JP6326746B2 - Polarized light irradiation device - Google Patents

Description

  Embodiments described herein relate generally to a polarized light irradiation apparatus used for manufacturing a liquid crystal panel.

  In the manufacture of liquid crystal panels and the like, light distribution is performed by irradiating the alignment film with polarized light of a predetermined wavelength as a technique for performing alignment processing of the alignment film of the liquid crystal panel and the alignment layer of the viewing angle compensation film. There is a so-called photo-alignment technique. As an apparatus for performing this photo-alignment, for example, a polarized light irradiation apparatus combining a rod-shaped lamp and a polarizing element having a wire grid grid has been proposed.

  This polarized light irradiation device includes a rod-shaped lamp that emits ultraviolet light, which is light having a wavelength necessary for photo-alignment processing, and a condensing mirror that reflects and collects ultraviolet light from the rod-shaped lamp toward a workpiece. It has an irradiation part. The polarized light irradiation device further includes a wire grid type deflection element as a polarization element on the light emitting side of the light irradiation unit. Thereby, the light from the light irradiation unit is polarized by the wire grid type deflection element and then irradiated to the work, and the optical alignment process is performed.

JP 2009-265290 A

  The polarized light irradiation apparatus as described above makes light incident on a polarizing plate such as a wire grid type deflection element, and irradiates the polarized light onto the workpiece. It is effective to increase. However, because the size of the polarizing plate is limited and it is difficult to increase the size of the polarizing plate, at present, the shape of the reflector directly above the rod-shaped lamp is changed to an elliptical shape when viewed in the axial direction of the rod-shaped lamp. Although light loss is reduced, it is still difficult to obtain a sufficient amount of light.

  This invention is made | formed in view of the above, Comprising: It aims at providing the polarized light irradiation apparatus which can increase the light quantity of the light radiate | emitted from an apparatus, without enlarging a polarizing plate.

  The polarized light irradiation apparatus of the embodiment includes a light source, a main reflection plate, a polarizing plate, and an auxiliary reflection plate. The light source emits light including ultraviolet rays. The main reflector controls the light distribution of the light emitted from the light source. The polarizing plate is disposed on the traveling direction side of the light whose light distribution is controlled by the main reflector with respect to the main reflector, and the light distribution is controlled by the light emitted from the light source and the main reflector. Light enters and emits polarized light. The auxiliary reflecting plate is disposed between the main reflecting plate and the polarizing plate, and main light that does not go to the polarizing plate among light emitted from the light source and light whose light distribution is controlled by the main reflecting plate. Reflects on the reflector side.

  According to the present invention, the amount of light emitted from the apparatus can be increased without increasing the size of the polarizing plate.

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing the configuration of the polarized light irradiation apparatus according to the embodiment. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the polarized light irradiation apparatus shown in FIG. 1 as viewed in the X-axis direction. FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showing a light irradiation state in the polarized light irradiation apparatus shown in FIG. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram for the conditions of the polarized light irradiation apparatus for testing. FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of the auxiliary reflector of the polarized light irradiation apparatus to be tested. FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a modification of the polarized light irradiation apparatus according to the embodiment. FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a modification of the polarized light irradiation device according to the embodiment. FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of a polarized light irradiation apparatus that does not include an auxiliary reflector.

  The polarized light irradiation device 1 according to the embodiment described below includes a light source 5, a main reflection plate 10, a polarizing plate 30, and an auxiliary reflection plate 20. The light source 5 emits light including ultraviolet rays. The main reflector 10 controls the light distribution of the light emitted from the light source 5. The polarizing plate 30 is disposed with respect to the main reflecting plate 10 on the traveling direction side of the light whose light distribution is controlled by the main reflecting plate 10, and is arranged by the light emitted from the light source 5 and the main reflecting plate 10. Light with controlled light is incident and emits polarized light. The auxiliary reflecting plate 20 is disposed between the main reflecting plate 10 and the polarizing plate 30, and out of the light emitted from the light source 5 and the light whose light distribution is controlled by the main reflecting plate 10. The light which is not directed to the main reflection plate 10 is reflected.

