JP5162389B2 - Lighting device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a lighting device, and more particularly to a lighting device using an LED as a light source.

  As a lighting device, a lighting device using a cold cathode tube is known. Since the cold cathode tube has low directivity, the range in which light can be irradiated is relatively wide. Therefore, it is possible to shine brightly in a plurality of directions simultaneously with one cold cathode tube.

  As an application example of an illumination device using a cold cathode tube, there is an illumination device for a slot machine (rotating game machine). Since this illuminating device has low directivity, the surface portion (design display surface) of the rotating reel for displaying a plurality of symbols and the decorative portion (decorative surface) of the front panel can be irradiated simultaneously.

  FIG. 1 is a view showing a front appearance of a general slot machine. In the slot machine 101, a window 104 is opened so that three types of symbols of the internal rotary reel 103 can be seen vertically. The player inserts a coin into the coin insertion slot 105 and operates the lever 106. As a result, the three rotary reels 103 rotate. Thereafter, the player presses the three stop buttons 107 at a desired timing to stop the three rotary reels 103. At this time, if the symbols displayed on the window 104 are ready, the slot machine 101 pays out coins and the like. In addition, on the upper part of the window 104, for example, a decorative board 102 on which a big bonus symbol and a regular bonus symbol are described is arranged.

  2 and 3 are diagrams showing a general arrangement location of the lighting device inside the slot machine 101 of FIG. FIG. 2 shows a state in which the front cover 101b of the slot machine 101 is opened, and shows the back surface of the front cover 101b and the front surface of the slot machine main body 101a. As shown in FIG. 2, the lighting device 108 using a cold cathode tube is generally disposed on the back surface of the decorative plate 102. FIG. 3 shows a state in which the front cover 101 b of the slot machine 101 is closed, and shows a side cross section of the slot machine 101. FIG. 3 shows the positional relationship among the decorative plate 102, the rotary reel 103, the window 104, and the lighting device 108 in the slot machine 101. As shown in FIG. 3, light 109 a and light 109 b are emitted from the lighting device 108. The light 109 a can simultaneously irradiate both the front surface of the rotating reel 103 and the back surface of the decorative plate 10. On the other hand, the light 109b illuminates the inside of the slot machine main body 101a that is not visible to the player. In other words, the light 109b illuminates an unnecessary part, and can be said to be surplus light.

  The lighting device 108 is considered to have a high environmental risk because the cold cathode tube uses mercury. In addition, a dangerous inverter circuit that generates a high voltage is required. Furthermore, as described above, when irradiating light in a desired direction, excess light that illuminates an unnecessary portion cannot be suppressed, so energy is wasted. Therefore, it is desired to solve these problems.

  As a method for solving these problems, it is conceivable to use an illumination device using an LED (Light Emitting Diode). Since the LED has high directivity, the range in which light can be irradiated is relatively narrow. Accordingly, a plurality of directions can be brightly illuminated simultaneously with one LED. Examples of illumination technology using LEDs include the following.

  Patent Document 1 discloses a linear illumination technique using LEDs. This LED lighting apparatus includes a translucent tube and a substrate on which the surface-mounted LED is mounted, which is disposed inside the translucent tube. This LED lighting apparatus arrange | positions LED on a board | substrate on a straight line. However, with this technique, since the directivity of light emitted from the LED is strong, unevenness of light tends to occur, and it is considered difficult to make light uniform in the substrate direction.

  Patent Document 2 discloses a technique for realizing a line light source by arranging LEDs at both ends of a tubular main body. This light source has at least a tubular light source body, a light emitting element provided at an opening end of the light source body, and a light exchange layer formed on the inner peripheral surface or the outer peripheral surface of the light source main body. The light exchange layer receives light from the light emitting element and emits converted light having a wavelength longer than the wavelength of the light. With this technique, it is considered that the problem of unevenness of light can be solved. However, the LED is not arranged to face the surface to be irradiated. Therefore, a larger light refraction is required inside the tubular light source body, and a high cost is required for the ultra-high brightness LED light source and an optical member that efficiently refracts light.

  Therefore, there is a demand for an illumination device that uses an LED as a light source and can irradiate light on a desired region in a desired direction without light unevenness.

Note that, for example, when a lighting device using LEDs is incorporated instead of the lighting device 108 in the slot machine 101 shown in FIGS. That is, the light emitted from the LED that is the point light source is reflected in a dot shape on the surface of the rotating reel that is the irradiation surface. Therefore, when using LED as a light source, it is also desired to suppress reflection on the irradiated surface of the emitted light.
JP 2002-197901 A JP 2006-080386 A

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and can use an LED as a light source to irradiate light to a desired region in a plurality of directions without light unevenness, and to an irradiation surface. An object of the present invention is to provide an illumination device that can suppress the reflection of light.

