Luminous Emblem

Abstract

To provide a light emitting emblem which is suppressed in a variation of the luminosity of emitted light resulting from a folded part of an inside face of a light guide body included in a cover.SOLUTION: A light emitting emblem 1 comprises: a light emitting element 13 as a light source; a housing 14 for accommodating the light emitting element 13; and a cover 10 attached with an emblem 12 on its surface, having a translucent part 11b composed of a light guide body for taking out light which is emitted from the light emitting element 13, and attached to the housing 14 so as to cover the light emitting element 13. At least a part of an outside face of the translucent part 11b is exposed to the outside as a light emitting region of the cover 10, an inside face of the translucent part 11b includes folded parts 114a, 114b being boundary lines between planes which are different in orientations, and a low-brightness line being a region in which linear brightness appearing on a face other than the inside face of the translucent part 11b is low appears in a region other than all the light emitting regions due to causes including the refraction of light which is made incident to the folded parts 114a, 114b.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a luminous emblem, and more particularly to a luminous emblem to be installed on a vehicle such as an automobile. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, vehicle emblems with a light-emitting function have been known (see Patent Document 1). In the emblem described in Patent Document 1, a plurality of LEDs serving as light sources are housed in a case, and the emblem emits light by guiding the light emitted by the LEDs through a light guide. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 6101537 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, when the inner surface of the light guide has a bent portion that is a boundary between planes of different orientations, as in the emblem described in Patent Document 1, a low-brightness line, which is a linear area of ​​low brightness caused by the refraction of light that enters the bent portion of the inner surface, appears on the outer surface of the light guide from which the light is extracted. If this low-brightness line is in a position that can be seen from the outside of the emblem, it may cause uneven brightness in the light emitted by the emblem, which may have a negative impact on its appearance.

[0005] An object of the present invention is to provide a luminous emblem that suppresses unevenness in the brightness of emitted light caused by bends in the inner surface of a light guide included in a cover. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] In order to achieve the above object, one aspect of the present invention provides the following luminous emblems [1] to [6].

[0007] [1] A luminous emblem comprising: a light-emitting element as a light source; a housing that accommodates the light-emitting element; and a cover that is attached to the housing so as to cover the light-emitting element, the cover having an emblem on its surface and a light-transmitting section made of a light guide for extracting light emitted from the light-emitting element, wherein at least a portion of the outer surface of the light-transmitting section is exposed to the outside as a light-emitting area of ​​the cover, the inner surface of the light-transmitting section includes a folded section that is a boundary between planes of different orientations, and low-brightness lines, which are linear areas of low brightness that appear on surfaces other than the inner surface of the light-transmitting section due to factors including refraction of light entering the folded section, all appear in areas other than the light-emitting area. [2] The luminous emblem described in [1] above, wherein the translucent portion includes a first flat portion whose outer surface is included in the luminous area, and a second flat portion that bends and extends from the first flat portion toward the housing, and at least a part of its outer surface is not included in the luminous area, and the low brightness line caused by factors including refraction of light incident on the boundary between the inner surface of the first flat portion and the inner surface of the second flat portion as the bent portion appears in an area of ​​the outer surface of the second flat portion that is not included in the luminous area. [3] The luminous emblem described in [2] above, wherein the thickness of the first flat plate portion is at least twice the thickness of the second flat plate portion. [4] The luminous emblem described in [2] above, wherein the thickness of the second flat plate portion is 0.5 mm or more. [5] The luminous emblem described in [2] above, wherein the width of the outer surface of the second flat portion is 3 mm or more. [6] The luminous emblem described in any one of the above [1] to [5], wherein the light-transmitting portion includes a diffusing material that diffuses the light emitted from the light-emitting element. Effect of the Invention

[0008] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a luminous emblem that suppresses unevenness in the luminescence brightness caused by the bends in the inner surface of the light guide included in the cover. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1]Fig. 1(a) is a front view of a light-emitting emblem according to an embodiment of the present invention, and Fig. 1(b) is a front view of the light-emitting emblem with a cover removed. [Diagram 2] Fig. 2(a) is a vertical cross-sectional view of the luminous emblem taken along the cutting line AA shown in Fig. 1(a). Fig. 2(b) is a partial vertical cross-sectional view of the luminous emblem taken along the cutting line BB shown in Fig. 1(b). [Diagram 3] 3(a) and (b) are enlarged vertical cross-sectional views of the light-transmitting portion of the cover and its surroundings. [Figure 4] 4(a) and (b) are perspective views of a part of the light-transmitting portion including the cross sections shown in FIGS. 3(a) and (b), respectively. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0010] [Configuration of the luminous emblem] Fig. 1(a) is a front view of a luminous emblem 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 1(b) is a front view of the luminous emblem 1 with a cover 10 removed. Fig. 2(a) is a vertical cross-sectional view of the luminous emblem 1 cut along the cutting line AA shown in Fig. 1(a). Fig. 2(b) is a partial vertical cross-sectional view of the luminous emblem 1 cut along the cutting line BB shown in Fig. 1(b).

