JP4545596B2 - Light emitting device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a light-emitting device that is provided, for example, in a part of a housing that houses a device main body such as an air purifier, and emits light according to the operation status of the device.

  Conventionally, in an apparatus such as an air conditioner, in order to make the user visually recognize the driving state or to improve the visual effect as a decoration, a light emitting device that emits light from a light emitting part formed on a part of the front panel is provided. Is known (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  In this type of light-emitting device, light from a light source is applied to the light-emitting portion, which is a transparent member provided on a part of the front panel, from the back side, thereby causing the light-emitting portion to emit light. In patent document 1, the reflection part which opposes the back side surface of the light emission part which has length in the vertical direction is provided, and the light of LED which is a light source is irradiated to the reflection part from the one end side of the longitudinal direction of a light emission part. Reflected light from the reflecting part is applied to the back surface of the light emitting part, and the structure is relatively compact.

  However, in the light emitting device having such a configuration, since the LED light is emitted from one end side in the longitudinal direction of the light emitting unit toward the reflecting unit, the LED light emitted to the reflecting unit is strong in the vicinity of the LED. As a result, the amount of light on the other end side (position far from the LED) is weaker than the one end side (LED side) of the light emitting section, and a light / dark difference occurs in the light emitting state of the light emitting section. There is an inconvenience that cannot be made.

  On the other hand, in order to make the elongated light emitting part having a length in one direction emit light without contrast, it is conceivable that a large number of LEDs arranged in the longitudinal direction of the light emitting part are opposed to the back side of the light emitting part. However, since the number of parts increases and the number of assembly steps increases, there is a disadvantage that the manufacturing cost increases. In addition, it is conceivable that a fluorescent tube such as a cold cathode tube is opposed to the back surface side of the light emitting unit so as to emit light uniformly over the entire length of the light emitting unit. There is an inconvenience that increases.

In addition, it is conceivable that a small number of LEDs are opposed to the substantially central portion on the back side of the light emitting portion to prevent an increase in manufacturing cost. It is necessary to increase the distance between the back surface of the light emitting unit and the LED to make the light source contour of the LED ambiguous. For this reason, it is necessary to increase the distance between the device main body inside the housing and the front panel, which disadvantageously increases the size of the housing.
JP 2002-13795 A

  In order to eliminate such inconvenience, the present invention provides a light-emitting device that can uniformly emit light over the entire length of the light-emitting portion of an elongated light guide, and is compact and inexpensive. Objective.

In order to achieve this object, the present invention provides a light-emitting device that is provided on a part of a front panel of a housing that houses a device main body and emits light according to the operation status of the device, and penetrates the front panel. A light guide that exposes the elongated light-emitting portion, an elongated light-receiving portion formed along the light-emitting portion on the side of the light guide located inside the housing, and at least the light-receiving portion A reflecting portion having a length that opposes the entire length and having a reflecting surface in a direction intersecting the longitudinal direction of the light receiving portion, and a posture in which the optical axis faces the substantially central portion in the longitudinal direction of the reflecting portion. A light source provided, and the light source is provided at a position where light is irradiated at least over the entire reflection surface of the reflection portion , and the front panel is detachably provided from the housing, In the case facing the back side of the front panel, A reinforcing plate is provided for reinforcing the housing, wherein the reflective portion is characterized by being formed by cutting and raising obliquely part of the reinforcing plate.

  According to the light emitting device of the present invention, light from the light source is reflected by the reflecting surface of the reflecting portion, enters the light receiving portion of the light guide, and the light emitting portion of the light guide emits light. The reflecting surface of the reflecting portion is directed in a direction intersecting the longitudinal direction of the light receiving portion. That is, the one end edge side in the direction orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the reflecting surface is provided so as to be gradually separated from the light receiving portion. The light source is provided at a position where the optical axis thereof is directed to a substantially central portion in the longitudinal direction of the reflecting portion, and at a distance where light is irradiated at least over the entire reflecting surface of the reflecting portion.

  As a result, the light source can be provided in a gap between the front panel and the device main body inside the housing, and the distance between the light receiving unit and the light source can be increased without providing a large distance in the depth direction of the housing. Therefore, it is possible to irradiate the light receiving unit with uniform light by obscure the outline of the light source. And a small number (1-3 pieces) LED can be used as a light source, and it can manufacture cheaply, suppressing the increase in a number of parts.

Further, since the reflection portion is formed by obliquely cutting and raising a part of the reinforcing plate, the number of parts can be reduced, and it can be easily manufactured at low cost.

  Further, when the reinforcing plate is formed of a metal plate having a surface galvanized (particularly, hot dip galvanized), the reflective portion has a galvanized eye direction of the reflective surface in the longitudinal direction of the reflective portion. It is preferable that it is provided so as to face. Thereby, since the diffused light hitting the reflecting surface extends along the eye direction, the reflected light from the reflecting part is uniformly irradiated over the entire length of the light receiving part, and the light / dark difference in the light emitting part can be reduced.

  An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a warm air heater with an air purifying function employing the light emitting device of the present embodiment, and FIG. 2 is an explanatory perspective view showing a configuration of the light emitting device of the present embodiment by cutting a part of FIG. FIG. 3, FIG. 3 is an explanatory side view of the light guide, FIG. 4 is an explanatory cross-sectional view showing the operation of the light emitting device of the present embodiment, and FIG. 5 is an explanatory perspective view showing the reflecting portion.

  The light-emitting device 1 of this embodiment is provided in a part of the front panel 4 of the housing | casing 3 of the warm air heater 2 with an air purifying function as shown in FIG.1 and FIG.2, and warm air heating with an air purifying function is carried out. The light is emitted according to the operation status of the machine 2.