  In order to achieve such an object, the lighting device of the present invention includes a top surface and a bottom surface that are in a parallel positional relationship, a back surface that is perpendicular to the top surface and the bottom surface, and a front surface that faces the back surface. An illumination device including one or more LEDs, wherein an angle formed inside the housing by a bottom surface and a front surface is a predetermined acute angle, and the LEDs are provided at predetermined positions on the inner surface of the rear surface, and the predetermined positions are A point near 2/3 of the shortest distance L1 from the inner surface of the bottom surface to the inner surface of the upper surface.

  According to the present invention, in an illuminating device, an LED can be used as a light source, and light can be irradiated to a desired region in a plurality of directions without unevenness of light, and reflection of light on an irradiation surface can be performed. Can be suppressed.

  Hereinafter, a lighting device using an LED according to an embodiment of the present invention (hereinafter referred to as a lighting device of the present embodiment) will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In addition, as a configuration example of the illumination device of the present embodiment, configuration example 1 and configuration example 2 will be described below.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an appearance of the configuration example 1 of the lighting apparatus according to the present embodiment. FIG. 4A is a perspective view of a lighting device 8a which is the first configuration example. As shown to Fig.4 (a), the illuminating device 8a has a substantially polygonal column-shaped housing | casing, and the lamp caps 12 and 13 are attached to the both right and left ends of a housing | casing, respectively. The lamp caps 12 and 13 have a function of fixing to a device (for example, a slot machine) provided with the lighting device 8a in addition to a function of closing the left and right side surfaces of the lighting device 8a. In FIG. 4A, A is above (directly above) the illumination device 8a, B is below (directly below) the illumination device 8a, C is in front of the illumination device 8a (directly in front), and D is behind the illumination device 8a. (Directly behind) and E respectively indicate the right direction of the illumination device 8a.

  FIG. 4B is a view of the illumination device 8a viewed from the direction D in FIG. That is, FIG. 4B shows the back side of the illumination device 8a. As shown in FIG. 4B, a rectangular substrate 10 is provided on the back side of the lighting device 8a as the back surface of the housing. In FIG. 4B, the outer surface of the substrate 10 (surface outside the housing) is shown, but a plurality of LEDs as light sources are provided on the inner surface of the substrate 10 (surface inside the housing). The LED will be described later. A connector 15 for supplying an electrical signal or the like to the lighting device 8a is provided in the vicinity of the lamp cap 13. The control unit of the device including the illumination device 8a inputs a control signal to the illumination device 8a via the connector 15 and performs control such as light emission, extinction, and blinking of the LED.

  FIG.4 (c) is the figure which looked at the illuminating device 8a from the A direction of Fig.4 (a). That is, FIG. 4C shows the upper surface side of the illumination device 8a. As shown in FIGS. 4A and 4C, the upper surface 11a and the front surface 11c of the housing are rectangular.

  FIG. 4D is a view of the illumination device 8a viewed from the direction C in FIG. That is, FIG.4 (d) has shown the front side of the illuminating device 8a. In FIG. 4D, the inner surface of the substrate 10 is shown through the front surface 11c of the housing. On the inner surface of the substrate 10, a plurality of LEDs 14 are arranged in a straight line at a predetermined interval.

  FIG.4 (e) is the figure which looked at the illuminating device 8a from the B direction of Fig.4 (a). That is, FIG.4 (e) has shown the bottom face side of the illuminating device 8a. As shown in FIG. 4E, the bottom surface 11b of the housing has a rectangular shape.

  4A to 4E, the top surface 11a, the front surface 11c, and the bottom surface 11b are integrated members, and are the lamp cover 11 having a predetermined transmittance. The lamp cover 11 is provided with a substrate 10 as a back surface, thereby forming a single housing. The substrate 10 is detachable from the lamp cover 11.

  Here, the shape of the housing of the lighting device 8a will be described in detail with reference to FIG. FIG. 6B is a view as seen from the E direction of FIG. 4A with the lamp cap 13 of the lighting device 8a removed. As shown in FIG. 6B, the top surface 11a and the bottom surface 11b are in a parallel positional relationship. The substrate 10 is a back surface perpendicular to the top surface 11a and the bottom surface 11b. The front surface 11c is opposed to the substrate 10 which is the back surface.