  Moreover, the polarized light irradiation device 1 according to the embodiment described below further includes a bandpass filter 35 that transmits only light of a specific wavelength, and the bandpass filter 35 includes the auxiliary reflector 20 and the polarizing plate 30. Between the two.

  In the polarized light irradiation device 1 according to the embodiment described below, the main reflector 10 is a condensing reflector that condenses the light emitted from the light source 5 on the polarizing plate 30, and is an auxiliary reflector. 20 reflects the light emitted from the light source 5 to the auxiliary reflector 20 toward the light source 5.

  In the polarized light irradiation device 1 according to the embodiment described below, the light source 5 is formed in a linear shape, and the auxiliary reflector 20 is auxiliary reflection when viewed in a direction along the axis of the light source 5. The shape of the surface 21 is formed as a partial circular shape centered on the axis of the light source 5.

Embodiment
Next, the polarized light irradiation apparatus according to the embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing the configuration of the polarized light irradiation apparatus according to the embodiment. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the polarized light irradiation apparatus shown in FIG. 1 as viewed in the X-axis direction. The polarized light irradiation apparatus 1 shown in the figure is used for manufacturing, for example, an alignment film of a liquid crystal panel and an alignment film of a viewing angle compensation film. The reference direction of the polarization axis of the ultraviolet rays irradiated on the surface of the workpiece W is appropriately set according to the structure, application, or required specification of the workpiece W. Hereinafter, the width direction of the workpiece W is referred to as the X-axis direction, orthogonal to the X-axis direction, and the longitudinal direction of the workpiece W (also referred to as the conveyance direction) is referred to as the Y-axis direction, and orthogonal to the Y-axis direction and the X-axis direction. This direction is called the Z-axis direction. Regarding the direction parallel to the Z axis, the direction toward the tip of the arrow indicating the direction of the Z axis is referred to as upward, and the direction facing the direction toward the tip of the arrow indicating the direction of the Z axis is referred to as downward.

  The polarized light irradiation apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment has a light source 5 that emits light including ultraviolet light, a main reflection plate 10 that controls light distribution of light emitted from the light source 5, and a main reflection plate 10. The light is arranged on the traveling direction side of the light whose light distribution is controlled by the main reflector 10, and the light emitted from the light source 5 and the light whose light distribution is controlled by the main reflector 10 are incident and polarized light. The polarizing plate 30 which radiates | emits. Among these, the light source 5 is a rod-shaped or linear light source.

  The light source 5 is, for example, a high-pressure mercury lamp in which a rare gas such as mercury, argon, or xenon is sealed in a glass tube that transmits ultraviolet light, or a metal halide lamp in which a metal halide such as iron or iodine is further sealed in a high-pressure mercury lamp. The tube lamp has a linear light emitting portion. The longitudinal direction of the light emitting part of the light source 5 is parallel to the X-axis direction, and the length of the light emitting part of the light source 5 is longer than the width of the workpiece W. The light source 5 can emit light including ultraviolet rays having a wavelength of 200 nm to 400 nm, for example, from a linear light emitting unit, and the light emitted from the light source 5 has various polarization axis components. It is unpolarized light.

  Further, the main reflection plate 10 has a main reflection surface 11 that reflects light emitted from the light source 5 on a surface facing the light source 5, and the main reflection surface 11 is a bar-shaped light source 5. The shape when viewed in the axial direction, that is, the shape when viewed in the direction along the axial center, that is, the shape when viewed in the X-axis direction, is a shape in which a part of the ellipse is opened. The main reflector 10 is provided so that the lamp center C, which is the axis of the light source 5, is located at one of the two elliptical focal points of the main reflecting surface 11, and the other focal side is open. doing. Since the main reflection surface 11 has a shape of a part of an ellipse, the main reflector 10 emits light emitted from the light source 5 when the light source 5 is disposed at one focal point. This is a so-called concentrating reflector that condenses light near the focal point. Further, the main reflector 10 is disposed in an orientation that opens in the Z-axis direction.

