JP3052868B2 - Instrument 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 an instrument illuminating device for brightly illuminating a dial and a pointer, for example, in a vehicle instrument, in order to properly determine a measured value such as a running speed at night or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, an instrument illuminator of this type is provided with an instrument main body in a case, for example, and a pointer is attached to a rotating shaft of the instrument main body in order to satisfactorily determine a measured value such as a traveling speed at night or the like. Fixing, forming an indicator part on the front side of the instrument body that has a light-transmitting printed layer on the light-transmitting substrate, excluding characters, numbers, scales, etc., to make letters, numbers, scales, etc. light-transmissive An instrument device is provided that has a dial that is turned on the dial on which the index portion is formed, and displays a measurement value such as running speed by reading the contrast between the pointer and the index portion, inside the case. The light from the light source provided is transmitted from the light-transmitting index portion toward the front face of the dial to illuminate characters, numerals, scales, and the like serving as the index portion.

In order to illuminate the hands, for example, in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 5-15058, a light guide plate is provided on the back side of the dial, and about 4 mm is provided around the hole for inserting the pointer shaft of the light guide plate.
A reflecting surface inclined at 5 degrees is formed, a part of the dial corresponding to the reflecting surface position is cut out in a circular shape, and the upper surface of the light guide plate is exposed toward the hands, and the base of the hands provided on the dial is formed. Is provided with a light receiving portion for receiving light emitted from the reflecting surface of the light guide plate toward the hands and a reflecting surface inclined at about 45 degrees for reflecting and guiding the light toward the tip of the indicating portion of the hands. By doing so, the dial is illuminated via the light guide plate by turning on the light source inside the case, and at the same time, the hands can be illuminated.

[0004]

However, according to the above configuration, in order to make the pointer emit light brightly, it is necessary to efficiently reflect and guide the light from the light source through the light guide plate and the reflecting surface of the pointer base. In the design of the reflecting surface, there is a problem that it takes time to perform an optical path analysis or the like, and that forming the reflecting surface increases the cost of a mold.

[0005] In addition, this type of instrument device sometimes has a lighting structure of a type in which the dial surface and hands are illuminated by light from the dial front surface. That is, as shown in JP-A-53-127758, a light source provided in a case for transmitting and illuminating the index portion of the dial is disposed, and light from the light source is transmitted through a transparent acrylic or the like. The light member guides the dial to the front side along the inner wall of the case, and exposes the end of the light guide member through a hole in the case to form a light emitting portion, and transmits light from the light emitting portion to the dial surface side. Irradiation is performed by illuminating the dial surface and the pointer surface with the illumination light.

In this structure, as compared with the above-described pointer illumination structure, the light guide plate and the pointer do not need to have a reflecting surface for pointer illumination, and the structure is simplified, but in this case, the pointer is made of a light-shielding member. Therefore, there is a problem that the shadow of the pointer is generated on the dial due to the illumination from the front side of the dial.

Further, as other pointer lighting structures, a light source is built in the base of the pointer to reflect and guide the light toward the transmissive indicator, or a plurality of LED chips are built in along the indicator of the pointer. Although it is proposed to emit light by emitting light, the assembly is complicated, and power is supplied to the inside of the rotating pointer. .

In addition, many of the above-described pointer illumination systems generally pursue uniformity of brightness and brightness of a pointer that emits light, and the display form of the pointer that emits light is generally flat and lacks interest.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an instrument lighting device which enables a simple instrument illumination structure, emits a pointer at the same time as dial illumination, and has good visibility without generating a shadow of the pointer. It is intended to provide a new guideline display format.

[0010]

A dial provided with an index portion on a substrate made of a translucent material, and having a substantially entire surface including the index portion capable of emitting light, an instrument body provided on the back side of the dial, A pointer fixed to the rotating shaft of the instrument main body and rotatably provided along the index portion on the dial, wherein the pointer is made of a transparent material having a color different from a luminescent color of the dial , It is formed so as to be narrower from the light receiving portion on the plane facing the dial to the front side, and is provided so that light from the dial can be transmitted to the front side.

[0012]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION On a substrate made of a light-transmitting material, a ground color layer made of a light-transmitting bright color is printed on the entire surface, and characters, numerals,
A dial is provided in which an index portion such as a scale is formed by light-shielding printing, and a light guide plate is provided on the back side of the dial. A light source is provided at one end of the light guide plate, and substantially the entire surface of the dial is illuminated with the ground color of the dial by a so-called edge light system in which light is introduced into the light guide plate by turning on the light source. Like that.

On the back side of the light guide plate, an instrument main body composed of a bobbin type instrument or the like is provided, and the rotation axis of the instrument main body is provided through the light guide plate and the dial. This is the tip of the rotation shaft of the instrument body is fixed pointer made of a transparent material, the guideline intended to instruct the measurement by rotating along the indicator portion formed on the dial, and the dial opposite
It is formed narrower from the flat light-receiving part to the surface side.
is there.

In this case, the hands are made of a transparent material having a color different from the luminescent color of the dial, and the light of the dial is transmitted through the hands so that the hands emit light according to the color of the transparent material of the hands. .

[0015] Therefore, since the light emitted from the dial, which is totally emitted, is used as it is for the illumination of the hands, the hands can be illuminated with the simplest illumination structure, and the cost can be reduced.

[0016]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 to 3 show one embodiment of the present invention.

