JP2004053449A - Light-emitting pointer measuring instrument - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a combination meter 1 wherein it can be prevented that a case 10 is deformed, a light shielding ring 7 comes into contact with a light shielding cap 8, and smooth pivoting of a shaft 3a is obstructed, while restraining diameter magnification of the light shielding cap 8. <P>SOLUTION: A photoconductive member 5 is fixed to a print circuit board 9 where a movement 3 is fixed almost coaxially with the shaft 3a. A light shielding wall 7a is set coaxially with the photoconductive member 5, and a light shielding ring 7 is subjected to tamping contact with an outer peripheral surface of the photoconductive member 5 and fixed. As a result, the light shielding wall 7a and the shaft 3a, i.e. the degree of colinearity with a light shielding cap 8 is improved. Dimensional variations of the case 10 or deformation of the case 10 like a conventional light-emitting pointer measuring apparatus 100 can be prevented from exerting influence upon positional relation of the light shielding wall 7a and the cap 8. A gap G between the light shielding wall 7a and the cap 8 can be reduced, and outer diameter dimension of the cap can be reduced as compared with the conventional case. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a light-emitting pointer instrument that emits a pointer with a light source, and is suitable for use in vehicles and the like.
[0002]
[Prior art]
For example, there is an instrument such as a speedometer for an automobile that displays with a pointer, in which light from a light source is guided to the pointer to cause the pointer itself to emit light. This is done by disposing a rotating inner machine on the back side of the dial, extending its pointer shaft from the through hole of the dial to the front side, fixing it to the tip of this pointer shaft, and rotating along the surface of the dial The pointer is formed from a translucent material, and the light from the light source guided by the light guide is supplied to the pointer through the through hole of the dial to cause the pointer to emit light.
[0003]
In this type of light-emitting pointer instrument, since the rotation center area is covered with the light-shielding cap, light leakage from this portion in the axial direction of the pointer shaft, that is, light directed directly to the driver's eyes does not occur. However, light leakage may occur in the direction along the dial surface from between the light-shielding cap and the dial. This is because the area around the light-shielding cap is brightly illuminated in the shape of a solar corona during a solar eclipse, and the contrast between the dial and the hands is weakened, and the visibility of the hands may be reduced.
[0004]
As a countermeasure, for example, in a pointer lighting device disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 2927214, a substantially annular light shielding member is attached to the periphery of the through hole of the dial. That is, the light-shielding member has a cylindrical light-shielding wall extending to the dial surface side, and a flange extending radially along the dial surface on the outer peripheral side of the light-shielding wall. This prevents light leakage in the direction along the dial surface. By the way, on the back of the dial, a light guide plate for dial illumination is layered and arranged, and the light guide plate is provided with a through hole corresponding to the through hole of the dial, and by attaching a light shielding member, the letter The board and the light guide plate are stacked and fixed. That is, the light blocking member also serves as a fixing unit for fixing the dial and the light guide plate.
[0005]
FIG. 4 shows another example of a conventional light emitting pointer instrument. In the conventional light-emitting indicator 100 shown in FIG. 4, the dial 2 is formed of a translucent material and the surface thereof is printed or the like to omit the light guide plate. Instead, the case 10 is formed of a resin material. The dial 2 is fixed to the dial.
[0006]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
In the conventional light-emitting indicator 100, the light-shielding ring 70, which is the above-described light-shielding member, is positioned and fixed on the periphery of the through-hole 10a, coaxially with the through-hole 10a provided in the case 10. On the other hand, since the movement 3 as the rotating inner machine is mounted on the printed circuit board 9, the positional relationship between the shaft 3a as the pointer shaft and the light-shielding ring 70 depends on the dimensional variation of the case 10 and the printed circuit board 9. receive. For this reason, the positional variation between the central axis of the shaft 3a and the central axis of the light shielding wall 71 of the light shielding ring 70, that is, the variation of the coaxiality becomes considerably large. Therefore, in order to prevent the inner peripheral surface of the light-shielding cap 8 attached to the pointer 4 fixed to the shaft 3a from coming into contact with the outer peripheral surface of the light-shielding wall 71 to prevent smooth rotation of the shaft 3a, The gap between the inner peripheral surface of the light shielding cap 8 and the outer peripheral surface of the light shielding wall 71 is set large. That is, the diameter of the light shielding cap 8 is set large.
