JP2010135219A - Plane light source element and image display device using this - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a plane light source element of high front-face luminance and fine appearance quality, with efficient utilization of light from a light source and deflection toward the front direction. <P>SOLUTION: The plane light source element is provided with a light source 2, a light guide plate 3 and an irradiation light control plate 4 for irradiating light frontward. A convex part 7 has rotational symmetry, with the width, height and the ratio of the width of the convex part 7 to the width of the light guide plate being adhered optically to be within a given range. The image display device equipped with the light source element is also provided. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image display device such as a surface light source element and a liquid crystal display device including the surface light source element, and a personal computer, a computer monitor, a video camera, a television receiver, a car navigation system, and the like provided with the image display device as a display module. The present invention relates to a display device.

  For example, a transmissive image display device typified by a liquid crystal display device includes a surface light source element (backlight) that emits light in a planar shape and a transmissive display element in which pixels are arranged in a dot shape. Characters and images are displayed by changing the transmittance at each pixel of the type display element and controlling the amount of light transmitted from the surface light source element. Surface light source elements used for these include an edge light method and a direct method. The edge light method is a method of taking out light from a light source arranged on the end face of the light guide plate in a front direction from the main surface orthogonal to the end face by the light guide plate, and the direct method is arranging a plurality of light sources on the back of the device, In this method, light is incident on the diffusion plate, the light is made uniform by the diffusion plate, and the light is extracted to the exit surface opposite to the incident surface.

  In an image display device used for a mobile phone or a mobile personal computer, thinness of the device is required. Therefore, an edge light method that is advantageous for thinning is mainly used by providing a light source at a side end of the device. On the other hand, in a monitor of a television or a personal computer, since the screen is large, the ratio of the length of the peripheral portion to the screen area decreases with the edge light method, and sufficient luminance cannot be obtained. In addition, the light guide plate becomes thick and the weight increases. Therefore, the direct type is the mainstream for large surface light source elements.

  In the edge light system, a prism sheet and a diffusion sheet are usually provided on the exit surface side for the purpose of improving the front luminance and viewing angle characteristics of the emitted light. An emission control plate with a combination of functions is effective. These outgoing light control plates have convex portions on the entrance surface, and the light guide plate and the outgoing light control plate are arranged in parallel, and the outgoing light is optically brought into close contact with the fixed layer. It is possible to control the light emitted from the emission surface of the control plate (see Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2).

  In recent years, there is an increasing demand for improvement in luminance in the front direction with respect to these surface light source elements, and it is necessary to efficiently use light from the viewpoint of energy saving.

The amount of light extracted from the light guide plate and the ratio of deflection in the front direction vary greatly depending on the cross-sectional shape of the convex portion of the outgoing light control plate. However, conventionally, when the ratio of deflecting light in the front direction is increased, the area of the convex portion that is optically in contact with the light guide plate is reduced, and the light use efficiency is reduced. If the area in optical contact with the optical plate is increased and the light utilization efficiency is increased, it is impossible to efficiently deflect the light in the front direction.

JP-A-8-2221013 JP 2001-338507 A

  Therefore, the present invention is a surface light source with high brightness in the front direction and high light utilization efficiency by efficiently making light incident on the light guide plate from the light source incident on the convex part and deflecting a larger proportion in the front direction. An object is to provide an element and an image display device.

The present invention
A light source;
An incident surface that is at least one end surface that receives light from the light source;
A light guide plate having an exit surface which is one of main surfaces substantially perpendicular to the entrance surface;
A surface light source element comprising: an emission light control plate that receives light from the exit surface of the light guide plate by a convex portion on the entrance surface and emits the light from the exit surface in a substantially front direction;
The convex portion is in optical contact with the light guide plate,
Any convex part is rotationally symmetric about the front direction,
The width is P, the height is H, and the width of the region that is in optical contact with the light guide plate is W.
H / P ≧ 1.0 (1)
W / P ≧ 0.2 (2)
It is a surface light source element characterized by being.

