JP2006154406A - Light leaking type optical fiber and its manufacturing method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a light leaking type optical fiber by which a light emitting device having a free shape is simply formed and to provide the light emitting device using the above fiber. <P>SOLUTION: The light leaking type optical fiber is manufactured by constituting a core and a clad with at least two kinds of materials having different refractive indexes and providing a twisted means so that the optical fiber is twisted centered around the axial direction. By installing light emitting elements to the light leaking type optical fiber, the simple and convenient light emitting device is obtained. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

The present invention relates to a light leakage optical fiber configured such that light input to an optical fiber composed of a core member and a clad member using at least two different refractive index materials gradually leaks to the outside of the clad member.

A general configuration of an optical fiber is shown in FIG. In FIG. 2, 200 is an optical fiber, 201 is a core member, 202 is a cladding member, 203 is a light emitting element, 204 is an incident angle of light, 205 is a boundary surface, and 206 is an arrow indicating the traveling direction of light. The refractive index of the core member 201 is configured to be slightly lower than the refractive index of the cladding member 202, and when the light from the light emitting element 203 is incident on the core member 201, the light is transmitted at the boundary surface 205 between the core member 201 and the cladding member 202. Reflected. In particular, when the incident angle 204 at which light is incident on the boundary surface 205 is greater than or equal to the critical angle, the incident light repeats total reflection at the boundary surface 205 as indicated by an arrow 206, and the light is transmitted far away. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a state in which the optical fiber 200 of FIG. 2 is bent. 301 is an incident angle of light, 302 is a boundary surface, and 303 is an arrow indicating a traveling direction of light. In FIG. 3, when the optical fiber 200 is bent, if the incident angle 301 at which light enters the boundary surface 302 between the core member 201 and the clad member 202 is smaller than the critical angle at which total reflection is performed, the light is not totally reflected and is clad. As shown in the traveling direction 303, the material 202 has a property of leaking out of the optical fiber 200.

As a conventional example applying this principle, a method of distributing light energy uniformly by controlling the total number, density, distribution, etc. of the light redirecting structures has been introduced.
On the other hand, neon tubes are generally well known as light emitting devices that emit light linearly. A neon tube is a light emitting device that emits light by applying a high voltage to a glass tube containing a gas emitting various light.

Special table 2002-523793

However, in the conventional example, it is necessary to process the embossing and the notch on the optical fiber itself, which is unsuitable for manufacturing at low cost and in large quantities.
In the case of a neon tube, it is necessary to apply a high voltage to a glass tube containing a special gas, a special power supply device is required, or it is difficult to process into a fine or complicated shape, It has been difficult to use as a display device for easily accessible items such as display light emitting devices and accessories for home appliances.
The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and can easily and stably manufacture a large number of free-form light emitters, and can easily form a free-form light-emitting device. The object is to provide an optical fiber.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides an optical fiber that transmits light incident on a core member to a distant place by using at least two kinds of materials having different refractive indexes for the core member and the clad member. A fixing means for fixing one end of the optical fiber, a rotating means for rotating the other end of the optical fiber while twisting about the axial direction of the optical fiber, a heating means for heating the optical fiber twisted by the rotating means, and cooling after heating. This is achieved by providing cooling means.

Alternatively, it is achieved by providing twisting means for bundling and twisting the N optical fibers (N is an integer of 2 or more), heating means for heating the twisted N optical fibers, and cooling means for cooling after heating. .
Furthermore, a drawing means for drawing an optical fiber preform in which the light emitting element, the core member, and the clad portion are integrated by heating with a heating means, and a rotating means for rotating in a twisting direction about the axial direction while drawing by the drawing means. And cooling means for cooling the optical fiber drawn so as to be twisted by the rotating means.

