JP7583092B2 - Indicator Light - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an indicator light that displays the location of disaster prevention equipment, such as a transmitter, that is attached to a fire hydrant box, an equipment storage box, etc.

As an example of a signal light, for example, Patent Document 1 (Design Registration No. 1460558) discloses the following: "A ring-shaped indicator light body made of a translucent material colored red, with a roughly rectangular opening in the center for mounting a transmitter; a ring-shaped mounting member that is detachably screwed onto the indicator light body and is used to mount the indicator light body to a fire hydrant storage box or the like; and a ring-shaped base plate that is clamped and fixed between the indicator light body and the mounting member and has light-emitting diodes (LED lamps) attached at equal angles, and the light from the light-emitting diodes arranged in the ring-shaped space of the indicator light body is radiated in a ring shape in front and around" (Explanation of the product related to the design in Patent Document 1).

The above-mentioned indicator light is said to improve visibility by emitting light in a ring shape, and because the transmitter can be attached to the center, the area required for installation can be made smaller than when the indicator light and transmitter were installed in separate locations.

Design Registration No. 1460558

The indicator lamp disclosed in Patent Document 1 improves visibility by arranging a large number of light-emitting diodes at equal intervals to light up an annular light-emitting display portion.
However, a large number of light-emitting diodes are required to illuminate the entire circumference of the ring, and therefore the substrate must extend over the entire circumference of the ring.
In addition, since the light-emitting display portion is illuminated by scattered light-emitting diodes, the light appears to be scattered where the light-emitting diodes are located, which is not desirable from the design point of view.

The present invention was made to solve these problems, and aims to provide an indicator lamp with an annular light-emitting display section that has excellent design without increasing the number of light-emitting sources.

(A-1)
The indicator lamp 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 accommodating portion formed inside 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 transmits light emitted by a light-emitting source and emits light,
A light guide plate is provided on the rear surface of the device, and the light guide plate diffuses light incident from the side surface and illuminates the front surface of the device as a light emitting surface.
the light guide plate is inserted into a gap formed between the outer peripheral wall portion and the inner peripheral wall portion, and the outer peripheral wall portion and the inner peripheral wall portion are formed from a light-opaque resin,
The light-emitting display portion is configured to emit light by the light emitted from the light guide plate.
(A-2) Also, in the above (A-1), 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 circumference of the cylindrical body, and the cut portion or recess forms the side surface through which the light source directs light toward the circumference of the cylindrical body.
(1) The indicator lamp according to the present invention is an indicator lamp including a transmitter housing section and a light-emitting indicator section that is formed to surround the periphery of the transmitter housing section and transmits light emitted by a light source,
The display device has a light guide plate having a reflective surface formed on the rear side and diffusing light incident from the side to cause the front side to emit light, and the light-emitting display unit is configured to emit light using the light emitted from the light guide plate.

(2) In addition, in the above (1), 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 circumference of the cylindrical body, and the cut portion or recess forms the side surface through which the light source directs light toward the circumference of the cylindrical body.

In the present invention, the light-emitting display section is illuminated by a light guide plate, which reduces the number of light-emitting sources, thereby enabling the board to be made smaller. In addition, the light-emitting sources can be illuminated in a planar manner rather than in a dotted manner, resulting in superior design.

1 is a perspective view of an indicator lamp according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the indicator lamp shown in FIG. 1 as viewed from the front side. FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the indicator lamp shown in FIG. 1 as viewed from the rear side. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the indicator lamp shown in FIG. FIG. 11 is an exploded perspective view of an indicator lamp according to another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the indicator lamp shown in FIG. 5 .

[First embodiment]
As shown in Figures 1 to 4, the indicator light 1 of this embodiment has an outer peripheral wall portion 3 consisting of a substantially cylindrical body, a flange-shaped mounting portion 5 protruding outward from the outer peripheral surface of 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 distance 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 and shining by transmitting light emitted by an LED 9 serving as a light-emitting source, and a transmitter storage portion 13 formed inside the inner peripheral wall portion 7.

The outer peripheral wall 3, the mounting portion 5, the inner peripheral wall 7 and the transmitter housing portion 13 constitute the main body of the indicator light 1, and this main body is molded by one-piece molding of resin. As will be described later, the light-emitting display portion 11 is formed by the light-emitting surface 15b of the light-guiding plate 15 which is a ring-shaped cylindrical body, but the light-guiding plate 15 is a separate body from the main body. In such a case, the light-guiding plate 15 which forms the light-emitting display portion 11 can be formed by so-called insert molding, in which the light-guiding plate 15 is inserted beforehand into a mold which molds the main body, and then injection molded.
Each component will be described in detail below.

