JP2010192276A - Lighting system and switch module - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a lighting system for partially illuminating with color except for white by partially coloring and emitting light from a light guide body, and provide a switch module using the lighting system. <P>SOLUTION: The lighting system 2 includes phosphor layers 12, 14 on a partial rear surface of a light guide plate 8. The phosphor layers 12, 14 color and emit light when excited by light from a light source 10 guided in the light guide plate 8. The light from the phosphor layers 12, 14 partially colors and illuminates a key display panel 16 on a front surface side. Thereby, partial illumination with a plurality of colors produced is achieved by using the lighting system 2. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an illuminating device that illuminates a switch operation unit provided with a numeric keypad or the like in a small electronic device such as a mobile phone, and a switch module using the illuminating device. .

  Conventionally, as a lighting device, a phosphor layer is provided between the light guide plate and the light source, or on the entire surface of the light guide plate or the entire back surface, so that the ultraviolet light as the light source is converted into green light and red light by the phosphor. And what mixed color with the blue light as a light source was known (patent document 1).

JP 2006-202533 A

  In the case of an illumination device that emits white light that is a mixture of green light, red light, and blue light, as in the conventional illumination device described above, when used as a backlight of a liquid crystal display device that performs color display, color reproducibility is good. It was expected to be. However, when this illumination device is used for illumination of the switch operation unit, only the color of the switch operation unit (previously colored color) can be developed. For this reason, lighting and decoration by lighting were standardized, and variability was poor.

  In addition, when a transparent panel is used for the switch operation part, such as a switch module, or when the display state changes depending on the display device, it can only be illuminated with a single color or sufficient color can be obtained. I couldn't.

  The problem to be solved by the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and to partially illuminate the light guide with a color other than white, thereby partially illuminating with a color other than white, and the illumination apparatus To provide a switch module using

  An illumination device of the present invention is an illumination device that illuminates a switch operation unit, and includes a light source, a light guide plate that guides light from the light source and irradiates the switch operation unit, and illuminates the switch operation unit. A phosphor layer that is partially provided on the back surface and that is excited by the light from the light source guided into the light guide plate and emits colored light, and the switch operation portion is partially provided by the light from the phosphor layer. Color illumination. The phosphor layer in this illuminating device is composed of a phosphor mixed with a coloring pigment close to the phosphor excitation wavelength of the phosphor.

  In addition, the phosphor layer in the illumination device is formed by printing with a mixed ink in which a phosphor mixed with a pigment is mixed with 3 to 30 wt% of a transparent ink. Further, the phosphor layer is formed by printing with an ink obtained by mixing a black ink or a white ink with the mixed ink.

  Moreover, in the said illuminating device, the black ink layer formed by printing with black ink is provided in the back surface of the said fluorescent substance layer, or the white ink layer formed by printing with white ink is provided.

  In addition, the phosphor layer in the illuminating device is increased in luminance by increasing the ratio of mixing the phosphors as the distance from the light source increases.

  On the other hand, the switch module of the present invention includes a substrate, a plurality of key switches formed on the substrate, a light guide plate disposed on the key switch, and a light source disposed on the side of the light guide plate. A phosphor layer that is partially provided on the back surface of the light guide plate and is excited by light from the light source guided in the light guide plate to emit color light, and a key display panel disposed on the light guide plate The key display panel is partially colored and illuminated by light from the phosphor layer. In this switch module, the key display panel is subjected to a coloring process for increasing the transmittance of the phosphor excitation wavelength of the phosphor layer or a coloring process for a color different from the phosphor excitation wavelength. Further, the light guide plate in the switch module has a protrusion at a portion corresponding to the key switch, and the protrusion is formed on the back surface of the phosphor layer.