In the light leakage optical fiber of the present invention, since the core and the clad are also twisted, the cross section in the axial direction is deformed into a wave shape. For this reason, the incident light is totally reflected or partially reflected inside the light leaking optical fiber, or the light that is not reflected is transmitted to the outside of the light leaking optical fiber depending on the angle at which the wave hits.
In addition, by manufacturing the light emitting element and the light leaking optical fiber integrally, a linear light emitting device can be easily realized, and the light leaking optical fiber can be attached to the adhesive film in a free shape. By attaching, it is possible to effectively realize a light emitting device of various characters and figures.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings. In each figure, the same or similar components are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description is omitted.
A first embodiment relating to a light leakage type optical fiber of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 1, 4, and 7. FIG. FIG. 1 is a view showing the structure of a light leaking optical fiber, where 100 is a light leaking optical fiber, 101 is a core part of the light leaking optical fiber, and 102 is a cladding part of the light leaking optical fiber. FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the manufacturing method of the light leaking optical fiber 100, 401 is a fixing means for holding one end of the optical fiber 200, 402 is a rotating means for holding and rotating the other end of the optical fiber 200, and 404 is for heating. The heater 403 is a heating furnace for keeping the temperature constant. In FIG. 4, the motor for rotation of the rotating means 402, the rotation control device, the power source, the power source of the heater 404, the temperature control device, and the like are omitted.

A method for manufacturing the light leakage optical fiber 100 will be described with reference to FIG. One end of the optical fiber 200 having a general structure including the core 201 and the clad 202 as shown in FIG. 2 is fixed to the fixing means 401 in FIG. 4, passed through the heating furnace 403, and the other end is held by the rotating means 402. Next, the optical fiber 200 is twisted by rotating the rotating means 402 while energizing and heating the heater 404 of the heating furnace 403 to soften the optical fiber 200. Next, the heated optical fiber 200 is cooled by turning off the heater 404 of the heating furnace 403 or by removing the heating furnace 403, and solidified so that the twist does not return. In this way, the twisted optical fiber shown in FIG. 1 is produced. This is a light leakage type optical fiber 100, and the core 101 and the clad 102 are also twisted as shown in FIG. A state when light is incident on the light leaking optical fiber 100 will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram for explaining how light passes through the light leaking optical fiber 100, where 701 indicates the traveling direction of light passing outside the light leaking optical fiber 100, and 702 indicates the light leaking optical fiber 100. The traveling direction of the light traveling while reflecting the inside of is shown. In the light leaking optical fiber 100 of FIG. 7, the core 101 and the clad 102 shown in FIG. 1 are omitted for easy understanding.
As shown in FIG. 1, in the light leaking optical fiber 100, since the core 101 and the clad 102 are also twisted, the cross section in the axial direction is deformed into a wave shape as shown in FIG. Therefore, the incident light is either totally reflected or partially reflected inside the light leaking optical fiber 100 or transmitted to the outside of the light leaking optical fiber 100 depending on the angle at which the wave hits. That is, as shown in FIG. 2, when the incident angle 204 of light incident on the boundary surface 205 between the core 201 and the clad 202 of the optical fiber 200 is larger than the critical angle, the light is totally reflected as in the traveling direction 206. As shown in FIG. 3, when the incident angle 301 of light incident on the boundary surface 302 between the core 201 and the clad 202 of the optical fiber 200 is smaller than the critical angle, the light is transmitted to the outside of the optical fiber 200 as in the traveling direction 303. Is done. The light leaking type optical fiber 100 of FIG. 1 can be considered as an optical fiber in which the bent portions as described above are continuously formed.

