JP3937470B2 - Illuminated slide-operated electronic components - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a slide operation type electronic component with illumination, such as a volume and a switch, which is mainly used for various devices mounted in a passenger compartment of an automobile.
[0002]
[Prior art]
The structure of this type of conventional slide-operated electronic component with illumination will be described with reference to FIGS.
[0003]
FIG. 5 is a side sectional view showing the configuration of the illuminated slide-operated electronic component. FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view of the electronic component with the main body cover removed. In FIG. Is a substrate fixed to the body cover 1, 3 is a light source attached to the substrate 2, 4 is a light source side light guide for guiding the light of the light source 3 to a predetermined place, and 5 is a volume attached to the substrate 2 or the body cover 1. A slide operation type electronic component such as a switch, 6 is an operation knob for operating the electronic component 5 mounted on the operation lever 5A of the electronic component 5 from the outside of the main body cover 1, and the following illumination unit is provided at the tip. 7B.
[0004]
A knob side light guide 7 made of a transparent resin passes through the central portion of the operation knob 6. Light from the light source 3 is received and reflected by the tapered portion 7A, which is a light receiving portion at the rear end, and illuminated at the front end. The portion 7B is configured to shine at the tip of the operation knob 6.
[0005]
Then, when sliding the electronic component 5 with the operation knob 6, the light of the light source 3 is changed so that the brightness of the illumination part 7 </ b> B at the front end of the knob-side light guide 7 does not change depending on the position of the operation knob 6. The reflective surface 4A and the light emitting surface 4B of the light source side light guide 4 to be guided to the knob side light guide 7 are provided with an embossed part for irregularly reflecting light or irregularly reflecting light, or having a curved surface shape. It was.
[0006]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in the configuration of the conventional slide-operated electronic component with illumination, when changing or adjusting the brightness of the illumination portion 7B at the tip of the operation knob 6, the reflecting surface 4A and the light emitting surface 4B of the light source side light guide 4 are used. Therefore, it is necessary to change the mold of the light source side light guide 4 because it has to be examined by changing the embossing and the surface shape, and it takes time and cost, and fine adjustment is difficult.
[0007]
Moreover, even if the light source side light guide 4 is manually processed and experimentally examined for adjusting the brightness of the illumination portion 7B at the tip of the operation knob 6, the result is accurately reflected in a mass-produced processed product using a mold. There was also a problem of not being limited.
[0008]
The present invention is intended to solve such a conventional problem, and it is possible to easily change or adjust the brightness of the illumination part at the tip of the operation knob, and to show the result of the experimental study on the brightness of the illumination part as a mass-produced product. It is an object of the present invention to provide a slide-operated electronic component with illumination that is easily reflected in the above.
[0009]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the present invention arranges a light control sheet provided with a light shielding part by applying a light shielding paint to a transparent or translucent sheet in a predetermined shape between the light source and the knob side light guide, The brightness of the illumination part is adjusted by changing the shape and area of the light shielding part according to the slide position of the operation knob.
[0010]
Thereby, the brightness of the illumination part at the tip of the operation knob can be easily changed and adjusted without changing the mold, and the result of the experimental study on the brightness of the illumination part can be accurately reflected in the mass-produced product.
[0011]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a light source, a slide operation type electronic component, a light shielding paint applied to a transparent or translucent sheet in a predetermined shape to provide a light shielding portion, and the light source and the electronic component. A light control sheet disposed between the main body cover and the substrate including and fixing the light source, the electronic component, and the light control sheet, and an operation lever tip of the electronic component protruding outward from the main body cover. an operation knob is disposed through the operation knob, one end Ri is Do from the operation knob distal illuminating portion made of transparent resin lightguide other end becomes a light receiving portion in the, by the sliding operation position of the operation knob The light control sheet is set to the length of the slide operation range of the operation knob so that the brightness of the illumination unit does not change, and the shape of the light shielding unit is wide at the portion close to the light source and narrow at the far portion. and the configuration By changing the size and shape of the shading part of the light control sheet according to the slide position of the operation knob, the brightness of the illumination part at the tip of the operation knob can be easily changed and adjusted, and the brightness of the illumination part It is possible to accurately reflect the result of the experimental study on the mass-produced product.
[0012]
The invention according to claim 2 is configured to adjust the illumination color of the illumination part at the tip of the operation knob by coloring the light control sheet in the invention according to claim 1, and the illumination color of the illumination part It has the effect | action that it can adjust easily.
[0013]
Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
In the figure, parts having the same configurations as those described in the conventional example are assigned the same reference numerals and description thereof is omitted.
