JP4745678B2 - Meters and electronic devices using meters - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a meter and an electronic device using the meter.

As a conventional technique, a moving coil type meter has been used as a level display device for a tuner, a measuring instrument, and an audio device. (For example, refer nonpatent literature 1 or patent literature 1.).
Issued by Corona Co., Ltd. “Electric Fundamentals (below)” 7th edition, paragraphs 84-86 JP 54-84773 A

  As a conventional display device for a tuner, a movable coil meter, an LED, a liquid crystal display, etc. are widely used. In particular, a display system imitating the movable coil meter is often adopted for an LED or a liquid crystal display. This is because the idea that analog display using a movable coil meter is optimal for the display of the tuner is pervasive for end users, so that the LED display and liquid crystal display inevitably mimic the movable coil meter. It is thought that it came to be. On the other hand, LEDs and liquid crystal displays are not capable of continuous stepless display like a moving coil meter due to their nature, and inevitably step-by-step display must be taken. Has become a generally recognized display method and is used in many products. That is, it can be said that the function as a tuner is sufficiently fulfilled even if it is not a stepless display like a moving coil meter. In addition, the conventional moving coil meter has a problem that it cannot be mounted on a low-priced product because the cost as a part that is difficult to assemble and adjust is high. Furthermore, the conventional moving coil meter tends to be thick due to its structure, and even the thinnest type of known meter has a thickness of about 20 to 25 mm, which reduces the degree of freedom in design and deteriorates portability. There was a problem that there was. The movable coil meter has a problem that the rotational torque of the pointer is very small, and it is very difficult to make the pointer long or thick.

  In the present invention, since there is a user's recognition as described above, stepwise display that can be said to be an intermediate display method between the movable coil meter and the LED is performed, and improvement in assemblability, which is a problem of the prior art. Another object of the present invention is to provide a tuning device display device that facilitates adjustment, has a large thickness, and improves the low rotational torque.

  In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, a hollow body, a plurality of coils installed in the hollow body, a mover movable along the inside of the hollow body by a magnetic field generated by the coil, and an operation of the mover And a pointer that operates. The pointer may be connected to the mover via a link arm. Furthermore, the pointer can have a shaft, and the pointer can be rotated with respect to the shaft in accordance with the operation of the link arm.

Moreover, it has a projection on the inner wall of the hollow body and can guide the mover on which the mover slides. The mover can be a permanent magnet.

  The hollow body can be a non-magnetic body.

  Further, the coils can be arranged at equal intervals.

  Also, the coils can be arranged at unequal intervals.

  Moreover, an impact relaxation member can be disposed at the end of the hollow body.

  In addition, vibration preventing means can be provided so that the pointer does not vibrate.

  Moreover, it has a light emitter, and part or all of the pointer is made of a material that transmits light, and the pointer can be emitted by the light of the light emitter.

  In addition, the mover can be moved or stopped by changing the amount of power flowing through the coil. Furthermore, it is possible to control so that a part or more of the excitation periods of the coils overlap, or to excite at least two of the coils and hold the mover at a position between the coils.

  Moreover, the case which accommodates a meter can be accommodated in.

  The present invention is characterized in that the electronic device displays information using a meter using the above means. Further, the meter is an electronic device having a meter that displays information corresponding to an acoustic signal. Further, the electronic device is a tuner.

  The present invention has the effects described below.

  In the tuning device display device of the present invention, a coil is disposed to surround the hollow body and the outer periphery of the hollow body, a movable element is disposed inside the hollow body, and the movable element is connected via a link arm connected to the movable element. By using a display module that transmits the movement of the hand to the pointer, assembly and adjustment are much easier than in the conventional moving coil meter, and costs can be reduced.

  By designing the hollow body, the coil, and the link arm to be flat, it is possible to configure a thin meter module that could not be realized by a conventional movable coil meter. Further, by storing the display module in a case, dust resistance can be improved, and repair and replacement can be facilitated.

  Further, by using a permanent magnet for the mover, the structure can be simplified, the durability can be improved, and the ease of maintenance can be realized as compared with the case where magnetic force is obtained by an electromagnet.

  Furthermore, by making the hollow body a non-magnetic body, the manufacturing cost is reduced and the ease of handling is improved. Further, by providing a rail-like protrusion on the inner wall of the hollow body, the sliding resistance of the mover and the link arm can be reduced, and the movement of the mover and the link arm can be smoothed to improve the durability. .

  In addition, by providing one or a plurality of coils, it is possible to obtain the resolution of the pointer display according to the quantity, and it is possible to operate with simple control as compared with the conventional movable coil meter. Furthermore, by arranging the coils at equal intervals, it is not necessary to perform calculations for complicated pointer positioning control and adjustments necessary for pointer alignment, which were necessary in the past. In addition, when the coils are arranged at unequal intervals, an arbitrary pointer position can be easily obtained by the physical coil arrangement without performing the calculation for the complicated pointer positioning control which has been necessary in the past. it can.

