JP2005037265A - Indicating instrument for car - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an indicating instrument for cars capable of reducing light emitted from the tip face of a pointer which lights by itself with light led to the inside of the pointer, without increasing the number of manufacturing processes. <P>SOLUTION: The indicating instrument 10 for cars is provided with a dial 12 which has an opening 12b and in which indicating sections 13 made of translucent material are formed, and the pointer 14 which is fitted to the rotating shaft 19 of a drive unit 18 at its base part 14a, has a pointer body 14b, is made of translucent material, and indicates the indicating sections 13, and the instrument 10 leads light to the indicating sections 13 and the pointer 14 to light them. To reduce the light emitted from the tip face of the pointer 14, the opposed face portion 20a being the tip part of the rear face 20 of the pointer 14 is formed as a parabolic shape, when viewed at a cross section along the longitudinal direction of the pointer 14. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicular indicating instrument, and more particularly to a vehicular indicating instrument that guides light into a pointer of the instrument and shines the pointer itself.

A pointer indicating a display portion such as characters and scales provided on a dial of a conventional vehicle indicating instrument is formed of a light-transmitting material, and illumination light is guided inside the pointer. There has been proposed a vehicle indicating instrument that shines the pointer itself by scattering light inside the pointer. This enhances the visibility and decoration effect of the pointer. (For example, see Patent Document 1.)
In addition, there is considered a vehicle indicating instrument in which the display unit is formed of a light-transmitting material, and the display unit is illuminated by guiding illumination light to further improve the visibility and decoration effect. It has been.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 8-219822 (page 2-9, FIG. 16)

  However, in the conventional indicator device for a vehicle, an end surface which is a plane perpendicular to the back surface which is a surface facing the dial of the pointer is formed at the tip of the pointer for processing. Since the illumination light is incident on the inside of the pointer from the base where the pointer is supported and is scattered in the extending direction of the pointer, the light guided into the pointer is emitted radially from the end face. This emitted light illuminates the periphery of the display unit located in the radial direction of the end face of the dial. Since this emitted light illuminates the periphery of the display unit that is guided by light and shines by itself, the contrast of the display unit with respect to the dial is weakened. For this reason, the light from the pointer, conversely, reduces the visibility of the vehicular indicating instrument and diminishes the decorative effect. In order to reduce the emitted light, it is considered that the end face is subjected to a touch-up process for the purpose of shielding light. However, the number of manufacturing steps increases, resulting in an increase in cost.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a vehicular indicating instrument having a pointer that can reduce light emitted from the tip end surface of the pointer without increasing the number of manufacturing steps.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the vehicular indicating instrument according to claim 1 includes a dial provided with a display unit made of a material allowing transmission of illumination light, and an illumination light made of a material having translucency. An indicator for a vehicle, comprising: a pointer guided to the display unit, which is supported rotatably on the dial to indicate the display unit, and extends toward the display unit along the dial In addition, among the surfaces of the pointer facing the dial, the facing surface portion located at the distal end portion of the pointer extends along the longitudinal direction of the pointer to reduce illumination light emitted from the distal end surface of the pointer. It is characterized by exhibiting an arc shape when viewed in a cross section.

  The vehicular indicating instrument according to claim 2 is the vehicular indicating instrument according to claim 1, wherein a surface of the pointer opposite to the surface facing the dial is a flat surface. The thickness dimension gradually decreases toward the tip.

  The vehicular indicating instrument according to claim 3 is the vehicular indicating instrument according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the dial is formed by projecting the display portion on a surface of the dial. It is characterized by being.

  The vehicular indicating instrument according to claim 4 is the vehicular indicating instrument according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the facing surface portion of the pointer is a cross section along the longitudinal direction of the pointer. It is defined by a parabolic shape as seen in FIG.

  A vehicle indicating instrument according to a fifth aspect is the vehicle indicating instrument according to the first, second, third, or fourth aspect, wherein the counter surface portion of the pointer is guided to the pointer. A plurality of grooves parallel to the width direction of the pointer for scattering the emitted light are formed.

