JP2011065953A - End face illumination device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an end face illumination device in which the end face of a light guide plate is arranged as a light-emitting face with an assumption to be used for an auxiliary illumination of a vanity cabinet. <P>SOLUTION: The end face illumination device 10 includes the light guide plate 16, a light source 17 arranged on one end face side of the light guide plate 16, a dimming means 11 arranged on another end side opposing to the light source 17, and a control part 18. A light reflecting layer 16c is installed on the light guide plate 16. The dimming means 11 includes a square rod-like dimming member 12, a light shielding face 13 formed on one side face of the dimming member 12, a holding means 14, and a light amount adjustment means that rotates the dimming member 12. When the light shielding face 13 is positioned parallel with the light-emitting part side end face 16b, the light is shielded. When the dimming member 12 is rotated and the light shielding face 13 is tilted, one part of the light is reflected by the light shielding face 13, and one part passes through the dimming member 12. When the light shielding face 13 is rotated to a position that is at right angles to the light-emitting part side end face 16b, the light is not shielded to become the maximum brightness. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention is supposed to be used, for example, as auxiliary lighting for a bathroom vanity, and relates to an illuminating device in which an end surface of a light guide plate is a light exit surface.

  An illumination device using a light guide plate usually employs the following structure. The light guide plate has a light emitting surface that has the largest area, a light reflecting layer or a light scattering layer is provided on the light emitting surface, and the light incident on the light guide plate from the light source disposed on the end surface adjacent to the light emitting surface The light is emitted from the light emitting surface to the outside by being reflected by the reflective layer or by being scattered by the light scattering layer. Note that the light reflecting layer or the light scattering layer may be formed on the entire light emitting surface or only on a part thereof. Further, in order to efficiently emit light incident from the light source from the light emitting surface, it is generally performed to shield an end surface other than the end surface on which the light source is disposed with a light reflecting layer.

  Patent Document 1 describes that in an illumination device (surface light emitting device) using a light guide plate, light is emitted not only from the main light emitting surface but also from the end surface opposite to the end surface on which the light source is disposed. This is to illuminate the floor with light emitted from the lower end surface of the light guide plate when the light emitting surface of the light guide plate is installed along the wall.

JP 2009-080993 A

In the lighting device described in Patent Document 1, the basic function is to emit light from the widest light emitting surface (main light emitting surface), and illuminating the floor with the light emitted from the end surface is a secondary function. Functional. And it is not considered at all to adjust the amount of light emitted from the end face. If the lighting device described in Patent Document 1 is to adjust the amount of light emitted from the end face, the amount of light emitted from the light source must be controlled, but the amount of light emitted from the main light emitting surface also changes. I have to. That is, it was impossible to change the amount of light emitted from the end face without changing the light emission state of the main light emitting surface, or to block the light as necessary.
Moreover, in the illuminating device using a light-guide plate, there was no thing which used only the end surface facing the end surface which has arrange | positioned the light source as a light emission surface.

  The feature of the end face lighting device according to the present invention created in view of the above-mentioned problems is that one end face of the light guide plate is a light incident part, and the other end face opposite to the light incident part is a light emission part, and light is incident. An illumination device configured to emit light that has entered a light guide plate from a light source disposed on the light source side to the outside from the light emission unit, and the light emitted to the light emission unit side of the light guide plate. The light control means for adjusting the injection amount is arranged.

  In the end face illumination device, the light guide plate may be made of glass or other synthetic resin material in addition to acrylic resin. The surface sandwiched between the light incident portion and the light emitting portion of the light guide plate is a surface that is conventionally used as a light emitting surface, but in the present invention, this surface may not be used as a light emitting surface. May be. When the surface is a light emitting surface, a light reflecting layer or a light scattering layer is formed. When the surface is not used as a light emitting surface, it is kept transparent or a light blocking layer is provided. Although the kind of light source is not specifically limited, LED (light emitting diode), a cold cathode tube, etc. can be used.

