JP2004276743A - Measuring instrument for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enhance operability of a switch provided on a front surface of a meter front glass and to enhance dust-proof/water-proof and appearance in a measuring instrument for a vehicle. <P>SOLUTION: In the measuring instrument 21 for the vehicle, a front surface of an indicator 30 is covered with the transparent and hard meter front glass 22 and the switch having light-transmitting property is provided on the front surface of the meter front glass 22 in order to switch the indication of the indicator 30. A dome switch 31 is provided on the front surface of the meter front glass 22 and a dome-shaped projection 40 for operating a pressing switch is formed. A mounting recessed part against the dome switch 31 is formed on the front surface of the meter front glass 22. The dome switch 31 is provided with a circuit body for connection having flexibility and the circuit body for connection is outwardly arranged along an outer surface of a case 23 continued from the meter front glass 22 to the meter front glass 22. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a vehicular instrument provided with a translucent switch on the front surface of a meter glass.
[0002]
[Prior art]
As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, this type of vehicle instrument is configured by arranging an insulating spacer 3 so as to maintain a small gap between two flat transparent electrode films 1 and 2. A vehicle instrument 5 provided with a translucent touch switch 4 that obtains electrical conduction by applying a pressing force from a transparent electrode film 1 is known (for example, see Patent Document 1).
[0003]
The translucent touch switch 4 is fixed to the front surface of the meter cover glass 6 using a transparent adhesive 7. The translucent touch switch 4 is provided for switching the display of the electronic odometer / tripmeter 8. In the figure, reference numeral 9 denotes a dial, 10 denotes a light source for transmitted illumination, and 11 denotes an FPC.
[0004]
[Patent Document 1]
JP-A-8-124455 (page 2-3, FIG. 1-2)
[0005]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
By the way, in the above prior art, due to the structure of the switch, the amount of movement of the electrode that occurs at the time of operating the press switch is extremely small, and the load and click feeling do not act on the finger, so that a sufficient press feeling cannot be obtained. As a result, operability was affected.
[0006]
Further, in the above-described conventional technology, since the whole of the translucent touch switch 4 protrudes from the front surface of the meter cover glass 6, the appearance of the instrument for a vehicle is deteriorated, and the wiring state of the FPC 11 is reduced. Since it was not disclosed, it was unclear whether sufficient dust and waterproof measures were taken.
[0007]
The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has as its object to provide a vehicular instrument that improves the operability of a switch provided on the front surface of a meter glass. It is another object of the present invention to provide a vehicle instrument that is dust / water proof and has improved appearance.
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The vehicle instrument of the present invention according to claim 1, which has been made to solve the above problem, covers the front surface of the display with a transparent and hard meter glass, and switches the display of the display with the meter glass. In a vehicular instrument provided with a light-transmitting switch on the front surface, a dome-shaped protrusion for operating a push switch is formed on the switch.
[0009]
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the vehicle instrument according to the first aspect, the switch is disposed near a front end of the meter glass or over the front end. Features.
[0010]
According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the vehicle instrument according to the second aspect, the switch includes a connection circuit having flexibility, and the switch is connected to the meter surface glass from the meter surface glass. It is characterized in that it is routed outside along the outer surface of the case that is continuous with the meter glass.
[0011]
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the vehicle instrument according to the third aspect, a fixing portion for fixing the connection circuit body is formed on the outer surface of the case. .
[0012]
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the vehicle instrument according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, a mounting recess for the switch is formed on a front surface of the meter glass.
[0013]
According to the first aspect of the present invention, since the dome-shaped protrusion is formed on the switch provided on the front surface of the meter cover glass, the protrusion is reversed by operating the press switch. And a click feeling is obtained at the time of the inversion. In addition, the stroke amount can be increased according to the amount of protrusion of the protrusion. Since the switch has a light-transmitting property, the instrument for a vehicle according to the present invention can improve the operability of the switch while ensuring the visibility.
[0014]
According to the second aspect of the present invention, the switch is disposed in the vicinity of the front end of the meter glass or at the front end thereof. Thereby, it is possible to prevent the switch from being arranged so as to overlap the portion for making the visibility, and the visibility is more sufficiently secured.
[0015]
According to the third aspect of the present invention, the flexible connection circuit body provided in the switch is externally routed from the meter front glass along the outer surface of the case connected to the meter front glass. . By arranging the outer side of such a connection circuit body, it is possible to provide the meter cover glass with a structure without through holes, so that dust / waterproofness and appearance can be improved.