[0014]
FIG. 1 is a side sectional view showing a configuration of an illuminated slide operation type electronic component according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the electronic component with a body cover removed. The body cover 1, the substrate 2, the light source 3, the slide operation type electronic component 5, the operation knob 6, and the knob side light guide 7 (represented as a light guide in the following description) have the same configuration as the conventional example. A light control sheet 11 is attached to the substrate 2 so as to be positioned between the light source 3 and the electronic component 5.
[0015]
This light control sheet 11 is obtained by applying a light shielding paint in a predetermined shape to a transparent or translucent sheet 11A and providing a light shielding part 11B. The light control sheet 11 is long over the entire range in which the operation lever 5A of the electronic component 5 moves. And has a function of adjusting the amount of light reaching the light guide 7 from the light source 3.
[0016]
Therefore, in the illumination structure of the slide operation type electronic component with illumination, the light emitted from the light source 3 is a portion of the transparent or translucent sheet 11A other than the light shielding portion 11B of the light control sheet 11 as indicated by an arrow in FIG. Of the operation knob 6 positioned outside the main body cover 1 of the device as shown in the external perspective view of FIG. It is comprised so that the illumination part 7B of the light guide 7 front end may be illuminated by the front-end | tip.
[0017]
When the electronic component 5 is slid with the operation knob 6, the light shielding coating material for the light control sheet 11 is controlled so that the brightness of the illumination portion 7 </ b> B at the front end of the light guide 7 does not change depending on the position of the operation knob 6. As shown in the plan view of FIG. 4, the shape of the light-shielding part 11 </ b> B coated with is wide at the center near the light source 3 and narrow at both ends far from the light source 3.
[0018]
The shape of the light shielding portion 11B of the light control sheet 11 changes depending on the positional relationship between the light source 3 and the electronic component 5 and the number of the light sources 3, and the brightness of the illumination portion 7B associated with the sliding movement of the operation knob 6 is reduced. The optimum shape is determined by the results of experimental studies.
[0019]
And this experimental study can be very easily performed by applying a light-shielding paint to the transparent or translucent sheet 11A of the light control sheet 11 or removing the paint of the light-shielding portion 11B with chemicals, etc. It is easy to accurately reproduce the shape of the light-shielding portion 11B determined as a result of the experimental study on the transparent or translucent sheet 11A.
[0020]
In addition, as the transparent or translucent sheet 11A of the light control sheet 11, a sheet that is light-transparent colored is used, or a necessary part of the transparent or translucent sheet 11A is light-transparent colored. Thus, the illumination color of the illumination part 7B at the tip of the operation knob 6 can be changed or adjusted.
[0021]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, it is not necessary to change the mold when changing or adjusting the brightness of the illumination part at the tip of the slide type operation knob, and the shape and area of the light shielding part of the light control sheet are changed by manual processing. Therefore, it is possible to make fine adjustments easily without taking time and cost.
[0022]
In addition, it is easy to accurately reproduce the results obtained through experimental studies on a mass-produced product.
[0023]
Further, by coloring the light control sheet, it is possible to easily change or adjust the illumination color of the illumination unit.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a side sectional view showing a configuration of an illuminated slide operation type electronic component according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the electronic component with a main body cover removed. Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the external appearance of the component. Fig. 4 is a plan view of the tuning light sheet. Fig. 5 is a side sectional view showing the structure of a conventional slide operation electronic component with illumination. Exploded perspective view [Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Main body cover 2 Board | substrate 3 Light source 5 Electronic component 5A Operation lever 6 Operation knob 7 Light guide 7A Tapered part 7B Illumination part 11 Light control sheet 11A Transparent or translucent sheet | seat 11B Light-shielding part

Claims (2)

A light source, a slide-operated electronic component, a light-controlling sheet disposed between the light source and the electronic component by applying a light-shielding paint in a predetermined shape to a transparent or translucent sheet, and disposed between the light source and the electronic component; A body cover and substrate that contain and fix the light source, electronic components, and light control sheet, an operation knob attached to the tip of the operation lever of the electronic component that protrudes outward from the body cover, and this operation knob is, one end of Ri is do from the operation knob distal illuminating portion made of transparent resin lightguide other end becomes a light receiving portion in the, as the brightness of the illumination unit does not change by the sliding operation position of the operation knob, An illuminated slide-operated electronic component in which the light control sheet is set to the length of the slide operation range of the operation knob, and the shape of the light-shielding portion is wide at a portion close to the light source and narrow at a distant portion .   The illuminated slide operation type electronic component according to claim 1, wherein the illumination color of the illumination portion at the tip of the operation knob is adjusted by coloring the light control sheet.

Images