Light Guiding Body with Reflection Surfaces for Sensor Visibility
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Solution Overview
Problem
The miniaturization and thinning of multi-optical axis photoelectric sensors have reduced the space for light emitting elements, making it difficult to determine whether the light emitting element is lit, leading to degraded visibility.
Innovation Solution
A light guiding body with an incident end face, an exit end face, and at least two reflection surfaces is used to diffuse light flux, ensuring satisfactory visibility even with a small light emitting surface area by guiding light from the light emitting element to the front surface of the housing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Volume of moving object
If the light emitting element size is reduced to meet miniaturization and thinning demands, then the sensor size is reduced, but the visibility of the light emitting element deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
A light guiding body is introduced as an intermediary component between the light emitting element and the front surface of the housing. This light guiding body has an incident end face that receives light from the light emitting element and an exit end face that is larger in area, allowing the light to be diffused and made visible over a larger area than the original light emitting element, thus resolving the contradiction between miniaturization and visibility
Solution Approach 2:
The light guiding body transforms the light distribution from a point-source pattern to a distributed pattern across a larger surface area. By changing the spatial dimension of light emission from a small element to a larger exit end face area, the visibility is enhanced without increasing the physical size of the sensor housing
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution enhances visibility without increasing the size of the light emitting element, allowing for effective display of operation states and responding to demands for thinning while maintaining visibility.
Implementation Method 1
at least two reflection surfaces for diffusing some or all of the light flux in a direction of the exit end face formed longer than the incident end face by sequentially changing an advancing path of the light
Data Source
AI summary
To ensure satisfactory visibility even when the light emitting area of the light emitting element for displaying the operation state is small. At least one of a light projector or a light receiver is provided with a display portion for displaying an operation state of the multi-optical axis photoelectric sensor at a side position in the vicinity of the light projecting portion or the light receiving portion of the front surface of the housing. The display portion includes a plurality of light emitting elements arranged in a line in the longitudinal direction while facing the front surface of the housing in the housing, and a plurality of light guiding bodies for guiding the light emitted by each of light emitting elements to the front surface of the housing. Each of light guiding bodies is arranged with the incident end face facing the light emitting element and the exit end face facing the front surface of the housing. Each of light guiding bodies includes, in a light guiding path for guiding the light flux entered from the incident end face to the exit end face, at least two reflection surfaces for diffusing some or all of the light flux in a width direction of the housing by sequentially changing an advancing path of the light.