JP2003149410A - Optical shutter - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a material to be usually seen through and to be easily changed to a state not to be seen through when necessary as a material for a door of storing furniture such as a cabinet and a cupboard. SOLUTION: As to an optical shutter S, a shutter area 3 is formed on one main surface of a plate-like light transmission plate 1 of high transparency by roughening the surface and a light source 4 such as an LED is arranged on a cut end face 2. Since the shutter area 3 regulates the transmission direction of light K to one direction, an article X arranged on the rear side can be observed from the front side through the shutter area 3. When the light source 4 is turned on and light L is projected, the shutter area 3 scatters the incident light L and radiates the scattered light to the front side, so that light is emitted from the whole shutter area 3 and the area 3 is turned to an opaque state at the time of seeing the area 3 from the front side and the article X arranged on the rear side can not be observed. When the optical shutter S is used as a door material or the like of storing furniture, the inside of the furniture can not be observed only by turning on the light source at the time of having a visitor or the like, so that the appearance of the furniture can be improved and privacy also can be protected.

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a member used mainly for doors of cabinets, cupboards and the like, which is usually transparent, and not transparent when necessary. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a new material that can be easily changed to a new state. [0002] Materials widely used as door materials for storage furniture such as kitchen cabinets and cupboards include decorative plywood such as painted plywood and poly plywood, glass plates, and transparent plastic plates such as acrylic. There is. [0003] When decorative plywood is used as a door material for storage furniture, there is a drawback that the stored contents cannot be checked as it is because the interior cannot be seen at all when the door is closed. . On the other hand, if the door is made of a glass plate or a transparent plastic plate such as acrylic, the interior can be checked with the door closed, making it possible to see even when you do not want to show the stored items when visiting In addition to the bad appearance, it is difficult to protect privacy. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been devised as an optical shutter which can be used as a door material of furniture for storage, etc., and which can be normally seen through, and which can make the inside invisible when necessary. . The feature of the optical shutter is that one of the main surfaces of the transparent plate-shaped light guide plate is roughened to form a shutter region that regulates the light transmission direction in one direction, and the light guide plate has a small opening. The light projected from the light source disposed on the surface into the light guide plate is scattered by the shutter area, and the shutter area is caused to emit light, so that light transmitted through the shutter area cannot be visually identified. . If the light shutter having such a configuration is used as a door material of storage furniture, the light can normally be transmitted therethrough, so that the stored items in the furniture can be checked, and when necessary, the light projected from the light source is scattered to make the shutter area emit light. The interior of the furniture can be made invisible. FIGS. 1 and 2 show an example of an optical shutter S according to the present invention. FIG. 1 shows a state before the light source 4 is turned on, and FIG. Illuminated states are shown. The optical shutter S of the present example is configured such that one main surface 1a of a highly transparent plate-shaped light guide plate 1 is subjected to a roughening process such as a frosted glass process to form a shutter region 3 and a predetermined small edge surface 2 is provided with an LED. (Light emitting diode) and the like. When the optical shutter S is used as a door material, the shutter area 3 is
It is formed on the main surface 1a on the back side of the door. Further, the light source 4 can be arranged on a plurality of forefaces. As the light guide plate 1, it is desirable to use a transparent plate-like material having a relatively large strength such as a tempered glass plate or an acrylic plate. As shown in FIG. 1B, the shutter region 3 formed by roughening the light guide plate surface 1a restricts the transmission direction of the light K to one direction. That is, when the optical shutter S is viewed from the front side, it is possible to see through the shutter area 3 and observe the article X arranged on the back side. The rough surface processing method for forming the shutter region 3 in the light guide plate 1 includes a sand blast method for producing polished glass, an etching method using a chemical,
A mechanical processing method using a blade or the like may be used. It is optimal to use a small-sized LED with low power consumption as the light source 4, but in some cases, another light-emitting device may be used. In the optical shutter S of the present embodiment configured as described above, the light K can pass through the shutter area 3 from the back side of the light guide plate 1 to the front side in the normal state where the light source 4 does not emit light. As shown in FIG. 1A, the article X on the back surface can be visually recognized through the shutter area 3. As shown in FIG. 2, when the light source 4 is turned on and the light L is projected from the front surface 2 of the light guide plate 1 to the inside, the incident light L is formed on the light guide plate 1 as shown in an enlarged manner in FIG. The light is scattered by the three irregularities 3a. Since the shutter region 3 regulates the light transmission direction in one direction, most of the scattered light M is emitted to the front side of the light guide plate 1. For this reason, when viewed from the front side, the entire shutter region 3 emits light and is observed in an opaque state, so that the article X arranged on the back side cannot be visually recognized. [0008] Thus, the optical shutter S according to the present invention.