[0011] The luminous emblem 1 comprises a light-emitting element 13 as a light source, a housing 14 that contains the light-emitting element 13, and a cover 10 that is attached to the housing 14 so as to cover the light-emitting element 13 and has an emblem 12 applied to its surface and includes a translucent portion 11b made of a light guide for extracting light emitted from the light-emitting element 13.

[0012] The light emitting element 13 is a light emitting element mounted on the printed circuit board 15, and typically an LED is used. The printed circuit board 15 is fixed to the housing 14, for example, so that the surface on which the light emitting element 13 is mounted faces the cover 10. In order to increase the light reflectance of the surface of the printed circuit board 15 and increase the light extraction efficiency, the printed circuit board 15 is preferably a white board whose base material is FR-4, CEM3, or the like, or a board whose portion exposed in the exposure hole 153 on the surface is painted white.

[0013] The housing 14 is made of, for example, ASA (acrylonitrile-styrene-acrylic acid ester). The housing 14 has a fixing portion 141 for fixing the housing 14 to an object to which the light-emitting emblem 1 is to be attached, such as the front grille of a vehicle. For example, the housing 14 can be fixed to the object to which the light-emitting emblem 1 is to be attached by fastening a screw through a screw fastening hole provided in the fixing portion 141.

[0014] The cover 10 has a cover body 11 having a non-light-transmitting portion 11a that does not transmit light emitted by the light-emitting element 13 and a light-transmitting portion 11b that transmits the light emitted by the light-emitting element 13, and an emblem 12 that is placed on the surface of the cover body 11. The non-light-transmitting portion 11a and the light-transmitting portion 11b that constitute the cover body 11 may be molded integrally or may be separate parts, but are typically molded integrally by two-color molding.

[0015] The non-light-transmitting portion 11a is made of a resin such as ASA, etc. In order to prevent light from passing through, the non-light-transmitting portion 11a may be formed by molding a resin that is colored, for example, black, or the like, or the surface of the non-light-transmitting portion 11a may be painted or plated.

[0016] The light-transmitting portion 11b, which is a light guide, is made of a resin such as PMMA (methyl methacrylate) or PC (polycarbonate) that transmits the light emitted from the light-emitting element 13. The light-transmitting portion 11b is made of a material such as TiO 2It is preferable that the light transmitting portion 11b contains a diffusing material such as particles. Also, a lens cut may be provided on the inner surface of the light transmitting portion 11b, that is, on the surface on the light emitting element 13 side.

[0017] 2(a) and (b), a part of the outer surface of the light-transmitting portion 11b is exposed to the outside and functions as a light-emitting region of the cover 10. That is, light emitted from the light-emitting element 13 and taken in by the light-transmitting portion 11b is taken out from the exposed portion. In the example shown in FIGS. 1(a) and (b) and 2(a) and (b), the light-transmitting portion 11b and its exposed portion are provided so as to follow the inner contour of the emblem 12, and when the light-emitting element 13 is turned on, light is emitted along the inner contour of the emblem 12.

[0018] In addition, in order for the light-transmitting portion 11b to efficiently capture the light emitted from the light-emitting elements, it is preferable that multiple light-emitting elements 13 are located directly below the light-transmitting portion 11b in accordance with the planar shape of the light-transmitting portion 11b, as shown in Figures 1(a) and (b).

[0019] The emblem 12 is made of a resin such as ABS (acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene) and has a plated surface. The emblem 12 has a fixing portion 121 for fixing the emblem 12 to an object to which the light-emitting emblem 1 is to be attached, such as the front grille of a vehicle. For example, the emblem 12 can be fixed to the object to which the light-emitting emblem 1 is to be attached by fastening a screw through a screw fastening hole provided in the fixing portion 121. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 2(b), the emblem 12 may be fixed to the cover body 11 with a double-sided tape 122.

