JP2001330482A - Meter and light emitting indicator thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a light emitting pointer devised so as to well ensure the incident quantity of light from a revolving base part to an indicator part, and a meter using the same. SOLUTION: The indicator main body 20a of the light emitting pointer 20 is equipped with first and second members 21, 22. The first member 21 reflects the light, which is incident from the rear surface of the revolving base part 21a thereof, into the indicator part 21b thereof by the rear end surface 21d thereof. The second member 22 reflects the light, which is incident from the rear surface thereof, into the indicator part 21b by the reflecting surface 22c thereof through the emitting surface 22f thereof, a gap (g) and the rear end surface 21d. The first member 21 has a refractive index higher than that of the second member 22.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an instrument for a vehicle such as an automobile and other various instruments, and to a light guide for the instrument.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a passenger car instrument, for example,
There is one provided with a light emission guide as shown in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 58-13693. The light-emitting pointer of this instrument is supported at its pivot base by the tip of the pointer shaft of a pivoting inner machine that extends rotatably through the through hole from the back side of the dial. The pointer light source is disposed on the back side of the dial so as to face the turning base of the light emitting pointer through the through hole of the dial. Thus, the light of the pointer light source passes through the through-hole of the dial and enters the rotation base of the light-emitting pointer.

[0003]

By the way, in the above-mentioned instrument, since the light incident on the turning base portion of the light emitting pointer is introduced into the pointer portion of the light emitting pointer, both reflecting surfaces are provided on the turning base portion. Are formed so as to face each other at a distance from each other via the distal end of the pointer shaft in the longitudinal direction. As a result, the two reflecting surfaces respectively reflect the light incident from the rotating base toward the pointer.

However, of the two reflection surfaces, the reflection surface located on the pointer portion side, that is, the front reflection surface reflects the light incident on the rotating base toward the inside of the pointer portion. Cross section V from the top surface of the pivot base on the pointer side of the surface
It is formed by forming a letter-shaped notch.

[0005] For this reason, the light incident on the rotating base and reflected by the rear reflecting surface once exits through the notch and then passes through the front reflecting surface again into the rotating base. Then, the user will proceed to the pointer section.

Accordingly, when the light exits from the notch to the outside and passes through the front reflecting surface and enters the rotating base again, if the distance between the two reflecting surfaces is large, the light is attenuated and the pointer The amount of light incident on the portion is greatly reduced, and as a result, a problem occurs in that the light emission luminance of the pointer portion is significantly reduced.

In order to cope with the above, the present invention has been devised so as to ensure a sufficient amount of light incident from the rotating base to the pointer, and a meter using the light emitting pointer. The purpose is to provide.

[0008]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a light-emitting pointer for an instrument according to the first aspect of the present invention comprises a rotating base (21) supported by a distal end of a pointer shaft (41).
a) and a pointer (21) extending integrally from the pivot base.
b), wherein the pivot base is located closer to the pointer than the tip end of the pointer shaft and faces the inside of the pointer and the back surface of the pivot base, and the first reflection surface (21d). An emission surface (22f) facing the reflection surface, a second reflection surface located rearward of the first reflection surface with respect to the first reflection surface with respect to the first reflection surface, facing the first reflection surface through the emission surface, and facing the back surface through the rotation base. And two reflecting surfaces (22c to 22e). The emission guide is characterized in that the emission surface is formed in parallel with the first reflection surface via a narrow gap (g).

Thus, when light enters the rotating base from the back surface, the light is reflected by the first reflecting surface into the pointer, passes through the emitting surface and the first reflecting surface by the second reflecting surface, and enters the pointer. Is reflected.

Here, since the first reflecting surface and the light emitting surface face each other with a gap therebetween, light incident on the first reflecting surface efficiently enters the pointer without being attenuated by the gap. Therefore, the pointer can emit light with good luminance.

In addition, a light emitting pointer for an instrument according to the second aspect of the present invention is a rotating base (21a) supported by a tip end of a pointer shaft (41) and a pointer integrally extending from the rotating base. A first member (21) having a portion (21b), and a second member (22) provided from a rear portion of the rotating base.

[0012] In the light emitting pointer, the turning base has a rear end face (2) inclined so as to pass through the turning base on the side closer to the pointer than the distal end of the pointer shaft, face the back surface, and face the inside of the pointer.
1d), and the second member is provided in parallel with the emission surface (22f) positioned parallel to the rear end surface via the gap (g), and on the rear side of the emission surface from the tip of the pointer shaft. A reflection surface (22c to 22e) positioned so as to pass through the second member and face the back surface thereof. The second member is formed of a light guide material, and the first member has a refractive index higher than that of the second member. It is formed of a light guiding material having a high level.

