JP3568822B2 - Instrument pointer structure - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a pointer structure of an instrument, and more particularly, to a structure of a pointer in an instrument such as a combination meter for a vehicle.
[0002]
[Prior art]
As a first pointer structure of this kind, a pointer made of an elongated light guide is used, and light from a light source is introduced from the base end of the light guide to illuminate the entire pointer, and from the tip of the light guide. There is a structure in which light is emitted outward to perform point emission (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-318801).
[0003]
As a second pointer structure, as shown in FIG. 6, the light guide pointer member 2 is covered with a pointer cap 3, light is emitted only from the slit 4 on the upper surface and light leakage from other parts is eliminated, and the brightness of the pointer is reduced. A pointer structure for improving the illumination and making the illumination uniform has also been disclosed (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-145415).
[0004]
However, with this structure, there is a problem that the amount of light at the distal end portion is insufficient due to being too thin, and the illumination of the pointer becomes non-uniform.
[0005]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in the first pointer structure, most of the pointer is exposed (only the base end of the pointer is covered with the cap (see FIG. 2 in the same gazette)). As a result, there is a problem that the amount of light emitted from the distal end portion becomes insufficient, which causes a decrease in the visibility of the point light emission.
[0006]
On the other hand, in the second pointer structure, light leakage can be eliminated, but light cannot escape from the distal end portion 3a because the distal end portion 3a of the pointer cap 3 is also closed. For this reason, there is a problem that the illumination of the pointer 1 is only light emitted from the slit 4, and it is not possible to emit light from the tip of the pointer 1 and perform point emission.
[0007]
The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object of the present invention is to provide a pointer structure of an instrument in which a hole is provided at a tip of a pointer cap to improve visibility of point light emission.
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 1 is a pointer structure of an instrument in which light is introduced into a pointer that rotates on the front surface of the dial to emit light, and the pointer is a light guide. A pointer member and a pointer cap that covers the light guide pointer member, wherein the pointer cap has a slit formed on the front surface, and a hole through which light emitted from the distal end of the light guide pointer member is formed at the distal end portion. It is a feature.
[0009]
For this reason, according to the first aspect of the present invention, in addition to the normal pointer illumination using the light from the slit, it is possible to perform the point emission with the light emitted from the hole.
[0010]
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided the pointer structure of the meter according to the first aspect, wherein a colored portion is formed on a tip end surface of the light guide pointer member.
[0011]
For this reason, according to the second aspect of the present invention, the point light emission is colored with an arbitrary color, and a display with high design is obtained.
[0012]
The invention according to claim 3 is the pointer structure of the meter according to claim 2, wherein the colored portion is configured by disposing a light-transmitting colored film on a distal end surface of the light guide pointer member. It is characterized by the following.
[0013]
For this reason, in the invention according to claim 3, the colored film is adhered to the tip end face of the light guide pointer member or the pointer cap facing the tip end face, or is sandwiched between the light guide pointer member and the pointer cap. The coloring portion can be easily configured.
[0014]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The same members or those having the same functions as those in FIG. 6 are denoted by the same reference numerals.
[0015]
In FIG. 1, the pointer 1 includes a light guide pointer member 2 and a pointer cap 3 that covers the light guide pointer member 2.
[0016]
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2B, the light guide pointer member 2 includes a tapered cylindrical main body 2a and a base 2c formed integrally with the rear end of the main body 2a. It is formed of a light body.
[0017]
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 (a), the pointer cap 3 is made of a light-shielding member, and has a slit 4 on the upper surface, an opening 5 on the lower surface, and a hole 6 at the tip. It is covered by a portion excluding the slit 4 and the opening 5.
[0018]
Light 7 from a light source (not shown) is introduced into the base 2c of the light guide pointer member 2, is reflected by the tapered surface 2b, passes through the main body 2a, and is emitted from the hole 6 as shown in FIG. Point light is emitted by the emitted light 9.