  The front panel 4 is provided so as to be removable from the housing 3, and a light emission window portion 5 is formed through a part of the front panel 4. The light emitting window 5 is provided with a light guide 6 formed of a transparent or translucent synthetic resin. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the light guide 6 is formed in an elongated shape in the vertical direction, the front end surface is exposed from the front panel 4 as the light emitting portion 7, and the rear end surface is the front surface as the light receiving portion 8. It is provided inside the panel 4.

  A device body (not shown) is accommodated in the housing 3 of the warm air heater 2 with an air cleaning function, and a metal reinforcing plate is provided between the front panel 4 and the device body as shown in FIG. 9 is provided. The reinforcing plate 9 is provided with a reflection part 10 formed by cutting and raising a part, and a light source support part 12 for supporting an LED 11 as a light source. Thus, the light-emitting device 1 in this embodiment is comprised by the said light guide 6, the said reflection part 10, and said LED11 which is a light source.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, the reflecting portion 10 includes a reflecting surface 13 that faces the light receiving portion 8 of the light guide 6 at a predetermined angle. In other words, one end edge side (tip edge when cut and raised) in a direction orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the reflecting surface 13 is inclined so as to approach the light receiving unit 8. Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the LED 11 is provided in a posture in which the optical axis is directed to a substantially central portion in the longitudinal direction of the reflecting portion 10, and a distance at which light is irradiated at least over the entire length of the reflecting surface 13 of the reflecting portion 10. It is supported by the light source support 12 at the existing position.

  With such a configuration, as shown in FIG. 4, the light from the LED 11 is reflected by the reflecting surface 13 of the reflecting portion 10 and enters the light receiving portion 8 of the light guide 6, and the light emitting portion 7 of the light guide 6 emits light. . The LED 11 and the reflecting surface 13 of the reflecting portion 10 face each other in the direction intersecting the longitudinal direction of the light guide 6, so that the light guide is not provided with a large distance in the depth direction of the housing 3. The distance between the six light receiving portions 8 and the LEDs 11 can be increased. As a result, the vertical contour of the LED 11 in the light emitting state can be obscured to irradiate the light receiving unit 8 with uniform light, and light can be emitted uniformly over the entire length of the light emitting unit 7.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the cut-and-raised angle θ of the reflecting portion 10 is made smaller than 45 ° so that the reflection width of the light hitting the light receiving portion 8 of the light guide 6 is relatively wide. Since the contour of the direction is ambiguous and the light receiving unit 8 is irradiated with uniform light, it is possible to emit light more uniformly over the entire width of the light emitting unit 7.

  Furthermore, since the reflecting portion 10 and the light source support portion 12 are formed by cutting and raising a part of the reinforcing plate 9, the manufacturing thereof is extremely easy, and the number of components can be reduced and the manufacturing cost can be reduced. Moreover, even if the LED 11 as a light source is single or few (2, 3), the light emission part 7 of the light guide 6 can be light-emitted uniformly. In the present embodiment, since the LEDs 11 can be provided in the space between the front panel 4 and the reinforcing plate 9, as shown in FIG. 2, three LEDs 11 each having a different emission color are provided for operation. The light emitting unit 7 can emit light in different colors depending on the situation.

  In the present embodiment, it is conceivable to prevent corrosion by applying hot dip galvanizing to the metal surface as the reinforcing plate 9, but when the plating surface direction is generated on the reflective surface 13, FIG. As shown in FIG. 5, the reflecting portion 10 is cut and raised to match the plating direction in the longitudinal direction of the reflecting surface 13 (the direction indicated by the arrow in the figure). Thereby, the light of the LED 11 that strikes the reflecting surface 13 of the reflecting unit 10 can be diffused along the eye direction, and the reflected light from the reflecting unit 10 is uniformly irradiated over the entire length of the light receiving unit 8. The light / dark difference in can be reduced.

The perspective view which shows the warm air heater with an air purifying function which employ | adopted the light-emitting device of one Embodiment of this invention. FIG. 2 is an explanatory perspective view illustrating a configuration of the light emitting device according to the present embodiment by cutting a part of FIG. 1. An explanatory side view of a light guide. FIG. 6 is an explanatory cross-sectional view illustrating the operation of the light emitting device according to the embodiment. An explanatory perspective view showing a reflective part.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Light-emitting device, 3 ... Housing | casing, 4 ... Front panel, 6 ... Light guide, 7 ... Light-emitting part, 8 ... Light-receiving part, 9 ... Reinforcement plate, 10 ... Reflection part, 11 ... LED (light source), 13 ... Reflective surface.

Claims (2)

A light-emitting device that is provided on a part of a front panel of a housing that houses a device main body and emits light according to the operation status of the device,
A light guide that penetrates the front panel and exposes an elongated light emitting portion;
An elongated light-receiving part formed along the light-emitting part on the side of the light guide located inside the housing;
A reflective portion having a length facing at least the entire length of the light receiving portion and provided with a reflecting surface in a direction intersecting the longitudinal direction of the light receiving portion;
A light source provided in a posture in which the optical axis faces in a substantially central portion in the longitudinal direction of the reflecting portion,
The light source is provided at a position where there is a distance irradiated with light over the entire length of the reflecting surface of the reflecting portion ,
The front panel is provided detachably from the housing,
The casing facing the back side of the front panel is provided with a reinforcement plate that reinforces the casing,
The light emitting device according to claim 1, wherein the reflection portion is formed by obliquely raising a part of the reinforcing plate . The reinforcing plate is formed of a metal plate whose surface is galvanized,
The reflecting portion, the light emitting device according to claim 1, wherein the eye direction of the galvanizing of the reflecting surface is equal to or is provided et been to face the longitudinal direction of the reflective portion.

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