JP2008275405A - Luminous pointer - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a luminous pointer capable of inhibiting the generation of uneven luminance even if the luminous pointer has a bulging part on the luminescent surface. <P>SOLUTION: The luminous pointer 4 includes a pointer main body 10 composed of a pointer part 8 provided with a luminescent surface 14, and a reflection part 15, and the base part 9 provided with a light receiving part 17 and a base reflection surface 18, and the pointer cap for covering the front of a base 9, wherein a reflection part 15 is provided with a reflection layer 16 as well as the mid point along the longitudinal direction is curved to the luminescent surface 14 side, and the luminescent surface 14 is provided with a bulging part 22, while a luminescent surface 14 is curved to the front side. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a light emission indicator used for, for example, a vehicle meter.

For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-294293 discloses an example in which a light emission indicator is used in a meter. The light emitting pointer is configured such that light from the light emitting element 29 disposed behind the light emitting pointer is incident from the light receiving portion 35 of the pointer 26 and reflected by the reflecting portion 36 to guide the light to the distal end side of the indicating portion 33. The surface 33 (light emitting surface) emits light uniformly.
JP 7-294293 A

  As described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H10-228707, the light emission pointer is gradually tapered from the reflecting portion 36 side toward the distal end side of the indicating portion 33. Therefore, the light reflected by the reflecting portion 36 and directed toward the indicating portion 33 is diffusely reflected by the back surface of the indicating portion 33 so that the indicating portion 33 emits light uniformly. However, in recent years, various designs are required. For example, when the surface (light emitting surface) of the pointing unit bulges to the front side (viewer side), the thickness along the longitudinal direction of the pointing unit has not changed gradually. The light emission luminance at the point toward the tip end tends to decrease, and the entire pointer does not emit light uniformly, and uneven light emission tends to occur.

  The present invention has been made in view of these points, and an object of the present invention is to provide a light emission pointer capable of suppressing the occurrence of uneven light emission even if the light emission pointer has a bulging portion on the light emitting surface.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a light emitting device comprising a pointer main body comprising an indicator having a light emitting surface and a reflecting portion, a light receiving portion and a base having a base reflecting surface, and a pointer cap covering the front side of the base. In the pointer, the reflecting portion has a reflecting layer, and a middle portion along the longitudinal direction is curved toward the light emitting surface, and the light emitting surface has a bulging portion curved toward the front side.

  Moreover, the said reflection part is tied smoothly.

  Even with a light emission guide having a bulging portion on the light emitting surface, a light emission guide capable of suppressing the occurrence of light emission unevenness can be obtained.

  The present invention will be described with reference to an embodiment of a light emitting pointer used in a vehicle instrument. FIG. 1 is a partial cross-sectional view of a meter to which a light emission indicator is applied. FIG. 2 is a front view of the pointer main body, and FIG. 3 is a side view of the pointer main body.

  The instrument is composed of a rigid circuit board 1, an instrument body 3 that is mounted in conduction with the circuit board 1 on the back side of the circuit board 1, and has a pivot shaft 2 that extends forward through the circuit board 1. A light emitting pointer 4 fixed to the moving shaft 2, a display board 5 disposed behind the light emitting pointer 4, and a pointer as a light source that is mounted on the circuit board 1 around the rotating shaft 2 and illuminates the light emitting pointer 4. A light emitting diode 6 and a circular cylindrical portion 7 disposed between the display board 5 and the circuit board 1 so as to surround the pointer light emitting diode 6.

  The light emitting pointer 4 is disposed so as to cover the pointer main body 10 including the instruction portion 8 and the base portion 9, the pointer pedestal 11 disposed behind the base portion 9 of the pointer main body 10, and the front side and the periphery of the pointer pedestal 11. The indicator cap 12 and the balancer 13 are provided.

