JP2002370561A - Illumination structure for meter - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To maintain ornamental texture and improve night illumination quality by a simple structure without causing cost increase. SOLUTION: When a power source of a light source 6 for illumination is off, a ring part 4 around a dial 3 improves texture as a metallic ornament. When the power source of the light source 6 is turned on at night or the like, illuminating light from the light source 6 is made incident on an inner side of the ring part 4, it transmits through a ring part 4 interior, it is diffused and emits light outside, a zone layout is highlighted and visibility at night is improved. By this, inexpensive illumination with texture and high quality can be provided by a simple structure.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an illumination structure for a meter provided with a decorative ring around a display unit.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, some meters of vehicles such as automobiles have a decorative ring structure around a dial, and a meter equipped with this ring structure has a usual structure in which the dial is illuminated with illumination. In addition to the meter, JP-A-10-20740
No. 8, etc., a black face meter,
That is, there is a meter which is visually recognized so that the light-emitting display image of the meter display unit floats in the background.

[0003]

However, in a normal meter, since the ring does not emit light at night, the presence of the ring is low at the time of illumination, and the texture for decoration is lost. Further, the black face meter has a problem that the lighting structure must be complicated and the cost is high.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and provides a lighting structure of a meter which has a simple structure, can maintain the texture for decoration without increasing the cost, and can improve the lighting quality at night. It is intended to provide.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, an invention according to claim 1 is a lighting structure of a meter having a decorative ring around a display unit, wherein the ring is capable of transmitting light. The illumination light is incident from the inside of the ring to emit light on the display unit side.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the ring is formed of a light-transmitting resin, and an aluminum vapor-deposited film forming a half mirror layer is formed on the surface of the resin. It is characterized by.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the invention, the ring is formed of a resin having a light transmitting property, and a coating film or a printing film forming a half mirror layer is formed on the surface of the resin. It is characterized by having done.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the ring is formed of a translucent colored member having a light transmitting property.

That is, according to the first aspect of the present invention, a decorative ring provided around the display section of the meter is formed so as to transmit light, and illumination light enters from inside the ring to emit light on the display section side. In this way, the presence of the ring is emphasized during nighttime illumination, and high-quality illumination with a texture is obtained.

The decorative ring is a ring in which an aluminum vapor-deposited film forming a half-mirror layer is formed on the surface of a resin having a light-transmitting property as in the invention according to claim 2 so that the ring can be used during nighttime illumination. The light can be emitted lightly by the illumination light from the inside to enhance the texture, and even when the illumination is not used, the ring can be decorated with a metallic tone to enhance the texture. At that time, as in the invention described in claim 3,
By forming the half mirror layer with a coating film or a printing film, it is possible to add color and texture to the meter, and it is possible to obtain high-quality lighting with a texture while being inexpensive.

Further, by forming the decorative ring with a translucent colored member having light transmittance as in the invention according to claim 4, it is possible to contribute to cost reduction while ensuring texture.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 and 2 relate to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is an external view of a main part of a meter, and FIG. 2 is an explanatory view showing a light guide path to a ring portion.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a meter such as a speedometer or a tachometer in a combination meter of a vehicle such as an automobile. It is a rotary meter driven to rotate by a movement. A ring 4 for decoration is provided around a display section of the meter 1 comprising the hands 2 and the dial 3.
Are engaged with a return plate 5 that shields the portion other than the meter portion.

A plurality of projecting illumination light intake portions 4a are provided on the back surface side of the ring portion 4, and a light source 6 (in the figure, an incandescent lamp is shown) is arranged opposite to each of the illumination light intake portions 4a. Has been established. The ring portion 4 is made of a material that transmits or transmits or diffuses light, for example, a material such as an acrylic resin or an acrylic resin mixed with a diffusing material, and internally receives illumination light from the light source 6 incident on the illumination light intake portion 4a. It is formed so as to be able to conduct light.

The light source 6 is a light source for nighttime illumination, and an incandescent light bulb, an LED (light emitting diode), an EL (electroluminescence) and the like are appropriately selected according to their characteristics. That is, since the LED is small, the degree of freedom in layout is high and the degree of freedom in the design of the meter can be improved. In addition, since the EL is surface-emitting, uniform illumination light can be obtained. In addition, incandescent light bulbs are L
It is cheaper than ED and EL, and cost reduction can be achieved. Note that the light source 6 may be a dedicated light source for the ring unit 4, but it is most advantageous in terms of cost to also use a night illumination light source for illuminating characters and scales on the dial 3.

