Indicator Light

Abstract

To provide a pilot lamp having an annular light-emitting display part, not needing to increase the number of light-emitting sources, and further excellent in designability.SOLUTION: A pilot lamp 1 comprises a transmitter storage part 13, and a light-emitting display part 11 formed so as to surround the periphery of the transmitter storage part 13 and configured to transmit light emitted from a light-emitting source to emit light. The pilot lamp has a light guide plate 15 on whose back face side a reflection surface 15a is formed, and which is configured to diffuse light made incident from a side surface to make a surface bright as a light-emitting surface. The light-emitting display part 11 is configured to emit light by light emitted from the light guide plate 15.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an indicator light that indicates the position of a disaster prevention device such as a transmitter attached to, for example, a fire hydrant box, an equipment storage box, or the like.

Background Art

[0002] As an example of an indicator light, for example, in Patent Document 1 (Design Registration No. 1460558), "an annular indicator light body made of a translucent member colored red and having a substantially rectangular opening for attaching a transmitter at the center, an annular attachment member that is detachably screwed to the indicator light body and is used to attach the indicator light body to a fire hydrant storage box or the like, and an annular substrate that is sandwiched and fixed between the indicator light body and the attachment member and has light-emitting diodes (LED lamps) attached at equal angles. The light of the light-emitting diodes arranged in the annular space of the indicator light body is radiated annularly to the front and the surroundings" (description of the article related to the design in Patent Document 1) is disclosed.

[0003] In the above indicator light, by emitting light annularly, the visibility can be improved. Also, since a transmitter can be attached to the central part, the area required for installation can be made smaller compared to a case where the indicator light and the transmitter are installed at separate positions.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0005] The indicator light disclosed in Patent Document 1 improves visibility by arranging a large number of light-emitting diodes at equal intervals to illuminate an annular light-emitting display section. However, numerous light-emitting diodes are needed to illuminate the entire circumference of the ring, and therefore the circuit board must also extend to cover the entire circumference of the ring. Furthermore, because the illuminated display section is lit by scattered light-emitting diodes, the light appears to be scattered in the areas where the LEDs are located, which is not aesthetically pleasing.

[0006] This invention was made to solve the aforementioned problems, and aims to provide an indicator light with an annular light-emitting display section that is aesthetically pleasing without increasing the number of light sources. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] (A-1) The indicator light according to the present invention comprises an outer peripheral wall portion made of a cylindrical body, an inner peripheral wall portion formed on the inner peripheral side of the outer peripheral wall portion at a predetermined distance from the outer peripheral wall portion, a transmitter housing portion formed on the inside of the inner peripheral wall portion, and a light-emitting indicator portion formed between the inner peripheral wall portion and the outer peripheral wall portion, which shines by allowing light emitted from a light source to pass through, It has a light guide plate with a reflective surface formed on the back side, which diffuses light incident from the side and makes the front side a light-emitting surface. The light guide plate is inserted into the gap formed between the outer peripheral wall and the inner peripheral wall, and the outer peripheral wall and the inner peripheral wall are formed from an opaque resin. The light-emitting display unit is characterized in that it is configured to emit light using light emitted from the light guide plate. (A-2) Furthermore, in the case described in (A-1) above, the light guide plate is made of a ring-shaped cylindrical body, and a cut portion or a recess that is recessed in the height direction is formed in a part of the circumferential direction of the cylindrical body, and the cut portion or recess forms the side surface through which the light source incidents light in the circumferential direction of the cylindrical body. (1) The indicator light according to the present invention comprises a transmitter housing and a light-emitting display unit formed to surround the transmitter housing and which emits light by allowing light emitted from a light source to pass through, The device has a reflective surface on its back side and a light guide plate that diffuses light incident from the side, causing the front side to illuminate as a light-emitting surface, and the light-emitting display unit is configured to emit light using the light emitted from the light guide plate.

