JP2009135050A - Light-emitting device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a light-emitting device which can house a lighted object inside a light guide body so as to be visible from the outside and can make the light guide body emit light as a whole. <P>SOLUTION: The light-emitting device includes a light guide body 4 which forms a housing space S of which the lower side is closed and the upper side is opened by an inner face and which is formed so that its thickness becomes thinner from the upper end toward the lower end, and a mounting member 3 on which a light-emitting body opposed to the upper end of the light guide body 4 is mounted and which is installed on the upper end side of the light guide body 4. The light guide body 4 emits light uniformly without unevenness by the light emitted from the light-emitting body. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a light emitting device in which a storage space is formed by a transparent light guide.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a backlight light source of a liquid crystal display device, a light emitting device including a light emitter such as an LED (Light Emitting Diode) and a plate-shaped light guide is known (for example, see Patent Document 1). In the light emitting device described in Patent Document 1, the light guide plate has a curved portion at least in part, and the radius of curvature of the cross section along the first direction of the curved portion is a cross section along the second direction of the curved portion. The plurality of individual light emitters are arranged along the second direction.

Further, as a vehicular lamp, an incident surface on which light from a light source is incident, two reflecting surfaces that reflect light from the incident surface, a non-reflecting surface that is arranged between the reflecting surfaces and does not reflect light, A ring-shaped emission surface from which light from the reflection surface is emitted, and the incident surface is curved in accordance with light emission of the light source, and light from the incident surface is stepped on the reflection surface. There is known a light guide body in which the reflection surface is inclined at a predetermined inclination angle with respect to the horizontal direction so as to be reflected to the emission surface (see, for example, Patent Document 2).
JP 2001-356342 A JP 2006-85908 A

However, the light-emitting device described in Patent Document 1 is used as a backlight light source of a liquid crystal display device, and since the light guide is formed in a plate shape, it accommodates an object to be illuminated such as an article or a liquid. It is not possible.
Further, the light guide described in Patent Document 2 is also used as a vehicular lamp, and is not suitable for use in housing an object to be illuminated. In addition, since the light guide has a non-reflecting surface that does not reflect light, the light guide cannot be caused to emit light as a whole. Moreover, since the light emitter is provided separately from the light guide, the light emitting device including the light emitter and the light guide is large as a whole.

  The subject of this invention is providing the light-emitting device which can accommodate a to-be-illuminated body inside a light guide so that it can be visually recognized from the outside, and can light-emit the light guide entirely.

  According to the present invention, a transparent light guide formed so as to decrease in thickness from the upper end to the lower end is formed by the inner surface with the lower side closed and the upper side opened, and the light guide There is provided a light-emitting device including a light-emitting body facing the upper end and a mounting member provided on the upper end side of the light guide.

  In the light emitting device, the mounting member is preferably detachable from the light guide.

  In the light emitting device, it is preferable that the mounting member is colored in a color different from the light emission color of the light emitter.

  In the light-emitting device, the light guide includes a planar light-emitting portion that emits light in a planar manner when the light-emitting body emits light, and a light emitting device that divides the planar light-emitting portion into upper and lower portions and emits light with higher luminance than the planar light-emitting portion. And a luminance light emitting portion.

  In the light-emitting device, the high-intensity light-emitting portion of the light guide is preferably formed thinner than the planar light-emitting portion adjacent to the upper side.

  The said light-emitting device WHEREIN: The said high-intensity light emission part can be set as the structure which is a level | step-difference part formed in the outer surface of the said light guide.

  The said light-emitting device WHEREIN: The said high-intensity light emission part can be set as the structure which is a recessed part formed in the outer surface of the said light guide.

  In the light emitting device, the light guide is preferably formed in a bowl shape.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, an to-be-illuminated body can be accommodated in the inside of a light guide so that it can be visually recognized from the outside, and a light guide can be made to light-emerge entirely.

