JP2006234537A - Meter panel for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a meter panel for a vehicle equipped with an optical waveguide for efficiently illuminating a scale mark part by setting the directionality of light so that it is directed toward the mark part of a meter display board, the light outputted from a light emission part with an LED used as a light source. <P>SOLUTION: This meter panel 21 for a vehicle is equipped with the meter display board 22 with the scale mark part 36 formed on a peripheral part thereof, the optical waveguide 23 disposed on the back side of the display board 22, and the light emission part 24 disposed on an end part of the optical waveguide 23. The optical waveguide 23 is provided with a recessed part 30 in its end part for therein housing the emission part 24. By forming side face parts 23b and 23c into paraboloidal shapes centering around the recessed part 30, the light outputted from the LED 24a provided in the light emission part 24 is caused to illuminate the mark part 36 from an inner circumferential surface of the recessed part 30. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle meter panel employed in an automobile speedometer, tachometer, and the like, and more particularly, to a vehicle meter panel that uses a light emitting element as a light source to irradiate a scale portion.

  Conventionally, magnetic meters are generally used for vehicle meters such as speedometers. This magnetic meter is provided with a dial, meter hands, and a drive unit that rotationally drives the meter hands, and the scale on the dial pointed by the rotation of the meter hands is read to confirm the speed and the like.

  Many of the dials are provided with a backlight device on the back side to illuminate a scale portion to improve visibility (see Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2). As a light source provided in such a backlight device, a light emitting element (LED) is used. As a backlight configuration using this LED as a light source, a direct illumination method is arranged directly below or near the scale part, and a light guide plate is disposed under the dial, and an LED is installed at one end of the light guide plate. Depending on the situation, one of the indirect illumination methods is adopted.

FIG. 8 shows a structure of a meter panel for a vehicle generally used conventionally. The meter panel 1 includes a magnetic drive unit and a power supply unit therein, and includes a fan-shaped recess 5 in which the meter display plate 4 is incorporated on the surface, and a plurality of light sources (LEDs) 6 disposed in the recess 5. A housing 2, a light diffusing plate 3 placed on the concave portion 5, and a meter display plate 4 placed on the light diffusing plate 3 are provided. The meter display plate 4 is entirely shielded from light by a black paint, and a scale portion 9 having translucency composed of scale lines, numbers, and the like is provided on the outer peripheral portion. A plurality of the LEDs 6 are arranged at positions corresponding to the scale lines, numbers, and the like, and the scale unit 9 is entirely illuminated by light directly emitted upward from the LEDs 6.
JP-A-9-152360 JP 11-337376 A

  However, as in the meter panel 1 shown in FIG. 8, in the structure in which the LEDs 6 are individually arranged so as to correspond to the scale portion 9, when the number of the scale portions 9 increases, the number of LEDs 6 is increased accordingly. There must be. For this reason, there are problems that the power consumption increases and the product cost increases as the number of parts increases. Further, in order to uniformly illuminate the entire scale portion 9 composed of a plurality of scale lines, numbers, etc., the characteristics such as the luminance and brightness of each LED must be adjusted uniformly.

  On the other hand, in the backlight structure via the light guide plate, the number of LEDs can be reduced, but the emitted light is weakened before reaching the scale part, and sufficient luminance may not be obtained. In addition, in the case where a plurality of LEDs are arranged according to the display location of the scale part, the brightness between the scale parts tends to vary due to the setting of the LED placement position and the difference in optical characteristics of each LED. There is a problem.

  Further, in order to make the light emitted from the LED enter the light guide plate, the LED is generally arranged toward the end of the light guide plate. With such an arrangement, the LED emits light from the LED. There is a problem that the light leaks to the surroundings and cannot be intensively incident on the end of the light guide plate.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to allow the scale part to be efficiently irradiated by enabling the directivity of light emitted from the light emitting part using the LED as a light source to be set toward the scale part of the meter display board. It is providing the meter panel for vehicles provided with the light-guide plate which can be performed.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, a vehicle meter panel according to the present invention includes a meter display plate having a scale portion formed on the outer periphery, a light guide plate disposed on the back side of the meter display plate, and the light guide plate. In the vehicular meter panel including a light emitting portion disposed at an end portion, the light guide plate is provided with a concave portion for accommodating the light emitting portion at the end portion, and emitted from the light emitting portion accommodated in the concave portion. The light is irradiated toward the scale portion of the meter display plate.

  The light guide plate is formed by a fan-shaped light guide section having an arcuate outer periphery, and a concave portion for accommodating the light emitting section is provided at a base end portion of the fan-shaped light guide section.

