JP2002071396A - Light-emitting pointer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a light-emitting pointer for making it brightly shine an indication section in a desired emission color. SOLUTION: The light-emitting pointer 1 comprises an indication member 2, made of a light transmission material that introduces illumination light from a base section 21 located at a rotation center region R and shines the indication section 22 which is extended in a line, a colored layer 26 that is deposited on the indication member 2 along the indication section 22, and a cover member 4 for covering the base section 21 of the indication member 2. The indication section 22 is extended on the base section 21, that is covered with at least the cover member 4. An exposure section 41 for exposing the front side of the indication section 22 is provided at the cover member 4. In the indication member 2, a bare surface section 22, extended corresponding to the indication section 22, is formed at the front side, a first rear region 27 where the colored layer 26 is deposited and a second rear region 28, where no colored layer 26 is deposited are formed at the rear side of the indication member 2, that faces the bare surface section 25. A space section 29 is formed at two locations of the indication member located between the second rear region 28 and the bare surface section 22. A light transmission colored member 5 for coloring the indication section 22 along with the colored layer 26 is arranged at the open space section 29.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a light emitting guide used for an instrument for a vehicle such as an automobile and a motorcycle.
In particular, the present invention relates to a light-emitting indicator having a light-emitting surface also on a base covered by a cover member.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a pointer which is connected to a rotating shaft of an instrument and rotates around an axis in accordance with a measured amount, a transparent base having a base located in a rotation center region and an indicator extending from the base in a direction perpendicular to the rotating shaft. An indicator member made of a light-emitting material and a cover member made of a light-shielding material covering the base of the indicator member are provided, and a light emitting guideline that linearly shines the indicator portion by introducing illumination light from the base of the indicator member is provided. Are known. The indicating member has a colored layer for coloring the indicating portion, and most of the colored layer is formed by transfer such as hot stamping or by printing means. In recent years, in this type of light emitting pointer, as shown in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H11-173877, an indicator has been extended on a base covered with a cover member and extended in this way. By providing a slit that exposes the front side of the indicator on the front side of the cover member corresponding to the indicator, a light emitting surface that does not have a light emitting surface even on the base covered by the cover member and a type of light emitting pointer that shows the indicator longer. It tends to be preferred in terms of visibility and design. Usually, the coloring layer is provided continuously corresponding to the entire length of the indicator. In such a type of light emitting pointer, the coloring layer is also provided in the corresponding area of the indicator which is exposed from the front side of the cover member. Need to be applied.

[0003]

By the way, the back side of the base of the pointing member, which is the side where the illumination light is introduced, has a complicated shape such as forming an uneven portion in consideration of the efficiency of the introduction of the illumination light. In many cases, when the shape is complicated, it becomes difficult to apply the colored layer by printing or transfer. Therefore, a transparent colored layer is often provided on the front side of the pointing member. However, when a translucent colored layer is applied to the front side of the indicating member, the colored layer attenuates the illumination light directed to the driver side, so that there is a problem that the luminance of the light emitting surface is greatly reduced.

[0004] The present invention has been made in view of this point,
The main object of the present invention is to provide a light-emitting indicator that allows the indicator to shine brightly in a desired light-emitting color.

[0005]

According to the present invention, in order to achieve the above-mentioned object, an indicating member for introducing illumination light from a base located in a rotation center region and having a linearly extending indicating portion made of a translucent material which shines. A coloring layer attached to the indicating member along the indicating portion, and a cover member covering a base of the indicating member, wherein the indicating portion extends on the base covered by at least the cover member. Is provided, the cover member is a light emitting indicator provided with an exposed portion for exposing the front side of the indicating portion, the indicating member has a bare surface portion corresponding to the indicating portion formed on the front side thereof, A first back area on which the coloring layer is applied and a second back area on which the coloring layer is not provided are provided on the back side of the pointing member facing the bare surface, and the second back face is provided. The indication located between the area and the bare surface The timber portion is void portion is formed, and wherein said to become disposed translucent colored member is colored the instruction portion with the colored layer to the space portion.

Further, the present invention is characterized in that the translucent coloring member is made of a semi-transmissive material having a light diffusing property.

Further, the present invention is characterized in that the colored layer and the translucent colored member overlap each other when viewed from the front.