  In addition, another switch module of the present invention includes a touch panel that has translucency and detects an operation, a light guide plate disposed below the touch panel, a light source disposed on a side of the light guide plate, A phosphor layer that is partially provided on the back surface of the light guide plate and is excited by light from the light source guided in the light guide plate to emit color light, and the touch panel by the light from the phosphor layer Is partially colored illumination.

  In the illumination device of the present invention, since the phosphor layer is partially provided on the back surface of the light guide plate, the illumination device can partially illuminate with light of the color emitted by the phosphor layer. As a result, the switch operation unit can be illuminated so as to partially develop color, and a set of light sources and a light guide plate can illuminate with multicolor light emission, thereby enhancing the decorativeness and changeability due to illumination. Thus, by using the lighting device of the present invention, it is possible to illuminate by partially emitting light in a plurality of colors.

  In addition, it is possible to obtain a good color by mixing a pigment in the phosphor layer, and a better state by finely adjusting the color development state compared to illuminating the colored portion of the switch operation unit with white light. Can be.

  Further, the chromaticity and luminance of light emission can be set by adjusting the amount of the phosphor contained in the phosphor layer. Thereby, it is possible to partially adjust and set the chromaticity and the luminance as necessary.

  Further, by changing the amount of the pigment and the phosphor mixed according to the distance from the light source, a gradation that sets the brightness to a constant without changing the chromaticity can be formed. Thereby, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of light and dark depending on the distance from the light source.

  In the present invention, the black or white ink is mixed with the phosphor layer formed on the back surface of the light guide plate, or the black ink layer or the white ink layer is formed on the back surface of the phosphor to suppress the reflectance, or It is increasing. Thereby, the chromaticity and the brightness of the phosphor layer can be arbitrarily adjusted.

  Further, the lighting device of the present invention can be used for any switch module of a switch module that performs a pressing operation and a switch module that performs a touch operation. , Color can be emitted.

In the switch module using the lighting device of the present invention, the key display panel on the front side and the touch panel on the front side can be colored and illuminated partially.

It is principal part sectional drawing of the switch module which shows the illuminating device which concerns on one Example of this invention. It is a principal part enlarged view of the illuminating device shown in FIG. It is principal part sectional drawing of the switch module which shows a state when a several fluorescent substance layer and a white ink layer or a black ink layer are provided in the back surface of the light-guide plate shown in FIG. It is a side view of the light-guide plate which shows an example of the process of forming a fluorescent substance layer. It is principal part sectional drawing of the switch module which shows a state when a projection part is provided in the light-guide plate. It is principal part sectional drawing of the switch module which shows a state when incorporating the illuminating device shown in FIG. 1 etc. in the switch module which performs a touch operation.

  An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of an essential part showing an illumination apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. In this figure, the illuminating device 2 in this embodiment is incorporated in a switch module that presses a plurality of key switches 6 provided on a substrate 4 through a light guide plate 8. The illuminating device 2 includes a light guide plate 8, a light source 10 disposed on the side of the light guide plate 8, and phosphor layers 12 and 14 partially provided on the back surface (lower surface in the drawing) of the light guide plate 8. Yes.

  The light guide plate 8 is made of a transparent or translucent flexible thin plate member, and is made of a resin material having high light guide properties such as urethane resin, acrylic resin, silicon resin, polycarbonate resin, or polyethylene terephthalate resin. The light source 10 that irradiates light to the light guide plate 8 includes a light emitting element such as an LED, and in this embodiment, an LED that irradiates white light mounted on the substrate 4 is used.

