JP2009198998A - Light emitting display device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an excellent light emitting display by preventing rubbing between a light emitting display part of a light guide and an inside face of a display window while keeping a small clearance between them in a light emitting display device. <P>SOLUTION: The light emitting display device comprises a holding member 20 having the display window 23, and the light guide 30 for guiding light to the display window 23. The light guide 30 has: a light emitting display part 32 located at the tip and inserted into the display window 23; a guided part 34 located behind; and a press-fitting part 36 located further behind. The holding member 20 has a holding part 26 into which the light guide 30 can be inserted. The holding part 26 has a guide part 27 and a pressure contact part 28. The guide part 27 in contact with the guided part 34 guides the light guide 30 in a regular inserting direction so as to prevent contact between the light emitting display part 32 and the inside face of the display window 23. The pressure contact part 28 holds the light guide 30 by pressure contact with the press-fitting part 36. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a light emitting display device applicable to a vehicle panel or the like.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a light guide that guides light emitted from a light source to the panel surface has been used as a means for displaying the position of a switch or the like provided on a vehicle panel and other means.

For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a device including a housing having a display window and an indicator lens held by the housing. The indicator lens is made of a light guide material, and guides light emitted from an LED provided on the back side of the housing to the display window. Specifically, a light-emitting display portion having a shape that can be inserted into the display window is formed at the tip of the indicator lens, and light is emitted from the light-emitting display portion to the front side of the housing.
JP 7-36397 A

  In the device, it is preferable that the gap between the outer peripheral surface of the light emitting display unit and the inner peripheral surface of the display window is made as small as possible for good light emission display. However, the smaller this gap is, the higher the risk of rubbing between the outer peripheral surface of the light emitting display unit and the inner side surface of the display window when the light emitting display unit is inserted into the display window. In addition, even after the insertion, there is a possibility that the display window and the light emitting display portion may rub against each other with a slight relative displacement.

  On the other hand, coating is generally performed from the surface of the housing to the inner surface of the display window. Therefore, if the outer peripheral surface of the light emitting display unit and the inner side surface of the display window are rubbed as described above, the paint on the inner side surface of the display window may be peeled off and the residue may adhere to the surface of the light emitting display unit. . Such adhesion of paint residue tends to hinder good light emission display, and removal of the paint residue is not easy.

  In view of such circumstances, the present invention is an apparatus capable of realizing good light-emitting display by preventing the friction between the light-emitting display portion of the light guide and the inner surface of the display window while keeping the gap between them small. For the purpose of provision.

  As means for solving the above problems, the present invention has a display part provided with a display window, and a holding member whose surface is coated with the display part and the inner side surface of the display window, A light-emitting display device that includes a light guide that is held by the holding member and guides light emitted from a light source located on the back side of the holding member to the display window, the light guide having a tip thereof A light-emitting display unit that is inserted inside the display window, a guided unit that is positioned behind the light-emitting display unit, and a press-fit unit that is positioned further rearward of the guided unit, The holding member has a cylindrical holding portion that is positioned on the back side of the display window and into which the light guide can be inserted from the light emitting display portion side. When the light emitting display unit comes into contact with the guided portion before reaching the display window at the time of insertion A guide portion for guiding the light guide in a direction in which the light emitting display portion is inserted into the display window without contacting the inner surface of the display window, and the guide portion and the guided portion. And a press-contact portion that is in a position to press-contact with the press-fit portion after contact and holds the light guide by the press-contact.

  In this apparatus, when the light guide is inserted into the holding portion of the holding member, the guide portion of the holding portion comes into contact with the guided portion before the light emitting display portion reaches the display window. In order to guide the light guide in a direction in which the light emitting display unit is inserted into the display window without contacting the inner surface of the display window, the light emitting display unit and the display window at the time of the insertion Even if the gap with the inner surface is small, rubbing between the two can be prevented. Even after the guide, the light guide is held by the holding portion by the press-fitting portion of the light guide and the press-contact portion of the holding portion (that is, the guided portion and the guide portion are in contact with each other). By being held at a position where the light emitting display portion is held, rubbing between the light emitting display portion and the inner side surface of the display window is prevented.

  In the present invention, at least one part of the guided part and the guide part has a plurality of protrusions extending in the insertion direction of the light guide, and the protrusions are in contact with the other part. More preferred. This structure reduces the sliding contact area between the guided portion and the guiding portion, thereby reducing the resistance of insertion of the light guide into the holding portion.

  More preferably, both the guided part and the guide part have the protrusions, and the protrusions of the guided part are in contact with the protrusions of the guide part.

