JP2021048046A - Light-emitting device and vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

To compatibly achieve reduction in luminance difference between a light-emission surface and a non-light-emission surface and reduction in thickness of a light-emitting device.SOLUTION: A non-light-emission region is present between a light-emission surface of a first organic EL panel and a light emission surface of a second organic EL panel which adjoin each other. A reflection plate reflects part of light, emitted from the first organic EL panel and the second organic EL panel, to the non-light-emission region.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1A

Description

The present invention relates to a light emitting device and a vehicle.

As a vehicle lamp, a light emitting device using an organic EL element as a light source is known (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2018-73714

By arranging a plurality of organic EL panels side by side in the horizontal direction, it is possible to realize a light emitting device having a large area light emitting surface. However, in this type of light emitting device, a non-light emitting region is generated between the organic EL panels.
The non-light emitting region is a region in which a light emitting surface does not exist. Even when the organic EL panel is lit, the non-light emitting region does not emit light. Therefore, there is a problem that the non-light emitting region looks like a dim streak existing in a bright light emitting surface of a large area and is easily conspicuous.

In order to solve this problem, a method of arranging a diffusion lens on the light emitting surface side of the organic EL panel to reduce the difference in brightness between the light emitting surface and the non-light emitting region can be considered. However, in order to sufficiently reduce the difference in brightness between the light emitting surface and the non-light emitting region, it is necessary to arrange the diffuser lens sufficiently away from the light emitting surface, which increases the depth dimension of the light emitting device. Challenges arise.
As described above, in the light emitting device using the organic EL panel, there is a trade-off relationship between the reduction of the brightness difference between the light emitting surface and the non-light emitting region and the thinning of the device.

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to reduce the difference in brightness between the light emitting surface and the non-light emitting region and to reduce the thickness of the light emitting device at the same time.

In the light emitting device according to one aspect of the present invention, there is a non-light emitting region between the light emitting surface of the first organic EL panel and the light emitting surface of the second organic EL panel that are adjacent to each other, and the reflector is the first. A part of the light emitted from the first organic EL panel and the second organic EL panel is reflected to the non-light emitting region.

According to one aspect of the present invention, it is possible to reduce the difference in brightness between the light emitting surface and the non-light emitting region and to reduce the thickness of the light emitting device at the same time.

FIG. 1A is a front view showing a configuration example of the light emitting device 100 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1B is a left side view showing a configuration example of the light emitting device 100 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1C is a plan view showing a configuration example of the light emitting device 100 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2A is a front view showing a configuration example of the organic EL panel 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2B is a cross-sectional view showing a configuration example of the organic EL panel 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3A is a front view showing a modification 1 of the light emitting device 100 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3B is a front view showing a modification 2 of the light emitting device 100 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a front view showing a modification 3 of the light emitting device 100 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a front view showing a configuration example of the light emitting device 100A according to the second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a front view showing a configuration example of the light emitting device 100B according to the third embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a plan view showing a modified example of the light emitting device 100B according to the third embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 8A is a left side view showing a first configuration example of the light emitting device 100C according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 8B is a left side view showing a second configuration example of the light emitting device 100C according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 9 is a front view showing a configuration example of the light emitting device 100D according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 10A is a left side view showing a configuration example of the light emitting device 100E according to the sixth embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 10B is a plan view showing a configuration example of the light emitting device 100E according to the sixth embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 11 is a plan view showing a configuration example of the vehicle 150 according to the seventh embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 12 is a graph showing the measurement results of Examples and Comparative Examples of the present invention.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. In the description of the drawings referred to in the following description, the same or similar parts are designated by the same or similar reference numerals. However, it should be noted that the drawings are schematic, and the relationship between the thickness and the plane dimensions, the ratio of the thickness of each layer, etc. are different from the actual ones. Therefore, the specific thickness and dimensions should be determined in consideration of the following explanation. In addition, it goes without saying that the drawings include parts having different dimensional relationships and ratios from each other.

Further, the definition of the direction such as up and down in the following description is merely a definition for convenience of explanation, and does not limit the technical idea of the present disclosure. For example, if the object is rotated by 90 ° and observed, the top and bottom are converted to left and right and read, and if the object is rotated by 180 ° and observed, the top and bottom are reversed and read.

Further, in the following description, the direction may be described by using the words in the X-axis direction, the Y-axis direction, and the Z-axis direction. For example, the Y-axis direction is the direction of light irradiation by the light emitting device, and is also the depth direction of the light emitting device. The X-axis direction is the width direction of the light emitting device. The Z-axis direction is the height direction of the light emitting device. The X-axis direction, the Y-axis direction, and the Z-axis direction are orthogonal to each other.