Thus, the light entering the pivot base from the back surface is reflected by the rear end surface into the pointer portion, and the light entering the second member from the back surface is reflected by the reflection surface to form the exit surface, the gap, and the like. The light passes through the rear end face and enters the pointer.

Here, a gap is formed between the rear end face and the output face, and the first and second members give the respective refractive indexes high and low as described above, and the rear end face, the output face and the reflection face are formed. As described above, since the light is emitted from the light exit surface, the light from the light exit surface can be incident on the rear end surface without a decrease in the amount of light in the gap. As a result, the brightness of the pointer portion of the light emitting pointer can be ensured satisfactorily.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the light emitting indicator for an instrument according to the second aspect, the light emitting surface of the second member is subjected to light diffusion processing.

Thus, it is possible to easily make the light incident from the exit surface to the rear end surface, and as a result, it is possible to further improve the operation and effect of the second aspect of the present invention.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the instrument light emitting pointer according to the second aspect, the emission surface of the second member is made of a light-transmitting material having a lower refractive index than that of the second member. It is characterized by being processed. According to this, the same operation and effect as the invention described in claim 2 can be achieved.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an instrument according to any one of the second to fourth aspects, wherein the scale is supported by a scale shaft (10a, 10b) and a pointer shaft along the surface of the scale. And a light source (50) that irradiates light from the back surface into the rotation base of the first member and irradiates light from the back surface into the second member. In one member, the incident light into the rotation base is reflected by the rear end face toward the pointer portion, and in the second member, the incident light from the back surface is reflected by the reflection surface, passes through the output surface and the gap, and enters the pointer portion into the rear end surface. When the light is incident on the pointer, the pointer emits light.

Thus, any one of claims 2 to 4 can be provided.
It is possible to provide an instrument capable of achieving the functions and effects of the first aspect of the invention.

Note that the reference numerals in parentheses of the above means indicate the correspondence with specific means described in the embodiments described later.

[0021]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 and 2 show an example in which the present invention is applied to a passenger car instrument. This instrument is provided as a combination meter on an instrument panel provided in the passenger compartment of the passenger car.

The instrument includes an instrument panel 10, and as shown in FIG. 1, the instrument panel 10 includes left and right scale plates 10a and 10b and an indicator section 10c. The dial 10a is for a speedometer of the passenger car, the dial 10b is for a tachometer of the passenger car, and the indicator 10c is for an automatic transmission of the passenger car.

The instrument has both left and right light emitting hands 20. The configuration of the left light emitting pointer 20 will be described by taking the left light emitting pointer 20 as an example.
a, the left light emitting pointer 20
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the pointer main body 20a
And a cap 20b. Pointer body 20
2A includes a first member 21 and a second member 22 as shown in FIG.

The first and second members 21 and 22 are made of a light-guiding resin material.
The second member 22 is made of a transparent acrylic resin, while the second member 22 is made of a transparent polycarbonate resin. Here, the refractive index of the polycarbonate resin with respect to light is n = 1.59, and the refractive index of the acrylic resin with respect to light is n = 1.49.

As shown in FIGS. 2 to 5, the first member 21 has a rotating base 21a and a longitudinal pointer 21b extending integrally from the rotating base 21a. The first member 21 is coaxial with a tip end of a pointer shaft 41 of a rotating inner machine 40 that extends coaxially through the cylindrical light guide member 30 by a boss 21c extending from the back surface of the rotating base 21a. Is supported.

In the first member 21, the rotating base 21a
As shown in FIG. 2, the rear end face 21d (the pointer 21b
), And this rear end face 21d is
It is formed so as to be inclined from left to right from the upper edge in the figure to the upper end surface of the boss 21c. Here, the rear end face 2
The boundary between 1d and the upper end surface of the boss 21c is located closer to the pointer 21b than the tip of the pointer shaft 41, as shown in FIG.

As a result, in the first member 21, the rear end face 2
1d reflects the light incident on the rotation base 21a from the back surface thereof toward the hands 21b.

The second member 22 has a seating surface 22a
The back surface 22b of the second member 22 is fixedly seated on the upper end surface of the boss 21c of the first member 21.
0 facing the upper end surface.

The second member 22 has a plurality of reflection surfaces 22c to 22c.
e and an emission surface 22f. Each of the reflection surfaces 22c to 22e is constituted by an inclined rear end surface of the second member 22 which is parallel to the rear end surface 21d of the first member 21, and this rear end surface forms the reflection surface 22c and the two reflection surfaces 22d and 22e. It is formed so as to be located on the rear end face 21d side of the first member 21 with respect to both of the reflection surfaces 22d and 22e (see FIGS. 3 and 5). As a result, the light that enters the second member 22 from the back surface is reflected by each of the reflection surfaces 22c to 22e toward the emission surface 22f.

