JPH0473604A - Illuminating device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain an illuminating device which is thin and gives excellent visibility by directly enveloping a light emitting element in a light transmission body and forming a part from the neighborhood of the light emitting element to the neighborhood of a key button as an integrated substance. CONSTITUTION:The LED element 5 is directly fitted on a printed substrate 1 and the light transmission body 11 is shaped by directly molding the LED element 5 by resin. In an illuminated type membrane switch constituted in such a way, light emitted from the element 5 is transmitted through the light transmission body 11 and transmitted to the end surface of the key button 4 from the left side surface of the light transmission body 11 in a figure. Then, it is guided to the upper surface of the key button 4. Thus, since the element 5 is directly enveloped in the light transmission body 11 and the part from the neighborhood of the element 5 to the neighborhood of an irradiation display part is formed as the integrated substance, there is not a joint on the transmitting path of the light. As the result, the light of the light emitting element 5 is efficiently guided to the illuminated display part.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a lighting device used, for example, in a console for electronic equipment.

[Prior art] Figure 3 shows 1, for example, the catalog No. of Japan Aviation Electronics Industry ■.
It is a sectional view showing the structure of an illuminated membrane switch as a conventional illumination device described in PSW-0001 (October '89), and in the figure (1) is a printed circuit board as an installation part.

(2) was arranged on the printed circuit board (1). The switch part (3) is composed of two electrode sheets and an insulating spacer.
), (4) is a key button made of a transparent resin as an illuminated display section provided above the switch part (3) of the sheet-like switch body (2), and (5) is a printed circuit board ( 1) An LED element which is a light emitting element disposed on top, (6) an auxiliary substrate to which the LED element (5) is fixed, (7) a molded resin covering the LED element (5), (8) ) is a light guide provided on the top of the LED element (5), and (9) is a light shielding means that holds the key button (4) and has a light blocking property provided on the top of the light guide (8). The frame (10) is the switch part (3) and the key button (4).
) is a reversing spring provided between the

Note that the LED element (5), auxiliary substrate (6), and mold resin (7) are collectively referred to as a chip LED.

Next, the operation will be explained.

The light emitted by the LED element (5) passes through the molded resin (7) and the light guide (8), enters the side and bottom of the key button (4), and illuminates the top of the key button (4). .

By illuminating the top surface of the key button (4).

The position of the key button (4) is clear and has good visibility.
In other words, it becomes a switch with good operability.

Next, the operation as a switch is as follows: when the key button (4) is pressed down, the lower end of the key button (4) pushes down the center of the reversing spring (10) and the reversing spring (10) is reversed, and the sheet-like switch body ( When the upper electrode sheet 2) is pushed down, the upper and lower contacts of the switch section (3) come into contact, resulting in an ON (closed) state.

Then, when the force pushing down the key button (4) is removed, the 2-inversion spring (10) is restored to its original state, and the force pushing down the upper electrode sheet disappears, so the elastic force of the upper electrode sheet causes the switch part ( The upper and lower contacts of 3) open and become 0FF (disconnected) state.

Note that the 7 reversal springs (10) are provided to improve the operating feel of the key buttons (4).
10) is removed, the function at the lower end of the key button (4) is not impaired.

In addition, the illuminated membrane switch has a switch section (3).
There are some types that turn on or off the LED element (5) depending on the operating state of the switch part (3), but the illuminated membrane switch described here turns on the LED element (5) regardless of the operating state of the switch part (3). This is what is being done.

[Problem to be solved by the invention] Since the conventional illuminated membrane switch is configured as described above, in order to improve the visibility of the key button (4), it is necessary to efficiently emit light from the LED element (5). key button (
4), and for this purpose, an LED element (5) is required.
) covering the mold resin (7) and the adjacent light guide (
It is necessary to increase the light transmission efficiency by reducing the space between the light guide (8) and the molded resin (7), and improving the surface precision of the surface of the light guide (8) adjacent to the molded resin (7). is necessary.

Furthermore, since the chip LED and the light guide (8) are separate components, there is a problem in that it is difficult to make the illuminated membrane switch thinner.

This invention was made to solve the above problems, and aims to provide a thin illumination device with good visibility.