As described above, the light leaking optical fiber 100 can leak a part of incident light to the outside of the light leaking optical fiber 100 and reflect a part of the light leaking optical fiber 100 for transmission. Can emit light.
Moreover, since there is also flexibility, it can be bent into a free shape. In the case of the general optical fiber 200 as shown in FIG. 3, since most of the light is transmitted to the outside at the bent portion, a minimum bending radius is provided, but the light leaking optical fiber 100 as shown in FIG. In this case, even in the bent portion, light can be partially reflected by the wave structure, so that it is possible to arrange the bent portion without worrying too much.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.
The light leaking type optical fiber of the second embodiment is a light leaking type optical fiber configured by combining two or more optical fibers. In this embodiment, a case where three optical fibers are twisted together will be described.
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a manufacturing method of a light leaking type optical fiber. Reference numerals 501, 502 and 503 are optical fibers having the same structure as the normal optical fiber 200 shown in FIG. Reference numerals 401, 402, 403, and 404 are the same as the apparatus of FIG. 4 described in the first embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the structure of a light leakage type optical fiber, and 500 is a light leakage type optical fiber having a structure in which three optical fibers 501, 502 and 503 are twisted together.
First, the manufacturing method of the light leakage type optical fiber 500 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. Two optical fibers 501, 502, and 503 that are the same as the optical fiber 200 having a general structure including the core 201 and the clad 202 as shown in FIG. 2 are bundled, and one end thereof is fixed to the fixing means 401 in FIG. Then, the other end of the three bundles is held by the rotating means 402. Next, the heater 404 of the heating furnace 403 is energized and heated, and the three optical fibers 501, 502, and 503 are softened while rotating the rotating means 402 to twist the three optical fibers in a rope shape. Next, the three optical fibers 501, 502, and 503 that are heated and twisted are cooled by turning off the heater 404 of the heating furnace 403 or by removing the heating furnace 403, so that the twist is not restored. . In this way, the light leakage type optical fiber 500 twisted in a rope shape shown in FIG. 6 can be obtained. In the light leaking optical fiber 500, as in the bent optical fiber 200 shown in FIG. 3, the twisted three optical fibers 501, 502, and 503 are intertwined while being bent with each other. By leaking to the outside of 502 and 503, the light leaking optical fiber 500 can emit light linearly.

Here, the condition of the degree of twisting requires a portion that is less than or equal to the minimum bending radius of the optical fiber. The minimum bending radius of the optical fiber is a radius that keeps the incident angle of light at the bent portion larger than the critical angle at which total reflection does not occur. That is, if it is larger than the minimum bending radius, the total reflection of light is maintained, so that the light can be transmitted as an optical fiber. In the present invention, when a portion smaller than the minimum bending radius comes out by increasing the degree of twisting, the light leaks outside the optical fiber without being totally reflected. The critical angle is a value determined by the ratio of the refractive index of the light of the core material and the refractive index of the light of the cladding material. If the critical angle is determined, the minimum bending radius is also determined, and the degree of twist required for the light leaking optical fiber is also determined. be able to. If the degree of twisting is small, light will not leak outside.
In the embodiment of the present invention, the method by twisting has been described. However, it is obvious that it can be knitted like a copper wire.
Further, in the embodiment of the present invention, the three optical fibers are twisted together, but the same effect can be obtained with any number of two or more.
Further, by appropriately changing the twisting interval, the amount of light leaking can be controlled, and the length that the light reaches can also be adjusted.

Next, an effective embodiment using the light leakage optical fiber 100 according to the first embodiment and the light leakage optical fiber 500 according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 8, reference numeral 801 denotes a light leaking optical fiber of the light leaking optical fiber 100 or 500, 802 and 803 are adhesive film sheets, 804 and 805 are light emitting elements such as semiconductor lasers and LEDs, 806 And 807 are couplers for efficiently allowing the light of the light emitting elements 804 and 805 to enter the light leaking optical fiber 100 or 500. In FIG. 8, a power source and a control device for causing the light emitting elements 804 and 805 to emit light are omitted, and the light leakage type optical fiber 801 is formed in a star shape as shown in FIG.

