JP2010182421A - Electronic apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an electronic apparatus of simple structure to guide light to an optional illumination part remote from a light source by reducing the number of components such as light guide members and light sources. <P>SOLUTION: An upper case 10 for covering an outer case is formed of a transparent resin excellent in light transmissivity, and is covered with a reflective film 11a coated with a metal. A thick portion 12a is formed at the fringe part of the upper case 10 and a recessed and curved surface 12b is formed at its end face, and the light sources 31 mounted on a substrate 30 are disposed facing the recessed and curved surface 12b. Light emitted from the light sources 31 is taken into the thick portion 12a through the recessed and curved surface 12b, and is guided inside the upper case 10 to reach the top face 11 of the upper case 10 and brightly illuminates first and second illumination parts 15a, 15b provided on the top face 11. Since the upper case 10 serves as a light guide member, and the light source is not required to be provided for every illumination part, the number of components can be reduced. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to various electronic devices such as a mobile phone, and more particularly to an electronic device in which a casing that covers an outer surface of the electronic device has a light guide function.

  Patent Document 1 describes an invention relating to a portable communication device provided with a light guide tube having a protruding portion facing an internal light source as an electronic device.

  In this portable communication device, the light emitted from the light source enters the inside of the light guide tube from the protruding portion, and the first display surface and the second display surface can be displayed brightly through the light guide tube. Yes.

Patent Document 2 describes an invention relating to a panel display device in which light emitted from a light emitting diode is refracted twice inside a flange member and guided to an optical display unit.
JP-A-7-222224 JP 2004-361664 A

  However, in the thing of the said patent document 1, it is necessary to provide the light guide tube formed as another member in a housing | casing. For this reason, it is difficult to reduce the component cost, and the assembly work tends to be complicated.

  In particular, since the protrusion is formed in accordance with the arrangement of the light source, there is a problem that the shape of the light guide tube is likely to be complicated, and the manufacturing cost is likely to increase accordingly.

  Further, in the configuration in which the protruding portion is arranged to face the light source as described above, it is difficult to guide light into the light guide tube, and the inside of the light guide tube through the protruding portion of the light emitted from the light source. There is a problem that the amount guided to is less than the amount escaped to the outside of the light guide tube, that is, the loss is large.

  Moreover, in what is described in Patent Document 2, it is necessary to form a plurality of reflecting portions having a predetermined angle on the light guide path to the optical display portion. However, the shape of the electronic device is often accompanied by restrictions such as emphasis on designability, and it is difficult to form the reflection portion at a predetermined angle. For this reason, there is a problem that the number of reflection portions increases and the shape of the light guide member is likely to be complicated, and accordingly, the manufacturing cost is likely to increase.

  The present invention is for solving the above-described conventional problems, and the case can also serve as a light guide, so that the number of parts such as a light guide member and a light source can be reduced, and an arbitrary configuration separated from the light source with a simple configuration. An object of the present invention is to provide an electronic device that can guide light to the illumination unit.

  It is another object of the present invention to provide an electronic device that can increase the efficiency of use of light emitted from a light source and can illuminate an illumination part brightly.

  Furthermore, an object of the present invention is to provide an electronic device provided with an electrostatic sensor in an illuminating unit indicating an instruction unit.

The present invention provides a housing having an illuminating portion on the outer surface, and an electronic device provided with a light source inside the housing.
At least a part of the housing is a light guide that can guide light incident from a light source to the illumination unit, and an incident unit through which light enters is provided on an end surface of the housing. It is characterized by.

  In the present invention, at least a part of the housing also serves as a light guide, and it is not necessary to prepare a light guide member as a separate member from the housing, so the number of parts can be reduced and costs can be reduced. can do.

  In the above, it is preferable that the incident portion is a concave curved surface formed on the end surface, and a light source is disposed opposite to the concave curved surface.

  In the above means, the light emitted from the light source can be efficiently taken into the light guide. For this reason, it becomes possible to improve utilization efficiency.

  Moreover, it is preferable that the thickness of the incident portion is formed to be thicker than the thickness of the other portion of the casing.

  According to the above means, the incident portion facing the light source can be reliably formed in the portion having a large thickness.

  Further, it is preferable that a reflection film is formed on at least the surface side of the light guide, and the illumination part is formed on the reflection film.

The above means can prevent light from leaking to the outside, so that light can be efficiently guided through the light guide to the illumination unit provided at a position far from the light source.
The reflective film is preferably formed by metallic coating.

  With the above means, the reflection efficiency of light propagating through the light guide can be increased. For this reason, the loss of light can be reduced.