Further, the present invention is characterized in that the pointing member is connected to a rotation shaft of a driving device through a pedestal member, and the translucent coloring member is continuously formed on the pedestal member.

Further, the present invention is characterized in that a grain portion is formed in a predetermined region of the bare surface portion including at least a boundary portion between the coloring portion and the translucent coloring member.

[0010]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The accompanying drawings show embodiments of the present invention, and the embodiments of the present invention will be described below based on the drawings. FIGS. 1 to 7 show a light emitting pointer according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a top view of the light emitting pointer, FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. 1, and FIG. −
B sectional view, FIG. 4 is a rear view of the light emitting pointer, FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the translucent coloring member, FIG. 6 is a top view of the pointing member, and FIG. FIG.

In FIG. 1 to FIG. 4, a light emitting pointer 1 includes a pointing member 2, a pedestal member 3 disposed behind the pointing member 2,
The pedestal member 3, a cover member 4 that covers the periphery of a required portion of the pointing member 2, and a translucent coloring member 5 disposed behind the pointing member 2.

The indicating member 2 is made of PMMA (acrylic resin),
It has a base portion 21 made of a translucent material such as PC (polycarbonate) and located in the rotation center region R and a pointing portion 22 extending from the front side of the base portion 21 in a direction substantially orthogonal to the rotation center axis RA. I have. A light receiving portion 23 protruding to the rear side and a reflecting portion 2 corresponding to the light receiving portion 23 are provided on the base 21.
4 is received from the light receiving unit 23 to receive illumination light from outside (not shown), and this illumination light is reflected by the reflecting unit 24 to the pointing unit 2.
The pointer 22 is reflected at the tip of the lens 2 so that the indicator 22 shines linearly. The indication portion 22 extends linearly on the base portion 21, and a bare surface portion 25 is formed on the front side thereof, corresponding to the entire length of the indication portion 22, and on which a colored layer and other covering elements described later are not formed. On the back side of the pointing member 2 facing the surface section 25, a first back area 27 on which the coloring layer 26 is applied by hot stamping or the like and a second back area 28 on which the coloring layer 26 is not applied are provided. ing. At a predetermined position (rear in the present embodiment) of the pointing member 2 located between the second back area 28 and the bare surface 25, a space 29 extending from the rear end toward the front end is provided. I have. The base 21 has a plate-like protrusion 20 extending to the side of the indicator 22.
1 is provided, and a notch 202
Is provided and is fixed to a convex portion 34 of the pedestal member 3 described later. The first back area 27 is set so as to extend from the tip of the pointing unit 22 to the center axis RA of rotation, and the second back area 28 is located behind the pointing member 2 and does not receive the colored layer 26. It is set so as to extend on the rotation center axis RA including the portion 23. That is, the first back area 27 is located at the distal end side of the pointing member 2, and the second back area 28 is located within the base 21 covered by the cover member 4.
Is located on the rear end side. In addition, the colored layer 2
As a forming means of 6, a transfer means other than hot stamping may be used or a printing means may be provided.

The pedestal member 3 is made of a synthetic resin (for example, polycarbonate) having a light-shielding property, and has a pedestal portion 31 having an outer shape corresponding to the inner diameter of the cover member 4 described later, and a boss inserted and fixed to a rotating shaft of a not-shown instrument. And a section 32. At least the outer periphery of the pedestal member 3 is black,
A predetermined area at the center has a white color, and a through-hole 33 (which may be a transparent part) through which the illumination light passes is formed in an area corresponding to the light receiving section 23 of the pointing member 2. A notch 202 is provided at a position corresponding to the notch 202.
Is formed. The pedestal 31
The reason why the outer periphery of the base member is made black is to reduce the illumination light reflected to the outside through the pedestal part 31, and the center part of the base part 31 is made white so that the base 2
This is to increase the reflection efficiency of the indication portion 22 extending on the top 1.

The cover member 4 is made of a black synthetic resin (for example, ABS resin) having a light-shielding property, and covers from the front side of the base 21 to the periphery so that the back side of the base 21 of the pointing member 2 is exposed. It has a hollow cup shape. A slit-shaped exposed portion 41 for exposing a portion of the indicating portion 22 extending on the base portion 21, and a peripheral wall portion 42 that covers the base 21 of the indicating member 2 and the pedestal member 3.
Inside the peripheral wall portion 42, there are provided a locking claw 43 fitted to the pedestal portion 31 of the pedestal member 3, and a rib 44 extending to the transparent coloring member 5 described later.