<Embodiment 1>
(Constitution)
FIG. 1A is a front view showing a configuration example of the light emitting device 100 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1B is a left side view showing a configuration example of the light emitting device 100 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1C is a plan view showing a configuration example of the light emitting device 100 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1A, the diffusion lens 5 shown in FIG. 1C is not shown in order to show the inside of the light emitting device 100.

The light emitting device 100 is a vehicle lighting tool that is externally attached to the vehicle, such as a stop lamp or a direction indicator. As shown in FIGS. 1A to 1C, the light emitting device 100 emits light from a plurality of organic EL (Electroluminescence) panels 1, a reflecting plate 3 that reflects light emitted from the organic EL panel 1, and an organic EL panel 1. A diffuser lens 5 for diffusing the light to be generated and a lamp housing 7 are provided.

Each of the plurality of organic EL panels 1 has a light emitting surface 13a and a sealing portion 15 that covers the periphery of the light emitting surface 13a. The light emitting surface 13a is a surface of the light emitting portion 13 facing the transparent electrode 14 (see FIG. 2B described later). Each of the plurality of organic EL panels 1 is arranged side by side in the horizontal direction (for example, the X-axis direction) so that the light emitting surface 13a of the light emitting unit 13 faces the diffusion lens 5 in the Y-axis direction. The horizontal direction is a direction parallel to the light emitting surface 13a and intersecting the Y-axis direction. An example in the horizontal direction is the X-axis direction.
For example, the plurality of organic EL panels 1 include a first organic EL panel 1-1 and a second organic EL panel 1-2 adjacent to the first organic EL panel in the X-axis direction. The first organic EL panel 1-1 and the second organic EL panel 1-2 are arranged side by side in the X-axis direction so that their respective light emitting surfaces 13a face the diffusion lens 5 in the Y-axis direction.

The reflector 3 is arranged above or below the plurality of organic EL panels 1. The reflector 3 is made of a material having a high reflectance with respect to the light (for example, visible light) emitted by the light emitting portion 13 of the organic EL panel 1. The reflector 3 is arranged at a position where a part of the light emitted from the plurality of organic EL panels 1 is reflected by the non-light emitting region R1 existing between the organic EL panels 1. The non-light emitting region R1 is a region in which the light emitting unit 13 does not exist.

For example, a non-emission region R1 exists between the first organic EL panel 1-1 and the second organic EL panel 1-2. In the non-light emitting region R1, a sealing portion 15 located around the light emitting surface 13a of the first organic EL panel 1-1 and a seal located around the light emitting surface 13a of the second organic EL panel 1-2 There is a stop portion 15 and a gap AG1 between the first organic EL panel 1-1 and the second organic EL panel 1-2. The light emitting unit 13 does not exist in the non-light emitting region R1.

The reflector 3 is arranged above the first organic EL panel 1-1 and the second organic EL panel 1-2 (for example, in the direction of the arrow on the X-axis). The reflector 3 combines a part of the light L1 emitted from the first organic EL panel 1-1 and a part of the light L2 emitted from the second organic EL panel 1-2 with a non-light emitting region R1. It is arranged in a position to reflect each of them.

As a result, when the first organic EL panel 1-1 and the second organic EL panel 1-2 are lit, the reflector 3 reflects light toward the non-light emitting region R1. The surface of the non-emission region R1 is illuminated by the reflected light from the reflector 3. As a result, the brightness difference between the first organic EL panel 1-1 and the non-light emitting region R1 and the brightness difference between the second organic EL panel 1-2 and the non-light emitting region R1 are reduced.

In the following description, when it is not necessary to distinguish between the first organic EL panel 1-1 and the second organic EL panel 1-2, these are simply referred to as the organic EL panel 1.

The reflector 3 is preferably a diffuse reflector that diffusely reflects the light emitted from the plurality of organic EL panels 1. For example, it is preferable that the entire reflector 3 or at least the reflective surface 3a of the reflector 3 is made of a diffuse reflector. As an example, the reflective surface 3a is made of a diffuse reflection sheet made of PP (polypropylene). As a result, the light incident on the reflecting surface 3a side of the reflector 3 is diffused and reflected to become diffuse reflected light. Since the non-light emitting region R1 is illuminated by diffusely reflected light, the variation in brightness within the non-light emitting region R1 is reduced.

The material constituting the reflector 3 is not limited to the diffuse reflector. The reflector 3 may be made of a metal such as aluminum (Al) or stainless steel. The stainless steel is an alloy steel containing, for example, chromium (Cr) or containing chromium and nickel (Ni).

