JPH0876703A - Light emitting body - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To enable the light emitting surface of a light emitting body to emit light without unequalness with fewer light sources by mounting a light emitting source at the end face of a planar member having transmissivity and covering the surface exclusive of the light emitting surface with reflection materials. CONSTITUTION: In the light emitting body 13, an acrylic resin is formed in a plate form and a part of the front surface 18 of the member is formed as the light emitting surface 11. A groove 16 for mounting the light source is formed at one end face 15. A reflection coating material is used for the reflection material 14 and is applied on the other circumferences, base 17 and a part of front surface 18 exclusive of the light emitting surface 11, i.e., the one end face 15 of the light emitting part body 13 to form the reflection surfaces 19. Then, a lighting circuit is connected to a fluorescent lamp 4. The light emitted by the fluorescent lamp 4 is made incident on the light emitting part body 13 when the fluorescent lamp 4 is lighted. A part of the emitted light is radiated from the light emitting surface 11 to make the light emitting surface 11 to be bright but a greater part is repetitively reflected between the reflection surfaces 19 of the reflection materials 14 and is, therefore, diffused uniformly and is radiated from the light emitting surface 11. As a result, the light emitting surface 11 is made to be bright uniformly as the light emission is executed by the diffused light.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a light-emitting body which can be used as, for example, a backlight for signs and signs, or can be used as a sign itself.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Signs for turning on a light source to indicate characters or patterns include, for example, electronic signboards and self-illuminating guide signs (including traffic signs).

As shown in FIG. 12, an electronic signboard or a guide sign comprises a case 2 having an opening 1 and a semitransparent display plate 3 attached to the opening 1, and a fluorescent lamp is used as a light source in the case 2. 4 is attached, and on the other hand, when the fluorescent lamp 4 is turned on by drawing a sign such as a character or a pattern on the display plate 3, the sign drawn on the display plate 3 is lifted by the light passing through the display plate 3, and the marking is displayed. You can do it.

By the way, in the above electronic signboards and guide signs,
Since the fluorescent lamp 4 has a linear shape or an annular shape, there is a problem in that the planar display panel 3 cannot be uniformly illuminated.

As one method for solving this problem, it is conceivable to increase the number of fluorescent lamps 4 which are light sources and suppress the occurrence of unevenness by planarizing the light sources, but in such a case, power consumption increases. Moreover, since the number of fluorescent lamps 4 is increased, the number of lighting circuits such as ballasts and choke coils is also increased, resulting in an increase in weight and cost. There is also a problem that the number of fluorescent lamps 4 cannot be increased in a small signboard or sign because of space.

In order to solve these problems, it has been attempted to use a small and lightweight light source which consumes less power and does not use a special lighting circuit or high voltage. For example, an LED lamp has been used. Since it is a light source, if the number of display areas is increased and the number is increased, unevenness occurs and the above problem cannot be sufficiently solved.

In view of the above, the first object of the present invention is to provide a planar light-emitting body which can be applied to a small signboard without increasing the power consumption, causing unevenness in light emission, and having a small weight increase. The second technical problem is to provide a light emitting body that can use an LED lamp even when the display area is large.

[0008]

In order to solve the first problem, in the first invention, the front surface of a transparent and uniform plate-shaped member is used as a light emitting surface, and a light source is provided on an end surface excluding the light emitting surface. Along with the mounting, a structure was adopted in which a reflective material was mounted on all the end surfaces except the light emitting surface.

In order to solve the second problem, the second invention adopts a configuration in which the light source is an LED lamp.

Further, in the third invention, a configuration is adopted in which the shape of the light emitting surface of the member is formed in accordance with the marking.

[0011]

In the first aspect of the invention configured as described above, when the light source is caused to emit light and light is incident from the end face of the member, a part of the incident light is directly emitted from the light emitting surface, but most of the remaining light is emitted. The light is repeatedly reflected between the reflectors attached to the surface other than the light emitting surface, and is diffused in the member to illuminate the light emitting surface. Therefore, the light emitting surface uniformly emits light by the diffused light. At this time, a reflection plate, a reflection paint, a reflection tape, or the like can be used as the reflection material, but in addition to this, a transparent member having a different refractive index may be attached to cause reflection at the boundary surface. .

In the second invention, since the light source is an LED lamp, it is possible to form a planar light-emitting body using the LED lamp. At the same time, by using the LED lamp, the power consumption can be reduced, the weight can be reduced, and the lighting circuit can be simplified.

