JP2009281926A - Indicator lighting system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an indicator lighting system with its lighting quality enhanced by reducing light escaping from a gap between an indicator cap and a display board. <P>SOLUTION: This indicator lighting system includes an indicator 1, the display board 2 disposed behind the indicator 1 at a prescribed distance therefrom and comprising a translucent part 21 on its portion corresponding to the indicator 1, a light source 4 disposed behind the display board 2 to make the indicator 1 shine by supplying illumination light to a light introducing part 13 of the indicator 1 through the translucent part 21 of the display board 2, and a light guide wall part 3c cylindrically extending around an indicator shaft 7 to house the light source 4 inside thereof while comprising an opening part 16 for guiding light of the light source 4 through the translucent part 21 to the indicator 1. This lighting system comprises a light interceptive part 3e consisting of a first light interceptive wall 33 extending from an inner wall surface of the wall part 3c toward the indicator shaft 7 and of a second light interceptive wall 34 extending from an indicator shaft-side end part of the interceptive wall 33 toward the light source side with a space left by the wall part 3c. This makes it possible to enhance lighting quality by preventing halation from arising. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a pointer illumination device employed in, for example, a vehicle instrument, and more particularly to a pointer illumination device capable of reducing light leakage from a gap between a pointer cap and a display plate and improving illumination quality.

Conventionally, a pointer that rotates on the display plate is formed from a translucent material, a light introduction part is provided, and a light guide plate is disposed behind the display plate, and illumination light from a light source such as an LED guided from the light guide plate is received. 2. Description of the Related Art A pointer illumination device is well known in which a pointer is supplied to a light introducing portion of a pointer through a light transmitting portion of a display panel and the pointer itself shines.

In this type of pointer illuminating device, the front and surroundings of the rotation center region including the light introduction portion of the pointer are usually covered with a pointer cap made of a light-shielding member. Although it can be suppressed, light leakage may occur from the gap between the pointer cap and the display board.

Therefore, for example, as in Patent Document 1 below, an introduction light control unit is provided that includes a light guide wall portion that extends around the pointer shaft and extends in a cylindrical shape, and controls light entering the light introduction portion serving as a light introduction path of illumination light on the pointer. In addition, a pointer illumination device has been proposed in which a light shielding wall that extends toward the pointer shaft side is provided inside the light guide wall portion to suppress light leakage.
JP 2001-153691 A

  However, even if the introduction light control unit is provided in the light guide wall as in Patent Document 1, the illumination light supplied to the pointer side is light reflected from the inner surface of the light guide wall through the pointer base. The reflected light is likely to leak to the outside through the gap between the pointer cap and the display board, and this may be viewed as halation, which may deteriorate the illumination quality. Further improvement is desired in this respect. It was.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and its main object is to provide a pointer illumination device capable of reducing the light leakage from the gap between the pointer cap and the display plate and improving the illumination quality. For the purpose.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention includes a transparent needle body having a light introducing portion in a rotation center area and a pointer cap that covers the rotation center area, and a pointer attached to a pointer shaft of the instrument body. A display plate disposed behind the pointer at a predetermined distance and having a light transmitting portion corresponding to the pointer, and light introduction of the pointer through the light transmitting portion of the display plate disposed behind the display plate. A light source that illuminates the pointer by supplying illumination light to a portion, and extends in a cylindrical shape around the pointer shaft, and the light source is housed inside the light source, and the light from the light source is transmitted through the light transmitting portion to the pointer. A first light-shielding wall extending from an inner wall surface of the light-guide wall portion toward the pointer shaft, and an end portion on the pointer shaft side of the first light-shielding wall. The light guide wall extends toward the light source with a space therebetween. And it has a light shielding portion comprising a second shielding wall.

