JPH10105093A - Optical path visualizing display body - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To utilize the change of an optical path mainly as an aesthetic display function by making light incident from the end face of a light emitting body, which is formed by distributing light scattering bodies in transparent resin, and visualizing the optical path of a light beam passed through the light emitting body. SOLUTION: Light is made incident from the end face of the light emitting body formed by distributing the light scattering bodies in the transparent resin, and the optical path of the light beam passed through the light emitting body. As light to be made incident to this light emitting body, light flux provided from various light sources through any optical apparatus such as lens or reflection mirror can be used but because of easiness in handling, it is suitable to use a laser beam. A laser beam deformed into the shape of fan or the like by using optical parts such as lens is available but as the shape of light flux, a linear or band-shaped laser beam is preferable. As classes usable among laser light sources, the light sources of classes from 1 to 3B are used based on the aspect for protecting eyes from light beams while suitably taking precautions corresponding to the purpose of use.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an optical path visualizing display device that visualizes an optical path of a laser beam or the like, and uses an aesthetic display function of the optical path as a display body in addition to a signal information function of the laser beam or the like. is there.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An end face of a light guide plate using a copolymer of methyl methacrylate and a methacrylic acid-based compound or a light guide plate formed by polymer blending a transparent resin is irradiated with parallel light, and the inside of the light guide plate is exposed. It has been proposed to use scattered light as a surface light source for illumination (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-28420). Although this emits light over the entire surface and is used as a surface light source, the present invention visualizes the optical path of transmitted light such as a laser beam and uses the change in the optical path mainly as an aesthetic display function. .

[0003]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a display which visualizes an optical path of transmitted light such as a laser beam so that signal information of the light can be easily and visually recognized. It is an object of the present invention to provide a synthetic resin display which functions stably for a long time without unevenness and has excellent display performance as a display using a display function.

[0004]

Means for Solving the Problems As a result of intensive studies on the above-mentioned problems, the present inventors have completed the present invention having the following contents. (1) A display body which receives light from an end face of a light-emitting body having a light-scattering body dispersed in a transparent resin and visualizes an optical path of a light beam passing through the light-emitting body. (2) The display according to the above (1), wherein the light scatterer has a size of 200 to 2,000 nm and is made of an organic agent having a difference in refractive index from the transparent resin of 0.001 or more. (3) The display according to (1) or (2), wherein the transparent resin and the light scatterer are made of a combination of thermoplastic resins that are incompatible with each other and have different refractive indexes. (4) The above (1), wherein the transparent resin is an amorphous resin having a transparency (haze) of 3 or less, the light scatterer is a crystalline or amorphous resin, and the difference in refractive index is 0.001 or more. The display according to any one of (1) to (3). (5) The above (1) to (4), wherein the transparent resin is polystyrene, polycarbonate or polymethyl methacrylate.
The display according to any one of the above. (6) The display according to the above (1) or (2), wherein the luminous body is composed of 100 parts by weight of polycarbonate and 0.01 to 3 parts by weight of polymethyl methacrylate. (7) The display according to any one of the above (1) to (6), wherein the light incident on the luminous body is a linear light flux or a band light flux. (8) The display according to any one of the above (1) to (7), wherein the light incident on the luminous body is a visible light range laser. (9) The display according to any one of (1) to (8), wherein the light incident on the light-emitting body changes with time.

[0005]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail. As the light incident on the luminous body, a light beam obtained from various light sources through an optical device such as a lens or a reflecting mirror can be used, but a laser beam is preferably used because of its easy handling. Can be. A laser beam may be deformed into a fan shape or the like using an optical component such as a lens, but for the purpose of the present invention, a light beam having a linear or band shape is preferable. Among the laser beam sources, those that can be used in the present invention, from the viewpoint of protecting the eyes from light rays, use light sources of class 1 to class 3B, provided with appropriate safety measures according to the application. Among them, a semiconductor laser or a light emitting diode with high directivity, which can be easily controlled on / off and operates at a low voltage, can be suitably used. Among them, a semiconductor laser can be preferably used.

