JPH0722846U - A lamp using an electroluminescent light source - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [PROBLEMS] To provide a lamp using an electroluminescent light source capable of achieving high brightness even when a low brightness thin film electroluminescent device is used. A substrate-side electrode 6 and an outer electrode 7 are formed on one surface 1a of a transparent substrate 1 with a light-emitting layer 3 which emits light in response to a voltage application as a center and transparent insulating layers 4 and 5 on both surfaces thereof. And a thin film electroluminescent element 2 provided with the substrate side electrode 6 made of a transparent electrode and the outer electrode 7 made of a reflective electrode.
b was covered with a reflective film 12, and the end surface 1c of the transparent substrate 1 was used as a light emitting portion 13.

Description

[Detailed description of the device]

[0001]

[Industrial applications]

 BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a lighting device using an electroluminescence light source, which is used in a lighting device such as a vehicle interior light and a map lamp.

[0002]

[Prior art]

 As a conventional EL (electroluminescence) device, as shown in FIG. 5, a transparent substrate 30 such as a glass substrate is provided, and one surface 30a of the transparent substrate 30 has a light emitting layer 31 in the middle thereof. First, a first electrode 34 and a second electrode 35 are provided via transparent insulating layers 32 and 33, and the other surface 30b of the transparent substrate 30 is used as a light emitting portion 36.

Then, this EL device is the other surface 30 b of the transparent substrate 30 where the light emitting layer 31 emits light when a voltage is applied to the first electrode 34 and the second electrode 35. Light a is emitted from the light emitting portion 36 so that the characters and the like formed on the other surface 30 b of the transparent substrate 30 are raised. An illumination device using an EL device is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 3-61449.

[0004]

[Problems to be solved by the device]

 However, in the above-mentioned conventional technique, since the other surface 30b of the transparent substrate 30 is entirely used as the light emitting portion 36, a lens or the like may be used for condensing light or increasing the brightness. However, there was a problem in that there was a limitation in how to use it as a surface light source, because the device had to be devised such as to use, and the light emission luminance distribution also varied.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above problems, and a first object of the present invention is to achieve high brightness even when a low brightness thin film electroluminescent element is used. Another object of the present invention is to provide a lamp using an electroluminescent light source that can be used.

The second object of the present invention is that the efficiency is high and the brightness is high, the attenuation by the optical fiber can be alleviated, and the single wavelength light can be manipulated more freely by the optical fiber. Another object of the present invention is to provide a lamp using an electroluminescent light source capable of achieving the above.

[0007]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

 In order to achieve the above-mentioned first object, the present invention provides a transparent substrate on one side of which a light emitting layer which emits light in response to an applied voltage is provided, and a transparent insulating layer is provided on both sides of the light emitting layer. It is equipped with a thin-film electroluminescent element provided with a base plate side electrode and an outer electrode, the substrate side electrode is made of a transparent electrode, and the outer electrode is made of a reflective electrode, and the other surface of the transparent substrate is reflected. It is characterized in that it is covered with a film and the end face of the transparent substrate is used as a light emitting portion.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned second object, the present invention provides a transparent insulating layer on both sides of one side of a transparent substrate with a light emitting layer which emits light in response to an applied voltage. A thin film electroluminescent element having a substrate side electrode and an outer electrode provided through the substrate electrode and a transparent electrode as the substrate side electrode and a reflective electrode as the outer electrode. The surface is covered with a reflective film, and the end face of the transparent substrate is used as a light emitting portion to form an electroluminescence device. Is characterized by.

[0009]

[Action]

 According to the configuration of the invention of claim 1, since the light emitting portion is the end face of the transparent substrate, the light emitting area is small, and even if a low-brightness thin film electroluminescent element is used, a high brightness is obtained. You can make a lamp. In the case of condensing light, it is sufficient to control only the light from the light emitting portion on the end surface of the transparent substrate. Further, by forming the end face of the transparent substrate as a light emitting portion, a desired shape can be obtained.

