JP5392859B2 - Photoconductive member, LED device, and electronic device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an LED device that visually informs a user of information regarding the operation of an electronic device as a user interface of the electronic device by light emitted from the LED device, and in particular, a display window formed in the housing of the LED device and the electronic device. And a photoconductive member that conducts to the display window without diffusing the emitted light of the LED element in an unnecessary direction.

  This type of LED device has an LED element mounted on a substrate built in a housing of an electronic device. Light emitted from the LED element (LED light) is visually recognized by the user through a display window formed in the housing. The display window is configured by a hole penetrating in the thickness direction of the casing, or is configured by a part of the casing having light permeability or a window portion which is a member different from the casing. Yes.

  The LED device, as a user interface of the electronic device, includes information on the operation of the electronic device, such as a power on / off state, an operation mode type, a data read / write state, and a charge / discharge state of a rechargeable battery. The LED light is turned on and off, repeated, and the user is visually informed by the light emission mode such as the emission color.

  By the way, the LED element mounted on the substrate and the display window formed on the housing depending on the size and shape of the housing, the built-in position in the housing of the substrate, the size (particularly the height dimension) of the LED element, etc. However, there is a case where it is necessary to have a distant positional relationship. On the other hand, a ventilation hole is formed in the housing, there is a gap between the housing and the operation button, or the housing itself may have light permeability. In that case, a part of the LED light diffuses in an unnecessary direction, is emitted through the gaps of the ventilation holes, operation buttons, etc., or the light transmissive part of the housing, and the original LED light through the display window is emitted. This hinders visual recognition.

  As a countermeasure, a photoconductive means is interposed between the LED element mounted on the substrate and the display window formed in the housing of the electronic device, and conducts the LED light to the display window without diffusing it in an unnecessary direction. Some are provided in the LED device.

  An LED device having photoconductive means is disclosed in Patent Document 1, for example. The LED device disclosed in Patent Document 1 includes an LED element and photoconductive means. This photoconductive means includes a projection with a guide groove formed inside the housing so as to protrude from the periphery of the lens insertion hole as a display window formed in the housing toward the substrate, and a lens that enters the lens insertion hole. The lens includes a convex portion and a guide rail portion that enters the guide groove. The LED light is conducted to the lens insertion hole without being diffused in an unnecessary direction.

  Moreover, as a kind of such photoconductive means, Patent Document 2 discloses means capable of conducting LED light in a desired direction without diffusing LED light in an unnecessary direction. This means includes a leg portion provided with a claw that engages with a hole formed in a substrate on which an LED element is mounted or a cutout portion formed on the outer periphery of a small substrate, and a lens formed in the center of the leg portion. Part. The LED light is conducted toward the front surface of the lens unit without being diffused in unnecessary directions.

  Furthermore, as a technique similar to that disclosed in Patent Document 2, as shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, instead of the legs having claws, screws are attached to the board 630 on which the LED elements 640 are mounted. There is also a photoconductive member 620 of the form.

Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 5-38616 JP 2007-59489 A

  The LED device disclosed in Patent Literature 1 has a lens until the positional relationship between the housing and the substrate is fixed, for example, the inner surface of the housing becomes a complicated shape and the substrate is fixed. It falls off and is inferior in assembly workability.

  In addition, the LED device disclosed in Patent Document 2, and the photoconductive member shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, particularly when the lens unit or the photoconductive member is displaced from the display window, In the case where the lens portion or the photoconductive member is constituted by the hole portion formed in the housing, the lens portion or the photoconductive member cannot enter the hole portion, or even if the lens portion or the photoconductive member can enter the lens portion or the photoconductive member, And stress on the legs. Moreover, this positional deviation becomes more remarkable as the distance between the LED element and the hole is larger.

  Therefore, the problem of the present invention is that it does not fall off the substrate without being incorporated in the casing, and even if the LED element is displaced from the display window of the casing, it can be incorporated into the casing without any problem. It is to provide a photoconductive member.

  Another object of the present invention is to provide an LED device having a photoconductive member as described above.

  Still another object of the present invention is to provide an electronic apparatus having the LED device as described above.

