Patent ID: 8345188

Claim:
An illumination device comprising: a plurality of light source units each including at least one respective light source and a respective light guide body; wherein each of the light guide bodies: (i) includes a plate-shaped light-emitting section including a planar light-emitting surface; and a plate-shaped light guide section arranged to protrude, in a lateral direction of the light-emitting section, from a side surface of the light-emitting section that intersects the light-emitting surface; and (ii) is arranged to guide, from the light guide section to the light-emitting section, light which has entered the light guide section from a corresponding light source provided in an end portion of the light guide section, the end portion being a portion of the light guide section that is furthest away from the side surface; the light-emitting surfaces of the respective light guide bodies are arranged on a common surface such that, when seen from a normal direction of the light-emitting surfaces, the light guide section of one of the light guide bodies overlaps with the light-emitting surface of another one of the light guide bodies which is adjacent to the one of the light guide bodies such that the respective light guide bodies together define a single light-emitting surface as a whole; the light-emitting section includes one end portion in which the light guide section is provided and another end portion which is a portion of the light-emitting section that is furthest away from the one end portion of the light-emitting section and which has a thickness from about 0.05 mm to about 0.15 mm.