JP2020094845A - Instrument device - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide an instrument device which does not impair the degree of freedom of design.SOLUTION: An instrument device includes: a key top 31 including a circuit board 10 with a switch 11 which receives an input by being pressed in a first direction, one end 32b in the first direction, which faces the switch 11, and the other end 33 in the first direction, which indirectly receives the input to the switch 11; a cover 35 for covering the key top 31; and a support member 40 which has an outer shape corresponding to a cylindrical shape whose axial direction is the first direction and an inner shape of the cover 35, and which supports the cover 35 by being arranged inside the cover 35.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

The present invention relates to an instrument device mounted on a vehicle or the like.

It is known to provide a key top in a conventional instrument device to indirectly press a switch provided on a circuit board. The key top is covered with a cover, and the user indirectly presses the switch by pressing the key top through the cover.

JP, 2017-49027, A

The cover is supported by various members provided on the front side of the switch, such as a case member, a display plate, a facing member, and a translucent plate arranged on the forefront. However, if the switch and the point where the input operation is accepted by the user, that is, the end of the keytop facing the switch become far, the length of the cover increases accordingly. Various members provided on the front side of the switch support the cover. However, when the length of the cover becomes long, the cover may not be sufficiently supported. In particular, when the cover is made of a flexible material such as rubber, the shape of the cover cannot be maintained and the cover may be deformed without a member supporting the cover.

The present invention has been made in consideration of such circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide an instrument device which does not impair the degree of freedom in design.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a meter display device according to the present invention has a circuit board having a switch that receives an input by being pushed in a first direction, one end in the first direction facing the switch, and A key top having an other end in the first direction that indirectly receives an input to a switch; a cover that covers the key top; and a tubular shape having the first direction as an axial direction and an inner shape of the cover. And a support member having a corresponding outer shape and being arranged inside the cover to support the cover.

In the instrument device according to the present invention, the degree of freedom in design is not impaired.

The front view of the measuring device which is an embodiment of the measuring device concerning the present invention. Sectional drawing which follows the II-II line of FIG. Sectional drawing which follows the III-III line of FIG. The perspective view which shows a key top from the operation reception surface side. The perspective view which shows a cover from the top side. (A) is a perspective view which shows a support member from a front end side, (b) is a perspective view which shows a collar side.

An embodiment of an instrument device according to the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. The instrument device according to the present invention is mounted on a vehicle such as an automobile or a motorcycle, a ship, an agricultural machine, or a construction machine.

FIG. 1 is a front view of an instrument device 1 which is an embodiment of the instrument device according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line II-II in FIG.
FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line III-III in FIG.

In the following description, “front (front)”, “rear (rear)”, “top”, “bottom”, “right”, and “left” are the definitions “Fr.” and “Fr.” in FIGS. Re.”, “To.”, “Bo.”, “R”, and “L”.

The meter device 1 has a display unit 2 realized by a speedometer, a warning display unit, a display panel, and the like, and displays various information via these.

The meter device 1 mainly includes a circuit board 10, a case 20, and a switch unit 30.

The circuit board 10 mainly includes a switch 11 and a control unit including the switch 11 and a driver of the display unit 2 and the like.

The switch 11 is provided by being soldered on the front surface 10a of the circuit board 10 and receives an input by being pushed from the front direction to the rear direction as the first direction. The switch 11 receives, for example, an instruction to change the display content of the display unit 2.

The control unit includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), and the like, and executes a predetermined arithmetic process according to a program written in the ROM, for example. The control unit acquires various vehicle information from various sensors and the like via an ECU (Electronic Control Unit) of the vehicle, for example. The control unit drives the display unit 2 based on the acquired various information including the instruction from the switch 11.

The case 20 includes a lower case 21, an upper case 22, a middle case 23, and a facing member 24.

The lower case 21 and the upper case 22 are made of resin (for example, black polypropylene). The lower case 21 and the upper case 22 are firmly fixed to each other by, for example, a fitting structure. As a result, the lower case 21 and the upper case 22 form an internal space, and the display unit 2, the circuit board 10, and the switch unit 30 are housed in this internal space.