By simply turning on the light source 4 when desired, it is possible to immediately shift from a transparent state to a non-transparent state. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 4, when this optical shutter S is used for a door T of a kitchen cabinet U or the like, the interior is normally checked with the door T closed as shown in FIG. By turning on the light source of the optical shutter S when necessary, such as when visiting customers, the shutter area 3 emits light as shown in FIG. The color tone of the light shutter S at the time of light emission is determined by the color of light projected from the light source 4. Therefore, the incident light L
By selecting the type, the light shutter S can emit light of a desired color. In particular, when a three-color light emitting diode is used as the light source 4 and the color development is controlled by a separately provided control circuit, a desired color tone may be emitted to enhance the effect. In other words, by emitting green or blue light to give a relaxing effect,
By emitting red light, it is possible to change the color tone according to the mental state of the consumer, such as exerting the mood uplifting effect, and to adjust the color according to the color tone of the surrounding wall and floor surface Can be Alternatively, the optical shutter S can be provided with a temperature display function if the color is changed so as to change depending on the temperature, and the color is changed to blue when the temperature is lower than a predetermined temperature and red when the temperature exceeds the predetermined temperature. Furthermore, if the color is set to change depending on the atmospheric pressure, for example, if the color is changed to blue when the pressure is equal to or less than the predetermined pressure, and red if the pressure exceeds the predetermined pressure, the change in the atmospheric pressure can be visually recognized, which can be used for predicting the weather. . Incidentally, the optical shutter S according to the present invention
In addition to kitchen cabinets and wash cabinets,
It can be applied to door members of various storage furniture such as clothes dance and cupboards, and further to side plate members. In addition, the embodiment of the present invention does not prevent the configuration from being appropriately changed according to the situation. The optical shutter according to the present invention is normally transparent, and when necessary, is opaque by scattering light emitted from a light source in a shutter area to emit light. Therefore, if this is used as a door material for storage furniture, it is usually possible to check the inside with the door closed, so that it is not possible to observe the inside only by turning on the light source when necessary such as when visiting customers. Therefore, the appearance can be improved and privacy can be easily protected. [0012] By selecting or controlling the color tone or the like of the light projected from the light source, unique design and aesthetics can be imparted to the storage furniture and the like at the time of light emission, and the commercial value can be enhanced. Moreover, there is a characteristic that the design can be changed by turning on / off the light source. Since the light emitted from the shutter area to the outside is scattered light, there is no danger of giving glare to a viewer.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 relates to an embodiment of an optical shutter according to the present invention, wherein FIG. 1 (A) is a front view of a state before a light source is turned on, and FIG. 1 (B) is the same state. FIG. 2A and 2B relate to an embodiment of the optical shutter according to the present invention, wherein FIG. 2A is a front view in a state where a light source is turned on, and FIG. 2B is a side sectional view in the same state. FIG. 3 relates to one embodiment of the optical shutter according to the present invention, and is a side sectional view showing a main part in an enlarged manner. FIG. 4 shows an example of a kitchen cabinet using an optical shutter according to the present invention for a door, and FIG.
Is a front view of a state before the light source is turned on, and FIG. 2B is a front view of a state where the light source is turned on. [Description of Signs] S: Optical shutter 1: Light guide plate 1a: Main surface 2: Small surface 3: Shutter area 3a: Unevenness 4: Light source K
... transmitted light L ... projected light surface M ... scattered light T ... door U ... kitchen cabinet X ... goods

Claims (1)

Claims: 1. A transparent plate-shaped light guide plate is provided with a roughened surface on one main surface to form a shutter region for regulating a light transmission direction in one direction, and By scattering the light projected into the light guide plate from the light source disposed on the fore-edge surface in the shutter region and causing the shutter region to emit light, the light transmitted through the shutter region cannot be visually identified. An optical shutter that is a feature.