Further, according to the configuration of the invention of claim 2, since the light emitting portion is the end face of the transparent substrate, the light emitting area is small, and a thin film electroluminescent element with low brightness is provided. Even if it is used, a high-brightness electroluminescent device can be produced, and the condensing function becomes excellent. By using an electroluminescent device that has an excellent light-condensing function, a highly bright lamp can be produced with high efficiency even if the number of optical fibers used is reduced. Further, since the light emitted from the end surface of the electroluminescence device has a high luminous flux density and high brightness, the attenuation due to the optical fiber can be alleviated. Moreover, since the light source is an electroluminescence device, single wavelength light can be freely manipulated by an optical fiber.

[0011]

【Example】

 Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a lamp using an electroluminescent light source according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the lamp with a part thereof omitted.

A lamp using an electroluminescent light source according to the present invention is equipped with an EL (electroluminescence) device A, which has a thin film electroluminescence element 2 and which is a thin film EL (electroluminescence) device. The element 2 has a structure in which the substrate side electrode 6 and the outer electrode 7 are provided on one surface 1a of the transparent substrate 1 with the light emitting layer 3 in the middle and transparent insulating layers 4 and 5 on both sides thereof. The substrate side electrode 6 is a transparent electrode, and the outer electrode 7 is a reflective electrode. The other surface 1b of the transparent substrate 1 is covered with a reflective film 12, and the end surface 1c of the transparent substrate 1 serves as a light emitting portion 13.

The board-side electrode 6 is connected to a power source 9 via a lead wire 8, and the outer electrode 7 is connected to a contact piece 11 a of a switch 11 via a lead wire 10. The contact 11b of is connected to the power source 9.

Next, the operation of the lighting device configured as described above will be described. By closing the switch 11, a voltage is applied to the substrate side electrode 6 and the outer electrode 7 to generate light in the light emitting layer 3. Of this emitted light, the light a directed to the transparent substrate 1 side is reflected by the reflection surface 12 a of the reflection film 12 and is emitted from the light emitting portion 13 to the outside. The light b of the emitted light, which is directed to the side opposite to the transparent substrate 1, is reflected by the reflection surface 7 a of the outer electrode 7 and also reflected by the reflection surface 12 a of the reflection film 12 to be the light emitting portion 13. Is ejected from the outside.

In the lamp configured as described above, since the light emitting portion 13 is the end surface 1c of the transparent substrate 1, the light emitting area is small, and the thin film electroluminescent element 2 of low brightness is provided. Even when used, a high-luminance lamp can be made.

Further, in the case of condensing light, it is sufficient to control only the light from the light emitting portion 13 of the end face 1 c of the transparent substrate 1. Further, by setting the end surface 1c of the transparent substrate 1 as the light emitting portion 13, the EL device A can be bent into a desired shape.

3 and 4 show another embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, an optical fiber 14 is connected to the light emitting portion 13 of the EL device A constructed as described above. That is, a plurality of optical fibers 14 are fixed to the ends of the EL device A by a fixing member 15, and the light incident portions 16 of these optical fibers 14 are made to face the light emitting portion 13.

In this case, of the light emitted from the light emitting layer 3, the light a directed toward the transparent substrate 1 side is reflected by the reflection surface 12 a of the reflection film 12 and emitted from the light emitting portion 13 to the outside. The light enters from the light incident part 16 of the optical fiber 14. The light b of the emitted light, which is directed to the side opposite to the transparent substrate 1, is reflected by the reflecting surface 7a of the second electrode 7 and is reflected by the reflecting surface 12a of the reflecting film 12, and the light emitting portion The light is emitted to the outside from 13 and enters the inside from the light incident portion 16 of the optical fiber 14.

In the lamp configured as described above, since the light emitting portion 13 is the end surface 1c of the transparent substrate 1, the light emitting area is small, and the thin film electroluminescent element 2 with low brightness is provided. Even if it is used, a high-brightness EL device A can be produced and the light collecting function becomes excellent. By using the EL device A having an excellent light condensing function, even if the number of the optical fibers 14 to be used is reduced, a high-luminance lamp can be obtained and efficiency is improved.

Further, since the light emitted from the end surface of the EL device A has a high luminous flux density and high brightness, the attenuation by the optical fiber 14 can be alleviated. Moreover, since the light source is the EL device A, the single wavelength light can be freely manipulated by the optical fiber 14.

