Light-emitting module
By strategically arranging LEDs with different colors on a substrate, ensuring the shortest chromaticity coordinate distance between the first and Nth LEDs, the light emitting module achieves improved color mixing and reduced unevenness in the mixed light.
Patent Information
- Application Number
- JP2025026068
- Authority / Receiving Office
- JP · JP
- Patent Type
- Applications
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Filing Date
- 2025-02-20
- Publication Date
- 2025-05-02
- Estimated Expiration
- 2041-07-13
AI Technical Summary
Existing light emitting modules with multiple color LEDs suffer from color unevenness due to inadequate color mixing, which affects the quality of the mixed light produced.
The light emitting module is designed with a substrate having multiple light emitting section groups, each consisting of N LEDs with different colors arranged at equal intervals. The first and Nth LEDs are positioned closest to the left and right sides of the substrate, respectively, with the shortest chromaticity coordinate distance between them, ensuring optimal color mixing.
This configuration enhances the color mixing characteristics of the light emitting module, reducing color unevenness and improving the overall quality of the mixed light produced.
Smart Images

Figure 2025071255000001_ABST
Abstract
Description
[Technical field]
[0001] SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE An embodiment of the present invention relates to a light emitting module. [Background technology]
[0002] There is a known lighting device that uses a light-emitting module with multiple color LEDs mounted on a board as a light source, changes the lighting state of each LED, and mixes the light emitted from each LED to reproduce multiple patterns of emitted colors. In such lighting devices, when producing mixed light from multiple color LEDs, it is necessary to appropriately mix the light emitted from each LED, and if the light mixing is insufficient, color unevenness occurs in the light emitted from the lighting device. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]
[0003] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 6648594 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]
[0004] An object of the present invention is to provide a light emitting module having improved color mixing characteristics. [Means for solving the problem]
[0005] The light emitting module of the embodiment includes a substrate having a left side and a right side opposite the left side, and a light emitting module having a plurality of light emitting unit groups each consisting of N light emitting units (N is an integer of 4 or more) that emit different light colors and are equally spaced on the substrate. Each light emitting unit group includes a first light emitting unit arranged closest to the left side of the substrate and an Nth light emitting unit arranged closest to the right side of the substrate, and the coordinate distance between the chromaticity coordinate of the light irradiated by the first light emitting unit and the chromaticity coordinate of the light irradiated by the Nth light emitting unit is the shortest among the distances between the chromaticity coordinates of the light irradiated by any two light emitting units extracted from the N light emitting units. Effect of the Invention
[0006] According to the embodiment, it is expected to provide a light emitting module with improved color mixing characteristics. [Brief description of the drawings]
[0007] [Figure 1] FIG. 2 is a top view of the light emitting module of the embodiment. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a top view showing an arrangement of light-emitting modules according to an embodiment. [Diagram 3] 1 is a table showing an example of light emitted from a light-emitting unit used in an embodiment. [Figure 4] 10 is a flowchart showing a procedure for determining the arrangement of light-emitting units (light-emitting colors) when a light-emitting module of an embodiment has an even number of light-emitting colors. [Diagram 5] 4 is a table showing values obtained by calculating distances between chromaticity coordinates for all combinations of the light-emitting portions (emission colors) shown in FIG. 3. [Figure 6] 11 is a table showing some steps of a procedure for creating pairs when a light emitting module of an embodiment has an even number of light emitting colors. [Figure 7] 11 is a table showing a part of a procedure for determining the arrangement of other light-emitting units (light-emitting colors) when the light-emitting module of an embodiment has an even number of light-emitting colors. [Figure 8]10 is a flowchart showing a procedure for determining the arrangement of light-emitting units (light-emitting colors) when a light-emitting module of an embodiment has an odd number of light-emitting colors. [Figure 9] This is a table showing specific examples of light-emitting units (light-emitting colors) when an embodiment of an optical module has an odd number of light-emitting colors, and the values derived for the distance between the chromaticity coordinates for all combinations of the light-emitting units (light-emitting colors). [Figure 10] 11 is a table showing some steps of a procedure for creating pairs when a light emitting module of an embodiment has an odd number of light emitting colors. [Figure 11] 11 is a table showing a part of a procedure for determining the arrangement of other light-emitting units (light-emitting colors) when a light-emitting module of an embodiment has an odd number of light-emitting colors. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0008] The configuration of a light-emitting module 1 according to one embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 1. Fig. 1 is a top view of the light-emitting module 1. The light-emitting module 1 includes N (types) light-emitting sections 10 and a substrate 20. N is an integer of 2 or more, and preferably an integer of 4 or more. In Fig. 1, the light-emitting module 1 includes six (types) light-emitting sections 10 (light-emitting section 10-1 to light-emitting section 10-6).
[0009] The light emitting unit 10 includes a solid-state light emitting source such as an LED element, a laser diode element, or an organic EL element. When the light emitting unit 10 includes an LED element, the light emitting unit 10 may be a package such as a surface mount device (SMD) or a chip scale package (CSP), or may be a bare chip. The light emitting unit 10 is mounted on one surface of the substrate 20 using a bonding material. The bonding material may be, for example, a non-conductive resin material, a conductive resin material in which a conductive filler is mixed into a resin material, or a metal material such as solder.
[0010] The substrate 20 includes a base material 21 and a pattern wiring (not shown in FIG. 1) disposed on the base material. The base material 21 is configured to be long (rectangular when viewed from above) and includes two opposing short sides (left side 22, right side 23) and two opposing long sides (upper side 24, lower side 25). The base material 21 is made of, for example, ceramics such as alumina or silicon nitride, metals such as aluminum or copper, or resins such as glass epoxy. The pattern wiring is disposed on the front surface, which is one surface of the substrate, or on both the front surface and the back surface, which is the other surface of the substrate. When the substrate 20 is a multilayer substrate configured by stacking a plurality of base materials 21, the pattern wiring may be disposed between the base materials 21.
[0011] In this embodiment, among the light-emitting units 10, the light-emitting unit 10 (light-emitting unit 10a) disposed closest to the left side 22 of the substrate 20 is referred to as the first light-emitting unit 10-1, the light-emitting unit 10 disposed on the opposite side of the left side 22 of the first light-emitting unit 10-1 is referred to as the second light-emitting unit 10-2, and the light-emitting unit 10 disposed on the opposite side of the second light-emitting unit and the first light-emitting unit is referred to as the third light-emitting unit 10-3. In this manner, light-emitting units are defined up to the Nth light-emitting unit 10-N. The Nth light-emitting unit 10-N is the light-emitting unit 10 disposed closest to the right side 23 of the substrate 20. Note that, since N is 6 in FIG. 1, light-emitting units up to the sixth light-emitting unit 10-6 are defined.