The diffuser lens 5 is an optical component having an incident surface 5a and an emitting surface 5b located on the opposite side of the incident surface 5a, and diffuses the light incident on the incident surface 5a and emits the light from the emitting surface 5b. The diffusion lens 5 is arranged at a position facing each of the light emitting surfaces 13a of the plurality of organic EL panels 1 in the Y-axis direction. The light emitted from the plurality of organic EL panels 1 (including the light reflected by the reflecting plate 3 to the non-light emitting region R1 and illuminating the surface of the non-light emitting region R1) is incident on the incident surface 5a of the diffuser lens 5. It passes through the diffuser lens 5 and emits light from the exit surface 5b. The light emitted from the plurality of organic EL panels 1 is diffused by passing through the diffuser lens 5. As a result, the difference in brightness between the light emitting unit 13 and the non-light emitting region R1 when viewed from the exit surface 5b side of the diffusion lens 5 is further reduced.

The plurality of organic EL panels 1, the reflector 3, and the diffuser lens 5 are attached to the lamp housing 7. The lamp housing 7 fixes the positional relationship between the plurality of organic EL panels 1, the reflector 3, and the diffuser lens 5.

FIG. 2A is a front view showing a configuration example of the organic EL panel 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2B is a cross-sectional view showing a configuration example of the organic EL panel 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2B shows a cross section of the front view shown in FIG. 2A cut along the line X1-X1'. In FIG. 2A, the transparent electrode 14, the second wiring layer 14W, and the end portion 14WE located on the light emitting surface 13a side of the light emitting unit 13 are not shown in order to show the inside of the light emitting device 100.

As shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, the organic EL panel 1 includes an insulating substrate 11, a reflective electrode 12 provided on the substrate 11, a light emitting portion 13 provided on the reflective electrode 12, and a light emitting portion. The transparent electrode 14 provided on the 13th, the first wiring layer 12W drawn out from the reflective electrode 12, the second wiring layer 14W drawn out from the transparent electrode 14, and the translucent sealing portion 15 are provided. Be prepared.

The substrate 11 is, for example, a glass substrate or a resin substrate.
The reflective electrode 12 is an electrode that is electrically connected to the back surface 13b side of the light emitting unit 13 and reflects the light emitted from the light emitting unit 13. The reflective electrode 12 is made of a metal having a high reflectance with respect to the light emitted by the light emitting unit 13, such as Al or silver (Ag). The first wiring layer 12W drawn out from the reflective electrode 12 is made of the same film as the reflective electrode 12.

The light emitting unit 13 is an organic light emitting layer made of an organic material, and has a structure in which an electron transport layer, a light emitting layer, and a hole transport layer are laminated. In the light emitting unit 13, electrons supplied from the electron transport layer and holes supplied from the hole transport layer are luminescent and recombinated in the light emitting layer to emit a predetermined light.

The transparent electrode 14 is an electrode that is electrically connected to the light emitting surface 13a side of the light emitting unit 13 and transmits the light emitted from the light emitting unit 13. The transparent electrode 14 is made of, for example, indium tin oxide (ITO: Indium Tin Oxide). The second wiring layer 14W drawn out from the transparent electrode 14 is made of the same film as the transparent electrode 14.

The sealing portion 15 is a film that covers the entire laminate including the substrate 11, the reflecting electrode 12, the light emitting portion 13, and the transparent electrode 14. As a result, the sealing portion 15 prevents moisture and outside air from entering the laminated body. Further, the sealing portion 15 is also arranged between the first wiring layer 12W and the second wiring layer 14W, and insulates between the first wiring layer 12W and the second wiring layer 14W.

In the first wiring layer 12W, the end portion 12WE located on the opposite side of the laminated body is exposed from the sealing portion 15. Similarly, in the second wiring layer 14W, the end portion 14WE located on the opposite side of the laminated body is exposed from the sealing portion 15. The ends 12WE and 14WE exposed from the sealing portion 15 function as terminal portions of the organic EL panel 1.

(motion)
Next, the operation of the light emitting device 100 will be described with reference to FIGS. 1A to 2B.
When a voltage is applied between the reflective electrode 12 and the transparent electrode 14, electrons and holes are injected into the light emitting unit 13 to recombinate light emission, and the entire area of the light emitting unit 13 emits light as a light emitting region. A part of the light emitted from the light emitting region passes through the transparent electrode 14 and the sealing portion 15 and is incident on the incident surface 5a of the diffusion lens 5. Further, a part of the light emitted from the light emitting region is reflected by the reflecting electrode 12, passes through the light emitting portion 13, the transparent electrode 14, and the sealing portion 15, and is incident on the incident surface 5a of the diffusion lens 5.

Further, a part of the light emitted from the light emitting region passes through the transparent electrode 14 and the sealing portion 15 and is reflected by the reflector 3. At least a part of the light reflected by the reflector 3 is applied to the non-emission region R1. At least a part of the light irradiated to the non-light emitting region R1 is reflected by the surface of the non-light emitting region R1 and is incident on the incident surface 5a of the diffusion lens 5.
The light incident on the incident surface 5a of the diffusing lens 5 is diffused while being transmitted through the diffusing lens 5, and is emitted from the emitting surface 5b of the diffusing lens 5. In this way, the light emitted from the light emitting units 13 of the plurality of organic EL panels 1 is taken out from the exit surface 5b side of the diffusion lens 5.

