Modularized light-guiding apparatus and manufacturing method

Abstract

A modularized light-guiding apparatus and manufacturing method, which may make the light of a light source proceed at least twice light reflections of predetermined directions. The light-guiding apparatus includes a plurality of modularized reflection elements, which may be differentiated to several different types of reflection element. Each type of each reflection element all has substantially same adjoining device and edge size for providing to be adjoined and piled-up with another reflection element. But, the reflection element of different type individually has different number of reflection plane for providing the light to proceed different times of light reflection. It may determined the light reflection times and light-path length for the light-guiding apparatus, by choosing several different types of reflection element among plural reflection elements to proceed the piling-up for the light-guiding apparatus.

Description

, whichsincewhich is the structure of the positioning plate 24 that then may be used to individually fix and connect three reflection element 21, 22, 23 (independent of any type) shown in FIGS. 4A, 4B, 4C to the upper-left, lower-left, and lower-right corner portions of the positioning plate 24, respectively.

Please refer to FIG. 6, which is the light-guiding apparatus 20 of the present invention that is matched with the elements of lens set 31, charge-coupled device 32, light source 33, and optical chassis shell body 34, etc. to assemble and construct an optical chassis that is adapted for using on an optical scanning apparatus. From FIG. 6, we know that the light-guiding apparatus 20 of the present invention may directly provide the effect of light-reflection in predetermined directions and light-path length, by simply only inter-piling-up and positioning the reflection element 21, 22, 23 with each other, wherein the optical chassis is essentially unnecessary to be additionally arranged with another positioning devices or holding elements on or inside its shell body 34, and these arrangements may greatly improve the harassment from the prior art. In use with an optical scanning apparatus, the light-guiding apparatus 20 may transmit light from light source 22, may receive the transmitted light through an opening in a light-guiding apparatus 20, may reflect the received light within the light-guiding apparatus 20(at least three times for example), may release the reflected light through the opening in the light-guiding apparatus 20, and may transmit the released light to a lens set 31. Additionally or alternatively, the light transmitted from the light source 22 to the lens set 31 may be reflected only within the light-guiding apparatus.

Please refer to FIG. 7, which is another preferable embodiment for the modularized light-guiding apparatus of the present invention. In this preferable embodiment, the light source element 33 of the optical chassis may also be designed as a modularized light source element 25 having the substantially same structures of profile edge sizes (length, width, and altitude) and positioning concave holes, etc. as those in the reflection element 21, 22, 23 of the present invention or the modularized light source element 25 may also have the substantially same structures of adjoining plane as those in the reflection element 21, 22, 23. On the predetermined positions of the modularized light source element 25, there are arranged with a light source 251, positioning concave holes 252, and several narrow, long openingtrough troughs 253 to provide the passing-through for the light. With this embodiment, the modularized light source element 25 may directly proceed the piling-up and positioning with each reflection element 21, 22, 23, or be assembled to the upper-left corner portion of the positioning plate 24 as shown in FIG. 5 by the positioning concave holes 252, and to be able to facilitate the assembly and manufacture for the optical chassis.

As shown in FIG. 8, which is another further embodiment of the present invention is illustrated, wherein the light-guiding apparatus 20d is comprised of nine reflection elements 23 of type C, and its total reflection number is 27 times.

Above-mentioned embodiments are applied to describe the present invention in detail, and are not the restricted scopes of the present invention. For example, the reflection elements of the present invention are not only restrained to the reflection element 21, 22, 23 with rectangular long stripe shape as shown in FIGS. 3A, 3B, 3C, nor are the present invention restrained to having the number of reflection plane no more than three. Relatively, the reflection element of the present invention may also be designed as the reflection element with similar shapes of pentagon or other multi-side long stripe, and the number of the reflection plane of the reflection elements may also larger than three, or even the reflection plane is an arc plane. Furthermore, the modularized light-guiding apparatus of the present invention are not restricted to be used on the optical chassis of an optical scanning apparatus and can also be adapted for being used in another optical chassis of other optical machines such coping machine etc. that need to proceed the light reflection for reaching the predetermined distance. Again, for example, the reflection elements of the present invention are not restricted to above-mentioned embodiments, wherein each of the reflection planes all only proceeds once a single light-reflection, relatively, ; the reflection element may also be designed to proceed several times of light-reflection on the same reflection plane, ; or under certain circumstance, some reflection plane is may not be able to reflect the light. Therefore, for all the people who are familiar with this kind of technique should understand that any appropriately little change or adjustments of the present invention are still not departed from the merits, spirits, and scopes thereof.

