JP2009282724A - Luminaire for vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a simply structured luminaire for a vending machine, producible at a low cost, uniformly illuminating each commodity sample, and imparting high visibility to each commodity sample. <P>SOLUTION: This luminaire for the vending machine has: a flat light guide plate 22 disposed opposite to the plurality of vertically and horizontally arranged commodity samples 6; and a light source 21 disposed on one side end side of the light guide plate 22. The rear face opposite the arrangement side of the commodity samples 6 of the light guide plate 22 is provided with a reflection member 23 over a nearly whole face, and the arrangement side of the commodity samples 6 of the light guide plate 22 is provided with reflection members 24 at least in parts vertically partitioning the respective commodity samples 6. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a lighting device for a vending machine, and more particularly to improve visibility when illuminating a plurality of product samples arranged vertically and horizontally in an exhibition space provided on the front surface of a vending machine main body from the back side. Related to technology.

  Generally, a vending machine is provided with a main door that opens and closes when a product is replenished or replaced on the front of a substantially box-shaped vending machine body, and a transparent cover panel is provided above the main door. An exhibition space is formed inside the cover panel, and a plurality of product samples are arranged vertically and horizontally at predetermined intervals in the exhibition space.

  In such a vending machine, a light source for illuminating each product sample is provided so that each product sample can be sufficiently visually recognized even when installed at night or in the shade. Conventionally, fluorescent lamps have been widely used as light sources in this case, but fluorescent lamps are insufficient in terms of extending their life and maintenance.

Therefore, in the prior art, an LED lamp formed by unitizing a number of LEDs (light emitting diodes) as an array at a predetermined pitch is used as a light source, and a light guide plate having a reflective surface is disposed on the back side of the product sample. The LED lamp is placed opposite to one end face of the light guide plate, light from the LED lamp is introduced into the light guide plate, and then the introduced light is reflected by the reflective surface on the back side of the light guide plate. Has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 1 below).
Japanese Patent No. 2006-331016

  However, in the prior art described in the above-mentioned Patent Document 1, the display space is generally uniformly illuminated because of the structure in which light is uniformly reflected by the light guide plate and the product sample is illuminated, and as a result, There is a problem that the peripheral portion where the product sample is not arranged becomes bright at the same time and the visibility of the product sample becomes insufficient.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and aims to provide a lighting device for a vending machine that uniformly illuminates each product sample and that enhances the visibility of each product sample. To do.

  In order to achieve the above object, a lighting apparatus for a vending machine according to claim 1 is a flat light guide plate disposed facing a plurality of product samples arranged vertically and horizontally, and the light guide plate. A light source disposed on one side end of the light guide plate, and a reflective member is provided over substantially the entire back surface of the light guide plate opposite to the product sample placement side, and further the product sample of the light guide plate. On the arrangement side, a reflecting member is provided at least at a location where the product sample is partitioned vertically.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the vending machine lighting apparatus according to the first aspect, the reflecting member provided on the back side of the light guide plate is formed on the back side of the light guide plate. And a white reflective sheet provided on the back side of the dot pattern, and the dot pattern is formed so that its arrangement density gradually increases as the distance from the light source increases. Yes.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided the lighting apparatus for a vending machine according to the first or second aspect of the invention, wherein the product sample is a light-transmitting material on which a shape imitating a product is printed. The sticker is affixed to the surface of the light guide plate, or a shape imitating a product is directly printed on the surface of the light guide plate.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, the light from the light source is directly transmitted through the light guide plate and applied to the product sample, and after being reflected by the reflecting member, is transmitted through the light guide plate and applied to the product sample. The In that case, since the reflecting member is bonded to at least the place where the product sample is vertically divided on the product sample arrangement side of the light guide plate, the light transmitted through the parts other than the product sample adjacent to the upper and lower parts is reflected by the reflecting member. It does not leak to the outside. Therefore, instead of illuminating the exhibition space in general, the product sample is intensively illuminated, so the contrast between the product sample and other parts in the exhibition space becomes clear and each product sample is clear. The visibility of becomes higher.