  About the said light control means, it has a light-blocking surface which blocks passage of the light inject | emitted from the light-projection part in the said light-guide plate, The said light-blocking surface changes the angle with respect to the end surface at the side of the light-projection part of the said light-guide plate In addition to being configured to be possible, it is provided with a light amount adjusting means for adjusting the amount of light passing by changing the angle of the light blocking surface.

As a typical mode for changing the angle of the light blocking surface described above, there is a case where the light blocking plate is rotated around an axis parallel to the longitudinal direction of the light emitting portion side end surface of the light guide plate, and It is conceivable that the axis is rotated about an axis in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction.
And when employ | adopting the former, the said light control means hold | maintains the said light control member and the said light control member so that rotation is possible centering on the axis line parallel to the longitudinal direction of the light emission part side end surface of the said light-guide plate. A light blocking surface in a direction along the longitudinal direction of the light emitting portion side end surface of the light guide plate, and the light amount adjusting means, It is conceivable that the angle of the light blocking surface with respect to the end surface on the light emitting portion side is changed by rotating about the axis.

  As the light control means, a shutter type structure can be adopted in addition to a structure for rotating the light blocking surface. That is, a light blocking member that blocks passage of light emitted from the light emitting portion in the light guide plate is formed with a window portion that allows light to pass therethrough, and a shutter member that shields part or all of the window portion is provided, It is conceivable that the shutter member is moved in a direction parallel to the window portion so as to change the opening area of the window portion to provide a light amount adjusting means.

  When a light emitting surface is a planar portion sandwiched between the light incident portion and the light emitting portion of the light guide plate, a light reflecting layer or a light scattering layer facing the inside of the light guide plate is provided on one of the planar portions, and It is desirable that the light blocking surface in the light control means is a light reflecting surface.

  When the edge lighting device according to the present invention is applied to a vanity, the light guide plate is attached to the vanity in a substantially horizontal posture, and the light emitting part of the light guide plate is located on the front side of the vanity. It is good to set to do.

  According to the present invention, an end face illuminating device capable of adjusting the amount of light emitted from the end face by disposing the end face facing the end face on which the light source is disposed in the light guide plate as the light exit section and arranging the light control means on the light exit section side. Can be provided. Therefore, by applying the end face lighting device according to the present invention to, for example, a vanity, auxiliary lighting means that emits light with an optimum light amount according to the use situation can be obtained.

If a specific example is given, the case where the end surface illumination device which concerns on this invention is integrated in the vanity set installed in a bedroom, and the case where the light emission part side end surface is located in the front side of a vanity stand is assumed.
During the daytime or when the interior lighting is on, it is usually unnecessary to emit light from the end surface lighting device.
When sleeping at night or the like, the end surface lighting device can emit light after the interior lighting is turned off, and can function as a night light. Thereby, since the position of the vanity can be easily grasped even in a dark room, the user will not be confused when it becomes necessary to use the vanity at night. Moreover, since the amount of light emitted from the end face can be adjusted by the light control means, it is possible to select an appropriate brightness that does not hinder the user from going to bed.

  Moreover, the light control means of the end surface lighting device according to the present invention can be provided with a relatively simple structure in which a rod-shaped light control member having a light blocking surface is rotated. In addition, since it is not necessary to electrically control the light source in order to adjust the brightness of the end face, when the plane portion sandwiched between the light incident portion and the light emitting portion of the light guide plate is used as the light emitting surface, the brightness is reduced. It is possible to darken only the end face without changing the thickness.

  In addition, in the case where the plane part sandwiched between the light incident part and the light emitting part in the light guide plate is the light emitting surface, the light reflection surface is used as the light blocking surface in the light control means, thereby improving the light reflection efficiency on the light emitting surface. Can be improved.