Next, the operation will be described in detail. When light is incident on the light leaking optical fiber 801 from the light emitting element 804 via the coupler 807, the star light leaking optical fiber 801 fixed between the transparent adhesive films 802 and 803 emits light in a star shape. Release. At the same time, light incident on the star-shaped light leaking optical fiber 801 from the light emitting element 805 via the coupler 806 from the opposite side of the light leaking optical fiber 801 also emits light in a star shape. Incident light becomes weaker as it goes farther. However, by entering from both sides in this way, there is an effect that light can be emitted uniformly.

Next, an effective embodiment using the light leakage optical fiber 100 according to the first embodiment and the light leakage optical fiber 500 according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 9 and 10. In FIG. 9, reference numeral 901 denotes a positive electrode, 902 denotes a negative electrode, 903 denotes a light emitting element, 904 denotes an optical fiber core base material, and 905 denotes an optical fiber clad base material. Note that a detailed description of the light emitting method of the light emitting element 903 is omitted because it is not the main point of the present invention, but is the same as that of a general semiconductor laser or LED, and light is supplied by supplying power to the positive electrode 901 and the negative electrode 902 Any element that emits the same effect can be obtained.
In FIG. 9, a core base material 904 and a clad base material 905 are made of materials having different refractive indexes of light by several percent, and like a general optical fiber base material, the critical angle is increased and total reflection is facilitated. The clad base material 905 uses a material having a refractive index higher by several percent than the core base material 904. In general, as a method of manufacturing an optical fiber, an elongated optical fiber having a core and a clad structure is manufactured by a process of heating the base material and elongating it into a wire shape, that is, a so-called drawing process.

In FIG. 9, the light emitting element 903 is integrated with such an optical fiber base material, and the ends of the base material in which the light emitting element 903 is not embedded are stretched thinly while being heated, whereby the couplers 806 and 807 in FIG. It is not necessary to attach the light emitting elements 804 and 805 via the optical fiber, and the optical fiber 906 is obtained by drawing the base material while heating it as shown in FIG. 10, and the optical fiber 906 is obtained by the light according to the first embodiment. By processing into a light leakage type optical fiber like the leakage type optical fiber 100 or the light leakage type optical fiber 500 according to the second embodiment, a light leakage type optical fiber with a light emitting element can be provided.

As described above, it is possible to provide a light leakage type optical fiber capable of emitting light in a linear form, and provide shining letters, shining figures, etc. by pasting in an adhesive film etc. in a free shape It becomes possible to do. As shown in FIG. 12, the use of such a shining character or a shining figure is to call attention to night driving by sticking a character 952 with a light leaking type optical fiber to a glass 951 of a car, for example. It can be used as an accessory. Further, as shown in FIG. 11, it is possible to apply a sticker to various places in a seal shape by making either one of the films with adhesive material 802 or 803 in FIG. FIG. 11 will be described in detail. FIG. 11 shows an application example to a cellular phone. 850 is a cellular phone, 851 is a light leaking optical fiber fixed to a seal-like film 853, 852 is an antenna, 854 is a cap that covers the antenna, and radiates from the antenna. A resonance circuit for taking out electric power and a resonance circuit built-in cap in which the light taken out by the resonance circuit is supplied to the light emitting element to emit light, and the emitted light is incident on the light leaking optical fiber 851. Each time the cellular phone 850 radiates a radio wave from the antenna 852, the resonance circuit resonates with the radiated radio wave to extract power, the light emitting element emits light, and the light leaking optical fiber 851 operates to emit light in a star shape. As a result, when an incoming call is received, the light leaking type optical fiber shaped in the name of the owner or a favorite design can be emitted and used.
In this manner, if the resonance circuit is also integrated, power can be supplied in a non-contact manner, and the light emitting element can be illuminated through the power of the antenna of the mobile phone and the power supply coil.

