JPS6219807A - Optical fiber - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To use a light source which has a spatially distributed spread and to obtain more suitable light as illumination light by winding an optical fiber in a coil shape as the light source. CONSTITUTION:Light propagated in the optical fiber 1 as shown by an arrow is guided to the optical fiber coil 2 which is wound in the coil shape. When the light passes through the coil part, the light is emitted out of the flank of the optical fiber 1 to serve as the light emitting source of this lighting device.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to lighting devices, and more particularly to a light emitting source that does not use electricity and is suitable for use in potentially explosive atmospheres.

[Conventional technology]

Conventional lighting devices use electrical energy to generate light, such as metal filaments, gas discharges, light emitting diodes, and the like.

Until now, there have been very few practical examples of using optical fibers as light sources for illumination (and the methods considered are limited to those that utilize radiation from the end face of optical fibers). .

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

The above-mentioned lighting devices that use electricity are restricted in that they cannot be used in places without a strong power source, and they are also restricted in their use in environments where the use of electricity is inappropriate, such as in explosive atmospheres.

Optical fibers can be considered as light sources that do not use a power source, but methods that utilize light emission from the fiber end face have the disadvantage that the size of the light source is limited to a very small area about the size of the fiber core; The direction is also limited to one direction, making it unsuitable as a light source for illumination.

[Means for solving problems]

The optical fiber coil for illumination of the present invention utilizes the property that when an optical fiber is bent beyond a certain curvature, light is emitted to the outside from the side of the fiber. , light can be emitted over a wide length of the fiber,
Furthermore, the radiation direction can also be distributed over a wide spatial range.

〔Example〕

Next, the present invention will be explained with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a front view of one embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, the light propagating through the optical fiber 1 from the direction of the arrow is transmitted through the optical fiber coil 2 which is bent into a coil shape as shown in the figure.
guided by. When light passes through the coil part, the light is radiated to the outside from the side of the optical fiber, and the optical fiber coil 2a
serves as a light source for this lighting device.

FIG. 2 is a front view of an embodiment of the WI2 of the present invention.

In this embodiment, the optical fiber coil 12 is bent in a helical shape, and the radius of curvature of the bend becomes smaller as it goes further. The reason for doing this is as follows. First of all, by taking advantage of the property that the smaller the radius of curvature of the bend, the greater the proportion of light emitted to the outside, all of the light introduced into the coil is prevented from being emitted from the tip. This is because the light is emitted from the side and is used effectively as illumination light. The second reason is that as the light is radiated to the outside, the amount of light propagating through the fiber decreases, so in order to compensate for this, the radius of curvature of the bending is made smaller and the rate of radiation is increased. This is to keep the amount of emitted light over the length of the coil at about the same level.

This makes it possible to eliminate unevenness in radiation intensity depending on the location of the coil.

′! Figure J13 is a third embodiment of the present invention. The coil 23 is bent into a spiral shape within the plane of the figure.

The reason for this shape is the same as in the second embodiment, but the shape of the light source and the angular distribution of emitted light can be made different from those in the second embodiment. In addition, coiled fibers can take on a variety of different shapes.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, the present invention creates a light source by bending an optical fiber into a coil shape, thereby creating a light source that is distributed and spread out in space, compared to a method in which light is simply emitted from the end face of the optical fiber. This makes it possible to obtain a light source more suitable for illumination light. Furthermore, this light source can be used in places without a power source as long as the light is transmitted through an optical fiber, so it is particularly suitable for use in explosive atmospheres.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1, 2 and 3 respectively show the first and second parts of the optical fiber coil for illumination according to the present invention. FIG. 6 is a front view of the second and third embodiments. 1...Optical fiber, 2,12.23...
...Optical fiber coil. Mi −・ ′−−ノ′

Claims (1)

[Claims] An optical fiber characterized by having a portion bent into a coil shape.