JP2010230580A - Luminous pointer structure - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a luminous pointer structure constituted compactly, for heightening visibility by preventing brightness deficiency and emission irregularity of the pointer by utilizing efficiently light from a light source. <P>SOLUTION: A center light receiving surface 15 corresponding to the center side in a rotation range of the pointer 3, and an enlarged light receiving surface 17 provided by being enlarged in both rotation directions of the pointer 3 are provided on a light receiving surface 9 of a relay prism 7 rotating in a body with the pointer 3, and thereby light from a light source 5 is received with high efficiency, and the pointer 3 is irradiated therewith. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a light emission pointer structure that is used in, for example, a vehicle instrument and that improves the visibility by introducing light into the pointer and making it shine.

  Patent Document 1 describes “light emission pointer”, and Patent Document 2 describes “lighting device for pointer”.

  The light emission indicator 201 of Patent Document 1 and the illumination device 301 of the pointer of Patent Document 2 are used in, for example, vehicle instruments 251 and 253 as shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 28 and FIG. 29, the light emitting pointer 201 has a measuring instrument that emits light from the light source 203 through the light receiving member 205 and enters the light incident portions 209 and 211 of the indicating member 207. Visibility is enhanced on the dials 255 and 257 of 251 and 253.

  Further, as shown in FIGS. 30 and 31, in the pointer illumination device 301, the light from the light source 303 passes through the pointer prism 305, enters the pointer 307, and emits light, thereby improving visibility on the dials 255 and 257. It is increasing.

Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 5-81644 Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 2003-194592

  However, in the light emission pointer 201, the areas of the light incident portions 209 and 211 for taking in the light of the light source are narrow and a sufficient amount of light cannot be obtained. Therefore, the visibility of the indication member 207 can be sufficiently enhanced due to insufficient luminance and uneven light emission. There is a fear that it cannot be done.

  Further, in the case of the pointer illumination device 301, the pointer prism 305 is disposed on the fixed side. In order to respond to the rotation of the pointer 307, as shown in FIG. Each of the four light sources 303 and the pointer prism 305 is disposed. However, since the rotation angle of the pointer 307 is smaller than 360 °, the light source 303 is not included in the rotation range of the pointer 307. In addition to wasteful power consumption, the pointer prism 305 takes up space wastefully.

  Therefore, the present invention effectively uses the light from the light source to prevent insufficient brightness of the pointer and uneven light emission, and can sufficiently enhance the visibility, and improve the space utilization efficiency and compact. The purpose is to provide a luminescent pointer structure that can be configured in a simple manner.

  The light emission pointer structure according to claim 1 is a light emission pointer structure including a pointer that is rotatably arranged, and a relay prism that guides and emits light from a light source to the pointer, The light receiving surface that rotates integrally with the pointer and receives light from the light source, a reflective surface that reflects the received light, and an exit surface that emits the received light, the light receiving surface, A central light-receiving surface corresponding to the center side of the rotation range of the pointer, and an enlarged light-receiving surface provided on both sides in the rotation direction of the pointer, and the reflection surface is light from the light-receiving surface The light exiting surface is guided to the light exit surface, and the light exit surface has substantially the same shape and size as the light incident portion provided on the pointer, and directs light from the reflection surface toward the light incident portion. It is characterized by emitting and irradiating a pointer.

  The invention of claim 2 is the light emitting pointer structure according to claim 1, wherein a pointer prism that rotates integrally with the pointer is disposed between the light source and the relay prism. And a convex lens that is provided on a thin plate-like substrate and collects light from the light source and irradiates the light receiving surface of the relay prism.

  The invention of claim 3 is the light emission pointer structure according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the light receiving surface of the relay prism is extended to a position close to the light source or the convex lens of the pointer prism. It is characterized by.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the light emitting pointer structure according to any one of the first to third aspects, wherein the light source is a rotation of the enlarged light receiving surface of the relay prism or the convex lens of the pointer prism. It arrange | positions in the range facing a range, It is characterized by the above-mentioned.