In the above surface light source element,
The portion of the arbitrary convex portion that is not optically adhered,

If

For x ₁ and x ₂ given by

45 ° ≦ | α (x ₁ ) | ≦ 65 ° (7)
70 ° ≦ | α (x ₂ ) | ≦ 85 ° (8)
It is preferable that

  In addition, the contour line of the cross-sectional area of the surface light source element including a rotation axis of a portion of the arbitrary convex portion that is not optically in close contact includes an ellipse, a parabola, or a part of a polynomial. It may consist of a curve.

  According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image display device in which a transmissive display element is disposed on the exit surface side of the surface light source element.

  According to the present invention, in the surface light source element in which the exit surface of the light guide plate and the entrance surface of the exit light control plate are optically in close contact with each other, the light use efficiency is improved by controlling the shape of the convex portion of the exit light control plate. Since the ratio of deflecting light in the front direction is high, it is possible to obtain a surface light source element having high luminance in the front direction. Further, by providing a transmissive display element on the surface light source element of the present invention, a bright image display device with high front luminance can be obtained.

  In the surface light source element of the present invention, the light from any light source can be similarly deflected in the front direction by making the convex part of the outgoing light control plate rotationally symmetrical, and the surface light source element has uniform brightness. Therefore, the appearance quality can be improved.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 6 shows a schematic cross-sectional view of a surface light source element according to an embodiment of the present invention. The surface light source element includes a light guide plate 3 provided with a light source 2 on the left and right end faces 1 side, and an outgoing light control plate 4 that controls the distribution of the outgoing angles of light emitted from the light guide plate 3. The outgoing light control plate 4 is disposed on the light guide plate 3, and light incident on the incident surface 5 is emitted from the outgoing surface. A large number of convex portions 7 are formed on the incident surface 5 of the outgoing light control plate 4 in order to direct light from the outgoing surface 6 of the light guide plate 3 in the front direction through the outgoing light control plate 4. The top of the projection 7 is in optical contact with the light exit surface 6 of the light guide plate 3. A reflector that reflects light traveling in a direction opposite to the incident surface 1 side of the light guide plate and travels to the incident surface 1 side of the light guide plate 3 may be provided around the light source 2.

  Light incident on the incident surface 1 of the light guide plate 3 from the light source 2 propagates through the light guide plate 3 by repeating total reflection. The propagating light is taken into the outgoing light control plate 4 from the interface with the top of the convex portion 7 of the outgoing light control plate 4. Thereby, the light propagating in the light guide plate 3 and the fixed layer 9 is sequentially extracted from the interface to the outgoing light control plate 4, and the extracted light is totally reflected in the convex portion 7 of the outgoing light control plate 4. Emitted.

  FIG. 2 shows a cross-sectional view including the rotation center axis of the convex portion of the outgoing light control plate of the present invention. Each relationship of the convex portions 7 is described with the width of the convex portion 7 of the outgoing light control plate 4 being P, the height being H, and the width of the region optically contacting the light guide plate 3 being W. Of these, if the ratio W / P of the width W of the region where the convex portion 7 and the light guide plate 3 are in close contact with the width P of the convex portion 7 is large, more light can be extracted from the light guide plate 3. Thus, the light use efficiency can be increased.

FIG. 3 shows the principle that light incident on the convex portion 7 from the light guide plate 3 is totally reflected by the region of the convex portion 7 not in close contact with the light guide plate 3 and deflected in the front direction. FIG. 4 shows how light travels when the ratio H / P between the height H of the convex portion 7 and the width P of the convex portion 7 is small. In this case, since the light 10 deflected in the oblique direction by the convex portion 7 is emitted as it is, the ratio of deflection in the front direction is small. When H / P is increased, as shown in FIG. 5, the light deflected in the oblique direction is again totally reflected in the convex portion 7 and deflected in the front direction. Is possible. Therefore,
H / P ≧ 1.0 (1)
W / P ≧ 0.2 (2)
In this case, it is possible to obtain a surface light source element that increases the light use efficiency and has a high ratio of light deflected to the front and high brightness in the front direction.

