JP3440944B2 - Vehicle instrument - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to various measuring instruments such as an indicating instrument mounted on a vehicle.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, for example, as an indicating instrument for a vehicle, there is one as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-21655.
In this indicating instrument, a printed circuit board is interposed between the graduation plate and the rotary inner unit located on the back surface side thereof, and the light for entering both the graduation plate and the pointer on the surface of this printed circuit board. A light source is provided.

[0003]

However, in the above-mentioned indicating instrument, as described above, since light is incident on the graduation plate and the pointer by the same light source, the display mode of the graduation plate and the pointer is naturally set. However, it is uniform and uninteresting.

In view of the above, the present invention has an object to provide a vehicle instrument in which the display on the graduation board has a three-dimensional effect with a sense of depth and ensures novel visibility. And

[0005]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a vehicle instrument according to the invention described in claim 1 is provided with a transparent scale plate (20d, 40d) and a rear side of the scale plate. A rotating inner unit having a light guide plate (60A) and an instruction shaft (23) provided on the backside of the light guide plate and rotatably extending through the through holes of the light guide plate and the scale. (20b, 40b) and a rotation base (2) at the tip of the pointer shaft so as to rotate along the surface of the dial.
4c), a light emitting pointer (20c, 40c) supported by
It is arranged on the back side of the light guide plate and penetrates into the light guide plate.
A light guide light source (8) that allows light to enter through the through hole.
2) and the scale plate has a substantially disk-shaped central portion (2
7, 42) and a substantially annular outer peripheral portion (28, 4) which is separated from the central portion and is positioned substantially concentrically outside the central portion.
3) and the central portion has an arcuate character portion (27a) along the outer peripheral portion thereof, and the substantially annular outer peripheral portion is the scale from the central portion toward the outside. The light guide plate is a graduation portion that is formed to be inclined toward the surface side of the board and constitutes the graduation character portion of the graduation board together with the arc-shaped character portion, and the light guide plate faces the surface of the substantially annular outer peripheral portion. (64) is provided, and a part of the light of the light guide light source that enters the light guide plate is emitted from the emission end portion toward the surface of the substantially annular outer peripheral portion.

As a result, part of the light from the light guide light source passes through between the substantially disk-shaped central portion and the substantially annular outer peripheral portion and is incident on the surface of the substantially annular outer peripheral portion. As a result, based on the inclined shape of the substantially annular outer peripheral portion, the indication display on the scale plate can provide novel visibility with a depth-like stereoscopic effect. Note that claim 2
In the invention described in, the light of the light source for transmission passes through the scale plate.
Will be.

[0007]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

(First Embodiment) FIGS. 1 to 4 show an example in which the present invention is applied to a combination meter for an automobile. This combination meter is arranged on the instrument panel in the passenger compartment of the vehicle,
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the combination meter includes a dashboard 10, a vehicle speedometer 20, an indicator 30, and a tachometer 40 arranged on the dashboard 10.

The vehicle speedometer 20 includes a scale plate 20a formed on the instrument panel 10 and a scale plate 20 on the back side of the instrument panel 10.
The rotary internal unit 20b is provided at a position corresponding to a. The graduation plate 20a is provided on the left side of the instrument panel 10 in FIG. It should be noted that a portion of the instrument panel 10 excluding the scale plate 20a, an indicator portion 30a described later, and the scale plate 40a is black.

The scale board 20a is provided with a substantially arc-shaped scale character portion 21 for displaying the vehicle speed of the automobile, and the scale portion and the character portion of the scale character portion 21 are black. The scale plate 20a is configured to transmit light except for the scale portion and the character portion of the scale character portion 21.

The rotating inner unit 20b is provided with a cross coil type driving unit 2
2 and a pointer shaft 23. The pointer shaft 23 is connected to the drive unit 22 through the through hole of the circuit board 80, the lower end opening of the reflector plate 72 of the later-described reflector 70, and the lower end opening of the light guide plate 60. It extends rotatably upward through the portion 61a and the through hole portion 11 of the instrument panel 10 (scale plate 20a). However,
The rotary inner unit 20b is supported in the casing 90 together with the circuit board 80, the reflection plate 70, and the light guide plate 60. The drive unit 22 rotates the pointer shaft 23 based on the electromagnetic force according to the input. Further, the casing 90 is the instrument panel 10
Is attached from the back side.

Further, the vehicle speedometer 20 is provided with a light emitting pointer 20c, and the light emitting pointer 20c has a pointer main body 24 and a cover 25. The pointer main body 24 is formed of a transparent light guide resin material in a longitudinal shape, and the pointer main body 24 is supported by the tip end portion of the pointer shaft 23 by the boss of the rotation base 24a. The rotating base portion 24a of the pointer main body 24 has an inclined surface 24c as shown in FIG. 2, and the inclined surface 24c serves as a reflecting surface. The cover 25 covers the pointer main body 24, and the cover 25 has a slit 25a in the upper wall corresponding to the upper surface of the pointer portion 24b of the pointer main body 24.

