TW201814209A - Lateral light guiding device characterized in that the light can be laterally emitted only by using the integrated light pillar body, so that the present lateral light guiding device has a smaller volume and is less limited by the space in application - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention discloses a lateral light guiding device which is suitable for transmitting and outputting light and comprises a light pillar body extending along one central axis to be integrally formed. The light pillar body comprises: a first end and a second end, opposite to each other; a light incident face located at the first end; and a reflecting face and a light emitting face, located at the second end. The reflecting face comprises at least one first reflecting part and at least one second reflecting part, which have different slopes or curvatures. By the special surface morphology of the reflecting face and the coordination of the light emitting face, the present invention can depend on the requirement to adjust the characteristics such as light emitting direction, the size of light spot, the shape of light spot, etc., so that the effects of the longer light spot output and the uniform energy can be achieved. In addition, the light can be laterally emitted only by using the integrated light pillar body, so that the present lateral light guiding device has a smaller volume and is less limited by the space in application.

Description

Light guiding device capable of laterally emitting light

The present invention relates to a light guide device, and particularly to a light guide device for oral cavity and capable of laterally emitting light.

Laser beams have a wide range of applications. For example, they can be matched with optical lenses such as focusing lenses and collimators. They can also be used as light transmission elements through optical tips made of optical fiber materials. Light-emitting needle device. The known laser light needle device is applicable to laser grooming, laser cutting, laser drilling, laser heat treatment, and the like. Among them, there are many types of laser needle devices used in dental lasers, because there are more than ten to dozens of types for different indications and use situations. The differences in the main morphological characteristics of the laser light needle device are the diameter of the light needle, the length of the light needle, the cutting edge of the shape of the light needle, etc., which affects the size of the light spot, the depth of the tissue that can extend into the cavity, the shape and Deflection angle, etc.

At present, a laser light needle device adopts a lateral light emitting design. In order to achieve the purpose of lateral light emitting, a reflecting mirror or other light guiding element must be installed at the light emitting part of the optical needle, so that the light can be bent and emitted sideways. This kind of design must match the optical needle with another device or component in order to produce a lateral light emitting effect, which causes the device to be too large, and it is easy to be restricted in use due to insufficient installation space. Therefore, the known laser optical needle device needs to be improved. . And how to pass the appropriate optical needle structure to properly adjust the spot size, spot shape and other characteristics is also the goal of the industry's hard research.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a light guide device capable of lateral light emission, which has a simple structure and a small volume, and can effectively adjust the characteristics of light spots.

Therefore, the light guiding device capable of laterally emitting light according to the present invention, for transmitting and outputting light, includes a light cylinder, which extends along a central axis and is integrally formed. The light cylinder includes a first End and a second end, a light-incident surface at the first end, a reflective surface and a light-exit surface at the second end, and an enclosure surrounding the central axis and extending from the first end to the second end surface. The reflective surface includes a first end portion connected to the surrounding surface, a second end portion that is far from the light incident surface with respect to the first end portion, and is located between the first end portion and the second end portion, and At least one first reflecting portion and at least one second reflecting portion having different slopes or curvatures from each other. The light emitting surface extends from the surrounding surface toward the second end portion, and can be used by the light coming from the light incident surface and reflected by the reflecting surface to pass out, and the light emitting surface cooperates with the reflecting surface for Change the direction of light exit and the shape of the spot formed.

The effect of the present invention is: by designing the relative position of the reflecting surface of the light cylinder and the light emitting surface, it can generate lateral light rays, and with the special surface shape of the reflecting surface, the present invention can respond to the needs of the light spot. Adjust size, shape and other characteristics. Moreover, the light cylinder is integrally formed, and the purpose of lateral light emission can be achieved by using the integrally formed elements, so that the overall device of the present invention has a small volume and is less restricted by installation space or operation space in application.

Before the present invention is described in detail, it should be noted that in the following description, similar elements are represented by the same numbers.

Referring to Figs. 1, 2, and 3, a first embodiment of a light guide device capable of laterally emitting light according to the present invention is applicable to use light to treat a part to be treated. The part to be treated may be a human or animal body. Body parts, and can be parts of the mouth, limbs, trunk, etc., which can be used for debridement of tooth root canal treatment, periodontal disease treatment, laser cutting, skin whitening, debridement of body parts, sterilization, and the like. The lateral light guide device can be used for conducting and outputting light from a light source such as a laser, and includes: a light cylinder 1 and a coupling sleeve 2.