  In FIG. 6B, the angle β formed on the inside of the housing by the outer surface of the bottom surface 11b and the outer surface of the front surface 11c is 60 °. Thereby, the front surface 11c is a slope. Therefore, the light emitted from the LED 14 is not only transmitted through the front surface 11c of the slope, but is reflected downward (bottom surface 11b) by the front surface 11c of the slope, and thus is simultaneously irradiated in two directions.

  In FIG. 6B, the LED 14 is provided on the inner surface of the substrate 10. Here, the installation position of the LED 14 on the inner surface of the substrate 10 will be described. In FIG. 6B, the distance L is the shortest distance (L1) from the inner surface 11b of the bottom surface to the inner surface 11a of the upper surface. The distance a is ± 10% of 1/3 × L, and the distance b is ± 10% of 2/3 × L. Point x is a branch point between distance a and distance b. A point parallel to the point x on the inner surface of the substrate 10 is the center of the LED 14 to be installed. That is, on the inner surface of the substrate 10, a point that is ± 10% of 2/3 of the shortest distance L from the inner surface 11 b of the bottom surface to the inner surface 11 a of the upper surface is the installation position of the LED 14.

  In FIG. 6B, the distance B is the shortest distance (L2) from the substrate 10 as the back surface to the front surface 11c on the outer surface of the bottom surface 11b. That is, the distance B is the shortest distance from the inner surface of the substrate 10 to the point c on the outer surface of the bottom surface 11b. Point c is an intersection of a virtual line horizontal along the outer surface of the front surface 11c and a virtual line horizontal along the outer surface of the bottom surface 11b. The distance B is ± 10% of the 2 × distance L.

  As described above, in the lighting device 8a as the configuration example 1 of the present embodiment, the LED is installed on the inner surface of the back surface at a point in the vicinity of 2/3 of the shortest distance from the inner surface of the bottom surface to the inner surface of the upper surface. Thus, unevenness in light can be eliminated and reflection on the irradiated surface of the LED can be suppressed. The reason will be described in an application example to a slot machine described later.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an appearance of a configuration example 2 of the lighting apparatus according to the present embodiment. FIG. 5A is a perspective view of a lighting device 8b that is the second configuration example. As shown in FIG. 5 (a), the lighting device 8b has a substantially polygonal columnar housing, similar to the lighting device 8a of Structural Example 1, and lamp caps 12 and 13 are attached to the left and right ends of the housing. ing. In FIG. 5A, A is above (directly above) the illumination device 8b, B is below (directly below) the illumination device 8b, C is in front of the illumination device 8b (directly in front), and D is behind (directly behind) the illumination device 8b. ) And E respectively indicate the right direction of the illumination device 8b. As shown in FIG. 5A, the difference between the illumination device 8b of the configuration example 2 and the illumination device 8a of the configuration example 1 is that the front faces are two surfaces, 11c (first surface) and 11d (second surface). It is a divided point. Since it is the structure similar to the illuminating device 8a except this point, description about Fig.5 (a)-(e) is abbreviate | omitted.

  FIG. 6A is a view as seen from the direction E of FIG. 5A with the lamp cap 13 of the lighting device 8b removed. As shown in FIG. 6A, the shape of the housing of the lighting device 8b is basically the same as that of the lighting device 8a of the configuration example 1. As described above, the difference is that the front surface is divided into two surfaces 11c (first surface) and 11d (second surface). As shown in FIG. 6A, the front surface 11c is a surface that forms a predetermined acute angle on the inner side of the housing with the bottom surface 11b, and the front surface 11d is on the inner side of the housing with the upper surface 11a. It is a surface that forms a predetermined obtuse angle.

  Similarly to the lighting device 8a of the configuration example 1, the lighting device 8b of the configuration example 2 also installs LEDs at a point near 2/3 of the shortest distance from the inner surface of the bottom surface to the inner surface of the upper surface on the inner surface of the back surface. Thus, unevenness in light can be eliminated, and reflection on the irradiation surface of the LED can be suppressed.

  Next, a slot machine to which the illumination device of this embodiment is applied will be described. The slot machine of this embodiment is the same as the slot machine 101 described in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 except that the lighting device of this embodiment using LEDs is used instead of the lighting device using cold cathode tubes. is there. FIG. 8 shows a state in which the front cover 1b of the slot machine 1 of the present embodiment is closed, and shows a side cross section of the slot machine 1. FIG. 8 shows the positional relationship of the decorative plate 2, the rotating reel 3, the window 4, and the lighting device 8a of this embodiment in the slot machine 1. In FIG. 8, as an example, the illumination device 8a of the configuration example 1 is provided, but the illumination device 8b of the configuration example 2 may be used instead.

