JP2001084857A - Lighting system for operation panel of automobile - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a lighting system for an operation panel of an automobile, enabling operating positions of slide operation knobs to be perceived by lighting the knobs and capable of being constructed at a low cost because of its simple structure. SOLUTION: In the operation panel of an automobile, a plurality of rotary operation knobs 5 are disposed in parallel on an upper part of a panel face and a slide operation knob 7 is disposed in a slide recess part 17 provided on a lower part of the panel face. The lighting system is made by disposing a light source 13 on a back part of the panel to light the peripheries of the knobs 5 and a display part provided on an upper part of the recess part 17, and forming a lighting opening 21 in an upper wall 19 of the recess part 17 and determining the position of the light source 13 so that an upper-surface end part of the knob 7 positioned at any of respective operation positions can be lighted diagonally from above.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a lighting device for an operation panel such as an air-conditioning operation panel provided on an instrument panel of an automobile.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as an operation panel disposed on an instrument panel of an automobile, for example, an air-conditioning operation panel 1, as shown in FIG. The fan control rotation operation knob 5 for setting the on / off of the air and the blowing intensity, and the ventilation mode setting rotation operation knob 6 for setting the air blowing position are arranged in parallel on the upper part of the panel surface, and the inside air and the outside air of the intake air are controlled. A slide recess 17 provided with a slide operation knob 7 for selection is disposed at the center of the lower part of the panel surface, and the display is provided around the rotary operation knobs 4 to 6 on the panel surface and above the slide recess 17 respectively. One provided with portions 4a to 7a is known. Reference numeral 8 denotes an air conditioner switch disposed on one side of the lower part of the panel surface.

[0003] Display units 4a to 4 in this type of operation panel
As the illumination device 7a, the rotary operation knobs 4 to 6 and the display units 4a to 7a of the slide operation knob 7 are provided with a light source 13 disposed between the rotary operation knobs 4, 5 and 5 and 6, respectively. Those illuminated with light are known.

However, in that case, the display unit is illuminated,
Since the slide operation knob 7 itself is not illuminated, there is a problem that it is difficult to know which operation position is located at night.

Therefore, as a means for providing a night illumination function to the slide operation knob, as shown in FIGS. 4B and 4C, a light transmission rod member 27 made of a transparent resin is embedded in the operation knob 7, and one end thereof is provided. 27a is made to face the front end surface of the operation knob 7, and the other end is extended to the back of the panel surface.
A light guide surface 27b inclined toward the light source 13 is formed at the other end. Such means are disclosed, for example, in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 54-61953 and Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 59-225.
No. 57, for example.

[0006]

However, in the above configuration, since the light transmission rod member 27 is mounted on the slide operation knob 7, there is a problem that the cost is increased.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, the present invention provides an illuminating device for an operation panel of a vehicle, which can illuminate a slide operation knob to recognize an operation position thereof, and can be configured simply and at low cost. The purpose is to:

[0008]

A lighting device for an operation panel of an automobile according to the present invention has a plurality of rotary operation knobs arranged in parallel at an upper portion of a panel surface and a slide operation knob arranged at a lower portion of the panel surface. A light source for illuminating a display unit provided around a rotary operation knob and above a slide recess is provided on a back portion of an operation panel of an automobile provided with a set slide recess, and the slide is positioned at each operation position. An illumination opening is formed in the upper wall of the slide recess so as to illuminate the tip of the upper end surface of the operation knob from obliquely above, and the position of the light source is positioned, and the display unit on the panel surface is illuminated from the back. Since the light from the light source directly illuminates the tip of the upper end surface of the slide operation knob through the illumination opening, the reflected light can be viewed from the occupant's line of sight and the operation position of the slide operation knob can be accommodated at night. Recognized, the addition of whether they were located in normal operating position determination can also be easily, moreover can illuminate the slide operation knob without simple configuration of additional components can be configured at a low cost.

Further, when the tip of the slide operation knob is made to protrude from the slide recess so that light passing through the illumination opening does not hit the lower wall of the slide recess, only the tip of the slide operation knob is illuminated, and the slide operation knob is illuminated. When is not located at the operation position, the illumination does not shine on the entire slide concave portion, so that the appearance is good.

If the upper surface of the tip of the slide operation knob is formed as a surface inclined downward toward the tip, the tip of the upper end surface of the knob is illuminated with light obliquely from above. Since the light is emitted downward and does not directly enter the eyes of the occupant, and only the diffusely reflected light is seen, there is no dazzling.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of a lighting device for an operation panel of an automobile according to the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. The same components as those of the conventional example described with reference to FIG. 4 are denoted by the same reference numerals.

Reference numeral 1 denotes an air-conditioning operation panel provided on an instrument panel of an automobile, which is a display panel made of a synthetic resin decorative plate on which a required display is translucently provided on a front surface of a main body 2 made of a synthetic resin molded product. 3 are arranged.

An opening 14 for arranging a temperature setting rotary operation knob 4 (see FIG. 4) for setting an air-conditioning temperature is provided at a right upper portion of the air-conditioning operation panel 1, and a central portion is used to select a fan on / off and a blower intensity. Performing fan control rotation operation knob 5 (FIG. 4)
An opening 15 for arranging an air blowing mode setting rotary operation knob 6 (see FIG.
An opening 16 for arranging the inside / outside air switching slide operation knob 7 for selecting the inside / outside air of the intake air is formed in a central portion at a lower portion of the air-conditioning operation panel 1, and a right side portion is formed. Is formed with an opening 18 in which the air conditioner switch 8 is arranged.