[Means for Solving the Problems] A lighting device according to the present invention includes seven light emitting elements, an illuminated display section that illuminates by inputting light generated by the light emitting elements from an optical input section, and the light emitting elements that are directly held by a mold. , a light guide which is molded as an integral body from a portion that grips the light emitting element to a portion of the illuminated display section that is close to the light input section, and guides the light to the light input section; and this light guide. A light shielding means is provided close to the surface of the light guide so as to cover a portion of the surface where the light should not be emitted.

[Function] In the lighting device of the present invention, the light guide directly surrounds one light-emitting element, and the portion from the vicinity of the light-emitting element to the vicinity of the illuminated display section is a single piece.

There is no seam in the light transmission path, and the light from one light emitting element is efficiently guided to the illuminated display section.

[Embodiment] FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing the structure of a first embodiment of an illuminated membrane switch as an illumination device according to the present invention.
In the figure, (1) to (4), (9).

Since (10) is the same as the conventional illuminated membrane switch shown in FIG. 3, the explanation will be omitted as appropriate.

(5) is an LED element, but unlike the conventional example shown in FIG. 3, it is directly attached to the printed circuit board (1).
(11) is a light guide formed by directly molding the LED element (5) with resin.

In the illuminated membrane switch configured as described above, the light emitted by the LED element (5) is transmitted to the light guide (11).
Figure 2 shows a diagram of the illuminated membrane switch according to the present invention. 2 is a sectional view showing Example 2, and (1) to (5)
), (9) to (11) are the same as those shown for the first prisoner, so their explanation will be omitted.

(12) is a light-condensing resin provided between the light guide (11) and the housing (9) so that its side surface is adjacent to the key button (4).

The light-harvesting resin (12) is a translucent resin containing a phosphor, which internally converts light incident from the top and bottom surfaces into fluorescence, and efficiently emits the fluorescence from the sides. In this case, 70% to 80% of the emitted light can be obtained with respect to the incident light.

In the illuminated membrane switch configured as described above, part of the light emitted from the LED element (5) is irradiated directly from the light guide (11) to the key button (4), but most of the light is emitted from the light guide (11). is from the top surface of the light guide (11) to the light-condensing resin (12).
), the light is converted into fluorescent light inside the light-concentrating resin (12) and is emitted from the side surface adjacent to the key button (4). 4).

In addition, in the above-mentioned second embodiment, a case was explained in which a light-shielding frame (9) was provided on the top of the light-concentrating resin (12), but if the upper surface of the light-concentrating resin (12) could be shielded from light, it would be possible to use a seal or the like. It may be painted.

As explained above, in the illuminated membrane switch according to each of the above embodiments, the LED element (5) is directly connected to the
The light guide (11) wraps around the light guide (11).
The structure is such that the end face of the key button (4) is close to the side face of the key button (4).

Therefore, the light emitted by the LED element (5) is
), there is no drop in transmission efficiency that occurs when passing through the joints between multiple members, unlike in the conventional example shown in Figure 3. , efficient transmission of light to the key button (4),
The key button (4) is brightly illuminated. An illuminated membrane switch with good visibility can be obtained.

[Effect of the invention] The lighting device of this invention is as described above.

It is characterized in that the light guide directly wraps around the two light emitting elements and is formed as one piece from the part near the light emitting elements to the part near the key button.

As a result, the light emitted by the two light-emitting elements reaches the illuminated display section to be illuminated through only the single light guide, so that the light transmission efficiency is high and the illuminated display section is brightly illuminated. This has the effect of providing a lighting device with good visibility.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing the structure of a first embodiment of an illuminated membrane switch as an illumination device according to the present invention. FIG. FIG. In the figure, (4) is a key button, (5) is an LED element, (9) is a frame, and (11) is a light guide. In each figure, the same reference numerals indicate the same or corresponding parts. Figure 2

Claims (1)

[Claims] a light-emitting element, a light-emitting display section that illuminates the light-emitting element by inputting light generated by the light-emitting element from a light input section; the light-emitting element is directly gripped by a mold, and the light input section of the light-emitting display section is connected from a portion where the light-emitting element is gripped; A light guide that guides the light to the light input section by molding up to a part close to the light guide, and a light guide that guides the light to the light input section, and the light guide that covers the part of the surface of the light guide that is not supposed to emit the light. A lighting device characterized by comprising a light shielding means provided close to the surface of a light guide.