  By making W / P extremely small and H / P large, it is possible to deflect light only in the front direction and increase only the luminance in the front direction. However, since light is not deflected at all other than the front, the viewing angle is narrow, making it unsuitable as a surface light source element, illumination device, or image display device. In addition, the light utilization efficiency is extremely reduced.

  A more preferable aspect of the present invention is characterized in that the angle of the convex portion 7 provided on the outgoing light control plate 4 that is not in optical contact with the light guide plate 3 is within a predetermined range. To do. Regarding the portion 8 of the convex portion 7 that is not optically intimately contacted, the region that is mainly extracted from the light guide plate 3 and first deflects the light by total reflection, and the light that is deflected obliquely by the region is again within the convex portion. It is possible to more efficiently deflect the light in the front direction by separating the regions to be deflected in the front direction by total reflection and setting each angle within a predetermined range.

  FIG. 1 shows light incident on the convex portion 7 from the light guide plate 3 in the surface light source element of this aspect. A region where light incident on the convex portion 7 mainly reaches first is a region I, and a region where light deflected obliquely by the region I reaches the slope in the convex portion again is a region II.

In the regions I and II, the light that propagates through the light guide plate 3 at the maximum angle with the main surface of the light guide plate 3 is incident on the convex portion 7 and deflected by the slope of the convex portion 7. The maximum position from the rotation center axis can be determined as a reference. The maximum position is the refractive index n ₁ of the light guide plate 3, the refractive index n ₂ of the projections 7, depending on the width W of the portion in close contact with the light guide plate of the convex portion. The reference position A for dividing the region I and the region II can be expressed by the following equation.

Using the reference position A, the distance from the axis of rotation of the regions I x1, the distance x ₂ from the axis of rotation of the region II, may be determined as follows.

In the region I, the angle of the inclined surface that propagates in the light guide plate 3 and totally reflects light having a small angle with the main surface of the light guide plate and deflects it in the front direction is required. It is necessary to deflect light having a relatively large angle with the light guide plate main surface after being totally reflected by the slope of the portion 7 in the vicinity of the front direction. When the angle α of the slopes of the regions I and II is in the following range, light can be deflected most efficiently in the front direction.
45 ° ≦ | α (x ₁ ) | ≦ 65 ° (7)
70 ° ≦ | α (x ₂ ) | ≦ 85 ° (8)

  In a more preferred aspect of the present invention, the contour line of the cross-sectional area of the convex portion 7 that is not optically in close contact with the surface including the rotation axis is an ellipse, a parabola, or a part of a polynomial curve. It is a surface light source element characterized by comprising. In this surface light source element, the intensity distribution of outgoing light and the angular distribution of outgoing light can be made smooth in the front direction. Further, since it is easier to form, it is advantageous and desirable when producing the outgoing light control plate 4. Furthermore, it is also desirable that the portion 8 of the convex portion 7 that is not optically in close contact with the light guide plate 3 is not easily damaged. The breakage of the portion 8 of the convex portion 7 that is not in close contact with the light guide plate 3 is not desirable because a change in the light emission direction or unnecessary scattering may occur.

  As the light guide plate 3 used for the surface light source element of the present invention, an acrylic resin such as polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), a polycarbonate resin (PC), a polystyrene resin (PS), a resin having excellent transparency such as a cycloolefin polymer, or What processed glass into the predetermined shape can be used. Of these, use of PMMA is preferable from the viewpoint of lightness and transparency, and use of PC is preferable from the viewpoint of durability. As a method for processing the light guide plate, a method of cutting out from an extruded plate or cast plate, or a melt molding method such as a hot press or injection molding is preferably used, but it is not limited thereto.