  2. The vehicular indicating instrument according to claim 1, wherein an opposing surface portion located at a tip portion of the pointer out of a surface facing the dial of the pointer, that is, a back surface, is a cross section along a longitudinal direction of the pointer. It has an arc shape. Therefore, the illumination light guided into the pointer and scattered toward the end face in the extending direction of the pointer is reflected toward the surface of the pointer by an arcuate curved surface when viewed in cross section. Outgoing light emitted from the front end surface can be reduced. Due to the reduction of the emitted light, it is possible to prevent a decrease in contrast of the display unit that emits light by being guided into the dial with respect to the dial.

  According to the vehicular indicating instrument according to claim 2, since the facing surface portion of the pointer is formed with an arcuate curved surface as viewed in a cross section along the longitudinal direction of the pointer, the tip surface The emitted light from can be further reduced.

  According to the vehicular indicating instrument according to claim 3, even if the display portion is formed to protrude from the surface of the dial, and the display portion is disposed on a longitudinal extension line of the pointer, Since the emitted light is reduced, it is possible to prevent a decrease in contrast due to the emitted light from the tip surface of the pointer. As a result, it is possible to prevent a strong adverse effect on the contrast of the display unit with respect to the dial as much as in the past.

  According to the vehicular indicating instrument according to claim 4, since the facing surface portion of the pointer is defined by a parabola shape when viewed in a section along the longitudinal direction of the pointer, a parabola when viewed in a section Since the illumination light is more efficiently reflected by the curved surface, the emitted light from the tip surface can be further reduced.

  According to the vehicular indicating instrument according to claim 5, illumination is efficiently performed on a slope defined by each groove by forming a plurality of grooves parallel to the width direction of the pointer on the facing surface portion. The light can be reflected, whereby the illumination light can be scattered at the tip of the pointer. For this reason, since more illumination light can be reflected toward the surface of the pointer by the groove in the facing surface portion, emitted light from the tip surface of the pointer can be further reduced.

  According to the vehicular indicating instrument according to the present invention, the surface of the pointer facing the display portion indicated by the pointer is a curved surface, so that the touch-up process for the purpose of shading the tip end surface of the pointer is performed. The emitted light from the tip end face of the pointer can be reduced without performing such additional work. Therefore, since the pointer can be illuminated without weakening the contrast produced by the display portion and the dial that shines when light is guided to the inside, the vehicle indicating instrument having high visibility and excellent decoration effect Can be provided.

  The present invention will be described in detail along with examples of speedometers.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a vehicular indicating instrument 10 according to the present invention includes a case 11 composed of an upper case 11a and a lower case 11b. The upper case 11a has an opening 11c, and the dial 12 is disposed so as to cover the opening 11c. On the surface of the dial 12, a display unit 13 such as characters and scales formed of a light-transmitting material is provided so as to penetrate the dial 12 so that illumination light can be guided to the inside of the display unit. Yes.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the dial 12 has a shape that rises at the edge 12a, and a display portion 13 made of a scale is formed on the annularly inclined edge 12a. In order to provide information, the dial 12 is formed with a display unit 13 having a number or character form. In addition, a pointer 14 for indicating the display unit 13 is disposed on the dial 12.

  The pointer 14 is made of a synthetic resin material such as acrylic having translucency, and is fitted with a cap 15 having a light shielding property as is well known. The pointer 14 has a base portion 14 a located in the cap 15 and a pointer main body 14 b extending from the base portion 14 a to the edge 12 a of the dial 12 outside the cap 15 and extending parallel to the dial 12.

  Refer to FIG. 1 again. A light source 16 supported by the lower case 11 b is disposed in the case 11, and a light guide plate 17 that guides illumination light from the light source 16 to the pointer 14 and the display unit 13 is disposed along the back surface of the dial 12. ing. The dial 12 is formed with an opening 12b for receiving the base portion 14a of the pointer 14. An opening 17a is formed in the light guide plate 17 so as to be aligned with the opening 12b. The opening 17a is formed with a reflecting surface 17b that reflects the illumination light guided into the light guide plate 17 toward the pointer 14 by the peripheral surface that defines the opening 17a.