(Effect of Embodiment 1)
(1) The light emitting device 100 is a device that irradiates light in the first direction. The first direction is the irradiation direction of light by the light emitting device 100, for example, the Y-axis direction. The light emitting device 100 includes a plurality of organic EL panels 1 having a sealing portion 15 around the light emitting surface 13a, a reflector 3 for reflecting light emitted from the plurality of organic EL panels 1, and a plurality of organic EL panels 1. A diffuser lens 5 that faces each of the light emitting surfaces 13a of the above in the Y-axis direction and diffuses the light emitted from the plurality of organic EL panels 1 is provided. Each of the plurality of organic EL panels 1 is arranged side by side in the second direction intersecting the first direction. The second direction is, for example, a direction parallel to the light emitting surface 13a (horizontal direction), and for example, a width direction (X-axis direction) of the light emitting device 100.
Of the plurality of organic EL panels 1, the light emitting surface 13a of the first organic EL panel 1-1 and the light emitting surface 13a of the second organic EL panel 1-2 that are adjacent to each other in the horizontal direction (for example, the X-axis direction). There is a non-emission region R1 including sealing portions 15-1 and 15-2 between them. The reflector 3 is arranged at a position where a part of the light emitted from the first organic EL panel 1-1 and the second organic EL panel 1-2 is reflected to the non-light emitting region R1.

As a result, the light emitted from the organic EL panel 1 and reflected by the reflector 3 recurses toward the organic EL panel 1. By illuminating the non-emission region R1 with at least a part of the recurring light, the non-emission region R1 appears to illuminate in a pseudo manner. As a result, the difference in brightness between the light emitting surface 13a and the non-light emitting region R1 can be reduced, so that the non-light emitting region R1 can be made inconspicuous. Compared with the case where the reflector 3 is not provided (for example, a comparative example described later), the non-light emitting region does not need to increase the distance (depth dimension) D1 between the organic EL panel 1 and the diffuser lens 5. R1 can be made inconspicuous.
Therefore, the light emitting device 100 can achieve both reduction of the brightness difference between the light emitting surface 13a and the non-light emitting region R1 and thinning of the light emitting device 100. Further, the light emitted from the organic EL panel 1 and reflected by the reflector 3 recurses toward the organic EL panel 1, so that the brightness of the organic EL panel is improved.

(2) The reflector 3 is a diffuse reflector that diffusely reflects the light emitted from the plurality of organic EL panels 1. As a result, the light incident on the reflector 3 is diffused by the reflecting surface 3a and becomes diffuse reflected light. Since the non-emission region R1 and its surroundings are illuminated by diffusely reflected light, variations in brightness are reduced.

(3) The angle formed by the reflector 3 and the light irradiation direction (for example, the Y axis) is 0 °. As a result, it is possible to prevent the light emitted from the organic EL panel 1 and reflected by the reflector 3 from directly incident on the diffusion lens 5. Since the light emitted from the organic EL panel 1 and reflected by the reflector 3 efficiently recurses to the organic EL panel 1 side, the brightness difference between the light emitting surface 13a and the non-light emitting region R1 can be further reduced.

(4) The reflector 3 and the organic EL panel 1 are separated from each other. For example, the end of the reflector 3 and the end of the organic EL panel 1 are separated from each other. As a result, the degree of freedom in designing the arrangement position and angle of the reflector 3 with respect to the organic EL panel 1 can be increased. Since it becomes easy to efficiently reflect light toward the non-light emitting region R1, there is a possibility that the reflector 3 can be miniaturized.

(5) In the horizontal direction (for example, the X-axis direction), the reflector 3 has the same length as a row in which a plurality of organic EL panels 1 are arranged. For example, as shown in FIG. 1A, the length (width) of the row in which the first organic EL panel 1-1 and the second organic EL panel 1-2 are arranged in the X-axis direction is W1, and the reflector 3 Assuming that the length (width) of is W7, the lengths W1 and W7 are the same length (W1 = W7). As a result, light can be efficiently recurred from the reflector 3 to the organic EL panel 1 side. It is possible to improve the brightness of the entire plurality of organic EL panels 1 including the non-light emitting region R1.

(Modification example)
In the above-described first embodiment, the first organic EL panel 1-1 and the second organic EL panel 1-2 are exemplified as the plurality of organic EL panels 1, but in the embodiment of the present invention, the organic EL panel 1 The number of sheets is not limited to two. The number of the plurality of organic EL panels 1 may be three or more. For example, n organic EL panels (n is an integer of 3 or more) may be arranged side by side in a horizontal direction (for example, the X-axis direction).