  The phosphor layers 12 and 14 provided on the back surface of the light guide plate 8 are formed by printing with a mixed ink in which a pigment and a phosphor are mixed with a transparent ink. The pigment has a good color development and is mixed with a color having a color close to the phosphor excitation wavelength. Further, the phosphor mixed with the pigment is mixed at a ratio of 3 to 30 wt% with respect to the transparent ink. This numerical value is set because it was confirmed experimentally that if the amount to be mixed is less than 3 wt%, the light emission is weak and a sufficient effect cannot be obtained, and if it exceeds 30 wt%, the phosphor is not sufficiently mixed with the transparent ink. . In this embodiment, for example, “UV TEC-410 Clear” manufactured by Teikoku Ink Manufacturing Co., Ltd. and “Reicure SL 6100 Medium” manufactured by Jujo Chemical Co., Ltd. are used as the transparent ink, and the pigment mixed with the phosphor. For example, “FZ-5000” and “FA-40” manufactured by Shinroihi Co., Ltd. were used.

  In the illuminating device 2 having the above-described configuration, as shown in FIG. 2, the light emitted from the light source 10 is guided by the light guide plate 8, and the phosphor layers 12 and 14 are excited by the light in the light guide plate 8. Is emitted. Light from the phosphor layers 12 and 14 is irradiated to the surface side (upper side in the figure) through the light guide 8. For this reason, the key display panel 16 provided on the front surface side of the light guide plate 8 has white light from the light source 10 irradiated through the light guide plate 8 and color development partially irradiated from the phosphor layers 12 and 14. It will be illuminated by light.

  As shown in FIG. 3, when a plurality of phosphor layers 18, 20, and 22 are partially provided on the back surface of the light guide plate 8, the light source is a phosphor layer in which pigments and phosphors are mixed in the same amount. Things close to 10 become brighter, and become darker as the distance from the light source 10 increases. Therefore, in this embodiment, in order to make the brightness constant, the amount of the pigment and phosphor mixed in order toward the phosphor layer 22 away from the phosphor layer 18 close to the light source 10 is increased to emit light. It is adjusted. Thereby, the brightness can be made constant without changing the chromaticity.

  Further, the phosphor layer 18 close to the light source 10 is printed and formed using a mixed ink obtained by mixing 3 to 30 wt% of a phosphor mixed with a pigment in a transparent ink and further mixed with black ink, thereby emitting light. Can also be suppressed.

  Furthermore, the phosphor layer 22 separated from the light source 10 is printed by using a mixed ink obtained by mixing 3 to 30 wt% of a phosphor mixed with a pigment in a transparent ink, and using an ink obtained by further mixing a white ink. Can also be made brighter.

  In order to suppress the brightness of the phosphor layer 18 near the light source 10, the black ink layer 24 may be formed by printing with black ink on the back surface of the phosphor layer 18.

  In order to increase the brightness of the phosphor layer 22 away from the light source 10, the white ink layer 26 may be formed by printing with the white ink on the back surface of the phosphor layer 22.

  FIG. 4 is a side view of the light guide plate showing an example of a process of forming the phosphor layer. First, as shown in FIG. 4A, a phosphor layer that emits orange light at a predetermined position on the back surface of the light guide plate 8 with a mixed ink in which, for example, a phosphor and a colored pigment close to its excitation wavelength are mixed. 28 is formed by printing. In the present embodiment, a mixed ink in which a transparent ink is mixed with 5 wt% of a phosphor mixed with a pigment is used.

  In this embodiment, it is assumed that the light source 10 is arranged on the left and right sides in FIG. For this reason, in order to uniformly illuminate the whole, it is desirable to increase the brightness of the portion farthest from the light source 10, that is, the vicinity of the center of the light guide plate 8 in this embodiment. Therefore, next, as shown in FIG. 4B, for example, the white ink layer 30 is formed by printing at a predetermined position near the center of the light guide plate 8 with white ink obtained by mixing 40 wt% of white pigment with transparent ink. is doing. This white ink layer 30 is not only directly formed on the back surface of the light guide plate 8, but also on the back surface of the phosphor layer 28 in the vicinity of the center, and brightens the color by increasing the reflectance. Yes.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 4C, the back surface of the light guide plate 8 and the phosphor layer 28 at a position slightly closer to the left and right in the figure from the center slightly closer to the light source 10 than the vicinity of the center of the light guide plate 8. The white ink layer 32 is formed by printing with an ink in which the white color is suppressed more than that of the white ink layer 30, for example, a white ink in which a transparent pigment is mixed with 15 wt% of a white pigment. The white ink layer 32 has a lower reflectance than the central white ink layer 30, but is closer to the light source 10 than the white ink layer 30, and therefore reflects light so as to have the same brightness as the white ink layer 30. Will do.