[0020] In addition, in the cover 10, the emblem is expressed using the emblem 12, which is a dedicated part, but the method of expressing the emblem is not limited to this, and for example, a part of the light-transmitting portion 11b or a part of the non-light-transmitting portion 11a as a light-emitting region may be used to express the emblem. In other words, the method of applying the emblem to the cover 10 is not limited.

[0021] [Shape of the light-transmitting part] 3(a) and (b) are enlarged vertical cross-sectional views of the light-transmitting portion 11b and its periphery of the cover 10. In FIG. 3(a) and FIG. 3(b), the thickness T 2 4(a) and (b) are perspective views of a part of the light transmitting portion 11b including the cross section shown in FIG. 3(a) and (b), respectively.

[0022] The light-transmitting portion 11b includes a first flat plate portion 111 inclined with respect to the planar direction of the light-emitting emblem 1, a second flat plate portion 112 located inside the planar direction of the first flat plate portion 111 and extending from the first flat plate portion 111 while bending toward the housing 14, and a third flat plate portion 113 located outside the planar direction of the first flat plate portion 111 and extending from the first flat plate portion 111 while bending along the planar direction of the light-emitting emblem 1. The second flat plate portion 112 has an inclination closer to perpendicular to the planar direction of the light-emitting emblem 1 than the first flat plate portion 111, and the third flat plate portion 113 has an inclination closer to parallel to the planar direction of the light-emitting emblem 1 than the first flat plate portion 111.

[0023] The first flat plate portion 111, the second flat plate portion 112, and the third flat plate portion 113 are integrally molded from the same material and are continuous with no interface. The first flat plate portion 111, the second flat plate portion 112, and the third flat plate portion 113 are each annular flat plate members. A non-transmitting portion 11a is joined to an outer surface 112a of the second flat plate portion 112 and an end surface 113c in the planar direction of the third flat plate portion 113.

[0024] The outer surface 111a of the first flat plate portion 111 is exposed to the outside and is included in the light emitting area of ​​the cover 10. The entire area of ​​the surface 111a may be exposed to the outside. At least a part of the lower side of the outer surface 112a of the second flat plate portion 112, i.e., a part on the housing 14 side, is covered by the non-transmitting portion 11a, and the part not covered by the non-transmitting portion 11a is included in the light emitting area, but the part covered by the non-transmitting portion 11a is not included in the light emitting area. Almost the entire outer surface 113a of the third flat plate portion 113 is covered by the emblem 12 and is not included in the light emitting area.

[0025] The first flat plate portion 111 and the second flat plate portion 112 are continuous, and the boundary line between the inner surface 111b of the first flat plate portion 111 and the inner surface 112b of the second flat plate portion 112, which are oriented in different directions, forms a bent portion 114a. The first flat plate portion 111 and the third flat plate portion 113 are continuous, and the boundary line between the inner surface 111b of the first flat plate portion 111 and the inner surface 113b of the third flat plate portion 113, which are oriented in different directions, forms a bent portion 114b.

[0026] Here, the inside and outside of the first flat plate portion 111, the second flat plate portion 112, and the third flat plate portion 113 respectively refer to the inside and outside of the space surrounded by the housing 14 in which the light-emitting element 13 is installed and the cover 10. In other words, the inside of the first flat plate portion 111, the second flat plate portion 112, and the third flat plate portion 113 is the side that mainly takes in light emitted from the light-emitting element 13, and the outside is the space side outside the luminous emblem 1 that emits light.

[0027] When there is a bend, such as bend 114a or 114b, which is a boundary between planes of different orientations included in the inner surface of light-transmitting portion 11b, a low-lightness line, which is a linear region of low lightness, appears on a surface other than the inner surface of light-transmitting portion 11b due to factors including refraction of light emitted from light-emitting element 13 and incident on the bend, specifically, refraction of light incident on the bend, scattering of light at the bend in light-transmitting portion 11b, and biased dispersion of the diffusing material if light-transmitting portion 11b contains a diffusing material. The position where the low-lightness line appears is affected by the refractive index of light-transmitting portion 11b and, if light-transmitting portion 11b contains a diffusing material, the biased dispersion of the diffusing material.