The material of the light cylinder 1 is, for example, quartz glass or sapphire. Its function is similar to that of an optical fiber, and the light of the light source can be passed to conduct the light. The light cylinder 1 extends in a column shape or a cone shape along a central axis L in a long direction, and the column shape may be a column shape, a quadrangular column shape, a polygonal column shape, or other shapes. The light cylinder 1 is integrally formed and includes a first end 15 and a second end 16 located on the central axis L and opposite to each other, a light incident surface 11 on the first end 15, and a second end 16. A reflecting surface 12 and a light emitting surface 14 are provided, and a surrounding surface 13 extending from the first end 15 to the second end 16.

The reflective surface 12 is spaced apart from the light incident surface 11 along the central axis L. The reflecting surface 12 extends obliquely, and its extending direction is not perpendicular to the extending direction of the central axis L. The reflective surface 12 includes a first end portion 121, a second end portion 122 that is far from the light incident surface 11 relative to the first end portion 121, and is located between the first end portion 121 and the second end portion 122. And at least one first reflection portion 123 and at least one second reflection portion 124 with different slopes or curvatures. Specifically, the reflecting surface 12 in this embodiment includes a plurality of the first reflecting portions 123 spaced apart from each other, and a plurality of the second reflecting portions 124 respectively connected between the first reflecting portions 123. The first reflection portions 123 cooperate with the second reflection portions 124 to form the reflection surface 12 into a step shape or a wave shape. During implementation, the surface structure of the reflective surface 12 may be formed by grinding or etching, so that the reflective surface 12 includes at least two parts with different slopes or curvatures, where the slope is mainly used to describe the plane extension part. Curvature is used to describe the position of the arc. The reflecting surface 12 may include a flat surface, a curved surface, or a combination of a flat surface, a curved surface, and other various types of surfaces.

The surrounding surface 13 surrounds the central axis L and extends from the first end 15 toward the first end 121 of the reflective surface 12. The light emitting surface 14 extends from the surrounding surface 13 toward the second end portion 122 and is connected to the second end portion 122. During implementation, the light emitting surface 14 may be a flat surface or an arc surface.

The coupling sleeve 2 is installed adjacent to the light incident surface 11 of the light cylinder 1 and includes a sleeve body 21 tightly fitted to the first end 15 of the light cylinder 1 and made of metal or plastic. A plurality of rings are sleeved on the O-ring 22 on the periphery of the sleeve body 21. With the combination sleeve 2, the light cylinder 1 can be combined with a hand-held laser transmission device of a medical laser system.

When the present invention is used, light can be transmitted through the light incident surface 11 into the light cylinder 1 and reflected by the first reflecting portions 123 and second reflecting portions 124 of the reflecting surface 12 and then emitted through the light emitting surface 14. Since the direction of the light emitting surface 14 is lateral with respect to the incident direction of the light, the present invention is a device capable of laterally emitting light. Specifically, the refractive index of the material of the light cylinder 1 is greater than the refractive index of the surrounding external material (such as air). Most of the light rays that are incident on the second reflection portions 124 in the light cylinder 1 are totally reflected toward the light emitting surface. 14 shots. On the other hand, since the first reflecting portion 123 extends substantially horizontally and is parallel to the direction of the incident light, the design of the first reflecting portion 123 can reduce total reflection of the incident light, thereby adjusting the spot shape of the outgoing light. Therefore, according to the present invention, two or more different curvatures (or slopes) and different periodic surface structures of the first reflecting portion 123 and the second reflecting portion 124 can cooperate to reflect and deflect light. To change the direction of light exit, spot size, shape and energy distribution. In addition, the divergent reflected light generated by total reflection is used to reinforce the spot energy. After the energy is superimposed, a longer spot output is achieved and the energy is uniform. Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a light spot 3 formed by being reflected by the reflecting surface 12 and then being emitted by the light emitting surface 14 after being conducted through the present invention. According to the present invention, an incident light originally close to a point light source can be appropriately adjusted to form a long and uniform energy spot 3. The spot 3 in this embodiment is in the shape of a plurality of blocks connected to the step of the reflecting surface 12. Shape related.

To sum up, by designing the relative positions of the reflecting surface 12 and the light emitting surface 14 of the light cylinder 1, lateral light rays can be generated. With the special surface morphology of the reflecting surface 12, the first surface with different curvatures or slopes can be used. The reflecting part 123 and the second reflecting part 124 can achieve the beam shaping effect, so that the present invention can be applied to the characteristics of the spot size, spot shape, energy distribution, beam angle and other characteristics required for specific indications in accordance with the application requirements. Adjustment, and can make the light energy effectively distributed on the treatment site, and the energy is uniform. The invention is applied to the dental laser industry or other related industries using light for treatment and cutting, has considerable help and convenience, and can improve the treatment effect. In addition, the light cylinder 1 is integrally formed, and the purpose of lateral light emission can be achieved by using the integrally formed elements, so that the overall device of the present invention is small in size, and is less restricted by installation space or operation space in application.