  The main reflector 10 extends in parallel with the light source 5 in these shapes along the light source 5 formed in a rod shape. Further, the main reflector 10 is a portion of the main reflecting surface 11 on the side opposite to the side where the ellipse is open, in the vicinity of the portion where the curvature of the ellipse is maximized, in the circumferential direction of the ellipse or in the Y-axis direction. A gap 12 is formed. That is, the gap 12 is formed on the side opposite to the side where the ellipse of the main reflection surface 11 is opened in the Z-axis direction when viewed from the light source 5. The main reflector 10 has a space 12 between the inner side and the outer side of the ellipse. The main reflector 10 is configured as a cold mirror in which the base material is made of glass and the main reflection surface 11 is formed of a multilayer film.

  Further, the polarizing plate 30 can extract light having a polarization axis oscillated only in the reference direction from light having various polarization axis components emitted from the light source 5 and uniformly oscillated in all directions. Note that light having a polarization axis that vibrates only in the reference direction is generally referred to as linearly polarized light. The polarization axis is the vibration direction of the electric field and magnetic field of light.

  The polarizing plate 30 is disposed on the side where the ellipse of the main reflecting surface 11 is open in the Z-axis direction with respect to the light source 5 and the main reflecting plate 10. The main reflector 10, which is a condensing reflector, is disposed so that light can be condensed on the polarizing plate 30. Further, the polarizing plate 30 is surrounded by the polarizing plate frame 31 in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction, whereby the polarizing plate 30 is held by the polarizing plate frame 31.

  The polarizing plate 30 is a wire grid polarizing element in which a plurality of linear electric conductors (for example, metal wires such as chromium and aluminum alloy) are arranged in parallel at equal intervals on a substrate such as quartz glass. The longitudinal direction of the electrical conductor is orthogonal to the reference direction. It is desirable that the pitch of the electric conductors is 1/3 or less of the wavelength of the ultraviolet rays emitted from the light source 5. The polarizing plate 30 reflects or absorbs most of the ultraviolet light emitted from the light source 5 with the polarization axis parallel to the longitudinal direction of the electric conductor, and passes the ultraviolet light with the polarization axis orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the electric conductor. Irradiate toward the workpiece W.

  In the present embodiment, the polarizing plate 30 is arranged such that the longitudinal direction of the electric conductor is parallel to the Y-axis direction, and allows ultraviolet rays having a polarization axis parallel to the X-axis direction to pass therethrough. That is, in this embodiment, the reference direction is parallel to the X-axis direction.

  A band pass filter 35 that transmits only a specific wavelength of light emitted from the light source 5 is disposed between the polarizing plate 30 and the light source 5, and the band pass filter 35 is close to the polarizing plate 30. Alternatively, they are arranged in contact with each other. The band-pass filter 35 is a known band-pass filter, and transmits ultraviolet light having a predetermined wavelength such as 254 nm or 365 nm among light emitted from the light source 5 and transmits light having other wavelengths. It is possible to regulate. Similarly to the polarizing plate 30, the bandpass filter 35 is disposed in a direction facing the Z-axis direction, and is surrounded by a filter frame 36 in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction. As a result, the bandpass filter 35 is held by the filter frame 36.

  Further, between the main reflecting plate 10 and the polarizing plate 30, the light that is not directed to the polarizing plate 30 among the light emitted from the light source 5 and the light whose distribution is controlled by the main reflecting plate 10 is transmitted to the main reflecting plate. An auxiliary reflector 20 that reflects toward the side 10 is disposed. Specifically, the auxiliary reflector 20 is disposed between the open portion of the main reflector 10 and the bandpass filter 35 or between the light source 5 and the bandpass filter 35. 20 is arranged in a state of being in proximity to or in contact with the band-pass filter 35.

  The auxiliary reflecting plate 20 has an auxiliary reflecting surface 21 that reflects light from the light source 5 and the main reflecting plate 10 on the surface facing the light source 5 and the main reflecting plate 10. The auxiliary reflection surface 21 has a shape of a part of a circular shape in which the shape of the light source 5 formed in a rod shape when viewed in the axial direction, that is, when viewed in the X-axis direction, is partially open.