  More preferably, at least one portion of the press-fitting portion and the press-contact portion has a protrusion protruding toward the other portion, and a tip portion of the protrusion is in pressure-contact with the other portion. In this structure, when the press-fitting part is press-fitted into the press-contact part, only the projection needs to be deformed (for example, elastic deformation), so that, for example, the press-fitting part and the press-contact part are pressed together over the entire circumference. In comparison, it is possible to reduce the resistance of the press-fitting portion into the press-contact portion.

  The display window may have, for example, a uniform opening area in the axial direction, but a small-diameter portion located on the surface side of the display portion, and located on the back side of the small-diameter portion, than the small-diameter portion. A light-emitting display portion of the light guide is inserted into the large-diameter portion of the display window and in the inserted state between the inner-side surface of the large-diameter portion. More preferably, it has an outer shape that forms a gap, and the small diameter portion has an inner diameter that enables the small diameter portion to cover the gap from the front side.

  In this structure, the light emitting display portion and the inner surface of the large diameter portion are inserted by inserting the light emitting display portion of the light guide into the large diameter portion in front of the small diameter portion of the display window. While ensuring the clearance gap between them and preventing contact between both reliably, the said small diameter part covers the clearance gap from the surface side, and a favorable external appearance and a light emission display are ensured.

  As described above, according to the present invention, when the light guide is inserted into the holding portion of the holding member, the guide portion on the holding portion side comes into contact with the guided portion on the light guide side, and the light guide body Is guided in an appropriate direction, and after the contact, the press-fitting portion of the light guide is press-fitted into the press-contact portion of the holding portion, so that the light-emitting display portion of the light guide and the display window of the holding member There is an effect that it is possible to realize good light-emitting display by preventing the two from rubbing while suppressing the gap with the inner surface and preventing the generation of paint residue due to the rubbing.

  Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  The light-emitting display device according to this embodiment is applied to an operation panel 10 provided in the interior of an automobile as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, and an operation button 20 corresponding to a holding member, And an indicator lens 30 that is a light guide held by the operation button 20.

  A circuit board 40 is disposed on the back side of the operation panel 10, and a pressure switch elastic member 50 is fixed to the surface of the circuit board 40. The circuit board 40 and the pressing switch elastic member 50 constitute a pressing switch that receives a pressing operation via the operation button 20. Further, on the circuit board 40, a light source (for example, LED) 44 for light emission display as described later is mounted.

  The operation button 20 receives a pressing operation in the panel depth direction (right direction in FIG. 2) to turn on the pressing switch, and is assembled to the operation panel 10 so as to be slidable in the pressing operation direction. It is done. The operation button 20 integrally includes a button main body 22, a pressing portion 24 extending from the button main body 22 to the back side, and a cylindrical holding portion 26 for holding the indicator lens 30.

  The button main body 22 includes an operated wall 22a corresponding to a display unit, and a side wall 22b extending from the operated wall 22a in the pressing operation direction. The operated wall 22a is exposed to the panel surface and receives a pressing operation, and has a display window 23 on the upper portion thereof. The display window 23 penetrates the operated wall 22 a and opens on both the front and back sides of the button body 22. Further, coating is applied from the surface of the operated wall 22a to the inner side surface of the display window 23.

  The indicator lens 30 is inserted into the holding portion 26 from the back side of the panel and is held by the holding portion 26, and guides light emitted from the light source 44 to the display window 23 in the holding state. It has a shape that can emit light from the window 23 to the front side of the panel. Specific shapes and structures of the indicator lens 30 and the holding portion 26 will be described in detail later.

  The circuit board 40 is disposed on the back side of the operation panel 10 in a posture substantially parallel to the main body panel 10A. A board-side contact 42 corresponding to one contact of the pressing switch is provided on the surface of the circuit board 40, and these board-side contacts 42 are arranged at positions corresponding to the pressing portions 24 of the operation buttons 20. It has been.

  The elastic material 50 for the press switch is integrally formed of an elastic material such as rubber, and has a plate-like base 52 and an elastic displacement portion 54 that constitutes a part of the press switch. The base 52 is fixed between the operation panel 10 and the circuit board 40 by being sandwiched between them. The base 52 is provided with a through hole located so as to expose the substrate side contact 42 on the front side, and the elastic displacement portion 54 is located in a region inside the through hole. The elastic displacement portion 54 has a substantially columnar shape and has a bottom surface facing the substrate side contact 42, and an operation side contact 56 corresponding to the other contact of the switch element is provided on the bottom surface. The outer peripheral surface of each elastic displacement portion 54 is connected to the peripheral edge portion of each through hole in the base 52 through the thin wall portion 53, and the pressing operation force from the pressing portion 24 to the elastic displacement portion 54 toward the circuit board 40 side. Is given, the elastic displacement portion 54 is elastically displaced in the pressing operation direction along with the elastic deformation of the thin-walled portion 53, so that the two contacts 56 and 42 come into contact with each other. By this contact, the pressing switch including both the contacts 56 and 42 is turned on.