  The illuminating device 8a of this embodiment is fixed in the slot machine main body by lamp caps 12 and 13. As shown in FIG. 8, the illumination device 8 a is provided above the symbol display surface of the rotary reel 3. At this time, it is preferable that the symbol display surface of the rotary reel 3 and the bottom surface 11b have a vertical positional relationship. Moreover, the illuminating device 8a is provided in the back vicinity of the decoration board (decoration surface) 2 of the front cover (front panel) 1b, as shown in FIG. At this time, it is preferable that the decorative plate 2 and the back surface 10 have a parallel positional relationship.

  As shown in FIG. 8, in the illuminating device 8 a installed in the slot machine main body, the light (emitted light) emitted from the LED 14 is reflected by each surface in the lamp cover 11 and passes through the lamp cover 11. At this time, the light 9 is divided into two directions as shown in FIG. One is light 16 that passes through the bottom surface 11b and irradiates the symbol display surface. The other is the light 17 that passes through the front surface 11c and irradiates the decorative plate 2 of the front cover 1b from the back surface.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, an LED that is a point light source with a single directivity is used as a light source, and light is emitted to a desired region in a plurality of directions without light unevenness. It becomes possible to do. For example, in the slot machine, it is possible to irradiate light in the two directions of the symbol display surface of the rotating reel and the decorative surface of the front panel at the same time without light unevenness. At this time, it can suppress that the emitted light from LED reflects in the shape of a dot with respect to the symbol display surface of a rotating reel.

  Here, the reason why the present embodiment can suppress the reflection will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 10A shows a case where the LED 14 is installed at the same position (position of the point x) as in FIG. 6B. FIG. 10B shows a case where the LED 14 is installed at the midpoint of the distance L. FIG. 10C shows a case where the LED 14 is installed further below the midpoint of the distance L. As shown in FIGS. 10B and 10C, the diffusion region of the emitted light becomes narrower as the installation position of the LED 14 is made lower than the point x in FIG. 6B. Therefore, light diffusion becomes insufficient, and the reflected light (light 16 in FIG. 8) appears clearly on the symbol display surface. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 10A, which is the case of the present embodiment, if the LED 14 is installed at the same position as FIG. 6B, that is, a position of ± 10% of 2/3 of the distance L. , The diffusion region of the emitted light is widened. Accordingly, the emitted light is diffused in a well-balanced manner, and reflection of the emitted light on the symbol display surface can be suppressed.

  In addition, the reason why this embodiment can eliminate light unevenness will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIGS. 10B and 10C, as the installation position of the LED 14 is made lower than the point x in FIG. 6B, the emitted light (light 17 in FIG. 8) becomes the player's line of sight. Due to the direction, light unevenness occurs. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 10A, which is the case of this embodiment, the LED 14 is installed at the same position as FIG. 6B, that is, a position of ± 10% of 2/3 of the distance L. Thus, the emitted light does not come out in the direction of the line of sight, and light unevenness does not occur.

  In addition, in the illuminating device of the said embodiment, you may make it provide a reflecting plate as an example of a reflecting member (impermeable material). 7A is an example in which the reflector 20 is provided on the outer surface of the upper surface 11a in the lighting device 8b of the configuration example 2, and FIG. 7B is a diagram of the upper surface 11a in the lighting device 8a of the configuration example 1. This is an example in which a reflection plate 20 is provided on the outer surface.

  Here, the light distribution in the case where the reflector is provided as shown in FIG. 7 and the case where the reflector is not provided as shown in FIG. 6 will be described. FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a light distribution of the irradiation device 8a according to the first configuration example. In FIG. 9, 0 ° is the direction of the decorative plate 2, and 90 ° is the symbol display surface direction of the rotary reel 3. The thick line in FIG. 9A indicates the light distribution characteristic when a lamp cover 11 having a high transmittance is used in a state where the irradiation device 8a is not provided with a reflector. This light distribution characteristic shows a strong light distribution characteristic to the decorative plate 2 in which a convex portion on the light distribution is generated and part thereof. On the other hand, the thin line in FIG. 9A shows the light distribution characteristic when a lamp cover 11 having a low transmittance is used in a state where the irradiation device 8a is not provided with a reflector. In this light distribution characteristic, a concave portion is generated in the light distribution, and the gourd type light distribution characteristic is shown as a whole. On the other hand, the thick line in FIG. 9B shows the light distribution characteristic when a lamp cover 11 having a large transmittance is used in a state where the irradiation device 8a is provided with a reflection plate. In this light distribution characteristic, a convex part on the light distribution distribution remains, and a strong light distribution characteristic of a part to the decorative board 2 remains. On the other hand, the thin line in FIG. 9B shows the light distribution characteristic when a lamp cover 11 having a low transmittance is used in a state where the irradiation device 8a is provided with a reflection plate. This light distribution characteristic has no convex portion on the light distribution, changes to a blister type light distribution characteristic as a whole, and shows a well-balanced light distribution characteristic with respect to the decorative board 2 and the symbol display surface. Therefore, in the illuminating device 8a of this embodiment, the structure which uses a thing with little transmissivity as the lamp cover 11, and equips the outer surface of the upper surface 11a with a reflecting plate is preferable. In addition, since the light distribution of the illumination device 8b of the configuration example 2 is almost the same as that in FIG. 9, the same can be said.