  A driving device 18 is disposed in the lower case 11b. The drive device 18 includes a rotation shaft 19, and the rotation shaft 19 passes through the opening 17 a of the light guide plate 17 and the opening 12 b of the dial 12. A pointer 14 is attached to the rotating shaft 19 with a base portion 14a. An incident surface 14c through which illumination light is incident is provided at a position facing the opening 12b of the dial 12 in the base portion 14a. A reflecting surface 14d is provided at a position facing the incident surface 14c in the pointer 14.

  As is well known in the art, the driving device 18 is controlled by a base circuit (not shown), the rotating shaft 19 rotates, and the pointer 14 rotates integrally with the rotating shaft 19, so that the pointer 14 causes the display unit 13 to move. Instruct.

  The back surface 20 of the pointer main body 14b facing the dial 12 is a plane parallel to the surface of the dial 12, and the front surface 21 of the pointer main body 14b is a flat plane that forms a depression angle toward the tip of the pointer 14 when viewed from the base 14a. It is.

  Of the back surface 20 of the pointer main body 14 b, the facing surface portion 20 a located at the tip portion of the pointer 14 has a parabolic shape when viewed in a cross section along the longitudinal direction of the pointer 14 and is defined by the parabola and the surface 21. It is formed so that a straight line forms a ridge.

  As is well known, a plurality of grooves 22 parallel to the width direction of the pointer 14 are formed in the entire flat surface portion 20b in the flat surface portion 20b excluding the opposed surface portion 20a of the back surface 20 of the pointer main body 14b. Yes.

  As shown in FIG. 3, a plurality of grooves 22 parallel to the width direction of the pointer 14 are also formed in the facing surface portion 20a.

  Refer to FIG. 1 again. Part of the illumination light from the light source 16 is directly incident on the display unit 13 provided on the edge 12 a of the dial 12 and passes through the display unit 13, thereby causing the display unit 13 to shine.

  Part of the illumination light from the light source 16 enters the light guide plate 17 and is guided to each display unit 13 on the dial 12. The illumination light is emitted from the surface side of the dial 12 at each display unit 13, thereby causing the display unit 13 to shine. Further, as indicated by a broken line indicated by reference numeral 23 in FIG. 1, a part of the illumination light incident on the light guide plate 17 is guided to the opening 17a through the light guide plate 17 and provided in the opening 17a. Reflected to the pointer 14 by the reflecting surface 17b. The reflected illumination light passes through the opening 12 b of the dial 12 and enters the pointer 14 from the incident surface 14 c provided on the base portion 14 a of the pointer 14. The illumination light guided into the pointer 14 is reflected to the pointer main body 14b by the reflecting surface 14d provided in the base portion 14a of the pointer 14.

  Of the illumination light guided to the pointer main body 14b, a part of the illumination light directed to both side surfaces of the pointer main body 14b is reflected into the pointer main body 14b by total reflection, and the rest is external to the pointer main body 14b. Transparent to. The illumination light directed toward the flat surface portion 20b of the pointer main body 14b is reflected in accordance with the incident angle by the reflection surface defined by the slope according to the angle of each groove 22 efficiently reflecting the illumination light to the surface 21. Scattered in the direction. The illumination light directed toward the surface 21 of the pointer main body 14b is emitted from the surface 21 to the outside and causes the surface 21 of the pointer 14 to shine. Since a part of the illumination light is transmitted from both side surfaces of the pointer main body 14b, the transmitted light illuminates an unintended place and the brightness when the pointer 14 is viewed from the surface is lowered. For this reason, it is desirable to provide a reflective film or a light-shielding film on both side surfaces of the pointer main body 14b as is well known.