  1 to 7 show an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of a light emitting device.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the light emitting device 1 includes an annular mounting member 3 on which an LED 2 (not shown in FIG. 1) is mounted as a light emitter, and a light guide 4 that emits light by light emitted from the LED 2. I have. The light guide 4 is formed in a bowl shape that narrows downward, and an accommodation space S that can accommodate an object to be illuminated, such as an article or a liquid, is formed by an inner surface. The mounting member 3 is attached to the upper end of the light guide 4 and connected to a wiring 5 for supplying power to the LED 2.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the light emitting device.
As shown in FIG. 2, the mounting member 3 is made of, for example, a resin such as ABS (Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene), is formed in a generally donut shape, and covers the upper end side of the light guide 4. The mounting member 3 includes a flat annular substrate portion 31 on which the LED 2 is mounted on the lower surface, an inner flange portion 32 projecting downward from the inner end portion of the substrate portion 31, and a projecting downward portion from the outer end portion of the substrate portion 31. And an outer flange portion 33. The board portion 31 is formed with an insertion hole 34 through which the wiring 5 is inserted.

  The mounting member 3 is detachable from the light guide 4, and the user can separate the light guide 4 from the mounting member 3 as necessary. In the present embodiment, the groove 35 formed in the inner flange portion 32 of the mounting member 3 and the protrusion 41 formed on the outer surface of the light guide 4 are engaged. The groove 35 is formed on the radially outer surface of the inner flange portion 32, and includes a vertically extending portion 36 extending upward from the lower end and a horizontally extending portion 37 extending horizontally from the upper end of the vertically extending portion 36. Have. Thereby, the user moves the mounting member 3 downward with the position of the vertically extending portion 36 aligned with the protrusion 41 of the light guide 4 and rotates the mounting member 3 in the circumferential direction, thereby mounting the mounting member. 3 can be attached to the light guide 4.

FIG. 3 is a bottom view of the mounting member.
As shown in FIG. 3, a plurality of LEDs 2 are mounted on the substrate portion 31 of the mounting member 3 at equal intervals in the circumferential direction. In the present embodiment, the lower surface of the substrate unit 31 is red, and a total of 18 LEDs 2 are mounted at predetermined positions on the substrate unit 31. Each LED 2 is made of, for example, a GaN-based material and emits blue light. Note that the light emission color of each LED 2 is not limited to blue, and for example, green light may be emitted. Further, the material of each LED 2 is not limited to the GaN-based material. For example, the material may be GaAs-based material and emit light in orange.

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of the light emitting device.
As shown in FIG. 4, the light guide 4 is formed so that the thickness decreases from the upper end to the lower end. The light guide 4 is made of a transparent material, and a viewer can visually recognize articles, liquids, and the like stored in the storage space S from the outside. The light guide 22 can be made of, for example, a transparent resin such as an acrylic resin, a transparent inorganic material such as glass, or the like.

  The upper end of the light guide 4 is formed flat, and a protruding portion 42 that protrudes upward is formed on the radially outer side of the upper end. The protrusions 42 are provided with the protrusions 41 described above. As shown in FIG. 4, when the mounting member 3 is attached to the light guide 4, each LED 2 is positioned with respect to the light guide 4, and each LED 2 faces the upper end surface of the light guide 4 with a predetermined distance. .

  The inner surface of the light guide 4 is formed into a smooth curved surface without irregularities. In the present embodiment, the inner surface of the light guide 4 has a parabolic shape in a longitudinal section. The outer surface of the light guide 4 is, from the upper end toward the lower end, the first planar light emitting unit 43, the first high luminance light emitting unit 44, the second planar light emitting unit 45, the second high luminance light emitting unit 46, and the third surface. The light emitting portion 47 is in this order. Each planar light emitting portion 43, 45, 47 emits light in a planar shape when each LED 2 emits light, and each high brightness light emitting portion 44, 46 has a higher brightness than each planar light emitting portion 43, 45, 47 when each LED emits light. Lights on. In the present embodiment, each of the high brightness light emitting portions 44 and 46 is a step portion formed on the outer surface of the light guide 4.

