JP3112397B2 - Combination meter - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a combination meter in which a pointer-type meter and a warning lamp are combined. More specifically, a half mirror is used for a display panel, and a background design is reflected by the half mirror to perform three-dimensional display. The present invention relates to a combination meter as described above.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Combination meters used in automobiles include a pointer meter such as a speedometer, a tachometer, and a fuel gauge, and a warning indicating abnormality in charge of a battery, abnormality in a catalyst for purifying exhaust gas, on / off state of a handbrake, and the like. And a lamp.

FIGS. 5 to 7 show a conventional example of this type of combination meter (see Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 6-30720). A half mirror 3 having a dial 7 is mounted diagonally upward (or diagonally downward) on a diagonal line of the housing 2, and a pointer-type meter, for example, a speedometer 4, a fuel gauge 5, and a temperature are provided behind the half mirror 3. Internal devices such as a total of 6 are provided, and hands 4 a, 5 a, and 6 a of these devices are provided on the front side of the half mirror 3. The background design plate 12 of the dial 7 is attached to the window of the top plate 11 of the housing 2 (the floor plate 21 when the half mirror 3 is inclined downward). A light source is provided on the back surface of the half mirror 3, and the lighting of the light source is displayed as a warning lamp 10 on the half mirror 3 via a warning lens.

In addition to the background design plate 12, both inner wall surfaces 16 facing the meter are reflected on the half mirror 3, so that the meter display appears to be floating in a three-dimensional space.

[0005]

As described above, the half mirror 3 is provided with the background design plate 12 on the front side and the facing inner wall surface 16 as described above.
And the warning lamp 10 on the rear side
Specularity is lower than that of a total reflection mirror because it also has a function of transmitting light from a light source. Therefore,
As shown in FIG. 7, when the brightness of the facing inner wall surface 16 itself is E and the brightness of the virtual image of the facing inner wall surface 16 reflected on the half mirror 3 is E1, E> E1.

For this reason, it has been found that the half mirror 3 exists on the diagonal line of the return inner wall surface 16, and there has been a problem that the impact of meter display in a mysterious three-dimensional space is reduced.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned point, and makes it difficult to understand that a half mirror is present on a diagonal line by giving contrast between the facing inner wall surface of the housing and a three-dimensional display with an impact. It is an object of the present invention to provide a combination meter that can realize the above.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the first aspect of the present invention, a half mirror is mounted diagonally on a diagonal line in a housing, and a pointer of a pointer type meter is provided on a front surface of the half mirror. In a combination meter in which a background design plate is attached to a window of a top plate or a floor plate of a housing which looks into a half mirror, a diagonal line passing through the center of the half mirror and passing through the center of the half mirror in a direction opposite to the half mirror. A light-colored painted surface and a dark-colored painted surface are formed with the boundary as a boundary.

The invention according to claim 2 is the combination meter according to claim 1, wherein the light-painted surface is formed on a front side of the housing, and the dark-painted surface is formed on a rear side. The brightness of the dark-colored painted surface and the brightness of the virtual image reflected on the half-mirror of the light-colored painted surface are set to be substantially equal.

[0010] The third aspect of the present invention is the first or second aspect.
The combination meter according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the light-colored painted surface and the dark-colored painted surface are painted with an ultraviolet paint, and an ultraviolet lamp is used as a light source for illuminating both the painted surfaces.

[0011] The invention according to claim 4 is the combination meter according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein
The background design plate is formed of a translucent synthetic resin plate or film, and a light source is arranged outside the background design plate to illuminate the background design plate.

The inventions according to the first to fourth aspects have the above-described configuration, and thus have the following effects.

That is, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the virtual image reflected on the half mirror at a diagonal line opposite to the half mirror has the same level of contrast as the painted surface, and the half mirror is obliquely provided in the housing. However, it is difficult to understand visually, and it is possible to realize a meter display in a mysterious three-dimensional display.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, a bright painted surface and a virtual image thereof which are seen close are bright, a dark painted surface which is seen far away and its virtual image appear dark, and a virtual image of a light painted surface and a dark painted surface. Since the brightness becomes substantially equal, a space with perspective can be expressed in a well-balanced manner.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the light-colored painted surface and the dark-colored painted surface are painted with an ultraviolet paint, and an ultraviolet lamp is used as a light source for illuminating both the painted surfaces. Lighting can be emphasized.