  And by providing the impact relaxation member which absorbs an impact at the end of the hollow body, problems due to breakage of the mover and the link arm can be reduced, and durability can be improved. Furthermore, by installing a spring on one or more of the mover, link arm, and pointer, the pointer can be held by the elasticity of the spring even in a state where the pointer cannot be held without the excitation voltage applied to the coil when the power is turned off. Can be held at a specified position, and even when an unexpected inclination or vibration is applied, the pointer is held, so that it does not hang and the durability of the module can be increased.

  In addition, by providing a light emitter on the pointer, the conventional moving coil meter has a small rotating torque of the pointer, so that the pointer can only be illuminated by light emitted from a light source outside the meter module. It is possible to display the pointer by self-light emission, which was impossible with conventional moving coil meters.

  By providing an axis on the pointer, the conventional movable coil meter can display only within the deflection angle determined in advance by the specifications, but the deflection width of the pointer can be arbitrarily set by the lever principle.

  Furthermore, a smoother movement of the pointer can be realized by overlapping the timing of exciting the coils.

  In addition, since the mover is held between the two coils, a finer resolution can be obtained even with a small number of coils, and the cost can be kept low or the manufacturing can be facilitated.

  And when the excitation signal when moving the mover and the excitation signal when holding the mover are controlled by high level and low level, a large holding force can be obtained compared to the conventional movable coil meter, Even if the orientation of the display module changes, the display does not change. In addition, by providing the excitation signal in the form of a pulse when holding it, it is advantageous in terms of battery life when mounted on a device using a battery as a power source with less current consumption than when performing control at high level and low level. become.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the structure of a display module according to the first embodiment of the present invention. On the outer periphery of the hollow body 4, a coil group 3 composed of a coil 8 to a coil 13 in which a plurality of coils are arranged at equal intervals is configured. A movable element 22, a link arm 5, and impact relaxation members 19 and 20, which will be described later, are disposed inside the hollow body 4. The pointer 1 is attached to the link arm 5. A connection pin 14 provided on the link arm 5 is passed through an attachable hole 15 provided on the pointer 1 so that the pointer 1 can be moved in accordance with the movement of the link arm 5. The link arm 5 and the pointer 1 are connected so as to be rotatable about a connecting pin 14. Another example is shown in FIG. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a second driving method of the pointer. As shown in FIG. 2, there is a power transmission method by meshing of gears such as a link arm 17 with rack gears and a needle 16 with spur gears.

  1 is connected to, for example, a spring 6 having one end fixed to the wall surface 7 of the storage case, the pointer 1 is pulled in the direction of the wall surface 7 of the case, and the pointer is held when the coils 8 to 13 are not excited. To do. This is an example in which a spring 6 is connected to the pointer 1 as a movable part. In addition to the pointer, the movable part connected to the pointer, such as a link arm or mover, may be connected to a non-movable part such as a case with a spring so that it does not move when the coil is not excited. . The pointer 1 is supported by the shaft 2, and the pointer 1 is movable around the shaft 2 so as to draw an arc. Since the operating angle of the pointer 1 is determined by the ratio of the operating distance of the mover 22 and the distance from the connecting pin 14 to the shaft 2, it can be accommodated by changing the distance between the connecting pin 14 and the shaft 2 even if the same motor is used. The operating angle of the selected pointer can be obtained. In addition to the link mechanism as shown in FIG. 1 and the gear mechanism as shown in FIG. 2, there is a method of directly driving the pointer as shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a third driving method of the pointer. In FIG. 3, the link arm pointer 18 integrates the link arm and the pointer and displays the movement of the link arm as it is. In this case, the trajectory drawn by the tip of the pointer is a circular arc in FIGS. 1 and 2, whereas FIG. 3 is a straight line. As an example of use of a tuning device as a display device, the display module shown in FIG. 1 or 2 is used to replace a conventional moving coil meter, and the display module shown in FIG. 3 shows linear scales, pitch name display, and the like. Can be used for display.

  FIG. 4 is a first cross-sectional view of the hollow body. It is sectional drawing in the dashed-two dotted line AB of the hollow body 4 shown by FIG. A plurality of coils 8 to 13 are provided around the hollow body 4, and a mover 22, a link arm 21, and impact relaxation members 19 and 20 are arranged inside the hollow body 4. The mover 22 is fixed to the link arm 21. And the impact mitigation members 19 and 20 which mitigate the collision when the movable element 22 and the link arm 21 reach the end are disposed at the end of the hollow body. The impact relaxation members 19 and 20 use a shock absorber made of plastic such as rubber or urethane or a spring in order to reduce the impact.