[0012] In this embodiment, the light-emitting sections 10 are disposed at equal intervals along the longitudinal direction of the substrate 20 (base material 21). That is, the light-emitting sections 10 are disposed so that the distance between adjacent light-emitting sections 10 is equal. Specifically, the light-emitting sections 10 are disposed so that the distance between the first light-emitting section 10-1 and the second light-emitting section 10-2 and the distance between the second light-emitting section 10-2 and the third light-emitting section 10-3 (omitted below) are equal. In other words, the light-emitting sections 10 are disposed so that the distance between the (N-1)th light-emitting section 10-(N-1) and the Nth light-emitting section 10-N is equal regardless of the N used. The distance between the light-emitting sections 10 here may be the distance between the centers of the light-emitting sections 10 or the distance between the ends of the light-emitting sections 10.
[0013] Furthermore, it is preferable that the distance from the left side 22 of the substrate 20 to the light-emitting section 10 (first light-emitting section 10-1) disposed closest to the left side 22 of the substrate 20 is configured to be half the distance between the light-emitting sections 10. In addition, it is preferable that the distance from the right side 23 of the substrate 20 to the light-emitting section 10 (Nth light-emitting section 10-N) disposed closest to the right side 23 of the substrate 20 is configured to be half the distance between the light-emitting sections 10. The distance from the left side 22 (right side 23) to the light-emitting section 10 here is, for example, the shortest distance from the center or end of the light-emitting section 10 to the left side 22 (right side 23).
[0014] The substrate 20 has a wiring pattern configured so that the lighting of each of the light-emitting units 10 (light-emitting units 10-1 to 10-N) can be controlled individually.
[0015] When the light-emitting module 1 is used in a lighting device, a plurality of light-emitting modules 1 are arranged in the longitudinal direction of a substrate 2 to form a light source module 2. FIG. 2 shows a top view of the light source module 2 in which a plurality of light-emitting modules 1 (light-emitting module 1a, light-emitting module 1b) are arranged. The light-emitting module 1a and the light-emitting module 1b are the same light-emitting module. Here, "same" means that at least the manufacturing process and concept are the same.
[0016] In the light source module 2, the light emitting modules 1a and 1b are disposed so that the right side 23a of the substrate 20a of the light emitting module 1a and the left side 22b of the substrate 20b of the light emitting module 1b are adjacent to or in contact with each other. At this time, by configuring the light emitting modules 1a and 1b so as to satisfy the distance between the light emitting unit 10 and the left side 22 (right side 23) described above, the distance between the light emitting unit 10 (light emitting unit 10-Na; light emitting unit 10-6a in FIG. 2) closest to the right side 23a of the light emitting module 1a and the light emitting unit 10 (light emitting unit 10-1b) closest to the left side 22b of the light emitting module 1b becomes equal to the distance between the other light emitting units 10, so that the arrangement of the light emitting units 10 does not feel unnatural.
[0017] The light source module 2 may use three or more light emitting modules 1. In the light source module 2, the light emitting units 10 of the same emission color of each light emitting module 1 (light emitting module 1a and light emitting module 1b in FIG. 2) may be controlled together or individually.
[0018] Furthermore, the light source module 2 may be configured on one substrate. In this case, two or more groups of light-emitting units 10 corresponding to the light-emitting modules 1 are configured on the substrate.
[0019] Next, the light irradiated from the light emitting unit 10 will be described. In this embodiment, the light emitting module 1 is arranged so as to form groups by a plurality of light emitting units 10, and in each group, the light irradiated from the light emitting units 10 constituting the group has a different emission color. The light irradiated from the light emitting unit 10 here may be light irradiated from a solid-state light source which is the light source of the light emitting unit 10, light irradiated by the light irradiated from the solid-state light source, which is a phosphor, in which the light emitting unit 10 has a phosphor and the phosphor is excited by the light irradiated from the solid-state light source, or a composite light of light irradiated from the solid-state light source and light irradiated from the phosphor. In addition, the different emission colors here refer to different coordinates in the color coordinates, and any color coordinates such as chromaticity coordinates on an xy chromaticity diagram can be applied. Alternatively, the different emission colors refer to different peak wavelengths (nm) at which the output value becomes high in the emission spectrum of the light irradiated from the light emitting unit 10. The peak wavelength may be a first peak wavelength which is a wavelength at which the output is highest in each light emitting unit 10, or a second peak wavelength which is a wavelength at which the output is second highest. In other words, if the two light-emitting units 10 have the same first peak wavelength but different second peak wavelengths, or if one of the light-emitting units 10 does not have the second peak wavelength, the two light-emitting units 10 will have different emission colors. Note that the wavelengths compared between the light-emitting units 10 may be wavelengths after the third peak, or may be compared using dominant wavelengths.
[0020] 3 shows an example of light emitted from the light-emitting units 10. In this embodiment, the light-emitting module 1 includes six light-emitting units 10 (light-emitting units 10-1 to 10-6), and each light-emitting unit 10 emits light of a different color, either red, green, blue, cyan, amber, or white (color temperature 3000K). That is, the light-emitting module 1 in FIG. 3 includes six different light-emitting units 10, including a light-emitting unit 10 that emits red light (hereinafter, red), a light-emitting unit 10 that emits green light (hereinafter, green), a light-emitting unit 10 that emits blue light (hereinafter, blue), a light-emitting unit 10 that emits cyan light (hereinafter, cyan), a light-emitting unit 10 that emits amber light (hereinafter, amber), and a light-emitting unit 10 that emits white light (hereinafter, white). Amber and white, which include phosphors, also have a second peak wavelength, and the emission colors of the light-emitting sections 10 differ in the first peak wavelength or the wavelengths after the second peak wavelength.
[0021] In this way, the light-emitting module 1 includes a plurality of light-emitting units 10 that each emit light of a different emission color, and in an illumination device using this light-emitting module 1, it is preferable that color unevenness is small when light emitted from the light-emitting units 10 of two or more different emission colors is mixed. Therefore, it is important to determine which light-emitting unit 10 of which emission color is disposed in which position among the first light-emitting unit 10-1 to the Nth light-emitting unit 10-N. Next, a procedure for determining the arrangement of the light-emitting units 10 (emission colors) in the light-emitting module 1 will be described.
[0022] First, a procedure E for determining the arrangement of luminous colors when the light-emitting module 1 has an even number of luminous colors (hereinafter, arrangement determination procedure E) will be described. For simplicity, the following description will be given assuming that the light-emitting module 1 has one light-emitting unit 10 that irradiates each luminous color. That is, the description will be given assuming that the light-emitting module 1 has 2×M light-emitting units 10 and has 2×M luminous colors (N=2×M, where M is an integer equal to or greater than 1, and preferably equal to or greater than 2). FIG. 4 shows a flowchart of the arrangement determination procedure E. The arrangement determination procedure E includes three steps, steps E1 to E3.
[0023] First, pairs are created in step E1. The pairs here are combinations of light-emitting units 10 (light-emitting colors). As described above, since the light-emitting module 1 includes 2×M light-emitting units 10 (2×M types of light-emitting colors), M pairs are created, and there are no light-emitting units 10 (light-emitting colors) that do not form a pair.
