JP2016110809A - Lighting equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

Provided is a lighting device capable of performing precise light distribution control and improving safety.
An illumination apparatus 100 according to the present invention receives a plurality of unit laser light sources 31 that emit laser light, laser light emitted from the unit laser light source 31, and a focal point changes according to a change in voltage. And an electrowetting optical element array 40.
[Selection] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to an illumination device using a laser as a light source.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been proposed an illumination device that includes an array of light emitting diodes as a light source and a fluorescent material excited by the light emitting diodes.

For example, Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent Publication No. 2012-516534) discloses a remote phosphor disposed between an array of light sources and a light output window for emitting light from the light source array and the light sources. An illumination system having a layer and / or a scattering layer is disclosed.
Special table 2012-516534 gazette

  However, the conventional illumination device as described above has a problem that since the emitted light is emitted from the fluorescent material, it is not suitable for precise control of the diffusion angle, and precise light distribution control is difficult. It was. Therefore, in order to perform more precise light distribution control, it is conceivable to use laser light instead of fluorescence as outgoing light of the illumination device.

  However, the emitted laser light needs to be appropriately diffused from the viewpoint of safety, but if only the laser light is diverged by using an inexpensive diffusion plate such as frosted glass, after all, fluorescence is used as the emitted light. And the degree of freedom of light control is not much different. In order to realize more free light distribution control, it is preferable that the laser light diffusion mode be appropriately adjusted.

  The present invention is for solving the above-described problems. An illumination device according to the present invention includes a plurality of laser light sources that emit laser light, and laser light emitted from the laser light source is incident thereon. And a variable focus lens whose focal point changes according to a change in voltage.

Further, in the illumination device according to the present invention, the variable focus lens is individually provided so as to correspond to each of the plurality of laser light sources, and each is controlled independently. In this illumination apparatus, the variable focus lens is an electrowetting optical element.

  In the illumination device according to the present invention, the variable focus lens is a liquid crystal lens.

  Further, the illumination device according to the present invention is characterized in that a predetermined laser light source among the plurality of laser light sources is turned on or off or dimmed.

  According to the illumination device according to the present invention, it is possible to perform precise light distribution control, and it is possible to illuminate a larger number of illumination areas with a smaller number of light sources.

  Moreover, according to the illuminating device which concerns on this invention, the illuminating device which the design property improved can be provided.

It is a perspective view which shows the structure of the illuminating device 100 which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a front view which shows the structure of the illuminating device 100 which concerns on embodiment of this invention. FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a configuration of a unit electrowetting optical element 50. It is a figure which shows the behavior of the unit electrowetting optical element 50. FIG. It is a figure which shows the behavior of the unit electrowetting optical element 50. FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of illumination by the illuminating device 100 which concerns on embodiment of this invention.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a lighting device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a front view showing the configuration of the illumination device 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention.

  The laser array 30 includes a plurality of unit laser light sources 31 that emit laser light having a predetermined wavelength, and is a light source of the illumination device 100 according to the present invention. In the illumination device 100 according to the present invention, the unit laser light source 31 is described as an example of a one-dimensional array in which the unit laser light sources 31 are arranged in the left-right direction in FIG. 2, but is further perpendicular to the page in FIG. In addition, a two-dimensional array in which a plurality of unit laser light sources 31 are arrayed can also be configured.

  Each of the plurality of unit laser light sources 31 in the laser array 30 is configured to be capable of output control. With such output control, for example, by turning the unit laser light source 31 on and off, the lighting device 100 can perform more precise light distribution control.

  Light emitted from each unit laser light source 31 constituting the laser array 30 enters the electrowetting optical element array 40. The electrowetting optical element array 40 includes a plurality of unit electrowetting optical elements 50 arranged in a two-dimensional direction.

  A configuration in which each unit laser light source 31 constituting the laser array 30 and each unit electrowetting optical element 50 constituting the electrowetting optical element array 40 are in a one-to-one correspondence is also a preferable aspect. . The reason for this is that one unit electrowetting optical element 50 corresponds to one unit laser light source 31, so that the degree of freedom of light distribution illumination can be secured.

  Here, the configuration of the unit electrowetting optical element 50 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the configuration of the unit electrowetting optical element 50.

  In the unit electrowetting optical element 50, a first liquid 55 having conductivity or polarity and a second liquid 56 that is hydrophobic are sealed in a container 58. 3 shows the structure of the unit electrowetting optical element 50, the other unit electrowetting optical elements 50 have the same structure. In addition, by coloring the second liquid 56, it is possible to perform more various light distributions as the lighting device 100 and to improve the design, but the second liquid 56 is transparent. May be used.

