JP2012226064A - Light-illuminated cutout letter using total reflection surface - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a light-illuminated cutout letter made of a thin resin for advertisement use, which allows a channel (groove) for housing a light source to be efficiently disposed therein.SOLUTION: Taking advantage that the boundary surface between a transparent acrylic plate 10g and air forms a light shielding surface due to total reflection, a light shielding sidewall is constructed. A channel formed from a transparent acrylic plate has cross sections, any of which forms a light shielding surface. Consequently, a light-illuminated cutout letter adaptable to a high quality, finely design is provided by a simple method.

Description

  The present invention relates to a construction method of a light-cut character in which light is applied to a cut character that represents a character or a figure.

In a light-emitting character, a character (also serving as a diffusion plate) or a top plate that represents a figure is usually surrounded by a side wall and a bottom plate, and a channel (groove) for storing a light source is provided therein. While it is necessary to make the side wall of the channel in this light-cut character as thin as possible, it is required to completely block the light in order to prevent the light from the light source from leaking to the outside. At the same time, the beauty of the appearance of the side wall itself is also required in order to ensure a high-class feeling of the entire cut character.

On the other hand, total reflection is a physical phenomenon in which all incident light is reflected at the interface when light enters a material with a high refractive index from a material with a low refractive index. It has been used for optical fibers, light guide plates, etc. as a mechanism for transmission without transmission.

  In the present invention, a boundary surface with total reflection is used as a side wall of the channel as a complete light-shielding surface that does not transmit light.

As shown in FIG. 1, a general cut character in an electric advertisement billboard is installed behind a top plate (diffusion plate) 1d as a display surface, and a light source 1c is provided in a channel constituted by a side wall 1a and a bottom plate 1b. It is housed and the top plate is illuminated with transmitted light from behind. In the case of a normal light source, a large light diffusion space must be secured between the light source 1c and the top plate 1d. Therefore, the side wall 1a has a height of 40 mm to 50 mm or more, and the side wall 1a is manually made of a stainless steel plate. Created by welding.

The cut character described in Patent Document 1 realizes thinning of the backlight in the field of advertisements and signboards, and the advertising signboards such as electric light cut letters can be easily configured by cutting out from a resin plate or the like. Enables efficient machining.

  FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a cut character described in Patent Document 1. The light beam from the light source 2e is reflected and diffused to the bottom plate 2c and then illuminates the top plate 2a. By this mechanism, the thickness between the top plate 2a and the bottom plate 2c can be reduced, so the side wall 2b is created by cutting out from the resin plate, and the channel is composed of the resin side wall 2b, the top plate 2a, and the bottom plate 2c. Is done. Hereinafter, the light-cut character of the structure described in Patent Document 1 and shown in FIG. 2 is referred to as “thin resin light-cut character”.

The external shape of the channel is directly visible as an advertisement or signboard, and of course it needs to be molded into a predetermined shape (characters, figures) according to the purpose of the signboard. Therefore, it is necessary to carefully select the materials that compose it. It also plays the following roles.
1) By maintaining a predetermined distance between the top plate and the light source, a light diffusion space is secured, and uniformity of the brightness of the top plate is secured.
2) Prevent unnecessary light leakage.
3) The bottom plate and the side wall function as a reflection plate and a diffusion plate.
4) Protect the light source from wind and rain.
5) Correspond to installation methods such as hanging, wall mounting and deferment.

The present invention provides means for efficiently realizing a channel that performs the above-described function for light-cut characters in the field of advertising billboards, particularly the thin resin light-cut characters.
Japanese Patent Application No. 2010-179203

A common problem with the stainless steel plate welded letters shown in Fig. 1 or the thin resin-made lettered letters corresponding to Fig. 2 is that the top plate (1d, 2a) needs to be trimmed. It is an obstacle. That is, in FIG. 1, the edge plate 1e is indispensable as an adhesive margin for bonding the stainless steel side wall 1a and the top plate 1d, or in order to maintain airtightness. Moreover, since the side wall 2b is made of resin in the thin resin light-cut character, the side wall 2b needs to have a certain thickness in order to maintain strength and secure an adhesive surface (adhesive margin) with the top plate 2a. . For this reason, the illuminance at the end of the top plate 2a (bonded portion of the side wall 2b) decreases, resulting in uneven brightness. In order to cover this uneven brightness, the border 2d (by a cutting sheet or the like) is indispensable.