The installation example which applied the end surface illuminating device which concerns on this invention to the bathroom vanity is shown, Comprising: FIG. (A) is a perspective view of the condition arrange | positioned at the lower end side of a mirror body, FIG. (B) is the upper end of a mirror body It is a perspective view of the situation arranged on the side. FIG. (A) is a side sectional view schematically showing the mounting structure of the end surface lighting device in the installation example shown in FIG. 1 (A), and FIG. FIG. The operation state of the light control means in the end surface lighting device according to the present invention is shown, wherein FIG. (A) shows a state where light is blocked, FIG. (B) shows a state where the light emission amount is limited, and FIG. (C) is a side view of the principal part which shows the state which is allowing all the light to pass through. Drawing (A)-(D) is a side view of the important section which illustrated various embodiments about the bar-shaped light control member used for the light control means concerning the present invention. FIG. 2 shows another embodiment of a rod-shaped light control member used in the light control means according to the present invention, and FIGS. (A) and (B) show the case where the light blocking surface is a half mirror. FIG. 4D is a side view of the main part illustrating the case where the light blocking surface is formed as a concave mirror. Drawing (A)-(C) is a perspective view showing various embodiments about a light intercepting surface of a rod-shaped light control member used for a light control means concerning the present invention. It is a perspective view explaining the application example of the end surface lighting apparatus which concerns on this invention. The further different embodiment regarding the light control means of the end surface illuminating device which concerns on this invention is shown, Comprising: FIG. (A) is a perspective view of the state which interrupted | blocked light, FIG. (B) lets all the light pass through. FIG. FIG. 4A shows still another embodiment related to the light control means of the end surface lighting device according to the present invention, and FIG. 5A is a perspective view showing an example of moving the shutter member in the horizontal direction, and FIG. It is a perspective view which shows the example which moves a shutter member. FIG. 2A is a perspective view showing an example in which a light control member is composed of two polarizing plates, and FIG. 2B shows still another embodiment relating to the light control means of the end surface illumination device according to the present invention. Is a front view showing a state in which the polarizing plates are overlaid so that light can pass through, and FIG. (C) is a front view of a state in which the polarizing plates are overlaid so as to block light.

  FIG. 1 shows an embodiment in which an end face lighting device 10 according to the present invention is incorporated in a vanity table K. The illustrated vanity table K is a storage cabinet 3 in which the mirror bodies 1 and 2 are arranged in front of the base cabinet 6 to which the faucet device 4 and the washbasin 5 are attached. FIG. 2A shows an example in which the end surface illumination device 10 is disposed on the lower end side of the mirror bodies 1 and 2, and FIG. showed that. In the drawings, reference numeral “20” denotes an operation handle for adjusting the amount of light of the light control means described later. Moreover, in the same figure (A), although the lighting fixture 7 is arrange | positioned above the mirror bodies 1 and 2, in this figure (B), this lighting fixture is abbreviate | omitted.

FIG. 2 shows a schematic configuration of the end surface illumination device 10 shown in FIG. Note that the schematic configuration of the end surface illumination device 10 illustrated in FIG. 1B is substantially the same as described above, and thus the description thereof is omitted.
The end surface lighting device 10 shown in FIG. 1A is incorporated so as to face the upper side of the washbasin 5 on the lower surface side of the storage shelf 3. As shown in FIG. 2A, the main constituent members are a light guide plate 16, a light source 17 arranged on one end side of the light guide plate 16, a light control means 11 arranged on the other end side of the light guide plate 16 facing the light source 17, And it is the control part 18 which controls lighting / extinction of the light source 17, and energization amount. The light guide plate 16 is, for example, an acrylic plate, and the light source 17 is, for example, an LED or a cold cathode tube.