  The auxiliary reflecting plate 20 is provided so that the lamp center C is positioned at the center of the circular shape of the auxiliary reflecting surface 21, and is a portion positioned closer to the main reflecting plate 10 than the position of the circular center in the Z-axis direction. The shape is removed. Thereby, the auxiliary | assistant reflecting plate 20 is opened toward the side in which the light source 5 and the main reflecting plate 10 are located in a Z-axis direction.

  Further, the radius of the auxiliary reflecting surface 21 is larger than the distance from the lamp center C to the outer end of the main reflector 10 in the radial direction centered on the lamp center C. For this reason, in the portion where both the main reflector 10 and the auxiliary reflector 20 are located in the Z-axis direction, the auxiliary reflector 20 is located on the outer side in the radial direction centered on the lamp center C. Yes.

  The auxiliary reflector 20 extends in parallel with the light source 5 in these shapes along the light source 5 formed in a rod shape. Further, in the auxiliary reflecting plate 20, an opening 22 is formed in a portion of the auxiliary reflecting surface 21 opposite to the side where the circle is open, by a gap in the circular circumferential direction or the Y-axis direction.

  Specifically, the opening 22 is formed in the auxiliary reflector 20 in the vicinity where the auxiliary reflection surface 21 is closest to the bandpass filter 35, and the width of the opening 22 in the Y-axis direction is the polarizing plate 30 in the same direction. It is slightly larger than the width. The positional relationship between the auxiliary reflector 20 and the polarizing plate 30 is arranged such that the opening 22 includes a region where the polarizing plate 30 is provided when viewed in the Z-axis direction. Further, the auxiliary reflector 20 is configured as a cold mirror in which the base material is made of glass like the main reflector 10 and the auxiliary reflector 21 is formed by a multilayer film.

  The polarized light irradiation apparatus 1 according to this embodiment is configured as described above, and the operation thereof will be described below. FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showing a light irradiation state in the polarized light irradiation apparatus shown in FIG. When the polarized light irradiation apparatus 1 performs an alignment process on a workpiece W such as an alignment film of a liquid crystal panel or an alignment film of a viewing angle compensation film, the workpiece W is transferred to the workpiece W by a workpiece W transport device (not shown). Light including ultraviolet rays is emitted from the light source 5 while being conveyed in the direction of the arrow Y1 parallel to the axial direction.

  A part of the light emitted from the light source 5 is directed toward the opening 22 of the auxiliary reflector 20, passes through the opening 22, and enters the bandpass filter 35 (for example, L1 in FIG. 3). ). The band-pass filter 35 transmits only ultraviolet light without transmitting anything other than ultraviolet light, and emits only ultraviolet light from the surface opposite to the light incident surface.

  The ultraviolet rays emitted from the bandpass filter 35 are incident on the polarizing plate 30 located on the opposite side of the bandpass filter 35 from the side on which the auxiliary reflector 20 is located. The opening 22 of the auxiliary reflector 20 has a slightly larger width than the polarizing plate 30 in the Y-axis direction, and the polarizing plate 30 is disposed in the opening 22 when viewed in the Z-axis direction. Since the region is disposed so as to include the region, almost all of the ultraviolet light that has exited from the opening 22 and has passed through the band-pass filter 35 enters the polarizing plate 30.

  The polarizing plate 30 does not pass most of the incident ultraviolet rays having a polarization axis parallel to the longitudinal direction of the electric conductor constituting the polarizing plate 30 and only the ultraviolet rays having a polarization axis orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the electric conductor. Pass through. Thereby, the polarizing plate 30 collects and emits only the ultraviolet rays oscillated in the reference direction from the surface opposite to the surface on which the bandpass filter 35 is located to the focal point F. The ultraviolet rays emitted from the polarizing plate 30 and oscillating in the reference direction are applied to the workpiece W, and the alignment treatment is performed on the workpiece W by the ultraviolet rays oscillating only in the reference direction.