[0028] 3(a), low-luminance lines appear at position Pa on outer surface 111a of first flat plate portion 111 and position Pb on outer surface 113a of third flat plate portion 113 due to factors including the refraction of light incident on bent portion 114a and bent portion 114b. At this time, the low-luminance line caused by factors including the refraction of light incident on bent portion 114a appears on outer surface 111a included in the light-emitting area and is therefore visible from the outside, but position Pb is not exposed to the outside because it is covered by emblem 12 and is not included in the light-emitting area, so the low-luminance line caused by factors including the refraction of light incident on bent portion 114b is not visible from the outside.

[0029] Low-intensity lines appear when the bend angle of a bend, i.e., the angle between two planes that share the bend as a boundary line, is not within the range of 90±10° and 270±10°, i.e., when it is in the range of 0° or more and 80° or less, 100° or more and 260° or less, or 280° or more and 360° or less.

[0030] In the translucent portion 11b, the boundary line between the inner surface 112b of the second flat portion 112 and the end face 112c of the second flat portion 112 forms a bent portion 114c, and the boundary line between the inner surface 113b of the third flat portion 113 and the end face 113c of the third flat portion 113 forms a bent portion 114d. However, since the bend angles of the bent portions 114c and 114d are within the range of 270±10°, no low brightness lines appear due to factors including the refraction of light incident on the bent portions 114c and 114d.

[0031] The low brightness line caused by the refraction of light incident on the bent portion 114a is the thickness T of the first flat plate portion 111. 1 and the thickness T of the second flat plate portion 112 2 By the ratio of a changes.

[0032] The thickness T of the first flat plate portion 111 1 However, the thickness T of the second flat plate portion 112 2 If it is less than twice as long as (T 1 / T 2<2), the low brightness line caused by the refraction of light incident on the bent portion 114a appears on the outer surface 111a of the first flat plate portion 111 included in the light emitting area, as shown in FIG. 1 / T 2 The closer to 2, the closer the position Pa is to the boundary between the surface 111a and the surface 112a.

[0033] The thickness T of the first flat plate portion 111 1 However, the thickness T of the second flat plate portion 112 2 If it is more than twice as long as (2≦T 1 / T 2 3(b), the low brightness lines caused by factors including the refraction of light incident on the bent portion 114a appear on the outer surface 112a of the second flat plate portion 112. Since the non-light-transmitting portion 11a is bonded to the surface 112a, the portion of the outer surface 112a where the low brightness lines appear can be covered with the non-light-transmitting portion 11a and placed outside the light-emitting region.

[0034] In this way, the thickness T of the first flat plate portion 111 1 However, the thickness T of the second flat plate portion 112 2 In the light-transmitting portion 11b, which is twice or more the width of the light-transmitting portion 11b, all of the low-intensity lines caused by factors including the refraction of light incident on the bent portion included in the inner surface can be generated in areas other than the light-emitting area. As a result, all of the low-intensity lines are not visible from the outside, and uneven brightness of the light emitted by the light-emitting emblem 1 is suppressed.

[0035] A typical thickness T of the first plate portion 111 1 In this case, the thickness T of the second flat plate portion 112 is, for example, 3.0 mm. 2 When the thickness T of the second flat plate portion 112 is 3.0 mm, a low brightness line due to factors including refraction of light incident on the bent portion 114a appears on the outer surface 111a of the first flat plate portion 111 at a position 1.5 mm in the planar direction from the boundary line with the outer surface 112a of the second flat plate portion 112. 2 When the difference is 1.5 mm or less, a low brightness line appears on the outer surface 112a of the second flat plate portion 112 due to factors including the refraction of light incident on the bent portion 114a.

[0036] The thickness T of the second flat plate portion 112 2 If the thickness T of the second flat plate portion 112 is less than 0.5 mm, the groove of the metal mold used to mold the light-transmitting portion 11b may be too fine to allow the resin to flow in smoothly. 2 It is preferable that the thickness T of the first flat plate portion 111 is 0.5 mm or more. 1 When the thickness T of the first flat plate portion 111 is 3.0 mm, 1 However, the thickness T of the second flat plate portion 112 2 6 times or less (T 1 / T 2 It is preferable that the ratio is ≦6).

[0037] When the non-light-transmitting portion 11a and the light-transmitting portion 11b are molded integrally by two-color molding, the second flat plate portion 112, which is bent and extends from the first flat plate portion 111 toward the housing 14 side, is provided in the light-transmitting portion 11b, so that the width of the joint between the non-light-transmitting portion 11a and the light-transmitting portion 11b on the outside of the light-transmitting portion 11b can be easily ensured. In order to ensure the strength of the joint between the non-light-transmitting portion 11a and the light-transmitting portion 11b, the width of the joint is required to be 3 mm or more. Therefore, it is preferable that the width W of the outer surface 112a of the second flat plate portion 112 is 3 mm or more.

