Optical apparatus and resin curing apparatus

Abstract

The present invention provides a resin curing apparatus which can cure light-cured resin in a small period of time after emitting a light ray for curing resin, and a small and light optical apparatus which can condense a parallel light ray incident upon an entrance plane in an area narrower than that at the time of incidence upon the entrance plane without attenuating optical intensity. The resin curing apparatus of the present invention includes a plurality of light emitting devices that are caused to emit a light ray by a drive electric current larger than a rated electric current while forcibly cooling each light emitting device by a cooling fan, thereby obtaining a large quantity of light with the high optical intensity capable of curing resin in a short period of time.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A resin curing apparatus comprising: 
 a light source which is an LED array including a plurality of LEDs each of which outputs a light ray having a predetermined wavelength, said respective LEDs being arranged in said LED array in such a manner that traveling directions of light rays emitted by said respective LEDs become the same direction, and driven by a drive electric current larger than a rated electric current within a predetermined time period;    a guide member for guiding a light ray from said light source to a predetermined position; and    a cooling fan for forcibly cooling said LED array and a drive motor of said cooling fan itself.    
     
     
         2 . The resin curing apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein a wavelength of a light ray emitted by each of said LEDs is 370 to 480 nm.  
     
     
         3 . The resin curing apparatus according to  claim 1 , further comprising: 
 an LED drive circuit capable of supplying a predetermined drive electric current to each of said LEDs in said LED array, wherein said cooling fan can also cool down said LED drive circuit.    
     
     
         4 . The resin curing apparatus according to  claim 2 , further comprising: 
 an LED drive circuit capable of supplying a predetermined drive electric current to each of said LEDs in said LED array, wherein said cooling fan can also cool down said LED drive circuit.    
     
     
         5 . The resin curing apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein the predetermined time period is controlled by a timer based on a ratio of the drive electric current to the rated current.  
     
     
         6 . The resin curing current apparatus according to  claim 2 , wherein the predetermined time period is controlled by a timer based on a ratio of the drive electric current to the rated current.