[0007]
Further, the case 10 of the above-mentioned conventional light emitting indicator 100 has a characteristic that the internal residual stress generated during the resin molding is released and deformed by being placed in a high-temperature environment after the molding. When the conventional luminous indicator 100 is applied to an automobile, the temperature of the case 10 rises due to receiving the radiant heat of the sun or the heat of the warm air of the heater for heating because it is mounted immediately below the windshield of the automobile. The case 10 is deformed. At this time, the portion of the case 10 holding and fixing the dial 2 moves in the vertical direction in FIG. 4, so that the light blocking ring 70 also moves in the vertical direction in FIG. Thereby, the outer peripheral surface of the light-shielding ring 70 may come into contact with the inner peripheral surface of the light-shielding cap, and smooth rotation of the shaft 3a may be hindered. In order to prevent this, it is necessary to further increase the gap between the inner peripheral surface of the light shielding cap 8 and the outer peripheral surface of the light shielding wall 71, and the diameter of the light shielding cap 8 becomes considerably large. For this reason, there is a problem in that the size of the light shielding cap 8 is limited, and the degree of freedom in designing the pointer 4 is reduced.
[0008]
The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and its object is to devise the shape and fixing method of the light-shielding member, suppress the expansion of the light-shielding cap diameter, and prevent the outer periphery of the light-shielding member from shading even if the case is deformed. An object of the present invention is to provide a light-emitting pointer instrument which can prevent the smooth rotation of the pointer shaft from being hindered by contacting the inner periphery of the cap.
[0009]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The present invention employs the following technical means to achieve the above object.
[0010]
A luminous pointer instrument according to claim 1 of the present invention has a dial, a case for fixing the dial, and a pointer shaft which is disposed on the back side of the dial and is rotatable through a through hole of the dial. A rotating inner machine, a pointer made of a transparent material supported by the tip of the pointer shaft and rotating along the surface of the dial, and a light shield attached to the pointer so as to cover the surface of the rotation center area of the pointer. A cap, a light source for emitting a pointer disposed on the back side of the dial, a light guide provided between the pointer and the light source, and extending through the through-hole to the dial surface side to extend from the through-hole to the dial surface. A substantially annular light-blocking member that blocks light from the light source toward the outer periphery,
The light-shielding member is a cylindrical light-shielding wall extending to the dial surface side, an annular flange extending radially along the dial surface on the outer peripheral side of the light-shielding wall, and restricting the axial movement of the pointer shaft of the light-shielding member. A light-guiding instrument which is locked on the back of the dial or on the back of the case, wherein the light guide is substantially coaxial with the pointer shaft. Is fixed to a member to be attached, and the light-shielding member is configured to press and contact the outer peripheral surface of the light guide with the light-shielding wall and the light guide being coaxial. With such a configuration, it is possible to eliminate the influence of the dimensional variation of the case on the positional accuracy between the light-shielding wall and the pointer shaft, that is, the position accuracy between the light-shielding wall and the light-shielding cap, as in the case of the conventional light-emitting pointer instrument. Thus, the coaxiality between the light-shielding wall and the pointer shaft can be increased, that is, the coaxiality between the light-shielding wall and the light-shielding cap can be increased. Thus, the gap between the light shielding wall and the light shielding cap can be reduced, and the outer diameter of the light shielding cap can be made smaller than in the conventional case.
[0011]
In addition, the positional relationship between the pointer shaft, the light guide, and the light-shielding member, particularly the radial positional relationship of the pointer shaft, is fixed. Therefore, when the case is deformed, that is, the position of the through hole is shifted in the radial direction of the pointer shaft. In this case, only the relative positional relationship between the light shielding member and the case changes, but the positional relationship between the light shielding member and the light shielding cap does not change. Therefore, the outer diameter of the light-shielding cap is made smaller than in the conventional case, that is, the light leakage in the axial direction of the pointer shaft, in other words, the minimum necessary size capable of blocking light in the direction directly toward the driver's eyes. Can be This realizes a light-emitting pointer instrument that can suppress the diameter of the light-shielding cap from increasing and prevent the outer periphery of the light-shielding member from contacting the inner periphery of the light-shielding cap even if the case is deformed, thereby preventing smooth rotation of the pointer shaft. it can.