In this case, the first non-emission region R1 exists between the first organic EL panel 1-1 and the second organic EL panel 1-2, and the second organic EL panel 1-2 and the third organic EL panel 1-2. There is a second non-emissive region (not shown) between the organic EL panel and ..., The (n-1) th (n-1) between the (n-1) th organic EL panel and the nth organic EL panel. There may be a non-emission region (not shown).

The reflector 3 reflects a part of the light emitted from the first organic EL panel 1-1 and the second organic EL panel 1-2 to the first non-light emitting region R1 and the second organic EL panel 3. A part of the light emitted from the EL panel 1-2 and the third organic EL panel is reflected by the second non-light emitting region, and ..., The (n-1) organic EL panel and the nth organic It may be arranged at a position where a part of the light emitted from the EL panel is reflected by the (n-1) non-emission region.

Further, in the first embodiment, the length W1 of the row in which the first organic EL panel 1-1 and the second organic EL panel 1-2 are lined up in the horizontal direction (for example, the X-axis direction) and the reflection. It has been explained that the length W7 of the plate 3 is the same length (W1 = W7). However, in the embodiment of the present invention, the length W1 and the length W7 may have different lengths from each other.

FIG. 3A is a front view showing a modification 1 of the light emitting device 100 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 3A, in the horizontal direction (for example, the X-axis direction), the length W7 of the reflector 3 is a row in which the first organic EL panel 1-1 and the second organic EL panel 1-2 are lined up. It may be shorter than the length W1 of. According to the modified example 1 shown in FIG. 3A, since the area of the reflector 3 is small, it contributes to the reduction of the manufacturing cost.

FIG. 3B is a front view showing a modification 2 of the light emitting device 100 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 3B, in the horizontal direction (for example, the X-axis direction), the length W7 of the reflector 3 is a row in which the first organic EL panel 1-1 and the second organic EL panel 1-2 are lined up. It may be longer than the length W1 of. According to the modification 2 shown in FIG. 3B, there is a possibility that the brightness of the entire plurality of organic EL panels 1 including the non-light emitting region R1 can be further improved.

Further, in the first embodiment, it has been described that the reflector 3 and the organic EL panel 1 are separated from each other. However, in the embodiment of the present invention, the reflector 3 and the organic EL panel 1 may be in contact with each other.

FIG. 4 is a front view showing a modification 3 of the light emitting device 100 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 4, the end 3E of the reflector 3 and the end 1E of the organic EL panel 1 may be in contact with each other. Also in the modification 3 shown in FIG. 4, the non-light emitting region R1 can be made inconspicuous without lengthening the depth dimension D1, and the brightness difference between the light emitting surface 13a and the non-light emitting region R1 can be reduced and the thickness can be reduced. It is possible to achieve both.

<Embodiment 2>
FIG. 5 is a front view showing a configuration example of the light emitting device 100A according to the second embodiment of the present invention. In the light emitting device 100A according to the second embodiment, in each of the plurality of organic EL panels 1, one of both ends 1ER and 1EL in the horizontal direction (for example, the X-axis direction) is in the horizontal direction (for example, the X-axis direction). It is in contact with the other of both ends 1ER and 1EL of the other organic EL panels 1 adjacent to each other.

For example, as shown in FIG. 5, in the X-axis direction, the right end 1ER of the sealing portion 15 of the first organic EL panel 1-1 and the left end of the sealing portion 15 of the second organic EL panel 1-2. The parts 1EL are in contact with each other. In the non-emission region R1, there are a sealing portion 15 of the first organic EL panel 1-1 and a sealing portion 15 of the second organic EL panel 1-2, but the gap AG1 (see FIG. 1A) is formed. Does not exist (or is negligible if present).

(Effect of Embodiment 2)
Similar to the first embodiment, the light emitting device 100A can achieve both reduction in luminance difference and reduction in thickness. Further, in the light emitting device 100A, the sealing portion 15 of the first organic EL panel 1-1 and the sealing portion 15 of the second organic EL panel 1-2 are in contact with each other. As a result, the light emitting device 100A can shorten the length (width) of the non-light emitting region R1 in the horizontal direction (for example, the X-axis direction), and can reduce the area of the non-light emitting region R1. Since the light emitting device 100A can concentrate the reflected light from the reflector 3 on the narrow non-light emitting region R1, it is possible to further reduce the brightness difference between the non-light emitting region R1 and the light emitting surface 13a.
In addition, each modification of Embodiment 1 may be applied to Embodiment 2.

<Embodiment 3>
FIG. 6 is a front view showing a configuration example of the light emitting device 100B according to the third embodiment of the present invention. In the light emitting device 100B according to the third embodiment, in each of the plurality of organic EL panels 1, one of both ends 1ER and 1EL in the horizontal direction (for example, the X-axis direction) is in the horizontal direction (for example, the X-axis direction). It overlaps with the other of both ends 1ER and 1EL of the other organic EL panels 1 adjacent to each other.