  Of the illumination light guided into the pointer 14, the illumination light that does not transmit to the outside of the pointer 14 and travels toward the tip of the pointer 14 is a parabola whose opposing surface portion 20 a gradually increases in angle with respect to the traveling direction of the illumination light. Since it is defined by the shape, it is easy to be totally reflected to the surface 21 of the pointer main body 14b by the opposing surface portion 20a which is a curved surface. In addition, since the plurality of grooves 22 parallel to the width direction of the pointer 14 are formed also in the facing surface portion 20a, each groove 22 scatters the illumination light by reflecting the illumination light as described above. Reduces light emitted from the surface.

  As shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 3, the conventional pointer 14 has an end surface 24 that is a plane perpendicular to the back surface 20 of the pointer main body 14b. Since the illumination light directed toward the end surface 24 is transmitted from the end surface 24 and is emitted radially to the outside of the pointer 14, the emitted light illuminates the periphery of the display unit 13, thereby causing a contrast problem.

  On the other hand, in the pointer 14 of the vehicle indicating instrument 10 of the present invention, the opposing surface portion 20a that is the tip portion of the end surface has a parabolic shape when viewed in a cross section along the longitudinal direction of the pointer 14, The emitted light can be reduced.

  Therefore, in the vehicular indicating instrument 10 according to the present invention, the illumination light is reflected by the facing surface portion 20a toward the front surface 21 of the pointer main body 14b. As compared with the case where the end face perpendicular to the surface is formed, the outgoing light emitted from the tip face of the pointer 14 can be reduced. Further, since the plurality of grooves 22 parallel to the width direction of the pointer 14 are formed in the flat surface portion 20b and the opposed surface portion 20a of the pointer main body 14b, the pointer 14 is moved when the illumination light is not guided into the pointer 14. When viewed from the surface 21, the appearance of the uniform groove 22 formed over the entire length of the pointer main body 14b is improved. Further, since the emitted light from the tip surface is reduced by the shape of the pointer 14, the manufacturing process is not increased. Therefore, since the pointer 14 can be illuminated while taking advantage of the contrast created by the display unit 13 and the dial 12 where the light from the illumination light is guided and emits light, it has high visibility and an excellent decorative effect. The vehicle indicating instrument 10 can be provided without complicating the manufacturing process.

  As is well known in the art, a reflective film or a light shielding film can be formed on the flat portion 20b of the pointer main body 14b in place of the plurality of parallel grooves 22. In addition, a light shielding film may be formed on both side surfaces of the pointer main body 14b instead of the reflective film. When the light shielding film is formed, the illumination light is absorbed on the surface. Therefore, as is well known in the art, depending on the brightness required for the pointer 14, it is possible to properly use it, such as using a reflective film or a light shielding film on the planar portion 20 b and both side surfaces of the pointer main body 14 b.

  As is conventionally known, the number of the light sources 16 is reduced by providing the light guide plate 17 on the back surface of the edge 12a of the dial 12 and guiding the illumination light to the display unit 13 formed on the edge 12a, or The display unit 13, the light source 16, or the light guide plate 17 can be appropriately changed in shape, arrangement position, and the like by providing the light source in a cap 15 attached to the pointer 14 separately from the light source 16.

  In the above embodiment, the opposing surface portion 20a is formed such that a parabola when the opposing surface portion 20a is seen in a section along the longitudinal direction of the pointer 14 and a straight line defined by the surface 21 form a ridge. In the vehicular indicating instrument 10 according to the above, even if the end surface remains at the tip of the processing pointer 14, the end surface itself is reduced by providing the facing surface portion 20a, so that the emitted light can be reduced. However, in order to obtain more effect, it is desirable that the end of the pointer 14 has no end face as shown in the above-described embodiment.