[0024] In step E1, first, the distance between the color coordinates of each of the two light-emitting units 10 (emission colors) (hereinafter, the coordinate distance) is derived when any two are extracted from the light-emitting units 10 (emission colors) included in the light-emitting module 1. The derivation of the coordinate distance is performed for all combinations of any two light-emitting units 10 (emission colors) extracted from the light-emitting module 1. In other words, the light-emitting module 1 includes 2×M light-emitting units 10 (2×M types of light-emitting colors), and since there are 2×(M-1) combinations for any one light-emitting unit 10 (light-emitting color), a total of (2×M)×(2×M-1) inter-coordinate distances are derived. The inter-coordinate distances can be derived using a formula for deriving the distance between two coordinates on an xy coordinate system that is commonly used in mathematics. In addition, the color coordinate system for deriving the inter-coordinate distances is one that is commonly used in the lighting industry, such as the xy coordinate system or uv coordinate system. The following explanation will be given using the xy coordinate system.
[0025] A specific example of the above-mentioned procedure will be described using the chromaticity coordinates of the light-emitting unit 10 (emitted color) shown in FIG. 3. In the following description of the arrangement determination procedure E, a specific example refers to an example in which the arrangement determination procedure E is applied to the light-emitting unit 10 (emitted color) shown in FIG. 3. As shown in FIG. 3, each light-emitting unit 10 (emitted color) has a different chromaticity coordinate. If the results of deriving the inter-coordinate distance for all combinations of any two light-emitting units 10 (emitted colors) shown in FIG. 3 are compiled, they can be expressed as shown in FIG. 5. In FIG. 5, the intersection of a row of any color and a column of any color indicates the inter-coordinate distance on the xy chromaticity coordinate for the combination of the two colors.
[0026] Next, from the inter-coordinate distances derived above, a combination that results in the shortest inter-coordinate distance for each light-emitting unit 10 (light-emitting color) is extracted. Referring to FIG. 5 as a specific example, red is shortest when combined with amber (inter-coordinate distance 0.202). Green is shortest when combined with cyan (inter-coordinate distance 0.292). Blue is shortest when combined with cyan (inter-coordinate distance 0.413). Cyan is shortest when combined with green (inter-coordinate distance 0.292). Amber is the shortest when combined with white (0.131 coordinate distance). White is the shortest when combined with amber (0.131 coordinate distance).
[0027] Next, among the combinations with the shortest coordinate distances extracted earlier, the combination with the longest coordinate distance is determined as the first pair. Referring to a specific example, the shortest coordinate distances for each light-emitting unit 10 (emission color) are 0.202, 0.292, 0.413, 0.292, 0.131, and 0.131, and the combination with the longest coordinate distance among these is 0.413, which is the combination of blue and cyan, and this is determined as the first pair.
[0028] Next, pairs are determined from the light-emitting units 10 (light-emitting colors) not selected as the first pair, and combinations with a longer coordinate distance than the coordinate distance of the first pair are excluded from the pairs. Referring to a specific example, the light-emitting units 10 not selected as the first pair are red, green, amber, and white. And since the coordinate distance of the first pair is 0.413, the combination of red and green (coordinate distance 0.632) and the combination of green and amber (coordinate distance 0.431) are excluded from the pairs and will not form pairs.
[0029] In this specific example, since the only combination remaining for green and white at this point is green and white, it is determined that green and white will be the second pair, and the remaining combination of red and amber will be the third pair.
[0030] If it is not possible to determine all pairs by simply excluding combinations in which the coordinate distance is longer than that of the first pair as described above, the second and subsequent pairs are determined so that the sum of the coordinate distances of all pairs is smallest when M-1 pairs are created using all of the (2×M)−2 light-emitting units 10 ((2×M)−2 types of light-emitting colors) that were not selected for the first pair.
[0031] Referring to a specific example, the four light-emitting units 10 that are not selected as the first pair are red, green, amber, and white, and when they are paired, two pairs are created. There are three candidates (combinations) for the two pairs. The three candidates (combinations) are shown in FIG. 6. The first candidates are a pair of red and green and a pair of amber and white, the second candidates are a pair of red and amber and a pair of green and white, and the third candidates are a pair of red and white and a pair of green and amber. Then, for each candidate, the sum of the distances between the coordinates of each pair is calculated, and the candidate with the smallest sum is adopted. In FIG. 6, the sum of the distances between the coordinates of the second candidate is the smallest at 0.577, and therefore the pair of the second candidate is adopted as the second and third pairs.
[0032] In addition, when determining pairs in step E1, it is preferable that two light-emitting units 10 (light-emitting colors) with the shortest coordinate distance among all the light-emitting units 10 do not form a pair. Referring to a specific example, from FIG. 5, it is preferable that white and amber do not form a pair because the pair of white and amber (distance is 0.131) has the shortest coordinate distance among all pairs of light-emitting units 10. Therefore, when determining pairs from the light-emitting units 10 (light-emitting colors) not selected as the first pair, the second and subsequent pairs may be determined so that the sum of the coordinate distances of each pair is the second smallest when M-1 pairs are formed using all of the (2×M)-2 (types) light-emitting units 10 (light-emitting colors) not selected as the first pair, or the second and subsequent pairs may be determined so that the sum of the coordinate distances of each pair is equal to or less than a specified value.
[0033] Note that, at the beginning of step E1, deriving the inter-coordinate distances in all combinations of extracting any two from the light-emitting parts 10 (light-emitting colors) provided in the light-emitting module 1 is one of the methods to facilitate extracting pairs that meet the conditions in the subsequent procedures in step E1. If it is possible to extract pairs that meet the conditions using other methods in the subsequent procedures in step E1, it is not necessary to derive the inter-coordinate distances in all combinations at the beginning of step E1.
[0034] As described above, pairs are determined in step E1. Referring to a specific example, three pairs, namely blue and cyan, red and amber, and green and white, are determined.
[0035] In the steps after step E2, for each determined pair, it is determined which position among the first light-emitting part 10-1 to the Nth light-emitting part 10-N to arrange. At this time, the light-emitting part 10 (light-emitting color) that is determined to be arranged at the position of the Xth light-emitting part 10-X and the paired light-emitting part 10 (light-emitting color) are determined to be arranged at the position of the (X + M)th light-emitting part 10-(X + M) (when X is a positive integer where 1 ≤ X ≤ M), or determined to be arranged at the position of the (X - M)th light-emitting part 10-(X - M) (when X is a positive integer where M < X ≤ 2×M).
[0036] In step E1, it is determined that the light-emitting units 10 (emitted colors) whose chromaticity coordinates are relatively close to each other are paired, so that the color mixing characteristics of the pair are good and color unevenness is small when only the two light-emitting units 10 (emitted colors) that make up the pair are turned on. In other words, even if the two light-emitting units 10 (emitted colors) that make up the pair are arranged at a certain distance from each other, it is unlikely that the color mixing characteristics of the light-emitting module 1 will deteriorate (color unevenness will increase), so they can be arranged in accordance with the rules described above. Furthermore, by arranging the light-emitting units 10 (light-emitting color) in accordance with the above-mentioned rules, when a light source module 2 is constructed in which multiple light-emitting modules 1 are arranged in the longitudinal direction of the substrate 2, the distance from any light-emitting unit 10 (light-emitting color) to the light-emitting unit 10 (light-emitting color) that forms a pair with that light-emitting unit 10 (light-emitting color) on the same light-emitting module 1 will be approximately equal to the distance from any of the above-mentioned light-emitting units 10 (light-emitting color) to the light-emitting unit 10 (light-emitting color) that is the same as the light-emitting unit 10 (light-emitting color) that forms the above-mentioned pair on an adjacent light-emitting module 1, which is expected to improve the color mixing characteristics when multiple light-emitting modules 1 are used.