As a result, in the light emitting pointer 20c,
When light is incident on the inside of the rotation base portion 24a of the pointer main body 24 from its lower surface, the light is reflected by the inclined surface 24c and advances into the pointer portion 24b. Along with this, the light in the pointer portion 24b is emitted through the slit 25a of the cover 25. This means that the pointer portion 24b shines with the light emitted from the slit 25a. In FIG. 2, reference numeral 26 indicates a balancer.

The light guide plate 60 is disposed on the instrument plate 10 along the back surface thereof, and the light guide plate 60 is provided on the scale plate 20a.
A light guide plate portion 61 having an eight-shaped cross section is provided at a portion corresponding to. The light guide plate portion 61 is located concentrically with the pointer shaft 23, and the light guide plate portion 61 faces downward from the back surface of the scale plate 20a in FIG. 2 so as to surround the pointer shaft 23. It extends like a bud. The light guide plate 6
0 is formed of a light guiding resin material.

The reflection plate 70 is disposed on the light guide plate 60 along the back surface thereof, and the reflection plate 70 is provided on the scale plate 20a.
In order to correspond to the arc-shaped graduation character portion 21, a circular reflector section 71 having an approximately eight-shaped cross section is provided. The cross-sectional shape of the reflection plate portion 71 is a shape that extends from the back surface of the light guide plate 60 downward in FIG.

The reflecting plate 70 is provided with a reflecting plate portion 72 having an eight-shaped cross section, and the reflecting plate portion 72 is provided in the light guide plate 6.
Along the back surface of the light guide plate portion 61 of No. 0, it extends in the shape of the end. The surface of the reflection plate 70 (the surface on the light guide plate 60 side)
Has been printed with a white printing material.

Further, as shown in FIG. 2, an annular diffusion plate 70a is arranged on the light guide plate 60 along the back surface thereof at the upper end side opening 71a of the reflection plate portion 71. The diffusion plate 70a is made of a diffusion resin material.

The circuit board 80 is supported in parallel with the instrument panel 10 on the drive unit 22 in the casing 90.
A plurality of light sources 81 are arranged on the surface of the circuit board 80 along the circumferential direction of the lower end opening 71b so that they are located in the lower end opening 71b of the annular reflector 71 of the reflector 70.
They are arranged at intervals (see FIG. 1). As a result, each light source 81 emits light inside the annular reflector 71. Hereinafter, each light source 81 is referred to as a transmissive light source 81.

Further, the plurality of light sources 82 are arranged so as to face the lower end opening 61a of the light guide plate portion 61.
They are arranged on the surface of the circuit board 80 at intervals along the circumferential direction of 1a (see FIG. 1). As a result, each light source 8
The light emitted from the light source 2 enters the reflection plate portion 61 of the light guide plate 60 through the lower end opening 61a thereof. Hereinafter, each light source 82 is referred to as a light guide light source 82.

The plurality of light sources 83 are circumferentially arranged on the upper surface of the circuit board 80 so as to face the rotary base portion 24a of the light emitting pointer 20c (FIG. 1).
reference). As a result, each light source 83 emits light,
Light is incident on the rotating base of the pointer main body 24b from its lower surface. Each light source 83 is hereinafter referred to as a pointer light source 83. In the first embodiment, the pointer light source 83, the transmissive light source 81, and the light guiding light source 82 emit light of different colors. Further, the number of the light sources 83 may be changed together with the number of the light sources 81 and 82 as needed.

The outer cylindrical body 84 is the light guide plate portion 6 of the light guide plate 60.
1 and the annular reflector plate portion 72 of the reflector plate 70, the pointer shaft 2
3 so as to be positioned coaxially with the instrument board 10 and the circuit board 8
It is sandwiched between 0 and. On the other hand, the inner tubular body 85 is mounted on the surface of the circuit board 80 inside the outer tubular body 84 so as to be coaxial with the outer tubular body 84.
Each of the pointer light sources 83 is located between the inner cylinder body 85 and the outer cylinder body 84. The outer cylinder 84 and the inner cylinder 85 are both made of a light-shielding resin material.

The tachometer 40 is also constructed substantially similarly to the vehicle speedometer 20. This tachometer 40 has an instrument panel 1
It has a scale plate 40a formed at 0 and a rotating internal unit 40b (see FIG. 3) arranged on the back side of the instrument panel 10. The scale plate 40a is a display showing the number of revolutions of the engine of the automobile. The pattern unit 41 is provided.

The indicator 30 has an indicator portion 30a formed on the instrument panel 10. 1 and 2, reference numerals 100 and 110 respectively denote an annular dial plate and a curved front panel.

As shown in FIG. 3, the combination meter includes a vehicle speed sensor 120 and a rotation speed sensor 130.
And a microcomputer 140. The vehicle speed sensor 120 detects the vehicle speed of the vehicle. The rotation speed sensor 130 detects the rotation speed of the engine of the vehicle.

The microcomputer 140 executes the computer program in accordance with the flowchart shown in FIG. 4, and during execution of the computer program, each rotary internal unit 20 based on each detection output of the vehicle speed sensor 120 and the rotational speed sensor 130.
Calculation processing for actuating b and 40b and turning on and off each of the light sources 81 to 83 is performed. The computer program is stored in the ROM of the microcomputer 140 in advance. Further, the microcomputer 140 is operated by being directly supplied with power from the battery B mounted on the vehicle. Further, in FIG. 3, reference symbol IG indicates an ignition switch of the vehicle.