[0038] When light-transmitting portion 11b contains a diffusing material that diffuses the light emitted from light-emitting element 13, it has been confirmed that the position at which a low-intensity line appears due to causes including refraction of light incident on a bend included in the inner surface of light-transmitting portion 11b does not depend on the angle at which light-transmitting portion 11b takes in light from the inside, that is, it does not depend on the positional relationship in the planar direction between light-transmitting portion 11b and light-emitting element 13.

[0039] When the light-transmitting portion 11b does not contain a diffusing material, the position at which the low-luminance line appears depends on the positional relationship between the light-transmitting portion 11b and the light-emitting element 13 in the planar direction. 1 and the thickness T of the second flat plate portion 112 2 The position where the low-intensity line appears can be controlled by the ratio of these values, and the low-intensity line can be placed in a position that is not included in the luminous area.

[0040] (Effects of the embodiment) According to the embodiment of the present invention described above, by forming the light-transmitting portion 11b made of a light guide in a shape such that low-brightness lines caused by factors including the refraction of light entering the bend appear in areas other than the light-emitting area, uneven brightness in the light emitted by the luminous emblem 1 can be suppressed.

[0041] Even if the shape of light-transmitting portion 11b is different from that shown in the above embodiment, if the inner surface includes a bend that satisfies the above bending angle condition, low-intensity lines due to factors including refraction of light incident on the bend will appear on surfaces other than the inner surface. Even in this case, as explained in the above embodiment, the position where the low-intensity lines appear can be controlled and placed outside the light-emitting region by adjusting the thickness ratio of the flat plate portions that make up light-transmitting portion 11b.

[0042] Although the embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications are possible without departing from the spirit of the invention. Furthermore, the components of the above embodiment can be combined in any manner without departing from the spirit of the invention.

[0043] In addition, the above-described embodiments do not limit the scope of the invention according to the claims. Also, it should be noted that not all of the combinations of features described in the embodiments are necessarily essential to the means for solving the problems of the invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0044] 1 Luminous Emblem 10. Cover 11 Cover body 11a Non-transparent part 11b Translucent part 12 Emblem 13 Light emitting element 14 Housing 15 Printed Circuit Board 111 First plate section 111a Outer surface 111b Inner surface 112 Second plate section 112a Outer surface 112b Inner surface 112c end face 113 Third Plate 113a Outer surface 113b Inner surface 113c end face 114a~114d Folding part

Claims

1. A light-emitting element as a light source; a housing that accommodates the light emitting element; a cover having an emblem on a surface thereof and a light-transmitting portion formed of a light guide for extracting light emitted from the light-emitting element, the cover being attached to the housing so as to cover the light-emitting element; Equipped with At least a part of an outer surface of the light-transmitting portion is exposed to the outside as a light-emitting region of the cover, the inner surface of the light transmitting portion includes a bent portion which is a boundary between planes having different orientations; A low-brightness line, which is a linear area of ​​low brightness that appears on a surface other than the inner surface of the light-transmitting portion due to factors including refraction of light incident on the bent portion, appears entirely in an area other than the light-emitting area. Luminous emblem.

2. the light-transmitting portion includes a first flat plate portion whose outer surface is included in the light-emitting region, and a second flat plate portion that bends and extends from the first flat plate portion toward the housing, and at least a portion of the outer surface is not included in the light-emitting region; The low brightness line, which is caused by factors including refraction of light incident on a boundary between the inner surface of the first flat plate portion and the inner surface of the second flat plate portion as the bent portion, appears in an area of ​​the outer surface of the second flat plate portion that is not included in the light emitting area. The luminous emblem according to claim 1.

3. The thickness of the first flat plate portion is at least twice the thickness of the second flat plate portion. The luminous emblem according to claim 2.

4. The thickness of the second flat plate portion is 0.5 mm or more. The luminous emblem according to claim 2.

5. The width of the outer surface of the second flat plate portion is 3 mm or more. The luminous emblem according to claim 2.

6. The light-transmitting portion includes a diffusing material that diffuses the light emitted from the light-emitting element. The luminous emblem according to any one of claims 1 to 5.

Images