  The invention according to claim 5 is the light emission pointer structure according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the relay prism includes the reflection surface including a first reflection surface and a second reflection surface. A first light guide unit, and a second light guide unit, wherein the first light guide unit guides light received by the light receiving surface of the relay prism to the first reflection surface; The light reflected from one reflection surface is guided to the second reflection surface, and the second reflection surface is configured to guide the reflected light to the exit surface, and the first light guide unit and the first reflection are received from the light receiving surface of the relay prism. By narrowing the luminous flux area to the surface, the second light guide, the second reflecting surface, and the exit surface in this order, the light from the light source is condensed and applied to the light incident portion of the pointer. And

  The invention according to claim 6 is the light emission pointer structure according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the enlarged light receiving surface of the relay prism is driven to rotate the pointer from the central light receiving surface. The power source is enlarged toward both sides in the circumferential direction of the drive shaft.

  In the light emission pointer structure of claim 1, the light receiving surface of the relay prism is formed by a central light receiving surface corresponding to the center side of the rotation range of the pointer and an enlarged light receiving surface provided on both sides in the rotation direction. In addition, the light from the light source is efficiently received by making it correspond to the rotating pointer, and the light is efficiently incident on the pointer by making the shape and size of the exit surface substantially the same as the light incident portion of the pointer. I am letting.

  Therefore, insufficient brightness of the pointer and uneven light emission are prevented, and visibility on the instrument (clockface) can be sufficiently enhanced.

  Further, by effectively using light as described above, the power consumption of a light source (for example, a light emitting diode: LED) can be reduced accordingly.

  The light emission pointer structure of claim 2 can obtain the same effect as the structure of claim 1.

  Also, by arranging a pointer prism having a convex lens between the light source and the relay prism, the relay prism can efficiently receive the light converged by the convex lens, further improving the light utilization efficiency. The visibility of the pointer can be improved.

  In addition, the power consumption of the light source can be further reduced by the amount of improvement in light utilization efficiency.

  Further, since the pointer prism is made small and thin by making the substrate into a thin plate shape, the use efficiency of the space is excellent, and the light emitting pointer structure can be made compact.

  The light emission pointer structure of claim 3 can obtain the same effect as the structure of claim 1 or claim 2.

  In addition, by extending the light receiving surface of the relay prism to a position close to the light source and the convex lens of the pointer prism, it becomes possible to efficiently receive light from the light source and light converged by the convex lens. The usage efficiency of the pointer can be further improved, and the visibility of the pointer can be improved.

  In addition, the power consumption of the light source is further reduced by the improvement in the light utilization efficiency.

  The light emission pointer structure of claim 4 can obtain the same effects as the configurations of claims 1 to 3.

  In addition, the light source is arranged in a range opposite to the rotation range of the enlarged light receiving surface of the relay prism or the convex lens of the pointer prism, so that the light source and a part of the pointer prism are arranged outside the rotation range. Unlike the conventional example of FIG. 2, wasteful power consumption due to the light source is prevented, and occupation of wasteful space due to the out-of-range pointer prism is also avoided, thereby making it possible to reduce the size.

  The light emission pointer structure of claim 5 can obtain the same effects as the configurations of claims 1 to 4.

  Further, a light transmission path from the light receiving surface to the first light guide unit, the first reflection surface, the second light guide unit, the second reflection surface, and the exit surface is provided in the relay prism, and the area of the light flux is along the path transmission. Since the light condensing effect is improved, the incident light to the pointer becomes stronger and the visibility is improved.

  The light emission indicator structure of claim 6 can obtain the same effects as the configurations of claims 1 to 5.

  In addition, the space receiving efficiency of the driving force source around the drive shaft has been improved by expanding the enlarged light receiving surface of the relay prism from the central light receiving surface to both sides in the circumferential direction of the drive shaft of the pointer. Can be configured.