In the third invention, even if the shape of the light emitting surface of the member is changed, the light emitting surface can be made to uniformly emit light by diffusion by the reflecting material. Therefore, by changing the shape of the light emitting surface,
Signs can be displayed.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

As a first embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a light emitting device 1 according to the first invention capable of uniformly emitting light in a planar manner.
Indicates 0.

The light emitting body 10 is composed of a light emitting portion 12 having a light emitting surface 11 and a light source (fluorescent lamp 4) attached to the light emitting portion 12.

The light emitting section 12 comprises a light emitting section main body 13 and a reflecting material 14 attached to the main body 13, and the light emitting section main body 13 is made of a transparent transparent acrylic material in the form of a plate. A part of the front surface 18 of the plate-shaped member is formed as the light emitting surface 11, and the light source mounting groove 16 is formed in the one end surface 15.

In the case of the embodiment, a reflective paint is used for the reflecting member 14, and the periphery other than the light emitting surface 11, that is, other than the one end surface 15 of the light emitting body 13 and the bottom surface 17 and a part of the upper surface 18 are used. The reflection surface 19 is formed by coating.

In the case of the embodiment, a straight tube type fluorescent lamp 4 is used as a light source, and the fluorescent lamp 4 is fitted into the mounting groove 16 and covered with a metallic reflector 20. It is fixed.

This embodiment is configured as described above. Now, when a lighting circuit is connected to the fluorescent lamp 4 and the fluorescent lamp 4 is turned on, the emitted light is incident on the light emitting section main body 13 and partly. Is emitted from the light emitting surface 11 to cause the light emitting surface 11 to emit light, but most of the light is repeatedly reflected between the reflecting surfaces 19 of the reflecting material 14, and thus is uniformly diffused and emitted from the light emitting surface 11. Therefore, since the diffused light emits light, the light emitting surface 11 can be uniformly illuminated.
At this time, the amount of light may be adjusted by arranging the fluorescent lamps 4 in parallel in the groove 16. Further, when the area of the light emitting unit main body 13 is large, the fluorescent lamp 4 may be arranged in series in the groove 16 or the groove 16 may be arranged in the end surface 15 other than the light emitting surface 11.

Therefore, this light emitting portion main body 13 is shown in FIG.
The signboard can be made to shine evenly by forming it in the same size as the electronic signboard or the display plate 3 of the sign, and providing it in the case 2 instead of the fluorescent lamp 4 of the conventional electronic signboard.

In addition to installing the light-emitting body 10 in a signboard and using it as a backlight, since the light-emitting body 13 is made of a transparent resin and has durability, the light-emitting body 10 can be used directly as a signboard or sign. You can also In that case, characters or figures for display may be directly drawn or attached to the light emitting unit 12.

As described above, since the light-emitting body 10 can emit light over a wide area with a small number of light sources without unevenness, it consumes less power and requires a minimum number of lighting circuits, thus achieving weight reduction. . Therefore, it can also be used for small signs and signs.

In the embodiment, an acrylic resin is used for the light emitting portion main body 13, but the light emitting portion main body 13 is not limited to this and may be transparent plastic or glass.

FIG. 3 shows an LED lamp 21 as a second embodiment.
A light-emitting body 10 according to a second aspect of the present invention, which is capable of performing planar light emission by using the.

This light-emitting body 10 is replaced with the mounting groove 16 of the light-emitting body 13 of the first embodiment shown in FIGS.
A hole 22 for mounting a light source is formed in the center of one end face 15.

In the case of the embodiment, the reflection material 19 is used as the reflection material 14.
A reflective tape 23 coated with a transparent adhesive is used, and the reflective surface 19 is brought into contact with the light emitting body 13 so that the side surface other than the light emitting surface 11, that is, the side surface and the bottom surface 17 and the front surface 1 of the member.
It is attached to a part of 8.

The LED lamp 21 is fixed by inserting it into the mounting hole 22 of the light emitting body 13 and attaching a reflection tape 23 on the inserted hole. This embodiment is configured as described above. Now, when the LED lamp 21 is connected to a power source and the LED lamp 21 is caused to emit light, the emitted light enters the light emitting unit main body 13 and a part of the emitted light is incident. Is emitted from the light emitting surface 11 and makes the light emitting surface 11 emit light. However, most of the light is repeatedly diffused by being repeatedly reflected between the reflection tapes 23 provided on the respective side surfaces and the bottom surface 17 to make the light emitting surface 11 emit light uniformly. be able to.

As described above, in this light emitting body 10, the LED
Since the light emitted from the lamp 21 is collected on the light emitting surface 11 to emit light, a relatively bright light emission can be performed even with the LED lamp 21 having a small light amount.

