light receiving member 10 is not particularly limited as long as it can transmit light. For example, plastic materials such as ABS (acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene) resin, polypropylene, polyethylene, nylon, polystyrene, methacrylic resin, and polycarbonate are used. It is done. Further, the color of the light receiving member 10 is not particularly limited and can be appropriately selected in consideration of the design of the electronic device 20 and the like. However, as described above, the light receiving member 10 needs to be able to transmit light. It is preferably colorless and transparent or colored and transparent. In addition, when coloring the light receiving member 10, a dye, a pigment, etc. are used suitably.

  The light receiving member 10 only needs to have a shape in which the flat surface 11 and the concave surface 12 face each other, and other shapes are not limited to the configuration of the present embodiment. That is, the shape of the light receiving member 10 of the present embodiment that does not include the cylindrical surface 13 and the annular surface 14 or the shape that includes the cylindrical surface 13 and does not include the annular surface 14 may be used. It is only necessary to be provided in.

  When the light receiving member 10 is formed of the above-described plastic resin material, the light receiving member 10 is manufactured by producing a mold so that the light receiving member 10 has the above-described shape and performing injection molding using the mold. In this injection molding, a plastic resin material, which is a molding material, is heated and melted in a cylinder, injected (injected) into a closed mold, and solidified by holding and cooling to produce a molded product. It is a method to do.

  As described above, the manufacturing method of the light receiving member 10 is the same as the manufacturing method of the conventional light receiving member 50, and the injection molding mold may be changed from the conventional light receiving member 50. Therefore, the light receiving member 10 can be easily manufactured without requiring special equipment.

  Further, the type of the remote control device 21 is not particularly limited, and a remote control device that is usually used attached to an electronic device is used. The light emitted from the remote control device 21 is normally infrared, but may be other electromagnetic waves or the like as long as the electronic device 20 can be controlled by the combination of the remote control device 21 and the detection member 22. There is no particular limitation.

  The electronic device 20 provided with such a light receiving member 10 is not particularly limited as long as it includes a remote control device 21 and can be remotely operated. For example, an optical recording medium such as a DVD or a CD is available. Recording / reproducing apparatuses, television receivers, radio receiving apparatuses, recording / reproducing apparatuses for magnetic recording media such as videos and cassette tapes, and recording / reproducing apparatuses for magneto-optical recording media such as mini-discs (MD).

  As a specific example of the electronic apparatus 20, a front view of a DVD recording / reproducing apparatus 23 is shown in FIG. The front panel of the DVD recording / reproducing apparatus 23 is provided on the left side with the above-described light receiving member 10 and a display panel 25 for displaying recording / reproducing information and the like is provided at the center of the DVD medium outlet 24. It is provided on the right side. In addition, on the front panel of the DVD recording / reproducing apparatus 23, other buttons 26 such as a power button and an adjustment button necessary for the operation of the apparatus and other devices such as a microphone and a speaker as necessary A connection hole is provided for connection by, for example. Note that the electronic device 20 such as the DVD recording / reproducing device 23 may be provided so as to have the light incident surface 11 of the light receiving member 10 at a position where light can reach from the outside, and other configurations are not particularly limited.

  In FIG. 5A, the DVD recording / reproducing apparatus 23 includes one light receiving member 10, whereas the electronic apparatus may include a plurality of light receiving members. Specifically, as an example in which the electronic device includes a light receiving member, the electronic device can include a light receiving member group 17 in which a plurality of light receiving members 10 are provided, as illustrated in FIG. The light receiving member group 17 in FIG. 5B is provided with four light receiving members 10 radially about one point (not shown). The number and arrangement of light receiving members constituting the light receiving member group are as follows. It is not limited. For example, the light receiving members constituting the light receiving member group may be arranged in one or a plurality of rows, or may be arranged like a random polka dot pattern.

  A specific configuration example of the DVD recording / reproducing apparatus 23 will be described with reference to FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the DVD recording / reproducing apparatus 23 according to the present embodiment is roughly divided into the original function unit 31 having a different configuration depending on the electronic device, and regardless of attributes such as the type and model of the electronic device. The remote control function part 32 which an electronic device has uniformly is comprised.