[0008] (2) Furthermore, in the case described in (1) above, the light guide plate is made of a ring-shaped cylindrical body, and a cut portion or a recess that is recessed in the height direction is formed in a part of the circumferential direction of the cylindrical body, and the cut portion or recess forms the side surface that causes the light source to incident light toward the circumferential direction of the cylindrical body. [Effects of the Invention]

[0009] In this invention, the light-emitting display section is illuminated by a light guide plate, which reduces the number of light sources, thus allowing for a smaller substrate. Furthermore, since the light is emitted in a planar manner rather than as scattered light sources, it also offers superior design aesthetics. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0010] [Figure 1] This is a perspective view of an indicator light according to one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] Figure 1 is an exploded perspective view of the indicator light as seen from the front. [Figure 3] Figure 1 is an exploded perspective view of the indicator light as seen from the rear. [Figure 4] This is a cross-sectional view of the indicator light shown in Figure 1. [Figure 5] This is an exploded perspective view of an indicator light according to another embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 6] Figure 5 is a cross-sectional view of the indicator light shown. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0011] [Embodiment 1] As shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, the display lamp 1 according to the present embodiment includes an outer peripheral wall portion 3 formed of a substantially cylindrical body, a flange-shaped mounting portion 5 that projects outward from the outer peripheral surface on the front end side of the outer peripheral wall portion 3, an inner peripheral wall portion 7 formed on the inner peripheral side of the outer peripheral wall portion 3 at a predetermined interval from the outer peripheral wall portion 3, a light-emitting display portion 11 formed in a ring shape between the inner peripheral wall portion 7 and the outer peripheral wall portion 3 that transmits and emits light emitted by an LED 9 serving as a light source, and a transmitter housing portion 13 formed inside the inner peripheral wall portion 7.

[0012] Note that the outer peripheral wall portion 3, the mounting portion 5, the inner peripheral wall portion 7, and the transmitter housing portion 13 constitute the main body portion of the display lamp 1, and this main body portion is formed by integrally molding resin. Further, as will be described later, the light-emitting display portion 11 is constituted by a light-emitting surface 15b of a light guide plate 15 formed of a ring-shaped cylindrical body, and the light guide plate 15 is separate from the main body portion. In such a case, the light guide plate 15 forming the light-emitting display portion 11 can be formed by so-called insert molding in which the light guide plate 15 is inserted in advance into a mold for molding the main body portion and then injection molded. Hereinafter, each configuration will be described in detail.

[0013] <Outer Peripheral Wall Portion> The outer peripheral wall portion 3 is formed in a substantially short cylindrical shape by a resin member constituting the main body portion.

[0014] <Mounting Portion> The mounting portion 5 is for attaching the display lamp 1 to a mounting surface, and is formed in a substantially square flange shape that projects outward from the outer peripheral surface on the front end side of the outer peripheral wall portion 3. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, screw holes 5a for attaching the display lamp 1 to the mounting surface are provided at the four corners of the mounting portion 5. The mounting portion 5 is provided with a ring-shaped standing piece portion 5b that borders the outer periphery of the light-emitting display portion 11. The standing piece portion 5b has a function of abutting against the edge of an opening provided on the mounting surface from the inside to position (align) the display lamp 1 when the display lamp 1 is attached to the mounting surface.

[0015] <Inner Peripheral Wall Portion> The inner peripheral wall portion 7 is a circular wall portion formed on the inner peripheral side of the outer peripheral wall portion 3 at a predetermined interval from the outer peripheral wall portion 3. With such an inner peripheral wall portion 7, a cylindrical gap is formed between the outer peripheral wall portion 3, and a light guide plate 15 formed of a ring-shaped cylindrical body for forming the light emitting display portion 11 can be inserted into this gap.

[0016] <Light emitting display portion> The light emitting display portion 11 is formed so as to surround the periphery of the transmitter storage portion 13 described later, and transmits and emits the light emitted by the light source (LED 9). The light emitting display portion 11 is formed with a reflecting surface 15a having reflecting dots 17 formed on the back side, and is formed by the light emitting surface 15b of the ring-shaped light guide plate 15 that diffuses the light incident from the side surface (light incident in the circumferential direction) and causes the light emitting surface 15b (the front surface) to emit light. Generally, a light guide plate is composed of a thin panel that diffuses the light incident from the side surface (the thickness portion of the plate) of an acrylic plate and emits uniform light on the surface of the acrylic plate. When light is made to enter from the side surface of an acrylic plate without any processing, the light is totally reflected on the back surface and the front surface of the acrylic plate and exits from the other end surface. However, the light guide plate forms a special reflecting surface (reflecting dots) on the back surface of the acrylic plate, and uses total reflection of the acrylic plate to guide the light guided into the acrylic light guide plate from the light source to the surface of the acrylic plate. When the light hitting the reflecting dots changes its path and the light at an angle smaller than the total reflection angle exits from the surface of the acrylic plate, the surface of the light guide plate emits light.