In addition, by using a plurality of layers in which an optical fiber 14 is connected to the light emitting portion 13 of the EL device A, the light emitted by the light emitting layer 3 of each EL device A is used in different colors, thereby providing illumination. Can be changed.

[0022]

[Effect of device]

 As described above, the invention of claim 1 is such that the light emitting layer which emits light in response to the application of a voltage is disposed on one surface of the transparent substrate, and the transparent electrodes are provided on both sides of the light emitting layer on the substrate side electrode. And a thin film electroluminescent element provided with an outer electrode, the substrate-side electrode is formed of a transparent electrode, the outer electrode is formed of a reflective electrode, and the other surface of the transparent substrate is covered with a reflective film. Since the end surface of the transparent substrate is the light emitting portion, since the light emitting portion is the end surface of the transparent substrate, the light emitting area is small, and the thickness can be reduced. As a result, a high-luminance lamp can be produced even if a low-luminance thin film electroluminescent element is used. Further, in the case of condensing light, it is necessary to control only the light from only the light emitting portion on the end face of the transparent substrate, the emitting direction can be easily changed, and the cost can be reduced as compared with the conventional one. . Further, by making the end surface of the transparent substrate a light emitting portion, the overall shape of the lamp can be made into a desired shape.

Further, in the invention of claim 2, a light emitting layer which emits light in response to a voltage application is formed on one surface of the transparent substrate, and a transparent insulating layer is provided on both surfaces of the light emitting layer and the outside of the substrate side electrode. An electrode and a thin-film electroluminescent element provided with the substrate side electrode being a transparent electrode, the outer electrode being a reflecting electrode, and the other surface of the transparent substrate being covered with a reflecting film. Since the end face of is used as the light emitting part to form the electroluminescence device, the lighting fixture becomes thinner. In addition, even if a light fiber with a relatively small diameter is connected to the electroluminescence device with the light entrance part facing the light exit part, no special connecting device is used and the light collecting part is used. It can be connected to an optical fiber with a simple structure without using a tool. Further, since the light emitting portion is the end face of the transparent substrate, the light emitting area is small, and even if a low-brightness thin film electroluminescent element is used, a high-brightness electroluminescent device is produced. As a result, the light collecting function becomes excellent. By using an electroluminescent device that has an excellent light-condensing function, a highly bright lamp can be produced with high efficiency even if the number of optical fibers used is reduced.

Further, since the light emitted from the end surface of the electroluminescent device has a high luminous flux density and high brightness, it is possible to reduce the attenuation due to the optical fiber. However, since the light source is an electroluminescent device, single wavelength light can be freely manipulated by an optical fiber.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a lamp using an electroluminescent light source according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the lamp with a part thereof omitted.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a lamp using an electroluminescent light source according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the lamp with a part thereof omitted.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a lamp using a conventional electroluminescent light source with some parts omitted.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Transparent Substrate 1a One Surface 1b Other Surface 2 Thin Film Electroluminescent Element 3 Light Emitting Layer 4, 5 Insulating Layer 6 Substrate Side Electrode 7 Outer Electrode 12 Reflective Film 13 Light Emitting Section

Claims (2)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A thin film electro-luminescent device comprising a transparent substrate, one surface of which is provided with a light-emitting layer which emits light in response to a voltage applied therein, and a substrate-side electrode and an outer electrode which are provided on both surfaces thereof with transparent insulating layers interposed therebetween. A luminescent element is provided, and the substrate-side electrode is composed of a transparent electrode, the outer electrode is composed of a reflective electrode, the other surface of the transparent substrate is covered with a reflective film, and the end surface of the transparent substrate serves as a light emitting portion. A lamp using an electroluminescent light source characterized by the above. 2. A thin film electro-type device comprising a transparent substrate, on one side of which a light emitting layer which emits light in response to voltage application is provided, and a substrate side electrode and an outer electrode are provided on both sides of the transparent layer via transparent insulating layers. A luminescence element is provided, and the substrate-side electrode is composed of a transparent electrode, the outer electrode is composed of a reflective electrode, the other surface of the transparent substrate is covered with a reflective film, and the end surface of the transparent substrate serves as a light emitting portion. A lamp using an electroluminescence light source, characterized in that an electroluminescence device is constituted, and an optical fiber is connected to the electroluminescence device with the light incidence part facing the light emission part.