  As shown in FIG. 2B, the end surface of the light guide plate 16 on the side where the light source 17 is disposed is the light incident portion 16a, and the end surface on the side where the light control means 11 is disposed is the light emitting portion 16b. In this example, the light reflection layer 16c is provided on one surface (upper surface) of the light guide plate 16 sandwiched between the light incident portion 16a and the light emitting portion 16b. Accordingly, a part of the light incident from the light source 17 is reflected by the light reflecting layer 16c to the inside of the light guide plate 16, and is projected to the outside from the facing surface 16d. As a result, when the light source 17 is turned on, it is possible to illuminate the rear region of the washbasin 5 below the storage shelf 3. The light reflecting layer 16c may be a light scattering layer that scatters light.

  The dimming means 11 of this example is a dimming member 12 having a square bar shape, which is rotatably held inside, for example, a cylindrical holding means 14. A light blocking surface 13 is formed along the longitudinal direction of the emission portion side end surface 16b. The light blocking surface 13 is set to have the same shape and area as the light emitting portion side end surface 16b (see FIG. 6). In this example, the light blocking surface 13 is a light reflecting surface, but it is not always necessary to reflect light. The light control member 12 and the holding means 14 are both made of a material having translucency. A light emitting window 15 that is transparent or subjected to light diffusion processing may be provided at the outer surface position of the light control means 11.

The light adjusting member 12 is disposed along the longitudinal direction of the light emitting portion side end face 16b of the light guide plate 16, and is rotatable within the holding means 14 about an axis parallel to the longitudinal direction. . Further, the turning radius of the light control member 12 is set to one half or more of the thickness dimension of the light guide plate 16 (height dimension of the light emitting portion side end face 16b). As shown in FIG. 3, the light passing amount can be adjusted by changing the angle of the light blocking surface 13 by rotating the light adjusting member 12 with an appropriate operation means. That is, as shown in FIG. 3A, when the light blocking surface 13 is positioned in parallel with the light emitting portion side end surface 16b, the light is blocked and the illumination window 15 is not illuminated.
As shown in FIG. 5B, when the light control member 12 is rotated (usually, rotated counterclockwise in the drawing) and the light blocking surface 13 is inclined with respect to the light emitting portion side end surface 16b, A part of the light emitted from the light emitting part 16b is reflected by the light blocking surface 13 at a ratio corresponding to the inclination angle, and part of the light passes through the light control member 12 to cause the light emitting window 15 to emit light. Brightness.
As shown in FIG. 3C, when the light blocking surface 13 is rotated to a position perpendicular to the light emitting portion side end surface 16b, the light emitted from the light emitting portion is not blocked but all passes. Therefore, the light emission window 15 has the maximum brightness.

  As described above, in this example, the means for changing the angle of the light blocking surface 13 by rotating the light adjusting member 12 is the light amount adjusting means for adjusting the brightness of the light emitting window 15. Specific means for rotating the light control member 12 includes a structure in which a drive shaft of a lever or an operation handle 20 (see FIG. 1) is directly connected to a rotational axis position of the light control member 12, or a light control member. The structure which connects 12 and an operation handle with a some gearwheel, the structure which connects with a pulley and a belt (toothed belt), the structure using a link mechanism, etc. can be considered.

  By the way, in this example, when the light control member 12 is in the state of FIG. 3 (A) or (B), the light reflected by the light blocking surface 13 enters the light guide plate 16. That is, if the light blocking surface 13 is a light reflecting surface, the light emitted from the light emitting portion 16b of the light guide plate 16 is reflected by the light blocking surface 13 and returns into the light guide plate 16 again. Therefore, by using the light blocking surface 13 as a light reflecting surface, it is possible to contribute to an increase in the amount of light when the light reflecting layer 16c is provided on the light guide plate 16 to perform downward illumination.

