JP2645234B2 - Instrument dial lighting device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a dial illuminating device for an instrument.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, for example, an in-vehicle speedometer,
For instruments such as fuel gauges, letters on the instrument dial,
The scale and other parts are translucent, and the other parts are non-translucent. At night, light entering from the back of the dial is transmitted through the translucent characters and scales on the dial. In this way, characters and scales can be visually recognized.

[0003] However, there is a disadvantage that a large difference in brightness occurs between a portion such as characters and scales which are illuminated by transmission and other portions, and this causes eyestrain.

Therefore, a dial illuminating device as shown in FIG. 5 has been adopted in which such a drawback is eliminated by illuminating the dial from the front side.

That is, the dial 4 is attached to the inner instrument 2 fixed to the bottom of the instrument case 1 so as to sandwich the light guide plate 3a therebetween, and guides light from the bulb 5a provided at the bottom of the instrument case 1. The light is introduced from one end of the light plate 3a, guided to the back of the dial 4 through the light guide plate 3, and transmitted to the front of the dial 3 through translucent characters, graduations, etc. of the dial 4, and the light bulb 5a. Light from a light bulb 5b provided separately at the bottom of the instrument case 1 is turned back through the light guide plate 3b provided on the instrument case 1 or the turn 6 separately from the light guide plate 3a.
Of the dial 3 was illuminated by irradiating light to the front face of the dial 3 through the hole 6b.

The facing 6 is provided at the front opening of the instrument case 1 and serves as a mask for making the extra part of the dial 4 and the internal instrument 2 invisible. A front glass plate 7 for preventing dust from adhering to the dial 4 and entering the instrument case 1 is further provided on the front surface of the facing 6. A self-illuminated pointer 9 is attached to a rotating shaft 8 protruding from the internal instrument 2 through a hole in the dial 4.

The electric bulbs 5a and 5b are respectively mounted on sockets 11a and 11b mounted on the back of the instrument case 1 so as to sandwich the power supply wiring board 10, and are turned on at night or the like when the surroundings become dark.

Reference numeral 12 denotes a color filter provided between the hole 6b and the light guide plate 3b to color light emitted to the front surface of the dial 4 through the hole 6b. Reference numeral 13 denotes light applied to the front glass through the hole 6b. It is a light-shielding plate for preventing leakage directly to the plate 7 side, reflection on the windshield of the vehicle or the like, and preventing both of the driver's view during driving.

When the dial 4 is a speedometer, its front face is as shown in FIG. 6, and as shown in FIG. 7, a chromatic semi-transparent layer 4b and a white translucent layer 4c are formed on a transparent base member 4a. Are formed in order, and the upper surface is further covered with the black opaque layer 4d except for the characters and the scales, so that the characters and the scales can be seen white when not illuminated and as the chromatic color of the layer 4b when illuminated. ing.

[0010]

As described above, in the conventional apparatus, in order to reduce the difference in brightness on the dial 4,
The front surface of the dial 4 through which light is transmitted from the characters and the scales is a light guide plate 3b and a portion of the vertical wall 6a of the upright wall 6a close to the front glass plate 7 looking back from the light bulb 5b guided using the colored filter 12. Since the light is radiated through the hole 6b, additional parts such as the light guide plate 3b, the coloring filter 12, and the light shielding plate 13 are required, and the parts cost and the assembly cost are increased, and the cost is increased. The parts make the instrument larger and heavier. In addition, the effect of the transmitted illumination of characters, scales, etc. is weakened by the illumination of the front face of the dial, and the commercial value is reduced. In addition, part of the illumination light of the dial is incident on the windshield and is reflected to give a driver an illusion. There were also disadvantages such as.

In view of the above-mentioned drawbacks of the prior art, the present invention uses a number of additional parts to illuminate the front face of the dial without illuminating the front face of the dial. It is an object of the present invention to provide a dial illuminating device for an instrument in which the difference in brightness between the two is reduced so as not to cause eyestrain.