This bordering takes time and at the same time requires bordering for all characters (which means that only letters with borders can be produced), making it difficult to create sharp and fine characters / figures. In addition, it becomes an obstacle to the production of luxury.
The thin resin-made light-cut character shown in FIG. 2 can be overwhelmingly reduced in cost as compared with the light-cut character produced by stainless steel welding shown in FIG. 1, but the following problems remain.
1) When the side wall material is an acrylic resin material, light from the light source leaks from the side wall, and there is a problem in light blocking properties. For this reason, it is necessary to take extra measures such as applying paint for light shielding.
2) The use of a foamed resin material (so-called calp material) with excellent light shielding properties as the side wall material improves the light shielding properties, but the surface gloss is lost and it is inferior in terms of luxury compared to acrylic resin materials or stainless steel plates. Become.
3) It is necessary to seal the channel in order to waterproof the light source. However, the side wall is thin, and it is difficult to maintain the airtightness of the side wall itself or the joint portion with the top plate.

In the present invention, in order to solve the above-described problem, a light blocking characteristic by total reflection of light is used. As will be described below, the light-shielding method using total reflection according to the present invention cannot transmit light through two boundary surfaces intersecting at right angles shown in FIG. 3 even when the material has a high refractive index such as acrylic resin or glass. This is a shading method using this.

Air (refractive index 1.0) and acrylic (refractive index 1.49) or glass (refractive index 1.5)
It is well known that there is a total reflection phenomenon at the boundary, and in a material having a refractive index n, the critical angle θ at which total reflection occurs has a relationship of sin θ = 1 / n. Therefore, when n = 2 ^1/2 (= 1.414...), The critical angle is 45 degrees.

That is, when the refractive index is not less than this value (1.414...), The critical angle is not more than 45 degrees. Therefore, the critical angle of glass and acrylic resin is 45 degrees or less.
On the other hand, FIG. 3 is a schematic view of a light ray transmitted through a right angle of the material 3a having a refractive index n (n> 1). Light entering the boundary 3b from the air at the incident angle α enters the substance 3a at the refraction angle β and exits into the air at the incident angle γ at the boundary 3c. In this case, the angle β is always smaller than the critical angle θ of the substance 3a, and the relationship β + γ = 90 degrees must be maintained. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 4, when the critical angle θ of the material is 45 degrees or less (in the case of glass or acrylic resin), the incident angle γ is always 45 degrees or more, and the light beam does not pass through the angle of the material 3a. Can not. That is, when the substance 4a is acrylic resin or glass, the boundary 4b functions as a light shielding surface.

In addition, when the critical angle of a substance is 45 degrees or less, this light-shielding surface is reflected as a mirror surface. That is, in FIG. 5, when the light shielding surface 5b is viewed from above the boundary surface 5c, there is no transmitted light at the boundary 5c, and a light 5e in which a part of the light 5d in the substance 5a is reflected by the boundary surface 5b is observed. It will be. For this reason, the boundary surface 5b appears as a mirror surface, which adds a sense of luxury as a side wall of the light-off character, which is very convenient.

As described above, in the present invention, the light-shielding surface by total reflection is used as the side wall of the channel, but this method is also related to the inlay method conventionally used in the fields of advertisement, signboard, and decoration. Inlaying is a technique in which a concave part that represents a character or figure to be displayed on a flat plate (substrate) of a predetermined size is provided, and a coloring material is embedded therein, or a character or figure that is the same type as the concave part is cut out and inserted into the concave part. It is. Nowadays, for example, a signboard with a structure in which acrylic cut letters are simply pasted on a stainless steel plate is also called inlay. In other words, inlay means a method for producing advertisements and signboards that produce decorative effects by combining a modeled object (hereinafter referred to as a convex part) that embodies characters and figures with a substrate that supports them (hereinafter referred to as a concave part). To do.

The light-cut character according to the present invention is also considered as one of these inlays, and is classified into the following three forms according to the application location of the light shielding surface by total reflection on the inlay.
1) Applicable to the side wall of the recess ("Example 1").
2) Applicable to the side wall of the convex portion (“Example 2”).
3) A combination of 1) and 2) ("Example 3").

In the following description, for the sake of convenience, the lighted-off character using the transparent acrylic resin flat plate, which is the most representative material, will be described. It goes without saying that any material can be used as long as it is a flat plate made of a material with a temperature of less than 1 degree.

In the present invention, the transparent acrylic plate section serves as a channel side wall. The effect of the invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems;
1) From the appearance, the channel side wall becomes a mirror surface or a permeable membrane, so it can produce a high-class feeling.
2) The side wall exists only optically and is not a conventional thin and fragile plate, so the strength and sealing performance are improved.
3) Since the side wall material itself is transparent, a zero-thickness light-shielding boundary can be freely provided in a space that does not exist at first glance. It becomes possible to produce.
As a result, the low-cost resin-cutting character of the conventional thin resin light-cutting character is completely inherited from the low-cost, high-efficiency, and other features, while the design, novelty, and strength are dramatically improved. can do.

