JP2014010889A - Illumination device manufacturing method, and illumination device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an illumination device manufacturing method to allow easy manufacture of a fixed illumination device of a desired shape, and to provide an illumination device.SOLUTION: A method for manufacturing an illumination device 1 with a plurality of LEDs 9 arranged in an exterior tube 3 in a longitudinal direction and a plurality of light-emitting points L arranged on a predetermined line by shaping the exterior tube 3 comprises: a light-emitting part installation process for installing, in the inside of the exterior tube 3, a light-emitting part 5 including a flexible substrate 7 which extends in the longitudinal direction of the exterior tube 3 and supplies a current to the plurality of LEDs 9, and the plurality of LEDs each of which is connected to the flexible substrate 7; a resin filling process for injecting and filling a flowable curable resin in a resin filling part formed as a hollow part 3a extending across an entire length of the exterior tube 3; an exterior tube shaping process for shaping the exterior tube 3 along a predetermined line; and a resin curing process for curing the curable resin filled in the resin filling part with the exterior tube 3 that has been shaped.

Description

  The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a lighting device and a lighting device.

  Conventionally, the illuminating device of the following patent document 1 is known. This type of lighting device is called a “rope light” or the like, and is formed by arranging light emitting elements such as LEDs and miniature bulbs in the longitudinal direction in a translucent rope-like outer tube. Such a lighting device is often used for decoration, and in particular, is used for decoration lighting that draws a motif with an array of light emitting points by bending an outer tube into a desired motif shape.

JP 2006-199816 A

  However, the exterior tube of this lighting device has been imparted with the property of being freely bent so that a desired motif can be easily formed and changed. Therefore, in order to obtain a fixed shape of the desired motif, complicated measures such as winding a wire around the outer tube and fixing the shape by the rigidity of the wire are necessary. On the other hand, depending on the application, once the shape of the lighting device is determined, it may not be necessary to fix and change the shape.

  In view of this problem, an object of the present invention is to provide a method for manufacturing a lighting device and a lighting device that can facilitate the manufacturing of a fixed lighting device having a desired shape.

  In the manufacturing method of the lighting device of the present invention, a plurality of light emitting elements are arranged in a longitudinal direction in an outer tube having light transmission and flexibility, and the outer tube is shaped so as to follow a predetermined line. A manufacturing method for manufacturing a lighting device in which light emitting points are arranged on a predetermined line, a flexible electric wiring portion extending in a longitudinal direction of an outer tube and supplying a current to a plurality of light emitting elements, and an electric wiring portion A plurality of light emitting elements connected to each other, and a light emitting part installation step for installing the light emitting part in the outer tube, and a resin filling part formed as a hollow part extending over the entire length of the outer tube. Filling step of injecting and filling a curable resin having a property, an outer tube shaping step of shaping the outer tube so as to follow a predetermined line, and the curable resin in the resin filling portion with the outer tube shaped Curing resin Characterized by comprising of the steps, a.

  According to this manufacturing method, the intermediate product before the outer tube shaping step is in a relatively soft state because the flexible electric wiring portion extends in the flexible outer tube. Therefore, the intermediate product can be easily bent in the exterior tube shaping step, and can be easily shaped into a desired shape. In the resin curing step, the filled curable resin is cured in a desired shaped shape. Therefore, in the completed lighting device, a resin cured in a desired shape is built in the hollow portion of the outer tube. As a result, the lighting device can maintain a desired shape by the rigidity of the cured resin. According to the above manufacturing method, since the intermediate product in a relatively flexible state can be shaped and fixed in the shaped shape, a lighting device having a fixed desired shape can be easily manufactured. .

  Further, in the light emitting unit installation step, the light emitting unit may be installed in the resin filling unit, and in the resin filling step, the light emitting unit may be immersed in the curable resin injected into the resin filling unit.

  According to this manufacturing method, since the light emitting portion is immersed in the curable resin in the resin filling portion, the light emitting portion is embedded in the cured curable resin in the completed lighting device after the curable resin is cured. It becomes a state. Therefore, since the light-emitting portion that is relatively weak against water, including the electrical wiring portion, is covered and protected by the resin, a water-resistant lighting device can be obtained.

  In the lighting device of the present invention, a plurality of light emitting elements are arranged in a longitudinal direction in an outer tube having light permeability and flexibility, and the outer tube is shaped so as to follow a predetermined line so that a plurality of light emitting points are formed. A lighting device arranged on a predetermined line, which is installed in an outer tube, extends in the longitudinal direction of the outer tube, and supplies electric current to a plurality of light emitting elements, and an electric wiring unit A plurality of light emitting elements connected to each other, a light emitting portion having a resin filling portion formed as a hollow portion extending over the entire length of the outer tube, and filled with a flowable curable resin; And a hard resin portion obtained by curing a curable resin filled in the resin filling portion. Moreover, the light emitting part may be installed in the resin filling part and embedded in the hard resin part.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the manufacturing method of an illuminating device and an illuminating device which make easy manufacture of the illuminating device of the desired shape fixed can be provided.

