KR102733457B1 - Light indicator - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a light indicator, and more particularly, to a light indicator including: a diffusion unit that diffuses incident light emitted from a light-emitting element along an imaginary reference line; a light collection unit that collects the light diffused by the diffusion unit; and an asymmetric light-emitting unit that outputs the light collected by the light collection unit, the center line of which is formed to be offset from the imaginary reference line in one direction.

Description

Light indicator {Light indicator}

The present invention relates to a light indicator, and more specifically, to a light indicator in which a plurality of feedback symbols configured in an indicator are illuminated with a single LED, thereby simplifying the configuration and minimizing parts, thereby reducing the cost of the product and minimizing power consumption.

In particular, the present invention relates to a light indicator that can enable an asymmetrically formed feedback symbol to have uniform brightness by forming a body, which is a light guide, asymmetrically and diffusing, concentrating and scattering incident light to emit light in response to an asymmetrically formed feedback symbol.

An indicator is a device or equipment that outputs specific data (information) as visual information. It mainly refers to a measuring instrument that measures and measures according to guidelines. However, recently, the analog method using guidelines has been gradually replaced by a digital method using LEDs.

Such indicators may include both a measuring unit that measures data and a display unit that visually displays the measured data, or may only have a display unit excluding the measuring unit.

These digital indicators, especially light-emitting indicators, can be categorized into pick indicators, tuner signal indicators, stereo indicators, etc., and each indicator's symbol is configured to be lit independently by an LED configured for each symbol.

These symbols are also called feedback symbols because they output specific information, and can light up in various patterns depending on the type of device or display method.

Meanwhile, in the case of an indicator where two or more feedback symbols light up together, two or more LEDs configured for each feedback symbol are turned on or off simultaneously. In this case, since multiple LEDs must be controlled simultaneously, the configuration, circuit, and control logic become complex, and the manufacturing cost increases. In addition, since power consumption increases, energy efficiency decreases, and so on.

To solve these shortcomings, when using a single LED, there is a problem in that there is a difference in brightness between the feedback symbol located in a straight line with the LED and the feedback symbol located far away, resulting in reduced aesthetic appeal and visual discomfort.

In particular, these differences become greater when the feedback symbols are formed in the shape of a straight line or an arc.

The prior art document below, Korean Patent Publication No. 10-2016-0096318 entitled “Charging indicator for electric vehicle” (hereinafter referred to as “prior art”), is a technology for securing uniformity of brightness by configuring a light diffusion cap to resolve unevenness caused by an LED light source.

However, the prior art has a problem in that it configures multiple LEDs to light up one feedback symbol, and thus, compared to the case where one LED is configured for one feedback symbol, the configuration, circuit, and control logic become more complex, the manufacturing cost increases significantly, and power consumption becomes very large, resulting in a significant decrease in energy efficiency.

Korean Patent Publication No. 10-2016-0096318 'Charging Indicator for Electric Vehicle'

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention aims to provide a light indicator that can reduce product cost and minimize power consumption by simplifying the configuration and minimizing parts by illuminating a plurality of feedback symbols configured in the indicator with a single LED.

In particular, the present invention aims to provide a light indicator capable of causing an asymmetrically formed feedback symbol to have uniform brightness by forming a body, which is a light guide, asymmetrically and diffusing, concentrating and scattering incident light to be emitted in response to an asymmetrically formed feedback symbol.

In addition, the present invention aims to provide a light indicator capable of concentrating light and amplifying the amount of light by inducing the movement of light toward a feedback symbol on one side of a body that collects diffused light.

In order to achieve the above purpose, a light indicator according to the present invention includes: a diffusion unit that diffuses incident light emitted from a light-emitting element along an imaginary reference line; a light collection unit that collects the light diffused by the diffusion unit; and an asymmetric light-emitting unit that outputs light collected by the light collection unit, the center line of which is formed to be offset from the imaginary reference line in one direction.

Additionally, the light collecting portion may have a light guiding portion formed on a side in one direction from the virtual reference line.