  The rod-shaped light control member 12 may be in the shape of a round bar or a rectangular bar. In that case, various embodiments as illustrated in FIG. 4 can be considered. FIG. 1 (A) is a view in which a part of the side peripheral portion of the round bar-shaped light control member 12 is cut out and a light blocking surface 13 is provided on the formed flat portion. FIG. 2B shows the light blocking surface 13 formed inside the round bar-shaped light control member 12. In the figure (C), the radius of the round bar-shaped dimming member 12 is set to be substantially equal to the thickness dimension of the light guide plate 16, and the light blocking surface 13 is provided on the flat portion formed by cutting out about a quarter portion. It is a thing. Further, FIG. (D) shows a light blocking surface 13 formed in a region of about a quarter of the side circumferential surface of the round bar-shaped light control member 12 whose radius is set substantially equal to the thickness dimension of the light guide plate 16. . In addition, in order to make the light reflected by the light blocking surface 13 efficiently enter the light guide plate 16, in the example of FIGS. (A) to (C), the dimming member 12 at the light blocking position is opposite to the drawing. It is desirable to rotate clockwise, and in the example of FIG. (D), the light control member 12 is rotated clockwise.

FIG. 5 shows different embodiments of the light blocking surface provided on the light control member 12. 5A and 5B show a case where the light blocking surface 13a is a half mirror. Thereby, regardless of the position of the light control member 12, a part of light always passes through the light blocking surface 13a. Therefore, even when the light blocking surface 13 is at the position shown in FIG. 3A, the edge illumination device 10 emits light slightly when the light source is on. Therefore, the ON / OFF state of the light source can be confirmed.
FIGS. 5C and 5D show the light blocking surface 13b as a concave mirror. Thereby, the light irradiated on the light blocking surface 13 can be efficiently reflected into the light guide plate 16.

  By the way, the light blocking surface 13 formed on the light control member 12 can be continuously formed along the longitudinal direction as shown in FIG. 6A, but as shown in FIG. It is also possible to discontinuously form the light transmission part 12a in the middle. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 5C, a mode is also possible in which a light transmitting portion 12a continuous along the longitudinal direction is formed in the middle of the light blocking surface 13. Employing the modes of FIGS. (B) and (C), when the light source is turned on, the end surface illumination device 10 that does not turn off completely is obtained, so that it is easy to check ON / OFF of the light source.

FIG. 7 shows an example in which the light emission amount of the light source is increased or decreased according to the angle of the light control member 12. For example, an angle detection means 19 such as a rotary encoder, potentiometer, or angle sensor is provided on the rotating shaft of the light control member 12, and the energization amount to the light source 17 is adjusted based on an output signal from the angle detection means 19. To do.
When the light control member 12 is in the posture of blocking the light with the light blocking surface 13 parallel to the light emitting portion side end surface 16b (see FIG. 3A), the energization to the light source 17 is stopped. And turn it off. When the light control member 12 is in a posture in which the light blocking surface 13 is perpendicular to the light emitting portion side end surface 16b and allows all light to pass (see FIG. 3C), the amount of current supplied to the light source 17 Is the maximum. When the light blocking surface 13 of the light control member 12 is inclined with respect to the light emitting portion side end surface 16b (see FIG. 3B), according to the inclination angle (according to the magnitude of the light passage amount), Control to increase or decrease the energization amount.
With the above configuration, when the end surface illumination device 10 of the present invention is used as a night light, when the light reflection layer 16c of the light guide plate 16 also performs downward illumination, when the illumination is to be brightened, the whole is brighter and darker. Sometimes it is possible to reduce the total amount of light as much as possible.

  As shown in FIG. 8, the light control member of the light control means 10 is a plurality of light blocking plates 22 having a rotation axis 22 in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the light emitting portion side end surface 16 b of the light guide plate 16. It is also possible to configure. Also in this example, the light passage amount can be adjusted by the rotation position of the light blocking plate 22. That is, as shown in FIG. When the light blocking plate 22 is in a posture parallel to the light emitting portion 16b, the light is blocked, and when the light blocking plate 22 is in the vertical posture shown in FIG. The amount of light passing is limited according to the moving angle.