  FIG. 5 is a second cross-sectional view of the hollow body. It is sectional drawing of the dashed-two dotted line XY part of the hollow body 4 shown by FIG. The hollow body wall is provided with a rail-like projection 23, and the cross-section of the projection 23 has an acute shape in order to reduce friction during sliding with the link arm 21. The shape of the protrusion 23 may be any shape as long as the friction during sliding is small. For example, a plurality of hemispherical protrusions may be arranged, and the tip of the protrusion may be arcuate. Also, friction between the link arm and the rail may be reduced by applying a lubricant to the sliding surface or using a material having a small friction coefficient. Furthermore, the gap between the protrusion 23 and the link arm 21 is preferably as small as possible in order to ensure smooth movement of the pointer. For example, if it is about 0.1 mm or less, even if the link arm 21 is shaken and moved, the influence on the pointer is hardly generated.

  FIG. 6 is a view showing the structure of the display module housed in the case. A case where the display module of FIG. 1 is housed in a case 24 is shown in an external view (a) and a cross-sectional view (b). A scale is printed on the scale plate 25 in an arc shape. The pointer 1 moves in an arc shape around the axis 2 to indicate the scale. By making the hollow body 4, the coil 3, the movable element 22, and the link arm 21 into a flat shape, the display device can be made very thin as compared with the conventional movable coil meter shown in FIG.

  FIG. 7 shows the structure of a conventional moving coil meter. The typical external view (a) and sectional drawing (b) of the conventional movable coil meter were shown. A movable coil meter pointer 26 is attached to the movable coil meter module 29, and the movable coil meter pointer 26 indicates a scale printed on the movable coil meter scale plate 28. A movable coil meter pointer 26 is attached to the movable coil meter module 29 and is built in a movable coil meter case 27 together with a movable coil meter scale plate 28. In the conventional movable coil meter, the movable coil meter module 29 and the movable coil meter pointer 26 are overlapped in the thickness direction of the meter module, so that the thickness is increased.

  FIG. 8 shows an example of a pointer having a light emitter. It is the figure which showed the side surface of the structure in the case of incorporating a light-emitting body in the pointer and causing the pointer to emit light. The light guide pointer 30 in the figure is made of a material that transmits light, and transmits light from the light emitter 31 placed on the light guide pointer 30 to cause the light guide pointer 30 to emit light. The light emitter 31 may be any material that can serve as a light source, such as an LED. As the material of the light guide pointer 30, any material may be used as long as it has transparency such as acrylic.

  FIG. 9 is a view showing another example of the coil arranged in the hollow body. In this example, a plurality of coils 32 to 37 are arranged at unequal intervals on the hollow body 38. Centering on the coils 34 and 35, the intervals between adjacent coils are gradually increased toward the left and right ends of the hollow body. The interval between the coils is arbitrarily set according to the specifications of the display device. By making the coil arrangement interval correspond to the interval such as the scale, it is possible to easily drive the pointer to the position of the scale.

  FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of timing for exciting the coil. For example, FIG. 3 is a timing chart showing excitation timing when the coil 8 to the coil 13 in FIG. 1 are sequentially excited and the pointer is moved from the left end to the right end in FIG. 1. In this case, the coil is excited in the order of the coil 13, the coil 12, the coil 10, the coil 9, the coil 8, and the coil 8, and the mover 22 and the link arm 21 move from right to left by the magnetic field generated in each coil. . At this time, for example, the excitation of the coil 12 that is excited next to the excited coil 13 is started before the excitation of the coil 13 is completed, and is excited one after another at a continuous timing, and reaches the coil 8. By taking such timing, seamless movement of the pointer is realized.

  FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a pulsed excitation signal. 2 is a timing chart showing an example of excitation signals of the coil 10 and the coil 11 when the mover 22 and the link arm 21 are held between the coil 10 and the coil 11 of FIG. The time of the signal flowing through the coil 10 is T, and the time of the signal flowing through the coil 11 is a time obtained by multiplying T by one-half. That is, excitation signals having different duties are applied to the coil 10 and the coil 11, and the ratio of the duty is coil 10: coil 11 = 2: 1. If the magnitude of the magnetic field generated by the coil 10 and the magnitude of the magnetic field generated by the coil 11 are different, the mover 22 can be held between the coil 10 and the coil 11.