[0017] As described above, a general light guide plate is a thin plate-like one used for a display portion such as a monitor, but the light guide plate 15 of the present invention is formed of a ring-shaped cylindrical body. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a recess 19 that is recessed in the height direction is formed in a part of the circumferential direction of the cylindrical body. By forming the recess 19, both side walls 21 of the recess 19 function as side surfaces for light to enter. One end surface in the height direction of the cylindrical body becomes a light emitting surface 15b from which light exits and emits light (the surface colored gray in the figure), and the other end surface becomes a reflecting surface 15a (the surface with dots in the figure).

[0018] Light incident on the light guide plate 15 is reflected repeatedly on the front and back surfaces inside, spreading throughout the entire light guide plate 15. If there are reflective dots 17, the light is scattered there, and the light exits from the light-emitting surface 15b of the light guide plate 15. With such a light guide plate 15, the way light is emitted from the surface can be easily changed by appropriately changing the area and density of the reflective dots 17. For example, by making the area of ​​the reflective dots 17 close to the point of light incidence smaller (or making the density sparser), and increasing the area of ​​the reflective dots 17 as they move further away from the point of light incidence (or making the density densificant), the entire light guide plate 15 can be made to light up uniformly.

[0019] The reflective surface 15a can be formed using methods commonly used in the manufacture of light guide plates, such as forming dots with a laser wave, forming a dot pattern by silk screen printing, carving grooves with a plotter, or forming a predetermined dot pattern by pouring acrylic into a mold. It is not always preferable for the light-emitting display unit 11 to emit light uniformly. For example, when the indicator light 1 is installed, visibility can be improved by making certain areas, such as the left, right, top, or bottom, light brighter than others. In such cases, where it is desirable to vary the way the light-emitting display unit 11 emits light, this can be easily accommodated by simply changing the dot pattern on the reflective surface 15a.

[0020] <Light source> The light source consists of an LED 9 mounted on a substrate 23. As shown in Figures 3 and 4, the substrate 23 is screw-fixed to the back side of the transmitter housing 13 so that the LED 9 is housed in the recess 19 of the light guide plate 15. In this embodiment, a single light source is sufficient, allowing the substrate 23 to be miniaturized, which in turn allows the overall shape of the indicator light 1 to be reduced. In this embodiment, the light-emitting surface 15b of the light guide plate 15 becomes the light-emitting display unit 11, so it is preferable to use a red LED 9.

[0021] <Transmitter storage compartment> As shown in Figures 1 and 3, the transmitter housing 13 is formed on the inside of the inner peripheral wall and has a flat surface 27 with screw holes 25 for attaching the transmitter 30, and a rectangular opening 29 in the center of the flat surface 27 for inserting the body of the transmitter 30.

[0022] As shown in Figures 2 and 3, the transmitter 30 housed in the transmitter storage section 13 includes a push button 31 that emits a fire signal when pressed, a disc-shaped push button storage section 33, and a transmitter body section 35 formed on the back side of the push button storage section 33.

[0023] The push-button storage section 33 is provided with a telephone jack window door 37 that can be opened and closed to cover a telephone jack (not shown) located inside the push-button storage section 33 to which a handset is connected. The transmitter unit 35 is box-shaped and houses switches (not shown) that are linked to the push button 31.

[0024] As shown in Figures 1 and 4, when the transmitter 30 is housed in the transmitter housing 13 of the indicator light 1, it is positioned so as to be surrounded by the light-emitting display unit 11 and so as to be substantially flush with the inner periphery of the light-emitting display unit 11. In this state, the position of the transmitter 30 is indicated when the light-emitting display unit 11 of the indicator light 1 lights up.