Claims

1. A modularized light-guiding apparatus, which may make the light of a light source proceed at least twice light-reflection of predetermined direction, the modularized light-guiding apparatus includes:

plural reflection elements, each reflection element individually has at least one reflection plane provided to proceed reflection for the light, and each reflection element individually has at least one adjoining plane provided for being adjoined with another reflection element, and only by simple inter-adjoining for the adjoining planes of each reflection element, it is sufficient to reach the inter-position between each reflection element, and facilitate the reflection planes of each reflection element be able to be corresponded with the reflection planes of another reflection element to proceed the light-reflection of predetermined direction.

2. The modularized light-guiding apparatus as the claim 1, wherein, each reflection element all is the modularized element of narrow, long stripe shape, namely, each reflection element all has substantially same edge size and can be inter-piled-up to become the light-guiding apparatus.

3. The modularized light-guiding apparatus as the claim 1, wherein, in the plural reflection elements, at least one reflection element has at least two reflection planes, and the light of predetermined direction, emitting to the reflection element, can be proceeded more than twice light-reflection by at least two reflection planes, and then the light emits away the reflection element with predetermined direction.

4. The modularized light-guiding apparatus as the claim 1, wherein, in the plural reflection elements, at least two reflection elements have different numbers of reflection plane.

5. The modularized light-guiding apparatus as the claim 4, wherein, it may decide the light-reflection times and light-path lengths provided by the modularized light-guiding apparatus, by choosing different numbers of reflection element and the reflection element having different numbers of reflection plane to adjoin each other to become the modularized light-guiding apparatus.

6. The modularized light-guiding apparatus as the claim 1, wherein, each reflection element all is a single element that is formed to one body.

7. The modularized light-guiding apparatus as the claim 1, wherein, at least one reflection plane of the reflection element is formed by arranging at least one plane with predetermined angle on the reflection element and covering at least one layer of plating film of light-reflection material on the plane.

8. The modularized light-guiding apparatus as the claim 1, wherein, positioning means are further included to position, fix, and connect the plural reflection elements to one body without separating from each other.

9. The modularized light-guiding apparatus as the claim 8, wherein, the positioning means further reaches the position and fixture for the plural reflection elements, by arranging a positioning plate individually on each two end sides of the reflection elements, and arranging several positioning convex points on the positioning plate to be able to be inter-set-in with the positioning concave holes arranged at predetermined positions of two end sides of each reflection element, and by the inter-setting-in for the convex points and the concave points to make the reflection element be able to be positioned and connected at some predetermined position on the positioning plate.

10. The modularized light-guiding apparatus as the claim 8, wherein, the positioning means reaches the position and fixture for the plural reflection elements, by directly adhering and connecting the adjacent adjoining planes of each adjacent reflection element.

11. The modularized light-guiding apparatus as the claim 1, wherein, no matter how many numbers of reflection plane possessed by the reflection element, the direction and position for the light entering into and emitting away each reflection element are all the same.

12. A modularized light-guiding apparatus, which may make the light of a light source proceed at least twice light-reflection of predetermined direction, the modularized light-guiding apparatus includes:

plural reflection elements, each reflection element individually has at least one reflection plane provided to proceed reflection for the light, and each reflection element individually all has substantially same edge size and can be inter-piled-up to become the light-guiding apparatus, and only by the inter-piling-up for each reflection element, it is sufficient to reach the inter-position for the plural reflection elements, and facilitate the reflection planes of each reflection element be able to be corresponded with the reflection planes of another reflection element to proceed the light-reflection of predetermined direction.