The emission surface 22f has a narrow gap g (for example, about 0.1 mm) parallel to the rear end face 21d of the first member 21.
With a value in the range of 1 to 1 mm)
The exit surface 22f is provided within each of the reflection surfaces 22 in the second member 22.
The light reflected by c to 22e is emitted and enters the first member 21 from the rear end face 21d through the gap g. In the present embodiment, the rear end face 21d and each of the reflection faces 22c to 22c
The inclination angle of e with respect to the axial direction of the pointer shaft 41 is set so as to be totally reflected in the turning base of the pointer main body 20a in consideration of the respective refractive indexes n of the first and second members 21 and 22 and the difference therebetween. Have been. The cap 20b covers the rotation base 21a and the second member 22 of the pointer main body 20a from above.

The light guide member 30 is coaxially fitted at its upper end into the through hole 11 of the scale plate 10a.
The light guide member 30 introduces light from each light source 50 to be described later, and turns the rotation base 21 a of the first member 21 from the upper end surface thereof.
Then, the light enters the second member 22 from each back surface thereof.

The rotating inner unit 40 includes a pointer shaft 41 and an inner unit main body 42. The pointer shaft 41 is rotatable from the rotating inner unit 42 through the wiring board 60 into the light guide member 30. Has been extended to. The wiring board 60 is mounted on the instrument panel 1 at the upper end of the inner machine main body 42.
Each light source 50 is provided on the wiring board 60 so as to face the lower end surface of the light guide member 30 around the axis of the pointer shaft 41. Thereby, each light source 5
0 indicates that light enters the light guide member 30 from its lower end surface.
In addition, in the said instrument, the tachometer side is comprised similarly to the speedometer side.

In the present embodiment configured as described above,
The light of each light source 50 passes through the inside of the light guide member 30 and the first member 2
When the light enters the first rotation base and the second member 22 from the respective back surfaces, the first member 21 reflects the light incident on the rotation base 21a by the rear end surface 21d and proceeds into the hands 21b.

The second member 22 has a back surface 22b.
The light incident from each of the reflection surfaces 22c to 22e
The light is reflected toward the emission surface 22f in the member 22. The light reflected in this manner passes through the emission surface 22f and the gap g, and
The pointer 21b is incident on the rotation base 21a of the member 21 and
Go inside.

Here, as described above, the refractive index of the second member 22 (n = 1.49) is equal to the refractive index of the first member 21 (n = 1.49).
1.59). Also, the rear end face 21 d of the first member 21 and each of the reflection surfaces 22 of the second member 22
c to 22e and the emission surface 22f are parallel to each other,
As described above, the pointer shaft 41 is inclined with respect to the axial direction.
In addition, the rear end face 21d and the emission face 22f face each other via a narrow gap g. Therefore, the efficiency of light incidence from the second member 22 to the first member 21 is maintained high.

Thus, each reflecting surface 2 in the second member 22
The light reflected by 2c to 22e is reduced in the amount of light in the gap g, that is, without the light attenuation,
The light enters the rotation base 21a of the first member 21 from the rear end surface 21d without being shifted from the direction toward the inside of the pointer portion 21b at 2f and the rear end surface 21d. As a result, the light emission pointer 20
Can emit light with good luminance.

Since the reflecting surfaces 22c to 22e are formed in the second member 22 so as to be displaced as described above, the light from the light guide member 30 is independent of the rotation position of the light emitting pointer 20. Can be used efficiently.

FIG. 6 shows a modification of the above embodiment. In this modification, in the pointer main body 20a of the light emitting pointer 20 described in the above embodiment, the light transmitting layer 23 is made of a transparent member or a printing material (having a lower refractive index than that of acrylic resin). 22 is formed on the emission surface 22f by coating or printing in a layered manner. Note that the narrow gap g is formed between the outer surface of the light transmitting layer 23 and the rear end face 21 d of the first member 21. Other configurations are the same as those of the above embodiment.

In the present modified example configured as described above, the light that has entered the second member 22 from the back surface in the second member 22 is reflected toward the emission surface 22f by the respective reflection surfaces 22c to 22e, as in the above embodiment. Then, this reflected light is emitted from the emission surface 22.
f, the light passes through the light transmitting layer 23 and the gap g, enters the first member 21 from the rear end face 21d, and proceeds into the hands 21b.