In the first embodiment thus constructed, while the microcomputer 140 repeats the determination of NO in step 200 in accordance with the flowchart of FIG. 4, the vehicle is switched to the ignition switch IG.
Turning on turns on the vehicle.

Then, the microcomputer 140
In step 200, a determination process of YES is performed.
Then, in step 210, the vehicle speed of the vehicle and the engine speed are output based on the detection outputs of the vehicle speed sensor 120 and the engine speed sensor 130.

Accordingly, the vehicle speed meter 20 rotates the light emitting pointer 20c in response to the operation of the rotating inner unit 20b, and the tachometer 40 responds to the operation of the rotating inner unit 40b. The light emitting pointer 40c is rotated. As a result, the light emitting pointer 20
c indicates the vehicle speed on the surface of the graduation plate 20a, and the light emitting pointer 40c indicates the rotation speed of the engine on the surface of the graduation plate 40a.

After the processing of step 210, step 220
At each of the pointer light source 83 and the tachometer 4 of the vehicle speed meter 20
A lighting process of 0 for each pointer light source is performed. This allows
The pointer light sources 83 of the vehicle speedometer 20 and the pointer light sources of the tachometer 40 are both turned on.

Accordingly, in the vehicle speed meter 20, the light from each pointer light source 83 emits light, and the pointer main body 24 of the pointer 20c emits light.
The light enters from the turning base 24a. Then, the incident light from each pointer light source 83 is reflected by the inclined surface 24c in the pointer main body 24 and travels into the pointer portion 24b. After that, the light in the pointer portion 24b is reflected by the slit 2 of the cover 25.
Emit from 5a. In addition, such a thing is a tachometer 40
The same is true for.

After the processing of step 220, step 221
At, it is determined whether or not a predetermined delay time (for example, 1 second) has elapsed. This determination is made by the microcomputer 1
This is made by comparing the time measured after the processing of step 220 by the timer built in 40 with the delay time. The timer is reset and starts counting at the same time when the process of step 220 ends.

After that, when the time measured by the timer reaches the predetermined delay time, if the determination in step 221 becomes YES, in step 230, the vehicle speed meter 2
The transmission light source 81 and the light guide light source 82 of 0, the transmission light source and the light guide light source of the tachometer 40 are turned on.

As a result, each transmission light source 8 of the vehicle speedometer 20 is transmitted.
1 and each light guide light source 82, each transmission light source and each light guide light source of the tachometer 40 are turned on. Along with this, the light from each of the transmissive light sources 81 is reflected by the inner surface of the reflection plate portion 71 of the reflection plate 70, then diffused by the diffusion plate 70a and transmitted through the scale plate 20a as uniform diffused light. The tachometer 40 is similar to the vehicle speedometer 20.

After the processing of step 230, it is determined whether or not the ignition switch IG is off. If the ignition switch IG is still on at this stage, the determination in step 240 is NO and the processing of steps 200 to 230 is repeated.

On the other hand, the determination in step 240 is YE.
When the result is S, in step 250, the output processing of the vehicle speed and the rotational speed is stopped, and the turning-off processing of each of the light sources is performed. Along with this, each light emitting pointer 20b,
The light source of the vehicle speed meter 20 and the light source of the tachometer 40 are turned off while the instruction by 40b is stopped.

As described above, on the assumption that the ignition switch IG is turned on, the vehicle speed meter 20 and the tachometer 4
The light source for transmission and the light source for light guide of the vehicle speedometer 20 and the tachometer 40 are turned on when the above-mentioned delay time elapses after turning on the light source for 0 of each pointer. As a result, in the vehicle speedometer 20, assuming that the ignition switch IG is turned on,
After the light emitting pointer 20b emits light through the slit 25a,
The scale plate 20a emits light when the delay time elapses.

As a result, novel visibility can be ensured by the staggered lighting with the delay time as described above. In this case, the color of the graduation plate 20a is a combined color of the light emission colors of the transmissive light source and the light guide light source, and is different from the light emission color of the pointer light source. Therefore, the light emission color of the light emission pointer is different from the color of the scale plate. , The visibility can be improved even more. Further, since the outer cylindrical body 84 shields each of the pointer light sources 83, the light from the light sources 83 is transmitted through and guided by the light sources 81 and 8.
No leakage to the 2 side. The above effects and advantages are
The tachometer 40 can be similarly obtained.

In the first embodiment, the transmission light source 81 and the light guiding light source 82 are turned on after a predetermined delay time has passed after the turning on of the pointer light source 83 by the processing of steps 220 to 230. Instead of this, the pointer light source 83 may be turned on after a predetermined delay time has elapsed after the transmission light source 81 and the light guiding light source 82 are turned on.