13. The modularized light-guiding apparatus as the claim 12, wherein, in the plural reflection elements, at least one reflection element has at least two reflection planes, and the light of predetermined direction, emitting to the reflection element, can be proceeded more than twice light-reflection by at least two reflection planes, and then the light emits away the reflection element with predetermined direction.

14. The modularized light-guiding apparatus as the claim 12, wherein, each reflection element all is a single element that is formed to one body.

15. The modularized light-guiding apparatus as the claim 12, wherein, positioning means are further included to position, fix, and connect the plural reflection elements to one body without separating from each other.

16. The modularized light-guiding apparatus as the claim 15, wherein, the positioning means further reaches the position and fixture for the plural reflection elements, by arranging a positioning plate individually on each two end sides of the reflection elements, and arranging several positioning convex points on the positioning plate to be able to be inter-set-in with the positioning concave holes arranged at predetermined positions of two end sides of each reflection element, and by the inter-setting-in for the convex points and the concave points to make the reflection element be able to be positioned and connected at some predetermined position on the positioning plate.

17. The modularized light-guiding apparatus as the claim 15, wherein, the positioning means reaches the position and fixture for the plural reflection elements, by directly adhering and connecting the adjacent adjoining planes of each adjacent reflection element.

18. The modularized light-guiding apparatus as the claim 12, wherein, no matter how many numbers of reflection plane possessed by the reflection element, the direction and position for the light entering into and emitting away each reflection element are all the same.

19. A modularized light-guiding apparatus, which may make the light of a light source proceed at least twice light-reflection of predetermined direction, the modularized light-guiding apparatus includes:

plural reflection elements, each reflection element all is a single element formed to one body and each individually has at least a reflection plane provided for proceeding the reflection of the light, and in plural reflection elements, at least one reflection element has at least two reflection planes for making the light proceed at least twice light reflections in the reflection element; and

positioning mechanism, which is used to proceed the position for the plural reflection element, and facilitates the reflection plane of each reflection element to be able to be corresponded with the reflection plane of another reflection element to proceed the light reflection of predetermined direction.

20. The modularized light-guiding apparatus as the claim 19, wherein, the positioning means further reaches the position and fixture for the plural reflection elements, by arranging a positioning plate individually on each two end sides of the reflection elements, and arranging several positioning convex points on the positioning plate to be able to be inter-set-in with the positioning concave holes arranged at predetermined positions of two end sides of each reflection element, and by the inter-setting-in for the convex points and the concave points to make the reflection element be able to be positioned and connected at some predetermined position on the positioning plate.

21. The modularized light-guiding apparatus as the claim 19, wherein, the positioning means reaches the position and fixture for the plural reflection elements, by the design of each reflection element has adjoining planes which have substantially same edge size, and by directly adhering and connecting the adjacent adjoining planes of each adjacent reflection element.

22. The modularized light-guiding apparatus as the claim 19, wherein, no matter how many numbers of reflection plane possessed by the reflection element, the direction and position for the light entering into and emitting away each reflection element are all the same.

23. A modularized light-guiding apparatus, which may make the light of a light source proceed at least twice light-reflection of predetermined direction, the modularized light-guiding apparatus includes:

plural reflection elements, which can be differentiated to different types of reflection element, and each type's each reflection element all has substantially same adjoining mechanism for providing to be adjoined and piled-up with another reflection element, but the reflection elements of different type individually has different numbers of reflection plane for providing the light to proceed several times of light reflection, wherein it can be decided the reflection times of the light-guiding apparatus, by choosing several different types of reflection elements among the plural reflection elements to proceed piling-up.

24. The modularized light-guiding apparatus as the claim 23, wherein, each reflection element all is a single element that is formed to one body.