1 is a cross-sectional view showing a configuration of a light emission pointer structure 1 of Example 1. FIG. 3 is a perspective cross-sectional view showing a main part of the light emission pointer structure 1. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a main part of the light emission pointer structure 1. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a relay prism 7 used in the light emission pointer structure 1. FIG. 7 is a front view of the relay prism 7. FIG. It is AA sectional drawing of FIG. It is BB sectional drawing of FIG. 6 is a side view of the relay prism 7. FIG. It is CC sectional drawing of FIG. 6 is a top view of the relay prism 7. FIG. It is DD sectional drawing of FIG. It is EE sectional drawing of FIG. It is FF sectional drawing of FIG. 7 is a bottom view of the relay prism 7. FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing an extension portion 21 of the relay prism 7. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a configuration of a light emission pointer structure 101 of Example 2. FIG. 3 is a perspective cross-sectional view showing a main part of the light emission pointer structure 101. FIG. FIG. 6 is a top view showing a main part of the light emission pointer structure 101. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a main part of a light emission pointer structure 101. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a main part of a light emission pointer structure 101. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a main part of a light emission pointer structure 101. 3 is a perspective view of a pointer prism 103 used in the light emitting pointer structure 101. FIG. 3 is a top view of a pointer prism 103. FIG. 3 is a side view of a pointer prism 103. FIG. 3 is a side view of a pointer prism 103. FIG. 3 is a bottom view of a pointer prism 103. FIG. It is drawing which shows the instruments 251 and 253 in which the prior art examples 201 and 301 are used. It is sectional drawing which shows the prior art example 201. It is a disassembled perspective view which shows the prior art example 201. FIG. It is sectional drawing of the prior art example 301. It is a bottom view of the pointer prism 305 used in the conventional example 301.

  Examples of the light emission pointer structure according to the present invention will be described below.

  The light emission pointer structure 1 (Example 1) will be described with reference to FIGS.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the light emitting pointer structure 1 includes a pointer 3 that is rotatably arranged, and a relay prism 7 that guides and emits light from a light source 5 (for example, a light emitting diode: LED) to the pointer 3. In the light emitting pointer structure 1, the relay prism 7 rotates integrally with the pointer 3, and as shown in FIGS. 4 to 15, the light receiving surface 9 that receives the light from the light source 5, and the received light. The light-receiving surface 9 includes a reflection surface 11 that reflects light and an emission surface 13 that emits received light. The light-receiving surface 9 includes a central light-receiving surface 15 corresponding to the center side of the rotation range of the pointer 3 and both sides of the central light-receiving surface 15. The reflecting surface 11 guides the light from the light receiving surface 9 to the exit surface 13 while condensing the light from the light receiving surface 9, and the exit surface 13 is provided on the pointer 3. The light incident part 19 has substantially the same shape and dimensions, and the light from the reflecting surface 11 is directed to the light incident part 19. Injection, and irradiates the hands 3.

  Further, the light receiving surface 9 of the relay prism 7 is extended to a position close to the light source 5 by providing an extension 21.

  Further, the light source 5 is disposed in a range facing the rotation range of the enlarged light receiving surfaces 17 and 17 of the relay prism 7.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 13, the relay prism 7 includes a first light guide portion 27 and a second light guide portion 29 as the reflection surface 11 includes a first reflection surface 23 and a second reflection surface 25. The first light guide unit 27 guides the light received by the light receiving surface 9 to the first reflection surface 23, and the second light guide unit 29 guides the light reflected by the first reflection surface 23 to the second reflection surface 25. The two reflecting surfaces 25 are configured to guide the reflected light to the exit surface 13, and as shown in FIGS. 5 to 12, from the light receiving surface 9 to the first light guide portion 27, the first reflecting surface 23, and the second guide. By narrowing the light flux area to the light part 29, the second reflecting surface 25, and the exit surface 13 in this order, the light from the light source 5 is condensed and applied to the light incident part 19 of the pointer 3.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the enlarged light receiving surfaces 17 and 17 of the relay prism 7 are arranged around the drive shaft 33 of the internal unit 31 (driving motor: driving force source) that rotates the pointer 3 from the central light receiving surface 15. It is extended on both sides in the direction.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, a pointer rod 35 is attached to the lower portion of the pointer 3, and the pointer 3 is connected to a drive shaft 33 of the internal unit 31 via a boss portion 37 of the pointer rod 35. The internal unit 31 is attached to the wiring board 41 fixed to the lower part of the case 39 with four claws 43, and the dial 45 is fixed to the upper part of the case 39. A pointer cap 47 is attached to the upper portion of the pointer 3, and a balance 49 that balances between both ends of the pointer 3 around the drive shaft 33 is fixed inside the pointer cap 47. The relay prism 7 is fixed to the pointer rod 35 by the two mounting legs 51 in a state where the exit surface 13 is in contact with the light incident portion 19 of the pointer 3 and rotates integrally with the pointer 3.

