Transmitter

Abstract

To provide a transmitter capable of uniformly emitting light up to positions distant from the light emitting parts of a light guide part even when the number of light emitting parts is small. [Solution] A transmitter having a notification unit (26) and an indicator light unit (28) in a main body, the indicator light unit (28) having a light-emitting unit (52), a light-guiding unit (60) that guides the light emitted by the light-emitting unit (52), and a transmission area (24a) in the main body (20) that transmits the light guided by the light-guiding unit (60) to the outside of the front side of the main body, the light-guiding unit (60) being formed of a resin material containing scattering particles, and when a particle size parameter a is expressed as a=πx / λ where x is the diameter of the scattering particles and λ is the wavelength of the light emitted by the light-emitting unit (52), the particle size parameter a is expressed as a=πx / λ. <a≦10 4 This is a transmitter that:

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a transmitter equipped with an indicator light unit. [Background technology]

[0002] To report the occurrence of an abnormality such as a fire, a transmitter is mounted on an installation surface such as a wall of a building or the front of a fire hydrant box. The transmitter has a push button on the front side, and the occurrence of an abnormality can be reported by pressing this push button.

[0003] The transmitter has a main body with a cover provided on the front side of a base on the installation surface side, and a push button is arranged on the main body. Also known is a transmitter that is also provided with an indicator light that emits light to indicate the position of the transmitter. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses such a transmitter. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2019-8616 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] The transmitter described in Patent Document 1 has a light-emitting unit made up of an LED, and a light-guiding unit made up of a light guide that guides light from the light-emitting unit in the circumferential direction while emitting it toward the front side, and the front-side cover unit has light-transmitting areas on both the left and right sides of the outer periphery of the front side, so that the transmitter is visible as arc-shaped areas are illuminated on both the left and right sides of the outer periphery of the front side.

[0006] To ensure uniform illumination of the areas facing the light-emitting areas of the light guides, the light-emitting units are located at the 12 o'clock and 6 o'clock positions around the periphery of the main body. For this reason, the indicator light board on which the light-emitting units are located has a semicircular shape and occupies a large area of ​​the main body. Furthermore, because the light-emitting units are also located at the bottom of the main body, there is a risk that water that seeps into the main body from the push button will adhere to the light-emitting units and the surrounding board, leading to malfunction. For this reason, it would be desirable to locate the light-emitting units only at the top of the main body, but in that case, the light would be weaker at the bottom of the main body, making it difficult to ensure uniform illumination of the light guides from the top to the bottom of the main body.

[0007] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned problems, and aims to provide a transmitter that can emit light uniformly up to positions far from the light-emitting section of the light-guiding section, even if the number of light-emitting sections is small. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the transmitter according to the present invention is a transmitter having a main body portion including a notification unit and an indicator light unit, wherein the indicator light unit has a light emitting unit, a light guiding unit that guides light emitted by the light emitting unit, and a transmission region in the main body portion that transmits the light guided by the light guiding unit to the outside on the front side of the main body portion, and the light guiding unit is formed of a resin material containing scattering particles, and when a particle size parameter a is expressed by (Equation 1) where x is the diameter of the scattering particles and λ is the wavelength of the light emitted by the light emitting unit, it is found that <a≦10 4 is.

number

[0009] Furthermore, in the transmitter according to the present invention, the particle size parameter a of the scattering particles may be in the range of 4.5≦a≦450.

[0010] In addition, the transmitter of the present invention may be configured so that the main body has a disk shape, the light-guiding section is formed in a ring shape along the circumferential direction of the main body, and the light-emitting section is provided at one location opposite the light-guiding section.

[0011] In the transmitter according to the present invention, the transmission area of ​​the cover may be arc-shaped and extend along the circumferential direction of the main body, facing the light guide. [Effects of the Invention]

[0012] According to the transmitter of the present invention, the light guided from the light-emitting unit to the light-guiding unit is diffused by diffraction or Mie scattering as it travels through the light-guiding unit, and the light scattering intensity in the direction away from the light-emitting unit can be made sufficiently greater than the light scattering intensity in the direction towards the light-emitting unit.This means that light can reach positions far from the light-emitting unit in the light-guiding unit, and the light-guiding unit can emit light uniformly toward the front side even if the number of light-emitting units is small. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0013] [Figure 1] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the transmitter according to the embodiment. [Figure 2] FIG. [Figure 3] FIG. [Figure 4] 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. 2 including the installation surface. [Figure 5] FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0014] An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. A transmitter 10 of this embodiment reports abnormalities in a monitored area and is attached to an installation surface 100 such as a building wall or an equipment storage box that houses a fire extinguisher or the like. The transmitter 10 also has a light-emitting portion so that it can display its own position. For this reason, the transmitter 10 is attached so that it is exposed on the front side of the installation surface 100.