The setting positions of the knobs 4 to 7 are displayed around the openings 14 to 16 where the rotary operation knobs 4 to 6 are arranged in the main body 2 and above the slide recess 17 where the slide operation knob 7 is arranged. The display portions 4a to 7a are provided, and light passing holes 9 to 12 corresponding to the display symbols are formed through the display portions.

On the back of the main body 2, rotary operation knobs 4, 5 are provided.
Light sources 13 for illuminating the display units 4a to 7a are arranged at positions corresponding to the positions and between the positions 5 and 6. When the slide operation knob 7 is located at one of the operation positions of the outside air intake and the inside air intake, light from the light source 13 is applied to the upper wall 19 of the slide recess 17 as shown in FIG. An illumination opening 21 is formed so as to illuminate the tip of the upper end surface of the light source 7 from obliquely above, and the arrangement position of the light source 13 is set. Further, the tip of the slide operation knob 7 is made to protrude from the slide recess 17 so that light passing through the illumination opening 21 does not hit the lower wall 20 of the slide recess 17. Further, the upper surface of the tip of the slide operation knob 7 has an inclined surface 22 inclined downward toward the tip.
And the strong reflected light 23 at the tip of the upper end surface of the slide operation knob 7 is emitted obliquely downward by light from the light source 13 from obliquely above.

In the above configuration, the display portions 4a to 7a around the rotary operation knobs 4, 5, 6 on the upper part of the air-conditioning operation panel 1 and the upper part of the slide operation knob 7 on the lower part are light sources arranged on the back. 13 to be properly illuminated.

Further, since the light from the light source 13 passes through the illumination opening 21 formed in the upper wall 19 of the slide recess 17 and directly illuminates the tip of the upper end surface of the slide operation knob 7, the diffusely reflected light is reflected from the sight line of the occupant. Slide operation knob 7 that can be viewed
Can be easily recognized even at night, and it can be easily determined whether or not the player is located at the normal operation position.

The tip of the slide operation knob 7 projects from the slide recess 17 so that light passing through the illumination opening 21 does not hit the lower wall 20 of the slide recess 17. Only the part is illuminated,
When the slide operation knob 7 is not located at the operation position, the entire slide recess 17 is not illuminated, so that the appearance is good.

Further, since the upper surface of the distal end of the slide operation knob 7 is constituted by the inclined surface 22 inclined downward toward the distal end, the strong reflected light 23 is emitted obliquely downward and directly to the eyes of the occupant. It does not enter and only sees diffused light, so there is no dazzling.

Further, since the illumination opening 21 is simply formed in the upper wall 19 of the slide recess 17 and no additional parts are required, the configuration can be made at low cost.

[0021]

According to the illumination device for an operation panel of an automobile of the present invention, a light source for illuminating a display portion provided around the rotary operation knob and above the slide recess as described above is disposed on the back portion, An illumination opening is formed in the upper wall of the slide recess so that the tip of the upper end surface of the slide operation knob positioned at each operation position is illuminated from diagonally above, and the position of the light source is positioned. The light from the light source that illuminates the part illuminates the tip of the upper end surface of the slide operation knob directly, and the reflected light can be viewed from the occupant's line of sight so that the operation position of the slide operation knob can be easily recognized even at night. It is possible to easily determine whether or not the slide operation knob is located at the operation position, and furthermore, the slide operation knob can be illuminated with a simple configuration with no additional parts, and can be configured at low cost.

Further, when the tip of the slide operation knob is made to protrude from the slide recess so that light passing through the illumination opening does not hit the lower wall of the slide recess, only the tip of the slide operation knob is illuminated and the slide operation knob is illuminated. When is not located at the operation position, the illumination does not illuminate the entire slide concave portion, so that the appearance is improved.

When the upper surface of the tip of the slide operation knob is formed as a surface inclined downward toward the tip, the tip of the upper end surface of the knob is illuminated with light obliquely from above. Since the light is emitted downward and does not directly enter the eyes of the occupant, and only the diffusely reflected light is seen, there is no dazzling.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of a main body in one embodiment in which a lighting device for an operation panel of an automobile of the present invention is applied to an air conditioning operation panel.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line BB of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 shows a conventional air-conditioning operation panel of an automobile;
(A) is a front view, (b) is a cross-sectional view taken along the line CC of (a),
(C) is a perspective view of a main part of the slide operation knob.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 air-conditioning operation panel 4 temperature setting rotation operation knob 4a display unit 5 fan control rotation operation knob 5a display unit 6 ventilation mode setting rotation operation knob 6a display unit 7 inside / outside air switching slide operation knob 7a display unit 13 light source 17 slide recess 19 upper wall 21 Lighting aperture

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An operation panel for an automobile, wherein a plurality of rotation operation knobs are arranged in parallel at an upper portion of a panel surface and a slide recess having a slide operation knob is provided at a lower portion of the panel surface. A light source for illuminating the display unit provided around the operation knob and above the slide recess is disposed on the back, so that the tip of the upper end surface of the slide operation knob located at each operation position is obliquely illuminated from above. An illumination device for an operation panel of an automobile, wherein an illumination opening is formed in an upper wall of a slide recess and an arrangement position of a light source is determined. 2. The slide operation knob according to claim 1, wherein a tip of the slide operation knob projects from the slide recess so that light passing through the illumination opening does not hit a lower wall of the slide recess.
A lighting device for an operation panel of a vehicle according to the above. 3. The lighting device for an operation panel of an automobile according to claim 1, wherein the upper surface of the distal end portion of the slide operation knob is formed as a surface inclined downward toward the distal end.