  Similarly to the above, as shown in FIGS. 4D and 4E, printing is performed with white ink in which the amount of the white pigment is reduced to 2 wt% and 1 wt%, for example, as the light source 10 is approached. Thus, the white ink layers 34 and 36 are formed, respectively. In this way, a white ink layer having a low reflectance is gradually formed by printing from a portion away from the light source 10, and a gradation can be given so that the entire light guide plate 8 has uniform brightness.

  Next, the portion closest to the light source 10 may be too bright compared to other portions, and on the back surface of the light guide plate 8 and the back surface of the phosphor layer 28 as shown in FIG. For example, the black ink layer 38 is formed by printing with black ink in which 1 wt% of a black pigment is mixed with transparent ink. When the black ink layer 38 is formed in this way, it is possible to suppress the reflection of light and prevent the light from becoming too bright.

  On the other hand, the light guide plate 8 on which the phosphor layer is formed as described above can also be provided with a protrusion 43 so as to correspond to the key switch 6 as shown in FIG. . The key switch 6 in this embodiment is formed by a fixed contact 44 provided on the substrate 4 and a sheet 48 bonded to the surface of the substrate 4 with a dome shape covering the upper side so as not to contact the fixed contact 44. It consists of a tact spring 46 as a movable contact that is fixed. The protrusion 43 corresponding to the key switch 6 is composed of a hemispherical convex portion 42 and a ring-shaped contour portion 40 formed around it. As shown in FIGS. 4G and 4H, the protrusion 43 is formed on the phosphor layer 28 and the white ink layer 36 of the light guide plate 8 on which the phosphor layer 28 and the white ink layer 36 are already formed. The contour portion 40 and the convex portion 42 can be formed by sequentially printing on the back surface. In this embodiment, the contour portion 40 and the convex portion 42 are formed by printing a resin on the back surface of the white ink layers 30, 32 and 36 and raising the resin.

  As shown in FIG. 4G, when the contour portion 40 of the protrusion 43 is printed and formed, the reflective film may be printed and formed on the back surface of the light guide plate 8. Further, as shown in FIG. 4 (h), when the projections 43 are formed, the entire back side of the light guide plate 8 may be coated to protect the phosphor layer 28 and the like.

  In the case of the switch module that performs the pressing operation of the key switch 6 as described above, as shown in FIG. 1, a key display panel 16 is provided as a switch operation unit on which a numeric keypad is displayed on the light guide plate 8. ing. The key display panel 16 has translucency, and is illuminated when light from the light source 10 and the phosphor layers 12 and 14 is irradiated through the light guide plate 8. In this embodiment, colored light from the phosphor layers 12, 14 and the like is partially irradiated from the light guide plate 8, and the key display panel 16 partially emits light. For this reason, the brightness can be increased by performing a coloring process on the key display panel 16 to increase the transmittance of the phosphor excitation wavelengths of the phosphor layers 12, 14 and the like. Further, when the key display panel 16 is colored with a color different from the phosphor excitation wavelength of the phosphor layers 12, 14, etc., it is possible to suppress the brightness and variously change the color development state.