In the present invention, it is necessary to visualize the optical path of the light beam. Therefore, the wavelength used for the light source is usually in the visible light range of 340 to 700 nm. Typical light sources satisfying these conditions are 635-6.
A 60 nm red semiconductor laser can be used.
In order to introduce such light and visualize the optical path, a light-emitting body in which a light scatterer is dispersed in a transparent resin is formed.

Such a luminous body is obtained by blending or copolymerizing a light scatterer with a transparent resin, and adjusting the size of the light scatterer from a size substantially equal to the wavelength of visible light to a size approximately twice as large as the wavelength of visible light. Is used. Therefore, the size of the light scatterer is 200 to 2000 nm. If it is less than 200 nm, the optical path of the light beam cannot be seen, and if it exceeds 2000 nm, it becomes blurred.

[0008] Such a luminous body is not limited to a disk, a rectangular plate or a curved plate obtained by injection molding or extrusion molding, but may be a fibrous one. The transparent resin that can be used here is not particularly limited, and examples thereof include thermoplastic resins such as polycarbonate, acrylic resin, and polystyrene, and thermosetting resins such as epoxy resins.

Among these, thermoplastic resins which can be suitably used from the viewpoint of moldability include polymethyl methacrylate, polyethyl methacrylate, polybutyl methacrylate, polybenzyl acrylate, polyphenyl methacrylate, polyvinyl acetate, and polyvinyl acetate. Benzoate, polyvinyl phenyl acetate, polyacrylonitrile, polyethylene, polypropylene, polycarbonate, polystyrene, syndiotactic polystyrene, styrene / acrylonitrile copolymer, MMA / styrene copolymer, α-methylstyrene / acrylonitrile copolymer, methacrylate styrene copolymer Polymers, polyvinylidene fluoride hexafluoroacetate, polyvinyl acetate, polyethylene terephthalate, polybutylene terephthalate, etc. It is.

As the transparent resin used here, the resin mainly constituting the transparent layer of the luminous body is preferably a transparent thermoplastic having a haze of 3 or less, and specifically, polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), polycarbonate ( PC), polystyrene (PS), acrylonitrile
Styrene copolymer (AS), poly 4-methylpentene-1
And the like. Among them, in consideration of the mechanical properties and the like, polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) (haze 1.0 or less) and polycarbonate (PC) (haze 1.
2 or less) are particularly preferably used.

On the other hand, as a resin for forming an incompatible region constituting a light scatterer, a UCST (upper) which generally does not melt at a low temperature but melts at a high temperature from the viewpoint of compatibility.
critical solution temperature) LCST (lower)
Critical solution temperature) A resin showing a phase diagram, and a resin having partial compatibility such as a resin showing a phase diagram of a mold having both UCST and LCST is preferably used (for the phase diagram, "Molding" Vol. 8) No. 1, 1996, 24
Page, see FIG. 1). Not only the type having an incompatible region at a temperature equal to or lower than the molding temperature range, but also the polymer pair of any type may be used because the incompatible region can be fixed by quenching. Specifically, examples of the resin forming the incompatible region with polystyrene include polyisoprene and polyisobutene as the UCST type, and polyvinyl methyl ether and polyorthochlorostyrene as the USCT & LCST type.

As a resin forming an incompatible region with polymethyl methacrylate, acrylonitrile-styrene copolymer as LCST type, α-methylstyrene-acrylonitrile copolymer with α-polymethyl methacrylate, polyvinyl chloride, fluoride Vinylidene / trifluoroethylene copolymer, vinylidene fluoride / tetrafluoroethylene copolymer, vinylidene fluoride / hexafluoroethylene copolymer, vinylidene fluoride / hexafluoroacetone copolymer, USCT & LCST type chlorinated polyethylene, polyfluoroethylene And vinylidene chloride.

As a resin forming a region incompatible with polycarbonate, there are polyεcaprolactone as LCST type and polymethyl methacrylate as UCST type. As a resin forming an incompatible region with acrylonitrile / styrene copolymer, polycaprolactone, polymethyl methacrylate, USCT & LC as LCST type
Acrylonitrile / styrene copolymer (A
N ratio is 15% by weight and 25% by weight).