In the invention according to claim 4, since the background design plate is formed of a translucent synthetic resin plate or film, the light source does not project on the half mirror and the light source obstructs the display surface of the half mirror. No.

[0017]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below based on an embodiment shown in the drawings. 5 to 7 are denoted by the same reference numerals.

1 to 3, a combination meter 1 includes a half mirror 3 mounted diagonally on a diagonal of a housing 2 so as to face obliquely upward. However, on both sides thereof, a fuel gauge 5, a thermometer 6, and the like are provided, and hands 4a, 5a, and 6a of these devices are also provided on the front side of the half mirror 3. A dial 7 such as a scale or a character is displayed on the surface of the half mirror 3.

Further, a warning lens 8 and a light source 9 are provided on the back side of the half mirror 3, and when the light source 9 is turned on, a warning lamp 10 is displayed on the surface of the half mirror 3. A transparent front cover 20 is provided on the front surface of the housing 2.

A window is formed in the top plate 11 of the housing 2, and a background design plate 12 serving as a background of the dial 7 is attached to the window, and the background design plate 12 is attached to the surface of the half mirror 3. It is to be reflected in.

A cover 13 is mounted on the top plate 11, and a light source 14 for transmitting and illuminating the background design plate 12 is mounted inside the cover 13. The light source 9 is, for example, a circular cold-cathode tube, and is attached to the cover 13 via an attachment piece 15.

The top plate 11 further includes a half mirror 3
Further, a light source 17 for illuminating the facing inner wall surface 16 is attached.

On the half mirror 3, the lighting of the light source 9 is displayed as a warning lamp 10 via a warning lens 8, and the background design plate 12 and the facing inner wall surface 16 are also reflected, so that a meter display floats in a three-dimensional space. It looks like it is. At this time, since the background design plate 12 is formed of a translucent synthetic resin plate or film, the light source 14 is not projected on the half mirror 3 and the light source 14 does not obstruct the display surface of the half mirror 3.

That is, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the facing inner wall surface 16 has a light painted surface A and a dark painted surface B (shown by scattered points) with a diagonal line L intersecting the half mirror 3 as a boundary. And) to give a contrast of light and dark. In this embodiment, the front part of the housing 2 (the part close to the front cover 20) is a light painted surface A, and the rear part is a dark painted surface B. The colors of the light-colored painted surface A and the dark-colored painted surface B are arbitrary. For example, when the light-colored painted surface A is light blue, the dark-colored painted surface B may be blue.

By constructing the facing inner wall surface 16 in this manner, as shown in FIG. 4 (a), when viewed from the arrow 18, the light-colored painted surface A and the dark-colored painted surface B are behind the half mirror 3. The images appear as virtual images A1 and B1.

In general, since the half mirror has lower specularity than the total reflection mirror, the virtual images A 1 and B 1 are darker than the light painted surface A and the dark painted surface B. Now, the light color painted surface A,
FIG. 4A shows the degree of brightness of the dark painted surface B and the virtual images A1 and B1 in four stages of E1 <E2 <E3 <E4.
In the embodiment, the light-colored painted surface A is set to E4, the dark-colored painted surface B is set to E3, and the virtual image reflected on the half mirror 3 is slightly darker, and the virtual image A1 is E3 and the virtual image B1 is E2. That is, the brightness of the dark painted surface B and the brightness of the virtual image A1 are substantially equal, and the virtual images A1,
Since B1 has the same level of contrast as the painted surfaces A and B, it is difficult to visually recognize that the half mirror 3 is obliquely inside the housing 2.

In addition, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 4 (a), the light-colored painted surface A and the virtual image A1 appearing close to each other are bright, and the dark-colored painted surface B and the virtual image B1 appearing far away appear dark. A space with space can be realized.

FIG. 4 (b) shows that the brightness of the light-colored painted surface A and the dark-colored painted surface B are set to E4 and E2, respectively, and the contrast of light and dark is made stronger than that of FIG. 4 (a). , B1
Are E3 and E1, respectively, and have the same level of contrast as the painted surfaces A and B.