In this case, the light source 83 for pointers is turned on when a predetermined delay time has passed while the light source 81 for transmission and the light source 82 for light guide are turned on. As a result, substantially the same as the first embodiment. The same effect can be achieved. Also,
Even if the light emission colors of the pointer light source, the transmission light source, and the light guide light source are the same, a novel visibility can be ensured by the time difference lighting through the delay time.

(Second Embodiment) Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. In the second embodiment, the automatic lighting device 150 mounted on the automobile is the microcomputer 140 described in the first embodiment.
Is additionally connected to. When the traveling environment of the automobile is at night, the automatic lighter 150 detects a decrease in the amount of light by the light amount sensor, lights a lamp such as a small lamp of the automobile, and outputs the detection output of the optical sensor to the microcomputer 140. Output to.

In addition, in the second embodiment, the light emission color of each light source 81 for transmission described in the first embodiment is orange, and the light emission color of each light source 82 for light guide is white. is there. Further, the microcomputer 140 executes the computer program according to the flowchart shown in FIG. 6 instead of the flowchart described in the first embodiment. Other configurations are the same as those in the first embodiment.

In the second embodiment thus constructed, when the microcomputer 140 finishes the processing in step 210 as in the first embodiment, in the next step 260, it is determined whether the traveling environment of the vehicle is at night. It is determined whether or not. Here, if the vehicle is running at night, in step 260, the automatic lighter 15
The determination of YES is made based on the detection output of the optical sensor of 0.

Then, in step 261, a lighting process of the pointer light sources of the vehicle speed meter 20 and the tachometer 40 is performed. For this reason, each of the pointer light sources is turned on, and along with this, both of the light emitting pointers 20c and 40c both emit light at each slit.

After the processing of step 261, step 262 is executed.
In, the lighting process of each light guide light source of the vehicle speed meter 20 and the tachometer 40 is performed. Therefore, the respective light guide light sources are turned on, and accordingly, the respective scale plates 20a and 40a are irradiated with the light from the light guide plate 60 and emit light.

On the other hand, when the determination in step 260 is NO based on the detection output of the light amount sensor of the automatic lighting device 150 because the traveling environment of the automobile is daytime, in step 263, the speedometer 20 and the tachometer 40 are operated. The lighting process of each transmission light source is performed. For this reason, the respective transmissive light sources are turned on, and along with this, the respective scale plates 20a, 40
a emits light.

As described above, in the second embodiment, when the traveling environment of the automobile is night, the vehicle speed indicator 20
Also, the pointer light sources and the light guide light sources of the tachometer 40 are turned on, and the transmission light sources of the vehicle speed meter 20 and the tachometer 40 are turned on when the traveling environment of the vehicle is daytime.

Thus, at night, both scales 20
a and 40a emit white light, and both dials 20
a and 40a emit orange light. As a result, novel visibility can be ensured by switching the display color of both the scales 20a and 40a between day and night.

In the second embodiment, step 2
Although the example in which the determination in 60 is performed based on whether it is nighttime has been described, the determination in step 260 may be performed instead, depending on whether the surroundings of the vehicle are dark as in nighttime. As a result, the determination in step 260 is made regardless of whether the traveling environment of the vehicle is at night or not, for example, whether it is inside a tunnel or not. Therefore, depending on whether the car is in a tunnel,
Microcomputer 140 similar to that of the second embodiment
Based on the processing by, it is possible to achieve the same effect as that of the second embodiment.

Further, in the second embodiment described above, the emission color of each of the transmissive light sources 81 is orange, but the color is not limited to this.
The emission color of each light source for transmission 81 is natural light, and the diffusion plate 70a
May be formed of an orange diffusion resin material or may be colored orange.

In the second embodiment, the light emission color of each transmissive light source 81 is orange and the light emission color of each light guide light source 82 is white. However, the present invention is not limited to this. The light emission color of the light source 81 is white and each light guide light source 82
The emission color of may be orange.

In the second embodiment, step 2
Although the determination in 60 is made based on the output of the optical sensor of the automatic lighting device 150, instead of this, the determination in step 260 may be made based on the lighting output of the small lamp L or the like.

(Third Embodiment) FIGS. 7 and 8 show a third embodiment of the present invention. In this third embodiment,
As shown in FIG. 7, in the second embodiment, the variable resistor 160 is additionally connected to the microcomputer 140 described in the second embodiment.

The variable resistor 160 is used to adjust the light amount of each light guide light source of the vehicle speed meter 20 and the tachometer 40. Here, the variable resistor 160 is adjusted by the resistance value according to the preference of the occupant of the vehicle, and the adjusted resistance value is input to the microcomputer 140. However, in the third embodiment, the resistance value of the variable resistor 160 and the light amount of each light guide light source are inversely proportional.

Further, in the third embodiment, the light emission color of each light guide light source of the vehicle speed meter 20 and the tachometer 40 is green, and the light emission color of each transmission light source is orange. Also, this third
In the embodiment, the microcomputer 140 described in the second embodiment is replaced with the flowchart of FIG.
It is modified to execute the computer program according to the flowchart shown in FIG. Other configurations are the same as those in the second embodiment.