  In addition, the present invention provides a transparent pointer main body having a light introducing portion in a rotation center region, a pointer cap covering the rotation center region, and a pointer attached to a pointer shaft of the instrument main body, and behind the pointer A display plate having a translucent portion arranged at a predetermined distance from the display plate and a portion corresponding to the pointer, and illuminating light to the light introducing portion of the pointer through the translucent portion of the display plate arranged behind the display plate. A light source that illuminates the pointer by supplying, and an opening that surrounds the pointer shaft and extends in a cylindrical shape, houses the light source therein, and guides the light of the light source to the pointer through the translucent portion A light guide wall portion that protrudes from the inner wall surface of the light guide wall portion and extends along the extending direction of the light guide wall portion.

ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the pointer illuminating device which can reduce the light leakage from the clearance gap between a pointer cap and a display board and can improve illumination quality can be obtained.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3. In this embodiment, the pointer illumination device according to the present invention is applied to a pointer-type meter. 1 is a sectional view of a pointer type meter according to the first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line aa of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a main part of FIG.

As shown in FIG. 1, the pointer-type meter according to the present embodiment includes a pointer 1, a display board 2, a frame 3, a light source 4a, a light source 4b, and light sources 4a and 4b, and is disposed behind the frame 3. The circuit board 5, the frame 3, and the display board are composed of a hard circuit board 5 and an instrument body 6 disposed behind the circuit board 5, and the pointer 1 and the pointer shaft 7 extending from the instrument body 6. The display design part (not shown) such as letters, numbers, scales, etc. formed on the display board 2 is indicated by rotating around the axis of the pointer 1 according to the driving of the pointer shaft 7 of the instrument body 6 In addition, the pointer 1 can be illuminated by turning on the light source 4b. Further, the display design portion of the display panel 2 can be illuminated by turning on the light source 4a.

  The pointer 1 has a light-transmitting pointer main body 10 made of a synthetic resin such as polycarbonate or acrylic, and a black light-shielding property that covers the front and the periphery of the rotation center region R of the pointer main body 10 and the back thereof opens. It consists of a pointer cap 11 made of synthetic resin and is attached to the pointer shaft 7.

  The pointer main body 10 has a light receiving portion (light introducing portion) 13 that incorporates the illumination light of the light source 4b in the rotation center region R, and a pointer reflecting portion that reflects the illumination light introduced from the light receiving portion 13 toward the tip side. 14.

  The display board 2 has a translucent colored printing layer having a predetermined color and forming a scale, characters, marks, etc. on the surface of a base material made of a transparent synthetic resin panel, and a scale so as to surround the colored printing layer. , Characters, marks, and other ground color print layers (not shown). The ground color print layers are formed using white colored ink in this embodiment. Further, the display plate 2 includes a through-hole-shaped light transmitting portion 21 in a region corresponding to the pointer shaft 7 and the light receiving portion 13 of the pointer main body 10, and the light guiding wall portion 3 c of the frame 3 is fitted in the light transmitting portion 21. It is formed in size.

  The light source is a chip-type light-emitting diode that can be mounted on the surface, and a light source 4a for display plate and a light source 4b for pointer are provided on the circuit board 5. A plurality of display panel light sources 4a are arranged around the light guide wall 3c in a circular shape. A plurality of pointer light sources 4b are arranged inside the light guide wall 3c with the pointer shaft 7 as the center.

  The frame 3 is made of a white light-shielding synthetic resin, and includes a display plate illumination chamber 31 that houses a light source (display plate light source) 4 a that illuminates the display plate 2 and a light source (pointer light source) 4 b that illuminates the pointer 1. A pointer illumination chamber 32 is provided. In the present embodiment, the display panel illumination chamber 31 and the pointer illumination chamber 32 are partitioned by the light guide wall 3c. The light guide wall 3c is formed integrally with the frame 3 together with the first and second reflectors 3a and 3b that diffuse the light from the light source 4a and irradiate the light toward the back surface of the display panel 2. Yes.

  As shown in detail in FIG. 3, the light guide wall 3 c includes a first light shielding wall 33 extending from the inner wall surface of the light guide wall 3 c toward the pointer shaft 7, and the pointer shaft 7 of the first light shielding wall 33. A light shielding portion 3d (see FIG. 3) including a second light shielding wall 34 extending from the side end portion toward the pointer light source 4b side, and a protruding wall 3e extending from the inner wall surface of the light guide wall portion 3c are provided. Yes.