  The light guide plate is formed by a U-shaped light guide section that is curved in an arc shape along the arrangement of the scale parts, and concave portions for accommodating the light emitting sections are provided at both ends of the U-shaped light guide section, respectively. .

  The light guide plate was formed so as to be a paraboloid with an end portion provided with the concave portion as a center.

  According to the vehicle meter panel of the present invention, the light emitting part is incorporated and formed so as to be completely accommodated in the recess provided at the end of the light guide plate, so that the light emitted from the light emitting part is not leaked. The light can be guided to the entire light guide plate centered on the recess. As a result, it is possible to efficiently irradiate the light spreading around the concave portion toward the vicinity of the scale portion of the meter display plate. Moreover, since the said recessed part becomes the shape which recessedly provided the edge part of the light-guide plate in the substantially hemispherical shape, the directivity of being narrow in the thickness direction of a light-guide plate and wide in the width direction can be given.

  The concave portion can be formed in any light guide plate having a fan-shaped light guide or a U-shaped light guide, and the fan-shaped light guide has a U-shaped light guide at its base end. By providing at both ends, an efficient illumination effect can be obtained with the minimum number of light emitting elements.

  Moreover, since the light emitting element is fixed in a state where the pedestal portion is housed in the recess, the light guide plate and the light emitting portion can be easily aligned, and misalignment due to vibration and impact is less likely to occur.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of a vehicle meter panel according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is an assembled perspective view of a vehicle meter panel according to a first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a plan view of a main part of a light guide plate of the vehicle meter panel, and FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a main part of the light guide plate. .

  Many typical vehicle meter panels have a speedometer at the center and tachometers, fuel gauges, water temperature gauges, and the like that can be arranged on the left and right sides. However, since each structure is substantially the same, this embodiment Now, a speedometer will be described as an example. As shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle meter panel 21 is of an analog type, and is disposed on the meter display plate 22 provided with a scale portion 36 made of numerals and the like, and on the back side of the meter display plate 22. The light guide plate 23 and the light emitting portion 24 that illuminates the light guide plate 23 from the side surface are used. The light guide plate 23 is housed in a housing 27 having a built-in recess 28 and is incorporated into a dashboard or the like on the driver's seat side. Is done.

  The meter display plate 22 is made of a thin black plastic sheet having a light shielding property whose outer peripheral portion is formed in an arc shape, and a scale portion 36 representing the hourly speed is formed therein so as to have translucency. ing. The scale portion 36 is composed of lines, numbers, and the like, and is formed in an arc shape along the outer peripheral portion. In order to provide translucency, the scale portion 36 is formed by punching along the outline of a line or a number, or when forming the plastic sheet, a black mask is applied to the line or number. After coating with a paint, the mask is removed to expose the transparent base portion of the plastic sheet.

  A light guide plate 23 having substantially the same shape and size as the meter display plate 22 is disposed on the back side of the meter display plate 22. The light guide plate 23 is made of a resin such as acrylic or polycarbonate having translucency, and has side surfaces 23b and 23c opened at a predetermined angle with a base end portion (light receiving portion) 26 into which the light emitting portion 24 is incorporated as a center. And the fan-shaped light guide part 23a is formed by the circular-arc-shaped outer peripheral part spanned between the front-end | tips of these side surface parts 23b and 23c. Further, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the light receiving unit 26 is provided with a recess 30 in which the light emitting unit 24 is accommodated. The recess 30 is formed in a substantially hemispherical shape with a width that can accommodate the light emitting element (LED) 24a. Further, the peripheral surface of the light receiving portion 26 with the concave portion 30 as the center is formed as a gentle paraboloid 31.

  The light emitting unit 24 includes a pedestal 24c protruding into the recess 30, an LED 24a mounted on the pedestal 24c, and a resin body 25 that seals the LED 24a on the pedestal 24c. Has been. The pedestal portion 24c is a part of the flexible substrate 24b, and is press-formed into a trapezoid shape while being heated so as to protrude into the recess 30 as shown in FIG.

  The LED 24a is mounted on the pedestal 24c by flip chip or wire bonding, and then the LED 24a is sealed with a translucent resin body 25. The resin body 25 includes a resin molded body that seals the LED 24a in a convex lens shape with a resin material, or a resin cap having a convex lens-shaped outer peripheral surface that is mounted from above the LED 24a. By forming the resin body 25 in the shape of a convex lens and forming the outer peripheral surface thereof along the inner peripheral surface of the concave portion 30, the irradiation efficiency into the light guide plate 23 can be further increased.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the light emitting unit 24 having the above structure is completely accommodated together with the pedestal portion 24c in the concave portion 30, and the joint surface between the periphery of the concave portion 30 and the light receiving portion 26 is fixed via an adhesive or the like. Is done. Further, a transparent resin material 29 can be filled in the gap between the inner peripheral surface of the recess 30 and the resin body 25 covering the LED 24a. By filling such a transparent resin material 29, the inside of the recess 30 can be completely hermetically sealed. Therefore, the light emitted from the light emitting unit 24 can be guided into the light guide plate 23 without leakage, and the resin body 25 is protected from the outside air and moisture. It is possible to suppress a decrease in light emission efficiency due to color change or color change.