  Each planar light-emitting part 43, 45, 47 and each high-intensity light-emitting part 44, 46 are each formed in the smooth curved surface without an unevenness | corrugation. In addition, each of the planar light emitting units 43, 45, 47 and each of the high luminance light emitting units 44, 46 is inclined toward the center of the light guide 4 in the downward direction. Each high-intensity light-emitting part 44, 46 is formed shorter than each planar light-emitting part 43, 45, 47. Each of the high-intensity light-emitting portions 44 and 46 is formed in a straight line in a longitudinal section, and has a larger inclination angle in the center direction of the light guide 4 than each of the planar light-emitting portions 43, 45, and 47 adjacent to the upper side. ing. Moreover, in the light guide 4 of this embodiment, each high-intensity light emission part 44,46 is formed thinner than each planar light emission part 43,45,47 adjoining upper side.

5 is a right side view of the light emitting device, FIG. 6 is a front view of the light emitting device, and FIG. 7 is a rear view of the light emitting device.
As shown in FIGS. 5 to 7, the high-intensity light emitting portions 44 and 46 are formed with a certain vertical dimension over the circumferential direction of the light guide 4. That is, the two high-intensity light emitting units 44 and 46 partition the planar light emitting units 43, 45, and 47 vertically. As shown in FIG. 5, the high-intensity light emitting portions 44 and 46 are formed to be rearwardly lowered, and as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the high-intensity light emitting portions 44 and 46 have different shapes on the front surface and the back surface. ing.

  In the light emitting device 1 configured as described above, an object to be irradiated can be accommodated in the accommodation space S, and the object to be irradiated can be visually recognized from the outside through the transparent light guide 4. When each LED 2 is energized through the wiring 5, each LED 2 emits blue light. The light emitted from each LED 2 enters the light guide 4 from the upper end, and is then emitted from the surface of the light guide 4 to the inside and outside. Thereby, the light guide 4 of the light-emitting device 1 emits blue light as a whole, and the irradiated object dyed blue can be visually recognized from the outside.

  Here, since the light guide 4 is formed so that the thickness decreases from the upper end toward the lower end, the planar light emitting portions 43, 45, and 47 can emit light uniformly without unevenness. That is, the brightness of the light radiated to the outside does not decrease as the distance from the incident end side is different from that formed with a uniform thickness throughout.

Moreover, since each high-intensity light emission part 44,46 of the light guide 4 light-emits with higher brightness than each planar light emission part 43,45,47, a light and dark accent can be attached to the light emission state of the light guide 4. . In the present embodiment, the high-intensity light emitting portions 44 and 46 are formed over the circumferential direction of the light guide 4 and the high-intensity light emitting portions 44 and 46 shine in a ring shape. The depth can be clearly recognized, and the light guide 4 can be seen three-dimensionally to the viewer.
In addition, since the ring-shaped high-intensity light-emitting portions 44 and 46 are formed rearwardly downward and are asymmetrical in the front-rear direction, the symmetry of the shape of the light guide 4 is disturbed, and the luminance of the high-intensity light-emitting portions 44 and 46 is Change in direction. In this way, by disturbing the luminance contrast of the light guide 4, it is possible to give the viewer an impression that the light guide 4 is sparkling.

  Further, when each LED 2 is not emitting light, the transparent light guide 4 reflects red on the lower surface of the mounting member 3, and the irradiated object is visually recognized from the outside in a state where the red is watermarked. Thereby, the color of the light guide 4 can be changed at the time of light emission and non-light emission of each LED2, and two designs with different colors are realized. Even when there is no light emission, the high-luminance light-emitting portions 44 and 46 emphasize colors from the respective planar light-emitting portions 43, 45, and 47, and a red ring with high brightness can be recognized from the outside. Here, since the red color is merely a reflection, the brightness is lower than the blue color when the LED 2 emits light. Therefore, although the irradiated object is visually recognized as reddish, the viewer can recognize the original color of the irradiated object.