  The first light shielding wall 33 is formed in a circular shape or an arc shape surrounding the pointer shaft 7 when viewed from the axial direction of the pointer shaft 7 and has a light guide wall side end portion and a pointer shaft side end portion. The second light shielding wall 34 is formed of a cylindrical portion that protrudes from the pointer shaft side end portion of the first light shielding wall 33 toward the pointer light source 4b, and is spaced apart from the light guide wall 3c. Projecting in parallel.

The protruding wall 3e is made of the same material as the frame 3, such as a light-shielding synthetic resin. As shown in FIG. 2, the protruding wall 3e protrudes from the inner wall surface of the light guide wall 3c and extends along the extending direction of the light guide wall 3c. It consists of four plate-like walls. The protruding walls 3e are formed at equal intervals so that the pointer light source 4b can be disposed therebetween.

With this configuration, the light emitted from the light source 4a for the display panel is diffused by the first reflecting section and the second reflecting sections 3a and 3b, and this emitted light is not shown from the back of the display board 2. By passing through the indicator portion, the indicator portion is illuminated in white.

The light emitted from the pointer light source 4b is guided toward the light receiving unit 13 in the pointer illumination chamber 32 partitioned from the display panel illumination chamber 31 by the cylindrical light guide wall 3c. Incident light that has entered the light receiving portion 13 is guided from the rotation center region R toward the distal end side of the pointer main body 10 by the pointer reflecting portion 14 formed in the rotation center region R, and the pointer main body 10 is illuminated.

As shown in FIG. 3, the emitted light emitted from the pointer light source 4b includes a light ray L1 that travels straight in the direction of the light receiving portion 13, and a light ray L2 and a light ray L3 that are reflected by the inner wall of the light guide wall portion 3c. To do. In this case, the light beam L1 is light that directly reaches the light receiving unit 13 without being reflected by the light guide wall 3c in the light emitted from the pointer light source 4b. The light beam L2 is light reflected in the direction of the pointer shaft 7 through the light guide wall 3c in the light emitted from the pointer light source 4b. The light beam L3 is light that travels while being reflected in a spiral shape by being reflected by the cylindrical surface of the light guide wall 3c in the light emitted from the pointer light source 4b.

Since the light beam L1 is light that travels straight along the pointer shaft 7 and enters the light receiving unit 13, the light reflected by the light receiving unit 13 is unlikely to go to the gap S side. Of the light beam L2, the directivity angle when emitted from the pointer light source 4b is close to the light beam L1 and high in intensity, and the incident and reflection angles of light with respect to the light guide wall portion 3c and the light receiving portion 13 are involved in the generation of halation. Light having an easy angle (that is, easy to go to the gap S side) is incident and surrounded by a bag-shaped space formed by the light shielding portion 3d (the light reflected by the light guide wall portion 3c is blocked by the light shielding portion 3d). Therefore, it is possible to suppress the light that is reflected by the light receiving unit 13 and leaks to the outside from the gap S between the pointer cap 11 and the display plate 2. Moreover, since the light blocked by the light shielding part 3d is diffusely reflected on the inner wall surface of the light guide wall part 3c and used again for the illumination of the pointer 1, it is possible to prevent an extreme decrease in luminance. Therefore, by providing the light shielding portion 3d, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of halation while ensuring the luminance of the pointer 1.

  In the light ray L2, there is also a traveling light that is not blocked by the light shielding portion 3d. However, since such light has a lower intensity than the light blocked by the light shielding portion 3d, the light has an influence on halation. Is small.

  Further, in the light ray L3, as in the case of the light ray L2, there is light whose incident and reflection angles with respect to the light guide wall portion 3c and the light receiving portion 13 are likely to be involved in the occurrence of halation. Since the projecting wall 3e is provided, the light reflected by the light guide wall 3c is blocked from traveling spirally around the pointer shaft 7, and the blocked light is reused. The luminance of the pointer 1 can be ensured while suppressing light leakage from the gap S.

In the present embodiment, the four protruding walls 3e are used. However, it is only necessary that the emitted light from the pointer light source 4b can be prevented from traveling in the direction of the pointer 1 in a spiral shape, and the number and shape thereof are arbitrary. .