[0014] In the above combination examples, especially in combination with a crystalline resin having an amorphous resin as a matrix, polymethyl methacrylate and polyethylene terephthalate, polymethyl methacrylate and syndiotactic polystyrene, polymethyl methacrylate and polyfluoro methacrylate are used. Suitable examples include vinylidene chloride, polycarbonate and syndiotactic polystyrene. In these cases,
Phase separation proceeds with the crystallization of the crystalline resin component.
In addition, the difference between the refractive indices of the amorphous resins is 0.0
It is sufficient if it is 01 or more, and it is suitably used by appropriately selecting from the above-mentioned incompatible polymer pairs. For example, polymethyl methacrylate and polystyrene, polycarbonate and polymethyl methacrylate and the like can be mentioned (Tables 1 and 2).

[0015]

[Table 1]

[0016]

[Table 2]

The combination of polycarbonate and polymethyl methacrylate is excellent in transparency, has a difference in refractive index of about 0.1, and produces a pearl luster effect by forming a layered blend. Can be suitably used. Hereinafter, the adjustment of the composition of the molding raw materials will be described with reference to typical examples of a polycarbonate resin and an acrylic resin.

The polymethyl methacrylate resin is usually used in an amount of 0.0
1 to 3.0 parts by weight, more preferably 0.1 to 2.0,
More preferably, it is 0.2 to 1.0 part by weight. 0.01
When the amount is less than the weight part, phase separation hardly occurs at the temperature setting within the normal molding condition range of the polycarbonate resin, and the molded body becomes transparent in the whole region. If the amount exceeds 3.0 parts by weight, the phase separation proceeds in all regions of the molded article and cloudiness occurs regardless of the molding conditions selected, and the density of the cloudiness is too high to block light transmission. Unsuitable for

In the combination of a polycarbonate resin and polyεcaprolactone instead of the combination with the polymethyl methacrylate resin, the above-mentioned optimum compounding amount range naturally differs, but the way of thinking for determining the range changes. It is not a thing but can be confirmed experimentally.
Also, instead of the method of forming the luminous body by blending, by adjusting the length of the copolymer part of the copolymer, it is possible to obtain a luminous body in which the size of the light scatterer and the concentration are adjusted. For example, a polycarbonate-polydimethylsiloxane copolymer or the like can be used. In the examples, the polycarbonate-polydimethylsiloxane copolymer will be described in detail.

The size of the light scatterer obtained here is required to be 200 to 2,000 nm as described above. For this purpose, the molding conditions for molding the luminous body, particularly the cooling rate of the molded article, are controlled. It is obtained by doing. That is, when the cooling rate is reduced (the cooling temperature of the mold is lowered), a small light scatterer is generated by phase separation, and conversely, when the cooling rate is reduced, the light scatterer obtained is relatively large.

Accordingly, the setting of such an appropriate mold cooling temperature is specifically determined through several test experiments. In this case, whether or not the cloudy matter of the desired size has been obtained can be easily confirmed by irradiating a laser beam having a clear wavelength and confirming whether or not the optical path of the light beam is visible. The size can also be determined by a scattering method.

A method for measuring the size of a light scatterer (domain) by a light scattering method: a photodiode array detector is arranged above a flat plate sample for measurement, and a He-Ne laser having a wavelength of 633 nm is sampled from a side end of the flat plate sample. And the intensity of the scattered light in the direction perpendicular to the incident light is measured by this detector. Then, the reciprocal of the square root of the scattered light intensity is taken on the vertical axis, and the linear approximation formula is obtained by the least squares method from the points plotted with the square of the scattering vector taken on the horizontal axis.

The size of the light scatterer is determined by the square root of (the slope / intercept of this linear approximation formula). Although the description has been given of the case where the polycarbonate resin is used as the main material, the case where the polymethyl methacrylate resin is used as the main material may be replaced by using the polycarbonate resin as the auxiliary material and changing the mixing ratio. The polycarbonate resin can be easily produced by reacting a dihydric phenol with phosgene or a carbonate compound. There is no particular limitation, but bisphenol A is suitable as the dihydric phenol.