In the third embodiment thus constructed, step 26 is performed in the same manner as described in the second embodiment.
After the pointer light sources of the vehicle speedometer 20 and the tachometer 40 are turned on under the processing in 1, the lighting processing of each light guide light source and each transmission light source of the vehicle speedometer 20 and the tachometer 40 is performed in step 264. Done.

Therefore, the light guide light sources and the transmission light sources of the vehicle speed meter 20 and the tachometer 40 are turned on. Then, in step 265, the resistance value is input from the variable resistor 160, and the adjustment process of the light amount of each light guide light source is performed. Therefore, the light amount of each light guide light source becomes a light amount according to the resistance value of the variable resistor 160.

Here, if the resistance value of the variable resistor 160 is the minimum value, for example, in the vehicle speedometer 20, the light amount of each light guide light source 82 is maximum. Therefore, the green color of each light guide light source 82 is combined with the orange color of each transmission light source 81, and the emission color of the scale plate 20a becomes yellow.

When the resistance value of the variable resistor 160 is maximized, the light quantity of each light guide light source 82 is minimized. Therefore, compared with the green color of each light guide light source 82, each light source 81 for transmission
The orange color of 1 is markedly dominant, and the emission color of the dial 20a is substantially orange.

Thus, the variable resistor 160 by the occupant
The color of light emitted from the scale plate 20a can be adjusted between orange and yellow by adjusting the resistance of the scale according to preference. Such a thing is similarly realized in the tachometer 40. Therefore, the novel visibility described above can be further improved.

In the third embodiment, an example in which the variable resistor 160 is used to adjust the light quantity of each light guide light source has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the light quantity of each transmission light source is adjusted. If a variable resistor is further adopted and the resistance value of this variable resistor is also adjusted, the luminescent color of the dial can be adjusted between orange and green via yellow.
As a result, the change range of the luminescent color of the scale plate according to the occupant's preference can be further widened as compared with the third embodiment.

Further, in carrying out the present invention, unlike the case described in the third embodiment, both steps 264 and 265 are processed based on the judgment of NO in step 260, while YES in step 260. The processing of both steps 261 and 263 may be performed based on the determination of.

Further, in implementing the present invention, instead of the third embodiment, the variable resistor 160 is connected to the microcomputer 140 in the first embodiment, and the emission color of each light source for transmission is orange. In addition, the light emission color of each light guide light source is set to green, and the resistance value of the variable resistor 160 is adjusted under the lighting process of each transmission light source and each light guide light source in step 230 (see FIG. 4). For example, the emission color of the dial can be adjusted as in the third embodiment.

(Fourth Embodiment) FIGS. 9 and 10 show a fourth embodiment of the present invention. In the fourth embodiment, the instrument plate 10A, the light guide plate 60A, the light guide member 170, the reflector 180, and the annular diffusion plate 180a are the instrument plate 10, the light guide plate 60, and the outer cylindrical body 8 described in the second embodiment.
4, inner cylinder body 85, reflector 70 and annular diffusion plate 70
It is used instead of a.

The instrument panel 10A is provided with scale plates 20d and 40d corresponding to the scale plates 20a and 40a described in the second embodiment, respectively.
The d is divided into a substantially disc-shaped central portion 27 and a substantially annular outer peripheral portion 28. The substantially annular outer peripheral portion 28 is concentrically located along the outer periphery of the substantially disc-shaped central portion 27, and the substantially annular outer peripheral portion 28 is substantially at the inner peripheral edge 28a thereof as shown in FIG. It is located on the back surface side of the outer peripheral edge 27 a of the disk-shaped central portion 27. Further, the substantially annular outer peripheral portion 28 is formed in an inclined cross section so as to extend from the inner peripheral edge 28 a to the outer peripheral edge 28 b toward the surface side of the substantially disc-shaped central portion 27. The instrument panel 10A is attached to the rear surface of the inner end portion of the bottom wall 101 of the dial plate 100 described in the second embodiment at the outer peripheral portion thereof.

Here, the substantially annular outer peripheral portion 28 is the second
The scale character portion 21 of the scale board 20a described in the embodiment.
This corresponds to the scale and is hereinafter referred to as the scale portion 28. Further, the outer peripheral portion of the substantially disk-shaped central portion 27 corresponds to a portion representing a character in the scale character portion 21 of the scale board 20a, and is hereinafter referred to as a character portion 27a. The portion of the substantially disk-shaped central portion 27 other than the character portion 27a is the same as the portion of the scale plate 20a excluding the scale character portion 21.

The scale plate 40d has substantially the same structure as the scale plate 20d.
Is provided with a substantially disc-shaped central portion 42 and a substantially circular-shaped outer peripheral portion 43 respectively corresponding to the substantially disc-shaped central portion 27 and the substantially circular outer peripheral portion 28 of the scale plate 20d. Substantially annular outer peripheral portion 43
Corresponds to the scale portion of the scale character portion of the scale board 40a, and the outer peripheral portion 42a of the substantially disk-shaped central portion 42 corresponds to the character portion of the scale character portion of the scale board 40a.