Referring to FIG. 5, a second embodiment of a light guiding device capable of laterally emitting light according to the present invention has substantially the same structure as the first embodiment, except that the light emitting surface 14 of this embodiment gradually moves from the left and right sides to the center. It is curved toward the central axis L, so that the second embodiment can generate a light deflection direction different from that of the first embodiment. Therefore, the present invention can also change the light exit angle, the spot shape, the size, and the energy distribution by changing the shape of the light emitting surface 14. It can be known from this embodiment that when the present invention is implemented, the light emitting surface 14 may have at least two light emitting portions 141 with different curvatures or slopes.

Referring to FIG. 6, a third embodiment of a light guiding device capable of laterally emitting light according to the present invention has substantially the same structure as the second embodiment, except that the light emitting surface 14 of this embodiment gradually moves from the left and right sides to the center. It is curved in a direction away from the central axis L. By designing the light emitting surface 14, the energy of the light spot can be more concentrated.

Referring to FIG. 7, a fourth embodiment of a light guiding device capable of laterally emitting light according to the present invention has substantially the same structure as the second embodiment, except that the light emitting surface 14 of this embodiment has several adjacently connected The light emitting portions 141 are matched with each other to form a plurality of connected microstructures on the light emitting surface 14. The microstructures can evenly disperse light, and can improve the uniformity of light spot energy.

It can also be known from the foregoing embodiments of the present invention that the light emitting surface 14 can have various variations and can be designed according to the use requirements.

However, the above are only examples of the present invention. When the scope of implementation of the present invention cannot be limited in this way, any simple equivalent changes and modifications made in accordance with the scope of the patent application and the content of the patent specification of the present invention are still Within the scope of the invention patent.

1‧‧‧ light cylinder

11‧‧‧ Light surface

12‧‧‧ reflective surface

121‧‧‧ first end

122‧‧‧ second end

123‧‧‧First reflection section

124‧‧‧Second reflection section

13‧‧‧ Wai

14‧‧‧light surface

141‧‧‧Light Department

15‧‧‧ the first end

16‧‧‧ the second end

2‧‧‧ combined sleeve

21‧‧‧ sleeve body

22‧‧‧O-ring

3‧‧‧ light spot

L‧‧‧ center axis

Other features and effects of the present invention will be clearly presented in the embodiment with reference to the drawings, in which: FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a first embodiment of a light guide device capable of laterally emitting light according to the present invention; FIG. 2 Is a cross-sectional view of the first embodiment; FIG. 3 is an incomplete cross-sectional view of the first embodiment, illustrating a light path; FIG. 4 is a schematic view illustrating a light spot shape formed after being conducted through the first embodiment; 5 is an incomplete cross-sectional view of a second embodiment of a light guide device capable of lateral light exit according to the present invention; FIG. 6 is an incomplete cross-sectional view of a third embodiment of a light guide device capable of lateral light exit according to the present invention; Sectional view; and FIG. 7 is an incomplete sectional view of a fourth embodiment of a light guide device capable of laterally emitting light according to the present invention.

Claims (7)

A light guiding device capable of laterally emitting light for transmitting and outputting light includes: a light cylinder extending along a central axis and integrally formed. The light cylinder includes a first end located on the central axis and opposite to the first end, and A second end, a light incident surface at the first end, a reflective surface and a light exit surface at the second end, and a surrounding surface that extends around the central axis and extends from the first end to the second end, The reflective surface includes a first end portion connected to the surrounding surface, a second end portion that is far from the light incident surface with respect to the first end portion, and is located between the first end portion and the second end portion, and At least one first reflecting portion and at least one second reflecting portion having different slopes or curvatures from each other, the light emitting surface extends from the surrounding surface toward the second end portion, and is available from the light incident surface and is subjected to the reflection The light reflected by the surface passes through and exits outward, and the light emitting surface cooperates with the reflecting surface to change the light emitting direction and the shape of the formed light spot. The light-guiding device capable of laterally emitting light according to claim 1, wherein the reflecting surface includes a plurality of spaced first reflecting portions and a plurality of second reflecting portions respectively connected between the first reflecting portions. The light guide device capable of laterally emitting light as described in claim 2, wherein the first reflecting portions and the second reflecting portions cooperate to form the reflecting surface into a stepped or wavy shape. The light guiding device capable of laterally emitting light according to claim 1, wherein the light emitting surface has at least two light emitting portions with different curvatures or slopes. The light guiding device capable of laterally emitting light according to claim 1, wherein the light emitting surface is a flat surface or an arc surface. The light guide device capable of laterally emitting light according to claim 1, wherein the light cylinder extends along the central axis into a column shape or a cone shape, and the column shape is a column shape, a quadrangular column shape, or a polygonal column shape. The light guide device capable of laterally emitting light according to claim 1, further comprising a coupling sleeve mounted on the first end of the light cylinder.