Additionally, the light-inducing portion may be formed on at least a portion of the diffusion portion side among the one-sided side surfaces.

In addition, the light collecting portion may have a light reflecting portion formed on at least a portion of a side surface opposite to the light guiding portion with respect to the virtual reference line.

In addition, the asymmetric light-emitting portion may be formed with at least two unit light-emitting portions in one direction starting from the virtual reference line, and the light-collecting portion may be formed with a light-guiding portion that guides light spread laterally in one direction from the virtual reference line to the side of the unit light-emitting portions other than the unit light-emitting portions located at the virtual reference line among the unit light-emitting portions.

Additionally, the asymmetrical light-emitting portion may be formed in a round or band shape starting from the virtual reference line.

Additionally, the asymmetrical light-emitting portion may be formed to protrude from the light-collecting portion.

Additionally, the asymmetric light-emitting portion may have a scattering portion formed to scatter light collected from the light-collecting portion.

Additionally, the diffusion portion may be formed as a curved surface that protrudes toward the asymmetric light-emitting portion.

In addition, the diffusion portion may be formed with different media on both sides based on the curved surface of the protruding shape.

By the above-mentioned solution, the present invention has the advantage of being able to illuminate a plurality of feedback symbols configured in an indicator with uniform brightness and sufficient light quantity even with a single LED.

Accordingly, the present invention has the advantage of being able to simplify the configuration of the indicator, thereby improving productivity, minimizing parts to reduce the cost of the product and minimize power usage, thereby improving the competitiveness of the product.

In particular, the present invention has an advantage in that it can provide a structure optimized for an asymmetrically formed feedback symbol by forming a body, which is a light guide, asymmetrically to correspond to an asymmetrically formed feedback symbol and diffusing, concentrating, and scattering the incident light to emit light.

Through this, the present invention has an advantage in that it can enable various types of feedback symbols, particularly asymmetrically formed feedback symbols, to have uniform brightness even when illuminated by a single LED.

In addition, the present invention has an advantage in that it can amplify the amount of light by concentrating the light by inducing the movement of light toward the feedback symbol side on one side of the body that collects the diffused light.

Therefore, reliability and competitiveness can be improved in the field of indicators, especially in the field of light-type indicators, as well as in similar or related fields such as the field of vehicle indicators.

Figure 1 is a perspective view showing one embodiment of a light indicator according to the present invention.
Figure 2 is a drawing for explaining the function of the light-inducing part shown in Figure 1.
Figures 3 and 4 are drawings showing another embodiment of Figure 1.
Figure 5 is a drawing for explaining the asymmetric light-emitting portion shown in Figure 1.
Figure 6 is a drawing showing another embodiment of Figure 5.

Examples of light indicators according to the present invention can be applied in various ways, and the most preferred embodiment will be described below with reference to the attached drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing one embodiment of a light indicator according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a drawing for explaining the function of the light induction unit shown in FIG. 1.

Referring to FIG. 1, the light indicator (A) includes a diffusion portion (100), a light collection portion (200), and a non-radiative light-emitting portion (300). Here, the light indicator (A) may be composed of a light-transmitting light guide, and the interior may be filled or formed as a space.

For example, if the light indicator (A) is formed entirely of the same medium, the interior of the light indicator (A) may be formed in a form filled with the same material. As another example, if the light indicator (A) is formed partially of different media, the interior of the light indicator (A) may be formed as a space or at least partially formed of a different material.

In this way, the shape of the light indicator (A) can vary depending on the type and characteristics of the medium forming the light indicator (A) and the light reflection, light collection and diffusion characteristics due to the overall shape, and its structure can also be changed and applied in various ways.

However, in cases where the shape, arrangement, and structure are limited in order to clearly define the technical features of the present invention, the structure, area, etc. will be clearly described below, and parts other than those described below may be modified in various ways according to the needs of those skilled in the art.

The diffusion part (100) is a part where light is incident from a light-emitting element such as an LED, and as shown in Fig. 1, a virtual reference line (BL) can be formed based on the light incident on the diffusion part (100).