[0016]
According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the connection circuit body arranged outside from the meter glass along the outer surface of the case is fixed by the fixing portion on the outer surface of the case. As a result, the connection circuit body arranged outside is prevented from being slackened, and, for example, interference with other parts at the time of assembling the instrument for a vehicle can be avoided. In addition, no run-out occurs when the vehicle is running, and abnormal noise and damage can be avoided.
[0017]
According to the invention described in claim 5, the switch is provided in a mounting recess formed on the front surface of the meter glass. As a result, the entire switch does not protrude from the front surface of the meter cover glass, and deterioration of the appearance as a vehicle instrument can be avoided. In addition, the mounting recess conceals the side surface of the switch, thereby further preventing the appearance from being deteriorated.
[0018]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
1A and 1B are diagrams showing an embodiment of a vehicle instrument according to the present invention, wherein FIG. 1A is an external perspective view of a vehicle instrument, and FIG. 1B is an external perspective view of a meter glass and a switch. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the vehicle instrument at the position of line AA in FIG. 1 (b), and FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a main part of FIG.
[0019]
In FIG. 1, reference numeral 21 indicates a vehicle instrument according to the present invention. The vehicle instrument 21 according to the present embodiment is a so-called combination meter, and includes a meter surface glass 22 and a case 23. A dial 24 and a control board 25 (see FIG. 2) disposed behind the dial 24 are provided in an internal space formed by the meter cover glass 22 and the case 23. Further, a speedometer 26, a tachometer 27, a water temperature gauge 28, and a fuel gauge 29 are mounted on the dial 24 and the control board 25 (see FIG. 2). It should be noted that illustrations of an inner unit, a light guide plate, a lighting bulb and the like of each instrument are omitted. The speedometer 26 and the tachometer 27 are provided with electronic indicators (for example, an odometer and a trip meter) 30, 30.
[0020]
The meter surface glass 22 is not particularly limited, but is made of a synthetic resin and is formed transparent and hard. Further, the display device 30 is formed in an appropriate shape so as to cover the front surface thereof. Dome switches 31 and 31 (corresponding to the switches described in the claims) having translucency are provided on the front surface of the meter cover glass 22. The dome switches 31, 31 are for switching the display of the indicators 30, 30, and in the present embodiment, are arranged so as to cover the front surface and the lower end of the meter cover glass 22 (lower end). The upper end, the left and right ends, and the vicinity of the end may also be used in addition to the portion. It is preferable that the dome switches 31, 31 do not overlap with the portion for making the vehicle instrument 21 visible.
[0021]
The dome switches 31, 31 are fixed to mounting recesses 32, 32 (see FIG. 3; only one is shown) formed on the front surface of the meter cover glass 22 using a translucent adhesive or the like. The mounting recesses 32, 32 have their bottom surfaces formed in a curved shape in accordance with the curved state of the meter table glass 22 (the mounting recesses 32 may have a flat bottom surface as shown in FIG. 4). And). The depth of the mounting recesses 32 is set according to the thickness of the dome switches 31. The dome switches 31, 31 may be mounted on the front surface without forming the mounting recesses 32, 32. However, the whole of the dome switches 31, 31 protrude from the front surface of the meter cover glass 22, so that the appearance as a vehicle instrument is inevitably reduced. Further, there is a demerit that the side surfaces of the dome switches 31, 31 cannot be hidden.
[0022]
1 and 2, the case 23 includes an upper case 33 to which the meter cover glass 22 is fixed, and a rear case 34 to which the dial 24 and the control board 25 are fixed and the upper case 33 is fixed. Have been. Boss-shaped fixing portions 35 are formed on the lower outer surfaces of the upper case 33 and the rear case 34 of the case 23. In the rear part of the rear case 34, a through hole-shaped connector connection part 36 is formed. The fixing portions 35, 35 and the connector connection portion 36 will be referred to when describing the dome switches 31, 31.
[0023]
The vehicle instrument 21 is attached to an instrument panel 37. It is assumed that a known method is adopted as a method of attaching the vehicle instrument 21, and the description thereof is omitted here. A meter cluster 38 is provided on the front of the vehicle instrument 21. The meter cluster 38 is attached to the instrument panel 37 via an attachment portion 39. The meter cluster 38 has a structure that hides the lower side of the dome switches 31, 31.