  According to the present invention, the present invention is applied to an LED device that has an LED element mounted on a substrate and emits light emitted from the LED element through a display window formed in a casing of an electronic device. In the photoconductive member that is interposed between the LED element and conducts the emitted light of the LED element to the display window, it extends from the base end disposed on the substrate while covering the LED element to the end located in the display window of the housing, A photoconductive portion that conducts light emitted from the LED element to the display window; and a radial distance parallel to the substrate around the base end of the photoconductive portion, and at a position that is equiangularly spaced from each other, A plurality of claw portions engaging with a groove portion formed on the substrate, and having elasticity, projecting in a direction intersecting the radial direction between the base end of the photoconductive portion and each of the plurality of claw portions. The photoconductive portion and the plurality of claws Photoconductive member is obtained, characterized in that it comprises a plurality of spring portions for connecting the respective.

  The photoconductive portion, the plurality of claw portions, and the plurality of spring portions may be integrally formed of the same material.

  The claw portion and the spring portion may be two or four, respectively.

  The photoconductive portion may be made of a transparent material and may have a rod shape. In this case, you may be comprised so that light may not leak from a surrounding surface.

  The photoconductive portion may have a cylindrical shape and may be configured so that light does not leak from the peripheral surface.

  The end of the photoconductive portion may have a tapered shape.

  Moreover, according to this invention, the LED device characterized by having an LED element and the said photoconductive member is obtained.

  Furthermore, according to this invention, it has the said LED apparatus as a user interface, has the said housing | casing and the said board | substrate, and visually notifies the user of the information regarding operation | movement with the emitted light of the said LED element. A characteristic electronic device is obtained.

  The photoconductive member according to the present invention does not fall off the substrate without being incorporated in the casing, and even if the LED element is displaced from the display window of the casing, it can be incorporated into the casing without any problem.

(A) And (b) is a figure which shows the photoconductive member by the related technique of this invention. It is a front view which shows the photoconductive member by Example 1 of this invention. (A) And (b) is a perspective view which shows the LED device by Example 1 of this invention, (a) shows before a photoconductive member is mounted in a board | substrate, (b) is a photoconductive member. It shows after being mounted on the board. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing an electronic apparatus according to Example 1 of the present invention. It is a front view which shows the photoconductive member by Example 2 of this invention. (A) And (b) is a perspective view which shows the LED device by Example 2 of this invention, (a) shows before a photoconductive member is mounted in a board | substrate, (b) is a photoconductive member. It shows after being mounted on the board. It is a schematic sectional drawing which shows the electronic device by Example 2 of this invention.

  A photoconductive member according to the present invention is applied to an LED device having an LED element mounted on a substrate and emitting light emitted from the LED element through a display window formed in a casing of an electronic device. The LED element emits light emitted from the LED element to the display window.

  In particular, the present photoconductive member has a photoconductive portion, a plurality of claw portions, and a plurality of spring portions.

  The photoconductive portion extends from the base end disposed on the substrate to the end located in the display window of the housing while covering the LED element, and conducts the light emitted from the LED element to the display window.

  The plurality of claws are located at equal distances in the radial direction parallel to the substrate with the base end of the photoconductive portion as the center, and are spaced from each other at equal angles, and engage with the grooves formed on the substrate.

  The plurality of spring portions have elasticity and extend in a curved manner so as to protrude in a direction intersecting the radial direction between the base end of the photoconductive portion and each of the plurality of claws, and the photoconductive portion and the plurality of spring portions Connect each of the nail parts.

  The photoconductive member according to the present invention does not fall off the substrate even if it is not built in the housing. Furthermore, the photoconductive member according to the present invention includes a plurality of lenses even when the lens portion or the photoconductive member is displaced from the display window, particularly when the display window is configured by a hole formed in the housing. The misalignment is absorbed by the spring portion of the lens, in other words, since the degree of freedom in the direction parallel to the substrate is high, the lens portion or the photoconductive member can smoothly enter the hole portion, and the photoconductive portion There is no stress on the nails.

  Embodiments of a photoconductive member and an LED device according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  Referring to FIGS. 2, 3A and 3B, and FIG. 4, the photoconductive member 20 according to the first embodiment of the present invention has an LED element 140 mounted on a substrate 130, and includes a housing of an electronic device. The LED device 140 is applied to an LED device that emits light emitted from the LED element 140 through a display window 110w formed on the body 110 (top cover 110t). The light emitted from the LED element 140 is interposed between the LED element 140 and the display window 110w. Is transmitted to the display window 110w.

  The housing 110 is constituted by a bottom case 110b and a top cover 110t, and a plurality of small holes are formed for heat radiation of a portion that generates heat as the electronic device operates.

  In particular, the photoconductive member 20 includes a photoconductive portion 21, two claw portions 22, and two spring portions 23. The photoconductive portion, the plurality of claw portions, and the plurality of spring portions are integrally formed of the same material.