  Furthermore, it is preferable that an inclined surface or an R surface is provided at a portion where one surface forming the case intersects with the other surface adjacent thereto.

  In the above means, light can be propagated while being appropriately reflected along the inclined surface or the R surface.

  Furthermore, it is preferable that the upper case and the lower case are formed so that light does not leak from the portion where the light emitting element and the incident portion face each other to the outside of the housing.

  As such a shape, for example, a step is preferably formed on the lower edge portion of the upper case and the upper edge portion of the lower case, and it becomes possible to prevent light from leaking to the outside of the housing by meshing the steps. .

  For example, the case has an upper case and a lower case, a substrate on which the light emitting element is mounted is provided between the upper case and the lower case, and the light emitting element on the substrate The upper case and the concave surface provided on at least one end surface of the lower case are arranged to face each other.

  Further, it is preferable that an electrostatic sensor is provided on the inner surface of the light guide, and in this case, the electrostatic sensor is provided on the inner surface of the light guide and at a position corresponding to the illumination unit. Is preferable.

  In the above means, the illumination unit can be used as an instruction unit indicating the input operation position for the electronic device.

  In addition, it is preferable that a light diffusing member is provided on the inner surface of the light guide facing the illumination unit. In this case, the light diffusing member is a pressure-sensitive adhesive tape containing a light diffusing agent or a fluorescent agent, or The light diffusion member is preferably a white PET sheet.

  In the above means, the brightness of the illuminating part can be increased by irregularly reflecting the light with the light diffusing agent in the vicinity of the illuminating part or by making it fluorescent.

  In the case of an adhesive tape, it can also serve as fixation between the electrode forming the electrostatic sensor and the light guide.

  In the present invention, the case can also serve as a light guide, so that the number of parts can be reduced and the assembly process of the electronic device can be facilitated.

In addition, it is possible to guide light from the light source to a far-off illumination unit with a simple configuration.
In addition, since the light emitted from the light source can be efficiently used, the illumination unit can be illuminated brightly.

  Furthermore, this invention can provide the electronic device provided with the electrostatic sensor in the illumination part which shows an instruction | indication part.

  1 is a perspective view showing a casing of an electronic device as an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a part of FIG. 4 is an enlarged perspective view showing the inside of the housing, and FIG. 5 is a partial cross-sectional view corresponding to a case where the housing is cut along line 5-5 in FIG.

  Electronic devices described in the embodiments below are, for example, communication devices such as mobile phones, game machines, PDAs, digital cameras, and the like.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the electronic device has a housing 1 including an upper case 10 and a lower case 20. The upper case 10 has an upper surface 11 on which the liquid crystal display device 2 is provided and a side surface 12 (indicated separately as 12A, 12B, 12C, and 12D) provided so as to surround the four sides. Further, the upper case 10 has an inclined surface 13 and an R surface 14 that connect the upper surface 11 and the four side surfaces 12 to each other. The upper case 10 having a plurality of surfaces is integrally formed using a resin having excellent transparency such as a light transmittance of 80% or more, such as an acrylic resin or polycarbonate.

  Note that the upper case 10 does not necessarily have to be formed of a transparent resin on all surfaces, and may be configured to use a transparent resin for a part thereof. In any case, a portion using a transparent resin can function as a light guide or a light guide member that transmits light.

  A reflective film 11a that reflects light is formed on the surface of the upper case 10 (see FIG. 5). In the upper case 10, a frame-shaped portion (a portion indicated by hatching in FIG. 3) where the transparent resin (light guide) is exposed as it is is an illuminating portion 15 through which light in the housing 1 leaks outside. It is a part that functions as

  Among the illumination parts 15, the first illumination part 15 a is provided on the inclined surface 13 or the R surface 14, and the second illumination part 15 b is provided on the upper surface 11. The illumination unit 15 (the first illumination unit 15a and the second illumination unit 15b) is not limited to the frame shape as described above, but visually identifies the position of the illumination unit 15. Any shape such as a circle, a square, a figure, or a symbol may be used.

  The reflective film 11a can be formed by, for example, applying a metallic coating to the surface of the upper case 10, and at this time, the illumination portion 15 can be formed at the same time by coating with a predetermined mask. .

  A lower case 20 is provided on the bottom side of the housing 1. A support portion 21 protruding inward is integrally formed on the upper edge portion of the side surface of the lower case 20 (see FIG. 5). The support portion 21 may be configured to be continuously provided around the upper edge portion of the lower case 20 over one circumference, or may be configured to be partially formed with an interval.

  The lower case 20 may be transparent or opaque. Or the structure which has a transparent part and a non-transparent part may be sufficient. When the lower case 20 has a transparent portion, it can be formed of the same transparent resin as the upper case 10. In addition, when the lower case 20 is opaque, it is also possible to employ a normal opaque resin case or metal case.

