JP2000103258A - Vehicular meter - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To restrain reduction in visibility with a simple structure even if a meter illuminating lamp is not lighted at twilight time in a vehicular meter arranged in the inmost part of a meter hood so as to avoid the direct rays by low solar radiation angle. SOLUTION: A light guide body 20 formed as the light emitting part 22 having the tip part formed as the light receiving part 21 for receiving the external light and the base end part emitting the external light guided by being received by the light receiving part 21, is arranged between a meter hood 1a and a meter peripheral face plate 11 for surrounding the periphery of a meter dial 12. The light receiving part 21 is arranged on the surface of the meter hood 1a so as to receive the external light from above. The light emitting part 22 is inserted into the opening part 18 formed in the meter peripheral face plate 11 so as to illuminate the meter dial 12 from above. A light emitting quantity of the light emitting part 22 is set so as to increase a quantity of external light for illuminating the meter dial 12 to a degree of not reducing visibility of the meter dial 12 in the daytime at fine weather time.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicle meter disposed behind a meter hood formed on an instrument panel.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a vehicle meter of this type, direct light does not enter even in a time zone when the sun height is low, but there is a problem that visibility is greatly reduced in a state where the amount of external light is small such as at twilight. Therefore, according to Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 7-223460, illuminance detecting means is provided near the meter dial of the meter in the instrument panel, and the illuminance of the meter dial is always kept constant in accordance with the illuminance signal. A vehicle meter in which the position of the meter is controlled by a control device is disclosed.

[0003]

As a result, a constant illuminance is always obtained on the meter dial and the visibility of the meter is improved. However, the structure of the apparatus is complicated and there is a problem in terms of cost.

[0004] In view of the above, the present invention provides a vehicle meter disposed behind a meter hood, which does not turn on a meter illumination lamp at twilight so that direct light due to a low solar radiation angle can be avoided. An object of the present invention is to suppress a decrease in visibility with a simple structure.

[0005]

According to the present invention, in order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, in a vehicle meter disposed behind a meter hood formed on an instrument panel, a tip portion is provided outside. A light guide that is formed as a light receiving part that receives light, and a light guide that is formed as a light emitting part that emits external light that has been received and guided by the light receiving part at the base end surrounds the periphery of the meter hood and the meter dial The light receiving portion is arranged on the surface of the meter hood so as to receive external light from above, and the light emitting portion is formed on the peripheral plate so as to illuminate the meter dial from above. And the amount of light emitted from the light-emitting section is set so as to increase the amount of external light that illuminates the meter dial so that the visibility of the meter dial does not decrease during the daytime when the weather is fine. It is characterized by.

External light that has entered the light receiving portion on the surface of the meter hood is guided through the light guide and emitted by the light emitting portion, thereby illuminating the meter dial from above. The amount of light illuminated on the meter dial is increased at dusk with light reception that does not impair visibility even in the daytime on fine weather.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A vehicle meter according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. The vehicle meter 10 is disposed in the depth of the meter hood 1a formed on the instrument panel 1 so as to be basically illuminated with external light by non-direct light around the meter hood 1a (FIG. 1). And FIG. 3). The meter dial 12 is surrounded by a meter peripheral surface plate 11 functioning as a cluster with the turned-back portion of the meter hood 1a, and a glass 15 is attached to a tip portion. The meter dial 12 and the glass 15 are arranged at positions where direct light does not enter from the side even if the sun height decreases in the evening, and glare occurs due to the reflection of the direct light on these, and the phenomenon that visibility is reduced. Be avoided. The meter peripheral surface plate 11 is locked to a locking portion of a case of the meter main body 13 by a claw 14 around the meter peripheral plate 11.

As shown in FIG. 2, for example, an acrylic transparent light guide 20 is disposed between the meter peripheral plate 11 and the meter hood 1a. The tip portion is arranged on the surface of the meter hood 1a on the same plane so as to receive external light from above, and is formed as a rectangular light receiving portion 21. On the other hand, the base end portion is formed as a light emitting portion 22 that is fitted into the opening 18 on the upper surface of the meter peripheral plate 11 to emit external light received and transmitted from above toward the meter dial 12. Is formed.

The light guide 20 is configured to sufficiently increase the amount of external light within a range in which the amount of light emitted from the light emitting section 22 does not reduce the visibility of the meter dial 12 during the daytime when the weather is fine. Further, the light guide 20 is formed in an angular shape so that the received external light does not leak, and the portion of the light guide 20 except for the light receiving portion 21 and the light emitting portion 22 includes the meter hood 1 a including the entire inner surface of the meter peripheral plate 11. It is painted black as well as the back side of. The light-emitting portions 22 are curved at both ends of the meter peripheral plate 11 and are formed to be obliquely wide so as to illuminate the entire area of the meter dial 12.

When the weather is fine in the daytime, the external light incident on the light receiving section 21 illuminates the meter dial 12 with sufficient illuminance with an increase in the amount of light that does not lower the visibility at the light emitting section 22. On the other hand, in the evening, even if the sun height becomes low, direct light does not enter the meter dial 12, but the amount of indirect external light from the front decreases, but the external light entering from the light receiving unit 21 decreases. Light illuminates the meter dial 12 to improve visibility at dusk. Therefore, the instrument panel 1
Need not be turned on, and the influence of the riding condition in the passenger compartment or the like can be reduced and light can be reliably received from above the meter hood 1a. In short, by adopting the light guide 20,
The amount of external light for illuminating the meter dial 12 can be easily increased within an appropriate limit in accordance with the structure of the meter hood 1a and the vehicle meter 10.

[0011]

As described above, according to the present invention, in a predetermined meter hood structure for avoiding direct light, the external light amount can be reduced by the light guide within a range in which visibility due to excessive daytime external light is not reduced. It is easy to properly increase the amount of light, and as a result, the amount of external light that decreases at dusk can be complemented. Light can be reliably and stably received from above the meter hood. By devising the shape of the light receiving unit,
The design of the meter hood also improves, leading to energy savings.
Also, by being configured independently of the meter peripheral plate,
It can be freely formed into a shape advantageous for light guide and illumination without restricting its shape.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a vehicle meter according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a light guide portion of the vehicle meter.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the vehicle meter.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1a Meter hood 10 Vehicle meter 11 Meter peripheral plate 12 Meter dial 18 Opening 20 Light guide 21 Light receiving unit 22 Light emitting unit

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A vehicle meter disposed behind a meter hood formed on an instrument panel, wherein a front end portion is formed as a light receiving portion for receiving external light, and a base end portion is received by the light receiving portion. A light guide formed as a light emitting section for emitting external light that has been guided is provided between the meter hood and the meter peripheral plate surrounding the periphery of the meter dial, and the light receiving section emits external light from above. The light emitting unit is arranged on a surface of the meter hood so as to receive light, and the light emitting unit is inserted into an opening formed in the meter peripheral plate so as to illuminate the meter dial from above, However, the vehicle meter is characterized in that the amount of external light illuminating the meter dial is increased to such an extent that the visibility of the meter dial is not reduced during the daytime on a sunny day.