Here, as described above, the light transmitting layer 23 is formed on the emission surface 22f of the second member 22, and the refractive index of the light transmitting layer 23 is higher than the refractive index of the second member 22. For example, except for the low refractive index of the first member 21, the other optical conditions of the pointer main body 20 a are the same as those of the above embodiment.

Thus, each reflection surface 2 in the second member 22 is formed.
The light reflected by 2c to 22e passes through the light-transmitting layer 23 as it is, without a decrease in the amount of light in the gap g, and without shifting from the direction toward the inside of the pointer 21b at the rear end face 21d. The light enters the rotation base 21a of the member 21 from the rear end 21d. As a result, the light emitting pointer 20 can emit light with good luminance. Other functions and effects are the same as those of the above embodiment. In this modification, the refractive index of the first member 21 may be lower or higher than the refractive indexes of the light transmitting layer 23 and the second member 22.

In the above-described modification, the light-transmitting layer 23 is formed on the emission surface 22f of the second member 22. Alternatively, the light-diffusion process may be performed on the emission surface 22f by a mold graining process. In this case, the rear end face 2 of the first member 21 is shifted from the emission face 22f.
Emission of light to 1d becomes easy, and as a result, substantially the same operation and effect as the above-described modification can be achieved.

In implementing the present invention, the first member 2
The respective refractive indices of the first and second members 22 are not limited to the examples described in the above embodiment, and light can efficiently enter the first member 21 from the second member 22 as described in the above embodiment. It is only necessary to be able to do so. For example, as a material for forming the second member 22, a transparent epoxy resin (having a refractive index n = 1.57) may be employed.

In practicing the present invention, the first and second members 21 and 22 may be integrally formed of the same light guide material.

In implementing the present invention, the scale plate may be located above the light emitting hands.

Further, in practicing the present invention, the present invention may be applied not only to the instrument for passenger cars but also to the light emission guide of various instruments for vehicles and other various instruments.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially broken front view showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line 2-2 in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the light emitting pointer of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a bottom view of the light emitting pointer of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line 5-5 in FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing a modification of the above embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

10a, 10b: scale plate, 20: light emitting pointer, 21: first member, 21a: rotating base, 21b: pointer, 21d ...
Rear end face, 22: second member, 22c to 22e: reflective surface,
22f ... Emission surface, 23 ... Transparent layer, 41 ... Pointer shaft, 50 ...
Light source, g ... void.

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A rotating base (21a) supported by a tip of a pointer shaft (41), and a pointer (21b) extending integrally from the rotating base. A first reflecting surface (21d) which is located closer to the pointer portion than the tip end of the pointer shaft and faces the inside of the pointer portion and the back surface of the rotating base, and an emission surface (21d) facing the first reflecting surface. 22f) and a second reflection surface positioned rearward of the first reflection surface with respect to the first reflection surface from the tip end of the pointer shaft to face the first reflection surface through the emission surface and face the back surface through the pivot base. (22c to 22e), wherein the emission surface is formed in parallel with the first reflection surface via a narrow gap (g). 2. A first member (21) comprising a pivot base (21a) supported by a tip of a pointer shaft (41) and a pointer (21b) extending integrally from the pivot base. A second member (22) provided from a rear portion of the rotation base portion
The turning base has a rear end face (21d) inclined through the turning base on the side closer to the pointer than the tip of the pointer shaft and facing the back surface and also facing the inside of the pointer. The second member has an emission surface (22f) positioned in parallel with the rear end surface via a gap (g), and in parallel with the emission surface behind the tip end of the pointer shaft. A reflection surface (22c to 22e) positioned so as to pass through the second member and face the back surface thereof, wherein the second member is formed of a light guide material, and the first member is formed of the second member. A light-emitting indicator for an instrument formed of a light-guiding material having a higher refractive index. 3. The light emitting pointer for an instrument according to claim 2, wherein a light diffusion process is performed on the emission surface of the second member. 4. The light emitting pointer for an instrument according to claim 2, wherein the emission surface of the second member is surface-treated with a light-transmitting material having a lower refractive index than the second member. . 5. A scale plate (10a, 10b), a light emitting pointer according to any one of claims 2 to 4, supported by the pointer shaft along the surface of the scale plate, and the first A light source (50) for entering light from the back surface into the rotation base portion of the member and for emitting light from the back surface to the second member; The incident light into the base is reflected toward the pointer by the rear end face, and the incident light from the back surface of the second member is reflected by the reflection surface to pass through the emission surface and the gap into the pointer. An instrument which emits light at the pointer when it enters from the rear end face.