JPH07220512A - Lens for luminaire - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To recognize luminescent light from various directions and make the light intensity in the direction perpendicularly a crossing a lens of a light source the same as that in other directions. CONSTITUTION:A lens 4 is transparent and a plurality of octogonal cone-shaped projections 16 are formed on one side of a plate-shaped base material 15 so as to form the recessed and projecting surface. The projections 16 are continuously arranged so that each projection 16 owns four sides 16a at a distance of one by one jointly with the side of an adjacent projection 16. In this arrangement, a non-diffusion part 17 which is a plane square flat surface is formed in a part surrounded by four sides 16b which are not jointly owned by four projections 16. Light L of a lamp 8 is diffused in the eight directions by refractive action depending on the angle of inclination in eight slants 18a-18h of each projection 16, but is not diffused in the non-diffusion part 17 and goes straight in the direction perpendicularly across the lower surface 4b of the lens 4. The light L is emitted in nine directions.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a lens used for illuminating an illuminating device or the like, and more specifically, by making the surface of a lens substrate uneven, light transmitted through the substrate is diffused in multiple directions. The present invention relates to an illuminating lens adapted to be used.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is an illumination lens in which the surface of a base material is made uneven so that light passing through the base material is diffused in multiple directions. This type of lens is used, for example, in an illuminating device such as an indicator lamp which is a display lamp for notifying the operating state of the device, or in an illuminating switch having an illuminating device that emits light when performing an ON operation. Then, in an illuminating device or the like equipped with this lens, the illumination can be confirmed from an oblique direction.

An example of an illumination lens is shown in FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 3, there is a plate-shaped base material 21 in which a plurality of quadrangular pyramid-shaped projections 22 are closely formed on one surface to form an uneven shape. In the lens having such a configuration, as shown in FIGS. 8 and 10, when the light L from the light source passes through the protrusion 22, each protrusion 22 is formed 4
The light will be diffused in each of the four directions due to the refraction effect within the one slope area.

[0004]

However, the above-mentioned illumination lens that diffuses light in four directions has a problem that the illumination cannot be sufficiently confirmed from multiple directions depending on the mounting position of the illumination device or the like.

For example, when an illuminated switch equipped with a lighting device is provided near the dashboard inside the vehicle, the switch is located at a position where the driver can confirm it in consideration of the light diffusion direction of the illumination lens. It is designed to be installed in. However, when the mounting position of the switch is arbitrarily changed, the diffusion direction of light and the visual recognition direction of the driver do not match, and it may not be possible to confirm the on / off state of the switch due to illumination. For this reason, it is necessary to newly provide a lighting device at a position where the driver can confirm, in addition to the switch, and the number of parts is increased, resulting in high cost.

Further, since the projection 22 is closely formed, the light transmitted through the illumination lens is not transmitted in the direction orthogonal to the lens, that is, in the front direction of the lens, and the luminous intensity of the light source in that direction. Is low compared to other directions.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above problems, and its purpose is to be able to sufficiently confirm the illumination from multiple directions and to change the luminous intensity in the direction orthogonal to the lens of the light source. It is an object of the present invention to provide an illumination lens that can be obtained in the same manner as the above.

[0008]

In order to solve the above problems, in the invention described in claim 1, the surface of the base material is made uneven so that the light passing through the base material is diffused. In the illuminating lens, a plurality of projections or recesses having a plurality of slopes are formed on the surface of the base material, and a flat surface is provided to make the surface uneven.

According to the second aspect of the invention, in the illumination lens in which the surface of the base material is made uneven so that the light passing through the base material is diffused, an outer shape is formed on the surface of the base material. A plurality of projections or recesses each having a polygonal shape and a plurality of slopes were formed in plural, and a flat surface was provided to make the surface uneven.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in an illumination lens in which the surface of the base material is made uneven so that the light passing through the base material is diffused, a polygonal pyramid is formed on the surface of the base material. By forming a plurality of projections or recesses each having a plurality of slopes in a shape and providing a flat surface, the surface was made uneven.

[0011]

According to the invention described in claim 1, the light passing through either the projection or the recess having a plurality of slopes is reflected in the number of the slopes by the refraction according to the inclination angle of each slope. It is diffused in the corresponding direction. Further, the light passing through the flat surface is not diffused but is illuminated in the direction orthogonal to the lens. Therefore, the illumination is sufficiently confirmed from multiple directions by either the protrusion or the recess, and the flat surface allows the luminous intensity in the direction orthogonal to the lens of the light source to be the same as in the other directions.

According to the second aspect of the invention, the light passing through either the projection or the recess having a polygonal outer shape and having a plurality of slopes depends on the number of the slopes as described above. Is diffused in the direction.

According to the third aspect of the invention, the light passing through either the projection or the recess having a polygonal outer shape and having a plurality of slopes depends on the number of the slopes as described above. Is diffused in the direction.