  In the above-described embodiment, an example in which the display unit 13 is formed by protruding from the dial 12 is shown. However, even if all the display units 13 are formed on the same plane as the surface of the dial 12, the pointer 14 The effect by reducing the emitted light from the front end surface of this can be obtained. However, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, if a part of the dial 12 is formed so as to be raised or the display unit 13 is formed to protrude, the display unit 13 can be seen from the tip surface of the pointer 14. It is easy to receive the emitted light directly. In such a case, when the vehicle indicating instrument according to the present invention is used, the emitted light from the distal end surface of the pointer 14 is reduced, so that a greater effect can be obtained.

  The parabolic shape seen in the cross section along the longitudinal direction of the pointer 14 of the facing surface portion 20a may be an arc shape. However, when the parabolic shape defines the parabolic shape, the illumination light is reflected more efficiently. Therefore, it is desirable that the facing surface portion 20a has a parabolic shape.

  The pointer 14 has a shape of the pointer main body 14b excluding the opposing surface portion 20a, as described above, and a back surface 20 that is a plane parallel to the surface of the dial 12, and a depression angle with respect to the back surface 20 when viewed from the base portion 14a. Even if it is not formed from the front surface 21 which is an inclined surface, it may be a shape having the facing surface portion 20a and the back surface 20 and the surface 21 having a shape that guides illumination light to the inside and transmits the light from the surface 21. .

  The groove 22 formed in the facing surface portion 20a at the tip of the pointer 14 can be made unnecessary because light emitted from the tip surface of the pointer 14 can be reduced by the curved surface that is the facing surface portion 20a. However, if the groove 22 is formed in the facing surface portion 20a, the illumination light is also reflected by the groove 22 as described above, so that the emitted light from the tip surface of the pointer 14 can be further reduced. When the groove 22 is formed in the flat surface portion 14b of the pointer main body 14b, the groove 22 is formed over the entire length of the back surface 20 of the pointer main body 14b when the groove 22 is also formed in the facing surface portion 20a. Therefore, when the illumination light is not guided into the pointer 14, the appearance from the surface 21 of the pointer 14 is improved, and thus it is preferable that the groove 22 is formed.

  Further, instead of providing the groove 22 in the facing surface portion 20a of the pointer 14, a reflective film or a light shielding film can be provided.

  The vehicle indicating instrument 10 of the present invention uses a speedometer in the above example, but can be applied to various instruments as long as it is an analog instrument such as a tachometer or a fuel meter.

It is sectional drawing which shows the Example of the indicator device for vehicles which concerns on this invention. It is a perspective view which shows partially the external appearance of the Example of the indicator device for vehicles which concerns on this invention. It is an expanded sectional view which shows the pointer | guide of the Example of the indicator device for vehicles which concerns on this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Vehicle indicator 12 Dial 13 Display part 14 Pointer 20a Opposing surface part 22 Groove

Claims (5)

A dial provided with a display unit made of a material that allows the illumination light to pass therethrough, and a pointer made of a translucent material for guiding the illumination light to the inside, on the dial to indicate the display unit An indicator for a vehicle that includes a pointer that is rotatably supported by the dial and extends toward the display unit along the dial,
Of the surface of the pointer facing the dial, the facing surface portion located at the distal end portion of the pointer is a cross section along the longitudinal direction of the pointer to reduce illumination light emitted from the distal end surface of the pointer. An indicating instrument for a vehicle characterized by having an arc shape when viewed.   2. The vehicle instruction according to claim 1, wherein a surface of the pointer opposite to the surface facing the dial is a flat surface, and the thickness dimension of the pointer gradually decreases toward the tip. Instrument.   3. The vehicular indicating instrument according to claim 1, wherein the dial is formed by projecting the display portion on a surface of the dial. 4.   4. The vehicle instruction according to claim 1, wherein the facing surface portion of the pointer is defined by a parabolic shape when viewed in a cross section along the longitudinal direction of the pointer. Instrument. 3. A plurality of grooves parallel to the width direction of the pointer for scattering light guided to the pointer are formed in the facing surface portion of the pointer. The vehicle indicating instrument according to claim 3 or claim 4.

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