JPS6124683B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a light radiator that effectively diffuses and radiates light transmitted through a light guide cable, etc. The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing an optical radiator having an annular groove carved therein, in which the groove can be formed accurately and efficiently.

In recent years, we have entered an era of energy conservation, and research and development on the effective use of solar energy has been actively conducted in various fields. It is used as light energy without converting it into other forms of energy such as electrical energy. From this point of view, the present applicant focused sunlight using a lens or the like, introduced it into a light guide cable, transmitted it to any desired location through the light guide cable, and set up the light guide at that location. Various proposals have already been made regarding emitting light from cables for illumination and other uses. Therefore, when trying to use solar energy for lighting as described above, the light propagating inside the optical conductor cable has directionality, so it is necessary to cut the end of the optical conductor cable. When the light is emitted from the cut point, the emission angle is usually about 46°, which is quite narrow.
When trying to use sunlight to illuminate a room uniformly, it is recommended to simply cut the end of the optical conductor cable and emit light from the cut point. , it is not possible to provide satisfactory lighting. Therefore, the present applicant has proposed various optical radiators that can effectively diffuse the light propagated within the optical conductor cable and uniformly illuminate a wide area. This invention was also made as part of this,
Basically, a cylindrical light guide has a large number of grooves carved in an annular shape on the surface of the light guide, and the light propagated within the light guide is radiated out of the light guide through the grooves. It relates to a method for manufacturing a radiator, and in particular, the method includes a method for holding a cylindrical light guide from at least three directions and having a large number of cutting tools arranged along the axial direction of the light guide. The annular groove is formed by rotating the light guide or the cutting tool, so that the light guide can be held stably and an optical radiator can be manufactured accurately and efficiently. be.

FIG _. 1 is a front view showing an example of a light radiator manufactured by the manufacturing method according to the present invention. A large number of annular grooves are carved on the outer circumferential surface, and the light L propagated within the light guide 1 is reflected by the grooves and emitted outside the light guide for illumination or other uses. When forming a groove on the surface of a cylindrical light guide, a cutting tool is applied to the outer circumferential surface of the light guide, and by rotating the light guide or the cutting tool, an annular groove on the outer circumferential surface of the light guide can be formed. can be formed,
A spiral groove can be formed by rotating the light guide or the cutter in the axial direction of the light guide while rotating the light guide, but if the diameter of the light guide is very small, a single groove can be formed. When attempting to cut a groove using a cutting tool, force is applied to the light guide from only one direction, causing the light guide to bend and making it impossible to form a satisfactory groove. In order to solve these drawbacks, for example, two cutting tools are used, these cutting tools are arranged at symmetrical positions with respect to the light guide, and the light guide is held between these tools to form a groove. However, even then, the center of the light guide would deviate from the straight line connecting the two cutting tools, making it impossible to form a satisfactory groove.

The present invention has been made based on the above-mentioned technical background, and as shown in FIG _. 3n, and as shown in FIG. 3, these blades are applied to the central axis of the light guide from at least three directions (FIG. 3 shows an example in which they are applied from six directions); Light guide 1 or cutting tool 3 ₁
- 3n is rotated to form grooves 2 ₁ - 2n. In this way, when the cutting tool is applied to the light guide from at least three directions and the light guide is held, the center of the light guide can be held. Since the grooves can be carved while being held substantially constant, even flexible light guides with small diameters can be grooved without problems and with high precision. At this time, if the light guide 1 is placed under tension, the center of the light guide can be held more stably. Further, the arrangement density or cutting depth of the cutting tools is changed sequentially along the axial direction of the light guide, so that, for example, the light L is propagated from the left to the right in the light guide 1 as shown by the arrow. In this case, if the right groove density is gradually increased or the right groove depth is gradually deepened,
Light can be emitted substantially uniformly from the entire outer peripheral surface of the light guide 1.

4a to 4c are enlarged views of section A in FIG. 1, that is, diagrams showing the shape of the grooves. As shown by the arrow inside, a part of the light is reflected at the groove and emitted outside the light guide, and the unemitted light further travels inside the light guide, and is subsequently reflected at each groove in the same way and exits the light guide. Although the light is emitted outside the body, the light propagated within the light guide is actually focused light, so it is effectively diffused in each direction in each groove and emitted. However, as the light guide progresses, the luminous flux density within the light guide decreases, and the amount of light emitted from the light guide gradually decreases, so if you want to emit light uniformly from the entire surface of the light guide, As mentioned above, the groove density may be increased or the groove depth may be increased along the direction of propagation of the light. If not, by providing a reflecting mirror on the end face so that the light reflected by the reflecting mirror is also emitted to the outside through the groove, the light propagated within the light guide can be more effectively emitted to the outside of the light guide. can be done.

As is clear from the above description, according to the present invention, it is possible to accurately and efficiently form an annular groove on the outer circumferential surface of a light guide with a small diameter and easy to bend. We can provide highly accurate optical radiators.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an example of an optical radiator manufactured by the manufacturing method according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic front view for explaining an example of the optical radiator manufacturing method according to the invention, and FIG. The figure is a schematic plan view, and FIGS. 4a to 4c are enlarged views of section A in FIG. 1, respectively. 1... Light guide, 2 ₁ to 2n... Groove, 3 ₁ to 3n
……edged tool.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. Consisting of a cylindrical light guide having a large number of annular grooves on its surface, the light propagating within the light guide is reflected at the grooves and emitted to the outside of the light guide. A method for manufacturing an optical radiator comprising: a plurality of cutting tools disposed along the axial direction of the optical waveguide so as to hold the outer peripheral surface of the optical waveguide from at least three directions; A method for manufacturing an optical radiator, characterized in that the annular groove is formed by rotating a cutting tool. 2. The method of manufacturing an optical radiator according to claim 1, wherein the cutting tools are sequentially and densely arranged along the axial direction of the light guide. 3. The method of manufacturing an optical radiator according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the cutting depth of the groove becomes gradually deeper along the axial direction of the light guide.