  According to the second aspect of the invention, in addition to the effect of the first aspect of the invention, the dot pattern constituting the reflecting member provided on the back side of the light guide plate has a disposition density away from the light source. As the distance from the light source increases, the amount of light reflected by the dot pattern increases. Thereby, regardless of the distance from the light source, each product sample can be illuminated uniformly and brightly.

  Further, according to the invention described in claim 3, in addition to the effect of the invention described in claim 1 or 2, the product sample can be made as thin as possible, so that the product storage space of the vending machine can be expanded. The vending machine itself can be made thin and lightweight.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a front view of a vending machine to which the lighting device for a vending machine according to the present invention is applied, FIG. 2 is a front view showing an enlarged portion of the lighting device of the vending machine, and FIG. It is sectional drawing along the -A line.

  In this embodiment, the vending machine 1 is provided with a main door 3 that is opened and closed when a product is replenished or replaced on the front surface of a substantially box-shaped vending machine body 2. A transparent cover panel 4 is provided on the front surface. An exhibition space 5 is formed inside the transparent cover panel 4, and a plurality of product samples 6 are arranged vertically and horizontally in the exhibition space 5.

  That is, in the exhibition space 5, a plurality of product samples 6 are provided across a plurality of upper and lower stages in a state where a plurality of product samples 6 are arranged side by side at a predetermined interval. Each merchandise sample 6 is a three-dimensionally formed light-transmitting material imitating a merchandise shape, and a brand is displayed on the surface thereof. Further, a product selection push button 7 is individually provided on the lower end side of each product sample 6. Further, a coin insertion slot 8, a bill insertion slot 9, and a change return slot 10 are provided below the transparent cover panel 4 of the main door 3, and a commodity outlet 11 is provided below the coin insertion slot 8.

  A lighting fixture 20 is provided on the back side of the product sample 6. The luminaire 20 includes a light source 21, a light guide plate 22, and reflecting members 23 and 24. The luminaire 20 has a substantially box-shaped case 26 whose front is open, and the transparent cover panel that covers the front side of the case 26. 4 is housed in a housing 27 composed of four.

  Here, the light source 21 is disposed at the upper end of the light guide plate 22 in the housing 27. The light source 21 is composed of an LED lamp formed by unitizing a plurality of LEDs 21b in an array at a predetermined pitch on a circuit board 21a extending along the width direction of the casing 27.

  The light guide plate 22 is disposed close to the product sample 6, and the light guide plate 22 is made of a plastic flat plate such as an acrylic resin. The light guide plate 22 may be made of glass.

  The surface of the light guide plate 22 on the product sample 6 side is formed as a fine uneven diffusion surface by sandblasting or the like. On the other hand, a reflective member 23 is provided over the entire back surface of the light guide plate 22 on the side opposite to the arrangement side of the product sample 6.

  The reflecting member 23 includes a circular dot pattern 23a formed by, for example, printing white paint on the back surface of the light guide plate 22, and a reflecting sheet 23b made of white paper material or the like disposed and bonded on the back surface. It consists of.

  Then, as shown in FIG. 4, the dot pattern 23 a is formed so that its arrangement density gradually increases as the distance from the light source 21 increases. That is, each dot pattern 23a has the smallest diameter at a portion close to the light source 21, has a medium diameter at a portion that is intermediate from the light source 21, and has the largest diameter at a portion that is farthest from the light source 21. To do. Thereby, the reflectance of the light reflected by the dot pattern 23 a gradually increases as the distance from the light source 21 increases.

  In the above description, the dot pattern 23a is circular. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, a hexagonal shape (FIG. 5A) or a triangular shape (FIG. 5B). ). Further, instead of changing the diameter of each dot pattern 23a, the diameter of each dot pattern 23a is the same, and the arrangement density can also be changed by changing the distance between adjacent dot patterns 23a according to the distance from the light source 2. It is possible to change.

  Further, as a feature of this embodiment, the surface of the light guide plate 22 on the arrangement side of the product sample 6 has a belt-like shape extending along the width direction of the housing 27 at a location where the product sample 6 is vertically divided. The reflecting member 24 is joined. Similarly, the reflecting member 24 is bonded to the left and right side end surfaces and the bottom surface of the light guide plate 22. These reflecting members 24 are configured, for example, by sticking a thin sheet coated with a white paint, sticking an aluminum foil, or directly depositing aluminum on the light guide plate 22.