For example, as shown in FIG. 6, in the X-axis direction, the sealing portion 15 of the first organic EL panel 1-1 is covered with the second organic EL panel 1-2. In the depth direction (for example, the Y-axis direction), the sealing portion 15 of the first organic EL panel 1-1 and the sealing portion 15 of the second organic EL panel 1-2 overlap each other. The sealing portion 15 of the second organic EL panel 1-2 is located closer to the diffusion lens 5 than the sealing portion 15 of the first organic EL panel 1-1.

(Effect of Embodiment 3)
Similar to the first embodiment, the light emitting device 100B can achieve both reduction in luminance difference and reduction in thickness. Further, in the light emitting device 100B, the sealing portion 15 of the first organic EL panel 1-1 is covered with the second organic EL panel 1-2. As a result, the light emitting device 100B can shorten the length (width) of the non-light emitting region R1 in the horizontal direction (for example, the X-axis direction), and can reduce the area of the non-light emitting region R1. Since the light emitting device 100B can concentrate the reflected light from the reflector 3 on the narrow non-light emitting region R1, it is possible to further reduce the brightness difference between the non-light emitting region R1 and the light emitting surface 13a.
In addition, each modification of Embodiment 1 may be applied to Embodiment 3.

(Modification example)
FIG. 7 is a plan view showing a modified example of the light emitting device 100B according to the third embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 7, in the light emitting device 100B, each of the plurality of organic EL panels 1 is arranged so as to cover the wiring 20 of the other organic EL panels 1 adjacent to each other in the horizontal direction (for example, the X-axis direction). You may.

For example, the wiring 20 includes the first wiring layer 12W and the second wiring layer 14W shown in FIG. 2A. In each of the first organic EL panel 1-1, the second organic EL panel 1-2, and the third organic EL panel 1-3, the wiring 20 is pulled out from the left end portion 1EL.

The first organic EL panel 1-1 is arranged so as to cover the left end portion 1EL of the second organic EL panel 1-2. As a result, the first organic EL panel 1-1 can hide the wiring 20 of the second organic EL panel 1-2 when viewed from the diffusion lens 5 side. Similarly, the second organic EL panel 1-2 is arranged so as to cover the left end portion 1EL of the third organic EL panel 1-3. As a result, the second organic EL panel 1-2 can hide the wiring 20 of the third organic EL panel 1-3 when viewed from the diffusion lens 5 side.
According to this, since the wiring 20 cannot be seen from the diffusion lens 5 side, the appearance of the light emitting device 100 on the light emitting surface 13a side can be improved.

<Embodiment 4>
In the first embodiment, it has been described that the angle formed by the reflector 3 and the light irradiation direction (for example, the Y axis) is 0 °. However, in the embodiment of the present invention, the angle formed by the reflector 3 and the light irradiation direction is not limited to 0 °.

FIG. 8A is a left side view showing a first configuration example of the light emitting device 100C according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 8A, in the first configuration example, in the organic EL panel 1, the light emitting surface 13a is 0 ° with respect to the light irradiation direction (for example, the Y-axis direction) from the light emitting surface 13a to the diffusion lens 5. It is arranged so as to form an angle θ1 larger than 90 °. In the reflecting plate 3, the reflecting surface 3a of the reflecting plate 3 has an angle θ2 larger than −90 ° and 0 ° or less with respect to the irradiation direction, and the reflecting surface 3a has an acute angle (θ1 + | θ2) with respect to the light emitting surface 13a. It is arranged so as to form | <90 °).

FIG. 8B is a left side view showing a second configuration example of the light emitting device 100C according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 8B, in the second configuration example, the organic EL panel 1 is arranged so that the light emitting surface 13a forms an angle θ1'more than −90 ° and less than 0 ° with respect to the light irradiation direction. There is. In the reflector 3, the reflecting surface 3a has an angle θ2'of 0 ° or more and less than 90 ° with respect to the irradiation direction, and the reflecting surface 3a has an acute angle with respect to the light emitting surface 13a (| θ1'| + θ2'<90 °. ) Is arranged.

(Effect of Embodiment 4)
In both the first configuration example and the second configuration example of the light emitting device 100B, the reflector 3 makes a part of the light emitted from the plurality of organic EL panels 1 non-existent between the plurality of organic EL panels 1. It can be reflected in the light emitting region R1 (see FIG. 1A). As a result, the light emitting device 100B can achieve both reduction in brightness difference between the light emitting surface 13a and the non-light emitting region R1 and reduction in thickness.