[0037] Next, in step E2, a light-emitting unit 10 (light-emitting color) to be disposed on the outermost side is determined among the light-emitting units 10 (light-emitting colors) mounted on the light-emitting module 1. In other words, in step E2, a light-emitting color to be the light-emitting unit 10 (first light-emitting unit 10-1) disposed closest to the left side 22 of the substrate 20 of the light-emitting module 1 and a light-emitting color to be the light-emitting unit 10 (the Nth light-emitting unit 10-N, the sixth light-emitting unit 10-6 in FIG. 1) disposed closest to the right side 23 of the substrate 20 of the light-emitting module 1 are determined.
[0038] In step E2, the two light-emitting units 10 (light-emitting colors) with the shortest coordinate distance among all the light-emitting units 10 (light-emitting colors) included in the light-emitting module 1 are determined to be the light-emitting units 10 (light-emitting colors) to be arranged on the outermost side of the light-emitting module 1. One of the two light-emitting units 10 (light-emitting colors) with the shortest coordinate distance among all the light-emitting units 10 (light-emitting colors) included in the light-emitting module 1 is determined to be arranged in the first light-emitting unit 10-1, and the other is determined to be arranged in the (2×M)th light-emitting unit 10-(2×M). Referring to a specific example, since the coordinate distance (0.131) between white and amber is the shortest from FIG. 5, white or amber is arranged in the position of the first light-emitting unit 10-1, and the white or amber not selected as the first light-emitting unit 10-1 is arranged in the position of the (2×M)th light-emitting unit 10-(2×M) (sixth light-emitting unit 10-6). In the following description, it is assumed that white is disposed at the position of first light-emitting section 10-1, and amber is disposed at the position of sixth light-emitting section 10-6.
[0039] As described above, the light emitting unit 10 (light emitting color) paired with the light emitting unit 10 (light emitting color) arranged at the position of the first light emitting unit 10-1 is arranged at the position of the (M+1)th light emitting unit 10-(M+1). Furthermore, the light emitting unit 10 (light emitting color) paired with the light emitting unit 10 (light emitting color) arranged at the position of the (2×M)th light emitting unit 10-(2×M) is arranged at the position of the (2×MM)th light emitting unit 10-(2×MM)=Mth light emitting unit 10-M. In the specific example, since the light emitting module 1 includes 2×3 light emitting units 10 (M=3), the green paired with the white arranged at the position of the first light emitting unit 10-1 is arranged at the position of the fourth light emitting unit 10-4. Furthermore, the red paired with the amber arranged at the position of the sixth light emitting unit 10-6 is arranged at the position of the third light emitting unit 10-3.
[0040] In step E2, among the light-emitting units 10 (emission colors) mounted on the light-emitting module 1, which are the combination with the best color mixing characteristics, the two light-emitting units 10 (emission colors) with the shortest distance between chromaticity coordinates are determined to be disposed on the outermost sides of the light-emitting module 1. This is expected to improve the color mixing characteristics of the light-emitting module 1 and reduce color unevenness.
[0041] Next, in step E3, the arrangement of the other light-emitting units 10 (light-emitting colors) whose arrangement has not yet been determined is determined. The other light-emitting units 10 (light-emitting colors) here are the light-emitting units 10 (light-emitting colors) that have not yet been determined to be arranged at the positions of the first light-emitting unit 10-1, the Mth light-emitting unit 10-M, the (M+1)th light-emitting unit 10-(M+1), and the (2×M)th light-emitting unit 10-(2×M) among the light-emitting units 10 (light-emitting colors) included in the light-emitting module 1 at the stage where step E2 is completed. If M is 2 or less, there are no other light-emitting units 10 (light-emitting colors) at the stage where step E2 is completed, so step E3 is not performed and the arrangement determination procedure E ends. If M is 3 or more, step E3 is performed.
[0042] First, the case where M is 3 will be described. Since the light-emitting module 1 includes 2×M (types) of light-emitting units 10 (light-emitting colors), when M is 3, two (types) of light-emitting units 10 (light-emitting colors) remain as other light-emitting units 10 (light-emitting colors) at the stage where step E2 is completed. Note that these two (types) of light-emitting units 10 (light-emitting colors) are light-emitting units 10 (light-emitting colors) constituting one of the pairs determined in step E1. When M is 3, the light-emitting units 10 (light-emitting colors) to be disposed at the positions of the first light-emitting unit 10-1, the third light-emitting unit 10-3, the fourth light-emitting unit 10-4, and the sixth light-emitting unit 10-6 have been determined up to step E2, so in step E3, the light-emitting units 10 (light-emitting colors) to be disposed at the positions of the second light-emitting unit 10-2 and the fifth light-emitting unit 10-5 are determined. That is, in step E3 when M is 3, the number of other light-emitting units 10 (light-emitting colors) is two, and there are also two positions for the light-emitting units 10 (light-emitting colors), so there are only two candidate patterns for which light-emitting unit 10 (light-emitting color) should be placed at the position of the second light-emitting unit 10-2 (the one that is not placed at the position of the second light-emitting unit 10-2 is automatically determined to be placed at the position of the fifth light-emitting unit 10-5). It is decided which of these two candidate patterns to select.
[0043] At this time, in step E3, the coordinate distance between the light-emitting unit 10 (light color) arranged at the position of the second light-emitting unit 10-2 and the adjacent light-emitting unit 10 (light color) and the coordinate distance between the light-emitting unit 10 (light color) arranged at the position of the fifth light-emitting unit 10-5 and the adjacent light-emitting unit 10 (light color) are all derived, their sum is calculated, and the arrangement that produces the largest sum is determined as the arrangement of the other light-emitting units 10 (light color).
[0044] Referring to a specific example, the other light-emitting units 10 (light emitting colors) are blue and cyan, and the arrangement of the other light-emitting units 10 (light emitting colors) has two patterns, as shown in Figure 7, where blue or cyan is arranged at the position of the second light-emitting unit 10-2. Then, in pattern 1, the coordinate distances between the first light-emitting unit 10-1 and the third light-emitting unit 10-3 adjacent to the second light-emitting unit 10-2 (the coordinate distance between the first light-emitting unit 10-1 and the second light-emitting unit 10-2, and the coordinate distance between the second light-emitting unit 10-2 and the third light-emitting unit 10-3) are derived, and the coordinate distances between the fourth light-emitting unit 10-4 and the sixth light-emitting unit 10-6 adjacent to the fifth light-emitting unit 10-5 (the coordinate distance between the fourth light-emitting unit 10-4 and the fifth light-emitting unit 10-5, and the coordinate distance between the fifth light-emitting unit 10-5 and the sixth light-emitting unit 10-6) are derived, and the sum of the coordinate distances is derived. The same is true for pattern 2. In a specific example, the sum of the inter-coordinate distances in pattern 1 is 1.846, and the sum of the inter-coordinate distances in pattern 2 is 2.236, so pattern 2, which has the largest sum of inter-coordinate distances, is determined as the arrangement of the other light-emitting units 10 (light emitting colors).