It is a perspective view which shows one Embodiment of the illuminating device which concerns on this invention. It is sectional drawing in the II-II cross section (one-dot chain line in FIG. 1) orthogonal to the extension direction of the illuminating device of FIG. It is a perspective view which shows the light emission part installation process of the manufacturing method which concerns on this invention. It is a perspective view which shows the resin filling process of the manufacturing method which concerns on this invention. It is a perspective view which shows the exterior tube shaping process of the manufacturing method which concerns on this invention. It is a perspective view which shows the other example of the jig | tool used for the exterior tube shaping process of the manufacturing method which concerns on this invention. It is a perspective view which shows the further another example of the jig | tool used for the exterior tube shaping process of the manufacturing method which concerns on this invention. It is a perspective view which shows the modification of the illuminating device which concerns on this invention.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of a lighting device and a method for manufacturing the same according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the following, an XYZ orthogonal coordinate system is defined as shown in FIG. 1 and the like, and X, Y, Z, etc. may be used to describe the positional relationship of each part.

  As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the lighting device 1 includes an outer tube 3 that is translucent and extends in a rope shape, and a light emitting unit 5 that is housed in a hollow portion 3 a of the outer tube 3. Although details will be described later, the outer tube 3 is bent and shaped in the XY plane so as to follow a star-shaped outline (predetermined line). The outer tube 3 is made of a translucent and flexible resin such as vinyl chloride, and has light transmittance and flexibility. The outer tube 3 is formed in a circular tube shape by, for example, an extrusion molding method. The light emitting unit 5 includes a narrow strip-like flexible substrate (electrical wiring unit) 7 extending in the longitudinal direction of the outer tube 3 in the hollow portion 3 a and a plurality of LEDs (light emitting elements) 9 mounted on the flexible substrate 7. Have. The LEDs 9 are arranged and mounted at equal intervals in the longitudinal direction of the flexible substrate 7. The LED 9 is a side view type having an emission part 9 a on the side surface, and emits light in a direction parallel to the mounting surface 7 a of the flexible substrate 7 (in the direction of arrow A in the figure). The flexible substrate 7 is connected to an external power supply cable 11 and supplies a driving current to each LED 9.

  The hollow portion 3 a of the outer tube 3 extends over the entire length of the outer tube 3. A transparent hard resin portion 13 is formed in the hollow portion 3a by being filled with a curable resin in the gap between the light emitting portions 5 and cured. The light emitting part 5 is embedded in the hard resin part 13. The hard resin portion 13 is light transmissive and transmits light from the LED 9. As a material for the hard resin portion 13, for example, an epoxy resin, a silicon resin, polypropylene (PP), or the like is employed. The hard resin portion 13 has a certain degree of rigidity. Therefore, the lighting device 1 has a structure in which the highly rigid hard resin portion 13 is built in the hollow portion 3a of the flexible outer tube 3, and can maintain a predetermined bent shape. For example, in the example shown in the drawing, the lighting device 1 bent in a star shape in the XY plane can maintain a star shape by the rigidity of the hard resin portion 13. As described above, the hollow portion 3a functions as a resin filling portion into which a curable resin having fluidity is injected and filled.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the flexible substrate 7 is installed in a posture in which the width direction thereof coincides with the Z direction. According to this configuration, the flexible substrate 7 is easily bent in the XY plane and easily follows the bending of the outer tube 3. Further, since the LED 9 is of a side view type and emits light in the Z direction, the LED 9 has a bright light emitting point L (see FIG. 1). Therefore, the illuminating device 1 functions as a decorative illumination that describes a star-shaped motif at a plurality of light-emitting points L arranged on a star-shaped outline. In the drawing, the shape of the lighting device 1 is illustrated as a star shape, and in the following, the case of a star shape will be described as an example, but various motifs are described by changing the bent shape of the lighting device 1. Can do. For example, the lighting device 1 may be formed in a straight bar shape and a straight line drawn.

  Then, the manufacturing method of the illuminating device 1 is demonstrated. The manufacturing method of the illuminating device 1 which concerns on embodiment of this invention is equipped with the light emission part installation process demonstrated below, the resin filling process, the exterior tube shaping process, and the resin hardening process.