A method of attaching such a linear light leakage type optical fiber or the like to a film with an adhesive material with a free pattern is introduced in detail in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-126942 “Wiring method and wiring device”. An outline of this method is shown in FIG. In FIG. 14, 141 is a bobbin around which a wire such as an enameled wire or an optical fiber is wound, 142 is a vertically vibrating nozzle having a hole through which the wire is passed in the center, and 143 is an XY stage that can move the nozzle in two dimensions. Reference numeral 144 denotes a control unit that controls the XY stage to a predetermined coordinate, 145 denotes a base with an adhesive, 146 denotes a film with an adhesive, and 147 denotes a wire. The film 146 with the adhesive is attached and fixed to the base 146 with the adhesive, and the XY stage 143 moves the XY stage 143 to a position predetermined by the control unit 144 and is attached to the XY stage 143. The nozzle 142 moves in the same manner, and the wire 147 coming out of the central portion of the nozzle 142 can be attached to the adhesive 146 by the vertical vibration of the nozzle 142 to make wire patterns of various shapes.

In FIG. 14, the wire 147 is changed to the light leaking optical fiber 100 described in the first embodiment or the light leaking optical fiber 500 described in the second embodiment. Characters and figures as shown in FIG. 12 can be provided. Preferably, as shown in FIG. 15, by providing a heating device 148 such as a hair dryer that warms the wire coming out of the nozzle 142, even a wire such as a light leaking optical fiber having a thick wire diameter that is not flexible is more suitable. It is possible to make it easy to affix to the film 146 with an adhesive material by making fine characters and designs. The heating device 148 may be integrated with the nozzle 142, or the same effect can be obtained even if a heater is incorporated in the nozzle itself. Alternatively, the same effect can be obtained even if a heater is built in the base 146 with adhesive.

Next, a method for efficiently manufacturing a large amount of the light leaking optical fiber 100 of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 13, 1 is a rotating means, 2 is a turntable, 3 is an optical fiber bobbin wound with an optical fiber 200, 4 is a take-out hole, 5 and 6 are guide rollers, 7 is a heating furnace, 8 is a cooling furnace, 10 and 11 are A guide roller, 12 is a tension control roller for pulling the light leaking optical fiber 100 with a constant tension, and 13 is a winding bobbin for winding the light leaking optical fiber 100.
In this description, the power source and control device of the rotating means 1, the motor and power source of the take-up bobbin, the control device, the power source and temperature control device of the heating furnace, the power source of the cooling furnace and the like are omitted.

Now, the optical fiber 200 taken out from the optical fiber bobbin 3 attached to the turntable 2 is drawn out from the take-out hole 4, and the guide rollers 10 and 11 and the tension through the guide rollers 5 and 6, the heating furnace 7, and the cooling furnace 8. It is wound around the winding bobbin 13 through the control roller 12. Since the turntable 2 is rotated by the rotating means 1, a twisting force is always applied to the optical fiber 200 taken out from the takeout hole 4 in a certain direction. The twisting force is concentrated on the portion where the optical fiber 200 is softened in the heating furnace 7, and the optical fiber 200 is twisted, enters the cooling furnace 8, is cooled and solidified, and becomes a light leaking optical fiber 100. Passed to the roller 10. At this time, the optical fiber 200 heated and softened in the heating furnace 7 is pulled with a constant tension while being controlled by the tension control roller 12 so as not to be stretched, and wound on the take-up bobbin 13. Further, the rotating means 1 also controls the relationship between the speed at which the optical fiber 200 is taken out from the take-out hole 4 and the rotational speed of the rotating means 1 in order to control the degree of twisting to a constant level. In this way, it is possible to manufacture a large number of stable light leakage type optical fibers 100.

