Light guide device

Abstract

To provide a light guide device for enabling position adjustment in various directions including a fixing shaft direction.SOLUTION: The light guide device having a through-hole provided in a wall part and adapted to be mounted to a casing internally storing a light-emitting device, includes a light guide body having a light incident part having a light incident surface into which light from the light-emitting device is incident, a light radiation part having a light emission surface inserted into the through-hole and facing the outside of the casing to emit light, and a connection part separating from the light incident part and the light radiation part, for guiding the incident light via the through-hole to the outside of the casing, and a spring member having one end joined to the connection part of the light guide body and the other end where a fixed part is provided to be mounted to the casing, for enabling the displacement of the connection part in the direction parallel to the wall part of the casing in addition to the direction where the fixed part is mounted to the casing when it is mounted thereto.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a light guide device that guides light from a light source to the outside, and more particularly to a fixing structure for a light guide device such as an LED lens within a housing of an electronic device. [Background technology]

[0002] For example, Patent Document 1 describes a fixing structure for a light-emitting module that is less likely to cause damage to the insulating substrate while ensuring adhesion to the mounting surface by using a spring member to press and fix the substrate on which an LED lens is mounted (substrate with LED lens) when the substrate is fastened with screws. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2010-278127 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, in the fixing structure of the conventional technology, when a board with an LED lens is pressed and fixed to a housing, the fastening axis of the screw and the axial direction of the pressing and fixing of the board are the same (one axis), and depending on the shape of the board, housing, and lens, problems or inconveniences may arise that make it difficult to mount using a single axis.

[0005] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned points, and has an object to provide a light guide device that allows position adjustment in various directions including a fixed axis direction. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The light-guiding device according to the present invention is a light-guiding device that has a through hole provided in a wall portion and is attached to a housing that accommodates a light-emitting element inside, and is characterized in that it has a light input portion having a light input surface into which light from the light-emitting element is input, a light emitting portion that is inserted into the through hole and faces the outside of the housing and has a light output surface from which the light is output, and a light guide that has a connecting portion away from the light input portion and the light emitting portion and guides the input light to the outside of the housing through the through hole, and a spring member that has one end connected to the connecting portion of the light guide and has the other end provided with a fixing portion that is attached to the housing, and that enables the connecting portion to be displaced in a direction parallel to the wall portion of the housing in addition to the mounting direction when the fixing portion is attached to the housing. Effect of the Invention

[0007] According to the present invention, by forming a part of a light guide body into a spring shape, it is possible to provide a light guide device that can be pressed and fixed in three axial directions and can adjust the position in various directions when fixed. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] 1 is a schematic partial perspective view showing a front portion of the exterior of a housing of an electronic device in which an embodiment of the present invention is used; [Diagram 2] 2 is a schematic partially cut-away perspective view of a housing 100 of an electronic device in which the present embodiment is used, cut along line xx in FIG. 1 to show the inside of the housing. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view of the light guide device of the present embodiment, showing two light guide devices arranged in parallel, as viewed from the lower right to show the front end portion. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0009] An example of an electronic device incorporating a light guide device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. In the embodiment, components having substantially the same functions and configurations are denoted by the same reference numerals, and duplicated descriptions will be omitted.

[0010] (Configuration Description) 1 is a schematic partial perspective view showing the front part of the exterior of a housing 100 of an electronic device in which this embodiment is used. For convenience of explanation, the directions of the orthogonal XYZ coordinate axes as shown in the figure are defined as XYZ directions, the direction from the front to the back of the housing 100 is defined as Z direction (i.e., front-rear direction), and the left-right direction (X direction) and up-down direction (Y direction) as viewed from the front of the housing 100 are described.

[0011] FIG. 2 is a schematic, partially cut-away perspective view of the housing 100 taken along line xx in FIG.

[0012] As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the housing 100 is, for example, a rectangular parallelepiped made of sheet metal. The housing material is not limited to this, and the housing may be molded from a synthetic resin material. A display window hole 110 is provided in a front outer wall 100a on the front side of the housing 100. A circuit board 200 is housed behind this display window hole 110. The display window hole 110 is an opening of a through hole that allows the light emitted by a light emitting diode 220 (light emitting element) mounted on the circuit board 200 to be visually recognized from outside the housing 100.