The light guide plate 60A is arranged on the instrument plate 10A along the back surface thereof, and the light guide plate 60A is positioned substantially concentrically at the opening 62 thereof so that the pointer shaft 23 can be inserted therethrough. There is. Here, the opening 62 is the arc-shaped light guide plate 6
3, the arc-shaped light guide plate portion 63 extends downward from the back surface of the graduation plate 10d in FIG. 10 toward the pointer shaft 23 side with an upwardly convex sectional curved shape. .
The arcuate light guide plate portion 63 faces the respective light guide light sources 82 described in the first embodiment at its lower end portion 63a.

Further, as shown in FIG. 10, the light guide plate 60A is provided with a substantially circular emission end face 64 on the back surface side of the outer peripheral edge 27a of the substantially disc-shaped central portion 27. The end surface 64 faces the surface of the substantially annular scale portion 28. The portion of the light guide plate 60A corresponding to the scale 40d is also formed similarly to the portion corresponding to the scale 20d. Further, the light guide plate 60A is made of a light guide resin material.

As shown in FIG. 10, the reflector 180 is provided with an annular frame 181. This annular frame 181 is
Between the bottom wall 101 of the dial plate 100 and the opening of the casing 90, the screw 91 is clamped through the outer peripheral portion of the circuit board 80 to be clamped in the opening of the casing 90. As a result, the reflector 180 is sandwiched between the dial plate 100 and the casing 90 with the circuit board 80 interposed therebetween.

The reflector 180 has an annular frame 181.
A reflection plate 182 that constitutes the upper wall of the above is provided. The reflection plate 182 includes a reflection plate portion 183 having an eight-shaped cross section, and the reflection plate portion 183 extends downward from the back surface side of the light guide plate 60A in a conical shape. Here, the reflecting plate portion 183 is formed in an arc shape along the back surface of the light guide plate 60A corresponding to the rotation range of the light emitting pointer 20c of the scale plate 20d, and the circular lower end opening of the reflecting plate portion 183. The transmissive light sources 81 described in the second embodiment are located inside the portion 183a along the circumferential direction thereof.

Further, the reflector 180 is provided with a substantially annular reflector plate portion 186, and this substantially annular reflector plate portion 186.
As shown in FIG. 10, is located substantially concentrically corresponding to the substantially annular light guide portion 63, and is inclined from the inner peripheral portion of the reflector plate 183 of the reflector 180 toward each light guide light source 82. Has been extended to. As a result, the reflection plate portion 186 plays a role of reflecting the light of each light guide light source 82 toward the outer peripheral surface of the light guide portion 63.

Further, the reflection plate 182 is provided with an outer cylindrical body 184 at a position corresponding to the opening 62 of the light guide plate 60A. The outer cylindrical body 184 is the outer peripheral portion of the opening of the graduation plate 20d. It is sandwiched between the portion of the circuit board 80 facing this. Further, the reflector 182 is the inner cylindrical body 18
5, the inner cylinder 185 is the outer cylinder 18
4 is positioned concentrically with the pointer shaft 23 within the outer cylinder 18
4 rises from the inner peripheral portion of the annular low wall 184a.
The surface of the reflector 182 including the surface of the reflector 183, the inner surface of the outer cylinder 184 and the outer peripheral surface of the inner cylinder 185 is printed with a white printing material.

The annular diffuser plate 180a is disposed along the back surface of the light guide plate 60A at the upper end side opening 183b of the reflector plate 183. The diffusion plate 180a is made of a diffusion resin material.

As shown in FIG. 10, the light guide member 170 is made of a cylindrical body made of a light guide material, and the light guide member 170 is housed and assembled between the cylindrical bodies 184 and 185. The light guide member 170 includes the tubular member body 17
1 and an annular flange 172 that projects radially outward from the outer peripheral portion of the upper end of the member main body 171. Thereby, in the light guide member 170, the member main body 171 is located between the cylindrical bodies 184 and 185, and the flange 1
72 is seated and engaged on the outer peripheral portion of the opening of the scale plate 20d.

Further, the member main body 171 is formed by projecting a plurality of protrusions 171a from the inner peripheral surface thereof, and each protrusion 171a of the member main body 171 is provided in each engagement hole portion 185a of the inner cylindrical body 185. They are engaged. These respective engagements are such that the flange 172 presses the outer peripheral portion of the opening portion of the graduation plate 20d against the upper end portion of the peripheral wall of the outer cylindrical body 184.

The member main body 171 has three convex lens portions 171b (only two convex lens portions are shown in FIG. 10).
The convex lens portions 171b are formed in a convex lens shape so as to extend downward from the annular bottom surface (light source side annular end surface) of the member body 171. Here, each convex lens 171b is located to face each pointer light source 83. Thereby, the light guide member 170 receives the light of each of the pointer light sources 83 at each of the convex lens portions 171b facing each of the light sources 83, converts the light into parallel light, and guides the light to the inside. Rotating base portion 24 of the light emitting pointer 20c
The light is emitted toward the back surface of a. However, in this embodiment, each light guide light source 82 emits blue light when turned on, and each light transmission light source 81 emits white light when turned on. The tachometer 40 is also configured substantially the same as the vehicle speedometer 20. Other configurations are the same as those in the second embodiment.

