JPS63135904A - Transmission equipment for light energy - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To manufacture the titled miniaturized equipment at low cost, by forming an outer peripheral plane in each optical transmission pipe at least on a light introducing terminal side in an optical transmission cable in a polygonal shape in which no cavity is generated between an adjacent optical transmission pipe, and forming a tapered plane in which the diameter of the end face of each optical transmission pipe is decreased as it goes from an opening terminal to an inner part. CONSTITUTION:Since the outer peripheral plane 31 of each optical transmission pipe on the side of the light introducing terminal of the optical transmission cable 20 is formed in a regular hexagon in which no cavity is generated between the adjacent optical transmission pipe, wasteful cavity exists scarcely between the optical transmission pipes 21 and 22. Thereby, it is possible to increase remarkably the ratio of a light introducing area to all areas of the light introducing terminals of the optical transmission cable 20. In addition to that, since the end faces of the optical transmission pipes 21 and 22 are formed in funnel-shaped tapered planes 40 whose diameters are decreased as they go from the opening terminals 41 to the inner sides, reflected light on the end face can be sent to the optical transmission pipe without being scattered to the outside as shown in arrow heads M and N. In such a way, it is possible to simplify the constitution of the equipment, and to manufacture the equipment with resulting the miniaturization and the low cost.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a light energy transmission device that is applied to solar energy utilization devices (for example, heating devices that utilize the thermal energy of sunlight) and the like.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, there are various ways to use solar energy. For example, in a heating device that uses the thermal energy of sunlight, as shown in FIG. By pumping up water to a heat collector 3 called a collector and returning the water warmed by solar heat in the heat collector 3 to the heat storage tank 1, thermal energy is stored in the water in the heat storage tank 1, and this stored thermal energy is used for heating. etc.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

In the conventional solar energy utilization device having the above configuration, the heat collection efficiency of the heat collector 3 is generally not so high, and furthermore, the loss of thermal energy due to the pipes 4, 5, etc. that circulate water is large. For this reason, there is a drawback that the utilization efficiency of thermal energy is low. In addition, in the above device, circulating water is used as a heat transfer medium and heat exchange is performed in the heat collector 1.
At least a heat exchanger, water pump, pump power, etc. are required.

For this reason, the configuration is complicated and it is impossible to avoid increasing the size. Furthermore, in winter, it is necessary to prevent the heat collector 3 and piping 4.5 from bursting due to freezing, so water handling operations must be carried out, and the management work is complicated.

A conceivable means to solve this problem is to directly guide light to a heat storage tank through an optical transmission line to store thermal energy. According to this method, the received light is transmitted as it is without converting it into heat, so there is no need for heat exchangers such as heat collectors, water pumps, and their power, etc., and the configuration is simplified and the equipment In addition to being smaller in size, there is no need to perform water handling operations during the winter, making management work easier.

However, the above means has the following problems.

That is, at present, there is no concrete and effective technical means for efficiently introducing and transmitting a necessary and sufficient amount of light into an optical transmission line.

For this reason, in reality, necessary and sufficient optical transmission cannot be performed, resulting in the problem that efficient use of light energy such as solar thermal energy cannot be achieved.

Therefore, the present invention is an optical energy transmission device that can efficiently introduce and transmit a necessary and sufficient amount of light to an optical transmission cable, and can efficiently utilize optical energy such as solar thermal energy. For example, when applied to solar energy utilization equipment such as solar heating equipment, there is no need for heat exchangers such as heat collectors or water pumps, which were required in the past, and the equipment configuration can be simplified. It is an object of the present invention to provide an optical energy transmission device that is small and can be manufactured at low cost.

[Means for solving problems].

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems and achieve the object, the present invention takes the following measures. That is, the optical transmission cable is constituted by an optical transmission tube bundle in which a plurality of hollow optical transmission tubes are bundled together. The outer circumferential surface of each optical transmission tube at least on the light introduction end side of the optical transmission cable is made into a polygonal shape that does not create a gap between adjacent optical transmission tubes, and the end surface of each optical transmission tube is formed with an opening. It has a tapered surface that gradually becomes smaller in diameter as it goes toward the back from the end.

[Effect]

By taking such measures, the following effects are achieved. In other words, since there is almost no wasted space between the optical transmission tubes on the light introduction end side of the optical transmission cable, the ratio of the effective light introduction area to the total area of the light introduction end of the optical transmission cable is extremely high. . Moreover, since the end surface of the optical transmission tube is a funnel-shaped tapered surface, the light reflected at the end surface is sent into the optical transmission tube without escaping to the outside. Therefore, a sufficient amount of light can be introduced into the optical transmission cable extremely efficiently. Therefore, an optical transmission cable can be obtained which is extremely useful for, for example, solar energy utilization devices.