25. The modularized light-guiding apparatus as the claim 23, wherein, a positioning means is further included, and the positioning means reaches the position and fixture for the plural reflection elements, by arranging a positioning plate individually on each two end sides of the reflection elements, and arranging several positioning convex points on the positioning plate to be able to be inter-set-in with the positioning concave holes arranged at predetermined positions of two end sides of each reflection element, and by the inter-setting-in for the convex points and the concave points to make the reflection element be able to be positioned and connected at some predetermined position on the positioning plate.

26. The modularized light-guiding apparatus as the claim 23, wherein, the positioning means reaches the position and fixture for the plural reflection elements, by the design of each reflection element has substantially same adjoining planes which have substantially same edge size, and by directly adhering and connecting the adjacent adjoining planes of each adjacent reflection element.

27. The modularized light-guiding apparatus as the claim 23, wherein, no matter how many numbers of reflection plane possessed by the reflection element, the direction and position for the light entering into and emitting away each reflection element are all the same.

28. A modularized light-guiding apparatus, which may make the light of a light source proceed at least twice light-reflection of predetermined direction, the modularized light-guiding apparatus includes:

plural reflection elements, which can be differentiated to different types of reflection element, and each type's reflection element has individually has different numbers of reflection plane for providing the light to proceed several times of light reflection; and

positioning mechanism, which is used to proceed the position for the plural reflection element, and facilitates the reflection plane of each reflection element to be able to be corresponded with the reflection plane of another reflection element to proceed the light reflection of predetermined direction;

wherein, it can be decided the times of light reflection for the light-guiding apparatus, by choosing predetermined number of several reflection elements with different types among the plural reflection elements, and by the positioning mechanism to position and assembly the light-guiding apparatus.

29. The modularized light-guiding apparatus as the claim 28, wherein, each reflection element all is a single element that is formed to one body.

30. The modularized light-guiding apparatus as the claim 28, wherein, the positioning means reaches the position and fixture for the plural reflection elements, by arranging a positioning plate individually on each two end sides of the reflection elements, and arranging several positioning convex points on the positioning plate to be able to be inter-set-in with the positioning concave holes arranged at predetermined positions of two end sides of each reflection element, and by the inter-setting-in for the convex points and the concave points to make the reflection element be able to be positioned and connected at some predetermined position on the positioning plate.

31. The modularized light-guiding apparatus as the claim 28, wherein, the positioning means reaches the position and fixture for the plural reflection elements, by the design of each reflection element has substantially same adjoining planes which have substantially same edge size, and by directly adhering and connecting the adjacent adjoining planes of each adjacent reflection element.

32. The modularized light-guiding apparatus as the claim 28, wherein, no matter how many numbers of reflection plane possessed by the reflection element, the direction and position for the light entering into and emitting away each reflection element are all the same.

33. A manufacturing method for a modularized light-guiding apparatus includes following steps:

preparing plural reflection elements, which may be differentiate to the reflection element of several different types, and the reflection elements of each different type individually have different numbers of reflection planes for providing light to proceed light-reflection of different times and light-path lengths;

according to the needed values of light-path length for the intended-manufacturing light-guiding apparatus, the needed types and numbers of reflection elements are calculated out to reach the values of the light-path length; and

the light-guiding apparatus is assembled and connected according to the calculation for the needed reflection elements.

34. The manufacturing method for a modularized light-guiding apparatus as the claim 33, wherein, independent on any type, each reflection element all has substantially same adjoining planes that have substantially same edge sizes, and it may reach the position for the plural reflection elements by directly piling up and adjoining together the adjacent adjoining planes for each adjacent element.

35. The manufacturing method for a modularized light-guiding apparatus as the claim 33, wherein, no matter how many numbers of reflection plane possessed by the reflection element, the direction and position for the light entering into and emitting away each reflection element are all the same.

36. The manufacturing method for a modularized light-guiding apparatus as the claim 33, wherein, each reflection element all is a single element that is formed to one body.