The container 58 includes a pair of base materials (first transparent base material 51, second transparent base material 57) and a pair of base materials (first transparent base material 51, second transparent base material 57) so as to form a liquid sealed space. And a wall portion 59 that supports the base material 57) facing each other. One first transparent base 51 includes a plurality of transparent electrodes 52 that are electrically independent from each other on the liquid sealing space side, and a transparent insulating layer 5 that covers each of these transparent electrodes 52.
3 is provided. In this example, four transparent electrodes 52 are provided, but the number of transparent electrodes 52 and the pattern in which the transparent electrodes are provided are not limited thereto. As the transparent electrode 52, IT0 (tin-doped indium oxide) may be used.

  Each transparent electrode 52 is connected to an independent applied voltage adjustment unit 61, 62, 63, 64, and by these, the voltage of each transparent electrode 52 can be adjusted independently. Further, a hydrophobic layer 54 is formed on the transparent insulating layer 53, and the second liquid 56 has a high affinity with the hydrophobic layer 54 when no voltage is applied to each transparent electrode 52. As shown in FIG. 4, the hydrophobic layer 54 is covered with the second liquid 56.

  On the other hand, when a voltage is applied to the transparent electrode 52, the first liquid 55 and the transparent electrode 52 function as electrodes, and the transparent insulating layer 53 is polarized. As a result, the first liquid 55 is attracted to the transparent insulating layer 53 by electrostatic action. For this reason, the 2nd liquid 56 which covered the transparent insulating layer 53 is pushed away, and the coverage per unit area by the 2nd liquid 56 falls. FIG. 5 shows a state in which a voltage is applied to the transparent electrode 52.

  In the unit electrowetting optical element 50, the arrangement of the first liquid 55 and the second liquid 56 can be appropriately adjusted by adjusting the voltage applied to the plurality of transparent electrodes 52. ing.

  Here, the interface between the first liquid 55 and the second liquid 56 serves as a lens, so that the unit electrowetting optical element 50 functions as a variable focus lens whose focal point changes due to a change in voltage. It will be.

  In addition, there is a liquid crystal lens that functions as a variable focus lens whose focal point changes according to a change in voltage. In the illumination device 100 according to the present invention, a liquid crystal lens is used instead of the electrowetting optical element array 40. You can also.

  FIG. 4 shows a state in which no voltage is applied to the transparent insulating layer 53 of the unit electrowetting optical element 50. At this time, the light incident on the unit electrowetting optical element 50 is emitted upward in FIG. Is done.

  FIG. 5 shows a state in which a voltage is applied to the transparent insulating layer 53 of the unit electrowetting optical element 50. At this time, the light incident on the unit electrowetting optical element 50 is directed to the upper side of FIG. Ejected to the right side of the page.

  In the illumination device 100 according to the present invention, the laser light emitted from the laser array 30 is emitted through the electrowetting optical element array 40 including the unit electrowetting optical elements 50 as described above. Therefore, even when an observer mistakenly looks into the light emitting unit of the lighting device 100, it can be said that the design is less dangerous and considers safety.

  In the illuminating device 100 according to the present invention, each unit electrowetting optical element 50 constituting the electrowetting optical element array 40 is controlled as shown in FIG. Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 6, it is possible to perform illumination with the illumination area decentered, and more precise light distribution control can be performed.

  In the illumination device 100 according to the present embodiment as described above, each unit laser light source 31 of the laser array 30 is modulated, that is, each unit laser light source 31 is selectively turned on / off or dimmed. An arbitrary illumination distribution can be created by selectively making laser light incident on a specific position in the light diffusing element.

  As mentioned above, according to the illuminating device 100 which concerns on this invention, while being able to perform precise light distribution control, safety | security improves.

  Moreover, according to the illuminating device 100 which concerns on this invention, the illuminating device 100 with which the design property improved can be provided.

30 ... Laser array 31 ... Unit laser light source 40 ... Electrowetting optical element array 50 ... Unit electrowetting optical element 51 ... First transparent substrate 52 ... Transparent electrode 53 ··· Transparent insulating layer 54 ··· Hydrophobic layer 55 ··· First liquid 56 ··· Second liquid 57 ··· Second transparent substrate 58 ··· Container 59 ··· Wall portions 61 and 62 63, 64... Applied voltage adjustment unit 100.

Claims (5)

A plurality of laser light sources for emitting laser light;
An illumination apparatus comprising: a variable focus lens that receives a laser beam emitted from the laser light source and changes a focal point due to a change in voltage. The illumination apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the variable focus lens is individually provided so as to correspond to each of the plurality of laser light sources, and each is controlled independently. The illumination device according to claim 1, wherein the variable focus lens is an electrowetting optical element. The illumination device according to claim 1, wherein the variable focus lens is a liquid crystal lens. 5. The illumination device according to claim 1, wherein a predetermined laser light source among the plurality of laser light sources is turned on or off or dimmed.

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