[0012]

Instrument dial lighting device made by the present invention in order to achieve the above object, there is provided a means for solving] is a plate-like base member made of a translucent material, each character, a portion of such scale leaving each character, it opaque layer in the vicinity of such scale
And individual characters assigned independently to form a dial forming the outline of such scales, the light incident on the back side of the dial, the periphery of each sentence <br/> character, scales, etc. and the opaque layer The dial is illuminated by the light transmitted to the front in the portion.

[0013] In the above arrangement, the circumference of each character, scale, etc.
The opaque layer is provided on each side independently.
Ri, each character, not only part of such scales, each character, each character, parts other than such graduations large area as compared to like scale
Because even if a light-transmitting, dial front by light transmitted through the these two parts are adapted to be illuminated,
Each character for illuminating a dial front, compared with the conventional that only transmits light like scale, the brightness between the two parts
The difference can be reduced , a sufficient illumination effect can be obtained with weak light , and illumination with good visibility can be performed without eye fatigue.

[0014] In particular, the plate-shaped base member made of a translucent material, each character, character leaving moiety such as scales, independently applying to each character of the opaque layer on the periphery of such scale, such as scale the simple structure of only forming the contour, the light incident on the back side of the dial, each character, is transmitted through the front surface at the periphery of the scale such as the opaque layer, that the entire surface is illuminated in the dial possible addition, by the opaque layer is present between each character, scales such as a background, the characters, parts such as scale
The difference in lightness and darkness between the minute and parts other than characters, scales, etc. is small.
Even if it is not, the outline of each character, scale, etc. will be unclear
There is no .

The opaque layer provided on the plate-like base member independently of each character, scale and the like and its periphery.
A first light-transmitting layer for determining the color of each character, scale, etc., corresponding to the peripheral portion of the opaque layer, and a second light-transmitting layer for determining the color of the peripheral portion of the opaque layer. It is characterized by doing.

Further, a first light-transmitting layer for determining the color of each character and scale, and a second light-transmitting layer for determining the color of the peripheral portion of the opaque layer are provided . Parts such as scales
The transmitted light that passes through the
Light can be reduced by selecting transmitted light.
Therefore, the display illumination with improved contrast and excellent visibility
The light can be obtained. Moreover, the presence of the opaque layer
It is possible to form the boundary between both layers in the opaque layer part
In this case, the mixed color of both characters is
It can be prevented from appearing in a portion such as a scale or a peripheral portion of the opaque layer.

[0017]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows an instrument dial illuminating device according to the present invention,
In the figure, the same parts as those described above with reference to FIG. 5 are denoted by the same reference numerals.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 20 denotes a character according to the present invention;
A dial other than the scale and the like is configured to have translucency.
Light guide plate 3b, light bulb 5b,
The hole 6b of the facing 6, the color filter 12, and the light shielding plate 13 are eliminated.

2 and 3 show an embodiment of the dial 20. FIG. In FIG. 2, reference numeral 20a denotes a black translucent base member made of a smoked polycarbonate plate or the like, and 20b denotes a base member 20.
a semi-transparent chromatic color layer formed by printing on a part of the surface side of a, 20c is a white translucent layer formed by overprinting on the chromatic semi-transparent layer 20b, and 20d is a white translucent layer 20
3c, a black opaque layer, which is one size larger than that and is formed by overprinting while leaving portions such as characters and scales, as shown in FIG. 3, 20e has a front side on the back side of the base member 20a. This is a chromatic translucent layer formed on the entire surface by printing except for portions corresponding to the chromatic translucent layer 20b and the white translucent layer 20c.

With the above-described dial structure, characters and scales appear white by the white translucent layer 20c which is surrounded by the black opaque layer 20d and is exposed on the dial surface in the daytime. Looks black due to the black opaque layer 20d and the black translucent base member 20a. In contrast,
At night, light from the light bulb 5a, which is turned on, is guided by the light guide plate 3a and is incident on the back surface of the dial 20, so that characters, scales, and the like are translucent black base member 20a, chromatic translucent layer 20b, and white. It looks like the color of light transmitted through the translucent layer 20c, and the portions other than characters and scales are chromatic translucent layers 20e.
And the color of the light transmitted through the black translucent base member 20a appears.

The black opaque layer 20d prevents contours of characters and scales from becoming unclear due to a mixture of the two chromatic translucent layers 20b and 20e when night light is transmitted. I have.