[0025] In this embodiment configured as described above, the light-emitting display unit 11 is made up of the light-emitting surface 15b of the light guide plate 15. Therefore, the entire surface of the light-emitting surface 15b can be illuminated evenly or in a desired manner by a single light source, and there is no scattering of light from multiple light sources as in the conventional example, resulting in superior design. Furthermore, by using the light guide plate 15, the way the light-emitting surface 15b is illuminated can be changed in any way depending on how the reflective surface 15a is formed.

[0026] Furthermore, reflective sheets may be attached to both circumferential surfaces (the outer circumferential surface 15c and the inner circumferential surface 15d of the cylindrical light guide plate 15) to prevent light from emitting to the outside. Alternatively, instead of reflective sheets, the main body of the indicator light 1 may be formed from an opaque resin or the like, or at least the outer circumferential wall portion 3 and the inner circumferential wall portion 7 may be formed from an opaque resin or the like.

[0027] [Embodiment 2] In the first embodiment, the light-emitting display section 11 of the indicator light 1 was formed by the light-emitting surface 15b of the light guide plate 15 itself. However, in this embodiment, the light-emitting display section 41 of the indicator light 39 is formed from the resin that forms the main body, and the light guide plate 43 is arranged on its back side. The light guide plate 43 should be inserted into the groove between the inner circumferential wall portion 7 and the outer circumferential wall portion 3 (see Figure 6).

[0028] In this embodiment, since the light-emitting display unit 41 is made of the same resin that forms the main body, if this resin is made of a translucent red color, a general-purpose white LED 9 may be used.

[0029] In the first embodiment, the light guide plate 15 was a ring connected in the circumferential direction, but the light guide plate 43 in this embodiment is a so-called C-shaped ring with a cut portion 44 formed in a part of the ring, as shown in Figure 5. The configuration of the light guide plate 43 is the same as that of the light guide plate 15 in the first embodiment, except that the cut portion 44 is provided instead of the recess 19, and it has a reflective surface (not shown) and an emitting surface 43b.

[0030] As illustrated in this embodiment, the light guide plate 43 does not need to be a connected ring; it only needs to be roughly ring-shaped overall. For example, two semicircular light guide plates may be arranged in a ring shape, with light sources placed on the side surfaces of the ends of each light guide plate. In this embodiment, in order to prevent light from emitting to the outside, a reflective sheet can be attached to both circumferential surfaces of the light guide plate 43, or the outer circumferential wall portion 3 and the inner circumferential wall portion 7 can be formed from an opaque resin or the like. [Explanation of symbols]

[0031] 1 indicator light 3 Outer wall 5 Mounting part 5a screw hole 5b Standing section 7 Inner peripheral wall 9 LED 11. Light-emitting display section 13 Transmitter storage compartment 15 Light guide plate 15a Reflective surface 15b Light-emitting surface 15c Outer surface 15d Inner surface 17 Reflective dots 19 Recess 21 Both side walls 23 circuit boards 25 screw holes 27 Flat surface 29 Opening 30 Transmitters 31 Push Buttons 33 Push button storage section 35 Transmitter main unit 37 Telephone jack window door 39 Indicator light (Embodiment 2) 41 Light-emitting display section 43 Light guide plate 43b Light-emitting surface 44 Cut section

Claims

[Claim 1] An indicator light comprising a transmitter housing and a light-emitting display section formed to surround the transmitter housing and which emits light through which light emitted from a light source shines, The light-emitting display unit comprises a tubular ring-shaped body connected in the circumferential direction, a light guide plate with a reflective surface formed on the back side of the tubular body, which diffuses light incident from a part of the tubular body to illuminate the front side as a light-emitting surface, and a single substrate on which a light source is mounted, and the light-emitting display unit is configured to emit light by the light emitted from the light guide plate. The reflective surface is formed by grooves, the area of ​​which is small near the incident light position and increases as it moves further away from the incident light position. An indicator light characterized in that the inner circumferential wall portion, which is positioned on the inner circumference side of the light guide plate, and the outer circumferential wall portion, which is positioned on the outer circumference side of the light guide plate, are formed of an opaque resin.

Images