  The internal unit 31 is connected to the terminal 53 of the wiring board 41, and a plurality of light sources 5 are connected on the wiring board 41. As described above, each light source 5 has the central light receiving surface 15 and the enlarged light receiving surface 17 of the relay prism 7. It is arrange | positioned in the range which opposes this rotation range.

  The pointer 3 is driven by the internal unit 31 and rotates to indicate an index on the dial 45, and the relay prism 7 always rotates with the pointer 3 while constantly receiving the light receiving surface 9 (the central light receiving surface 15 and the enlarged light receiving surface 17). ) Efficiently receives light from the light source 5, and the received light passes through the first light guide 27, the first reflection surface 23, the second light guide 29, and the second reflection surface 25 as shown in FIG. Then, the light passes through the exit surface 13 and is irradiated onto the pointer 3 from the light incident portion 19.

  In addition, the area of the light beam transmitted through the relay prism 7 (the cross-sectional area of the transmitted light) is determined by the second light guide portion 27 as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 and the first reflecting surface 23 as shown in FIG. 11 and FIG. 12, the relay prism 7 gradually narrows the light beam area in this order along the transmission light path, thereby condensing the transmitted light to guide the pointer 3. The visibility on the dial 45 is enhanced.

  The light emitting pointer structure 1 has a light receiving surface 9 of the relay prism 7 that corresponds to the center side of the rotation range of the pointer 3 and an enlarged light receiving surface 17 that is provided on both sides of the rotation direction. And the light from the light sources 5 and 5 is efficiently received, and the shape and dimensions of the exit surface 13 are made substantially the same as the light incident portion 19 of the pointer 3. As a result, the pointer 3 is efficiently irradiated with light, so that insufficient brightness and light emission unevenness of the pointer 3 are prevented, and the visibility on the dial 45 is sufficiently enhanced.

  Further, the light receiving surface 9 (the central light receiving surface 15 and the light receiving surface 17) of the relay prism 7 is extended to a position close to the light source 5 by providing the extension portion 21, so that the light from the light source 5 can be received efficiently. As a result, the light use efficiency can be improved, and the visibility of the pointer 3 can be improved.

  Further, by providing the light receiving surface 17 and the extension portion 21 in the relay prism 7 and effectively using light as described above, the power consumption of the light source 5 can be reduced accordingly.

  Further, since the light source 5 is arranged in a range facing the rotation range of the enlarged light receiving surface 17 of the relay prism 7, the light source and part of the pointer prism are arranged outside the rotation range. Unlike the example, useless power consumption by the light source 5 is prevented, and the relay prism 7 does not occupy useless space, so that the size can be reduced accordingly.

  Further, by narrowing the light transmission path of the relay prism 7 in order, the light condensing effect is improved, and the incident light to the pointer 3 becomes so strong that the visibility is improved.

  Further, the enlarged light receiving surface 17 of the relay prism 7 is extended from the central light receiving surface 15 to both sides in the circumferential direction of the drive shaft 33, and the space utilization efficiency around the drive shaft 33 is improved. It becomes possible.

  The light emission pointer structure 101 (Example 2) will be described with reference to FIGS. Hereinafter, the same functional parts and functional members as those in the first embodiment will be described with the same reference numerals, and redundant explanations will be omitted.

  As shown in FIGS. 16 to 21, the light emitting pointer structure 101 includes a pointer prism 103 that rotates together with the pointer 3 between the light source 5 and the relay prism 7 in the light emitting pointer structure 1 of the first embodiment. Is.

  In the pointer prism 103, a convex lens 107 is formed on a thin plate-like substrate 105. The convex lens 107 collects light from the light source 5, and receives the light receiving surface 9 (the central light receiving surface 15 and the light receiving surface 17) of the relay prism 7. Irradiate toward.

  Further, the light receiving surface 9 of the relay prism 7 is extended by the extension portion 21 to a position close to the convex lens 107 of the pointer prism 103.

  A plurality of convex lenses 107 are formed on the substrate 105, and the light source 5 is disposed within a range facing the rotation of the convex lens 107.

  The pointer prism 103 is attached to the pointer rod 35 by three legs 109 provided on the substrate 105, and rotates integrally with the pointer 3 as described above. The drive shaft 33 passes through a round hole 111 provided in the substrate 105 of the pointer prism 103 and is connected to the boss portion 37 of the pointer rod 35.