  Moreover, the illumination device 2 described above can be incorporated into a switch module such as a touch switch that performs a touch operation shown in FIG. This switch module is provided with a touch panel 50 as a switch operation unit in the upper part and a lighting device 2 shown in FIG. The touch panel 50 includes a pair of sheet members 52 and 54 that hold a predetermined interval with a spacer 56, and detection electrodes 58 and 60 that are provided on opposite surfaces of the sheet members 52 and 54, respectively. This touch panel 50 has translucency, and when touched on the sheet member 52, for example, a touch signal is detected by detecting a touched position due to a capacitance change between the detection electrodes 58 and 60 intersecting the X and Y directions. To get. Even in such a switch module, the entire touch panel 50 can be illuminated with partial color illumination by illuminating the touch panel 50 with the illumination device 2 from the back surface direction. Moreover, it is also possible to provide a display unit 62 including a translucent display plate, a liquid crystal display device, or the like between the touch panel 50 and the lighting device 2.

  As described above, by using the illuminating device 2 in the present embodiment, it is possible to partially emit color light and partially illuminate the switch operation unit.

2 Illuminating device 4 Substrate 6 Key switch 8 Light guide plate 10 Light source 12, 14 Phosphor layer 16 Key display panel 18, 20, 22 Phosphor layer 24 Black ink layer 26 White ink layer 28 Phosphor layer 30, 32, 34, 36 White ink layer 38 Black ink layer 40 Contour section 42 Convex section 43 Projection section 44 Fixed contact 46 Tact spring 48 Sheet 50 Touch panel 52, 54 Sheet member 56 Spacer 58, 60 Detection electrode 62 Display section

Claims (13)

An illumination device for illuminating a switch operation unit,
A light source;
A light guide plate that guides light from the light source and irradiates the switch operation unit with light; and
A phosphor layer that is partially provided on the back surface of the light guide plate and is excited by light from the light source guided in the light guide plate to emit color light;
With
An illumination device characterized in that the switch operating portion is partially colored and illuminated by light from the phosphor layer. 2. The lighting device according to claim 1, wherein the phosphor layer is formed by mixing a phosphor with a coloring pigment close to the phosphor excitation wavelength of the phosphor. 3. The lighting device according to claim 1, wherein the phosphor layer is formed by printing with a mixed ink in which a phosphor mixed with a pigment is mixed with 3 to 30 wt% of a transparent ink. 4. The lighting device according to claim 3, wherein the phosphor layer is formed by printing with an ink obtained by mixing a black ink with the mixed ink. The lighting device according to claim 3, wherein the phosphor layer is formed by printing with an ink obtained by mixing a white ink with the mixed ink. 4. The illumination device according to claim 3, wherein a black ink layer formed by printing with black ink is provided on the back surface of the phosphor layer. 4. A lighting device according to claim 3, wherein a white ink layer formed by printing with white ink is provided on the back surface of the phosphor layer. The lighting device according to claim 3, wherein the phosphor layer is increased in luminance by increasing a mixing ratio of the phosphors as the distance from the light source increases. A substrate,
A plurality of key switches formed on the substrate;
A light guide plate disposed on the key switch;
A light source disposed on the side of the light guide plate;
A phosphor layer that is partially provided on the back surface of the light guide plate and that is excited by light from the light source guided in the light guide plate to emit color light;
A key display panel disposed on the light guide plate;
With
A switch module characterized in that the key display panel is partially colored and illuminated by light from the phosphor layer. The switch module according to claim 9, wherein the key display panel is subjected to a coloring process that increases the transmittance of the phosphor excitation wavelength of the phosphor layer. The switch module according to claim 9, wherein the key display panel is subjected to a coloring process of a color different from the phosphor excitation wavelength of the phosphor layer. The switch module according to claim 9, wherein the light guide plate has a protrusion at a portion corresponding to the key switch, and the protrusion is formed on a back surface of the phosphor layer. A touch panel having translucency and detecting operation;
A light guide plate disposed under the touch panel;
A light source disposed on the side of the light guide plate;
A phosphor layer that is partially provided on the back surface of the light guide plate and that is excited by light from the light source guided in the light guide plate to emit color light;
With
A switch module that partially illuminates the touch panel with light from the phosphor layer.

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