[0012]
In the invention described in claim 2, the member is a printed circuit board. As a result, the fixed holding and the electrical connection of the rotating inner machine can be performed at the same time, so that the workability of assembling the luminous pointer instrument can be improved.
[0013]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, an example in which a light-emitting indicator according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied to a combination meter 1 mounted on an automobile will be described with reference to the drawings.
[0014]
The combination meter 1 is provided in front of a driver's seat in the cabin of the vehicle, and displays the operating state (running speed, engine speed, and the like) of the vehicle so that the driver can visually recognize the operating state by rotating the hands 4. .
[0015]
Hereinafter, the structure of the combination meter 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be briefly described. FIG. 1 shows a cross-sectional view of a combination meter 1 according to one embodiment of the present invention.
[0016]
The combination meter 1 rotates the hands 4 along the surface of the dial 2 to indicate a predetermined physical quantity (running speed, engine speed, etc.) according to the angle of the hands 4, and the right side of FIG. It is the seat side.
[0017]
Dial 2 is formed of a thin plate such as resin or metal, and has scales and numerals (not shown) on its surface (the right surface in FIG. 1). The dial 2 is fixed to the case 10 of the combination meter 1.
[0018]
On the back side of the dial 2, a movement 3, which is a rotation internal machine for rotating the hands 4, is arranged. The movement 3 includes, for example, a cross-coil-type driving unit, and rotates the shaft 3a, which is a pointer shaft, by an angle corresponding to an external electric signal. The shaft 3a extends through the through-hole 2a of the dial 2 and the through-hole 10a provided in the case 10 in correspondence with the through-hole 2a, and extends to the front side of the dial 2. A pointer 4 is fixed to the tip of the shaft 3a.
[0019]
The pointer 4 is formed of a transparent material, for example, a transparent acrylic resin or a polycarbonate resin. The hands 4 are fixed to the shaft 3 a and are rotated by the movement 3 along the surface of the dial 2.
[0020]
A printed circuit board 9, which is a member to which the movement 3 is attached and forms an electric circuit portion of the combination meter 1, is arranged on the back side of the dial 2 (the left side in FIG. 1). The movement 3 is fixed to the printed circuit board 9 and is electrically connected at the same time. A light emitting diode 6 as a light source for illuminating the hands 4 is mounted on the printed circuit board 9.
[0021]
A light guide 5 for guiding the light emitted by the light emitting diode 6 to the pointer 4 and causing the pointer 4 to emit light is disposed between the pointer 4 and the light emitting diode 6. The light guide 5 is formed of a substantially cylindrical transparent acrylic resin or polycarbonate resin. The light guide 5 is attached to the printed circuit board 9 coaxially with the shaft 3 a, that is, by inserting the shaft 3 a into the through hole 5 a of the light guide 5. Light from the light emitting diode 6 travels inside the light guide 5, is emitted from the end face 5 b of the light guide 5, and enters the pointer 4. Since the end face 5b of the light guide 5 emits light in a ring shape, the hands 4 are always displayed with stable luminance regardless of the rotation angle.
[0022]
Meanwhile, light emitted from a portion of the end surface 5b of the light guide 5 that is not opposed to the pointer 4 may travel rightward in FIG. 1, that is, toward the driver, and dazzle the driver. Therefore, the pointer 4 is provided with a light-shielding cap 8 for covering the surface of the rotation center region which is a portion corresponding to the end face 5b of the pointer 4. The light-shielding cap 8 is formed of a metal sheet having a light-shielding property or a resin.
[0023]
The dial 2, the printed board 9, the movement 3, and the like are housed and fixed in a resin case 10. A transparent cover 11 is attached to the case 10 to prevent dust from entering the combination meter 1 and keep the dial 2 and the hands 4 clean.
[0024]
As shown in FIG. 1, a light-shielding ring 7 as a light-shielding member is attached to an outer peripheral portion of the light guide 5. The light-blocking ring 7 is formed in a substantially cylindrical shape with a resin or the like colored so as to have a light-blocking property.
[0025]
The light-blocking ring 7 is a component that is a feature of the combination meter 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention, and its shape and effect will be described in detail below. FIG. 2 is a perspective external view of the light blocking ring 7 of the combination meter 1 according to one embodiment of the present invention.
[0026]
First, the shape of the light blocking ring 7 will be described.