<Outer wall portion>
The outer peripheral wall portion 3 is formed in a substantially short cylindrical shape by a resin member that constitutes the main body.

<Mounting part>
The mounting portion 5 is for mounting the indicator lamp 1 on a mounting surface, and is formed in a generally square flange shape that protrudes outward from the outer circumferential surface of the front end side of the outer circumferential wall portion 3 .
As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the mounting portion 5 has four corners each provided with a screw hole 5a for mounting the indicator lamp 1 to a mounting surface.
The mounting portion 5 is provided with a ring-shaped standing piece 5b that borders the outer periphery of the light-emitting display portion 11. The standing piece 5b has the function of abutting from the inside against the edge of an opening provided on the mounting surface to position (align) the indicator light 1 when the indicator light 1 is mounted on the mounting surface.

<Inner circumferential 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 distance from the outer peripheral wall portion 3. The presence of such an inner peripheral wall portion 7 forms a cylindrical gap between the inner peripheral wall portion 7 and the outer peripheral wall portion 3, and the light guide plate 15 made of a ring-shaped tubular body that forms the light-emitting display portion 11 can be inserted into this gap.

<Light-emitting display section>
The light-emitting display unit 11 is formed so as to surround the periphery of the transmitter housing unit 13 described later, and emits light by transmitting light emitted by a light-emitting source (LED 9). The light-emitting display unit 11 is formed by a reflective surface 15a having reflective dots 17 formed on the back side, and a light-emitting surface 15b of a ring-shaped light guide plate 15 that diffuses light incident from the side (light incident in the circumferential direction) to illuminate the light-emitting surface 15b (front surface).
Generally, a light guide plate is a thin panel that diffuses light incident on the side of an acrylic plate (the thick part of the plate) and emits uniform light on the surface of the acrylic plate.
When light is incident on the side of an unprocessed acrylic plate, the light is totally reflected at the back and front of the acrylic plate and exits from the other end face, but a light guide plate has a special reflective surface (reflective dots) formed on the back of the acrylic plate, so that the light guided from the light source into the acrylic light guide plate is guided to the surface of the acrylic plate using the total reflection of the acrylic plate.The light that hits the reflective dots changes course, and the light that emerges from the surface of the acrylic plate at an angle smaller than the total reflection angle is used to cause the surface of the light guide plate to glow.

As described above, a typical light guide plate is a thin plate used in the display section of a monitor or the like, but the light guide plate 15 of the present invention is made of a ring-shaped cylindrical body, and as shown in Figures 2 and 3, a recess 19 that is recessed in the height direction is formed in part of the circumference of the cylindrical body, and by forming the recess 19, both side walls 21 of the recess 19 function as sides through which light enters. One end face in the height direction of the cylindrical body becomes the light-emitting surface 15b (the surface marked with gray in the figure) from which light is emitted, and the other end face becomes the reflective surface 15a (the surface marked with dots in the figure).

Light that enters the light guide plate 15 is repeatedly reflected on the front and back surfaces inside, spreading throughout the entire light guide plate 15. If there are reflective dots 17 at this time, the light is scattered there and exits from the light emitting surface 15b of the light guide plate 15. With such a light guide plate 15, the way light exits 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 smaller (or making the density lower) near the position where the light enters, and making the area of the reflective dots 17 larger (or making the density higher) the farther away from the position where the light enters, the entire light guide plate 15 can be made to shine evenly.

The reflective surface 15a can be formed by a method commonly used in the manufacture of light guide plates, such as forming dots with a laser wave, forming a dot pattern by silk printing, cutting grooves with a plotter, or pouring acrylic into a mold to form a predetermined dot pattern.
It is not necessarily desirable for the light-emitting display unit 11 to always emit light uniformly, and there are cases where visibility can be improved by, for example, making certain locations, such as the left and right, top and bottom, shine brighter than others when the indicator lamp 1 is installed. In this way, when it is desired to vary the way the light-emitting display unit 11 shines, this can be easily achieved by simply changing the dot pattern of the reflective surface 15a.

<Light source>
The light source is an LED 9 mounted on a substrate 23, and the substrate 23 is fixed to the rear side of the transmitter housing 13 with screws so that the LED 9 is housed in the recess 19 of the light guide plate 15 as shown in FIGS.
In this embodiment, since a single light source is sufficient, the substrate 23 can be made smaller, and therefore the overall shape of the indicator lamp 1 can be made smaller.
In this embodiment, since the light emitting surface 15b of the light guide plate 15 serves as the light emitting display portion 11, it is preferable to use red LEDs as the LEDs 9.