  Of the light emitted from the light source 5, the light directed toward the main reflecting surface 11 of the main reflecting plate 10 is reflected by the main reflecting surface 11, and a part of the light is directed toward the opening 22 of the auxiliary reflecting plate 20. Head (for example, L2 in FIG. 3). The light traveling toward the opening 22 passes through the opening 22 and enters the bandpass filter 35, and only the ultraviolet rays are emitted. The ultraviolet light emitted from the bandpass filter 35 enters the polarizing plate 30, and only the ultraviolet light that oscillates in the reference direction is emitted and applied to the workpiece W to be subjected to the alignment process.

  The main reflecting surface 11 of the main reflecting plate 10 is provided so that the light emitted from the light source 5 can be condensed on the polarizing plate 30, whereby the main reflecting plate 10 is provided from the light source 5. It is possible to control the light distribution of the emitted light. For this reason, most of the light reflected by the main reflecting surface 11 is directed to the opening 22 of the auxiliary reflecting plate 20 and passes through the band-pass filter 35 and the polarizing plate 30 to become ultraviolet rays that vibrate in the reference direction. W is irradiated.

  Further, of the light emitted from the light source 5, most of the light that has not been directed to the direction of the opening 22 of the auxiliary reflecting plate 20 or the direction of the main reflecting surface 11 is directed to the auxiliary reflecting surface 21 of the auxiliary reflecting plate 20. Reflected by the auxiliary reflecting surface 21. Since the auxiliary reflecting surface 21 has a circular shape centered on the lamp center C, the light emitted from the light source 5 toward the auxiliary reflecting surface 21 (for example, L3 and L4 in FIG. 3) is emitted from the light source 5. (For example, L3 ′ and L4 ′ in FIG. 3). Thus, a part of the light directed toward the light source 5 is transmitted through the light source 5 and another part of the light passes in the vicinity of the light source 5, so that this light is first auxiliary reflected from the light source 5. Heading in the direction opposite to the traveling direction when heading to the surface 21. Thereby, this light is reflected by the main reflecting surface 11 in the direction of the main reflecting surface 11 of the main reflecting plate 10.

  In other words, the light emitted from the light source 5 and directly directed to the auxiliary reflecting surface 21 of the auxiliary reflecting plate 20 is reversed in the traveling direction on the auxiliary reflecting surface 21 toward the light source 5 and passes through or near the light source 5. , It passes in the direction of the main reflecting surface 11 and is reflected by the main reflecting surface 11. Most of the light reflected by the main reflecting surface 11 is directed to the opening 22 of the auxiliary reflecting plate 20 in the same manner as the light emitted from the light source 5 and directly reflected by the main reflecting surface 11 toward the main reflecting surface 11. By passing through the band pass filter 35 and the polarizing plate 30, the work W is irradiated with ultraviolet rays that oscillate in the reference direction.

  As described above, most of the light reflected by the main reflecting surface 11 is directed to the opening 22 and transmitted through the band-pass filter 35 and the polarizing plate 30 to be irradiated with ultraviolet rays oscillating in the reference direction to the workpiece W. Is done.

  In the polarized light irradiation device 1 according to the present embodiment, light other than light directed directly to the opening 22 of the auxiliary reflection plate 20 among the light emitted from the light source 5 is transmitted between the main reflection plate 10 and the auxiliary reflection plate 20. By reflecting and guiding the light to the opening 22, a lot of light emitted from the light source 5 can be irradiated onto the workpiece W as ultraviolet light that vibrates in the reference direction.

  In addition, when the polarized light irradiation device 1 irradiates ultraviolet rays as described above, the light source 5 that is a light source emits light while emitting heat, but the air whose temperature is increased by this heat flows upward, and from the gap portion 12. It escapes above the main reflector 10. Thereby, the polarized light irradiation apparatus 1 irradiates the work W with ultraviolet rays without the temperature becoming too high.