In the fourth embodiment thus constructed, as in the second embodiment, when the traveling environment of the automobile is at night, the pointer light sources 83 and the light guide light sources 82 of the vehicle speedometer 20 are arranged. When turned on, the light of each light source 83 is converted into parallel light by each corresponding convex lens portion 171b by the light guide member 170 and is introduced into the member main body 171.
Accordingly, each parallel light in the member main body 171 is rotated from the upper end surface of the member main body 171 to the rotation base portion 24a of the light emitting pointer 20c.
Incident on the inside.

In this case, since the light from each light source 83 is incident on the rotating base portion 24a as parallel light under the optical action of each convex lens portion 171b by the light guide member 170 as described above, each incident light is incident. The light can efficiently enter the rotation base portion 24a as uniform light corresponding to the light of each light source 83 without becoming dark in the area between the light sources 83.

For this reason, the light emitting pointer 20c can emit light with a uniform brightness through the slit 25a of the cover 25 at the pointer portion 20c based on the light incident on the rotary base portion 24a regardless of the rotating position. . As mentioned above,
The cylindrical bodies 184 and 185 guide the light from the respective light sources 83 to the light guide member 17.
Since the light is reflected toward 0, the light utilization rate of each light source 82 can be further increased.

The blue light of each light guide light source 82 enters the light guide plate 60A from the light guide portion 63, is guided, and is emitted from the emission end face 64 toward the scale portion 28. Therefore, the scale portion 28 is illuminated with blue light. At this time, the blue light guided by the light guide portion 63 enters the substantially disk-shaped central portion 27 of the graduation plate 20d from the back surface thereof. Along with this, the character portion 27a of the substantially disk-shaped central portion 27 is changed to the scale portion 2
It glows in a darker blue than the surface of 8. As a result, the luminous pointer 2
The instruction by 0c can be visually recognized when the scale portion 28 is illuminated with a brighter blue color than the character portion 27a. Further, the character portion 27a is formed to have an inclined cross section as described above. Therefore, the light guide plate 6
Under the blue light emitted from the emission end face 64 of 0A to the surface of the graduation portion 28, the indication by the light emitting pointer 20c at night can be provided with a depth-like stereoscopic effect and novel visibility.

Further, as in the second embodiment, when the traveling environment of the automobile is daytime, the transmission light sources 8 of the vehicle speedometer 20 are transmitted.
When 1 is turned on, the white light of each of the light sources 81 is reflected by the reflection plate portion 183 and also diffused by the diffusion plate 180a so as to pass through the scale plate 20d from its back surface. At this time, the central portion 27 and the scale portion 2 of the scale board 20d are
Since the brightness of the light passing through the space between the light emitting device 8 and 8 is higher than the brightness of the light passing through the central portion 27 and the scale portion 28, the above-mentioned space portion shines brightly in an annular shape. In addition, as described above, the character part 2
7a is formed to have an inclined cross section. Thereby, under the white light emitted from the diffusion plate 180a, the instruction by the light emitting pointer 20c in the daytime can be provided with a novel stereoscopic effect with a depth-like stereoscopic effect. It should be noted that the above-described effects can be similarly achieved by the tachometer 40.

In addition, in the above-mentioned night driving of the automobile, if the light sources for transmission 81 as well as the light sources for light guide 82 are turned on, blue emission light from the emission end face 64 of the light guide plate 60A is generated. Both of the white emitted lights from the diffusion plate 180a illuminate the surface of the scale portion 28. Therefore, the instruction by the light emitting pointer 20c at night can be provided with a novel visibility with a dark white and a stereoscopic effect with a sense of depth.

(Fifth Embodiment) FIG. 11 shows a fifth embodiment of the present invention. In the fifth embodiment, the fourth
In the graduation plate 20d described in the embodiment, the substantially annular graduation portion 28 is integrated with the substantially disc-shaped central portion 27.
Further, in the fifth embodiment, the diffuser plate 180a described in the fourth embodiment is eliminated, and the light guide plate 60A replaces the diffuser plate 180a and the reflector plate portion 18 of the reflector 130.
3 is extended to cover the upper end side opening 183b.

Further, the substantially annular plate-shaped light guide member 190 is shown in FIG.
1, the light guide member 190 is provided along the wall portion 186 formed on the outer periphery of the reflector 180.
The L-shaped bent portion 191 is located so as to face the surface side of the scale plate 20d from between the upper end of the wall portion 186 and the inner end portion of the bottom wall 101 of the dial plate 100. In addition, each of the light guide light sources 82 described in the fourth embodiment is arranged so that the circuit board 8 faces the lower end surface 192 of the light guide member 190.
It is provided on the 0 surface. However, in the fifth embodiment, differently from the fourth embodiment, each light guide light source 82 emits white light when turned on, and each light source 8 for transmission.
1 emits blue light by its lighting. Other configurations are the same as those in the fourth embodiment.