  As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was described, it is not limited to the said embodiment, A various deformation | transformation is possible in the range which does not deviate from the summary.

It is a figure which shows the front external appearance of a general slot machine. FIG. 2 shows a state in which the front cover of the slot machine shown in FIG. 1 is opened, and shows a back surface of the front cover and a front surface of the slot machine main body. FIG. 3 is a side sectional view of the slot machine, showing a state in which a front cover of the slot machine shown in FIG. 2 is closed. It is the figure which looked at the external appearance of the structural example 1 of the illuminating device which is one Embodiment of this invention from each direction. It is the figure which looked at the external appearance of the structural example 2 of the illuminating device which is one Embodiment of this invention from each direction. It is a figure which shows each the side cross section of the structural example 1 and the structural example 2 of the illuminating device which is one Embodiment of this invention. In the structural example 1 and the structural example 2 of the illuminating device which is one Embodiment of this invention, it is a figure which respectively shows the side cross section at the time of providing a reflecting plate. It is a figure showing the state where the front cover of the slot machine provided with the lighting installation which is one embodiment of the present invention was closed, and showing the side section of the slot machine. In the structural example 1 of the illuminating device which is one Embodiment of this invention, it is a figure which shows the light distribution characteristic side with the case where a reflector is provided and the case where it does not provide, respectively. It is a figure for demonstrating the advantage of the installation position of the illuminating device which is one Embodiment of this invention compared with another installation position.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1,101 Slot machine 1b, 101b Front cover 2,102 Decoration board 3,103 Rotary reel 4,104 Window 8a Irradiation apparatus of the structural example 1 8b Irradiation apparatus of the structural example 2 9 Light 10 Board | substrate (back surface)
11 Lamp cover 11a Top surface 11b Bottom surface 11c Front surface 11d Front surface 12 Lamp cap (L)
13 Lamp cap (R)
14 LED
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 15 Connector 16 Light radiate | emitted below 17 Light radiate | emitted to the front 20 Reflector 101a Slot machine main body 105 Coin slot 106 Lever 107 Stop button 108 Illumination device 109a, 109b light using a cold cathode tube

Claims (5)

An illumination device comprising one or more LEDs in a housing having a top surface and a bottom surface in parallel positional relationship, a back surface perpendicular to the top surface and the bottom surface, and a front surface facing the back surface. ,
The angle formed inside the housing by the bottom surface and the front surface is a predetermined acute angle,
The LED is provided at a predetermined position on the inner surface of the back surface,
The predetermined position is in the vicinity of 2/3 of the shortest distance L1 from the inner surface of the bottom surface to the inner surface of the upper surface.
The point of
Lighting apparatus comprising the reflecting member for reflecting the light emitted from the LED to the outer surface of the upper surface. The shortest distance L2 from the rear on the outer surface of the bottom surface to the front, according to claim 1 Symbol mounting lighting device characterized in that it is a twice near the shortest distance L1 from the inner surface of the bottom surface to the inner surface of the top surface . The front is divided into a first surface and a second surface,
The first surface is a surface that forms a predetermined acute angle inside the housing with the bottom surface,
The second surface, the illumination apparatus according to claim 1 or 2 characterized in that the surface forming a predetermined obtuse angle within said housing between said upper surface. The lighting device is provided above the rotating reel so that the symbol display surface of the rotating reel for displaying a plurality of symbols and the bottom surface are in a vertical positional relationship inside the rotating game machine,
Light emitted from the LED, the after being reflected by the inner housing, placing serial claim 1, characterized in that illuminating the symbol display surface passes through the bottom surface in any one of 3 lighting device. The lighting device is provided in the vicinity of the decorative surface of the front panel in the rotational gaming machine, the decorative surface of the front panel and the back surface are in a parallel positional relationship,
The light emitted from the LED, the housing 4. Symbol mounting lighting apparatus, and irradiating the front transmission to the decorative surface of the front panel.

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