[0045] In addition, in step E3, the arrangement having the largest inter-coordinate distance among the inter-coordinate distance between the light-emitting unit 10 (light color) arranged at the position of the second light-emitting unit 10-2 and the adjacent light-emitting unit 10 (light color) and the inter-coordinate distance between the light-emitting unit 10 (light color) arranged at the position of the fifth light-emitting unit 10-5 and the adjacent light-emitting unit 10 (light color) may be determined as the arrangement of the other light-emitting unit 10 (light color).
[0046] Referring to the specific example, as shown in Fig. 7, the coordinate distance (0.674) between the fourth light-emitting unit 10-4 (green) and the fifth light-emitting unit 10-5 (blue) of pattern 2 is the largest coordinate distance, so pattern 2 is determined as the arrangement of the other light-emitting units 10 (light-emitting colors). In addition, in the specific example, as shown in Fig. 5, the coordinate distance between green and blue is the largest coordinate distance among all the light-emitting units 10 (light-emitting colors), so it may be determined that blue is disposed at the position of the fifth light-emitting unit 10-5 adjacent to the fourth light-emitting unit 10-4, which is green. In this case, it is automatically determined that the remaining light-emitting unit 10 (light-emitting color), cyan, is disposed at the position of the remaining second light-emitting unit 10-2.
[0047] Next, the case where M is 4 or more will be described. Since the light-emitting module 1 includes 2×M (types) of light-emitting units 10 (light-emitting colors), when M is 4 or more, at the stage where step E2 is completed, 4 (types) or more of the light-emitting units 10 (light-emitting colors) remain as other light-emitting units 10 (light-emitting colors). Note that these 4 (types) or more of the light-emitting units 10 (light-emitting colors) each include the light-emitting units 10 (light-emitting colors) that constitute the pair determined in step E1. Then, the light-emitting units 10 (light-emitting colors) to be disposed at positions other than the positions of the first light-emitting unit 10-1, the Mth light-emitting unit 10-M, the (M+1)th light-emitting unit 10-(M+1), and the (2×M)th light-emitting unit 10-(2×M) are determined.
[0048] At this time, in step E3, the coordinate distances between all light-emitting units 10 (light-emitting colors) arranged at positions other than the first light-emitting unit 10-1, the Mth light-emitting unit 10-M, the (M+1)th light-emitting unit 10-(M+1), and the (2×M)th light-emitting unit 10-(2×M) and adjacent light-emitting units 10 (light-emitting colors) are derived, the sum of these distances is calculated, and the arrangement that results in the largest sum is determined as the arrangement of the other light-emitting units 10 (light-emitting colors).
[0049] In detail, the coordinate distances to be derived are the coordinate distance between the first light-emitting unit 10-1 and the second light-emitting unit 10-2, the coordinate distance between the (2×M-1)th light-emitting unit 10-(2×M-1) and the (2×M)th light-emitting unit 10-(2×M), and the coordinate distance between the Yth light-emitting unit 10-Y and the (Y+1)th light-emitting unit 10-(Y+1) (Y is a positive integer, 3≦Y<2×M-1). For the coordinate distance between the Yth light-emitting unit 10-Y and the (Y+1)th light-emitting unit 10-(Y+1), Y is a positive integer, and the coordinate distance is derived for all Ys that satisfy the condition 3≦Y<2×M. Then, when all the derived coordinate distances are added up, the arrangement of the light-emitting unit 10 (light-emitting color) that has the largest value is determined as the arrangement of the other light-emitting units 10 (light-emitting colors).
[0050] In addition, when Y=M, that is, the coordinate distance between the Mth light-emitting unit 10-M and the (M+1)th light-emitting unit 10-(M+1), has already been determined in step E2, so this distance does not need to be taken into consideration in step E3.
[0051] In step E3, the arrangement may be determined in order from the light-emitting unit 10 (light-emitting color) with the longest coordinate distance relationship with the adjacent light-emitting unit 10 (light-emitting color). For example, when the light-emitting units 10 (light-emitting colors) are determined to be arranged at the positions of the first light-emitting unit 10-1, the Mth light-emitting unit 10-M, the (M+1)th light-emitting unit 10-(M+1), and the (2×M)th light-emitting unit 10-(2×M) at the end of step E2, if the distance between the coordinates of the other light-emitting unit 10 (light-emitting color) "orange" and the first light-emitting unit 10-1 is the longest, "orange" is arranged at the position of the second light-emitting unit 10-2 adjacent to the first light-emitting unit 10-1. Then, the light-emitting unit 10 (light-emitting color) paired with "orange" is arranged at the position of the (M+2)th light-emitting unit 10-(M+2). Next, for positions where the light-emitting unit 10 to be placed next to at least one of the positions has not been decided, the placement of the other light-emitting unit 10 (light-emitting color) is determined by similarly assigning in order the light-emitting unit 10 (light-emitting color) that has the longest coordinate distance relationship.
[0052] In step E3, the arrangement of the light-emitting units 10 (emission colors) is determined so that the distance between the chromaticity coordinates of adjacent light-emitting units 10 (emission colors) is large. This is because two light-emitting units 10 (emission colors) with a large distance between their chromaticity coordinates have poor color mixing characteristics, and arranging them with a large distance between them will result in color unevenness. Therefore, by determining the arrangement of the light-emitting units 10 (emission colors) in accordance with the procedure of step E3, it is expected that the color mixing characteristics of the light-emitting module 1 will be improved and color unevenness will be reduced.
[0053] The procedure of step E3 is performed as described above, and the placement determination procedure E is completed when the light-emitting module 1 has an even number of light-emitting colors, that is, when the light-emitting module 1 has 2×M light-emitting units 10 and 2×M types of light-emitting colors.
[0054] Next, a procedure O for determining the arrangement of luminous colors when the light-emitting module 1 has an odd number of luminous colors (hereinafter, arrangement determination procedure O) will be described. For simplicity, the following description will be given on the assumption that the light-emitting module 1 has one light-emitting unit 10 for emitting each luminous color. That is, the description will be given on the assumption that the light-emitting module 1 has (2×M+1) light-emitting units 10 and has (2×M+1) types of luminous colors (N=2×M+1. M is an integer of 1 or more, and preferably an integer of 2 or more). FIG. 8 shows a flowchart of the arrangement determination procedure O. The arrangement determination procedure O includes four steps, steps O1 to O4. For the same steps as step E, detailed descriptions of the effects and the like will be omitted, but the contents described in step E can be applied as they are.