[0024]
1 to 3, the dome switches 31, 31 have a light-transmitting property as described above (the material is not particularly limited). In addition, since it can be attached to the curved attachment recesses 32, 32, it has flexibility. Hereinafter, one of them will be described because it is the same in this embodiment. The dome switch 31 includes a front sheet 41 having a protruding portion 40 formed in a dome shape, a spacer sheet 42, a membrane sheet 43, a second spacer sheet (spacer sheet) 44, a movable contact 45, and a fixed member. And a circuit body 48 having a side contact 46 and a connection circuit body 47.
[0025]
The protruding portion 40 is formed by embossing, and is formed to protrude toward the front side of the front sheet 41. The protruding portion 40 is formed so as to be reversible on the back surface side of the front sheet 41. In the present embodiment, it is formed in a round shape in plan view, but is not limited to this. On the front sheet 41, for example, characters such as "RESET" are displayed.
[0026]
The spacer sheet 42 is provided to prevent deformation of the front sheet 41, release air when the protrusion 40 is inverted, and secure a stroke dimension of the protrusion 40. An adhesive layer (not shown) is provided on each of the front and back surfaces of the spacer sheet 42. The spacer sheet 42 is formed so as to be in close contact with the back surface of the front sheet 41 from the front surface side and to be able to fix the membrane sheet 43 to the back surface. The spacer sheet 42 has a through hole 49 and an air release portion (not shown).
[0027]
At a predetermined position on the back surface of the membrane sheet 43, a movable contact 45 with respect to the circuit body 48 is provided. The second spacer sheet 44 is provided to prevent deformation of the membrane sheet 43 and secure a stroke dimension of the membrane sheet 43. Adhesive layers (not shown) are provided on the front and back surfaces of the second spacer sheet 44, respectively, so that the membrane sheet 43 and the circuit body 48 can be fixed to the front and back surfaces, respectively. In such a second spacer sheet 44, a through hole 50 corresponding to the position of the contact 45 on the movable side and an air release portion (not shown) are formed.
[0028]
As the circuit body 48, an FPC (Flexible Printed Circuit) known in the present embodiment is used. The circuit body 48 includes a circuit body having a switch circuit (not shown) and a connection circuit 47 used for electrical connection with the outside. On the surface of the circuit body, that is, on the second spacer sheet 44 side, fixed-side contacts 46 with which the movable-side contacts 45 come into contact are provided. An adhesive layer (not shown) is provided on the back surface of the circuit body. The dome switch 31 is configured such that the back surface of the circuit body is bonded to the mounting recess 32 having a curved shape.
[0029]
The connection circuit body 47 is pulled out from the circuit body body and is bent by a bending R portion 51 formed at the lower front end of the meter cover glass 22, and then, as shown in FIG. The outer case is arranged outside along the lower outer surface of the rear case 34. A through-hole (not shown) is formed in the connection circuit body 47. When the through-hole is inserted into the fixing portions 35, 35, the connection circuit body 47 is fixed and slack is absorbed. I have. A connector 52 is provided at an end of the connection circuit body 47, and is electrically connected to the control board 25 via the connector connection section 36. Since the connection circuit body 47 is routed without penetrating the meter face glass 22, it is possible to improve dust / water resistance and the appearance of the meter face glass 22. The meter cover glass 22 has a structure without through holes.
[0030]
The dome switch 31 is not limited to the above configuration. That is, the movable contact 45 may be provided inside the protruding portion 40 to remove the membrane sheet 43 and the second spacer sheet 44.
[0031]
In the above configuration, the dome switch 31 operates as follows (the operation drawing is omitted). When no load is applied to the protruding portion 40 before the switch is operated, the shape is maintained by the shape preserving property of the protruding portion 40 itself. When the switch is operated and the protruding portion 40 is pressed by the finger of the person who performs the switch operation (pressing operation for applying a load to the protruding portion 40), the protruding portion 40 resists the load due to the pressing of the finger. Buckling and reversing at the load (at this time, a click feeling is generated).
[0032]
When the protrusion 40 buckles and reverses, the load in the reverse direction decreases, and the pressing of the protrusion 40 proceeds smoothly. The inverted protruding portion 40 is further pushed in, inserted into the through hole 49 of the spacer sheet 42, and presses the membrane sheet 43. When the membrane sheet 43 is pressed, bending occurs, and the movable contact 45 provided on the membrane sheet 43 contacts the fixed contact 46 of the circuit body 48 through the through hole 50 of the second spacer sheet 44. .