  12 is a diagram showing an example of the operation of the mover when the excitation signal as shown in FIG. 11 is given to the coil 10 and the coil 11 shown in FIG. The mover 22 and the link arm 21 are shown being held. If the length between the coils is W, it stops at the place on the left side by a third length W / 3 from the coil 11 on the right side. Further, a plurality of resolutions can be obtained depending on the duty ratio and the number of coils. By finely controlling the duty ratio using pulse control such as PWM control, high resolution can be obtained and smooth pointer movement can be realized. Since the magnitude of the magnetic field changes corresponding to the electric power flowing through the coils, the amount of electric power is controlled to stop the mover between the coils.

  FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a tuner using the display module of the present invention. A tuner is taken as an example of an electronic apparatus using the display module of the present invention. It is an example of the front view (a) and side view (b) of an external view when the display module of this invention is embedded in a tuner. The tuning device incorporates a tuning device display module 42 that displays a deviation from the input signal as a display device. Further, the tuner 39 is configured by incorporating a switch 39 for operation by the user and a jack 40 for inputting an electric signal into the tuner case 41. The tuner inputs an electrical signal corresponding to the pitch of the musical tone from the jack 40, compares the input pitch signal and the reference signal, calculates the deviation, and the tuning display module 42 calculates the deviation. Point to the scale with the pointer according to the. Tuning devices are often carried in musical instrument cases such as guitar cases, and as thin as possible are required. By using the motor of the present invention rather than a normal moving coil type motor, there is a structural difference in the arrangement of the motor and the pointer, and it can be made a component arrangement that can be thinned. Become. As another example, the present invention can be used in place of the UV meter in an electronic device such as an amplifier or a recorder that uses the UV meter.

It is the figure which showed the structure of the display module which is 1st embodiment of this invention. It is the figure which showed the example of the 2nd drive method of a pointer | guide. It is the figure which showed the example of the 3rd driving method of a pointer | guide. It is the 1st sectional view of a hollow body. It is a 2nd sectional view of a hollow body. It is the figure which showed the structure of the display module accommodated in the case. It is the figure which showed the structure of the conventional movable coil meter. It is the figure which showed the example of the pointer | guide which has a light-emitting body. It is the figure which showed the other example of the coil arrange | positioned at a hollow body. It is the figure which showed the example of the timing which excites a coil. It is the figure which showed the example of the pulse-form excitation signal. It is the figure which showed the example of operation | movement of a needle | mover. It is the figure which showed the tuner using the display module of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Pointer 2 Axis 3 Coil group 4, 38 Hollow body 5 Link arm 6 Spring 7 Case wall surface 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 Coil 14 Connecting pin 15 Hole 16 Spur geared pointer 17 Link arm with rack gear 18 Link arm pointers 19 and 20 Impact mitigating member 21 Link arm 22 Movable element 23 Protruding portion 24 Case 25 Scale plate 26 Movable coil meter pointer 27 Movable coil meter case 28 Movable coil meter scale Plate 29 Movable coil meter module 30 Light guide needle 31 Light emitter 39 Switch 40 Jack 41 Tuner case 42 Tuner display module

Claims (14)

A hollow body, a plurality of coils installed in the hollow body, a mover movable along the inner wall of the hollow body by a magnetic field generated by the coil, and a pointer that operates according to the operation of the mover. A meter characterized by comprising:
Having a link arm fixed to the mover at one end and connected to the pointer at the other end;
The link arm has a rectangular cross-sectional shape at the one end,
The hollow body is configured such that the inner wall is a surface facing a surface constituting one end of the link arm, and the inner wall has a plurality of rail-like protrusions that guide the movement of the link arm. And the meter. The meter according to claim 1, wherein the hollow body, the coil, and the link arm have a flat shape . The link arm has a connecting pin at the other end,
The pointer has a hole, while connected to the link arm through the connecting pin into the hole, is supported by a shaft, to claim 1 or claim 2, characterized in that it pivots about the axis The meter described. The meter according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the mover is a permanent magnet. The meter according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the hollow body is a non-magnetic body. The meter according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the plurality of coils are arranged at equal intervals. The meter according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the plurality of coils are arranged at unequal intervals. The meter according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein an impact reducing member is disposed at an end of the hollow body. The mover, wherein the at least one link arm and the pointer was placed a spring, any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the coil is characterized in the pointer be stopped when not excited Meter. A light-emitting element, a part or all of the guidelines, made of a material which transmits light, any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that for emitting the guidance in the light of the light emitter Meter. 11. The meter according to claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of coils is controlled so that a part or more of excitation periods overlap each other . Meter according to the mover exciting the at least two to one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that held in position between the coils of the plurality of coils. Said hollow body, said coil, said movable element, the pointer and the meter according to claim 1, any one of 12, characterized in that it comprises a casing for housing the link arm. An electronic apparatus comprising the meter according to claim 1 , wherein information is displayed using the meter.

Images