(Light emitting unit installation process)
First, as shown in FIG. 3, a rope-shaped outer tube 3 manufactured by resin extrusion molding and a light emitting unit 5 in which a plurality of LEDs 9 are arrayed and mounted on a flexible substrate 7 are prepared. Then, the light emitting part 5 is inserted into the hollow part 3 a of the outer tube 3.

(Resin filling process)
Next, as shown in FIG. 4, the outer tube 3 is tilted. At this time, the lower end 3b of the outer tube 3 is sealed in advance by a predetermined method, and the upper end 3c of the outer tube is opened. Here, the outer tube 3 may be placed in a vertical position, and the outer tube 3 may be in another state as long as there is a height difference between the lower end 3b and the upper end 3c. Next, the injection nozzle 21 is inserted into the hollow portion 3a from the lower end 3b, and a liquid curable resin is slowly injected into the hollow portion 3a through the injection nozzle 21. In the case of a curable resin in which two types of liquids are mixed, the two types of liquids may be mixed and then injected, or one type of liquid may be injected at a time.

  By slowly injecting the curable resin from the lower end side of the outer tube 3, it is possible to suppress residual bubbles in the hollow portion 3 a. The resin injection is terminated when the curable resin is almost entirely filled in the hollow portion 3a, and both ends 3b and 3c of the outer tube 3 are sealed by a known method such as attaching a cap. At this time, the entire light emitting unit 5 is immersed in the curable resin. The power supply cable 11 connected to the flexible substrate 7 may be pulled out of the outer tube 3 from any one of the end portions 3b and 3c.

(Exterior tube shaping process)
Next, as shown in FIG. 5, a mold jig 27 is prepared. A concave groove 23 extending along a star-shaped contour line is formed on the upper surface of the mold jig 27. Then, the intermediate product 1 ′ obtained in the resin filling step is fitted into the concave groove 23 while being bent and shaped into a star shape. Note that the jig for shaping the intermediate product 1 ′ is not limited to the mold jig 27, and various jigs can be used as long as they can support the bent shape of the intermediate product 1 ′. it can. For example, the jig 29 shown in FIG. 6 or the jig 33 shown in FIG. 7 can be used. The jig 29 in FIG. 6 is formed by bending a channel material having a U-shaped cross section into a star shape, and has a concave groove 31 that forms a star shape. The jig 33 shown in FIG. 7 has a large number of pins 37 arranged two-dimensionally on the upper surface of the substrate 35. The outer tube 3 can be bent while being hooked on the pin 37 as appropriate, and the intermediate product 1 ′ can be shaped into a star shape. The jig 33 is not limited to a star shape, and the intermediate product 1 ′ can be bent into various shapes, so that the jig 33 is highly versatile and preferable. This exterior tube shaping process is performed in a state where the curable resin in the hollow portion 3a is not cured.

(Resin curing process)
Thereafter, the intermediate product 1 ′ is cured while being fitted in the mold jig 27. For example, when using a curable resin of a type that cures over time, the intermediate product 1 ′ is allowed to stand for a predetermined curing time while being fitted in the mold jig 27. The curing time is considered to vary depending on various conditions such as the size of the hollow portion 3a, but can be adjusted by blending the resin, and can be set to, for example, about 48 to 168 hours. When the curable resin is cured and the hard resin portion 13 is formed, the outer tube 3 is removed from the mold jig 27. The lighting device 1 is thus completed.

  Then, the effect by the illuminating device 1 mentioned above and its manufacturing method is demonstrated.

  According to the manufacturing method described above, the intermediate product before the exterior tube shaping step is in a relatively flexible state because the flexible substrate 7 extends in the flexible exterior tube 3. Therefore, the intermediate product can be easily bent in the exterior tube shaping step, and can be easily shaped into a desired shape (here, a star shape). In the resin curing step, the filled curable resin is cured in the desired shape thus shaped.

  Therefore, in the completed lighting device 1, the hard resin portion 13 cured in a desired shape is incorporated in the hollow portion 3 a of the outer tube 3. As a result, the shape shaped by the lighting device 1 can be maintained by the rigidity of the hard resin portion 13. In addition, what is necessary is just to adjust the rigidity of the hard resin part 13 here so that the illuminating device 1 may hardly deform | transform at least with dead weight. In order to adjust the rigidity of the hard resin portion 13, the cross-sectional dimension and cross-sectional shape of the hollow portion 3a, the properties of the curable resin to be used, and the like may be appropriately adjusted.

  In addition, in order to supplement the rigidity of the hard resin portion 13, an aluminum plate, a wire or the like extending in the longitudinal direction of the outer tube 3 may be installed in the hollow portion 3 a together with the light emitting portion 5. The aluminum plate used in this case has a thickness of, for example, about 0.5 mm, and is installed in the hollow portion 3a in the light emitting portion installation step, and is bent and deformed together with the outer tube 3 in the outer tube shaping step. Thereafter, the aluminum plate is embedded together with the light emitting part 5 in the hard resin part 13 cured in the resin curing process.