[0055] First, in step O1, the light-emitting unit 10 (emission color) to be disposed at the center is determined. The light-emitting unit 10 (emission color) to be disposed at the center here refers to the light-emitting unit 10 disposed at the (M+1)th light-emitting unit 10-(M+1) position. In step O1, first, as in step E1, when any two light-emitting units 10 (emission colors) included in the light-emitting module 1 are extracted, the distance between the chromaticity coordinates of the two light-emitting units 10 (emission colors) (hereinafter, the distance between the coordinates) is derived. For details, refer to the explanation in step E1, and explanation here will be omitted.
[0056] FIG. 9 shows a specific example where the light-emitting module 1 includes (2×M+1) light-emitting units 10 (M=3). The upper part of FIG. 9 shows the peak wavelengths and chromaticity coordinates of the seven (seven types) light-emitting units 10 (emission colors) included in the light-emitting module 1. Compared with the light-emitting module 1 shown in FIG. 3, this light-emitting module 1 is different in that it includes a light-emitting unit 10 (hereinafter, red 2) whose emission color is red 2. Since red 2 is included, the light-emitting unit 10 corresponding to red in the light-emitting module 1 shown in FIG. 3 is called red 1. The lower part of FIG. 9 shows the result of deriving the distance between the coordinates in all combinations in which any two light-emitting units 10 (emission colors) included in the light-emitting module 1 are extracted. In the lower part of FIG. 9, the intersection of a row of any color and a column of any color indicates the distance between the coordinates on the xy chromaticity coordinates in the combination of the two colors. In the following description of the arrangement determination procedure O, a specific example refers to an example in which the arrangement determination procedure O is applied to the light-emitting units 10 (emission colors) shown in FIG. 9.
[0057] Next, in step O1, the sum of the coordinate distances between each light-emitting unit 10 (light-emitting color) and all other light-emitting units 10 (light-emitting colors) is calculated, and it is determined that the light-emitting unit 10 (light-emitting color) with the largest sum is disposed at the center. Referring to a specific example, for Red 1, the calculated value is 2.405, which is the sum of 0.036, which is the coordinate distance between Red 2, 0.632, which is the coordinate distance between Green, 0.617, which is the coordinate distance between Blue, 0.632, which is the coordinate distance between Cyan, 0.202, which is the coordinate distance between Amber, and 0.286, which is the coordinate distance between White. Similarly, the sum of Red 2 is 2.536, the sum of Green is 3.071, the sum of Blue is 3.373, the sum of Cyan is 2.816, the sum of Amber is 2.052, and the sum of White is 1.923. From the above, since blue has the largest sum, it is decided in step O1 to place blue at the center.
[0058] Next, in step O2, pairs are created for 2×M (types) of light-emitting elements 10 (emission colors) among the (2×M+1) (types) of light-emitting units 10 (emission colors) included in the light-emitting module 1, excluding the light-emitting unit 10 (emission color) determined to be disposed at the center in step O1. The pairs here are pairs of combinations of light-emitting units 10 (emission colors), and M pairs are created. The light-emitting unit 10 (emission color) determined to be disposed at the center in step O1 does not form a pair. The procedure is the same as step E1, and therefore a description thereof will be omitted here. Note that the derivation of the coordinate distances for all combinations of two light-emitting units 10 (emission colors) described in step E1 can be omitted since it is performed in the above-mentioned step O1.
[0059] Referring to a specific example (FIG. 9), red 1 is shortest when combined with red 2 (distance between coordinates 0.036). red 2 is shortest when combined with red 1 (distance between coordinates 0.036). green is shortest when combined with cyan (distance between coordinates 0.292). cyan is shortest when combined with green (distance between coordinates 0.292). amber is shortest when combined with white (distance between coordinates 0.131). white is shortest when combined with amber (distance between coordinates 0.131). And since the combination with the longest coordinate distance is 0.292, the combination of green and cyan is determined to be the first pair.
[0060] Subsequently, in the specific example (Fig. 9), the light-emitting units 10 (emission colors) that are not determined to be arranged at the center and not selected for the first pair are red 1, red 2, amber, and white. When pairs are formed with these four light-emitting units 10 (emission colors), only the coordinate distance between red 2 and white, which is 0.315 when they are paired, exceeds 0.292, the coordinate distance between the first pair. Therefore, simply excluding pairs that exceed the coordinate distance of the first pair cannot determine all pairs. Thus, Fig. 10 shows the results of deriving the coordinate distances for all combinations of pairs that satisfy the conditions. In Fig. 10, the combinations are derived by excluding the combination of red 2 and white with a coordinate distance exceeding 0.315, and the sum of the coordinate distances in the first candidate is minimized to 0.167. However, the first candidate is not preferable because red 1 and red 2 (coordinate distance 0.036), which are the two light-emitting units 10 (emission colors) with the shortest coordinate distance among all the light-emitting units 10, form a pair. Therefore, in the specific example, the second candidate is adopted, and the combination of red 1 and white is selected for the second pair, and the combination of red 2 and amber is selected for the third pair.
[0061] Next, in the steps after step O3, for each determined pair, it is determined at which position among the first light-emitting unit 10-1 to the Nth light-emitting unit 10-N (among the (2×M + 1)th light-emitting unit 10-(2×M + 1)) to arrange them. At this time, the light-emitting unit 10 (emission color) paired with the light-emitting unit 10 (emission color) whose position is determined to be arranged at the position of the Xth light-emitting unit 10-X is determined to be arranged at the position of the (X + M + 1)th light-emitting unit 10-(X + M + 1) (X is a positive integer where 1 ≤ X < M + 1), or is determined to be arranged at the position of the (X-(M + 1))th light-emitting unit 10-(X-(M + 1)) (X is a positive integer where M + 1 < X ≤ 2×M + 1). By arranging the light-emitting units 10 (emission colors) in this way, the distance (arrangement interval) between the light-emitting units 10 (emission colors) constituting the pair becomes equal in all pairs, so there is no pair with an extremely short distance (arrangement interval) between the light-emitting units 10 (emission colors), and it is expected to reduce color unevenness.
[0062] In step O3, the procedure for determining the light-emitting unit 10 (light color) to be arranged on the outermost side among the light-emitting units 10 (light colors) mounted on the light-emitting module 1 is the same as that of step E2 described above, except for the arrangement rules for the light-emitting units 10 (light colors) described above, and therefore a detailed explanation will be omitted here.
[0063] Referring to a specific example, among all the light-emitting units 10 (light-emitting colors) included in the light-emitting module 1, the two light-emitting units 10 (light-emitting colors) with the shortest coordinate distance are Red 1 and Red 2 (distance between coordinates: 0.036). Therefore, it is decided that one of Red 1 and Red 2 will be disposed in the first light-emitting unit 10-1, and the other of Red 1 and Red 2 will be disposed in the (2×M+1)th light-emitting unit 10-(2×M+1). In the following, it is assumed that Red 1 is disposed at the position of the first light-emitting unit 10-1, and Red 2 is disposed at the position of the seventh light-emitting unit 10-7.