〔Example〕

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an outline of an embodiment of the present invention. 1st
In the figure, 10 is a heat storage tank, which contains water 11 as a heat storage medium. Reference numeral 12 denotes a concentrator made of a concave reflecting mirror, etc., which concentrates light 13 from a light source such as the sun onto the light introduction end 20a of the optical transmission cable 2o, as shown by the broken line arrow, so that the optical transmission cable 20 It is intended to be introduced internally. Light output end 20b of optical transmission cable 20
is inserted into the water 11 of the heat storage tank 10, and emits light energy into the water 11 to store heat.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the appearance of the optical transmission cable 20. As shown in FIG. 2, the optical transmission cable 2o is composed of an optical transmission tube bundle in which a plurality of hollow optical transmission tubes 21, 22, etc. are bundled into a cylindrical shape.

Figure 3 shows the end face 3 on the light introduction end side of the optical transmission tube 21, 22.
FIG. As shown in the figure, the outer circumferential surface 31 of each optical transmission tube at least on the light introduction end side has a regular hexagonal shape with no gap between adjacent optical transmission tubes. In this embodiment, the inner circumferential surface 32 of the optical transmission tube also has a regular hexagonal shape, but the inner circumferential surface 32 may also be circular.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line A-A in FIG. 3. As shown in FIG. 4, the end surface of each optical transmission tube is a tapered surface 40 that gradually becomes smaller in diameter as it goes toward the back from the open end 41.

Next, the operation of this embodiment configured as described above will be explained.

The outer peripheral surface 31 of each optical transmission tube on the light introduction ta 120a side of the optical transmission cable 20 has a regular hexagonal shape with no gap between adjacent optical transmission tubes. There is almost no wasted space between them. Therefore, the ratio of the effective light introduction area to the total area of the light introduction end of the optical transmission cable 20 becomes extremely high.

Moreover, the end surfaces of the optical transmission tubes 21, 22 and 21 are tapered funnel-shaped surfaces 40 that gradually become smaller in diameter as they move toward the back from the open end 41, so that the reflected light from the end surfaces is reflected by the arrow M in FIG. , N, they are sent into the optical transmission tube without escaping to the outside. Therefore, a sufficient amount of light can be introduced into the optical transmission cable extremely efficiently. Therefore, an optical transmission cable can be obtained which is extremely useful for, for example, solar energy utilization devices.

In other words, if the optical transmission cable of this embodiment is applied to a solar energy utilization device such as a solar heating device, the received light 1
3 is transmitted as is without being converted into heat, so there is no need for heat exchangers such as heat collectors, water pumps, and their power, which were required in the past, simplifying the configuration of the device.
The device can be manufactured in a small size and at low cost. In addition, there is no need to perform water draining operations during the winter, making management work easier.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. For example, in the embodiment described above, the outer circumferential surface 31 of each optical transmission tube on the light introduction end side is formed into a regular hexagonal shape so that no gap is created between adjacent optical transmission tubes.
The shape is not necessarily limited to a regular hexagonal shape, but may be a square shape, a triangular shape, or a combination thereof. Further, in the above embodiment, the optical transmission cable 2
Although the description has been made assuming that the transmitted light is used by converting it into thermal energy, the transmitted light energy may also be used directly, for example, as indoor illumination light.
There are no restrictions on the form of use. It goes without saying that various other modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the present invention, there is provided an optical energy transmission device that can efficiently introduce and transmit a necessary and sufficient amount of light to an optical transmission cable, and can efficiently utilize optical energy such as solar thermal energy. For example, when applied to solar energy utilization equipment such as solar heating equipment, the configuration of the equipment can be simplified without the need for heat exchangers such as heat collectors, water pumps, etc. that were conventionally required. It is possible to provide an optical energy transmission device that can be manufactured in a small size and at low cost.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a diagram showing an outline of an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing the external appearance of an optical transmission cable of the same embodiment, and Fig. 3 is a light introduction end side of the optical transmission cable of the same embodiment. FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line A--A in FIG. 3. FIG. 5 shows a conventional example. 10... Heat storage tank, 11... Water (heat storage medium), 12.
... Condenser, 13... Light, 20... Optical transmission cable, 21° 22 -... Optical transmission tube, 31... Outer peripheral surface on the light introduction end side of the optical transmission tube, 32...・Same inner peripheral surface, 40...
Tapered surface (end surface), 41... Open end of the optical transmission tube. Applicant's agent Patent attorney Takehiko Suzue Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 5

Claims (1)

[Claims] A concentrator that collects light from a light source such as the sun, an optical transmission cable that transmits the light collected by the concentrator, and a means for extracting the energy of the light transmitted by the optical transmission cable. The optical transmission cable is comprised of an optical transmission tube bundle in which a plurality of hollow optical transmission tubes are bundled, and the outer circumferential surface of each optical transmission tube at least on the light introduction end side is spaced between adjacent optical transmission tubes. An optical energy transmission device characterized in that the optical transmission tube has a polygonal shape with no voids, and the end surface of each of the optical transmission tubes is a tapered surface whose diameter gradually becomes smaller toward the back from the open end.