The translucent coloring member 5 is made of a translucent material having the same color as the coloring layer 26 and having a light diffusing property, and is provided in the shape of a bent plate as shown in FIG. , A sloped portion 52 along the reflecting portion 24 of the pointing member 2, an L-shaped step 53 continuous with the sloped portion 52, a pedestal portion 31 of the pedestal member 3, and a cover. Second flat portion 54 disposed between the peripheral wall portions 42 of the member 4
And

The light-transmissive colored portion 5 thus configured is
As shown in FIG. 2, by being disposed in the space portion 29 of the pointing member 2, the rear portion of the pointing portion 22 extending within the base portion 21 to the front side thereof and exposed from the exposed portion 41 of the cover member 4. Region and second back region 2 where no colored layer 26 is applied
8, the illumination light incident from the light receiving unit 23 is diffused while being colored so as to have the same color as the colored light by the colored layer 26, and mainly extends on the base 21 facing the second back surface region 28. The area behind the present instruction unit 22 is colored and illuminated.

The distal end of the translucent coloring portion 5 (the distal end of the first flat portion 51) extends to the distal end of the pointing portion 22 beyond the rotation center axis RA, as shown in FIG. The overlapping portion C is formed when overlapping with the rear end of the first back region 27 having the coloring layer 26 and viewed from the front.

By forming the overlapping portion C in this manner, the portion from the front end of the indicator 22 to the rear end located on the base 21 can be continuously colored, and the colored form of the indicator 22 can be surely separated. Preventing. Note that the rear end side (the step portion 53 and the second flat portion 54) of the translucent coloring member 5 extends rearward beyond the pointing portion 22.

The coloring layer 26 and the translucent coloring member 5 which are spaced apart in the thickness direction of the indicating member 2 and overlap each other at the overlapping portion C,
Although the boundary portion D exists in the front view, the predetermined region of the bare surface portion 25 includes at least the boundary portion D as shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 3, a textured portion S is formed.
This makes the boundary D inconspicuous. If the boundary between the coloring layer 26 and the translucent coloring member 5 can be made inconspicuous by the embossed portion S, the overlapping portion C does not necessarily have to be formed, and a gap is formed between the coloring layer 26 and the translucent coloring member 5. And at least the end portion (boundary) of the colored layer 26 and the end portion (boundary) of the translucent coloring member 5 that are separated from each other in the longitudinal direction of the indicator 22 with the gap therebetween. The embossed portion S may be formed in a predetermined area of the bare surface portion 25.

Next, an example of assembling the light emitting hands 1 according to the present embodiment will be described. First, the pointing member 2 is positioned on the pedestal member 3 by fitting the projection 34 of the pedestal member 3 into the notch 202 of the pointing member 2. Next, the translucent coloring member 5 is inserted into the space 29 from behind the pointing member 2. Then, the distal end of the pointing portion 22 is inserted into the exposed portion 41 of the cover member 4 from behind, and the peripheral wall portion 42 is slid until it becomes the same position as the pedestal portion 31 of the pedestal member 3. Pointing member 2 positioned at 3
The peripheral wall portion 42 is deformed by pushing the
Of the pedestal portion 31 is fitted and fixed to the engaging pawl 43 of the cover member 4, whereby the indicating member 2, the pedestal member 3, the cover member 4, and the translucent coloring member 5 are assembled and fixed. . At this time, the translucent coloring member 5 and the cover member 4
Are fixed between the ribs 44 and the pedestal portion 31 of the pedestal member 3.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the pointing member 2 made of a translucent material that introduces the illumination light from the base 21 located in the rotation center region R and shines the pointing portion 22 that extends linearly; A coloring layer 26 that is applied to the pointing member 2 along the portion 22; and a cover member 4 that covers the periphery of the base 21 of the pointing member 2;
The light-emitting hands 1 are provided on the base 21 covered by the cover member 4 and provided on the cover member 4 with an exposed portion 41 for exposing the front side of the indicating portion 22. The indicating member 2 has the indicating portion 22 on the front side thereof.
The bare surface portion 25 extending corresponding to the
On the back side of the pointing member 2 opposite to the first side 5, a first back area 27 on which the coloring layer 26 is applied and a second back area 28 on which the coloring layer 26 is not applied are formed. A space portion 29 is formed at two positions of the pointing member located between the region 28 and the bare surface portion 25, and the translucent coloring member 5 for coloring the pointing portion 22 together with the coloring layer 26 is disposed in the space portion 29. By doing so, the indicator 22 can be made to shine brightly with a desired emission color. That is, the first back area 2
The indicator 22 is colored with the coloring layer 26 provided on the base 7 and the translucent coloring member 5 provided corresponding to the second back surface region 28, and is colored by the coloring portion 26 and the translucent coloring member 5. By irradiating the illumination light to the driver through the bare surface portion 25 where the covering element such as the coloring layer 26 is not formed,
The indicator 22 can be made bright and bright with a desired emission color.