  Further, in order to optically adhere the light guide plate 3 and the outgoing light control plate 4, a fixed layer 9 may be provided between the light guide plate 3 and the outgoing light control plate 4. Examples of the material of the fixing layer 9 include an adhesive, a pressure-sensitive adhesive, an adhesive, a photocurable resin, and the like, but a photocurable adhesive is preferably used from the viewpoint of handleability and productivity. . Examples of the adhesive material include those based on an appropriate polymer such as rubber, acrylic, vinyl alkyl ether, silicone, polystyrene, polyurethane, polyether, polyamide, and styrene. Among them, an acrylic pressure-sensitive adhesive material mainly composed of a polymer mainly composed of an alkyl ester of acrylic acid or methacrylic acid is preferable because it is excellent in transparency, weather resistance, and heat resistance. Adhesives include, for example, conductive inorganic particles such as silica, alumina, titania and zirconia, tin oxide and indium oxide, cadmium oxide and nonmony oxide, and organic particles such as crosslinked or uncrosslinked polymers. One kind or two or more kinds of suitable transparent particles can be contained to obtain a light diffusion type.

When the fixed layer 9 is provided, the tip of the convex portion 7 may be buried. In this case, as shown in FIG. 7, the surface of the fixed layer 9 may be the emission surface 6 of the light guide plate 3, and the width embedded in the fixed layer 9 may be W. Also when the refractive index n ₃ of the fixed layer,
n ₁ ≦ n ₃ ≦ n ₂ (9)
It is preferable that When the refractive index satisfies the expression (9), the light propagating in the light guide plate can be taken into the convex portion 7 efficiently, and the light utilization efficiency can be further increased.

  Further, the surface modification of the light guide plate 3 and the material forming the convex portions 7 of the outgoing light control plate 4 are made self-adhesive so that the light guide plate 3 and the outgoing light control plate 4 are interposed via the fixed layer 9. It is also possible to make them optically close together. In this case, it is preferable to provide a flat portion having a width W at the tip of the convex portion. When the flat portion is in close contact, the width of the close contact portion can be optically obtained with high accuracy.

  In addition, the surface shape of the outgoing light control plate 4 is a transparent base material using a stamper or a female die, etc., by a hot press method, a 2P (Photo Polymerization) method by ultraviolet curing, a casting method by thermal curing, injection molding, or the like. Can be formed on top. As the transparent substrate, resin such as acrylic resin, polycarbonate resin, polystyrene resin, cycloolefin polymer, or glass is used. In the present invention, it is preferable to transfer the shape with a photocurable resin onto a transparent substrate using an acrylic resin or a polycarbonate resin.

  The photocurable resin used when transferring to the substrate determines the optical performance of the produced outgoing light control plate 4 and is preferably selected as appropriate according to the desired performance. As a component of the photocurable resin, monomers or oligomers that can be radically polymerized are used alone or in combination of two or more. However, it is usually preferable to use two or more, and the mechanical properties required for the outgoing light control plate 4 Strength, impact resistance, heat resistance, surface hardness, etc. can be imparted. Specific examples of the component include aliphatic, alicyclic and aromatic monomers, or ester-type (meth) acrylate obtained by condensation reaction of polyalcohol with acrylic acid or methacrylic acid, or two or more in the molecule. A urethane poly (meth) acrylate obtained by a urethanization reaction between an isocyanate compound having an isocyanate group and a (meth) acrylate containing a hydroxyl group or a thiol group, a compound having at least two epoxy groups in the molecule, and an acrylic Polyester (meta) obtained by condensation reaction with epoxy poly (meth) acrylate obtained by glycidyl group ring-opening reaction with acid or methacrylic acid, or saturated or unsaturated polycarboxylic acid, polyhydric alcohol and (meth) acrylic acid ) (Meth) acryloyl functional monomers or oligomers such as acrylates And, styrene, chlorostyrene, bromostyrene, and vinyl compounds such as divinylbenzene, diethylene glycol bis allyl carbonate, diallyl phthalate, (meth) allyl compounds such as diallyl biphenylene rate and the like. These monomers may be used individually by 1 type, and may mix 2 or more types.