  The light emitted from the LED 24a is emitted toward the inner peripheral surface of the concave portion 30 provided in a substantially hemispherical shape, and the light can be distributed throughout the light guide plate 23 through the inner peripheral surface. In particular, since the LED 24a is housed in the recess 30 together with the pedestal 24c, the light emitted from the LED 24a is condensed into the recess 30 without omission and guided to the outer periphery of the fan-shaped light guide 23a. Since light can be emitted, light emission efficiency can be improved and power consumption can be reduced. Further, since the peripheral surface of the light receiving portion 26 with the concave portion 30 as the center is formed as a parabolic surface 31, the scale portion 36 is configured to repeat total reflection of the light emitted from the LED 24a by the parabolic surface 31. Light can be uniformly guided toward the outer periphery of the formed light guide plate 23 without unevenness.

  As described above, when the substrate on which the LED 24a is mounted is composed of the flexible substrate 24b, the pedestal portion 24c can be easily formed by pressing a part thereof. When an epoxy resin substrate is used regardless of such a flexible substrate 24b, a spacer member 32 formed in a size that can be accommodated in the recess 30 is formed on the epoxy resin substrate 33 as shown in FIG. The pedestal portion 34 can be formed by being placed on the surface. The spacer member 32 is formed of an epoxy resin, and a through hole is formed on the surface for electrical connection between an electrode portion for mounting the LED 24a and a lower substrate to be placed.

  5 to 7 show a configuration of a vehicle meter panel 41 including a light guide plate having a U-shaped light guide. The vehicle meter panel 41 according to the second embodiment includes a meter display plate 42 provided with a scale 36 made of numbers, a light guide plate 43 disposed on the back side of the meter display plate 42, and the light guide plate. A pair of light-emitting portions 44 and 45 that illuminate 43 from the side are provided, and in the same manner as the vehicle meter panel 21 of the first embodiment, the vehicle is operated in a state of being housed in a housing 27 in which a built-in recess 28 is formed. Used in a dashboard on the seat side.

  The meter display plate 42 is made of a black thin plastic sheet having a light shielding property, and a scale portion 36 representing a speed per hour is formed therein so as to have translucency. The scale portion 36 is arranged in an arc shape along the rotation direction of a meter needle (not shown), and a scale line 37 is provided on the outside and a numeral 38 is provided on the inside. The scale portion 36 is stamped and formed along the outline of the scale line 37 and the number 38 in order to provide translucency, or when the plastic sheet is formed, the scale line 37 and the number 38 are formed as a mold. After the mask is taken and painted with a black paint, the mask is removed to expose the transparent base portion of the plastic sheet.

  The light guide plate 43 disposed on the back side of the meter display plate 42 is formed of a resin such as translucent acrylic or polycarbonate, and has an arcuate outer peripheral surface and an inner surface that match the arrangement of the scale portions 36. A U-shaped light guide 43a having a peripheral surface, and a pair of light receiving portions 46a and 46b at both open ends of the U-shaped light guide 43a.

  The pair of light receiving portions 46a and 46b are formed with recesses 50 for accommodating the LEDs 44a and 45a in the same manner as the light guide plate 23 of the first embodiment. The concave portion 50 is formed by recessing the side surfaces of the light receiving portions 46a and 46b into a substantially hemispherical shape.

  Like the light emitting unit 24 shown in the first embodiment, the light emitting units 44 and 45 are obtained by mounting LEDs 44a and 45a on pedestal units 44c and 45c obtained by pressing a part of a flexible substrate, The LEDs 44a and 45a are accommodated together with the pedestal portions 44c and 45c in 50, and are fixed to the light receiving portions 46a and 46b. In addition, the light condensing property can be enhanced by forming the LEDs 44a and 45a into a convex lens shape with a translucent resin body. Furthermore, when the LEDs 44a and 45a are accommodated in the recesses 50, the gaps are filled with the transparent resin material 29 and sealed, thereby effectively preventing deterioration of the light emission characteristics of the LEDs 44a and 45a. . The pedestal portions 44c and 45c can be formed by using the spacer member 32 placed on the epoxy resin substrate 33 as shown in FIG. 4 in addition to pressing the flexible substrate.