The upper case 22 has an opening 22 a covered with the transparent plate 25. The translucent plate 25 is made of a translucent resin (for example, polycarbonate resin), and is provided to protect the display unit 2 and the circuit board 10 inside the case 20 from intrusion of dust and the like. The transparent plate 25 is formed in a region substantially corresponding to the display region of the display unit 2.

The middle case 23 is made of resin (for example, white polypropylene), and fixes or supports the display unit 2, the circuit board 10, and the supporting member 40 (described later), which are internal structures, in the internal space of the case 20. ..

The look-back member 24 is made of a light-shielding resin (for example, black ABS resin) and covers a light-shielding region other than the transmission region of the light-transmitting plate 25 or shields unnecessary structures.

The switch unit 30 is provided to receive an input operation on the switch 11 from a user. The switch unit 30 includes a key top 31, a cover 35, and a support member 40.

Here, FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the key top 31 from the operation receiving surface 33 side.
FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the cover 35 from the top surface 36 side.
6A is a perspective view showing the support member 40 from the front end 41a side, and FIG. 6B is a perspective view showing the support member 40 from the flange 42 side.

The key top 31 is made of resin (for example, white polypropylene), and has a main body 32, an operation receiving surface 33, and a supported piece 34.

The main body 32 is a rod-shaped member having a front end 32a and a rear end 32b and extending in the front-rear direction as the first direction. The main body 32 has a length corresponding to a point where the switch 11 receives an input operation from the user. The rear end 32b functions as one end facing the switch 11 in the first direction.

The operation receiving surface 33 is provided on the front end 32a of the main body 32 substantially perpendicular to the main body 32. The operation receiving surface 33 functions as the other end of the first direction that indirectly receives the input to the switch 11.

The supported piece 34 is a portion supported by the support member 40 and prevents the main body 32 from rotating with respect to the support member 40.

The cover 35 is made of flexible and deformable rubber (for example, black ethylene-propylene-diene rubber (EPDM)) and covers the key top 31. The cover 35 has a top surface 36, side walls 37, and a collar 38, and has a structure in which a surface facing the top surface 36 is open.

The top surface 36 faces the operation receiving surface 33 of the key top 31, covers the operation receiving surface 33, and is a surface that is mainly pressed by the user.

The side wall 37 extends from the top surface 36 along the key top 31. Specifically, the side wall 37 has a surface direction substantially in the front-rear direction along the direction in which the main body 32 of the key top 31 extends from the top surface 36. In the present embodiment, of the cover 35, a surface orthogonal to the front-rear direction is the top surface 36, and a surface along the front-rear direction and a surface connecting the surface orthogonal to the front-rear direction and the surface along the front-rear direction are side walls 37. ..

The collar 38 is formed at a rear end 37b (FIG. 5) that faces the front end 37a of the side wall 37 on the top surface 36 side in the front-rear direction. The collar 38 is a support surface supported by the collar 42 of the support member 40.

The support member 40 is made of resin (for example, white polypropylene), and is disposed inside the cover 35 to support the cover 35. The support member 40 also supports the key top 31 so as to be movable in the front-rear direction. The support member 40 is supported by the middle case 23. The support member 40 has a tubular portion 41 and a collar 42.

The tubular portion 41 has a substantially trapezoidal tubular shape whose axial direction is the front-rear direction, and has a front end 41a and a rear end 41b (FIG. 6). The tubular portion 41 has an outer shape corresponding to the inner shape of the cover 35. The front end 41 a is one end in the front-rear direction and has a gap 43 with respect to the top surface 36 of the cover 35. Further, the front end 41a has a notch 44 for enlarging the gap 43 at a position where the side wall 37 is exposed without being covered with other members. The other member that covers the side wall 37 is, for example, the instrument panel 50 (FIG. 2) of the vehicle to which the measuring device 1 is fixed. The cutout 44 is, for example, U-shaped, and is preferably cut out to a boundary 51 covered with the instrument panel 50. Further, the front end 41a is chamfered at a corner 41c on the side facing the cover 35. Thereby, workability when inserting the support member 40 into the cover 35 can be improved.

The tubular portion 41 has a support structure 46 for supporting the key top 31 inside. The support structure 46 has a space having a slight play corresponding to the outer shapes of the main body 32 and the supported piece 34. The structure 46a that supports the main body 32 of the support structure 46 projects from the rear end 41b of the tubular portion 41. As a result, the support structure 46 keeps the key top 31 upright in the front-rear direction and at the same time restricts rotation about the front-rear direction.