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment in which the present invention is embodied in an illuminated switch will be described below with reference to FIGS.

As shown in FIG. 2, the upper housing of the illuminated switch 1 (the upper side in FIG. 2 is the upper side, and the lower side is the lower side).
A knob 3 for a push button is housed in 2 so as to be vertically movable. A through hole 3a is formed in the knob 3, and a plate-shaped illumination lens (hereinafter, referred to as a lens) 4 is embedded and fixed in the through hole 3a. A hollow contact holder 6 protruding from the lower housing 5 so as to be vertically movable is fixed to the lower portion of the knob 3. The knob 3 is biased toward the upper end side of the upper housing 2 by a return spring 7 provided in the upper housing 2.

A lamp 8 is housed in the lower housing 5, and a movable contact 9 and a fixed contact 10 are provided. Further, the lower housing 5 is provided with a switch mechanism 14 including a swinging member 12 and a spring 13 for bringing the movable contact 9 into and out of contact with the fixed contact 10 according to the vertical movement of the contact holder 6. Then, the contact holder 6 is moved downward to the pushed-in position by pressing the knob 3 against the biasing force of the return spring 7, and the movable contact 9 comes into contact with the fixed contact 10 by the switch mechanism 14.
The contact holder 6 is moved upward to the open position by releasing the pressing of the knob 3, and the movable contact 9 is moved by the switch mechanism 14.
Are separated from the fixed contact 10. The lamp 8 is turned on when both contacts 9 and 10 are in contact with each other, and the light L of the lamp 8 passes through the inside of the contact holder 6 and passes through the lens 4.

Next, the details of the lens 4 will be described.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the lens 4 is made of transparent polycarbonate, and a plurality of octagonal pyramid-shaped projections 16 are formed on one surface of a plate-shaped base material 15. The surface of the lens 4 is uneven. There is. The protrusions 16 are continuously arranged in such a manner that the four sides 16a separated by one are shared with the sides of the adjacent protrusions 16. In the array of the protrusions 16 as described above, the non-diffusion portion 17 that is a flat surface having a quadrangular planar shape is formed in a portion surrounded by the four sides 16b that are not shared by the four protrusions 16.

Then, as shown in FIG. 1, the light L of the lamp 8
Is diffused in eight directions by refraction according to the inclination angles of the eight slopes 18a to 18h of each protrusion 16, and
The lower surface 4 of the lens 4 is not diffused in the non-diffusing section 17.
Go straight in the direction orthogonal to b. Therefore, the light L is illuminated in nine directions. More specifically, in FIG. 3, the light La incident on the left slope 18a of the protrusion 16 is as shown in FIG.
As shown in, the light La that is diffused to the left and enters the right slope 18b is diffused to the right.

Light Lc incident on the upper slope 18c of the protrusion 16
Is diffused upward as shown in FIG. 4B, and the light Ld incident on the lower slope 18d is diffused downward.
Further, as shown in FIG. 5A, the light Le incident on the upper right slope 18e of the protrusion 16 is diffused in the upper right 45 ° direction, and the light Lf incident on the lower left slope 18f is diffused in the lower left 45 ° direction. To be done.

Light L incident on the upper left slope 18g of the protrusion 16
As shown in FIG. 5B, g is diffused in the upper left 45 ° direction, and the light Lh incident on the lower right slope 18h is 45 ° lower right.
Diffused in the direction. In addition, in the present embodiment, the inclination angle θ of each of the slopes 18a to 18h of the protrusion 16 is 60 degrees. As shown in FIG. 4A, the inclination angle θ is an angle formed by the perpendicular line S drawn so as to intersect the apex of the protrusion 16 with respect to the base material 15 and, for example, the left slope 18a.

Further, as shown in FIG. 5A, the non-diffusion portion 1
The light Li incident on the light source 7 is not diffused, and the lower surface 4b of the lens 4 is
Go straight in the direction orthogonal to. As described above, in the lens 4 of the present embodiment, the projections 16 have an octagonal pyramid shape, so that the light rays La to Lh incident on the respective slopes 18a to 17h.
Are diffused in eight directions at 45 ° intervals with respect to the lower surface 4b of the lens 4. Therefore, unlike the conventional case, the diffusion direction of the light L is doubled, so that the illumination can be sufficiently confirmed from multiple directions regardless of the mounting position of the illumination switch 1. As a result, when the illuminated switch 1 is provided, for example, near the dashboard inside the vehicle, the driver can check the illumination even if the mounting position of the switch 1 is arbitrarily changed, and a new lighting device is provided. It is not necessary and the cost is low.

Further, since the non-diffusing portion 17 which is a flat surface is formed in the portion surrounded by the projections 16, the light Li passing through the non-diffusing portion 17 is not diffused and is orthogonal to the lens 4. That is, it is illuminated in the front direction of the lens 4. Therefore, the light L is illuminated in 9 directions in addition to the 8 directions, and the projection 16 can sufficiently confirm the illumination from multiple directions, and the non-diffusing section 17 allows the illumination to be in a direction orthogonal to the lens 4 of the lamp 8. Can be obtained in the same manner as the other eight directions.