[0027]
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the light-shielding ring 7 has a cylindrical light-shielding wall 7a, and an annular flange 7b extending radially of the light-shielding wall 7a along the surface of the dial 2 on the outer peripheral side of the light-shielding wall 7a. The light guide 5 includes a restricting portion 7c for restricting the movement of the light-shielding ring 7 in the axial direction of the shaft 3a, and a positioning portion 7d for contacting the outer peripheral surface of the light guide 5. Here, each of the four regulating portions 7c and the positioning portions 7d is provided coaxially with the light shielding wall 7a and at equal intervals in the circumferential direction, and each of the regulating portions 7c and each of the positioning portions 7d is as shown in FIG. Are provided so as not to overlap in the radial direction.
[0028]
When the light-shielding ring 7 is mounted on the combination meter 1, the positioning portion 7d presses and contacts the outer peripheral surface of the light guide 5, the light-shielding wall 7a has a coaxial positional relationship with the light guide 5, and the light-shielding wall 7a is guided. A portion of the outer peripheral surface of the light body 5 protruding toward the front surface side (right side in FIG. 1) of the dial 2 is coaxially covered. As a result, light leaking from the light guide 5 to the outer peripheral surface of the dial 2 is blocked, so that the light leaking from the light guide 5 to the dial 2 reduces the visibility of the dial 2 or the hands 4. Can be prevented.
[0029]
Further, since the light guide 5 is fixed coaxially with the shaft 3a of the movement 3, the light shielding wall 7a is arranged coaxially with the shaft 3a via the light guide 5, in other words, coaxially with the light shielding cap 8. Is done. In other words, the positional accuracy between the light-shielding wall 7a and the light-shielding cap 8 is not affected by the dimensional variation of the case 10 unlike the conventional light-emitting indicator 100, and the accuracy of the light-shielding wall 7a and the light-shielding cap 8 is reduced. Can be arranged coaxially. Thereby, the gap G between the light-shielding wall 7a and the light-shielding cap 8 can be set to be as small as necessary, that is, the diameter of the light-shielding cap 8 can be made smaller than in the case of the conventional light-emitting indicator 100.
[0030]
On the other hand, the flange 7b comes into pressure contact with the surface of the dial 2 and the locking portion 7e at the distal end of the restricting portion 7c is locked to the case 10 stacked on the back surface of the dial 2, whereby the light-shielding ring 7 The movement in the axial direction of the shaft 3a is restricted. That is, the light-shielding ring 7 also plays a role of stacking and fixing the dial 2 and the case 10.
[0031]
Next, the function and effect of the light shielding ring 7 will be described.
[0032]
When the combination meter 1 is mounted on an automobile and receives the radiation heat of the sun or the heat of the warm air from the heating heater, the temperature of the case 10 rises, so that the residual stress at the time of molding the case 10 is released and the case 10 is deformed. I do.
[0033]
First, in the conventional light-emitting indicator 100 shown in FIG. 4, when the case 10 is deformed, the portion of the case 10 holding and fixing the dial 2 moves vertically in FIG. At this time, since the light-shielding ring 70 moves in the vertical direction in FIG. 4 together with the case 10, the gap G between the light-shielding ring 70 and the light-shielding cap 8 fixed to the pointer 4 changes. Therefore, in the conventional light-emitting indicator 100, the diameter D of the light-shielding cap 8 is set to be large so that the light-shielding ring 70 does not come into contact with the light-shielding cap 8 even when the case is deformed.
[0034]
On the other hand, in the combination meter 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention, when the case 10 is deformed, the portion of the case 10 that holds and fixes the dial 2 is similar to the case of the conventional luminous indicator 100. , Move up and down in FIG. As a result, in the light shielding ring 7, the restricting portion 7c locked to the case 10 is pushed by the case 10 to be elastically deformed in the vertical direction in FIG. 1, but the light shielding ring 7 itself does not move. That is, even if the position of the through hole 10a moves due to the deformation of the case 10, the size of the gap G between the light shielding wall 7a and the light shielding cap 8 does not change. Therefore, the gap G between the light-shielding wall 7a and the light-shielding cap 8 does not need to be enlarged unlike the conventional light-emitting indicator 100, and can be set as small as possible. Thereby, the diameter D of the light-shielding cap 8 can be made smaller than that of the conventional light-emitting indicator 100.