  As shown in FIG. 6, “Example 1” is a light-cut character with the side wall of the inlaid recess as a light shielding surface. That is, a part of the transparent acrylic plate 6a constituting the inlaid recess is cut out so that the cross section is perpendicular to the surface, and this cut out portion forms a channel. Both side walls 6b of the channel thus formed serve as a light shielding surface, and a top plate 6c which is an inlaying convex portion is fitted into the opening of the channel. Even though the light source 6d and the bottom plate 6e are housed in the channel and the side surfaces are transparent plates, their shapes are not exposed to the outside. In addition, since the thickness of the light shielding surface 6b is substantially zero, there is no reduction in luminance at the end of the top plate 6c due to the thickness of the side wall. Therefore, the design is improved without the need for a border. Further, since the light shielding surface 6b is visually recognized as a mirror surface from the outside, it is substantially recognized that the cut character having the side wall 6b as the mirror surface is embedded in the transparent acrylic plate 6a.

Other advantages are as follows.
1) In the transparent acrylic plate 6a of FIG. 6, a plurality of channels can be simultaneously cut out as necessary as a substrate constituting the inlaid recess. In other words, because it is possible to easily set many light-cut characters on a single transparent acrylic plate 6a, it is possible to produce advertisements and signboards consisting of a large number of light-cut characters as a single unit. Etc. can be easily integrated.
2) It can be expected to produce a unique effect that the light-cut character appears in the space.
3) Compared to the conventional method of cutting a side wall from a resin material, the number of steps is small, and the resulting cut character is durable.
4) No side wall coating is required for shading.

As shown in FIG. 7, the top plate 7c may be thick, or may be fixed to the upper part of the transparent acrylic plate 7a.

As shown in FIG. 8, “Example 2” uses the light shielding property of a transparent acrylic plate for the inlaid convex portion. The inlaid convex portion is composed of a top plate 8a cut out of predetermined characters and figures, the same shape as the top plate 8a, and a constant thickness cut out so that the cross section 8c is perpendicular to the surface 8d This is a transparent acrylic plate 8b.

The light from the light source 8f installed under the light shielding plate 8e such as an aluminum plate constituting the inlaying concave portion is incident from the lower surface 8d of the transparent acrylic plate 8b constituting the inlaying convex portion, and the top plate 8a attached to the upper surface It is a mechanism that only penetrates. In this case as well, the cross section 8c acts as a light shielding surface, and light from the light source 8f does not pass through the cross section 8c.

  From the outside, the cross section 8c appears as a simple transparent surface, and the cross section 8d or the light shielding plate 8e surface is visible through the cross section 8c. On the other hand, the bottom surface 8d is visually recognized as a mirror surface by the principle shown in FIG. As a result, what is clearly visible from the outside is the surface of the light shielding plate 8e, the mirror surface of the transparent acrylic plate bottom surface 8d, and the top plate 8a, and the top plate 8a with lightning on the mirror surface is floating in the air It appears in the eyes as a lightning cut character with a mysterious feeling.

  Actually, the cross section 8c is transparent but accompanied by a slight amount of reflected light, so that it is visually recognized as a transparent film. However, this does not hinder the above effects.

In addition, the transparent acrylic plate is manufactured by cutting out the transparent resin plate 8b, and using a transparent material, all sides can be processed perpendicularly to two parallel surfaces of a flat plate that embodies a predetermined character or figure. Then, for example, the transparent epoxy resin may be poured into a mold and molded.

“Example 3” utilizes the light shielding property of the cross section of the transparent acrylic plate in both the inlaying convex portion and the concave portion. In FIG. 9, the cut-out portion formed by vertically cutting the transparent acrylic plate 9a which is an inlaid recess accommodates the light source 9d and the bottom plate 9e, and the acrylic transparent plate 9g covering the cut-out portion together with the top plate 9f is “Example 2”. ”Is formed in the same manner as in FIG. Cross sections perpendicular to the respective surfaces of the transparent acrylic plates 9g and 9a act as light shielding surfaces, and light surrounded by the light shielding surfaces forms a channel without transmitting light from the light source.

Similarly to “Example 1” and “Example 2”, the cross sections 9b and 9h are viewed from the outside as mirror surfaces and the cross section 9c as a transparent film. That is, “Embodiment 3” realizes the invention effects of “Embodiment 1” and “Embodiment 2” at the same time.