[0064] As described above, the light-emitting unit 10 (light-emitting color) paired with the light-emitting unit 10 (light-emitting color) arranged at the position of the first light-emitting unit 10-1 is arranged at the (X+M+1)th light-emitting unit 10-(X+M+1) position, so the white paired with Red 1 is determined to be arranged at the position of the fifth light-emitting unit 10-5. Also, the light-emitting unit (light-emitting color) paired with the light-emitting unit 10 (light-emitting color) arranged at the seventh light-emitting unit 10-7 is arranged at the (X-(M+1))th light-emitting unit 10-(X-(M+1)), so the amber paired with Red 2 is determined to be arranged at the position of the third light-emitting unit 10-3.
[0065] Next, in step O4, the arrangement of the other light-emitting units 10 (light-emitting colors) is determined. In step O4, light-emitting units 10 (light-emitting colors) to be arranged at positions other than the positions of the first light-emitting unit 10-1, the Mth light-emitting unit 10-M, the (M+1)th light-emitting unit 10-(M+1), the (M+2)th light-emitting unit 10-(M+2), and the (2×M+1)th light-emitting unit 10-(2×M+1) determined in steps O3 are determined.
[0066] First, the case where M is 3 will be described. Since the light-emitting module 1 includes (2×M+1) (types) of light-emitting units 10 (light-emitting colors), when M is 3, two (types) of light-emitting units 10 (light-emitting colors) remain as other light-emitting units 10 (light-emitting colors) at the stage where step O3 is completed. Note that these two (types) of light-emitting units 10 (light-emitting colors) are light-emitting units 10 (light-emitting colors) constituting one of the pairs determined in step O2. When M is 3, the light-emitting units 10 (light-emitting colors) to be disposed at the positions of the first light-emitting unit 10-1, the third light-emitting unit 10-3, the fourth light-emitting unit 10-4, the fifth light-emitting unit 10-5, and the seventh light-emitting unit 10-7 have been determined up to step O3, so in step O4, the light-emitting units 10 (light-emitting colors) to be disposed at the positions of the second light-emitting unit 10-2 and the sixth light-emitting unit 10-6 are determined. That is, in step O4 when M=3, the number of other light-emitting units 10 (light-emitting colors) is two, and there are two positions for the light-emitting units 10 (light-emitting colors), so there are only two candidate patterns for which light-emitting unit 10 (light-emitting color) should be placed at the position of the second light-emitting unit 10-2 (the one that is not placed at the position of the second light-emitting unit 10-2 is automatically determined to be placed at the position of the sixth light-emitting unit 10-6). It is decided which of these two candidate patterns to select.
[0067] At this time, in step E3, the coordinate distance between the light-emitting unit 10 (light color) arranged at the position of the second light-emitting unit 10-2 and the adjacent light-emitting unit 10 (light color) and the coordinate distance between the light-emitting unit 10 (light color) arranged at the position of the sixth light-emitting unit 10-6 and the adjacent light-emitting unit 10 (light color) are all derived, their sum is calculated, and the arrangement that results in the largest sum is determined as the arrangement of the other light-emitting units 10 (light color).
[0068] Referring to a specific example, the other light-emitting units 10 (light emitting colors) are green and cyan, and the arrangement of the other light-emitting units 10 (light emitting colors) has two patterns, as shown in FIG. 11, in which either green or cyan is arranged at the position of the second light-emitting unit 10-2. In pattern 1, the coordinate distances between the first light-emitting unit 10-1 and the third light-emitting unit 10-3 adjacent to the second light-emitting unit 10-2 (the coordinate distance between the first light-emitting unit 10-1 and the second light-emitting unit 10-2, and the coordinate distance between the second light-emitting unit 10-2 and the third light-emitting unit 10-3) are derived, and the coordinate distances between the fifth light-emitting unit 10-5 and the seventh light-emitting unit 10-7 adjacent to the sixth light-emitting unit 10-6 (the coordinate distance between the fifth light-emitting unit 10-5 and the sixth light-emitting unit 10-6, and the coordinate distance between the sixth light-emitting unit 10-6 and the seventh light-emitting unit 10-7) are derived, and the sum of the coordinate distances is derived. The same is true for pattern 2. In a specific example, the sum of the inter-coordinate distances in pattern 1 is 2.071, and the sum of the inter-coordinate distances in pattern 2 is 2.145, so pattern 2, which has the largest sum of inter-coordinate distances, is determined as the arrangement of the other light-emitting units 10 (light emitting colors).
[0069] In addition, in step O4, the arrangement having the largest inter-coordinate distance among the inter-coordinate distance between the light-emitting unit 10 (light color) arranged at the position of the second light-emitting unit 10-2 and the adjacent light-emitting unit 10 (light color) and the inter-coordinate distance between the light-emitting unit 10 (light color) arranged at the position of the sixth light-emitting unit 10-6 and the adjacent light-emitting unit 10 (light color) may be determined as the arrangement of the other light-emitting units 10 (light color).
[0070] 11, the coordinate distance (0.667) between the sixth light-emitting unit 10-6 (green) and the seventh light-emitting unit 10-7 (red 2) in pattern 2 is the largest, so pattern 2 is determined as the arrangement of the other light-emitting units 10 (light-emitting colors). In addition, in the specific example, as shown in the lower part of FIG. 9, the coordinate distance between red 2 and blue is the largest among all the light-emitting units 10 (light-emitting colors), so it may be determined that green is disposed at the position of the sixth light-emitting unit 10-6 adjacent to the seventh light-emitting unit 10-7, which is red 2. In this case, it is automatically determined that the remaining light-emitting unit 10 (light-emitting color), cyan, is disposed at the position of the remaining second light-emitting unit 10-2.
[0071] Next, a case where M is 4 or more will be described. Since the light-emitting module 1 has (2×M+1) (types) of light-emitting units 10 (light-emitting colors), when M is 4 or more, at the stage where step O3 is completed, 4 (types) or more of the light-emitting units 10 (light-emitting colors) remain as other light-emitting units 10 (light-emitting colors). Note that these 4 (types) or more of the light-emitting units 10 (light-emitting colors) each include the light-emitting units 10 (light-emitting colors) that make up the pairs determined in step O2.
[0072] At this time, in step O4, the coordinate distances between all light-emitting units 10 (light-emitting colors) arranged at positions other than the first light-emitting unit 10-1, the Mth light-emitting unit 10-M, the (M+1)th light-emitting unit 10-(M+1), the (M+2)th light-emitting unit 10-(M+2), and the (2×M+1)th light-emitting unit 10-(2×M+1) and the adjacent light-emitting units 10 (light-emitting colors) are derived, the sum of these distances is calculated, and the arrangement that results in the largest sum is determined as the arrangement of the other light-emitting units 10 (light-emitting colors).