In FIG. 13, the manufacturing apparatus of the light leaking optical fiber 100 according to the first embodiment has been described. However, when manufacturing the light leaking optical fiber 500 according to the second embodiment, the light leaking optical fiber 500 is formed on the turntable 2. The same optical fiber bobbin 3 is attached, three bundles are bundled and pulled out from the takeout hole 4, and the light leakage type optical fiber 500 is manufactured by twisting through the guide rollers 5, 6 and the heating furnace 7 and the cooling furnace 8 in the same manner. You can also

Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 16, 161, 162 and 163 are optical fibers having the same structure as the ordinary optical fiber 200 shown in FIG. 2, 164 is a knitting pitch, and 165 is a light leakage optical fiber knitted from the optical fibers 161, 162 and 163. In FIG. 16, the three optical fibers 161, 162, and 163 are knitted in a so-called braid shape so as to intersect with each other, so that a portion bent at a bending angle in a corrugated shape is generated. Here, as shown in FIG. 3, when the incident angle 301 of the light incident on the boundary portion 302 between the core 201 and the clad 202 of the optical fiber 200 is smaller than the critical angle, as shown in FIG. Since the light is transmitted to the outside of the optical fiber 200, similarly, light is emitted to the outside of the optical fibers 161, 162, and 163. In FIG. 16, the amount of light leaking to the outside can be controlled by changing the knitting pitch 164. If the knitting pitch 164 is narrowed, the amount of light leaking increases, and conversely if it is widened, the amount of light leaking decreases. In other words, assuming that the amount of incident light is constant, if the knitting pitch 164 is narrow, the amount of light that leaks increases, so the brightness of the portion that shines linearly is bright, but the length of the portion that shines linearly. It gets shorter. Conversely, if the knitting pitch 164 is wide, the amount of light that leaks decreases, so the brightness of the portion that shines linearly becomes dark, but the length of the portion that shines linearly becomes long. In this way, if the optimum knitting pitch 164 is set according to the length of the light leaking optical fiber to be used, it can be used more effectively.

In the method of manufacturing the light leaking optical fiber 500 according to the second embodiment of the present invention, the twist is not returned by heating through the heating furnace 403 in FIG. Since the form is knitted, it is not necessary to heat it.
Here, as shown in FIG. 21, by using a tube 166 for diffusing light and passing a light leakage type optical fiber 165 formed by knitting optical fibers 161, 162 and 163 through the tube 166, the leaked light is uniformly diffused. And let it glow. The tube 166 may be a part of the light leakage type optical fiber 165, or the same effect can be obtained by attaching a seal-like material that diffuses light.
Furthermore, by applying a sanding process that roughens the cladding surfaces of the optical fibers 161, 162, and 163, that is, the surface of the cladding 202 in FIG. 2, it is possible to uniformly diffuse and emit the leaked light without using the tube 166 or the like. Become.

Next, an application example of the light leaking optical fiber 165 described in the third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 20, 211, 212 and 213 are optical fibers having the same structure as the ordinary optical fiber 200 shown in FIG. 2, and 214, 215 and 216 are optical fibers 211, 212 and 213 similar to the light leaking optical fiber 165 of FIG. It is a knitted part. In FIG. 20, since light is emitted from the portions 214, 215, and 216 of the optical fibers 211, 212, and 213, the portions that shine linearly can be made discretely. It becomes possible.

Next, another application example of the third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 17, 171, 172 and 173 are optical fibers having the same structure as the ordinary optical fiber 200 shown in FIG. 2, 174 is a green light emitting device that emits green light, 175 is a red light emitting device that emits red light, 176. Is a blue light emitting device that emits blue light. By controlling the light amounts of the green light emitting device 174, the red light emitting device 175, and the blue light emitting device 176, various colors based on the three primary colors can be expressed.

Next, an effective application example of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 18 and 19. In FIG. 18, reference numeral 181 denotes a light leaking type optical fiber according to the present invention, and 182 denotes a pendant type object incorporating a light emitting element and a battery. Here, the light leaking optical fiber 181 may be the light leaking optical fiber 100 according to the first embodiment of the present invention, or the light leaking optical fiber 500 according to the second embodiment. The same effect can be obtained with the light leakage optical fiber 165 according to the third embodiment. Next, the structure of the pendant object shown in FIG. 18 will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 19, 191 is an LED of a light emitting element, 192 is a negative electrode of the LED 191, 193 is a positive electrode of the LED 191, 194 is a button battery, and 195 is a heat shrinkable tube. Since the positive electrode 193 of the LED 191 is connected to the positive electrode of the button battery 194, and the negative electrode 192 of the LED 191 is connected to the negative electrode of the button battery 194, the button 194 current flows through the LED 191 to emit light. On the other hand, since the heat-shrinkable tube 195 is fitted and contracted and fixed to both ends of the light leaking optical fiber 181 and the LED 191, the light emitted from the LED 191 enters from both ends of the light leaking optical fiber 181, as shown in FIG. If the light leaking type optical fiber 181 is used as a strap of the pendant type object 182, the strap emits light in a linear shape.