  Further, since the light guide 4 formed in a bowl shape is formed so that the thickness decreases from the upper end to the lower end, when the viewer visually recognizes the light guide 4 from the outside, the light guide It is easy to visually recognize the inner shape of 4. This is because the refractive index of the light guide 4 is higher than the gas in the hollow portion of the light guide 4. Also by this, the depth of the light guide 4 can be recognized clearly, and the light guide 4 can be seen in three dimensions to the viewer.

  Further, since the mounting member 3 is detachable from the light guide 4, only the light guide 4 can be removed and cleaned. Thereby, each LED2 and electrical connection part of the mounting substrate 3 are not damaged by the cleaning liquid such as water. In addition, when the light guide 4 is damaged, it can be repaired by replacing only the light guide 4 or can be replaced with a light guide 4 having a different shape depending on the object to be illuminated, the installation location, etc. This is possible and is extremely advantageous in practical use.

  Note that the illumination object to be accommodated in the accommodation space S of the light emitting device 1 can be arbitrarily selected by the user. As an object to be illuminated, it is possible to select animals and plants in addition to articles for viewing. For example, bulbs can be cultivated by accommodating bulbs of a plant together with a predetermined amount of water and selecting an LED 2 that emits light of a wavelength necessary for growing the bulbs. In this case, it is preferable to install the bulb support member inside the light guide 4.

  In the above-described embodiment, the high-intensity light emitting units 44 and 46 are shown to be linearly formed in the longitudinal section. However, for example, as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, each of the high-intensity light emitting units 144 and 146 is shown. May be formed in a concave shape in the longitudinal section. In the light emitting device 101 of FIG. 8, the outer surface of the light guide 104 is arranged from the upper end toward the lower end, the first planar light emitting unit 143, the first high brightness light emitting unit 144, the second planar light emitting unit 145, and the second. A high-intensity light emitting unit 146 and a third planar light emitting unit 147 are provided in this order. As shown in FIG. 9, each of the planar light emitting portions 143, 145, 147 has a single parabolic shape in the longitudinal section, and each of the high brightness light emitting portions 144, 146 cuts the parabolic shape by an arc having a predetermined curvature. It has a lacking shape. The high-intensity light-emitting portions 144 and 146 of the light-emitting device 101 are horizontally formed without being inclined forward and backward and left and right, respectively.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, although the light guide 4 formed in bowl shape was shown, the shape of the light guide 4 is not limited to this. The shape of the light guide 4 is arbitrary as long as the light guide 4 is formed so that its inner surface forms an accommodation space S whose lower side is closed and whose upper side is opened, and becomes thinner from the upper end toward the lower end. For example, as shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, the light guide 204 may be formed in a rectangular tube shape with the lower end closed.

  In the light emitting device 201 of FIG. 10, the light guide 204 is formed in a rectangular tube shape, and the mounting member 203 on which the LED 2 is mounted is formed in a square shape having an opening in plan view corresponding to the upper shape of the light guide 204. Has been. As shown in FIG. 10, the mounting member 203 has a substrate portion 231 formed in a square shape, and the inner flange portion 232 and the outer flange portion 233 extend downward from the inner and outer end portions of the substrate portion 231. Further, an insertion hole 234 through which the wiring 5 is inserted is formed in the substrate portion 231. As shown in FIG. 11, a notch 237 that engages with a claw 241 formed on the outer surface of the light guide 204 is formed on the inner surface of the outer flange portion 233 of the mounting member 203. The mounting member 203 and the light guide 204 are detachable by engaging and disengaging the claw portion 241 and the notch 237.