The polymethyl methacrylate resin is not particularly limited as long as it is an acrylic resin. PMMA
(Polymethyl methacrylate) is common. The production method is not particularly limited, but those produced by bulk polymerization are preferred. When an emulsion polymerization method is used, silver may be generated due to the decomposition gas during molding.
Those having an average molecular weight of about 50,000 to 600,000 can be suitably used.

Other additives, if necessary, may be selected from known antioxidants, internal lubricants and flame retardants as long as they do not hinder the control of the phase separation structure or hinder the brightness of the luminous body. And a flame retardant auxiliary agent, a release agent, an antistatic agent, a coloring agent, a fluorescent agent, and the like in appropriate amounts. The PC / PMMA-based resin composition used in the present invention can be obtained by mixing and kneading the components described above in predetermined amounts. For the compounding and kneading at this time, a method used in a usual manner, for example, a ribbon blender, a Henschel mixer, a drum tumbler, a single screw extruder, a twin screw extruder, a co-kneader, a multi-screw extruder and the like were used. The kneading temperature can be appropriately selected within a range of about 220 to 300 ° C.

The display of the present invention uses the above-mentioned resin raw material,
Injection molding, extrusion molding and other molding processes are arbitrarily selected, and discs, rectangular plates, etc. are further decorated according to the purpose, such as printing, for example, light output is taken out as signal output, and laser light is displayed on the display. And can be applied to tachometers such as changing the length of the optical path and the angle of the optical path depending on the magnitude of the optical output. In addition to using the signal output of the laser light itself, it is also used for visualizing the optical path of the laser light and using the aesthetic decoration woven by the light beam, for example, for various playground equipment, signboards, emergency lights, etc. It is possible.

[0027]

EXAMPLES The present invention will be described in more detail with reference to Production Examples, Examples and Comparative Examples. Example 1: (Transparent resin: polycarbonate, scattering body: injection-molded product of polymethyl methacrylate / blend) Teflon FN1700A manufactured by Idemitsu Petrochemical Co., Ltd. as a polycarbonate resin, and Sumipec manufactured by Sumitomo Chemical Co., Ltd. as a polymethyl methacrylate resin MHF was used. Tris (2,4-di-tert-butylphenyl) phosphite was used as an antioxidant. 100 parts by weight of a polycarbonate resin, 0.3 parts by weight of a polymethyl methacrylate resin and 0.05 parts by weight of an antioxidant are blended,
Extruded and pelletized at 280 ° C. The obtained pellets were molded with an injection molding machine at a cylinder temperature of 280 ° C. and a mold temperature of 80 ° C. to obtain a 200 × 200 × 3 mm flat plate.

When the size of the light scatterer (domain) of the obtained flat plate was measured by a light scattering method, it was 450 nm. Further, from the side of the obtained flat plate, a red semiconductor laser (wavelength: 650 nm, manufactured by Audio-Technica Co., Ltd.)
And blue semiconductor laser (Hitachi Metals Co., Ltd., wavelength 45)
0 nm). A red line and a blue line of transmitted light were observed when viewed from above the flat plate.

Example 2: (Transparent resin: polycarbonate, scatterer: poly-ε-caprolactone / blend) In Example 1, instead of polymethyl methacrylate, PLACEL H1P manufactured by Daicel Chemical Industries, Ltd. was used as poly-ε caprolactone. The same procedure as in Example 1 was performed except that 0 parts by weight was used. The injection molding conditions for the flat plate were as follows: molding at a cylinder temperature of 280 ° C. and a mold temperature of 80 ° C .;
A 200 × 3 mm flat plate was obtained.