The light control means 10 can also be configured by a so-called shutter mechanism. That is, as shown in FIG. 9 (A), a plate-like light blocking member 30 that blocks the passage of light is formed with a window portion 31 that allows light to pass therethrough, and a plate-like shape having a plurality of openings 33 that are overlapped therewith. The shutter member 32 is prepared. Then, by moving the shutter member 32 in parallel with the light blocking member 30 in the horizontal direction indicated by the arrow, the opening area of the window 31 can be changed to adjust the light amount.
As shown in FIG. 5B, the plate-shaped shutter member 32 that does not wait for the opening is moved in parallel with the light blocking member 30 provided with the single window 34 in the vertical direction indicated by the arrow. Thus, it is also possible to adjust the light amount by changing the opening area of the window portion 34.

  FIG. 10 shows an example in which the light control means 10 is composed of a polarizing plate. As shown in FIG. 4A, two types of polarizing plates 42 and 43 having different polarization directions by 90 degrees are alternately arranged on a window 41 formed in a plate-shaped light blocking member 40. On the other hand, a window portion 45 is similarly formed on the light amount adjusting member 44 to be overlapped therewith, and two types of polarizing plates 42 and 43 are alternately arranged there. Then, when the light amount adjusting member 44 is superimposed on the light blocking member 40 and the polarizing plates 42 and 42 (43, 43) having the same polarization direction are set to coincide with each other as shown in FIG. Passage is maximized. As shown in the figure (C), when polarizing plates 42 and 43 (43, 42) having different polarization directions are matched, light is blocked. Accordingly, the light amount can be adjusted by changing the overlapping position of the polarizing plates 42 and 43.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... End surface illuminating device 11 ... Light control means 12 ... Light control member 12a ... Light transmission part 13 ... Light shielding surface 14 ... Holding means 15 ... Light emission window 16 ... Light guide plate 16a ... Light incident part 16b ... Light emission part 16c ... Light Reflective layer 17 ... light source 18 ... control unit 19 ... angle detection means 20 ... operation handle 21 ... light blocking plate (light control member) 22 ... rotating shaft 30 ... light blocking member 31 ... window 32 ... shutter member 33 ... opening DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 40 ... Light shielding member 41 ... Window part 42, 43 ... Polarizing plate 44 ... Light quantity adjustment member 45 ... Window part K ... Wash-stand vanity X ... Turning axis

Claims (5)

  One end face of the light guide plate is a light incident part, the other end face opposite the light incident part is a light emission part, and light incident on the light guide plate from the light source arranged on the light incident part side is transmitted from the light emission part. An illumination device configured to emit light to the outside, wherein a light control means for adjusting the amount of light emitted to the outside is disposed on the light emission part side of the light guide plate.   The light control means has a light blocking surface that blocks passage of light emitted from the light emitting portion of the light guide plate, and the light blocking surface can change an angle with respect to an end surface of the light guide plate on the light emitting portion side. The end surface illumination device according to claim 1, further comprising: a light amount adjusting unit configured to adjust a light passing amount by changing an angle of the light blocking surface.   The light control means includes a rod-shaped light control member, and a holding means for holding the light control member so as to be rotatable about an axis parallel to the longitudinal direction of the light emitting portion side end surface of the light guide plate. The light control member is formed with a light blocking surface in a direction along the longitudinal direction of the light emitting portion side end surface of the light guide plate, and the light amount adjusting means rotates the light control member around the axis. The end surface illumination device according to claim 2, configured to change an angle of the light blocking surface with respect to the end surface on the light emitting portion side.   A light reflection layer or a light scattering layer facing the inside of the light guide plate is provided on one plane portion sandwiched between the light incident portion and the light emission portion of the light guide plate, and the light blocking surface of the light control means is the light reflection surface. The end surface illumination device according to claim 2 or 3.   The end surface according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the light guide plate is attached to the vanity in a substantially horizontal posture, and the light emitting portion of the light guide plate is set to be positioned on the front side of the vanity. Lighting device.