  In addition, the inventors tested the change in the amount of light when the auxiliary reflection plate 20 is provided in the polarized light irradiation device 1 with respect to the polarized light irradiation device 40 without the auxiliary reflection plate 20. FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of a polarized light irradiation apparatus that does not include an auxiliary reflector. First, a polarized light irradiation apparatus 40 that does not include the auxiliary reflector 20 as in a conventional polarized light irradiation apparatus will be described. Similar to the polarized light irradiation device 1 according to the present embodiment, the polarized light irradiation device 40 includes a linear light source 5 as a light source, and the main reflection surface 11 formed in a partial shape of an ellipse. The main reflector 10 is provided.

  Further, a band pass filter 35 that transmits only ultraviolet rays is disposed on the opening side of the main reflector 10, and the side opposite to the side where the light source 5 and the main reflector 10 are disposed in the band pass filter 35. Is provided with a polarizing plate 30 that polarizes and emits transmitted light. In the polarized light irradiation device 40 without the auxiliary reflector 20, since there is no auxiliary reflector 20, the bandpass filter 35 and the polarizing plate 30 are reflected directly from the light source 5 or by the main reflection surface 11 of the main reflector 10. The light that does not pass through is blocked by the filter frame 36 and the polarizing plate frame 31, so that the workpiece W is not irradiated.

  The inventors obtained the amount of light irradiated on the workpiece W side by the polarized light irradiation device 1 according to the present embodiment with respect to the amount of light irradiated on the workpiece W side by such a polarized light irradiation device 40 by a test.

  FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram for the conditions of the polarized light irradiation apparatus for testing. FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of the auxiliary reflector of the polarized light irradiation apparatus to be tested. In the test, a square polarizing plate 30 having a distance from the lamp center C to the polarizing plate 30 of 115 mm, an effective light emission length of the light source 5 (length in the X-axis direction) of 800 mm, and a side length of 50 mm is measured in the X-axis direction. The polarized light irradiation devices 1 and 40 arranged in the same manner were used. Moreover, in the polarized light irradiation apparatus 1 provided with the auxiliary reflecting plate 20, the test was performed with the width of the opening 22 of the auxiliary reflecting plate 20 in the Y-axis direction set to 70 mm and the radius of the auxiliary reflecting surface 21 set to 96.9 mm. The auxiliary reflecting plate 20 is fixed by an auxiliary reflecting plate frame 25 disposed in the opening 22, and the width of the opening 22 is 70 mm between the auxiliary reflecting plate frames 25 in the Y-axis direction. It is a distance.

  The light source 5 is caused to emit light with these polarized light irradiation devices 1 and 40, and the amount of ultraviolet light transmitted through the polarizing plate 30 is measured using an ultraviolet integrated light meter / UVD-S254 manufactured by Ushio Inc. as an ultraviolet ray measuring device. did. As a result, when the amount of light of the polarized light irradiation device 40 not provided with the auxiliary reflector 20 is 1.0, it is confirmed that the amount of light is 1.2 in the polarized light irradiation device 1 including the auxiliary reflector 20. It was.

  In the polarized light irradiation device 1 according to the above embodiment, light that does not go directly to the polarizing plate 30 from the light source 5 or the main reflecting plate 10 is reflected between the main reflecting plate 10 and the polarizing plate 30 toward the main reflecting plate 10 side. Since the auxiliary reflecting plate 20 is disposed, this light can be reflected by the main reflecting plate 10 and directed toward the polarizing plate 30. Thereby, in the conventional polarized light irradiation apparatus 40 which does not have the auxiliary | assistant reflecting plate 20, the direct light from the light source 5 which was lost without entering into the polarizing plate 30 can be utilized effectively, and the polarizing plate 30 It is possible to increase the amount of light that passes through and irradiates the workpiece W. As a result, the amount of light emitted from the polarized light irradiation device 1 can be increased without increasing the size of the polarizing plate 30.