  The pointer main body 10 is made of a light-transmitting (for example, colorless and transparent) synthetic resin such as acrylic or polycarbonate, and is roughly divided into an instruction portion 8 and a base portion 9 covered with the pointer cap 12. The instruction unit 8 has a light emitting surface 14 on the front side (viewer side) and a reflecting unit 15 on the back side (display plate 5 side). A reflective layer 16 is formed on the reflective portion 15 by, for example, hot stamping a foil composed of two layers of red and white so that the light emitting surface 14 side is red.

  The base portion 9 includes a light receiving portion 17 into which light from the pointer light emitting diode 6 is incident, a base reflecting surface 18 corresponding to the light receiving portion 17, and two protruding pieces provided in a direction orthogonal to the pointing portion 8. 19. The projecting piece 19 is provided with two round holes 20 for positioning with the pointer base 11.

  The reflecting portion 15 of the indicating portion 8 has a curved portion 21 whose middle along the longitudinal direction is curved toward the light emitting surface 14 side. That is, as shown in FIG. 3, the bending portion 21 is bent more toward the light emitting surface 14 side than a line (indicated by a broken line L1 in FIG. 3) connecting the light receiving portion 17 side of the base reflecting surface 18 and the tip of the indicating portion 8. The apex P of the bending portion 21 is almost in the middle of the instruction portion 8. The 15 reflecting portions of the bending portion 21 and the 15 reflecting portions other than the bending portion 21 are connected by a smooth curved surface. The light emitting surface 14 has a bulging portion 22 that is curved forward (viewer side). That is, as shown in FIG. 3, the bulging portion 22 is curved forward (viewer side) with respect to a line (indicated by a broken line L2 in FIG. 3) connecting the upper side of the base reflecting surface 18 and the tip of the pointing portion 8. It has the part which did.

  The pointer cap 12 has a substantially circular inverted cup shape made of a non-permeable (for example, black) synthetic resin, and has a ceiling wall slit (not shown) so that the light emitting surface 14 is exposed at a part of the ceiling wall 23. )). Further, a side wall slit 25 is also provided on the peripheral wall 24 on the side of the indicator 8, and the indicator 8 is led out from the ceiling wall slit and the side wall slit 25. Although not shown, two locking projections (so-called hooks) for engaging the pointer base 11 with the pointer cap 12 are provided inside the peripheral wall 24.

  The pointer pedestal 11 is made of, for example, black synthetic resin, and is provided on the substantially disk-shaped pedestal portion 26, the mounting portion 27 protruding from the back side of the center of the pedestal portion 26, and the protruding piece 19 of the pointer main body 10. In addition, two round bosses (not shown) inserted into the two round holes 20 are provided, and an opening 28 is provided in the pedestal portion 26 so that the light receiving portion 17 faces the pointer light emitting diode 6.

  The balancer 13 balances the emission indicator 4 and is made of a metal material such as brass or zinc having a high specific gravity. The balancer 13 is housed in the pointer cap 12 on the opposite side of the pointer main body 10 from the instruction portion 8.

  A method for assembling the light emission indicator 4 in this embodiment will be described. First, the circular boss provided in the pedestal portion 26 of the pointer pedestal 11 is inserted into the round hole 20 provided in the protruding piece 19 of the pointer main body 10 to position and temporarily fix the pointer main body 10 and the pointer pedestal 11. . Next, the balancer 13 is housed in the pointer cap 12 with the pointer cap 12 turned upside down, and the pointer base 11 on which the pointer main body 10 is temporarily fixed is pushed from the opening side in the pointer cap 12. Then, in a state where the indicating portion 8 of the pointer main body 10 is led out from the ceiling wall slit and the side wall slit 25, two locking projections (not shown) provided on the peripheral wall 24 of the pointer cap 12 are formed on the periphery of the pedestal portion 26. The pointer base 11 is engaged (arranged) in the pointer cap 12 by being latched to the rear surface.

  The light emitting pointer 4 is fixed to the meter body 3 by press-fitting the mounting portion 27 of the pointer base 11 into the tip end side of the rotating shaft 2 of the meter body 3. Then, the light emission pointer 4 is rotated according to a predetermined measurement amount, and the instruction unit 8 points to a display unit (not shown) provided on the display plate 5.