  In the lighting fixture 20 having the above-described configuration, as shown in FIG. 6, after the light from the light source 21 is introduced into the light guide plate 22, the light directly passes through the light guide plate 22 and is irradiated onto the product sample 6. After being reflected by the dot pattern 23 a on the inner surface of the sheet 23, the product sample 6 is irradiated through the light guide plate 22. In that case, the dot pattern 23 a is formed so that its arrangement density gradually increases as the distance from the light source 21 increases. Therefore, the amount of light reflected by the reflecting member 23 increases as the distance from the light source 21 increases. Thereby, regardless of the distance from the light source 21, the individual product samples 6 can be illuminated uniformly.

  In addition, since the reflection member 24 is joined to the light guide plate 22 at the location where the product sample 6 is partitioned vertically, the light emitted from the light guide plate 22 is reflected again inward by these reflection members 24. Thus, it is avoided that light leaks excessively to a portion where the product sample 6 is not arranged and becomes bright. Thus, instead of illuminating the interior of the exhibition space 5 in general, the product sample 6 can be intensively illuminated, and the contrast between the product sample 6 and other parts becomes clear. Visibility is increased.

  In the above embodiment, the reflecting member 23 provided on the back side of the light guide plate 22 is composed of the dot pattern 23a and the reflecting sheet 23b. However, like the reflecting member 24, for example, a thin-walled material coated with a white paint is used. It is also possible to configure by sticking the sheet, sticking aluminum foil, or directly depositing aluminum on the light guide plate 22.

  In the above embodiment, the product sample 6 is three-dimensionally imitating the product shape. However, the present invention is not limited to this example. For example, as shown in FIG. It is also possible to form a light-transmitting seal printed with a planar shape on the surface of the light guide plate 22 or by directly printing the planar shape of the product on the surface of the light guide plate 22.

  In this way, since the product sample 6 is in close contact with the surface of the light guide plate 22 and the light quantity loss due to the air layer between the two can be reduced, the product sample 6 can be illuminated more efficiently and the product sample 6 can be Since it can be made as thin as possible, it is possible to expand the product storage space of the vending machine, and to make the vending machine itself thinner and lighter.

It is a front view of the vending machine to which the lighting fixture for vending machines in the embodiment of the present invention is applied. It is a front view which expands and shows the part of the lighting fixture of the vending machine. It is sectional drawing along the AA line of FIG. It is a front view which shows the dot pattern formed in the back surface side of a light-guide plate. It is a figure which shows the modification of the same dot pattern. It is explanatory drawing of the illumination effect | action with respect to the product sample of the lighting fixture for vending machines. It is sectional drawing which shows the modification of the goods sample illuminated with the lighting fixture for vending machines of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Vending machine 6 Product sample 20 Lighting fixture 21 for vending machines Light source 22 Light guide plate 23 Reflective member 23a Dot pattern 23b Reflective sheet 24 Reflective member

Claims (3)

  A flat light guide plate arranged facing a plurality of product samples arranged vertically and horizontally, and a light source arranged on one side end of the light guide plate, and the product sample arrangement of the light guide plate A reflective member is provided over substantially the entire back surface opposite to the side, and further, a reflective member is provided on the light guide plate on the arrangement side of the product sample, at least at a location that divides the product sample vertically. Lighting equipment for vending machines characterized by that.   The reflective member provided on the back surface side of the light guide plate is composed of a dot pattern formed on the back surface of the light guide plate and a white reflective sheet provided on the back surface side, and the dot pattern is disposed in the reflective pattern. The lighting apparatus for a vending machine according to claim 1, wherein the lighting apparatus is formed so that the density gradually increases as the distance from the light source increases.   The product sample is formed by sticking a light-transmitting seal on which the shape imitating a product is printed on the surface of the light guide plate, or directly printing the shape imitating the product on the surface of the light guide plate. The lighting equipment for vending machines according to claim 1 or 2.

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