  The auxiliary reflecting plate 20 does not directly reflect the light reaching the auxiliary reflecting surface 21 toward the polarizing plate 30, but reflects it toward the main reflecting plate 10 and from the main reflecting plate 10 toward the polarizing plate 30. Since the light is reflected, the light emitted from the polarizing plate 30 can be emitted without being greatly diffused. Thereby, it can irradiate within the irradiation range of an ultraviolet ray, without illuminance changing greatly. As a result, the amount of light can be increased while making the irradiation state of the light emitted from the polarized light irradiation device 1 more appropriate.

  A bandpass filter 35 that transmits only light of a specific wavelength is disposed on the main reflector 10 side of the polarizing plate 30, and the auxiliary reflector 20 is disposed on the main reflector 10 side of the bandpass filter 35. Therefore, more light can be transmitted through the polarizing plate 30 after passing through the band-pass filter 35. As a result, more ultraviolet rays can be incident on the polarizing plate 30 from the bandpass filter 35, and more ultraviolet rays oscillated in the reference direction can be irradiated from the polarizing plate 30 to the workpiece W. As a result, the work W can be effectively aligned without increasing the size of the polarizing plate 30.

  In addition, since the main reflector 10 is a condensing reflector that collects light on the polarizing plate 30, the amount of light traveling toward the polarizing plate 30 can be increased more reliably. Further, since the auxiliary reflector 20 reflects light emitted from the light source 5 to the auxiliary reflector 20 toward the light source 5, the light that has not been directed to the polarizing plate 30 is directed from the light source 5 side to the main reflector 10. You can make it. Thereby, the light irradiated to the auxiliary reflecting plate 20 can be reflected by the main reflecting plate 10 and directed to the polarizing plate 30 without being irradiated from the light source 5 to the polarizing plate 30 and the main reflecting plate 10. . As a result, the amount of light emitted from the polarized light irradiation device 1 can be increased more reliably without increasing the size of the polarizing plate 30.

  The auxiliary reflector 20 is formed such that the shape of the auxiliary reflecting surface 21 when viewed in the direction along the axis of the light source 5 is a part of a circle centered on the axis of the light source 5. Therefore, the light emitted from the light source 5 to the auxiliary reflecting surface 21 can be more reliably reflected toward the light source 5 side. As a result, the light applied to the auxiliary reflecting surface 21 can be more reliably directed from the light source 5 toward the main reflecting plate 10 and reflected by the main reflecting plate 10 toward the polarizing plate 30. That is, by arranging the circular auxiliary reflector 20 centered on the lamp center C on the upper side of the polarizing plate 30, the light source 5 that has been lost without being incident on the polarizing plate 30 in the conventional polarized light irradiation device 40. Can be incident on the polarizing plate 30 more reliably. As a result, the amount of light emitted from the polarized light irradiation device 1 can be increased more reliably without increasing the size of the polarizing plate 30.

[Modification]
In addition, in the polarized light irradiation apparatus 1 described above, the auxiliary reflector 20 is disposed in a fixed state, but the auxiliary reflector 20 may be provided so as to be movable. For example, the auxiliary reflecting plate 20 can move one or both of the auxiliary reflecting plates 20 located on both sides of the opening 22 in the Y-axis direction, and the auxiliary reflecting plate 20 is moved to open and close the opening 22. It may be possible. By making the opening 22 openable and closable as described above, irradiation and non-irradiation of ultraviolet rays can be performed not only by turning on and off the light source 5 but also by opening and closing the opening 22. As a result, the number of times the light source 5 is switched on and off can be reduced, and the life of the light source 5 can be extended. Further, in the case of the light source 5 whose light emission is not stable immediately after lighting, the opening 22 is opened and closed while the light source 5 is kept on, so that it is stable in a short time even when switching from the non-irradiation state of ultraviolet rays to the irradiation state. Can be irradiated with ultraviolet rays.

  Further, in the polarized light irradiation device 1 described above, the main reflector 10 and the auxiliary reflector 20 are both made of glass and the reflective surface is formed of a multilayer film. May be provided with other materials. The main reflector 10 and the auxiliary reflector 20 may be entirely made of a metal such as aluminum, for example. Further, the main reflection surface 11 of the main reflection plate 10 and the auxiliary reflection surface 21 of the auxiliary reflection plate 20 do not have to be strictly formed in an elliptical shape or a circular shape.

  FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a modification of the polarized light irradiation apparatus according to the embodiment. For example, as shown in FIG. 6, the main reflection surface 11 and the auxiliary reflection surface 21 may be configured by a plurality of straight lines that approximate a curve of an ideal elliptical shape SE or an ideal circular shape SR. By configuring the main reflecting surface 11 and the auxiliary reflecting surface 21 with a plurality of straight lines as described above, the main reflecting plate 10 and the auxiliary reflecting plate 20 can be formed by bending a sheet metal. The auxiliary reflector 20 can be easily formed. As described above, the main reflection plate 10 and the auxiliary reflection plate 20 can form a reflection surface capable of appropriately reflecting light in a desired shape regardless of the material and configuration. A material and a structure are not ask | required.

  Further, in the polarized light irradiation apparatus 1 described above, the light source 5 is described using a so-called tube-type discharge lamp, but the light source 5 may be other than the discharge lamp. For example, the light source 5 emits light including ultraviolet rays, such as LED chips, laser diodes, organic EL, and other small lamps that can emit ultraviolet rays having a wavelength of 200 nm to 400 nm. Other than the discharge lamp may be used.

  FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a modification of the polarized light irradiation device according to the embodiment. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 7, the light source 5 may include a plurality of semiconductor elements 7 disposed on the side surface of the square bar 6. Since the wavelength of the semiconductor element 7 is more selective than when a lamp is used, light having a specific wavelength such as ultraviolet light can be incident on the polarizing plate 30 without using the bandpass filter 35. Therefore, the bandpass filter 35 can be omitted by using the semiconductor element 7 for the light source 5.

  Although several embodiments of the present invention have been described, these embodiments are presented by way of example and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These embodiments can be implemented in various other forms, and various omissions, replacements, and changes can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. These embodiments and modifications thereof are included in the invention described in the claims and equivalents thereof as well as included in the scope and gist of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1, 40 Polarized light irradiation apparatus 5 Light source 10 Main reflecting plate 11 Main reflecting surface 12 Gap part 20 Auxiliary reflecting plate 21 Auxiliary reflecting surface 22 Aperture 25 Auxiliary reflecting plate frame 30 Polarizing plate 31 Polarizing frame 35 Band pass filter 36 Filter frame

Claims (4)

A light source extending in one direction and emitting light including ultraviolet light;
A main reflector for controlling the light distribution of the light emitted from the light source;
The light distribution is controlled by the main reflector and the light emitted from the light source and the main reflector. A polarizing plate that emits polarized light upon incidence of light;
An opening through which light emitted from the light source and light whose light distribution is controlled by the main reflector passes, and is disposed between the main reflector and the polarizing plate; Of the emitted light and the light whose light distribution is controlled by the main reflector, an auxiliary reflector that reflects the light not directed to the polarizing plate toward the main reflector;
Comprising
In the main reflector, a gap portion that communicates the light source side of the main reflector and the outside of the main reflector opposite to the light source is provided above the light source.
Between the auxiliary reflector and the main reflector, an opening communicating with the outside is provided ,
In the cross section orthogonal to the one direction, the width of the opening is a polarized light irradiation device larger than the width of the polarizing plate . Furthermore, it comprises a bandpass filter that transmits only light of a specific wavelength,
The polarized light irradiation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the band pass filter is disposed between the auxiliary reflector and the polarizing plate. The main reflector is a condensing reflector that condenses the light emitted from the light source onto the polarizing plate,
The polarized light irradiation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the auxiliary reflection plate reflects light emitted from the light source to the auxiliary reflection plate toward the light source. The light source is formed in a linear shape,
The auxiliary reflector is formed such that the shape of the reflection surface when viewed in a direction along the axis of the light source is a part of a circle centered on the axis of the light source. 4. The polarized light irradiation apparatus according to any one of 3 above.

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