  In the light emitting pointer 4 configured in this way, the light emitting surface 14 of the indicating unit 8 is visually recognized in red by the reflective layer 16. Further, even when the pointer light emitting diode 6 that emits red light, for example, disposed below the light receiving unit 17 is turned on, the light emitting surface 14 of the pointing unit 8 is visually recognized in red. That is, the light from the pointer light emitting diode 6 incident from the light receiving portion 17 is reflected by the base reflecting surface 18 and travels toward the reflecting portion 15. Here, since the reflecting portion 15 is provided with the bending portion 21, the light reflected by the base reflection surface 18 directly hits the reflecting portion 15 from the apex of the bending portion 21 toward the base 9. Since the reflective layer 16 is provided in the reflective portion 15, the light reflected by the reflective layer 16 of the curved portion 21 on the base 9 side is directed toward the light emitting surface 14, and the light emitting surface 14 emits red light (illuminated). )

  Further, a part of the light directed toward the light emitting surface 14 is reflected by the light emitting surface 14 toward the reflecting portion 15 side, and again reflected by the reflecting layer 16 toward the light emitting surface 14 side. In this manner, the light emitting surface 14 emits red light (illuminated) from the apex of the curved portion 21 by the light that travels while being repeatedly reflected between the light emitting surface 14 and the reflective layer 16 from the apex side of the indicator 8. become.

  Further, the light emitting surface 14 near the base 9 and the reflective layer 16 have a distance compared to the tip side, and the light reflected by the reflective layer 16 on the base 9 side is difficult to go to the light emitting surface 14 side, but the base reflection Since the portion is close to the surface 18, the light emitting surface 14 emits light with the same luminance as the light emitting surface 14 on the front end side and the center side of the pointing portion 8 by the strong light irregularly reflected by the reflecting layer 16 on the base 9 side. .

  As described above, the reflecting portion 15 of the pointing portion 8 has the reflecting layer 16 and has the curved portion 21 whose middle portion along the longitudinal direction is curved toward the light emitting surface 14 side, and the light emitting surface 14 is on the front side. By being a light emission pointer having a curved bulge portion 22, even if the light emission pointer has a bulge portion 22 on the light emitting surface 14, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of light emission unevenness on the light emitting surface 14. The entire light emitting surface 14 can be illuminated (illuminated) with a good balance.

  In addition, since the reflecting portion 15 of the bending portion 21 and the reflecting portion 15 other than the bending portion 21 are connected by a smooth curved surface, the reflecting layer 16 can be uniformly hot stamped on the entire reflecting portion 15. Accordingly, light can be efficiently reflected by the reflective layer 16, and the entire light emitting surface 14 can be emitted (illuminated) with a good balance.

  The reflective layer 16 is not limited to a red and white two-layer foil, and may be, for example, either a red foil or a white foil. Further, the reflective layer 16 only needs to reflect light toward the light emitting surface 14, and is not limited to hot stamping, and may be, for example, printing.

The fragmentary sectional view of the meter to which the light emission pointer which shows embodiment of this invention was applied. The front view of the pointer main body which shows the embodiment. The side view of the pointer main body which shows the embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

4 Light emission pointer 8 Pointer 9 Base 10 Pointer body 12 Pointer cap 14 Light emitting surface 15 Reflecting portion 16 Reflecting layer 17 Light receiving portion 18 Base reflecting surface 21 Curved portion 22 Swelling portion

Claims (2)

  In a light emitting pointer comprising a pointer main body comprising an indicator having a light emitting surface and a reflective portion, a light receiving portion and a base having a base reflective surface, and a pointer cap covering the front side of the base, the reflective portion includes a reflective layer. And a light emitting pointer characterized by having a middle portion along the longitudinal direction curved toward the light emitting surface, and the light emitting surface having a bulge portion curved toward the front side.   The light emitting pointer according to claim 1, wherein the reflecting portion is smoothly connected.

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