  A plate-like locked portion 24 a that protrudes downward from the main body portion of the pressing portion 24 is formed at the tip of the pressing portion 24. The locked portion 24a constitutes a pressing surface that comes into pressure contact with the elastic displacement portion 54 and has a function of being locked to the operation panel 10 side. Specifically, a bending piece 16 that can be deflected and displaced in a direction orthogonal to the pressing operation direction is formed at an appropriate position of the operation panel 10, and the tip of the bending piece 16 is formed from the side opposite to the circuit board 40. The locked portion 24a is locked by coming into contact with the locked portion 24a.

  In addition, the holding member which comprises the light emission display apparatus which concerns on this invention is not restricted to the operation button 20 for pressing a press switch as mentioned above. For example, a display window may be provided directly on the operation panel 10, and in that case, the operation panel 10 only needs to constitute a holding member.

  Next, specific structures of the indicator lens 30 and the holding portion 26 that holds the indicator lens 30 will be described with reference to FIGS.

  The indicator lens 30 is made of a light-guiding material such as acrylic resin, and has a shape as shown in FIGS. That is, it has a substantially columnar shape extending in a direction parallel to the pressing operation direction of the operation button 20, and has a substantially oval cross section that is flat in the vertical direction. The light emitting display 32, the guided portion 34, the press-fit portion 36, the insertion positioning portion 37, and the locked protrusion 39 as shown in FIG.

  The light emitting display portion 32 is located at the tip of the indicator lens 30 and has a cross sectional shape that is slightly smaller than other portions and can be inserted into the display window 23. More specifically, the display window 23 includes a small-diameter portion 23a positioned on the surface side (left side in FIG. 4) of the operated wall 22a, and is positioned behind the small-diameter portion 23a and is located behind the small-diameter portion 23a. On the other hand, the light emitting display portion 32 has a shape that is inserted into the large diameter portion 23b in a loosely fitted state as shown in FIG. That is, in the inserted state, the gap 25 is formed over the entire circumference between the outer peripheral surface of the light emitting display portion 32 and the inner peripheral surface of the large diameter portion 23b. The inner diameter of the small diameter portion 23 a is set so that the small diameter portion 23 a covers the gap 25 from the front side of the operation button 20.

  The tip surface of the light emitting display portion 32 constitutes a light emitting surface. On this light emitting surface, minute unevenness for scattering light is formed.

  The guided portion 34 is positioned behind the light emitting display portion 32 and is guided by the holding portion 26. In this embodiment, the guided portion 34 includes a plurality of protrusions 34a. More specifically, as shown in FIG. 6, the protrusions 34 a are formed on a total of four surfaces of the upper and lower surfaces and the left and right side surfaces of the indicator lens 30, and each protrusion 34 a is formed in the holding portion 26. It extends in a direction parallel to the direction in which the lens 30 is inserted (hereinafter referred to as “indicator lens insertion direction”).

  The press-fit portion 36 is located further rearward of the guided portion 34 and is press-fitted into the holding portion 26. In this embodiment, the press-fit portion 36 is configured by a plurality of protrusions 36a. More specifically, as shown in FIG. 7, the protrusions 36 a protrude outwardly at four corner positions on a specific cross section located behind the guided portion 34.

  The insertion positioning portion 37 abuts on the rear end of the holding portion 26 to define the insertion depth position of the indicator lens 30 into the holding portion 26. Specifically, the insertion positioning portion 37 is located immediately behind the press-fit portion 36 and protrudes downward from the lower surface of the main body portion of the indicator lens 30. The insertion depth position defined by the insertion positioning portion 37 is a position where the light emitting display portion 32 reaches the large diameter portion 23b in front of the small diameter portion 23a in the display window 23 as described above.

  The insertion positioning portion 37 is not necessarily required in the present invention. Even when the insertion positioning portion 37 is provided, the specific shape and position thereof can be set as appropriate. For example, the holding positioning portion 26 is in contact with a step portion formed at an intermediate position in the indicator lens insertion direction. Also good. In short, what is necessary is just to prescribe | regulate the normal insertion depth position of the said indicator lens 30 by contact | abutting with the suitable site | part of the said holding | maintenance part 26.

