Patent ID: 8414173

Claim:
An illumination device comprising a plurality of light source units each having a light guide plate and at least one light source, the light guide plate having an illumination region through which an incident beam of light from the at least one light source is emitted outward and a light guide region through which the incident beam of light from the at least one light source is guided toward the illumination region, with the illumination region and the light guide region laid side-by-side, light source units adjacent to each other along a direction of an optical axis of the at least one light source being disposed so that the illumination region of one of the light source units covers at least a part of the light guide region of the other light source unit, a first functional sheet having reflectivity and a second functional sheet which is substantially planar along its length a light-blocking property being provided between the light guide plate of the one of the light source units and the at least one light source of the other light source unit in such a way as to be put on top of each other, the first and second functional sheets being parallel to each other, the first functional sheet being a diffuse reflection sheet, the second functional sheet being a specular reflection sheet or a light absorption sheet, wherein: the illumination region is divided into a plurality of light-emitting sections by a divider, provided in such a way as to extend along the direction of the optical axis of the at least one light source, which restricts transmission of light, wherein the light guide region is continuous and extends along the plurality of light-emitting sections; and at least one of the at least one light source is provided to each of the light-emitting sections in such a way as to be placed side-by-side along the light guide region, the divider being provided in such a way to extend from the illumination region into part but not all of the light guide region, the dividers being provided at least in a region of overlap between regions that are irradiated by adjacent light sources.