In this description, the power switch and the like are omitted, but a slide-type or push-type switch may be provided, or a device that is turned on / off by vibration or shaking may be provided.
Although not described in the embodiment of the present invention, a plastic optical fiber is preferable in terms of workability. Of course, glass fiber optics also have different temperature conditions, but can be realized with similar manufacturing methods and configurations.

As described above, in the light leakage optical fiber of the present invention, the core and the clad are also twisted, so that the cross section in the axial direction is deformed into a wave shape. For this reason, the incident light is totally reflected or partially reflected inside the light leaking optical fiber, or the light that is not reflected is transmitted to the outside of the light leaking optical fiber depending on the angle at which the wave hits.
In this way, the light leakage type optical fiber leaks a part of the incident light to the outside of the light leakage type optical fiber, and a part of the light can be reflected and transmitted inside the light leakage type optical fiber, so that the light is attenuated. Light can be emitted linearly.

Alternatively, a light leakage optical fiber can also be realized by twisting a plurality of optical fibers so that a portion having a minimum bending radius or less is formed.
Moreover, a linear light-emitting device can be easily realized by integrally manufacturing a light-emitting element and a light leakage optical fiber.
By making the light of the light emitting element incident from both ends of the light leaking optical fiber, it is possible to reduce unevenness in the brightness of light that darkens the end.
Furthermore, if the outer periphery of the light leakage type optical fiber of the present invention is coated with a light diffusion type material, the leaked light can be diffused to emit more uniform light.
By sticking the light leaking optical fiber to the adhesive film in a free shape, it is possible to effectively realize light emitting devices of various characters and figures.
A light-emitting device can be realized more effectively by making the film with an adhesive only on one side and making it into a seal shape.

In addition, by appropriately changing the twisting interval, the amount of light leaking can be controlled, and the length of light reaching can also be adjusted.
As described above, according to the present invention, at least two kinds of materials having different refractive indexes are used for the core member and the clad member, and the light incident on the core member repeats total reflection at the boundary between the core member and the clad member. In a linear light-emitting device using an optical fiber that transmits light to a distant place, it is possible to provide a light leakage optical fiber that emits linear light so that light input to the optical fiber gradually leaks to the outside of the cladding member. .

It is a three-dimensional view showing the structure of the light leakage optical fiber according to the first embodiment of the present invention. It is a three-dimensional view showing the structure of a general optical fiber and the progress of light. It is sectional drawing which shows the mode of advancing of the light at the time of bending of an optical fiber. It is a block diagram explaining the manufacturing method of the light leakage type optical fiber which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram explaining the manufacturing method of the light leakage type optical fiber which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a three-dimensional view showing the structure of a light leaking optical fiber according to the second embodiment of the present invention. It is sectional drawing explaining advancing of the light of the light leak type optical fiber which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a three-dimensional view showing an application example of the light leakage type optical fiber of the present invention. It is a three-dimensional view showing an effective application example of the light leakage type optical fiber of the present invention. It is a three-dimensional view showing an effective application example of the light leakage type optical fiber of the present invention. It is a three-dimensional view showing an application example of the light leakage type optical fiber of the present invention. It is a three-dimensional view showing a second application example of the light leakage type optical fiber of the present invention. It is a three-dimensional block diagram which shows the manufacturing apparatus of the light leakage type optical fiber of this invention. It is a three-dimensional block diagram which shows the shape formation apparatus of the light leak type optical fiber of this invention. It is a three-dimensional block diagram which shows the 2nd shape formation apparatus of the light leak type optical fiber of this invention. It is a three-dimensional block diagram which shows 3rd Embodiment of the light leak type optical fiber of this invention. It is a three-dimensional block diagram which shows effective embodiment of this invention. It is a three-dimensional block diagram explaining the application example of this invention. It is a three-dimensional block diagram explaining the application example of this invention. It is a three-dimensional block diagram which shows effective embodiment of this invention. It is a three-dimensional block diagram which shows effective embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 ... Light leak type optical fiber 101 by 1st Embodiment ... Core member 102 ... Cladding member 204 ... Incident angle 205 ... Interface 401 ... Fixing means 402 ... Rotating means 403 ... Heating furnace 500 ... Light leak by 2nd Embodiment Type optical fiber