When the size of the light scatterer (domain) of the obtained flat plate was measured by a light scattering method, it was 600 nm. Further, from the side of the obtained flat plate, a red semiconductor laser (wavelength: 650 nm, manufactured by Audio-Technica Co., Ltd.)
And blue semiconductor laser (Hitachi Metals Co., Ltd., wavelength 45)
0 nm). A red line and a blue line of transmitted light were observed when viewed from above the flat plate.

Example 3 (Transparent resin: polycarbonate, scatterer: polydimethylsiloxane copolymer part) Method for producing polycarbonate oligomer 60 liters of 400 liter of 5% aqueous sodium hydroxide solution
g of bisphenol A was dissolved to prepare an aqueous solution of bisphenol A in sodium hydroxide. Then, the sodium hydroxide aqueous solution of bisphenol A kept at room temperature was introduced at a flow rate of 138 liters / hour and methylene chloride at a flow rate of 69 liters / hour through an orifice plate into a tubular reactor having an inner diameter of 10 mm and a length of 10 m. Then, phosgene was blown in parallel at a flow rate of 10.7 kg / hour, and reacted continuously for 3 hours. The tubular reactor used here was a double tube, and the outlet temperature of the reaction solution was kept at 25 ° C. by passing cooling water through the jacket. Also,
The pH of the effluent was adjusted to show 10-11. The reaction solution thus obtained was allowed to stand, whereby the aqueous phase was separated and removed, and the methylene chloride phase (220 liters) was collected.
7 g / l). Polymerization degree of the polycarbonate oligomer obtained here is 2 to 4, the concentration of chloroformate group was _0. 7N.

Reactive polydimethylsiloxane (PDM)
Production method of S) 1483 g of octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane, 9
6 g of 1,1,3,3-tetramethyldisiloxane and 35 g of 86% sulfuric acid were mixed and stirred at room temperature for 17 hours. Thereafter, the oil phase was separated, 25 g of sodium hydrogen carbonate was added, and
Stirred for hours. The mixture was filtered and vacuum distilled at 150 ° C. and 3 torr to remove low-boiling substances.

[0033] and 60g of 2-allylphenol _0.001
In a mixture with 4 g of platinum as platinum chloride-alcoholate complex, 294 g of the oil obtained above were added at 90 ° C.
At a temperature of. The mixture was stirred for 3 hours while maintaining the temperature at 90-115 ° C. The product was extracted with methylene chloride, washed three times with 80% aqueous methanol,
2-Allylphenol was removed. The product was dried over anhydrous sodium sulphate and evaporated in vacuo to a temperature of 115 ° C. NMR measurement of the obtained terminal phenol PDMS revealed that the number of repeating dimethylsilanooxy units was 30. Method for Producing PC-PDMS Copolymer 91 g of reactive PDMS was dissolved in 2 liter of methylene chloride and mixed with 10 liter of polycarbonate oligomer. There, 26 g of sodium hydroxide dissolved in 1 liter of water and 5.7 CC of triethylamine were added _.
Was added and the mixture was stirred at 500 rpm for 1 hour at room temperature. Thereafter, 600 liters of bisphenol A dissolved in 5 liters of a 5.2 wt% aqueous sodium hydroxide solution, 8 liters of methylene chloride and 81 g of p-tert-butylphenol were added, and the mixture was stirred at 500 rpm for 2 hours at room temperature.
Thereafter, 5 liters of methylene chloride was added, and the mixture was further washed with 5 liters of water, washed with 5 liters of a 0.01 N aqueous sodium hydroxide solution with alkali, and washed with 5 liters of 0.1 N hydrochloric acid.
Acid washing and water washing with 5 liters of water in order, and finally methylene chloride is removed to remove the flakes of P.
A C-PDMS copolymer was obtained.

The obtained PC-PDMS copolymer was mixed with 120
Vacuum dried at 24 ° C. for 24 hours. PDMS content is 2.0
wt%. The flaky copolymer is extruded at 280 ° C. and pelletized, and the obtained pellet is molded at a cylinder temperature of 280 ° C. and a mold temperature of 80 ° C.
A 3 mm flat plate was obtained.