The present invention can be embodied as follows. (1) In the above embodiment, the projection 16 has an octagonal pyramid shape, but instead, as shown in FIG. 6, it may have a polygonal pyramid shape such as a 10-pyramidal shape. In this case, the shape of the non-diffusing portion 17 is a plane star shape. Then, it is possible to obtain the diffusion of the light L in the ten directions in the protrusion 16 and to illuminate the light in the eleven directions in combination with the straight movement of the light L in the non-diffusion portion 17.

(2) As shown in FIG. 7, each of the slopes 18a to 18h of the protrusion 16 may be formed by a plurality (two in this case) of slopes having different inclination angles. By doing so, even if the directions of light diffused on the respective slopes are the same, the angle of light diffused changes according to the inclination angle.

(3) Instead of forming the octagonal pyramidal projection 16 on the base material 15, an octagonal pyramidal recess may be formed. Further, the projections 16 and the recesses each having an octagonal pyramid shape may be combined and arranged. Further, the upper portion of the protrusion 16 may be partially removed to form a flat surface.

(4) In the above embodiment, the base material 1 of the lens 4
Although 5 is made of transparent polycarbonate, a resin such as acrylic, polystyrene, ABS resin, vinyl chloride, methacrylic resin, cellulosic resin, polyethylene or polypropylene may be used instead. Among these, methacrylic resin is preferable because it has excellent weather resistance and transparency, and butyl cellulose, which is a cellulosic resin, has excellent impact resistance and weather resistance. The base material 15 of the lens 4 may be colored such as red and blue.

(5) Although the light source is a lamp in the above embodiment, a light source such as an LED (light emitting diode) may be used instead. (6) The lens 4 according to the present invention is useful not only as an illumination switch, but also as an illumination lens for various illumination devices such as an indicator lamp, a night illumination device (room lamp), a panel illumination device, and a vehicle indicator light. In particular, it is suitable for use in a lighting device that requires illumination in multiple directions.

(7) Inclination angle θ of each slope 18a-18h
May be changed arbitrarily. Other technical ideas grasped in the above-mentioned embodiments and technical ideas will be described below together with their effects.

(1) In the illumination lens according to any one of claims 1 to 3, each of the slopes of either the protrusion or the recess is
An illumination lens comprising a plurality of slopes having different inclination angles. With this structure, it is possible to illuminate multiple angles in the same direction.

(2) The illumination lens according to claim 2, wherein either one of the protrusion and the recess has a polygonal truncated pyramid shape. With this structure, the number of flat surfaces can be increased.

[0031]

As described above in detail, according to the inventions described in claims 1 to 3, the illumination can be sufficiently confirmed from multiple directions, and the luminous intensity in the direction orthogonal to the lens of the light source can be changed. It has an excellent effect that it can be obtained in the same manner as the direction of.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially enlarged perspective view showing an illumination lens in an example of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing an illuminated switch including an illumination lens.

FIG. 3 is likewise a partially enlarged plan view showing an illumination lens.

FIG. 4 shows a partial cross section of the illumination lens, FIG.
FIG. 4B is a sectional view taken along line AA of FIG.

FIG. 5 shows a partial cross section of an illumination lens, FIG.
4B is a cross-sectional view taken along line CC of FIG. 3, and FIG.

FIG. 6 is a partially enlarged front view showing an illumination lens of another embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a partial cross-sectional view showing an illumination lens of another example.

FIG. 8 is a partially enlarged perspective view showing a conventional illumination lens.

FIG. 9 is likewise a partially enlarged front view showing an illumination lens.

FIG. 10 is also a partial cross-sectional view showing an illumination lens.

[Explanation of symbols]

4 ... Illumination lens, 15 ... Base material, 16 ... Projection, 18a ...
18h ... slope, 17 ... non-diffusion part, L ... light.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An illumination lens in which light passing through a base material is diffused by making the surface of the base material uneven, and a projection or a recess having a plurality of slopes on the surface of the base material. An illuminating lens, characterized in that the surface is made uneven by forming a plurality of any one of them and providing a flat surface. 2. An illumination lens in which the surface of a base material is made to be uneven so that light passing through the base material is diffused, and the surface of the base material has a polygonal outer shape and a plurality of inclined surfaces. An illuminating lens characterized in that a plurality of projections or recesses are formed and a flat surface is provided to make the surface uneven. 3. An illumination lens in which light passing through the base material is diffused by making the surface of the base material uneven, wherein the surface of the base material has a plurality of slanted faces in a polygonal pyramid shape. An illumination lens, characterized in that a plurality of projections or recesses are formed and a flat surface is provided to make the surface uneven.