Illuminating device with multiple optical guiding bodies having different luminance distributions

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10078175-B2
Application number	US-201615158342-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 18, 2016
Priority date	May 19, 2015
Publication date	Sep 18, 2018
Grant date	Sep 18, 2018

Abstract

An illuminating device may include an optical guiding body configured to dispose linear optical guiding members side by side, the linear optical guiding members guiding light incident from one end side in a longitudinal direction to another end side. The illuminating device may also include optical sources to emit light toward corresponding linear optical guiding members. The optical guiding body may include first and second optical guiding members adjacent in a width direction. A luminance distribution of the light in the longitudinal direction emitted from the first optical guiding member becomes darker, and that emitted from the second optical guiding member becomes brighter, according to being closer to the other end side from the one end side. The illuminating device may further include a control unit configured to light up the optical sources of the first and second optical guiding members in order and thereafter, light them out in order.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An illuminating device comprising:
an optical guiding body configured to dispose linear optical guiding members side by side in a width direction of the linear optical guiding members, the linear optical guiding members guiding light incident from one end side in a longitudinal direction to another end side;
optical sources prepared respectively for the linear optical guiding members to emit light toward the corresponding linear optical guiding members; and
a control unit configured to turn on and off each of the optical sources;
wherein:
the optical guiding body includes a first optical guiding member and a second optical guiding member adjacent thereto in the width direction;
a luminance distribution of the light in the longitudinal direction emitted from the first optical guiding member becomes darker according to being closer to the other end side from the one end side;
a luminance distribution of the light in the longitudinal direction emitted from the second optical guiding member becomes brighter according to being closer to the other end side from the one end side;
the control unit lights up the optical source of the first optical guiding member and the optical source of the second optical guiding member in order and thereafter, lights them out in order;
in each of the first and second optical guiding members, one surface of the respective optical guiding member in a thickness direction is formed as an output surface of the light, and an output surface of the optical guiding body is formed of an output surface of the first optical guiding member and an output surface of the second optical guiding member adjacent thereto in the width direction;
the illuminating device further comprises a light shielding member for covering the output surface of the optical guiding body;
a band-like light diffusion portion is provided inside from a peripheral edge of the light shielding member to diffuse the transmitted light; and
the light diffusion portion is provided to be inclined by a predetermined angle to the optical guiding member in the longitudinal direction such that one end side of the optical diffusion portion in the longitudinal direction overlaps one end side of the first optical guiding member in the longitudinal direction, and another end side of the optical diffusion portion overlaps the other end side of the second optical guiding member in the longitudinal direction.

2. An illuminating device comprising:
an optical guiding body configured to dispose linear optical guiding members side by side in a width direction of the optical guiding members, the linear optical guiding members guiding light incident from one end side in the longitudinal direction to another end side;
optical sources prepared respectively for the optical guiding members to emit light toward the corresponding optical guiding members; and
a control unit configured to turn on and off each of the optical sources;
wherein:
luminance distributions of the light output from the optical guiding members are made to differ in the longitudinal direction of the optical guiding member,
the luminance distribution of the light in the longitudinal direction output from the optical guiding member positioned on one side in the width direction is set in such a manner that a region of one end side in the longitudinal direction is the brightest,
the luminance distribution of the light in the longitudinal direction output from the optical guiding member positioned on the other side in the width direction is set in such a manner that a region of the other end side in the longitudinal direction is the brightest,
in the optical guiding members disposed side by side in the width direction between the optical guiding members positioned on the one side and on the other side in the width direction, the luminance distribution of the light output from each of the optical guiding members is set such that a region where the luminance distribution of the light to be output is the brightest moves from the one end side to the other end side in the longitudinal direction in order closer to the optical guiding member positioned in the optical guiding member side on the other side from the optical guiding member positioned in the optical guiding member side on the one side, and
the control unit lights up from the optical source of the optical guiding member on the one side to the optical source of the optical guiding member on the other end in that order;
in the optical guiding member, one surface of the optical guiding member in the thickness direction is formed as an output surface of the light, further comprising a light shielding member for covering output surfaces of a plurality of the optical guiding members disposed side by side in the width direction of the optical guiding members;
a band-like light diffusion portion is provided in a part of the light shielding member to transmit and diffuse the light output from the output surface of the optical guiding member; and
the optical diffusion portion is provided to be inclined by a predetermined angle to the optical guiding member in the longitudinal direction such that one end side of the light diffusion portion in the longitudinal direction overlaps one end side of the optical guiding member in the longitudinal direction positioned on the one side of the optical guiding members disposed side by side in the width direction, and the other end side thereof overlaps the other end side of the optical guiding member in the longitudinal direction positioned on the other side of the optical guiding members disposed side by side in the width direction.

3. An illuminating device comprising:
an optical guiding body configured to dispose linear optical guiding members side by side in a width direction of the linear optical guiding members, the linear optical guiding members guiding light incident from one end side in a longitudinal direction to another end side;
optical sources prepared respectively for the linear optical guiding members to emit light toward the corresponding linear optical guiding members; and
a control unit configured to turn on and off each of the optical sources;
wherein:
the optical guiding body includes a first optical guiding member and a second optical guiding member adjacent thereto in the width direction;
a luminance distribution of the light in the longitudinal direction emitted from the first optical guiding member becomes darker according to being closer to the other end side from the one end side;
a luminance distribution of the light in the longitudinal direction emitted from the second optical guiding member becomes brighter according to being closer to the other end side from the one end side;
the control unit lights up the optical source of the first optical guiding member and the optical source of the second optical guiding member in order and thereafter, lights them out in order;
in the optical guiding member, one surface of the optical guiding member in the thickness direction is formed as an output surface of the light, and the other surface is formed as a reflecting surface of the light incident into the optical guiding member;
the other end side of the optical guiding member is provided with an inclined portion the output surface of which is inclined such that a thickness of the optical guiding member is the thinner according to being closer to the other end side; and
an inclined angle of the inclined portion to the reflecting surface is set to an angle in which the light that has reflected on the reflecting surface and has reached the inclined portion is refracted in a direction in which the light exits out of the other end side of the optical guiding member in the longitudinal direction.

Assignees

• Valeo Japan Co Ltd

Inventors

• Yamaguchi Satoshi
• Toju Masaaki
• Ishibashi Masamichi

Classifications

• F21S43/00

  Signalling devices specially adapted for vehicle exteriors, e.g. brake lamps, direction indicator lights or reversing lights · CPC title

• F21V2200/10

  of light guides of the optical fibres type · CPC title

• G02B6/0051

  Diffusing sheet or layer · CPC title

• G02B6/0058

  varying in density, size, shape or depth along the light guide · CPC title

• G02B6/0078

  Side-by-side arrangements, e.g. for large area displays · CPC title