  As shown in FIG. 2, a substrate 30 is provided between the upper case 10 and the lower case 20. Various electronic components such as a CPU and a memory for achieving functions as an electronic device are mounted on the substrate 30 (not shown). In particular, light emitting elements (such as LEDs) that function as the light source 31 are fixed to a plurality of locations on the edge of the substrate 30.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the substrate 30 on which a plurality of light sources (light emitting elements) 31 and the like are mounted is placed on the support portion 21 of the lower case 20. Steps that mesh with each other are formed at the edge of the upper case and the edge of the lower case. Then, by fitting the edge portion of the upper case 10 into the edge portion of the lower case 20 from above and engaging the steps, the electronic device including the substrate 30 is assembled integrally. Thereby, the light emitted from the light source 31 can be prevented from leaking to the outside of the housing 1 through the meshing portion of the upper case 10 and the lower case 20.

  As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the side wall 12 of the upper case 10 and the portion facing the light source 31 are partially thicker than the other standard plate thickness dimensions. The formed thick part 12a is integrally formed. On the lower (Z2 side) end face of the thick portion 12a, an arcuate concave curved portion 12b that is convex upward (in the Z1 direction) is formed.

  A light source 31 mounted on the substrate 30A is disposed opposite to the concave curved portion 12b. That is, the light source 31 is provided inside the concave curved portion 12b. Most of the light emitted from the light source 31 can reach the concave curved portion 12b. For this reason, it is possible to cause light to enter the thick portion 12a through the concave curved portion 12b with high incidence efficiency. Further, the light incident on the thick portion 12a can be guided to the inside of the upper case 10 continuous with the thick portion 12a. That is, the concave curved portion 12 b functions as an incident portion that guides light emitted from the light source 31 to the inside of the upper case 10.

  The light incident on the inside of the upper case 10 travels inside the upper case 10 itself made of a transparent resin as a light guide. At this time, the upper case 10 functions as a light guide. When the light reaches the illuminating portions 15a and 15b on the surface of the upper case 10 where the reflective film 11a is not formed, the light is transmitted from the first and second illuminating portions 15a and 15b to the outside of the housing 1. Leak out. For this reason, from the exterior of the housing | casing 1, the part in which the 1st, 2nd illumination parts 15a and 15b were formed among the whole housing | casing 1 is illuminated brightly. Therefore, it is possible to clearly recognize the positions of the first and second illumination parts 15a and 15b. That is, the upper case 10 functions as a light guide member that propagates light emitted from the light source 31 to locations (first and second illumination portions 15 a and 15 b) away from the light source 31. If the first and second illumination parts 15a and 15b are formed of characters, figures, symbols, or the like, the characters or the like can be displayed brightly.

  Thus, in this invention, the upper case 10 of the housing | casing 1 which covers the exterior of an electronic device functions as a light guide member, and it is not necessary to prepare a light guide member as another member. Therefore, the number of parts can be reduced, and the cost can be reduced. In addition, since the light source 31 can be disposed at the edge of the substrate 30, a large number of light sources 31 do not occupy the central portion of the substrate 30. For this reason, important electronic components such as a CPU and a memory can be freely arranged in the central portion of the substrate 30.

  As shown in FIG. 5, between the upper surface 11 and the side surface 12A, the two surfaces (walls) that are orthogonal to each other are not directly connected to each other, and the inclined surface 13 or the R surface is between them. 14 is connected with 14 interposed. For this reason, the light traveling inside the upper case 10 can efficiently travel toward the upper surface 11 side of the upper case 10 while being appropriately reflected by the reflective film 11a on the slope 13 and the R surface 14. . For this reason, not only the 1st illumination part 15a provided in the slope 13 and the R surface 14, but also the 2nd illumination part 15b provided in the upper surface 11 of the upper case 10 can be illuminated brightly. .

  Here, the metallic paint is a paint formed by mixing light-reflective metal particles in a monochromatic and insulating paint (solid paint) such as white, black, and red. . In addition, in order to prevent the oxidation of the metal particle mixed with the coating material, you may give the clear coating on the metallic coating.

  Further, the reflective film 11a is not made of metallic paint, for example, a light diffusing member made of a translucent non-woven fabric or adhesive tape containing a light diffusing agent or a fluorescent agent, or a white PET sheet is attached to the inner surface of the upper case 10. The structure made into may be sufficient. In this case, the first and second illumination parts 15a and 15b can be illuminated brightly by diffusing or fluorescent light.