  The locked protrusion 39 is for locking to the holding portion 26 at the normal insertion depth position. In this embodiment, the indicator lens is positioned slightly forward of the press-fit portion 36. It protrudes upward from the upper surface of 30 main body portions. This locked protrusion 39 can also be appropriately omitted in the present invention.

  On the other hand, the holding portion 26 is positioned on the back side of the display window 23 and has a cylindrical shape into which the indicator lens 30 can be inserted from the light emitting display portion 32 side. And this holding | maintenance part 26 has the guide part 27 as shown in FIG.

  When the indicator lens 30 is inserted into the holding portion 26, the guide portion 27 contacts the guided portion 34 before the light emitting display portion 32 of the indicator lens 30 reaches the display window 23. Thus, the indicator lens 30 is guided in a normal insertion direction. The normal insertion direction is a direction that allows the light emitting display portion 32 to enter the display window 23 without contacting the inner surface of the display window 23.

  In this embodiment, the guide portion 27 is constituted by a plurality of protrusions 27a that protrude inward from the inner surface of the other portion of the holding portion 26 and extend in a direction parallel to the indicator lens insertion direction. The These protrusions 27a are formed at positions facing the protrusions 34a constituting the guided portion 34 of the indicator lens 30, respectively. That is, as shown in FIG. 6, the protrusions 27a are formed at four positions on the holding portion 26 in the vertical and horizontal directions, and are in contact (sliding contact) with the protrusions 34a corresponding to the protrusions 27a. To guide the indicator lens 30 in the normal insertion direction.

  In addition, the specific position of the said protrusion 27a, 34a can be set suitably. For example, a pair of left and right oblique ridges may be formed instead of the upper and left and right ridges 27a and 34a. Even if one of the protrusions 27a and 34a is omitted, it is possible to obtain the effect of reducing the insertion resistance of the indicator lens 30 by reducing the sliding contact area.

  The pressure contact portion 28 is a portion that is in pressure contact with each protrusion 36a of the press-fit portion 36 after the guide portion 27 and the guided portion 34 are in contact with each other, and holds the indicator lens 30 by the pressure contact. In this embodiment, the press contact portion 28 is constituted by a rear end portion of the holding portion 26 and has an inner peripheral surface that is slightly smaller than a circumscribed surface passing through the tip of each projection 36a. When the protrusion 36a is elastically deformed in the compression direction by a difference from the outer surface, the protrusion 36a is pressed against the inner peripheral surface of the pressure contact portion 28 by its elastic force. In FIG. 7, for the sake of convenience, the shape of the protrusion 36a before elastic deformation is drawn as it is on the inner peripheral surface of the pressure contact portion 28. Therefore, the overlapping portion of the projection 36a and the pressure contact portion 28 shown in the figure corresponds to the amount of elastic deformation of the projection 36a.

  The specific shape and position of the protrusion 36a can also be set as appropriate. Similar protrusions may be formed on the inner peripheral surface side of the pressure contact portion 28. In that case, the outer peripheral surface of the portion of the indicator lens 30 on the front side of the press-fit portion 36 is made slightly smaller than the inscribed surface passing through the tip of the protrusion, and conversely, the outer peripheral surface of the press-fit portion 36 is made the inner surface. What is necessary is just to make it one size larger than a contact surface.

  The locking hole 29 is formed on the upper wall constituting the holding portion 26 at a position slightly ahead of the rear end. The shape of the locking hole 29 is a shape in which the locked protrusion 39 can be fitted inside, and by the fitting, the indicator lens 30 can be detached rearward from the holding portion 26. The indicator lens 30 is locked to the holding portion 26 so as to be blocked. Further, the position of the locking hole 29 is substantially the same as the contact between the insertion positioning part 37 and the rear end of the holding part 26 after the press-fitting of the press-contact part 28 to the press-fit part 36 is started. The position is set such that the locked protrusion 39 is fitted into the locking hole 29 at the same timing.

  According to the light-emitting display device described above, when the indicator lens 30 is inserted into the holding unit 26 from the light-emitting display unit 32 side and after the insertion is completed, the light-emitting display unit 32 of the indicator lens 30 and the display lens 32 are displayed. It is possible to reliably prevent the inner surface of the window 23 from rubbing, and to prevent the occurrence of paint residue due to the rubbing.