[0015] Fig. 1 shows a perspective view of the transmitter 10, Fig. 2 shows a front view of the transmitter 10, and Fig. 3 shows a side view of the transmitter 10. Fig. 4 shows a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in Fig. 2, and Fig. 5 shows an exploded perspective view of the transmitter 10. As shown in these figures, the transmitter 10 comprises a main body having a base 22 that is disposed on the installation surface 100 side and houses various components, and a cover 24 that covers the front side of the base 22. A push button 26, which serves as a notification unit, is disposed slightly below the center of the cover 24 and is exposed on the front side. The main body 20 is formed so that the portion exposed on the front side is thin and approximately disk-shaped.

[0016] The main body 20 accommodates the push button 26, a switch 40 that is pressed by the push button 26, and a pressure spring 44 that returns the pressed push button 26 to its original position. The main body 20 also has a transmitter board 35 disposed therein.

[0017] An electric circuit for operating the transmitter 10 is mounted on the transmitter board 35. The specific type and configuration of the transmitter board 35 are arbitrary, but for example, it may have a rectangular shape overall, and it is attached to the installation surface 100 side of the base 22 by any method such as screwing. The installation surface 100 side of the transmitter board 35 is covered by a board cover 36. The specific type and configuration of the board cover 36 are arbitrary, but for example, it may have a rectangular shape overall, and it is attached by engaging with the base 22.

[0018] The transmitter 10 is equipped with an indicator light unit 28 for light emission. The indicator light unit 28 has a light-emitting unit 52 provided on an indicator light board 50 and a light guide 60 that serves as a light-guiding unit for guiding light from the light-emitting unit 52. The indicator light board 50, the light-emitting unit 52, and the light guide 60 are housed in the main body 20. The indicator light board 50 has an arc-shaped configuration extending over a circumferential range of approximately 90°, and is equipped with the light-emitting unit 52 at one location, the 12 o'clock position in the circumferential direction. The light-emitting unit 52 is formed by densely arranging multiple LEDs. The light guide 60 is formed in a ring shape that extends around the entire circumference of the main body 20. The light guide 60 can be formed using a light-guiding resin material.

[0019] The indicator light unit 28 further has a transmissive region 24a in the cover unit 24 that transmits light guided by the light guide 60 to the outside on the front side of the main body unit 20. The transmissive regions 24a are provided in an arc-like shape on both the left and right sides of the outer periphery of the front side of the main body unit 20. Therefore, when the light-emitting unit 52 emits light, the light is guided in the circumferential direction by the light guide 60 and emitted toward the front side, and is then emitted to the outside via the transmissive region 24a of the cover unit 24. As a result, the light from the light-emitting unit 52 is visually recognized as if arc-shaped flat regions are emitting light on both the left and right sides of the outer periphery of the front side of the main body unit 20.

[0020] The light guide 60 will now be described in detail. The light guide 60 has a substantially constant thickness along the circumferential direction at a portion thereof facing the transmission region 24a of the cover portion 24, and also has a substantially constant thickness along the radial direction. The light guide 60 is formed from a resin material containing scattering particles.

[0021] The light incident on the resin is scattered due to the non-uniform refractive index caused by the scattering particles dispersed in the resin. The light guide 60 is configured so that the light scattering intensity in the circumferential direction away from the light-emitting unit 52 is at least twice as large as the light scattering intensity in the circumferential direction toward the light-emitting unit 52.

[0022] Light scattering patterns can be one of three types: "shading," "diffraction," "Mie scattering," or "Rayleigh scattering," depending on the particle diameter of the scattering particles. Shading occurs when the particle diameter of the scattering particles is large enough, and is a state in which the scattering particles block light and create shadows. When the particle diameter of the scattering particles becomes small, the light bends around to the rear of the particles, resulting in a diffraction state in which a regular pattern is generated by light interference. When the particle diameter of the scattering particles is even smaller, the scattered light becomes Mie scattering, which spreads forward, to the sides, and backward. When the particle diameter of the scattering particles is smaller than Mie scattering, the scattered light becomes Rayleigh scattering, which spreads isotropically.