  According to the manufacturing method described above, the intermediate product in a relatively flexible state can be shaped and fixed in the shaped shape. Therefore, the lighting device 1 having a fixed desired shape can be easily manufactured. it can.

  Moreover, in the light emission part installation process, the light emission part 5 is installed in the hollow part 3a, and in the resin filling process, the light emission part 5 is immersed in the curable resin injected into the hollow part 3a. Thereby, in the completed illuminating device 1, the light emission part 5 will be embedded in the hard resin part 13 in the hollow part 3a. According to this configuration, since the light emitting portion 5 including the electronic components (flexible substrate 7 and LED 9) that are relatively weak against water is covered and protected by the hard resin portion 13, the water-resistant lighting device 1 can be obtained. Further, since the light emitting part 5 is embedded in the hard resin part 13 and molded and sealed, the light emitting part 5 is protected from the influence of water pressure. Therefore, for example, the lighting device 1 can be installed in water and used as underwater lighting.

  Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and may be modified without changing the gist described in each claim. For example, the order of the resin filling step and the outer tube shaping step may be reversed. That is, after the light emitting portion installation step, an intermediate product composed of the outer tube 3 and the light emitting portion 5 is fitted into the mold jig 27 and shaped (outer tube shaping step), and then the hollow portion of the outer tube 3 is formed. A curable resin may be injected and filled in 3a (resin filling step). In the exterior tube shaping step, it is not essential to shape the exterior tube 3 by bending it with a mold or the like. For example, when manufacturing the linear rod-shaped lighting device 1, in the exterior tube shaping step, the exterior tube 3 is shaped linearly by applying a tensile force to both ends of the exterior tube 3 without using a formwork or the like. Also good.

  In the embodiment, the housing part of the light emitting part 5 in the outer tube 3 and the resin filling part filled with the curable resin are both the hollow part 3a and are common, but these are separately provided. May be provided. For example, as shown in FIG. 8, an exterior tube 53 having two hollow portions 53a and 53b is adopted, and the hollow portion 53a is used as a housing space for the light emitting unit 5 and is a hollow provided independently of the housing space. The portion 53b may be a resin filling portion. Moreover, you may combine suitably each component with which the illuminating device demonstrated above and the manufacturing method are provided.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Illuminating device 3,53 ... Exterior tube, 3a ... Hollow part (resin filling part), 5 ... Light emitting part, 7 ... Flexible substrate (electric wiring part), 9 ... LED (light emitting element), 13 ... Hard resin part 53b: resin filling portion, L: light emitting point.

Claims (4)

A plurality of light emitting elements are arranged in a longitudinal direction in an outer tube having light transparency and flexibility, and the outer tube is shaped to follow a predetermined line, and a plurality of light emitting points are arranged on the predetermined line. A manufacturing method for manufacturing a lighting device,
A light-emitting portion that includes a flexible electrical wiring portion that extends in a longitudinal direction of the outer tube and supplies a current to the plurality of light-emitting devices; A light emitting unit installation step to be installed in the outer tube;
A resin filling step of injecting and filling a flowable curable resin into a resin filling portion formed as a hollow portion extending over the entire length of the outer tube;
An outer tube shaping step for shaping the outer tube along the predetermined line;
In a state where the outer tube is shaped, a resin curing step of curing the curable resin in the resin filling portion,
The manufacturing method of the illuminating device characterized by including. In the light emitting unit installation step,
The light emitting part is installed in the resin filling part,
In the resin filling step,
The method for manufacturing a lighting device according to claim 1, wherein the light emitting part is immersed in the curable resin injected into the resin filling part. A plurality of light emitting elements are arranged in a longitudinal direction in an outer tube having light transparency and flexibility, and the outer tube is shaped to follow a predetermined line, and a plurality of light emitting points are arranged on the predetermined line. A lighting device that causes
A flexible electrical wiring portion that is installed in the exterior tube and extends in the longitudinal direction of the exterior tube and supplies current to the plurality of light emitting elements, and the plurality of light emission units respectively connected to the electrical wiring portion A light emitting unit having an element;
A resin-filled portion formed as a hollow portion extending over the entire length of the outer tube, filled with a curable resin having fluidity, and
A hard resin portion obtained by curing the curable resin filled in the resin filling portion;
An illumination device comprising: The light emitting unit
The lighting device according to claim 3, wherein the lighting device is installed in the resin filling portion and embedded in the hard resin portion.

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