A dial 1 comprising a substrate made of a light-transmitting material, a ground color layer made of a light-transmitting bright color printed on the entire surface, and an index portion 1A consisting of characters, numerals, scales, etc. formed by light-shielding printing. And the light guide plate 2 is provided on the back side of the dial 1. A light source 3 is disposed at one end of the light guide plate 2, and the light source 3 is turned on to introduce light into the light guide plate 2. Light is emitted in the ground color, and the light-shielding indicator 1A is visually recognized in the light.

The light guide plate 2 is formed so that the thickness thereof is gradually reduced from one end where the light source 3 is provided to the other end, so that the entire dial 1 emits light substantially uniformly. At the same time, a white or silver reflector 4 is printed and formed on the back side of the light guide plate 2 so that light guided inside the light guide plate 2 can be reflected favorably toward the upper dial 1. Make up.

Inside the case 5 on the back side of the light guide plate 2, an instrument main body 6 composed of a bobbin type instrument, a stepping motor and the like is provided.
The rotary shaft 7 of the instrument main body 6 is provided so as to penetrate toward the front face of the dial 1 through holes formed in the light guide plate 2 and the dial 1.

A pointer 8 made of a transparent material is press-fitted and fixed to the tip of the rotating shaft 7 of the instrument body 6, and the pointer 8 rotates along the indicator 1 A formed on the dial 1. It indicates the measured value.

In the present invention, the hands 8 are formed of a transparent material having a color different from the luminescent color of the dial 1, and the light of the dial 1 is transmitted through the hands 8 to make the transparent of the hands 8 transparent. The pointer 8 is configured to emit light according to the color of the material. That is, in the present embodiment, the dial 8 is made of a light-transmissive red transparent resin material, while the dial 8 is made of a light-transmitting red transparent resin material, while the dial 8 emits white light. It is configured to be colored red, which is different from the color, so as to perform transmitted illumination. At this time, since the hands 8 capture the light of the dial 1 that emits light from the entire surface into the hands 8 and transmit and illuminate them, the luminescent color of the dial 1 is set to a color brighter than the color of the hands 8. Is desirable.

Therefore, since the light emitted from the dial 1 which is entirely emitted is used as it is for illuminating the hands 8, the hands 8 can be illuminated with the simplest illumination structure, and the cost can be reduced.

Since the hands 8 are made of a transparent material, even if the hands 8 are characters, numerals, scales, etc.
Even if A is blocked, the hands 8 can also allow the indicator 1A formed on the dial 1 to be seen through as it is,
The comparative reading between the hands 8 and the index portion 1A of the dial 1 can be easily performed.

The pointer 8 is a light receiving portion 9 having a flat portion at a portion facing the dial 1 and has a sectional shape narrower from the side facing the dial 1 to the front side. The front side is formed in a convex curve, and the illumination light incident from the light receiving portion 9 on the surface facing the dial 1 is focused toward the front side by both side portions of the hands 8 to make the hands 8 emit light brightly. is there. At this time, the hands 8 are composed of three-dimensional hands 8 having a color, and the dial 1 is changed according to the rotation angle position of the hands 8.
The path of the light transmitted through the pointer 8 from above to the driver changes, the line of sight changes, and the amount of transmitted light changes continuously. Since the pointer 8 rotates while changing the value, a new display form of light emission of the pointer 8 can be provided, and the design is excellent.

Further, according to the present invention, it is not necessary to provide a reflective surface at the base of the pointer 8 as in the prior art. Therefore, a pointer cap for covering the reflective surface can be eliminated, and a slim pointer appearance can be realized. The degree of freedom increases.

In this embodiment, the index unit 1A
Is formed as a non-light-emitting portion formed by light-shielding printing. However, the indicator portion is formed by light-transmitting printing, and the dial 1 is formed as a light-emitting portion colored with a color different from that of the dial 1. May be transmitted and illuminated together with the ground color.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, the surface of the pointer 8 is formed in an arc shape as the cross-sectional shape of the pointer 8.
As an example of the embodiment of the pointer, as shown in FIG. 4, various forms such as a triangular cross section (a) and a trapezoidal cross section (b) can enhance the visibility, the degree of freedom of the lighting effect, and give a three-dimensional effect. In some cases, it is also possible to make the pointers rise and show by performing a diffusion process on the pointer surface.

In order to improve the lighting effect, the hands 8 may be compounded with a fluorescent pigment.

[0029]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a simple instrument illuminating structure, an illuminating of a pointer at the same time as the dial illuminating, and an instrument illuminating apparatus with good visibility without generating a shadow of the pointer. It can be provided.

[0030]

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view showing one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing a main part of one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing an embodiment of the pointer according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Dial 1A Index part 2 Light guide plate 3 Light source 4 Reflector 5 Case 6 Instrument main body 7 Rotation axis 8 Pointer 9 Light receiving part

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A dial having an index portion provided on a substrate made of a translucent material and having a substantially entire surface including the index portion capable of emitting light, an instrument main body provided on the back side of the dial, A pointer fixed to the rotating shaft of the instrument main body and rotatably provided along the index portion on the dial, wherein the pointer is made of a transparent material having a color different from a luminescent color of the dial ,
An instrument illuminating device, which is formed to be narrower from a light receiving portion on a flat surface facing the dial to the surface side, and provided so that light from the dial can be transmitted to the surface side.