As shown in FIG. 2, a half mirror layer 7 for transmitting light from the inside and reflecting incident light from the outside is formed on the meter surface side of the ring portion 4, as shown in FIG. Illumination light from 6 is guided inside the ring portion 4 and emitted from the half mirror layer 7 to the outside. The half mirror layer 7 is, for example, a deposited film formed by sputtering aluminum. Since the aluminum deposited film is in a half-mirror state, it needs to be thinner than a normal decorative deposited film. As an advantageous effect, the sputtering time can be shortened, which can contribute to cost reduction.

Further, the half mirror layer 7 of the ring portion 4 can be replaced with a less expensive coating or printing instead of the aluminum vapor-deposited film. In the daytime when illumination light is not used, color and texture can be added to the meter. Further, the ring portion 4 can be made of a translucent colored member, and in this case, the most inexpensive one can be obtained.

In the meter 1 described above, when the power of the light source 6 for illumination is turned off, the ring portion 4 around the dial 3 has metallic luster by the half mirror layer 7 made of an aluminum vapor-deposited film. It looks like a ring with a tone.
On the other hand, when the power of the light source 6 is turned on, such as at night, the illumination light from the light source 6 is incident on the lower surface of the ring portion 4 as shown in FIG. Is light,
The light passes through the half mirror layer 7 and diffuses outside.

That is, in the daytime, when no illumination is used, the ring portion 4 around the dial 3 of the meter 1 has a metal-like decoration to enhance the texture. At night, the illumination from the inside of the ring portion 4 can be achieved. Light can be emitted faintly to make the zone layout stand out, and night visibility can be improved.
Moreover, it is possible to obtain inexpensive yet high-quality lighting with a simple structure without incurring high cost unlike the conventional black face meter and the like.

FIG. 3 relates to a second embodiment of the present invention,
It is explanatory drawing which shows the light guide to a ring part. In the second embodiment, the light from the illumination light source 6 is indirectly guided as compared with the first embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 3, in the second embodiment, a dish-shaped reflecting member 8 is provided on the back surface of the meter 1, and the light source 6 is attached to a substantially central portion of the reflecting member 8. Ring part 9 of this embodiment
Is the illumination light intake 4a with respect to the ring 4 of the first embodiment.
Is slightly changed, and an illumination light take-in portion 9a is formed over the entire circumference on the back surface side of the ring portion 9 so as to face the reflection surface 8a forming the inclined inner wall of the reflection member 8. On the meter surface side of the ring portion 9, a half mirror layer 7 made of an aluminum vapor-deposited film or the like is formed on the surface, as in the first embodiment. As described above, the half mirror layer 7 may be formed of a thin film formed by painting or printing instead of the aluminum vapor-deposited film, and the ring portion 9 may be formed of a translucent colored member. is there.

That is, the illumination light from the light source 6 is reflected by the reflection surface 8a of the reflection member 8, and the reflected light is made to enter the inside of the ring portion 9 from the illumination light intake 9a. Then, the incident illumination light passes through the half mirror layer 7 through the inside of the ring portion 9 and diffuses outside. At that time, the ring portion 9 can emit light more evenly as compared with the first embodiment, and high-quality illumination with more texture can be obtained.

It is to be noted that the illumination light is directly guided to the ring portion 4 described in the first embodiment and the ring portion 9 described in the second embodiment.
A uniform light emission of the ring portion can be obtained by appropriately guiding the illumination light.

[0024]

As described above, according to the present invention, a decorative ring provided around the display section of the meter is formed so as to be capable of transmitting light, and illumination light is incident from the inside of the ring to display the display section. Therefore, the presence of the ring can be emphasized at nighttime illumination with a simple configuration without increasing the cost, and a high-quality illumination with a texture can be obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external view of a main part of a meter according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a light guide path to a ring unit according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showing a light guide path to a ring portion according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 meter 2 pointer 3 dial 4, 9 ring 6 light source

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 2F074 AA10 BB01 BB06 BB07 DD03 EE03 FF00 GG06 2F078 FA07 FB12 FB25 FB28 FD16 FE03 FE13 FE45 3D044 BA14 BA21 BB01 BD01 BD13

Claims (4)

[Claims] An illumination structure for a meter having a ring for decoration around a display unit, wherein the ring is formed so as to be able to transmit light, and illumination light is incident from the inside of the ring to allow the display unit to receive illumination light. A lighting structure for a meter, which emits light. 2. The lighting structure of a meter according to claim 1, wherein said ring is formed of a resin having a light transmitting property, and an aluminum vapor-deposited film forming a half mirror layer is formed on a surface of said resin. 3. The illumination of a meter according to claim 1, wherein the ring is formed of a resin having a light transmitting property, and a coating film or a printing film forming a half mirror layer is formed on a surface of the resin. Construction. 4. The lighting structure of a meter according to claim 1, wherein said ring is formed of a translucent colored member having a light transmitting property.