37. An optical apparatus comprising:

a light focusing mechanism;

a plurality of adjacent reflective planes positioned to reflect light received through an opening before guiding the light out through the opening onto a light path that extends to the light focusing mechanism; and

at least one adjoining plane structured to connect to a positioning mechanism and, if connected to the positioning mechanism, fix a position of the adjacent reflective planes relative to another plurality of adjacent reflective planes.

38. The optical apparatus of claim 37, wherein the light has a constant direction and position guided onto the light path independently of the number of reflections performed by the adjacent reflective planes.

39. The optical apparatus of claim 37, wherein the adjoining plane orients and arranges both of the pluralities of adjacent reflective planes to proceed light-reflection in a predetermined direction along the light path.

40. The optical apparatus of claim 37, wherein the adjacent reflective planes have substantially the same edge size.

41. An optical apparatus comprising:

a light focusing mechanism;

a light-guiding module having adjacent reflective regions, the light-guiding module capable of receiving light and reflecting the light using the adjacent reflective regions before sending the light over a light path that extends to the light focusing mechanism; and

at least one adjoining plane capable of adjoining the plurality of adjacent reflective regions with another plurality of adjacent reflective regions.

42. The optical apparatus of claim 41, wherein the light is sent at a constant direction and position independently of the number of reflections performed by the plurality of adjacent reflective regions.

43. The optical apparatus of claim 41, wherein the at least one adjoining plane orients and arranges the pluralities of adjacent reflective regions to guide the light in a predetermined direction.

44. The optical apparatus of claim 41, wherein the adjacent reflective regions are planar and have substantially the same edge size.

45. An apparatus comprising:

means for reflecting light received through an opening of a light guiding module to guide the light back through the opening;

means for focusing the light subsequent to the light being guided back through the opening; and

means for securing an end of the light guiding module to fix a position of the light guiding module relative to at least one other light guiding module;

wherein the light represents a scanned object.

46. The apparatus of claim 45 wherein the opening is defined by adjoined reflective regions.

47. The apparatus of claim 46 wherein the adjoined reflective regions include only two reflective surfaces and the light is reflected twice using the reflective surfaces.

48. The apparatus of claim 45 wherein the means for securing the end of the light guiding module further comprises:

means for securing an end of a light source module to fix a position of the light source module relative to the light guiding modules.

49. The apparatus of claim 45 wherein the light guiding modules include an equal number of reflective surfaces.

50. The apparatus of claim 45 wherein convex points are mated with concave points to secure the end of the light guiding module.

51. An apparatus, comprising:

a light source configured to illuminate an object to be scanned;

a light guiding module configured to receive light representing the object and reflect the light along a light path that extends to a light focusing mechanism, wherein the light guiding module includes at least one end having an attachment structure thereon; and

a positioning device including an attachment region configured to mate with the attachment structure on the end of the light guiding module, wherein mating the attachment structure of the end of the light guiding module with the attachment region of the positioning device secures a position of the lighting guiding module relative to the light source.

52. The apparatus of claim 51, wherein the positioning device includes at least one additional attachment region configured to mate with an attachment structure on an end of another light guiding module.

53. The apparatus of claim 51, wherein the attachment structure comprises at least one concave point.

54. The apparatus of claim 53, wherein the attachment region comprises at least one convex point to mate with the concave point.

55. The apparatus of claim 51, wherein the light guiding module includes a plurality of reflective surfaces.

56. An apparatus, comprising:

a light source configured to illuminate an object to be scanned; and

a positioning plate including a plurality of attachment regions, wherein each attachment region is configured to releasably connect to an attachment structure on an end of a light guiding module;

wherein if any attachment structures of any light guiding module are releasably connected to the attachment region, any such light guiding module is positioned to reflect light originating from the light source.

57. The apparatus of claim 56, further comprising a plurality of light guiding modules.

58. The apparatus of claim 57, wherein at least one of the light guiding modules includes a different number of reflective surfaces than another one of the light guiding modules.

59. The apparatus of claim 56, further comprising a light focusing mechanism to receive and focus light originating from the light source.