The black opaque layer 20d is provided on the dial 20.
From the back side, printing of white, gray, black tint, etc. is performed for dimming of the chromatic semi-transparent layers 20e and 20b. At that time, different dimming colors are wrapped or separated in the range of the black opaque layer 20d. Thereby, the unevenness of the transmitted light cannot be visually recognized. Further, the black opaque layer 20d is composed of a white translucent layer 20c printed on the front side, a chromatic translucent layer 20b printed on the back side, and a chromatic translucent character around the scale due to a printing shift between the chromatic translucent layer 20e printed on the back side. Bright transmitted light that does not pass through the layer 20e is prevented.

In the dial plate shown in FIG. 4, the base member 20a is formed of a translucent black material, and the characters, marks and scales are displayed in black in the daytime, and the characters, marks and scales are transmitted in the night, characters and scales in the chromatic color 20b. Are displayed in a mixed color of the chromatic layer 20e and the white layer 20c. The opaque layer 20d is formed by a chromatic semi-transparent layer 20e printed on the back side and a white translucent layer 20c printed on the front side and a chromatic semi-transparent layer 20b printed on the back side. It is possible to prevent unevenness in transmitted light in which a mixed color appears as a background color.

[0024]

As described above, according to the present invention, each character,
Not only parts such as scales, but also compared to each character, scale, etc.
Parts other than large area characters and scales are also translucent.
The dial that is transmitted by both these parts
Because the front is illuminated, between the two parts
Lighting effect can be reduced even with low brightness
Can be obtained and the visibility is good without eyestrain
Lighting can be performed, and the number of components is smaller than that of a conventional device that also serves as front illumination, so that the cost and size of the meter can be reduced.

In particular, the light incident on the back surface of the dial is
Characters and scales and the opaque layer
In addition to being able to illuminate the entire face of the dial,
The presence of an opaque layer between the scale and the background
And the outlines of each character and scale are not unclear.
Also from this point, there is little difference in brightness between the two parts.
Even with weak light, a sufficient lighting effect can be obtained to improve visibility.
You.

Further, each character, a portion such as a scale, and an opaque layer
The color of the transmitted light that passes through the periphery of the
With weak light by selecting the transmitted light color
Display illumination with improved contrast and excellent visibility
Can be Moreover, even if the transmitted light color is made different, it is possible to prevent the mixed color from appearing on each character, scale, or the periphery of the opaque layer, so that high-quality display and illumination can be performed during transmitted illumination.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of an instrument employing a dial illuminating device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing an example of the dial of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a front view of the dial of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing another example of the dial of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of an instrument employing a conventional dial lighting device.

FIG. 6 is a front view of the dial of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of the dial of FIG. 5;

[Explanation of symbols]

 3a Light guide plate 5a Light bulb 20 Dial plate 20a Transparent base member, translucent base member (translucent base member) 20b chromatic semi-transparent layer (first translucent layer) 20d black opaque layer (opaque layer) 20e chromatic color Translucent layer (second translucent layer)

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] To 1. A plate-shaped base member made of a translucent material, each <br/> characters, each leaving a portion of such scale characters, each imparted independently an opaque layer on the periphery of such scale Form a dial with contours such as characters, scales, etc., and irradiate light to the back of the dial, and place each character, scale, etc. around the opaque layer.
Dial lighting device of the meter being characterized in that so as to illuminate the dial by light transmitted through the Oite front surface and section. 2. A plate-like base member made of a light-guiding material inclined,
Surrounding each character, scale, etc., leaving parts such as characters and scales
To each character, scale, etc.
To form a dial with the outline of
Incident on each character, scale, etc. and around the opaque layer
Illuminate the dial with light transmitted to the front of the dial
A dial lighting device of the instrument you so that, on the plate-like base member, it portion and its surroundings, such as the characters, the scale
Corresponding to the peripheral portion of the opaque layer independently applied
A first light-transmitting layer for determining the color of each character, scale, etc. is provided, and a second light-transmitting layer for determining the color of the periphery of the opaque layer is provided.
The dial illuminating device for an instrument according to claim 1, wherein a light-transmitting layer is provided.