  The stamper used for producing the emission light control plate 4 is, for example, coating a negative or positive photosensitive resin on a glass substrate, and exposing the photosensitive resin through a photomask or using a laser drawing apparatus. It can be produced by performing electroforming after exposure and development, or it can be produced by cutting.

  The suitable thickness of the outgoing light control plate 4 is 0.05 mm to 3 mm, and in particular, the film shape is 0.1 mm to 0.5 mm. An effect such as reduction is obtained, which is preferable. If it is less than 0.05 mm, it is not preferable because of wrinkles at the time of fixing to the light guide plate and a decrease in physical strength. On the other hand, if it exceeds 3 mm, the apparatus becomes undesirably heavy.

  On the light exit surface of the exit light control plate 4, surface irregularities may be directly transferred, or a diffusion layer may be provided by applying a diffuser liquid mixed with light-transmitting fine particles. The viewing angle characteristics are smoothed by the diffusion layer, and good quality can be obtained.

  In the convex part 7, it is desirable that P, which is the size of the unit convex part, is 10 μm or more and 300 μm or less. More desirably, it is 15 μm or more and 200 μm or less. If it is smaller than 10 μm, coloring occurs due to diffraction phenomenon, and the quality of the screen is lowered. On the other hand, if it is larger than 300 μm, the projection itself is visually recognized, so that the quality of the screen is lowered.

  Moreover, as the light source 2 used for this invention, linear light sources, such as a cold cathode tube and a hot cathode tube, and point light sources, such as LED, are mentioned. In the case of a linear light source, one or a plurality of light sources may be arranged on one end surface of the light guide plate or on opposite end surfaces. When the number of linear light sources increases, the amount of light incident on the light guide plate increases, and high brightness can be achieved. In the case of a point light source, one or a plurality of light sources may be used. In this case, it is preferable to arrange the point light sources symmetrically with respect to the center of the side surface of the light guide plate where the point light sources are arranged. With this arrangement, the in-plane distribution can be made symmetric and the appearance quality can be improved. When using a plurality of point light sources, it is desirable to arrange them so that the intervals between the point light sources are equal. Thereby, the uniformity between the vicinity of the point light source and the point light source can be improved.

  Furthermore, the present invention is an image display device characterized in that a transmissive display element is provided on the exit surface side of the surface light source element of the present invention. Since the surface light source element has high light use efficiency and high brightness in the front direction, it can be used as a preferable image display device by providing a transmission type display element on the exit surface side. Here, the image display device refers to a display module in which a surface light source element and a transmissive display element are combined, and a device having at least an image display function such as a television or a personal computer monitor using the display module.

  Hereinafter, the effects of the present invention will be described more specifically by way of examples.

  In each of the examples and the comparative example, the front luminance of the surface light source element configured as shown in FIG. 6 was measured to confirm the effect. In any case, as the light guide plate 3, a plate-like PMMA having a size of 30 mm × 40 mm and a thickness of 1 mm was used, and the emission surface and the opposing surface were flat surfaces. The emission light control plate 4 was prepared by using a PMMA film having a thickness of 0.1 mm as a base material and transferring the photo-curing resin applied to the stamper to the base material by UV curing. The refractive index of the light guide plate was 1.49, and the refractive index of the photocurable resin after curing was 1.53. The outgoing light control plate was bonded to the outgoing surface of the light guide plate. Three white LEDs were arranged as light sources on the side surface of the light guide plate end surface to obtain a surface light source element. The distance between the light emission centers of the LEDs was 10 mm, and one at the center was arranged at the center of the side surface of the light guide plate.

  The central part of the surface light source element was measured from a distance of 500 mm perpendicular to the light emitting surface using a luminance meter (BM-7 manufactured by Topcon Corporation).