[0033]
As a result, a switch circuit (not shown) of the circuit body 48 becomes conductive, and the dome switch 31 is turned ON (for example, the display 30 is reset). On the other hand, when the finger is released and the load in the reverse direction is released, the membrane sheet 43 and the protrusion 40 return to the original state. Then, along with this, the conduction state is released, and the dome switch 31 is turned off.
[0034]
As described above with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4, since the dome switch 31 provided on the front surface of the meter cover glass 22 is formed with the dome-shaped protrusion 40, When the part 40 is flipped by operating the push switch, a click feeling is obtained at the time of the flip. In addition, the amount of stroke can be increased according to the amount of protrusion of the protrusion 40. Since the dome switch 31 has translucency, the vehicle instrument 21 according to the present invention can improve the operability of the switch as compared with the related art while ensuring the visibility.
[0035]
In addition, it goes without saying that the present invention can be variously modified and implemented without departing from the gist of the present invention.
[0036]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, a dome-shaped protruding portion for operating a press switch is formed on a light-transmitting switch provided on the front surface of a meter glass. In addition, a click feeling can be obtained and a stroke amount can be obtained. Therefore, there is an effect that the operability of the switch can be improved as compared with the related art while the visibility is secured.
[0037]
According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the switch is disposed near the front end of the meter glass or on the front end, the visibility is improved in addition to the effect of the first aspect. There is an effect that it is possible to secure the battery more sufficiently.
[0038]
According to the third aspect of the present invention, the flexible connecting circuit body provided in the switch is externally routed from the meter surface glass along the outer surface of the case connected to the meter surface glass. Therefore, the meter glass can have a structure without through holes. Therefore, in addition to the effects of the second aspect, there is an effect that dust / waterproofing and appearance can be improved.
[0039]
According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, since the fixing portion is formed on the outer surface of the case to fix the connection circuit body, the connection circuit body can be prevented from being loosened. Therefore, in addition to the effect of the third aspect, there is an effect that interference, abnormal noise, damage, and the like can be avoided.
[0040]
According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, since the switch is provided in the mounting recess formed on the front surface of the meter glass, the entire switch can be prevented from projecting. Also, the side of the switch can be hidden. Therefore, there is an effect that the appearance can be further improved.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a view showing one embodiment of a vehicle instrument according to the present invention, wherein (a) is an external perspective view of a vehicle instrument, and (b) is an external perspective view of a meter cover glass and a switch.
FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the vehicle instrument at the position of line AA in FIG. 1 (b).
FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a main part of FIG. 2;
FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing another example of the mounting recess of the meter table glass.
FIG. 5 is a front view of a conventional vehicle instrument.
FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line BB of FIG. 5;
[Explanation of symbols]
21 Vehicle meter 22 Meter surface glass 23 Case 24 Dial 25 Control board 26 Speedometer 27 Tachometer 28 Water temperature gauge 29 Fuel gauge 30 Indicator 31 Dome switch (switch)
32 mounting recess 33 upper case 34 rear case 35 fixing part 36 connector connection part 37 instrument panel 38 meter cluster 39 mounting part 40 projecting part 41 front sheet 42 spacer sheet 43 membrane sheet 44 second spacer sheet 45 movable side contact 46 fixed Side contact 47 connection circuit body 48 circuit body 49, 50 through hole 51 bent R part 52 connector

Claims (5)

A vehicle instrument provided with a switch having a light-transmitting property on the front surface of the meter front glass for switching the display of the display while covering the front surface of the display with a transparent and hard meter front glass.
A vehicular instrument, wherein a dome-shaped projection for operating a push switch is formed on the switch. The vehicle instrument according to claim 1,
A meter for a vehicle, wherein the switch is disposed near the front end of the meter glass or at the front end. The vehicle instrument according to claim 2,
The switch includes a connection circuit body having flexibility, and the connection circuit body is externally routed from the meter surface glass along an outer surface of a case connected to the meter surface glass. . The vehicle instrument according to claim 3,
A vehicle instrument, wherein a fixing portion for fixing the connection circuit body is formed on the outer surface of the case. The vehicle instrument according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
A meter for a vehicle, wherein a mounting recess for the switch is formed on a front surface of the meter glass.

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