First, the intrinsic function unit 31 is an element for realizing the function inherently possessed by the electronic device, and has the same configuration as the conventional electronic device. For example, in the case of the DVD recording / reproducing apparatus 23, the function of recording the content data on the DVD medium inserted in the media drive or reproducing the content data recorded in the DVD medium is an original function. It can be said that there is. In order to realize such a function, in the case of the example shown in FIG.
(A) a tuner 311 for demodulating a broadcast wave such as terrestrial digital broadcast received via an antenna and inputting the obtained data to a decoder or a reproduction control unit;
(B) a decoder 312 that demodulates a signal input from a media drive or a tuner and outputs the demodulated signal to the monitor MN;
(C) a media drive 313 that reads the content data recorded in the inserted medium and inputs it to the decoder under the control of the recording / playback unit, and writes the data received via the tuner to the DVD medium;
(D) an instruction input unit 314 that has input buttons for reproduction, stop, etc., and outputs an input signal corresponding to the user's input operation;
(E) It has a recording / reproducing unit 315 for controlling the tuner and the media drive in accordance with input signals from the instruction input unit and the remote control function unit 32 as constituent elements.

  Next, the remote control function unit 32 receives the control signal transmitted by the remote control device 21, and controls the intrinsic function unit 11 according to the received control signal. In order to realize such a function, the remote control function unit 32 of the DVD recording / reproducing apparatus 23 according to the present embodiment includes the receiving unit 321 including the light receiving member 10 and the infrared light receiving element 22 and the remote control unit 322. Have.

  The receiving unit 321 receives the control signal transmitted from the remote control device 21 by the infrared light receiving element 22 via the light receiving member 10, and outputs data included in the received control signal to the data bus 33.

  When a control signal is transmitted from the remote control device 21, the remote control unit 322 reads data included in the received control signal from the data bus, and controls the intrinsic function unit 31 based on this data.

  In this way, the electronic device 20 such as the DVD recording / reproducing apparatus 23 including the light receiving member 10 functions by each component member.

  As described above, the light receiving member 10 of the electronic device 20 according to the present embodiment transmits the light and includes the light incident surface 11 on which the light is incident and the light emitting surface 12 that is a concave shape and emits the light. And the radius of curvature of the light incident surface 11 is larger than the radius of curvature of the light exit surface 12.

  Therefore, light such as infrared rays, which is a control signal transmitted from the remote control device 21 of the electronic device 20, is received by the light incident surface 11 of the light receiving member 10 and refracted by the light emitting surface 12 having a concave shape. Condensed toward 22. That is, since the light incident from the light incident surface 11 is refracted and spreads on the concave light exit surface 12, it is possible to secure a larger light reception angle θ1 than that of a conventional light receiving member having a flat inner surface. Therefore, it is possible to provide the light receiving member 10 of the electronic device 20 that does not extremely increase the surface area of the light receiving member 10 and expands the light receiving range. As a result, the degree of freedom in designing the electronic device 20 including the light receiving member 10 is increased, and the design can be improved.

  At this time, it is only necessary to change the shape of the light receiving member without increasing the light emission intensity of the remote control device or the sensitivity of the light receiving element of the electronic device relative to the conventional electronic device or light receiving member. .

  Furthermore, the light receiving member 10 is preferably manufactured by injection molding. Therefore, the light receiving member 10 can be easily manufactured without requiring special equipment or the like only by changing the mold for injection molding with respect to the conventional light receiving member.

It is a partial section schematic diagram showing a part of electronic equipment provided with the conventional light receiving member. It is a top view which shows the light-receiving member of the electronic device in embodiment. It is AA sectional drawing of the light-receiving member of FIG. It is a partial section schematic diagram showing some light receiving members in an embodiment. It is a front view which shows an example in case the electronic device in embodiment is a DVD recording / reproducing apparatus, and a figure which shows a part of electronic device provided with the several light-receiving member. It is a block diagram which shows the structural example in case the electronic device in embodiment is a DVD recording / reproducing apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

10, 10a, 10b ... light receiving member 11 ... flat surface (light incident surface, surface side surface of electronic device)
11a ... concave surface (light incident surface, surface on the surface side of electronic equipment)
11b ... convex surface (light incident surface, surface on the surface side of electronic equipment)
12 ... concave surface (light-emitting surface, inner surface of electronic equipment)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 13 ... Cylindrical surface 14 ... Annular surface 20 ... Electronic equipment 21, 56 ... Remote control device 22, 57 ... Detection member (infrared light receiving element)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 23 ... Recording / reproducing apparatus 24 of optical recording media (DVD) ... DVD media outlet 25 ... Display panel 26 ... Button member 50 ... Conventional light receiving member 55 ... Conventional electronic devices [theta] 1, [theta] 2 ... Light receiving angle

Claims (2)

And having a light incident surface on which light enters and a light exit surface that is concave and emits light,
The light receiving member of an electronic device, wherein a radius of curvature of the light incident surface is larger than a radius of curvature of the light exit surface. The light receiving member of an electronic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the light receiving member is manufactured by injection molding.

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