<Example 1>
As Example 1, measurement was performed with a convex surface light source element having an elliptical cross-sectional shape having coordinates (x _i , y _i ) shown in FIG. The unit of xi and yi is mm, the rotational symmetry axis of the convex portion is the origin in the x direction, and the height at which the convex portion and the light guide plate are in optical contact is the origin in the y direction. The ratio of the height to the width of the protrusion, H / P, and the ratio W / P of the width of the portion that is optically in close contact with the width of the protrusion are 1.08 and 0.26, respectively. .

<Example 2>
As Example 2, measurement was performed with a convex surface light source element having a cross-sectional shape of a fourth-order polynomial having coordinates (x _i , y _i ) shown in FIG. The unit of xi and yi is mm, the rotational symmetry axis of the convex portion is the origin in the x direction, and the height at which the convex portion and the light guide plate are in optical contact is the origin in the y direction. The ratio of the height to the width of the convex portion, H / P, and the ratio W / P of the width of the portion that is optically in close contact with the width of the convex portion are 1.52 and 0.22, respectively. .

<Example 3>
As Example 3, the measurement was performed with a convex surface light source element having a cross-sectional shape of an eighth-order polynomial having coordinates (x _i , y _i ) shown in FIG. The unit of xi and yi is mm, the rotational symmetry axis of the convex portion is the origin in the x direction, and the height at which the convex portion and the light guide plate are in optical contact is the origin in the y direction. The ratio of the height to the width of the convex portion, H / P, and the ratio W / P of the width of the portion that is optically in close contact with the width of the convex portion are 1.52 and 0.22, respectively. .

<Example 4>
As Example 4, the measurement was performed with a convex surface light source element having a cross-sectional shape of an eighth-order polynomial having coordinates (x _i , y _i ) shown in FIG. The unit of xi and yi is mm, the rotational symmetry axis of the convex portion is the origin in the x direction, and the height at which the convex portion and the light guide plate are in optical contact is the origin in the y direction. The ratio of the height to the width of the protrusion, H / P, and the ratio W / P of the width of the portion that is optically in close contact with the width of the protrusion are 1.14 and 0.26, respectively. .

<Comparative Example 1>
As Comparative Example 1, measurement was performed with a convex surface light source element having a parabolic cross-sectional shape having coordinates (x _i , y _i ) shown in FIG. The unit of xi and yi is mm, the rotational symmetry axis of the convex portion is the origin in the x direction, and the height at which the convex portion and the light guide plate are in optical contact is the origin in the y direction. The ratio of the height to the width of the convex portion, H / P, and the ratio of the width of the portion optically in close contact with the light guide plate to the width of the convex portion W / P are 0.49 and 0.26, respectively. .

<Comparative example 2>
As Comparative Example 2, measurement was performed with a convex surface light source element having a parabolic cross-sectional shape having coordinates (x _i , y _i ) shown in FIG. The unit of xi and yi is mm, the rotational symmetry axis of the convex portion is the origin in the x direction, and the height at which the convex portion and the light guide plate are in optical contact is the origin in the y direction. The ratio of the height to the width of the convex portion, H / P, and the ratio of the width of the portion that is optically in close contact with the width of the convex portion, W / P, are 1.49 and 0.1, respectively. .

<Comparative Example 3>
As Comparative Example 3, measurement was performed with a convex surface light source element having an elliptical cross-sectional shape having coordinates (x _i , y _i ) shown in FIG. The unit of xi and yi is mm, the rotational symmetry axis of the convex portion is the origin in the x direction, and the height at which the convex portion and the light guide plate are in optical contact is the origin in the y direction. The ratio of the height to the width of the protrusion, H / P, and the ratio W / P of the width of the portion that is optically in close contact with the width of the protrusion are 1.52 and 0.1, respectively. .

Table 1 shows the evaluation results of the front luminance of the examples and comparative examples.