The collar 42 is formed at the rear end 41b of the tubular portion 41. The collar 42 is a support surface supported by the middle case 23.

Such a switch unit 30 is assembled as follows.

First, the support member 40 is supported by the middle case 23 via the collar 42. Next, the key top 31 is supported by the support structure 46 of the support member 40. Then, the support member 40 is covered with the cover 35, and the flange 38 of the cover 35 is arranged in front of the flange 42 of the support member 40. Finally, the convex portion 22b of the upper case 22 is fitted into the flange 38 of the cover 35, whereby the switch unit 30 is fixed.

Such an instrument device 1 does not impair the degree of freedom in design by including the switch unit 30 described above. That is, in the instrument device 1, even if the cover 35 becomes longer as the length of the key top 31 in the front-rear direction becomes longer, the support member 40 supports the shape of the cover 35 to reduce the deformation of the cover 35. can do. Therefore, the distance from the switch 11 to the top surface 36 of the cover 35 does not limit the degree of freedom in designing the instrument device 1 including the switch unit 30.

Further, when the switch unit 30 is assembled, if there is no support member 40, it is necessary for an operator to support the key top 31 with the cover 35 covering the key top 31 until the upper case 22 is fitted. is there. In this case, the key top 31 may fall off, which may impair the workability during assembly. On the other hand, in the instrument device 1 according to the present embodiment, the support member 40 can support the key top 31, so that workability during assembly can be improved.

Further, when the user performs an input operation, the pushing point may deviate from the top surface 36 of the cover 35 to the side wall 37 side, that is, the cover 35 may not be pushed in the front-back direction. On the other hand, since the front end 41a of the tubular portion 41 has the gap 43, the force pushing the side wall 37 of the cover 35 is transmitted to the operation receiving surface 33 of the key top 31 without being blocked by the front end 41a. In particular, the front end 41a corresponding to the part where the side wall 37 of the cover 35 is exposed is notched in a U shape and has a notch 44 that makes the gap 43 larger than the other gaps 43. Therefore, the input operation can be received in the area of the cover 35 that the user can touch (the area where the cover 35 is exposed from the case 20 or the instrument panel 50). Therefore, the instrument device 1 does not deteriorate the operability even when the instrument device 1 includes the support member 40.

Although some embodiments of the present invention have been described, these embodiments are presented as examples and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These novel embodiments can be implemented in various other forms, and various omissions, replacements, and changes can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. These embodiments and their modifications are included in the scope and gist of the invention, and are also included in the invention described in the claims and the scope equivalent thereto.

1 instrument device 2 display part 10 circuit board 11 switch 20 case 21 lower case 22 upper case 22a opening 22b convex part 23 middle case 24 look-back member 25 translucent plate 30 switch unit 31 key top 32 main body 32a, 37a, 41a front end 32b, 37b, 41b Rear end 33 Operation acceptance surface 34 Supported piece 35 Cover 36 Top surface 37 Side wall 38, 42 Tsuba 40 Support member 41 Cylindrical portion 41c Corner 43 Gap 44 Notch 46 Support structure 50 Instrument panel 51 Boundary

Claims (6)

A circuit board having a switch that receives an input when pushed in a first direction;
A key top having one end in the first direction facing the switch, and the other end in the first direction that indirectly receives an input to the switch;
A cover that covers the key top,
An instrument device, comprising: a tubular shape having the first direction as an axial direction and an outer shape corresponding to an inner shape of the cover, and a support member that is disposed inside the cover to support the cover. The instrument device according to claim 1, wherein the support member operably supports the key top in the first direction. The cover has a top surface facing the other end,
The instrument device according to claim 1, wherein the support member has one end in the first direction having a gap with respect to the top surface. The cover has a sidewall extending from the top surface along the key top,
The instrument device according to claim 3, wherein the one end of the support member has a notch that enlarges the gap at a position where the side wall is exposed without being covered by another member. The instrument device according to claim 1, wherein the support member has one end in the first direction in which a corner on a side facing the cover is chamfered. Further comprising an inner case for supporting the internal structure of the measuring device,
The instrument device according to claim 1, wherein the support member is supported by the middle case.

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