[0013] The circuit board 200 housed inside the housing 100 is supported so as to be parallel to the wall portion 100b on the bottom surface of the housing 100 by fastening it with screws using fixing means (not shown).

[0014] Surface mount components 210 are mounted on the mounting surface of circuit board 200, which faces the top surface (not shown) of housing 100. A light emitting diode 220 is mounted on the opposite lower surface of circuit board 200. Light emitting diode 220 is mounted on circuit board 200 so that its light emitting optical axis is parallel to circuit board 200 and emits light toward front outer wall 100a of housing 100 in front.

[0015] (Light guide device) The light guide device 130 is disposed on the bottom wall 100b between the front outer wall 100a and the circuit board 200 of the housing 100 so as to reliably guide the light emitted from the light emitting diode 220 to the light emitting tip 131b (light radiating portion). The light guide device 130 has a light guide 131 and a spring member 132 coupled thereto. That is, the light guide device 130 is a spring-equipped light guide, and one end of the spring member 132 is fitted into a part of the light guide 131, and the light guide device 130 has a structure in which resin and metal are integrated together by adhesion, two-color molding, insert molding, or the like.

[0016] FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view of the light guide devices 130, looking at the front end portions from the lower right to show two light guide devices 130 arranged side by side.

[0017] (Light guide) The light guide 131 is an optical component made of transparent synthetic resin and has a generally high-heeled appearance. The light guide 131 has a rectangular prism-shaped inclined surface 131a at its central main body, a light emitting tip 131b having a light emitting surface at its front end (toe portion), a light receiving surface 131c (light incident portion having a light incident surface) at its rear end (counter portion), and a spring member connecting portion 131d integrated with one end of the spring member 132 at the lower part of the rear end (heel portion). The light emitting tip 131b of the light guide 131 has a cylindrical lens portion LS on the light emitting surface. The light guide 131 is fixed so that the lower surfaces of the light emitting tip 131b and the spring member connecting portion 131d contact the wall portion 100b on the bottom surface of the housing 100 when the lens portion LS is fitted into the display window hole 110 of the housing 100. The height of the light receiving surface 131c from the lower surface (wall portion 100b) of the spring member connecting portion 131d is set to match the height of the light receiving surface 131c from the wall portion 100b of the light emitting optical axis of the light emitting diode 220. As a modified example, instead of providing the lens portion LS on the light emitting tip portion 131b, the rectangular columnar light emitting tip portion 131b itself can be exposed to the outside from the front outer wall 100a via a corresponding through hole.

[0018] The inclined surface portion 131a has a pair of flat surfaces inclined at an angle of, for example, 45° with respect to the front-rear direction of the light guide 131. When the light from the light emitting diode 220 enters the light guide 131 from the light receiving surface 131c, the light is repeatedly reflected by the inclined surface portion 131a and guided to the light emitting tip portion 131b, and is emitted to the outside of the housing 100 through the lens portion LS.

[0019] (Spring material) The spring member 132 is made up of a coil spring portion B1, a bending portion B2, and a fixed portion B3. The light guide 131 can be fixed to the attachment portion 120 of the housing 100 via the spring member 132 by a screw SW.

[0020] One end of the spring member 132 is coupled to the spring member coupling portion 131d (coupling portion) of the light guide 131, and the other end is provided with a fixing portion B3 that is attached to the housing 100. The fixing portion B3 is fastened and fixed to the attachment portion 120 of the housing 100 with a screw SW.

[0021] When fixing portion B3 is attached to the housing 100, the spring member 132 enables the spring member connecting portion 131d (light guide 131) to be displaced in a direction parallel to the front outer wall 100a (wall portion) of the housing 100 in addition to the attachment direction.

[0022] Thus, the spring member 132 has the bent portion B2 located on the fixed portion B3 side, and the coil spring portion B1 located between the bent portion B2 and the spring member connecting portion 131d.