<Transmitter storage area>
As shown in Figures 1 and 3, the transmitter storage section 13 is formed on the inside of the inner wall, and has a flat surface 27 with a screw hole 25 for attaching the transmitter 30, and a rectangular opening 29 in the center of the flat surface 27 for inserting the main body of the transmitter 30.

As shown in Figures 2 and 3, the transmitter 30 stored in the transmitter storage section 13 has a push button 31 that transmits a fire signal when pressed, a circular push button storage section 33, and a transmitter main body section 35 formed on the back side of the push button storage section 33.

The push button storage section 33 is provided with a telephone jack window door 37 which opens and closes to cover a telephone jack (not shown) provided inside the push button storage section 33 and to which a handset is connected.
The transmitter main body 35 is box-shaped and houses therein a switch and the like (not shown) that are linked to the push button 31 .

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 arranged so that it is surrounded by the light-emitting display part 11 and is approximately flush with the inner peripheral edge of the light-emitting display part 11. In this state, the light-emitting display part 11 of the indicator light 1 lights up, thereby indicating the position of the transmitter 30.

In the present embodiment configured as described above, the light-emitting display section 11 is configured by the light-emitting surface 15b of the light guide plate 15, so that the entire surface of the light-emitting surface 15b can be illuminated evenly or in a desired manner by a single light-emitting source. This results in excellent design since the light from multiple light-emitting sources is not scattered as in the conventional example.
Furthermore, by using the light guide plate 15, the way in which the light emitting surface 15b is illuminated can be changed in any way by changing the way in which the reflecting surface 15a is formed.

In addition, a reflective sheet may be attached to both peripheral surfaces (the outer peripheral surface 15c and the inner peripheral surface 15d of the cylindrical body) of the light guide plate 15 to prevent light from escaping to the outside. In place of a reflective sheet, the main body of the indicator light 1 may be made of an opaque resin or the like, or at least the outer peripheral wall portion 3 and the inner peripheral wall portion 7 may be made of an opaque resin or the like.

[Embodiment 2]
The light-emitting display section 11 in the indicator light 1 of embodiment 1 was formed by the light-emitting surface 15b of the light guide plate 15 itself, but the light-emitting display section 41 of the indicator light 39 in this embodiment is formed by the resin that forms the main body, and a light guide plate 43 is arranged on the back side thereof.
The light guide plate 43 may be inserted into a groove between the inner peripheral wall portion 7 and the outer peripheral wall portion 3 (see FIG. 6).

In this embodiment, the light-emitting display unit 41 is formed from the resin that forms the main body, so if this resin is made red and translucent, a general-purpose white LED 9 can be used.

While the light guide plate 15 in the first embodiment was a ring connected in the circumferential direction, the light guide plate 43 in the present embodiment is a so-called C-shaped ring in which a cut portion 44 is formed in part of the ring, as shown in FIG. 5. The light guide plate 43 has the same configuration as the light guide plate 15, except that the cut portion 44 is provided instead of the recess 19 of the light guide plate 15 in the first embodiment, and has a reflective surface (not shown) and a light emitting surface 43b.

As given as an example in this embodiment, light guide plate 43 does not need to be a connected ring, but rather needs to be roughly ring-shaped as a whole. For example, two semicircular light guide plates may be arranged in a ring shape, with a light source being disposed on the side of each end of the light guide plate.
In this embodiment, in order to prevent light from escaping to the outside, a reflective sheet may be attached to both peripheral surfaces of the light guide plate 43, or the outer peripheral wall portion 3 and the inner peripheral wall portion 7 may be formed from an opaque resin or the like.

1 Indicator light 3 Outer wall 5 Mounting part 5a Screw hole 5b Standing piece 7 Inner wall 9 LED
REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 11 Light-emitting display section 13 Transmitter storage section 15 Light guide plate 15a Reflective surface 15b Light-emitting surface 15c Outer circumferential surface 15d Inner circumferential surface 17 Reflective dot 19 Recess 21 Both side walls 23 Substrate 25 Screw hole 27 Flat surface 29 Opening 30 Transmitter 31 Push button 33 Push button storage section 35 Transmitter body section 37 Telephone jack window door 39 Indicator light (Embodiment 2)
41: light-emitting display portion 43: light guide plate 43b: light-emitting surface 44: cutting portion

Claims (1)

An indicator lamp including a transmitter housing section and a light-emitting indicator section that is formed to surround the transmitter housing section and transmits light emitted by a light source,
The light-emitting display unit is configured to emit light by the light emitted from the light guide plate, the light-emitting display unit being ...-emitting display unit, the light-emitting display unit being configured to emit light by the light-emitting display unit , the light-emitting display unit being
The indicator lamp is characterized in that the light guide plate is inserted between an outer peripheral wall portion made of an opaque resin and an inner peripheral wall portion made of an opaque resin .

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