According to the fifth embodiment having such a configuration, as in the fourth embodiment, each light source for transmission 81 or each light guide is directed under the instruction of the light emitting pointer 20c by each light source for pointer 83. Lighting of the light source 82 for use or each of these light sources 81, 82
Simultaneous lighting of the light sources causes the blue light of each light source, the white light of each light source 82, or the dark blue light of a mixture thereof to be combined with the cross-sectional inclined shape of the graduation portion 28 of the graduation plate 20d, and the depth similar to that in the fourth embodiment. It is possible to provide innovative visibility with a three-dimensional effect.

Here, the light guide member 190 receives the white light of each light source 82 and emits it from the bent portion 191 along the surface of the graduation plate 20d, so that the light source 82 of each light source 82 described in the above fourth embodiment. It is possible to secure an illuminating sensation of the innovative dial 20d different from light. It should be noted that the above action and effect are obtained by the tachometer 40.
But the same is true.

In implementing the present invention, the graduation plate 20d described in the fifth embodiment may be separated into the central portion 27 and the outer peripheral portion 28 as in the fourth embodiment. As a result, the light from each of the transmissive light sources 81
Since it also passes through the gap between the outer peripheral portion 28 and the outer peripheral portion 28, it is possible to achieve substantially the same operational effect as described in the fourth embodiment.

In implementing the present invention, the light guide member 190 described in the fifth embodiment may have the light guide plate 60A integrally as a light guide section.

Further, in carrying out the present invention, the invention is not limited to an indicator instrument having a step motor as a drive source or a cross coil indicator instrument, but it can be rotated like a movable coil indicator instrument or a movable iron core indicator instrument. Even when the present invention is applied to an indicating instrument having a pointer shaft and various instruments, the same operational effects as those of the above-described respective embodiments can be achieved.

Further, in carrying out the present invention, the present invention is not limited to the combination meter, and the present invention may be applied to a vehicle speedometer independent instrument or a tachometer independent instrument.

Further, in carrying out the present invention, the light sources for the pointers may be eliminated, and ordinary pointers may be adopted instead of the light emitting pointers.

In implementing the present invention, each light source described in each of the above embodiments is not limited to a lamp, and may be, for example, a light emitting element such as a light emitting diode, a cold cathode tube, or an electroluminescence element.

Further, in each of the above-described embodiments, an example in which each pointer light source 83 is provided on the surface of the circuit board 80 has been described, but instead of this, as each pointer light source 83, for example,
Even if a single light emitting diode is adopted and this light emitting diode is provided in the rotation base portion 24c of the pointer main body 24, the same effect as that of each of the above-described embodiments can be achieved.

Further, in implementing the present invention, the present invention may be applied to an instrument of an electric vehicle having a key switch instead of the ignition switch IG. Also,
The present invention may be applied not only to automobiles but also to various vehicle instruments such as trucks, bus vehicles and motorcycles.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway front view showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line 2-2 in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a circuit configuration diagram of the first embodiment.

4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the microcomputer of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a circuit configuration diagram showing a second embodiment of the present invention.

6 is a flowchart showing the operation of the microcomputer of FIG.

FIG. 7 is a circuit configuration diagram showing a third embodiment of the present invention.

8 is a flowchart showing the operation of the microcomputer of FIG.

FIG. 9 is a partially cutaway front view showing a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

10 is a sectional view taken along the line 10-10 in FIG.

FIG. 11 is a cutaway view showing a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

10A ... Instrument panel, 20d, 40d ... Scale board, 20b, 40b ... Rotating internal unit, 20c, 40c ... Emitting pointer, 21, 41 ... Scale character part, 23 ... pointer axis, 27 ... a substantially disk-shaped central portion, 27a ... character part, 28 ... a substantially annular outer peripheral portion, 60A ... light guide plate, 82 ... Light source.

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A transparent scale plate (20d, 40d) and a light guide plate (60) provided on the scale plate along the back surface thereof.
A) and an indicator shaft (2) provided on the back side of the light guide plate and rotatably extending through the through holes of the light guide plate and the scale plate.
3) a rotary internal unit (20b, 40b), and a light emitting pointer (20c, 20c supported by a rotary base (24c) at the tip of the pointer shaft so as to rotate along the surface of the dial. and 40c), the transmural the light guide plate is disposed on the rear surface side of the light guide plate
A light guide light source (8) that allows light to enter through the through hole.
2), the graduation plate has a substantially disc-shaped central portion (27, 42) and a substantially annular outer peripheral portion (28) which is separated from the central portion and is positioned substantially concentrically outside the central portion. , 43), and the central portion extends along the outer periphery of the arcuate character portion (27).
a), the substantially annular outer peripheral portion is formed to incline outward from the central portion toward the surface side of the dial, and together with the arc-shaped character portion, the dial character portion of the dial. The light guide plate is provided with an emission end (64) facing the surface of the substantially annular outer peripheral portion, and a part of the light of the light guide light source incident on the light guide plate is A vehicle instrument characterized in that the light is emitted from the emission end portion toward the surface of the substantially annular outer peripheral portion. 2. The vehicle according to claim 1, further comprising a transmissive light source (81) which passes the light guide plate in a plate thickness direction thereof and transmits light by emitting light from the back surface side of the scale plate. Measuring instrument.