The size of the light scatterer (domain) of the obtained flat plate was measured by a light scattering method and found to be 300 nm. Further, from the side of the obtained flat plate, a red semiconductor laser (wavelength: 650 nm, manufactured by Audio-Technica Co., Ltd.)
And blue semiconductor laser (Hitachi Metals Co., Ltd., wavelength 45)
0 nm). A red line and a blue line of transmitted light were observed when viewed from above the flat plate.

Example 4: (Transparent resin: polycarbonate, scatterer: sheet molded article of polymethyl methacrylate / blend) The pellets obtained in Example 1 were extruded (SHT65-32DVg, manufactured by Hitachi Zosen Corporation). ), Using a cylinder temperature setting of 245 to 280 ° C. and a screw rotation speed of 60 r
pm, vacuum 760mmHg, discharge rate 70Kg / h
r, lip gap 6.0 mm, roll temperature No. 1 / N
o. 2 / No. A sheet having a width of 550 mm and a thickness of 3 mm was extruded under the conditions of 3 = 120/130/180 and a take-up speed of 0.6 m / min. A test piece having a length of 2 m was cut out from the obtained sheet.

The size of the light-scattering body (domain) of the obtained flat plate was measured by a light-scattering method.
Met. Further, a red semiconductor laser (manufactured by Audio-Technica Co., Ltd., wavelength 650 n) was observed from the side of the obtained flat plate.
m) and a blue semiconductor laser (Hitachi Metals Co., Ltd., wavelength 450 nm). A red line and a blue line of transmitted light were observed when viewed from above the flat plate.

COMPARATIVE EXAMPLE 1 (Injection Molded Product Using Polycarbonate Only) In Example 1, a flat plate was prepared using only a polycarbonate resin and an antioxidant without using polymethyl methacrylate. From the side of the obtained flat plate, a red semiconductor laser (a wavelength of 650 nm, manufactured by Audio-Technica Co., Ltd.) and a blue semiconductor laser (a wavelength of 450 n, manufactured by Hitachi Metals, Ltd.)
m) was applied. When viewed from above the plate, no red and blue lines of transmitted light were observed.

Comparative Example 2: (Sheet molded article using polycarbonate alone) In Example 4, the pellets used in Comparative Example 1 were used instead of the pellets obtained in Example 1, and Performed similarly. A red semiconductor laser (manufactured by Audio-Technica Co., Ltd., wavelength 65) was obtained from the side of the obtained flat plate.
0 nm) and a blue semiconductor laser (manufactured by Hitachi Metals, Ltd.)
(Wavelength 450 nm). When viewed from above the plate, no red and blue lines of transmitted light were observed.

[0040]

According to the present invention, a red or blue semiconductor laser beam or the like is transmitted and its light path is scattered and emitted in red or blue, respectively, and the display body is visually recognized from the outside.
It can be recognized stably for a long time without unevenness.

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. A display body which receives light from an end face of a luminous body in which a light scatterer is dispersed in a transparent resin and visualizes an optical path of a light beam passing through the luminous body. 2. The light scatterer has a size of 200 to 2000 nm.
The display according to claim 1, comprising an organic agent having a refractive index difference from the transparent resin of 0.001 or more. 3. The display according to claim 1, wherein the transparent resin and the light scatterer are made of a combination of thermoplastic resins which are incompatible with each other and have different refractive indices. 4. The transparent resin is an amorphous resin having a transparency (haze) of 3 or less, the light scatterer is a crystalline or amorphous resin, and the difference in refractive index is 0.001 or more. The display according to any one of claims 1 to 3. 5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the transparent resin is polystyrene, polycarbonate or polymethyl methacrylate.
The display according to any one of the above. 6. The display according to claim 1, wherein the luminous body comprises 100 parts by weight of polycarbonate and 0.01 to 3 parts by weight of polymethyl methacrylate. 7. The display according to claim 1, wherein the light incident on the light emitter is a linear light beam or a band light beam. 8. The display according to claim 1, wherein the light incident on the illuminant is a laser in a visible light region. 9. The display according to claim 1, wherein the light incident on the light-emitting body changes with time.