  Further, the pointer illumination device as in the present embodiment is particularly effective when applied to a so-called white dial plate having a white background color portion as a display plate.

  As described in detail above, according to this embodiment, the pointer shaft of the instrument body 6 includes the translucent pointer main body 10 having the light introducing portion in the rotation center region and the pointer cap 11 covering the rotation center region. 7, a display plate 2 disposed behind the pointer 1 with a predetermined distance and corresponding to the pointer 1, and a translucent portion 21, and a display plate 2 disposed behind the display plate 2. A light source 4 that shines the pointer 1 by supplying illumination light to the light introducing portion 13 of the pointer 1 through the light transmitting portion 21 of the plate 2 and extends around the pointer shaft 7 in a cylindrical shape, and the light source 4 is housed inside the light source 4 And a light guide wall 3c having an opening 16 that guides the light of the light source 4 to the pointer 1 through the translucent portion 21, and extends from the inner wall surface of the light guide wall 3c toward the pointer shaft 7. The light shielding wall 33 and the light guiding wall 3c from the pointer shaft side end of the first light shielding wall 33 It may be the that by having a light-shielding portion 3e formed of the second light shield wall 34 for extending toward the light source side with a space, increasing the illumination quality by suppressing the occurrence of halation.

  In addition, according to the present embodiment, the present invention has the protruding wall 3e that protrudes from the inner wall surface of the light guide wall 3c and extends along the extending direction of the light guide wall 3c, thereby more effectively generating halation. It is possible to improve the lighting quality by suppressing it.

  In the present embodiment, both the light shielding part 3d and the protruding wall 3e are employed. However, if the purpose can be sufficiently achieved by employing either one, it is sufficient to select and employ either one.

Sectional drawing of the pointer type meter by 1st Example of this invention. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line aa in FIG. 1. The principal part enlarged view of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Pointer 2 Display board 3 Frame 3a 1st reflection part 3b 2nd reflection part 3c Light guide wall part 3d Light-shielding part 3e Projection wall 4a Light source 4b for display board Light source 5 for a pointer 5 Circuit board 6 Instrument body 7 Pointer axis 10 Pointer Main body 11 Pointer cap 13 Light receiving part (light introducing part)
14 Pointer reflecting portion 15 Boss portion 16 Opening portion 17 Light shielding portion 21 Light transmitting portion 31 Display panel illumination chamber 32 Pointer illumination chamber 33 First light shielding wall 34 Second light shielding wall R Rotation center region S Gap

Claims (2)

A transparent pointer body having a light introducing portion in the rotation center area and a pointer cap that covers the rotation center area, and a pointer mounted on the pointer shaft of the instrument body, with a predetermined distance behind the pointer A display panel having a translucent portion at a portion corresponding to the pointer, and supplying illumination light to the light introducing portion of the pointer through the translucent portion of the display plate disposed behind the display plate. A light source wall that has a light source that shines the pointer, extends around the pointer shaft in a cylindrical shape, houses the light source therein, and guides light from the light source to the pointer through the light transmitting portion A first light shielding wall extending from an inner wall surface of the light guide wall portion toward the pointer shaft, and a space from the light guide wall portion from the pointer shaft side end portion of the first light shielding wall. A light-shielding portion comprising a second light-shielding wall extending toward the light source side Pointer illuminating apparatus characterized by. A transparent pointer body having a light introducing portion in the rotation center area and a pointer cap that covers the rotation center area, and a pointer mounted on the pointer shaft of the instrument body, with a predetermined distance behind the pointer A display panel having a translucent portion at a portion corresponding to the pointer, and supplying illumination light to the light introducing portion of the pointer through the translucent portion of the display plate disposed behind the display plate. A light source wall that has a light source that shines the pointer, extends around the pointer shaft in a cylindrical shape, houses the light source therein, and guides light from the light source to the pointer through the light transmitting portion And a protruding wall that protrudes from an inner wall surface of the light guide wall portion and extends along an extending direction of the light guide wall portion.

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