  The photoconductive portion 21 covers the LED element 140 and extends from a base end 21b disposed on the substrate 130 to a distal end 21d located at the display window 110w of the housing 110, and conducts light emitted from the LED element 140 to the display window 110w. To do.

  The photoconductive portion 21 is made of a transparent resin material and has a rod shape. Thereby, the light emitted from the LED element 140 is conducted in the axial direction inside the photoconductive portion 21. The conduction of the emitted light of the LED element 140 is efficiently performed if the peripheral surface of the photoconductive portion 21 is smooth, but further, the emitted light of the LED element 140 is transmitted to the peripheral surface of the photoconductive portion 21. A highly reflective silver or other paint may be applied.

  In the present invention, the photoconductive portion may be made of a resin or a metal material, may have a cylindrical shape, and may be configured so that light does not leak from the peripheral surface. In this case, the light emitted from the LED element can be efficiently conducted if the inner peripheral surface of the photoconductive portion is smoothly finished, but the inner peripheral surface has a high silver light emitting reflectance of the LED element. Etc. may be applied.

  Further, the end 21 d of the photoconductive portion 21 has a tapered shape so that it can be easily inserted into the display window 110 w of the housing 110.

  The two claw portions 22 are located at the same distance in the radial direction parallel to the substrate 130 with the base end 21b of the photoconductive portion 21 as the center, and at the same angle (180 degrees) from each other. Engages with two formed grooves (holes) 130s.

  The two spring parts 23 have elasticity and are in a direction (in this example, above the substrate 130) that intersects the radial direction between the base end 21 b of the photoconductive part 21 and each of the plurality of claw parts 22. It curves and extends so as to protrude, and connects the base end 21 b of the photoconductive portion 21 and each of the plurality of claw portions 22.

  The electronic device shown in FIG. 4 includes, for example, information on the operation such as the power on / off state, the type of operation mode, the data read / write state, the charge / discharge state of the rechargeable battery. The user is visually informed by 140 emitted light. That is, this LED device functions as a user interface of an electronic device.

  The photoconductive member 20 does not fall off the substrate without being incorporated in the housing 110. Further, even if the position of the photoconductive member 20 is shifted in the direction in which the two claw portions 22 face the display window 110w, the position shift is absorbed by the two spring portions 23. In other words, since the degree of freedom in the direction in which the two claw portions 22 face each other is high, the end 21d of the photoconductive portion 21 can smoothly enter the hole portion as the display window 110w, and the photoconductive portion No stress is applied to 21 or the two nail portions 22.

  In the photoconductive member of the present invention, the claw portion and the spring portion are separated into two pieces as in the first embodiment as long as they are separated from the base end of the photoconductive portion by an equal distance and located at equal angular intervals. It is not limited. However, regarding the effect of increasing the degree of freedom of the position of the photoconductive member by absorbing the positional deviation, the degree of freedom of the position of the photoconductive member can be increased in a two-dimensional direction by being three or more. However, if the number is 5 or more, the degree of freedom may decrease, and the number is most preferably 4.

  The second embodiment of the present invention is different from the first embodiment in that there are four claw portions and spring portions. For this reason, the same or similar parts as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same or similar reference numerals, and detailed description is omitted.

  Referring to FIG. 5, FIG. 6 (a) and FIG. 6 (b), and FIG. 7, the photoconductive member 20 ′ according to the second embodiment of the present invention has the LED element 140 mounted on the substrate 130 ′, and an electronic device. The LED device 140 is applied to an LED device that emits light emitted from the LED element 140 through a display window 110w formed in the casing 110 (top cover 110t). The LED device 140 is interposed between the LED element 140 and the display window 110w. The emitted light is conducted to the display window 110w.

  The housing 110 is constituted by a bottom case 110b and a top cover 110t, and a plurality of small holes are formed for heat radiation of a portion that generates heat as the electronic device operates.

  In particular, the photoconductive member 20 ′ includes a photoconductive portion 21, four claw portions 22 (only three are shown in FIG. 5), and four spring portions 23 (only three are shown in FIG. 5). And have. The photoconductive portion, the plurality of claw portions, and the plurality of spring portions are integrally formed of the same material.

  The photoconductive portion 21 covers the LED element 140 and extends from a base end 21b disposed on the substrate 130 'to a terminal end 21d located at the display window 110w of the housing 110, and emits light emitted from the LED element 140 to the display window 110w. Conduct.