In the present embodiment, the colored layer 26 and the translucent colored member 5 overlap each other when viewed from the front to form the overlapping portion C, so that the pointing portion 22 extends continuously from the front end to the rear end. In addition to being able to be colored, it is possible to reliably prevent the colored state of the indicator 22 from being divided.

In this embodiment, at least the colored portion 2
6 including the boundary portion D between the transparent member 6 and the transparent coloring member 5
Is formed in the predetermined area of
Can be made less noticeable, and the merchantability can be improved.

FIG. 8 shows a second embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, a translucent coloring member 5 is continuously formed on a base member 3. That is, the pedestal member 3 according to the present embodiment is entirely made of a semi-transmissive material having the same color as the colored layer 26 and having a light diffusing property, and a translucent colored member (translucent colored portion) 5 is partially formed. In this case, the translucent coloring member 5 is inserted from the rear of the space 29 of the pointing member 2.
Even with such a configuration, the same operation and effect as those of the first embodiment can be obtained, and the number of parts can be reduced, thereby suppressing an increase in cost.

As described above, the translucent coloring member 5 can be formed integrally with the pedestal member 3 or can be formed integrally with the cover member 4, for example.

[0026]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a light emitting guideline which can achieve the intended purpose and can make the indicating portion brightly shine with a desired light emitting color.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a top view of a light emitting pointer according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

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

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

FIG. 4 is a rear view of the light emitting pointer according to the embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a translucent coloring member according to the same embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a top view of the pointing member according to the embodiment;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged top view of a main part of the pointing member according to the embodiment;

FIG. 8 is a sectional view of a light emitting pointer according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 light emitting pointer 2 indicating member 3 pedestal member 4 cover member 5 translucent coloring member 21 base 22 indicating portion 23 light receiving portion 24 reflecting portion 25 naked surface portion 26 coloring layer 27 first back area 28 second back area 29 Part 31 Pedestal part 32 Boss part 33 Through-hole 34 Convex part 41 Exposed part 42 Peripheral wall part 43 Engagement claw 44 Rib 201 Projection part 202 Notch part C Overlapping part D Boundary part R Rotation center area S Grained part

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A pointing member that introduces illumination light from a base located in a rotation center region and extends linearly is a pointing member made of a translucent material that shines, and is attached to the pointing member along the pointing portion. A coloring layer, and a cover member that covers the base of the pointing member, wherein the pointing portion extends at least on the base covered by the cover member, and the cover member has a front side of the pointing portion. A light-emitting pointer provided with an exposed portion to be exposed, wherein the indicating member has a bare surface portion formed on a front side thereof corresponding to the indicating portion, and a back surface of the indicating member facing the bare surface portion has a The first on which the colored layer is applied
A back surface area and a second back area on which the coloring layer is not applied are provided, and a void portion is formed at the pointing member location located between the second back area and the bare surface portion, A light-emitting indicator, wherein a light-transmissive coloring member for coloring the indicator is disposed together with the coloring layer in the space. 2. The light emitting guide according to claim 1, wherein said translucent coloring member is made of a semi-transmissive material having a light diffusing property. 3. The light emitting pointer according to claim 1, wherein the colored layer and the translucent colored member overlap each other when viewed from the front. 4. The light emitting pointer according to claim 1, wherein the pointing member is connected to a rotation shaft of a driving device through a pedestal member, and the translucent coloring member is continuously formed on the pedestal member. 5. A light emitting guide according to claim 1, wherein a texture portion is formed in a predetermined region of said bare surface portion including at least a boundary portion between said coloring portion and said translucent coloring member.