If it is desired to increase the amount of light, the number of attached LED lamps 21 may be increased. further,
When the light emitting area is large and a dark portion occurs in the central portion due to the long length of the light emitting unit main body 13, for example, the LED 21 may be attached to the end surface other than the light emitting surface 11 as shown in FIG. Good.

At this time, depending on the lens shape of the LED lamp 21, the half-width is small and the radiated light has a strong straight traveling property, so that the light is not sufficiently diffused inside the main body 13 and the light emission is uneven. In that case, as shown in FIG. 5 (a), the mounting hole 22 is angled to be reflected by the reflector 14 on the bottom surface 17, or as shown in FIG. 5 (b). The bottom surface 17 may be inclined to cause irregular reflection.

FIG. 6 shows a light emitting body 10 according to a third invention in which the shape of the light emitting surface is changed as a third embodiment.

The light-emitting body 10 is formed by forming a light-emitting body 13 and a light-emitting surface 11 of the light-emitting body 13 in the shape of an arrow and is used as a guide sign.

In this case, by using the LED lamp 21 as the light source, a solar cell can be used to make it a non-power source. The LED lamp 21 has a mounting hole 22 at the rear end 24 of the arrow. Installed. The cost is reduced by using a reflective tape 23 as the reflective material 14, and the reflective tape 23 is attached to the side surface and the bottom surface 17 and a part of the rear end 24 on the light emitting surface side.

As shown in FIG. 7, this guidance sign is incorporated in a signboard for guidance together with the solar cell 25, and the storage battery or the large-capacity capacitor is charged with the electric power generated by the solar cell 25 in the daytime. The LED lamp 21 is turned on at night using electric power. At this time, since the LED lamp 21 has low power consumption, marking can be performed throughout the night by only charging the solar cell 25.

On the other hand, at the time of this marking, since the reflecting material 14 is used, good visibility can be exhibited by the reflected light even when strong light is applied. Therefore, there is no problem that the visibility is deteriorated unless light emission stronger than the light from the outside such as a headlight is generated unlike the conventional signs.

At the time of this marking, for example, as shown in FIG.
As shown in (b), if the mounting angle of the LED lamp 21 is angled, since the lens of the lamp 21 has directivity, it is possible to add a bright portion to the display for accentuation.

FIG. 9 shows a fourth embodiment of the present invention, which is used as a cover plate 26 as another embodiment of the third invention, and FIG. 10 shows a fifth embodiment of a vehicle stop lamp 27 using an LED lamp 21. The one used for is shown. Further, in FIG. 11, as a sixth embodiment, the light emitting unit main body 13 is formed in a wire shape, and a light emitting source (the LED lamp 21 is used in FIG. 11 is used, but it may be other than this) is attached to the end portion thereof, and the light emitting surface 11 Is covered with a reflective material 14 and used as a substitute for a neon sign.

In the embodiment, the usage for the signboard and the sign has been described, but the invention is not limited to this and can be used, for example, as a backlight of an LCD display.

[0040]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the light emitting source is attached to the end surface of the transparent plate-like member and the portion other than the light emitting surface is covered with the reflective material, so that the light emitting surface is made uniform with less light source. Can be lit without light. Therefore, it is possible to provide a planar light-emitting body which is optimal for use in a signboard or a sign without increasing the power consumption and without increasing the weight.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the LED lamp is used as the light emitting source, it is possible to provide a planar light-emitting body with low power consumption and long life due to the LED lamp.

In the third invention, since the light emitting surface is formed according to the marking, it can be used in place of, for example, a traffic sign or a neon sign, so that it can be used for various markings. In particular, when it is used for a traffic sign, good visibility can be exhibited by the reflected light from the reflecting material even when the headlight shines strongly.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of a second embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an operation explanatory view showing another aspect of the second embodiment.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory view of the operation of the second embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of the third embodiment.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory view of the operation of the third embodiment.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory view of the operation of the third embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a plan view of the fourth embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a fifth embodiment.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory view of the operation of the sixth embodiment.

FIG. 12 is an exploded perspective view of a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Light-Emitting Body 11 Light-Emitting Surface 14 Reflecting Material 15 End Face 21 LED Lamp

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A light emitting body in which a front surface of a uniform transparent plate-shaped member is used as a light emitting surface, a light source is attached to an end surface excluding the light emitting surface, and a reflecting material is attached to all end surfaces excluding the light emitting surface. 2. The luminous body according to claim 1, wherein the light source is an LED lamp. 3. The light emitting body according to claim 1, wherein the shape of the light emitting surface of the member is formed according to the marking.