[0073] In detail, the coordinate distances to be derived are the coordinate distance between the first light-emitting unit 10-1 and the second light-emitting unit 10-2, the coordinate distance between the (2×M)th light-emitting unit 10-(2×M) and the (2×M+1)th light-emitting unit 10-(2×M+1), and the coordinate distance between the Yth light-emitting unit 10-Y and the (Y+1)th light-emitting unit 10-(Y+1) (Y is a positive integer, 3≦Y<2×M). For the coordinate distance between the Yth light-emitting unit 10-Y and the (Y+1)th light-emitting unit 10-(Y+1), Y is a positive integer, and the coordinate distance is derived for all Ys that satisfy the condition 3≦Y<2×M. Then, when all the derived coordinate distances are added up, the arrangement of the light-emitting unit 10 (light-emitting color) that has the largest value is determined as the arrangement of the other light-emitting units 10 (light-emitting colors).
[0074] In addition, when Y=M, that is, the coordinate distance between the Mth light-emitting unit 10-M and the (M+1)th light-emitting unit 10-(M+1), and when Y=M+1, that is, the coordinate distance between the (M+1)th light-emitting unit 10-(M+1) and the (M+2)th light-emitting unit 10-(M+2), have already been determined in step O3, so this distance does not need to be taken into consideration in step O4.
[0075] In step O4, the arrangement may be determined in order from the light-emitting unit 10 (light-emitting color) having the longest coordinate distance relationship with the adjacent light-emitting unit 10 (light-emitting color). For example, at the stage where step O3 is completed, the light-emitting units 10 (light-emitting colors) to be disposed at the positions of the first light-emitting unit 10-1, the Mth light-emitting unit 10-M, the (M+1)th light-emitting unit 10-(M+1), the (M+2)th light-emitting unit 10-(M+2), and the (2×M+1)th light-emitting unit 10-(2×M+1) have been determined, but if the coordinate distance between the other light-emitting unit 10 (light-emitting color) "orange" and the first light-emitting unit 10-1 is the longest, "orange" is disposed at the position of the second light-emitting unit 10-2 adjacent to the first light-emitting unit 10-1. Then, the light-emitting unit 10 (light-emitting color) paired with "orange" is disposed at the (M+3)th light-emitting unit 10-(M+3) position. Next, for the positions where at least one adjacent light-emitting unit 10 has not been determined, the light-emitting unit 10 (light-emitting color) with the longest coordinate distance is similarly assigned in order to determine the arrangement of the other light-emitting units 10 (light-emitting colors).
[0076] The procedure of step O4 is performed as described above, and the placement determination procedure O is completed when the light-emitting module 1 has an odd number of light-emitting colors, that is, when the light-emitting module 1 has 2×M+1 light-emitting units 10 and 2×M+1 types of light-emitting colors.
[0077] The above describes the procedure for determining the arrangement of the light-emitting units 10 (light emission colors) in the light-emitting module 1, but in the arrangement determination procedure E and the arrangement determination procedure O, the step of determining the outermost arrangement may be performed before creating pairs. Also, in the arrangement determination procedure O, the step of determining the outermost arrangement may be performed before the step (O1) of determining the central arrangement.
[0078] Although some embodiments of the present invention have been described, these embodiments are presented as examples and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These novel embodiments can be implemented in various other forms, and various omissions, substitutions, and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. These embodiments and their modifications are included in the scope and spirit of the invention, and are included in the scope of the invention and its equivalents described in the claims. [Explanation of symbols]
[0079] 1 Light emitting module 10 Light emitting unit 10-1 First light emitting part 10-2 Second light emitting part 10-4 Third light emitting part 10-4 Fourth light-emitting part 10-5 The fifth light-emitting part 10-6 6th light-emitting part 20 Substrate 22 Left side 23 Right hand side
Claims
1. a substrate having a left side and a right side opposite the left side; a light emitting module having a plurality of light emitting unit groups each having a different light emission color and each of which is made up of N light emitting units (N is an integer of 4 or more) disposed at equal intervals on the substrate; In one of the light-emitting unit groups, the light-emitting module has a first light-emitting unit arranged closest to the left side of the substrate and an Nth light-emitting unit arranged closest to the right side of the substrate, and the coordinate distance between the chromaticity coordinate of the light irradiated by the first light-emitting unit and the chromaticity coordinate of the light irradiated by the Nth light-emitting unit is the shortest among the distances between the chromaticity coordinates of the light irradiated by any two light-emitting units extracted from the N light-emitting units.
2. a substrate having a left side and a right side opposite the left side; a light emitting module having a plurality of light emitting unit groups each having a different light emission color and each of which is made up of N light emitting units (N is an integer of 4 or more) disposed at equal intervals on the substrate; Each of the light-emitting unit groups includes a first light-emitting unit arranged closest to the left side of the substrate and an Nth light-emitting unit arranged closest to the right side of the substrate, and the coordinate distance between the chromaticity coordinate of the light irradiated by the first light-emitting unit and the chromaticity coordinate of the light irradiated by the Nth light-emitting unit is the shortest among the distances between the chromaticity coordinates of the light irradiated by any two light-emitting units extracted from the N light-emitting units.
3. 3. The light-emitting module according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, in the light-emitting unit group, N is an even number equal to or greater than 4 (M is an integer equal to or greater than 2, and N=2×M), and the names of the light-emitting units are defined from the second light-emitting unit to the N-1th light-emitting unit in ascending order of the distance from the first light-emitting unit to the N-1th light-emitting unit, when a combination in which the distance between the chromaticity coordinates of the light emitted by each of the N light-emitting units is shortest in relation to all of the N-1 light-emitting units different from itself is derived, one of two light-emitting units constituting a combination in which the distance between the shortest chromaticity coordinates is longest among the derived combinations for each of the N light-emitting units is disposed as the Xth light-emitting unit, and the other is disposed as the X+Mth light-emitting unit (X is an integer satisfying 1≦X≦M).
4. The light-emitting module described in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that in the light-emitting unit group, N is an odd number equal to or greater than 5 (M is an integer equal to or greater than 2, and N=2×M+1), and the names of the light-emitting units are defined from the second light-emitting unit to the N-1th light-emitting unit in ascending order of their placement positions from the first light-emitting unit, when the sum of the distances between the chromaticity coordinates of the light emitted by each of the N light-emitting units in relation to all N-1 light-emitting units different from itself is derived, the light-emitting unit that gives the largest sum is arranged as the M+1th light-emitting unit.
5. 5. The light-emitting module according to claim 4, wherein in the light-emitting unit group, N is an odd number equal to or greater than 5 (M is an integer equal to or greater than 2, and N=2×M+1), and the names of the light-emitting units are defined from the second light-emitting unit to the N-1th light-emitting unit in ascending order of the distance from the first light-emitting unit to the nearest light-emitting unit, when a combination in which the distance between the chromaticity coordinates of the light emitted by each of the N light-emitting units is shortest in relation to all of the N-1 light-emitting units different from itself is derived, one of two light-emitting units constituting a combination in which the distance between the shortest chromaticity coordinates is longest among the two light-emitting units derived for each of the N light-emitting units is disposed as the Xth light-emitting unit, and the other is disposed as the (X+M+1)th light-emitting unit (X is an integer satisfying 1≦X≦M).
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