<Embodiment 5>
FIG. 9 is a front view showing a configuration example of the light emitting device 100D according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 9, the light emitting device 100D according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention includes a reflective material 30 arranged on the sealing portion 15 of the non-light emitting region R1. For example, the reflectance of the sealing unit 15 is 60% and the reflectance of the reflector 30 is 95% with respect to the light emitted by the light emitting unit 13.

(Effect of Embodiment 5)
Similar to the first embodiment, the light emitting device 100D can achieve both reduction of luminance difference and reduction in thickness. Since the reflector 30 can efficiently reflect the light reflected from the reflector 3 to the non-light emitting region R1 in the light irradiation direction (for example, the Y-axis direction), the above-mentioned luminance difference can be further reduced. Can be done.

<Embodiment 6>
FIG. 10A is a left side view showing a configuration example of the light emitting device 100E according to the sixth embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 10B is a plan view showing a configuration example of the light emitting device 100E according to the sixth embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIGS. 10A and 10B, the light emitting device 100E according to the sixth embodiment of the present invention includes an anisotropic diffuser lens 5A instead of the diffuser lens 5 described in the first embodiment. The anisotropic diffusion lens 5A diffuses the light emitted from the organic EL panel 1 in the horizontal direction (for example, the X-axis direction). For example, the light L1 emitted from the first organic EL panel 1-1 and the light L2 emitted from the second organic EL panel 1-2 are in the horizontal direction (for example, the X-axis) by the anisotropic diffusion lens 5A. (Direction) is diffused.

(Effect of Embodiment 6)
Similar to the first embodiment, the light emitting device 100D can achieve both reduction of luminance difference and reduction in thickness. Since the anisotropic diffuser lens 50 diffuses the light reflected from the reflector 3 to the non-emission region R1 in the horizontal direction (for example, the X-axis direction), the uniform light emission property of the light emitting device 100D can be enhanced. As a result, the light emitting device 100D can further shorten the depth dimension D1 and can be further thinned.

<Embodiment 7>
FIG. 11 is a plan view showing a configuration example of the vehicle 150 according to the seventh embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 11, the vehicle 150 according to the sixth embodiment of the present invention includes vehicle lamps 151L and 151R on the left and right sides of the rear end portion of the vehicle 150. Further, the vehicle 150 is provided with a vehicle lighting tool 152 near the center of the rear portion of the vehicle 150.

For example, the vehicle lighting fixtures 151R and 151L include a direction indicator (winker) and an auxiliary control (stop lamp). The vehicle lighting fixture 152 includes auxiliary control and the like (high mount stop lamp). The vehicle 150 uses any one of the light emitting devices 100 to 100E shown in the first to sixth embodiments for at least one of the vehicle lamps 151L, 151R, and 152.

(Effect of Embodiment 7)
The light emitting regions of the vehicle lamps 151L, 151R, and 152 included in the vehicle 150 have a large area, but the joints are not conspicuous. Thereby, the design of the vehicle lamps 151L, 151R, 152 can be enhanced. Further, since the depth dimensions of the vehicle lamps 151L, 151R, and 152 can be shortened, the occupied space in the vehicle 150 can be reduced.

<Example>
Next, Examples and Comparative Examples of the present invention and evaluation results will be described.
(1) Preparation of Sample As an organic EL panel, an OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) manufactured by Konica Minolta (size 155 mm × 57 mm) was used. The ends of the two OLEDs were placed on top of each other (so as to overlap each other by about 10 mm in the X-axis direction). As the reflector, a diffuse reflector manufactured by Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation (reflectance 95%) was used. As the anisotropic lens, a nano buckling film (anisotropic angle 33 ° / 3 °) manufactured by Oji F-Tex Co., Ltd. was used. The diffuse reflector was arranged so that the reflection surface of the diffuse reflector was 30 ° with respect to the light emitting surface of the OLED.

(2) Luminance measurement A current was passed through the OLED (DC stabilized power supply: manufactured by Takasago Seisakusho) to make it emit light. Luminance was measured using a spectroradiometer SR-3 (manufactured by Topcon Techno House).

(3) Measurement Results FIG. 12 is a graph showing the measurement results of Examples and Comparative Examples of the present invention. The horizontal axis of the graph shown in FIG. 12 is the position when the light emitting surface is viewed from the anisotropic lens side. The position P1 is the central portion of the light emitting surface of the first organic EL panel. The position P3 is the central portion of the light emitting surface of the second organic EL panel. The position P2 is a non-light emitting region existing between the first organic EL panel and the second organic EL panel. The vertical axis of the graph shown in FIG. 12 indicates the brightness [cd / m ² ]. A on the vertical axis is a constant.
In FIG. 12, an embodiment is a light emitting device created by preparing the sample in (1) above. A comparative example is a light emitting device created by omitting the diffuse reflector in the sample preparation method of the above (1). The light emitting device of the embodiment has a diffuse reflector, whereas the light emitting device of the comparative example does not have a diffuse reflector.