  After the light from the light source 5 is converged by the convex lens 107, it efficiently enters the central light receiving surface 15 and the light receiving surface 17 of the relay prism 7, is condensed on the transmission light path of the relay prism 7, and is irradiated on the pointer 3. Visibility is enhanced on the board 45.

  The light emitting pointer structure 101 converges the light of the light source 5 by the convex lens 107 of the pointer prism 103 and then enters the relay prism 7, and the light receiving surface 9 (extension portion 21) of the relay prism 7 is positioned close to the convex lens 107. Thus, the converged light can be received efficiently, the light utilization efficiency can be improved, and the visibility of the pointer can be improved.

  Further, the power consumption of the light source 5 can be reduced by the amount of improvement in the light utilization efficiency.

  Further, since the substrate 105 is made thin, the pointer prism 103 is small and thin, so that the space use efficiency is excellent, and the light emitting pointer structure 101 can be made compact.

  Further, since the light source 5 is arranged in a range facing the rotation range of the convex lens 107, unlike the conventional example of Patent Document 2, wasteful power consumption by the light source 5 is prevented, and the pointer prism 103 outside the range is prevented. Occupation of useless space due to the is avoided, and further downsizing is achieved.

  In addition to this, the light emission pointer structure 101 can obtain the same effect as the light emission pointer structure 1 of the first embodiment.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Light emission pointer structure 3 Pointer 5 Light source 7 Relay prism 9 Light-receiving surface 11 Reflective surface 13 Outgoing surface 15 Central light-receiving surface 17 Enlarged light-receiving surface 19 Light incident part 23 1st reflective surface 25 2nd reflective surface 27 1st light guide part 29 1st 2 Light guide unit 31 Internal unit (drive power source)
33 Driving shaft 101 Light emission pointer structure 103 Pointer prism 105 Thin plate-like substrate 107 Convex lens

Claims (6)

A light emitting pointer structure including a pointer that is rotatably arranged and a relay prism that guides and emits light from a light source to the pointer,
The relay prism rotates integrally with the pointer, and has a light receiving surface that receives light from the light source, a reflection surface that reflects the received light, and an emission surface that emits the received light.
The light receiving surface has a central light receiving surface corresponding to the center side of the rotation range of the pointer, and an enlarged light receiving surface provided on both sides in the rotation direction of the pointer,
The reflective surface is guided to the exit surface while collecting light from the light receiving surface,
The exit surface has substantially the same shape and size as a light incident portion provided on the pointer, emits light from the reflection surface toward the light incident portion, and irradiates the pointer. Luminous pointer structure to do. A light emission pointer structure according to claim 1,
A pointer prism that rotates integrally with the pointer is disposed between the light source and the relay prism,
The pointer prism is provided on a thin plate-like substrate, and has a convex lens that collects light from a light source and irradiates it toward the light receiving surface of the relay prism. A light emission pointer structure according to claim 1 or claim 2,
The light emitting pointer structure, wherein the light receiving surface of the relay prism is extended to a position close to the light source or the convex lens of the pointer prism. A light emission pointer structure according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The light emission pointer structure, wherein the light source is disposed in a range facing a rotation range of the enlarged light receiving surface of the relay prism or the convex lens of the pointer prism. A light emission pointer structure according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The relay prism includes a first light guide unit and a second light guide unit, and the reflection surface includes a first reflection surface and a second reflection surface.
The first light guide unit guides light received by the light receiving surface of the relay prism to the first reflection surface; the second light guide unit guides light reflected by the first reflection surface to the second reflection surface; The second reflecting surface is configured to guide the reflected light to the exit surface;
The light from the light source is collected by narrowing the luminous flux area from the light receiving surface of the relay prism to the first light guide unit, the first reflection surface, the second light guide unit, the second reflection surface, and the exit surface in this order. A light emitting pointer structure characterized by irradiating and irradiating the light incident portion of the pointer. A light emission pointer structure according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
The light emitting pointer structure, wherein the enlarged light receiving surface of the relay prism is enlarged from the central light receiving surface toward both sides in a circumferential direction of a drive shaft of a driving force source for rotating the pointer.

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