Claims (17)

A method for producing a light-leakable optical fiber, characterized in that a twisting means is applied to an optical fiber constituting a core and a clad with at least two kinds of materials having different refractive indexes, and the twisting means twists about the axial direction. 2. The twisting means comprises a fixing means and a rotating means, and the one end of the optical fiber is fixed by the fixing means, and twisted by rotating the other end of the optical fiber by the rotating means. The manufacturing method of the light leakage type optical fiber of description. 3. The method of manufacturing a light leaking optical fiber according to claim 2, further comprising a heating unit and a cooling unit. A light leakage type optical fiber characterized by bundling N (N is an integer of 2 or more) optical fibers constituting a core and a clad with at least two kinds of materials having different refractive indexes and twisting or braiding them. Production method. The twisting means comprises a fixing means and a rotating means, and one end of the N optical fibers is fixed by the fixing means, and the other end of the N optical fibers is rotated by the rotating means. 5. The method for producing a light leaking optical fiber according to claim 4, wherein the optical fiber is twisted. 6. The light leakage type optical fiber according to claim 5, further comprising a heating means and a cooling means. 7. The light leaking optical fiber according to claim 4, wherein the light leaking optical fiber is twisted so that a bending angle of twisting is equal to or less than a minimum bending radius of the N optical fibers. A method of manufacturing a light-leakable optical fiber, wherein an optical fiber preform having a clad member formed around a core member is drawn while being heated by a heating means, and twisted about an axial direction by a twisting means. 9. The light leaking optical fiber according to claim 8, wherein a light emitting element is provided and integrated so that the center of the light emitting element comes to a core member of the optical fiber preform. A light leaking type optical fiber comprising a core and a clad made of at least two kinds of materials having different refractive indexes, wherein twisting means is provided centering on the axial direction. In N (N is an integer greater than or equal to 2) light leaking optical fibers that form a core and a clad with at least two types of materials having different refractive indexes, the N optical fibers are bundled and twisted or braided to provide twisting means. A light leaking type optical fiber characterized by that. The light leaking type optical fiber according to claim 10 or 11, wherein a twist interval variable means for changing a twist interval of the twist means is provided to vary the twist interval. The first leaky optical fiber is provided with the light leaking optical fiber according to claims 10 to 12, and the second tacky film or a release film is bonded to the first tacky film. A light transmission substrate characterized by that. 13. A light-emitting device, wherein a first light-emitting element is provided at one end of the light leaking optical fiber according to claim 10 and a second light-emitting element is provided at the other end. 13. A light emitting device, wherein the light leaking type optical fiber according to claim 10 is arranged so that light from at least one light emitting element enters at both ends. The light-emitting device according to claim 14 or 15 is provided on the first adhesive film, and a second adhesive film or a release film is bonded to the first adhesive film. A light emitting device. A method for producing a light transmitting base material, comprising the step of forming the light leaking optical fiber according to claim 10 on the first pressure-sensitive adhesive film while heating.

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