As shown in FIG. 12, the brightness difference between the light emitting surface (positions P1, P3) and the non-light emitting region (position P2) in the examples is ΔCd1, and the light emitting surface (positions P1, P3) and the non-light emitting region (positions P1, P3) in the comparative example. When the brightness difference from the position P2) was ΔCd2, ΔCd1 was smaller than ΔCd2 (ΔCd1 <ΔCd2). ΔCd1 was 6% of the brightness at the position P3 of the example, whereas ΔCd2 was 32% of the brightness at the position P3 of the comparative example. From this result, it was confirmed that the brightness difference between the light emitting surface and the non-light emitting region was smaller in the example than in the comparative example.

Further, it was confirmed that the examples had higher brightness at each position of positions P1, P2, and P3 than the comparative examples. In the examples, it was confirmed that the brightness at each position was more than twice as large as that in the comparative example.
Further, regarding the distance (depth dimension) between the organic EL panel and the diffuser lens when the data of FIG. 12 is obtained, if the dimension of the example is D1 and the dimension of the comparative example is D2, D1 is D2. Was shorter than (D1 <D2). D1 was 53% longer than D2. From this result, it was confirmed that the light emitting device can be made thinner in the example than in the comparative example.

1 ... Organic EL panel, 1-1 ... 1st organic EL panel, 1-2 ... 2nd organic EL panel, 1-3 ... 3rd organic EL panel, 3 ... Reflective plate, 3a ... Reflective surface, 5 ... Diffuse lens, 5A ... Anisotropic diffuser lens, 7 Lamp housing, 11 ... Substrate, 12 ... Reflective electrode, 12W first wiring layer, 13 ... Light emitting part, 13a ... Light emitting surface, 13b ... Back surface, 14 ... Transparent electrode, 14W ... 2nd wiring layer, 15, 15-1, 15-2 ... Sealing part, 20 ... Wiring, 30 ... Reflective material, 50 ... Anisotropic diffuser lens, 100, 100A, 100B, 100C, 100D, 100E ... Light emitting device, 150 ... Vehicle, 151L ... Vehicle lighting equipment, 151R ... Vehicle lighting equipment 152 ... Vehicle lighting equipment

Claims (11)

A light emitting device that irradiates light in the first direction.
A plurality of organic EL panels having sealing portions around the light emitting surface,
A reflector that reflects light emitted from the plurality of organic EL panels,
A diffusion lens that faces the light emitting surface of each of the plurality of organic EL panels in the first direction and diffuses the light emitted from the plurality of organic EL panels.
Each of the plurality of organic EL panels is arranged side by side in a second direction intersecting the first direction.
Among the plurality of organic EL panels, the sealing portion is included between the light emitting surface of the first organic EL panel adjacent to each other in the second direction and the light emitting surface of the second organic EL panel. There is a non-luminous area,
The reflector is a light emitting device arranged at a position where a part of the light emitted from the first organic EL panel and the second organic EL panel is reflected to the non-light emitting region. The light emitting device according to claim 1, wherein the reflector is a diffuse reflector that diffusely reflects light emitted from the plurality of organic EL panels. The light emitting device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein in the second direction, the sealing portion of the first organic EL panel and the sealing portion of the second organic EL panel are in contact with each other. The light emitting device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein in the first direction, the sealing portion of the first organic EL panel is covered with the second organic EL panel. The organic EL panel is
The light emitting surface is arranged so as to form an angle of more than −90 ° and less than 0 °, or an angle of more than 0 ° and less than 90 ° with respect to the first direction.
When the angle between the first direction and the light emitting surface is greater than −90 ° and less than 0 °,
The reflector is arranged so that the reflective surface of the reflector has an angle of 0 ° or more and less than 90 ° with respect to the first direction, and the reflective surface has an acute angle with respect to the light emitting surface.
When the angle between the first direction and the light emitting surface is greater than 0 ° and less than 90 °,
The reflector is arranged so that the reflecting surface has an angle of more than −90 ° and 0 ° or less with respect to the first direction, and the reflecting surface has an acute angle with respect to the light emitting surface. , The light emitting device according to any one of claims 1 to 4. The light emitting device according to claim 5, wherein the angle formed by the reflector and the first direction is 0 °. The light emitting device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the reflector and the organic EL panel are separated from each other. The light emitting device according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein in the second direction, the reflector has the same length as a row in which the plurality of organic EL panels are lined up. The light emitting device according to any one of claims 1 to 8, further comprising a reflective material arranged in the non-light emitting region. The light emitting device according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the diffusing lens is an anisotropic diffusing lens that diffuses light emitted from the light emitting surface in the second direction. A vehicle including the light emitting device according to any one of claims 1 to 10 as a vehicle lighting device.

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