[0023] The light receiving surface 131c of the light guide 131 is disposed on the extension axis of the coil spring portion B1.

[0024] The fixed portion B3 of the spring member 132 is a second coil spring that extends along the screw fastening axis of the screw SW, which is the mounting direction.

[0025] (Explanation of operation) When the light guide device 130, which is a spring-loaded light guide, is fixed to the housing 100, the fixing portion B3 (second coil spring) and the coil spring portion B1 of the spring member 132 serve to displace and adjust the light guide 131 to a correct position in a total of three axial directions, namely, the screw fastening axial direction and the front-rear, left-right directions, by the elastic force of the spring member 132. The bent portion B2 of the spring member 132 contributes to the adjustment of displacement in the left-right direction.

[0026] As shown in Fig. 2, the spring member 132 is fastened to the mounting portion 120 with a screw SW, but the fixing portion B3 (see Fig. 3) of the spring member 132 is not completely fixed to the mounting portion 120, but is fastened to such an extent that it can move in the screw fastening axis direction. This makes it possible to provide the light guide 131 with a spring extension axis displacement, a spring tip displacement, and a screw fastening axis displacement, as shown in Fig. 3.

[0027] Furthermore, the light guide 131 attached to the attachment portion 120 of the housing 100 has the display window 110 fitted into the light emitting tip 131b, so that the light emitting tip 131b is maintained in a state prevented from moving away from the display window 110. Furthermore, since the light emitting tip 131b of the light guide 131 is fitted into the display window 110 of the housing 100, it serves as a buffer against vibration of the housing 100 due to external disturbances, etc.

[0028] (Explanation of effect) According to this embodiment, the screw SW fixes the light guide device 130, and the spring member 132 adjusts the light guide 131 in three axial directions, so that it is possible to press and fix the light guide 131 not only in the screw fastening axial direction but also in three axial directions, namely up, down, front, back, left and right. In this way, the structure in which the resin light guide 131 is provided with the spring member 132 can adjust the position in three axial directions, namely up, down, front, back, left and right, by fastening the light guide 131 with the screw SW. At this time, it is possible to prevent the light emitting tip portion 131b (lens portion LS) of the light guide 131 from being damaged by fastening the light guide 131 to the mounting portion 120 with the screw.

[0029] Furthermore, according to this embodiment, when attaching the light guide 131 to the attachment portion 120, the operation of positioning the light emitting tip portion 131b of the light guide 131 in the display window hole 110 can be facilitated. [Explanation of symbols]

[0030] 100 Case 100a Front exterior wall 100b Bottom wall 110 Display window 120 Mounting part 130 Light guide device 131 Light guide 131a Slope 131b Illuminating tip 131c Photosensitive surface 131d Spring member connection part 132 Spring member 200 Circuit Board 210 Surface Mount Components 220 Light Emitting Diode B1 Coil spring part B2 Bent part B3 Fixed part

Claims

1. A light guide device that is attached to a housing that has a through hole provided in a wall portion and accommodates a light emitting element therein, a light incident portion having a light incident surface into which light from the light-emitting element is incident, a light emitting portion being inserted into the through hole and having a light exit surface facing the outside of the housing and emitting the light, and a light guide having a connecting portion spaced apart from the light incident portion and the light emitting portion and guiding the incident light to the outside of the housing via the through hole; a spring member having one end connected to the connecting portion of the light guide and the other end provided with a fixed portion that is attached to the housing, and that enables the connecting portion to be displaced in a direction parallel to the wall portion of the housing in addition to the direction in which the fixed portion is attached to the housing when the fixed portion is attached to the housing.

2. The light guide device according to claim 1 , wherein the spring member has a bent portion located on the fixed portion side, and a coil spring portion located between the bent portion and the connecting portion.

3. The light guide device according to claim 2 , wherein the light exit surface is disposed on an axis of the coil spring portion.

4. 4. The light guide device according to claim 2, wherein the fixing portion is fastened to the housing by a screw, and the fixing portion is a second coil spring extending along an axis of the screw.

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