  According to the light guide plate 43 provided in the vehicle meter panel 41 of this embodiment, the light emitted from the light emitting portions 44 and 45 enters the respective recesses 50 formed in the light receiving portions 46a and 46b, respectively. Of the U-shaped light guide 43a is transmitted toward the center while repeating total reflection on the parabolic inner and outer peripheral surfaces of the U-shaped light guide 43a, and the light guide plate 43 can emit light uniformly and without unevenness. it can. In particular, since the non-directional light emitted from the LEDs 44a and 45a can be taken in without omission by the concave portions 50 provided in the light receiving portions 46a and 46b, the backlight is improved in luminance and power consumption is reduced. The lighting effect can be obtained.

  In the first embodiment and the second embodiment, one monochromatic light LED is disposed for each of the light receiving portions 26, 46a, and 46b of the light guide plates 23 and 43. For example, in each of the light receiving portions, By arranging LEDs of three primary colors consisting of red, blue, and green, it is possible to emit and display various colors. In addition to controlling the emission color with such an LED, it is possible to change the emission color in various ways by arranging filters of each color in the scale portion. Thus, by displaying the scale portion by color, it becomes a meter panel that is easy for a driver to check.

  In the above-described embodiment, the vehicle meter panel according to the present invention is applied to a speedometer. However, the present invention is also applied to a tachometer, a fuel gauge, a water temperature gauge, or the like other than such a speedometer. Is possible.

It is an assembly perspective view of the meter panel for vehicles of a 1st embodiment concerning the present invention. It is a principal part top view of the light-guide plate which comprises the said meter panel for vehicles. It is principal part sectional drawing of the said light-guide plate. It is a top view of the light emission part which formed the base part with the spacer member. It is an assembly perspective view of the meter panel for vehicles of a 2nd embodiment concerning the present invention. It is a top view of the light-guide plate which comprises the said vehicle meter panel. It is principal part sectional drawing of the said light-guide plate. It is an assembly perspective view of the conventional vehicle meter panel.

Explanation of symbols

21, 41 Meter panel 22, 42 Meter display plate 23, 43 Light guide plate 23a Fan-shaped light guide unit 24 Light emitting unit 24a LED (light emitting element)
24b Flexible substrate 24c Pedestal part 25 Resin body 26 Light receiving part (base end part)
30, 50 Recessed portion 31 Parabolic surface 32 Spacer member 33 Epoxy resin substrate 34 Base portion 43a U-shaped light guide portion 44 Light emitting portion 44a LED
45 Light emitting part 45a LED
46a, 46b light receiving part

Claims (11)

In a vehicle meter panel comprising a meter display plate having a scale portion formed on the outer periphery, a light guide plate disposed on the back side of the meter display plate, and a light emitting unit disposed at an end of the light guide plate ,
The light guide plate is provided with a concave portion for accommodating the light emitting portion at an end portion, and light emitted from the light emitting portion accommodated in the concave portion is irradiated toward the scale portion of the meter display plate. A vehicle meter panel characterized by 2. The vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the light guide plate is formed by an arcuate fan-shaped light guide portion having an outer peripheral portion, and a concave portion that houses the light-emitting portion is provided at a base end portion of the fan-shaped light guide portion. Meter panel. The light guide plate is formed by a U-shaped light guide portion curved in an arc shape along the array of the scale portions, and concave portions for accommodating the light emitting portions are provided at both ends of the U-shaped light guide portion, respectively. The vehicle meter panel according to claim 1. The vehicular meter panel according to claim 1, wherein the concave portion is formed by recessing an end portion of the light guide plate in a substantially hemispherical shape. The vehicular meter panel according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the light guide plate is formed as a parabolic surface centering on an end portion provided with the concave portion. 4. The vehicle meter panel according to claim 1, wherein the light emitting unit includes a pedestal portion that protrudes into the recess and a light emitting element mounted on the pedestal portion. 5. The vehicle meter panel according to claim 6, wherein the pedestal portion is formed by projecting a part of the flexible substrate by press molding. The vehicle meter panel according to claim 6, wherein the pedestal portion is formed to protrude by a spacer member disposed on an upper surface of the resin substrate. The vehicle meter panel according to claim 6, wherein the light emitting element is sealed on the pedestal portion by a translucent resin body. The vehicle meter panel according to claim 9, wherein the resin body is a convex lens-shaped resin molded body or a convex lens-shaped resin cap that covers the light emitting element. The vehicle meter according to claim 6, wherein a transparent resin material is filled between an inner peripheral surface of the concave portion and an outer peripheral surface of a resin body of the light emitting element accommodated in the concave portion. panel.

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