FIG. 4C shows the light-colored painted surface A on the rear side.
The dark painted surface B is set to the front side, the brightness of the light painted surface A is set to E4, and the brightness of the dark painted surface B is set to E3. The virtual images A1 and B1 are E3 and E2, respectively. I have. That is, the brightness of the dark painted surface B and the brightness of the virtual image A1 are substantially equal in a positional relationship orthogonal to FIG.
The contrast of 1 and B1 is about the same as the painted surfaces A and B.

According to each of the above embodiments, the half mirror 3
Since the virtual images A1 and B1 have the same level of contrast as the painted surfaces A and B on the diagonal line L that intersects with the boundary line, it is difficult to see visually that the half mirror 3 is on the diagonal line. Meter display inside can be realized.

The light painted surface A and the dark painted surface B are preferably made of ultraviolet ink, and the light source 17 is made of an ultraviolet lamp. Thereby, the return inner wall surface 16 is emphasized and illuminated.

In the above embodiment, the half mirror 3 is directed obliquely upward. However, the half mirror 3 may be directed obliquely downward. In this case, the background design plate 12 is formed on the floor plate 21,
The light source 14 is provided at a lower part.

[0033]

As described above, according to the present invention, the following effects can be obtained.

That is, according to the first aspect of the present invention,
The light-painted surface and the dark-painted surface are formed on the opposite inner wall of the housing with the diagonal line opposite to the half mirror as a boundary, so the virtual image reflected on the half mirror with this diagonal line as a boundary is almost the same as the painted surface , And it is difficult to visually recognize that the half mirror is obliquely present in the housing, and it is possible to realize a meter display in a mysterious three-dimensional display.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the brightly painted surface and its virtual image which are seen close are bright, the darkly painted surface and its virtual image which are seen far away appear dark, and the virtual image and dark image of the lightly painted surface are dark. Since the brightness is substantially equal to that of the painted surface, in addition to the effect of the first aspect of the invention, a space with a sense of perspective can be expressed in a well-balanced manner.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the light-colored painted surface and the dark-colored painted surface are painted with an ultraviolet paint, and an ultraviolet lamp is used as a light source for illuminating both the painted surfaces. Or, in addition to the effect of the invention described in 2, the illumination can be performed by enhancing the inside wall surface of the return.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the background design plate is formed of a translucent synthetic resin plate or film,
Since the light is illuminated by the light source outside the background design plate, the light source does not obstruct the display surface of the half mirror in addition to the effect of the invention according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional side view showing one embodiment of a combination meter of the present invention, and is a sectional view taken along line II of FIG.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the combination meter of one embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory perspective view of a combination meter according to an embodiment;

FIGS. 4A, 4B, and 4C are explanatory diagrams each showing a configuration example of a facing inner wall surface of the combination meter of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a conventional combination meter.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory perspective view of a conventional combination meter.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory view showing a facing inner wall surface of a conventional combination meter.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Housing 3 Half mirror 4a, 5a, 6a Pointer 11 Top plate 12 Background design plate 14 Light source 16 Reflecting inner wall surface 17 Light source 21 Floor plate A Light paint surface B Dark paint surface A1 Virtual image (light paint surface) B1 Virtual image (dark color) Of painted surface)

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G01D 11/26 B60K 37/00 G01D 7/00 G12B 11/02

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. A half mirror is mounted diagonally on a diagonal line in a housing, a pointer of a pointer type meter is provided on a front surface of the half mirror, and a background design is provided on a window on a ceiling plate or a floor plate of the housing for viewing the half mirror. In a combination meter having a plate attached thereto, a light-painted surface and a dark-painted surface are formed on a facing inner wall surface of the housing, passing a center of the half mirror and a diagonal line opposite to the half mirror as a boundary. Combination meter. 2. The light-colored painted surface is formed on the front side of the housing, the dark-colored painted surface is formed on the rear side of the housing, and the brightness of the dark-colored painted surface and the light-colored painted surface are half mirrors. 2. The combination meter according to claim 1, wherein the brightness of the virtual image reflected on the combination meter is set to be substantially equal. 3. The combination meter according to claim 1, wherein the light-colored painted surface and the dark-colored painted surface are painted with an ultraviolet paint, and an ultraviolet lamp is used as a light source for illuminating the both painted surfaces. 4. The background design plate is formed of a translucent synthetic resin plate or film, and a light source is arranged outside the background design plate to illuminate the background design plate. The combination meter according to any one of claims 1 to 3.