In this way, light incident along the virtual reference line (BL) can be diffused in the diffusion section (100) as shown in FIG. 2.

For example, the diffusion portion (100) may be formed as a curved surface that protrudes toward the asymmetric light-emitting portion (300) side (upper side in FIG. 2) as shown in FIG. 2.

In addition, the diffusion section (100) can adjust the diffusion range of light, etc. by forming both sides with different media based on a protruding curved surface (medium boundary surface), thereby adjusting the angle of refraction at the boundary surface. This can be changed depending on the shape or material of the light collecting section (200).

The light collecting unit (200) collects light diffused by the diffusion unit (100), and can be formed from the diffusion unit (100) toward the asymmetric light emission unit (300) along the virtual reference line (BL), and can perform the function of collecting light diffused to both sides based on the virtual reference line (BL) toward the center.

The asymmetric light-emitting unit (300) is formed so that its center line deviates from the virtual reference line (BL) in one direction (rightward in FIGS. 1 and 2) and outputs light collected by the light-concentrating unit (200) to the outside. This asymmetric light-emitting unit (300) can be a feedback symbol.

Meanwhile, since the left and right are asymmetrical with respect to the virtual reference line (BL), and in particular, the asymmetrical light-emitting portion (300) is formed to be biased in one direction, when the light diffused from the diffusion portion (100) reaches the asymmetrical light-emitting portion (300), the brightness decreases as it goes toward one side with respect to the virtual reference line (BL).

Accordingly, in order to make the brightness of the asymmetric light-emitting portion (300) uniform, the light-inducing portion (210) can be formed on a side in one direction from the virtual reference line (BL) as shown in FIG. 2.

Meanwhile, as shown in Fig. 3, some of the light passes through the boundary surface (BF) of the medium and some of it is reflected, and the ratio may vary depending on the type of medium and the angle at which the light is incident on the boundary surface (BF) of the medium, as shown in Fig. 3 (a) and (b).

As a result, it can be seen that among the light diffused from the diffusion section (100), the light incident on the lower part of the light collection section (200) has a high proportion of being emitted to the outside, as shown in (b) of Fig. 3.

Accordingly, it is preferable that the light-inducing portion (210) described above be formed on at least a portion of the diffusion portion (100) side (the lower portion in FIGS. 1 and 2) among the side faces in one direction based on the virtual reference line (BL).

In addition, the light-inducing portion (210) can be formed in a form in which a multi-stage, folded inclined surface continues as shown in FIG. 2, and of course, can be formed in a curved shape (for example, a part of a polygonal function or a surface in the form of a logarithmic function) according to the request of a person skilled in the art.

Figures 3 and 4 are drawings showing another embodiment of Figure 1.

As described above with respect to FIG. 3, the light diffused from the diffusion portion (100) may have a different ratio of passing through or being reflected from the boundary surface (BF) of the medium depending on the angle at which the light is incident on the boundary surface (BF) of the medium, and in particular, most of the light may be emitted to the outside of the light collection portion (200) at the bottom.

Accordingly, in the present invention, in order to minimize light being emitted to the outside and increase the amount of light (light quantity) emitted from the asymmetric light-emitting portion (300), a light reflection portion (220) can be configured as shown in FIG. 4.

More specifically, the light reflecting portion (220) may be formed on at least a portion (bottom in FIG. 4) of the opposite side (left in FIG. 4) of the light guiding portion (210) with respect to the virtual reference line (BL), and may be formed of a metal material having high light reflectivity.

In this way, by minimizing the light emitted to the outside of the light collection unit (200) by the light reflection unit (220), the ratio of light emitted to the asymmetric light emission unit (300) with respect to the total amount of light incident on the diffusion unit (100) can be significantly improved.

FIG. 5 is a drawing for explaining the asymmetrical light-emitting portion shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 6 is a drawing showing another embodiment of FIG. 5.

Referring to FIG. 5, an asymmetric light-emitting portion (300) can be formed such that at least two unit light-emitting portions (310) are continuously connected in one direction (right direction in FIG. 5) starting from a virtual reference line (BL).

Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 2, the light collection unit (200) can guide light that is spread laterally in one direction from a virtual baseline (BL) by the light guiding unit (210) to the unit light emitting units (310) other than the unit light emitting units (310) located at the virtual baseline among the unit light emitting units (310).

In other words, the unit light-emitting portion (310) located at or close to the virtual reference line (BL) directly emits the light transmitted through the diffusion portion (100), and the unit light-emitting portion (310) formed away from the virtual reference line (BL) collects and emits the diffused light, thereby allowing the brightness of each unit light-emitting portion (310) to be maintained at a constant level.

For example, the asymmetric light-emitting portion (300) may be formed in a round or belt-like shape starting from a virtual reference line (BL).

Additionally, the asymmetric light-emitting portion (300) can be formed to protrude from the light-collecting portion (200) as shown in FIG. 6.

In particular, the asymmetric light-emitting portion (300) can increase the uniformity of the emitted light by forming a scattering portion (311) that scatters the light collected from the light-concentrating portion (200). Here, the scattering portion (311) can be formed in various shapes, such as a sphere or a cone.

As a result of a simulation for the light indicator (A) of the present invention and the existing structure using one LED each, the average brightness was calculated to have increased by about 25% from 1582 cd/㎡ to 2155 cd/㎡, and the uniformity was calculated to have increased by about 35% from 58.2% to 93.5%.

The light indicator according to the present invention has been described above. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the technical configuration of the present invention can be implemented in other specific forms without changing the technical idea or essential features of the present invention.

Therefore, it should be understood that the embodiments described above are exemplary in all respects and not restrictive.

A: Light indicator
100 : Diffusion
200 : Light collector
210: Light-inducing section 220: Light-reflecting section
300: Asymmetrical light emission area
310: Unit light emission part 311: Scatter part

Claims (10)

In a light indicator that illuminates multiple feedback symbols with a single LED,
A diffusion section that diffuses the incident light emitted from the light emitting element along an imaginary reference line;
A light collecting unit that collects light diffused by the above diffusion unit; and
It includes an asymmetrical light-emitting portion which is formed so that the center line deviates from the virtual reference line in one direction and outputs light collected by the light-concentrating portion;
The above asymmetric light-emitting unit comprises one unit light-emitting unit located on a virtual reference line and at least one remaining unit light-emitting unit excluding the unit light-emitting unit located on the virtual reference line.
The above light collecting part has a light guiding part formed on a side in one direction from the virtual reference line,
The above diffusion section is formed as a curved surface protruding toward the asymmetrical light-emitting section, and is characterized in that it refracts a portion of the incident light by the protruding curved surface and diverges it to reach the light collection section and the light-guiding section.
Light indicator.
delete In paragraph 1,
The above light-inducing part is,
Characterized in that it is formed on at least a part of the diffusion side of the one-sided side,
Light indicator.
In the third paragraph,
The above light collecting part
It is characterized in that a light reflecting portion is formed on at least a portion of the side surface opposite to the light guiding portion based on the above virtual reference line.
Light indicator.
In paragraph 1,
The above asymmetrical light-emitting part is,
Starting from the above virtual baseline, at least two unit light emission areas are formed in one direction,
The above light collecting part,
Light that spreads laterally in one direction from the above virtual baseline,
It is characterized in that a light-guiding section is formed to guide light toward the remaining unit light-emitting sections, excluding the unit light-emitting section located on the virtual reference line among the above unit light-emitting sections.
Light indicator.
In paragraph 5,
The above asymmetrical light-emitting part is,
Characterized in that it is formed in a round or belt shape starting from the above virtual reference line,
Light indicator.
In paragraph 5,
The above asymmetrical light-emitting part is,
Characterized in that it is formed to protrude from the above light collecting portion,
Light indicator.
In paragraph 5,
The above asymmetrical light-emitting part is,
It is characterized in that a scattering part that scatters the light collected from the above light collecting part is formed.
Light indicator.
delete In paragraph 1,
The above diffusion part,
It is characterized in that both sides are formed with different media based on the above protruding curved surface.
Light indicator.

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