  As shown in FIG. 11, the upper end of the light guide 204 is formed flat, and a protruding portion 242 that protrudes upward is formed outside the upper end. A claw portion 241 is provided on the protruding portion 242. The light guide 204 is formed so that the thickness decreases from the upper end to the lower end. The inner surface of the light guide 204 is formed without unevenness and has a rectangular shape in a longitudinal section. The outer surface of the light guide 204 is, from the upper end toward the lower end, the first planar light emitting unit 243, the first high luminance light emitting unit 244, the second planar light emitting unit 245, the second high luminance light emitting unit 246, and the third surface. The light-emitting section 247 is in this order. Each of the planar light emitting units 243, 245, and 247 is formed in parallel with the inner surface of the light guide 204, and each of the high brightness light emitting units 244 and 246 is formed to be inclined inwardly downward. The light guide 204 has a bottom surface forming the fourth planar light emitting unit 248. When the LED 2 emits light, light is guided to the bottom surface and the fourth planar light emitting unit 248 emits light.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, although the lower surface of the mounting member 3 showed red, if the lower surface of the mounting member 3 is colored in the color different from the luminescent color of LED2, the effect | action similar to the said embodiment is demonstrated. An effect can be obtained. Note that the lower surface of the mounting member 3 may be colored in the same color as the light emission color of the LED 2 to change the lightness of the color of the light guide body 4 between light emission and non-light emission.

  In the embodiment, two high-intensity light emitting units 44 and 46 are provided, but the number of high-intensity light emitting units is arbitrary. Moreover, you may use things other than LED as a light-emitting body, and can change suitably also about a detailed structure other than that.

It is an external appearance perspective view of the light-emitting device which shows one Embodiment of this invention. It is a disassembled perspective view of a light-emitting device. It is a bottom view of a mounting member. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of a light-emitting device. It is a right view of a light-emitting device. It is a front view of a light-emitting device. It is a rear view of a light-emitting device. It is an external appearance perspective view of the light-emitting device which shows a modification. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the light-emitting device which shows a modification. It is an external appearance perspective view of the light-emitting device which shows a modification. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the light-emitting device which shows a modification.

Explanation of symbols

1 Light-emitting device 2 LED
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 3 Mounting member 4 Light guide 5 Wiring 31 Board | substrate part 32 Inner flange part 33 Outer flange part 34 Insertion hole 35 Groove 36 Vertical extension part 37 Horizontal extension part 41 Projection 42 Projection part 43 1st planar light emission part 44 1st High brightness light emitting unit 45 Second planar light emitting unit 46 Second high brightness light emitting unit 47 Third planar light emitting unit 101 Light emitting device 104 Light guide 143 First planar light emitting unit 144 First high brightness light emitting unit 145 Second surface Light-emitting portion 146 second high-intensity light-emitting portion 147 third planar light-emitting portion 201 light-emitting device 203 mounting member 204 light guide 231 substrate portion 232 inner flange portion 233 outer flange portion 234 insertion hole 237 notch 241 nail portion 242 projecting portion 243 1st planar light emission part 244 1st high brightness light emission part 245 2nd planar light emission part 246 2nd high brightness light emission part 247 3rd planar light emission part 248 4th planar light emission Part S Storage space

Claims (8)

A transparent light guide formed so that the thickness is reduced from the upper end to the lower end, forming an accommodation space with the lower side closed and the upper side opened,
A light-emitting device comprising: a light-emitting body facing the upper end of the light guide, and a mounting member provided on the upper end side of the light guide.   The light-emitting device according to claim 1, wherein the mounting member is detachable from the light guide.   The light emitting device according to claim 2, wherein the mounting member is colored in a color different from a light emission color of the light emitter. The light guide is
A planar light emitting part that emits light in a planar manner when the light emitter emits light;
The light-emitting device according to claim 3, further comprising: a high-luminance light-emitting portion that divides the planar light-emitting portion into upper and lower portions and emits light with higher luminance than the planar light-emitting portion.   The light-emitting device according to claim 4, wherein the high-intensity light-emitting portion of the light guide is formed to be thinner than the planar light-emitting portion adjacent on the upper side.   The light-emitting device according to claim 5, wherein the high-intensity light-emitting portion is a step portion formed on an outer surface of the light guide.   The light-emitting device according to claim 5, wherein the high-intensity light-emitting portion is a recess formed on an outer surface of the light guide.   The light-emitting device according to claim 6, wherein the light guide is formed in a bowl shape.

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