  Such a reflective film 11a may be configured to be provided entirely on the inner surface of the upper case 10, or may be provided partially at locations facing the first and second illumination portions 15a and 15b. It may be. If the reflective film 11a is provided at least at the locations facing the first and second illumination portions 15a and 15b, the leakage of light into the housing 1 can be prevented, or the amount of light leakage can be reduced. become able to. That is, since the light use efficiency can be increased, it is possible to further increase the brightness of the first and second illumination parts 15a and 15b. Furthermore, it becomes possible to transmit light to a far place away from the light source 31.

  Such 1st, 2nd illumination parts 15a and 15b can be utilized as an instruction | indication part which shows the input operation position with respect to an electronic device. In the example shown in FIG. 5, electrostatic sensors 40 are provided on the inner surface of the upper case 10 and at positions facing the first and second illumination parts 15a and 15b, respectively. The electrostatic sensor 40 is formed of a metal electrode 41 made of, for example, a thin copper plate and is attached to the inner surface of the upper case 10.

  When the operator's finger F comes into contact with the surface of the illumination unit 15, a capacitance C is formed at a portion where the finger F and the electrode 41 face each other, and when the finger F is released, the capacitance C disappears. Therefore, by detecting a change in the capacitance C by applying a predetermined detection signal to the electrode 41, it is detected whether or not the operator's finger F has touched the illumination unit 15, that is, whether or not an input operation has been performed. It can be used as a switch. That is, it is possible to detect switch switching (ON / OFF operation) based on whether or not the capacitance C is detected.

  In this case, the electrode 41 may be directly attached to the inner surface of the upper case 10, but for example, attached using a translucent nonwoven fabric or adhesive tape containing a light diffusing agent or a fluorescent agent between the inner surface and the inner surface. If attached, the illumination unit 15 can be illuminated brightly as described above, and an electrostatic sensor can be formed. Furthermore, since the value of the dielectric constant of the portion where the finger F and the electrode 41 are opposed to each other is increased, the capacitance C is increased. For this reason, since the amount of change of the detected capacitance C can be increased, it is possible to improve the detection accuracy of switch switching.

  In the above embodiment, the case where the light guide function is provided only on the upper case 10 side has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the lower case 20 side also has a similar light guide function. It is also possible to

The perspective view which shows the housing | casing of an electronic device as embodiment of this invention, 1 is an exploded perspective view of FIG. The perspective view which expands and shows a part of FIG. The perspective view which expands and shows the inside of a case, FIG. 1 is a partial cross-sectional view corresponding to a case where the housing is cut along line 5-5 in FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Case 10 Upper case 11 Upper surface 12,12A, 12B, 12C, 12D Side surface 12a Thick part 12b Recessed curved part 13 Slope 14 R surface 15, 15a, 15b Illumination part 20 Lower case 21 Support part 30 Substrate 31 Light source (light emission) element)
40 Electrostatic sensor 41 Electrode

Claims (13)

In a housing having an illumination part on the outer surface, and an electronic device having a light source inside the housing,
At least a part of the housing is a light guide that can guide light incident from a light source to the illumination unit, and an incident unit through which light enters is provided on an end surface of the housing. Electronic equipment characterized by   The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the incident portion is a concave curved surface formed on the end surface, and a light source is disposed opposite to the concave curved surface.   The electronic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a plate thickness dimension of the incident portion is formed to be thicker than a plate thickness dimension of other portions of the casing.   The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein a reflection film is formed on at least a surface side of the light guide, and the illumination unit is formed on the reflection film.   The electronic device according to claim 4, wherein the reflective film is formed by metallic coating.   The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein an inclined surface or an R surface is provided at a portion where one surface forming the casing and the other surface adjacent thereto intersect. The housing has an upper case and a lower case,
The light source is a light emitting element mounted on a substrate provided between the upper case and the lower case in the housing,
The electronic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an incident portion provided on at least one end face of the upper case and the lower case and a light emitting element on the substrate are arranged to face each other.   The electronic device according to claim 7, wherein the upper case and the lower case are formed to engage with each other so that light does not leak to the outside of the housing from a portion where the light emitting element and the incident portion are opposed to each other. .   The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein an electrostatic sensor is provided on an inner surface of the light guide.   The electronic apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the electrostatic sensor is provided at a position corresponding to the illumination unit on an inner surface of the light guide.   The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein a light diffusing member is provided on an inner surface of the light guide facing the illumination unit.   The electronic device according to claim 11, wherein the light diffusing member is an adhesive tape containing a light diffusing agent or a fluorescent agent.   The electronic device according to claim 11, wherein the light diffusion member is a white PET sheet.

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