[0023] The scattering particles contained in the resin material forming the light guide 60 have a particle diameter that causes light from the light emitting unit 52 to be diffused in the light guide 60 by diffraction or Mie scattering. As a result, when light hits the particles, forward scattering is stronger than backward scattering, and as described above, the light scattering intensity in the circumferential direction away from the light emitting unit 52 can be made sufficiently greater than the light scattering intensity in the circumferential direction toward the light emitting unit 52, allowing light to reach positions in the light guide 60 that are distant in the circumferential direction from the light emitting unit 52. Specifically, when the diameter of the scattering particles is x, the wavelength of the light emitted by the light emitting unit 52 is λ, and the particle size parameter a is expressed by the following (Equation 2), 2 <a≦10 4 The diameter of the scattering particles is set so that

[0024]

number

[0025] The particle size parameter a preferably falls within the range of 4.5 ≤ a ≤ 450. Thereby, the scattering pattern occurring in the light guide 60 becomes Mie scattering or diffraction close to Mie scattering, and the light scattering intensity in the circumferential direction of the main body 20 away from the light emitting portion 52 can be made sufficiently larger than the light scattering intensity in the circumferential direction approaching the light emitting portion 52. Thus, even at a position in the light guide 60 that is circumferentially away from the light emitting portion 52, light can reach sufficiently. In the transmitter 10 of the present embodiment, since the transmission region 24a of the cover portion 24 is formed in an arc shape that extends along the circumferential direction of the main body 20 facing the light guide 60, it has a long shape in the circumferential direction. In this case, even if the light emitting portion 52 is provided only at one location in the circumferential direction of the main body 20, the light guide 60 can be made to emit light uniformly toward the front side within the range of the transmission region 24a. Along with this, the display lamp substrate 50 provided with the light emitting portion 52 can be made smaller in the circumferential direction. Also, since the display lamp substrate 50 and the light emitting portion 52 can be arranged not to be below the push button portion 26 of the main body 20, it is possible to prevent water that has entered the inside of the main body 20 from between the main body 20 and the push button portion 26 from adhering to the display lamp substrate 50 and the light emitting portion 52.

[0026] The light emitted from the light emitting portion 52 is red and has a wavelength of approximately 700 nm. Therefore, when the particle size parameter a is in the range of 2 < a ≤ 10 4 the diameter x of the scattering particles is in the range of 0.45 μm < x ≤ 2.2 mm. Also, when the particle size parameter a is in the range of 4.5 ≤ a ≤ 450, the diameter x of the scattering particles is in the range of 1 μm ≤ x ≤ 100 μm.

[0027] In order to make a light guide extending in the circumferential direction emit light uniformly from one light-emitting portion 52, it is possible to change the shape of the light guide, such as by changing the thickness of the portion away from the light-emitting portion 52 or by applying a textured finish to the back surface of the light guide. However, the light guide 60 of this embodiment contains scattering particles in the resin material, and by appropriately setting the diameter of the scattering particles, light can reach positions far from the light-emitting portion 52 in the circumferential direction and emit light uniformly. Therefore, the light guide 60 can have a constant thickness in the circumferential direction, and surface processing is not required, making it easier to manufacture the light guide 60.

[0028] Although the embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the application of the present invention is not limited to this embodiment, and various applications are possible within the scope of the technical concept thereof. [Explanation of symbols]

[0029] 10 Transmitter 20 Main body 22 Base 24 Cover part 24a Transparent area 26 Push button section 35 Transmitter board 36 Circuit board cover 40 Switch 42 Presser spring 50 Indicator light board 52 Light-emitting part 60 Light Guide 100 Installation surface

Claims

1. A transmitter having a notification unit and an indicator light unit in a main body, the indicator light unit has a light-emitting unit, a light-guiding unit that guides light emitted by the light-emitting unit, and a transmission area in the main body that transmits the light guided by the light-guiding unit to the outside on a front side of the main body, the light guide portion is formed of a resin material containing scattering particles, When the diameter of the scattering particle is x, the wavelength of the light emitted by the light emitting portion is λ, and the particle size parameter a is expressed by (Equation 1), 2<a≦10 ４ This is a transmitter. [Equation 1]

2. 2. The transmitter according to claim 1, wherein the particle size parameter a of the scattering particles satisfies the following condition: 4.5≦a≦450.

3. The main body portion has a disk shape, the light guide portion is formed in a ring shape along the circumferential direction of the main body portion, The transmitter according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the light emitting section is provided at one location facing the light guiding section.

4. The transmitter according to claim 3 , wherein the transmission area of ​​the cover portion has an arc shape that faces the light guide portion and extends along the circumferential direction of the main body portion.

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