  In addition, FIG. 10 is an electric character which applied the cutout part of the transparent acrylic board 10a which corresponds to an inlaying recessed part to the transparent acrylic board 10g which forms an inlaying convex part as it is. This technique not only saves the transparent acrylic plate material, but also inlays and indentations are formed at the same time, so that the cutting operation process using a laser beam can be greatly shortened.

In addition, it is well known that when a fine scratch is applied to the surface of a transparent acrylic plate with a laser cutting machine or the like, a light diffusion effect is produced. The same effect can be realized even if the surface of the transparent resin plates 8b, 9g, and 10g is subjected to a process that provides such a light diffusion effect instead of the top plates 8a, 9f, and 10f. A similar effect can be obtained by cutting out a predetermined character or figure from a flat plate having a processed surface having a diffusion effect on the surface.

Stainless steel side-cut character A thin resin light-cut character structure is shown. The path of light passing through a 90 degree angle is shown. The total reflection of light at a 90 degree angle is shown. The principle that the side surface becomes a mirror surface is shown. The structure of the light-cut character which uses the side wall of an inlaying recessed part as a light-shielding surface is shown. Shows how to fix the top plate. The structure of the light-emitting character which uses the side wall of an inlaying convex part as the light-shielding surface is shown. The structure of the light-cut character which makes the light shielding surface the side wall of both an inlaying convex part and a recessed part is shown. An inlaying convex part shows the electric light cutting character structure which is a cutout part from an inlaying concave part.

1a ... Stainless steel side wall
1b ・ ・ ・ Bottom plate
1c ・ ・ ・ Light source
1d ... top plate
1e ・ ・ ・ Edge plate
2a ... top plate
2b ・ ・ ・ Side wall
2c ・ ・ ・ Bottom plate
2d ...
2e ・ ・ ・ ・ Light source
3a ・ ・ ・ ・ Transparent material
3b ... ・ Boundary surface
3c ・ ・ ・ ・ Boundary surface
4a ・ ・ ・ ・ Transparent material
4b ... Boundary surface
4c ・ ・ ・ Boundary surface
5a ・ ・ ・ ・ Transparent material
5b ... Interface
5c ・ ・ ・ Boundary surface
6a ・ ・ ・ Transparent resin plate
6b ・ ・ ・ Shading surface
6c ... top plate
6d ・ ・ ・ Light source
6e ・ ・ ・ Bottom plate
7a ・ ・ ・ Transparent resin plate
7b ・ ・ ・ Shading surface
7c ... top plate
7d ・ ・ ・ Light source
7e ・ ・ ・ Bottom plate
8a ... top plate
8b ・ ・ ・ Transparent resin plate
8c ・ ・ ・ Shading surface
8d ... mirror surface
8e ・ ・ ・ Shading plate
8f ・ ・ ・ Light source
8g ・ ・ ・ Bottom plate
9a ・ ・ ・ Transparent resin plate
9b ・ ・ ・ Shading surface
9c ・ ・ ・ Shading surface
9d ・ ・ ・ Light source
9e ・ ・ ・ Bottom plate
9f ... top plate
9g ・ ・ ・ Transparent resin plate

10a ・ ・ ・ Transparent resin plate
10b ・ ・ ・ Shading surface
10c ・ ・ ・ Shading surface
10d ・ ・ ・ Light source
10e ・ ・ ・ Bottom plate
10f ... top plate
10g ... Transparent resin plate

Claims (4)

An electric light-cutting character comprising a top plate, a light source, and a flat plate having a constant thickness, and having the following requirements.
1) The top plate is illuminated by transmitted light from the light source.
2) The flat plate is provided with a cutout portion cut out so that the cut surface is perpendicular to the flat plate surface.
3) The light source is accommodated in the cutout portion of the flat plate.
4) The critical angle with respect to air of the substance which comprises the said flat plate is 45 degrees or less.
An electric light-cutting character comprising a top plate, a light source, and a flat plate having a constant thickness, and having the following requirements.
1) All side surfaces of the flat plate are perpendicular to the surface.
2) The top plate is fixed to one surface of the flat plate, the light beam from the light source is incident from the other surface, and passes through the flat plate and the top plate.
3) The top plate is illuminated by the transmitted light.
4) The critical angle with respect to air of the substance which comprises the said flat plate is 45 degrees or less.
A light-off character composed of the flat plate and the light source described in “Claim 1” and the flat plate and the top plate described in “Claim 2”.
  The electric cut character according to claim 3, wherein the flat plate according to claim 2 is a flat plate cut out from the cutout portion according to claim 1.