  The photoconductive portion 21 is made of a transparent resin material and has a rod shape. Thereby, the light emitted from the LED element 140 is conducted in the axial direction inside the photoconductive portion 21. The conduction of the emitted light of the LED element 140 is efficiently performed if the peripheral surface of the photoconductive portion 21 is smooth, but further, the emitted light of the LED element 140 is transmitted to the peripheral surface of the photoconductive portion 21. A highly reflective silver or other paint may be applied.

  In the present invention, the photoconductive portion may be made of a resin or a metal material, may have a cylindrical shape, and may be configured so that light does not leak from the peripheral surface. In this case, the light emitted from the LED element can be efficiently conducted if the inner peripheral surface of the photoconductive portion is smoothly finished, but the inner peripheral surface has a high silver light emitting reflectance of the LED element. Etc. may be applied.

  Further, the end 21 d of the photoconductive portion 21 has a tapered shape so that it can be easily inserted into the display window 110 w of the housing 110.

  The four claw portions 22 are located at the same distance in the radial direction parallel to the substrate 130 ′ with the base end 21 b of the photoconductive portion 21 as the center, and at the same angle (90 degrees) from each other. It engages with four groove portions (hole portions) 130s 'formed in'.

  The four spring portions 23 have elasticity, and intersect the radial direction between the base end 21b of the photoconductive portion 21 and each of the plurality of claws 22 (in this example, above the substrate 130 '). The base end 21b of the photoconductive portion 21 and each of the plurality of claw portions 22 are connected to each other so as to protrude in a curved manner.

  The electronic device shown in FIG. 7 includes, for example, information about operations such as power on / off state, operation mode type, data read / write state, charge / discharge state of a rechargeable battery, LED element The user is visually informed by 140 emitted light. That is, this LED device functions as a user interface of an electronic device.

  The photoconductive member 20 ′ does not fall off the substrate without being incorporated in the housing 110. Further, even if the position of the photoconductive member 20 ′ is shifted in the two-dimensional direction parallel to the substrate 130 ′ with respect to the display window 110w, the position shift is absorbed by the four spring portions 23. In other words, since the four claw portions 22 have a high degree of freedom in the direction parallel to the substrate 130 ′, the end 21 d of the photoconductive portion 21 can smoothly enter the hole portion as the display window 110 w. In addition, no stress is applied to the photoconductive portion 21 and the four claw portions 22.

  Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments, and various modifications can be made within the technical scope described in the claims of the present application. Needless to say.

20, 20 ′ Photoconductive member 21 Photoconductive portion 21b Base end 21d Terminal 22 Claw portion 23 Spring portion 110 Housing 110w Display window 110b Bottom case 110t Top cover 130, 130 ′ Substrate 130s, 130s ′ Groove (hole)
140 LED elements

Claims (8)

Applied to an LED device having an LED element mounted on a substrate and emitting light emitted from the LED element through a display window formed in a housing of an electronic device, interposed between the LED element and the display window, In the photoconductive member that conducts the emitted light of the LED element to the display window,
A photoconductive portion that extends from a base end disposed on the substrate while covering the LED element to a terminal end located in the display window of the housing, and conducts light emitted from the LED element to the display window;
A plurality of claws that are equidistant from each other in the radial direction parallel to the substrate around the base end of the photoconductive portion, and that are at equal angular distances from each other, and that engage with grooves formed in the substrate;
Elastically extending between the base end of the photoconductive portion and each of the plurality of claws so as to protrude in a direction intersecting the radial direction, the photoconductive portion and the plurality of the plurality of claw portions; A plurality of spring portions connecting each of the claw portions;
It said proximal is Tsu covering the top surface or side surface of the LED element,
The claw portion and the spring portion each have four pieces .   The photoconductive member according to claim 1, wherein the photoconductive portion, the plurality of claw portions, and the plurality of spring portions are integrally formed of the same material. The photoconductive portion is made of a transparent material, photoconductive member according to claim 1 or 2 exhibits a rod-shaped. The said photoconductive part is a photoconductive member of Claim 3 comprised so that light may not leak from a surrounding surface. The photoconductive section exhibits a cylindrical photoconductive member according to claim 1 or 2 is configured so as to prevent leakage of light from the circumferential surface. Said distal end of said light conducting portion, photoconductive member according to any one of claims 1 to 5 and has a tapered shape. It has the said LED element and the photoconductive member as described in any one of Claims 1 thru | or 6. The LED apparatus characterized by the above-mentioned. It has the LED device according to claim 7 as a user interface, has the case and the substrate, and visually informs the user about the operation by the emitted light of the LED element. Electronics.

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