  In Comparative Example 1, the light is sufficiently incident on the convex portion, and although the light utilization efficiency is high, it is difficult to be deflected in the front direction and the front luminance is low. In Comparative Example 2, although the proportion of the light deflected in the front direction by the convex portion is large, since the proportion of light incident on the convex portion from the light guide plate is small, the light use efficiency is low and sufficient front luminance cannot be obtained. In Comparative Example 3, although the ratio of incidence from the light guide plate to the convex portion is small, high front luminance is obtained because light is deflected only in the front direction. However, since light cannot be deflected at all in directions other than the front direction, the viewing angle is narrow, and the luminance is greatly lowered only by tilting slightly from the front, resulting in lower screen quality. Compared to the cholera comparative example, it can be seen that in the example, the balance between the average luminance and the viewing angle is excellent and the light use efficiency is high.

It is a schematic sectional drawing which shows the principle of this invention. It is explanatory drawing of the symbol of a convex part shape used for description of this invention. It is the figure which showed the principle deflected to a front direction by a convex part. It is the figure which showed how a light ray advances in a certain convex shape. It is the figure which showed how a light ray advances in a certain convex shape. It is a schematic sectional drawing which shows the partial cross section of the surface light source element of this invention. It is a schematic sectional drawing at the time of using a fixed layer between a convex part and a light-guide plate. Convex cross-sectional shape according to Embodiment _1, showing the _(x i, _{y i)} coordinate. Convex cross-sectional shape according to the second _embodiment, a diagram showing a _(x i, _{y i)} coordinate. Convex cross-sectional shape according to the third _embodiment, a diagram showing a _(x i, _{y i)} coordinate. Convex cross-sectional shape according to the fourth _embodiment, a diagram showing a _(x i, _{y i)} coordinate. Convex cross-sectional shape according to Comparative Example _1, showing the _(x i, _{y i)} coordinate. Convex cross-sectional shape according to Comparative Example 2 _is a diagram showing a _(x i, _{y i)} coordinate. Convex cross-sectional shape according to Comparative Example 3 _is a diagram showing a _(x i, _{y i)} coordinate.

Explanation of symbols

1: end face of light guide plate, 2: light source, 3: light guide plate, 4: outgoing light control plate 5: surface on which light is incident on the convex portion, 6: surface on which light is emitted on the light guide plate, 7: convex portion, 8: Of the convex portion, the portion that is not optically in close contact with the light guide plate 9: light that is incident on the convex portion and is deflected in the front direction

P: Width of the convex portion H: Height of the convex portion W: Width of the portion where the convex portion is in optical contact with the light guide plate x: Distance α (x) of the convex portion from the rotation center axis: Convex Inclination of the portion of the portion that is not optically in close contact with the light guide plate A: Position of the convex portion serving as a reference for dividing the regions I and II B: Constant n ₁ determined by the refractive index n: Refraction of the light guide plate Ratio n ₂ : Refractive index n ₃ : Refractive index of the fixed layer

Claims (4)

A light source;
An incident surface that is at least one end surface that receives light from the light source;
A light guide plate having an exit surface which is one of main surfaces substantially perpendicular to the entrance surface;
A surface light source element comprising: an emission light control plate that receives light from the exit surface of the light guide plate by a convex portion on the entrance surface and emits the light from the exit surface in a substantially front direction;
The convex portion is in optical contact with the light guide plate,
Any convex part is rotationally symmetric about the front direction,
The width is P, the height is H, and the width of the region that is in optical contact with the light guide plate is W.
H / P ≧ 1.0 (1)
W / P ≧ 0.2 (2)
A surface light source element. The portion of the arbitrary convex portion that is not optically adhered,

If

For x ₁ and x ₂ given by
45 ° ≦ | α (x ₁ ) | ≦ 65 ° (7)
70 ° ≦ | α (x ₂ ) | ≦ 85 ° (8)
The surface light source element according to claim 1, wherein:   The contour line of a cross-sectional area on a surface including a rotation axis of a portion of the arbitrary convex portion that is not optically in close contact includes an ellipse, a parabola, or a curve made of a part of a polynomial. 3. The surface light source element according to 1 or 2. An image display device, comprising: a transmissive display element disposed on an emission surface side of the surface light source element according to claim 1.

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