  Specifically, at the time of the insertion, before the light emitting display portion 32 of the indicator lens 30 reaches the display window 23, each protrusion 27a constituting the guide portion 27 of the holding portion 26 is moved to the indicator. The indicator lens 30 is brought into a normal insertion direction, that is, the light emitting display portion 32 comes into contact with the inner side surface of the display window 23 by slidingly contacting each protrusion 34a constituting the guided portion 34 of the lens 30. The gap between the light emitting display portion 32 and the inner surface of the display window 23 at the time of insertion (more specifically, the outer periphery of the light emitting display portion 32) Even if the gap 25) between the surface and the inner peripheral surface of the large-diameter portion 23b of the display window 23 is set small, rubbing between the two can be reliably prevented.

  When the insertion proceeds and each protrusion 36a constituting the press-fit portion 36 of the indicator lens 30 is press-fitted into the press-contact portion 28 of the holding portion 26, the press-fit makes the indicator lens 30 in an appropriate posture (that is, Since the protrusion 27a and each protrusion 34a are in contact with each other), the gap 25 is maintained. The insertion is completed when the insertion positioning portion 37 contacts the rear end of the holding portion 26. At this time, the light emitting display portion 32 of the indicator lens 30 is more than the small diameter portion 23a of the display window 23. Since it remains in the large-diameter portion 23b on the near side, rubbing between the outer peripheral surface of the light emitting display portion 32 and the inner peripheral surface of the small-diameter portion 23a is reliably prevented. Moreover, since the gap 25 between the outer peripheral surface of the light emitting display portion 32 and the inner peripheral surface of the large diameter portion 23b is covered from the front side of the operation button 20 by the small diameter portion 23a, the operation is performed regardless of the presence of the gap 25. The appearance and light emission display from the front side of the button 20 are kept good.

It is a front view which shows the operation button and indicator lens which comprise the light emission display apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is the II-II sectional view taken on the line of FIG. It is a bottom view of the indicator lens. It is a cross-sectional side view which shows the principal part of the said light emission display device. It is the VV sectional view taken on the line of FIG. It is the VI-VI sectional view taken on the line of FIG. It is the VII-VII sectional view taken on the line of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

20 Operation buttons (holding members)
22 Button body 22a Wall to be operated (display section)
23 Display window 23a Small diameter portion 23b Large diameter portion 24 Pressing portion 25 Clearance between the light emitting display portion and the inner surface of the large diameter portion 26 Holding portion 27 Guide portion 27a Projection 28 Pressure contact portion 30 Indicator lens (light guide)
32 Light-emitting display part 34 Guided part 34a Projection 36 Press-fit part 36a Projection 40 Circuit board 44 Light source

Claims (5)

A display unit provided with a display window, a holding member having a surface coated with the display unit and an inner surface of the display window, and a holding member held by the holding member and positioned on the back side of the holding member; A light-emitting display device comprising a light guide that guides light emitted from a light source to the display window,
The light guide is located at the tip of the light-emitting display unit inserted inside the display window, a guided unit positioned behind the light-emitting display unit, and positioned further behind the guided unit. A press-fitting portion to
The holding member has a cylindrical holding portion that is positioned on the back side of the display window and into which the light guide can be inserted from the light emitting display portion side. When the light-emitting display unit is brought into contact with the guided portion before reaching the display window at the time of insertion, the light-emitting body is used for the display without the light-emitting display unit being in contact with the inner surface of the display window. A guide portion that guides in a direction to be inserted inside the window, and a press-contact portion that holds the light guide by the press contact at a position where the guide portion and the guided portion are in contact with the press-fit portion. A light-emitting display device comprising: The light-emitting display device according to claim 1.
At least one portion of the guided portion and the guide portion has a plurality of protrusions extending in the insertion direction of the light guide, and the protrusions are in contact with the other portion. apparatus. The light emitting display device according to claim 2.
Both the said guide part and the said guide part have the said protrusion, and the protrusion of the said guided part contacts the protrusion of the said guide part, The light-emitting display apparatus characterized by the above-mentioned.   At least one portion of the press-fitting portion and the press-contact portion has a protrusion protruding toward the other portion, and the tip portion of the protrusion is in pressure-contact with the other portion. The light-emitting display device according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The display window has a small diameter portion located on the surface side of the display portion, and a large diameter portion located on the back side of the small diameter portion and having an inner diameter larger than the small diameter portion,
The light-emitting display portion of the light guide has an outer shape that is inserted into the large-diameter portion of the display window and forms a gap with the inner surface of the large-diameter portion in the inserted state, and the small-diameter portion Is a light emitting display device characterized in that the small diameter portion has an inner diameter that allows the gap to be covered from the front side.

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