[0019]
By forming the colored portion 10 of a desired color at the tip of the main body 2a of the light guide pointer member 2, the emitted light 9 can be made any color different from the color of the light source. The colored portion 10 may be formed by color printing as shown in FIG. 2A, or a light-transmissive colored film 11 may be formed on the tip of the light guide pointer member 2 as shown in FIG. It may be adhered to the surface or the pointer cap 3 facing the distal end surface, or may be sandwiched between the back surface of the hole 6 of the pointer cap 3 and the distal end surface of the main body 2a.
[0020]
FIGS. 4 and 5 show a part of the instrument A (combination meter) using the pointer 1, that is, the speedometer 13 and the fuel gauge 14. The speedometer 13 has a scale 15 on the dial 12, an arc-shaped reflection ring 16 is arranged around the scale 15, and the tip of the pointer 1 faces the tapered surface 16 a of the reflection ring 16. It is designed to move. Similarly, the fuel gauge 14 has a scale portion 17 and a reflection ring 18, and the tip of the pointer 1 moves to face the tapered surface 18 a of the reflection ring 18.
[0021]
In this embodiment, the emitted light 9 emitted from the hole 6 at the tip of the pointer 1 irradiates the tapered surfaces 16a and 18a to emit point light. At this time, by providing the colored portion 10 at the tip of the pointer 1 as described above, point emission of a desired color is projected on the tapered surfaces 16a and 18a, and point emission excellent in design becomes possible.
[0022]
As described above, in the present embodiment, since the entire light guide pointer member 2 is covered with the pointer cap 3, light is emitted from the hole 6 formed at the distal end of the pointer cap 3 without careless light leakage. The amount of light can be increased, so that point emission with improved visibility can be performed. In addition, by providing the colored portion 10 at the tip of the pointer 1, point emission of a desired color can be obtained, and display with excellent design can be performed.
[0023]
In addition, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and it is needless to say that the present invention is also applied to a self-luminous type pointer structure in which a light source dedicated to the pointer is built in the base end portion.
[0024]
【The invention's effect】
As described above in detail, according to the present invention, since the entire light guide pointer member is covered with the pointer cap, the amount of light emitted from the hole formed at the distal end of the pointer cap is eliminated without inadvertent light leakage. Can be increased, so that, in addition to normal pointer illumination, point emission with improved visibility can be performed.
[0025]
According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the colored portion is formed on the distal end surface of the light guide pointer member, in addition to the effect of the first aspect, the point light emitting portion is colored with an arbitrary color. Light is emitted, and a display with high designability is obtained.
[0026]
According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the colored portion has the light-transmitting colored film disposed on the distal end surface of the light guide pointer member, the colored portion is easily colored in addition to the effect of the second aspect. Can be configured.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional side view showing an embodiment of a pointer structure of an instrument according to the present invention.
FIGS. 2A and 2B are exploded perspective views of a pointer, wherein FIG. 2A shows a pointer cap and FIG. 2B shows a light guide pointer member.
FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing another embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a main part front view of a combination meter to which the pointer structure of the present invention is applied.
FIG. 5 is a side view of a main part of FIG. 4;
FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing an example of a conventional pointer.
[Explanation of symbols]
REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 pointer 2 light guide pointer member 3 pointer cap 4 slit 6 hole 9 light 10 colored section 11 colored film 12 dial

Claims (3)

A pointer structure of an instrument that introduces light into a pointer that rotates on the front of the dial and emits light,
The pointer includes a light guide pointer member and a pointer cap that covers the light guide pointer member.The pointer cap has a slit on the front surface, and a hole through which light emitted from the distal end of the light guide pointer member passes at the distal end. A pointer structure of an instrument characterized by being formed. The pointer structure of an instrument according to claim 1, wherein a colored portion is formed on a tip surface of the light guide pointer member. 3. The pointer structure of an instrument according to claim 2, wherein the colored portion is configured by disposing a light-transmitting colored film on a distal end surface of the light guide pointer member.

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