[0035]
In the combination meter 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention described above, the light guide 5 is fixed to the printed circuit board 9 on which the movement 3 is mounted substantially coaxially with the shaft 3a, and the light shielding ring 7 is guided by the light shielding wall 7a. The outer peripheral surface of the light guide 5 was pressed and contacted so as to be coaxial with the light guide 5. With such a configuration, the coaxiality between the light shielding wall 7a and the shaft 3a can be increased, that is, the coaxiality between the light shielding wall 7a and the light shielding cap 8 can be increased. This can eliminate the influence of the dimensional variation of the case 10 on the positional accuracy between the light-shielding wall 7a and the light-shielding cap 8 as in the conventional light emitting pointer instrument 100. And the outer diameter of the light-shielding cap can be made smaller than in the conventional case.
[0036]
Further, since the positional relationship among the three members of the shaft 3a, the light guide 5 and the light-shielding ring 7, particularly good coaxiality, can be maintained, when the case 10 is deformed, that is, the position of the through hole 10a is determined by the diameter of the shaft 3a. In the case of displacement in the direction, only the relative positional relationship between the light-shielding ring 7 and the case 10 changes, and the positional relationship between the light-shielding ring 7 and the light-shielding cap 8 does not change. The size does not need to be enlarged unlike the conventional light emitting pointer instrument 100, and can be set to a minimum required value. Thereby, the diameter D of the light-shielding cap 8 can be made smaller than that of the conventional light-emitting indicator 100.
[0037]
FIG. 3 is a partial cross-sectional view of a combination meter 1 according to a modification of the embodiment of the present invention.
[0038]
In this modification, the method of fixing the light guide 5 is changed. That is, in the combination meter 1 according to the above-described embodiment, the light guide 5 is attached to the printed circuit board 9, but in the combination meter 1 according to the modified example, as shown in FIG. 3, the light guide 5 is directly fixed to the movement 3. ing. Thereby, the coaxiality between the light guide 5 and the shaft 3a can be further improved.
[0039]
In the combination meter 1 according to one embodiment of the present invention and its modification described above, the light emitting diode 6 is used as a light source, but another light source, for example, a light bulb or a discharge tube may be used.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a combination meter 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a perspective external view of a light blocking ring 7 of the combination meter 1 according to one embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a modification of the combination meter 1 according to one embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a partial cross-sectional view of a conventional combination meter 100.
[Explanation of symbols]
1 Combination meter (luminous pointer meter)
2 Dial 2a Through hole 3 Movement (rotating inner machine)
3a shaft (pointer shaft)
4 pointer 5 light guide 6 light emitting diode (light source)
7 Shading ring (shading member)
7a Light-shielding wall 7b Flange 7c Restriction part 7d Positioning part 7e Locking part 8 Light-shielding cap 9 Printed circuit board (member)
Reference Signs List 10 Case 10a Through hole 11 Transparent cover 70 Light blocking ring 100 Combination meter

Claims (2)

Dial and
A case for fixing the dial,
A rotary inner machine that is arranged on the back side of the dial and extends a pointer shaft so as to be rotatable through a through hole of the dial,
A pointer made of a transparent material that is supported at the tip of the pointer shaft and rotates along the surface of the dial,
A light-shielding cap attached to the pointer so as to cover the surface of the rotation center area of the pointer,
A light source for the pointer light emission arranged on the back side of the dial,
A light guide provided between the pointer and the light source,
A substantially annular light-shielding member that extends through the through-hole toward the dial surface side and shields light from the light source from the through-hole toward the dial surface outer peripheral side,
The light-shielding member includes a cylindrical light-shielding wall extending to the dial surface side, an annular flange extending radially along the dial surface on the outer peripheral side of the light-shielding wall, and a pointer shaft of the light-shielding member. A regulating portion for regulating axial movement,
The regulating portion is a luminous pointer instrument that is locked to the back surface of the dial or the back surface of the case.
The light guide is fixed to a member to which the rotating inner unit or the rotating inner unit is attached substantially coaxially with the pointer shaft,
The light-emitting pointer instrument, wherein the light-shielding member makes the light-shielding wall and the light-guiding body coaxially and presses and contacts an outer peripheral surface of the light-guiding body. The light-emitting indicator according to claim 1, wherein the member is a printed circuit board.

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