JP4826205B2 - Pointer-type instrument - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a pointer-type instrument mounted on a moving body such as an automobile, a motorcycle, and a ship, for example, and in particular, when indicating a display unit such as a scale or a number provided on a display board with a pointer, The present invention relates to a so-called centerless type pointer-type instrument whose rotation center is not located on a display board.

  As this centerless type pointer-type meter, for example, those described in Patent Documents 1 and 2 below are known. In the pointer-type instrument described in Patent Document 1, a driving device having a drive shaft is disposed behind the display plate, and the pointer is bent into a crank shape from a connecting portion to the drive shaft through the back of the display plate. The position located on the display board constitutes an instruction unit that instructs the display unit. In the pointer type instrument described in Patent Document 2 below, the drive shaft of the drive device and the pointer are interlocked via a rotating body made of a pinion gear and a moving body made of a gear wheel, and the pointer is attached to the moving body. The position located on the display board constitutes an instruction section for instructing the display section. In these Patent Documents 1 and 2, all of the indicating portions are formed of a light-transmitting material, and a light emitting region extending in a longitudinal shape is formed by introducing light from a light source.

On the other hand, not only this type of centerless type but also a light emitting type pointer applied to a pointer type instrument is known, for example, described in Patent Document 3 below. The pointer (indicating part) described in the document has an inverted trapezoidal cross-sectional shape, that is, a long side on the front side and a short side on the back side, and is gradually tapered from the front side to the back side. This is a shape that takes into account mold molding (injection molding) when light-transmitting synthetic resin is used as the material of the indicator, and by making the section tapered, the molding workability (die cutting workability) is improved. I am letting.
JP 2003-14508 A JP 2005-189168 A Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 06-51827

  By the way, in the centerless type pointer-type instrument described in Patent Documents 1 and 2, in order to produce a floating feeling of the indicating unit, the width of the physical tip side of the indicating unit is widened, and the opposite side ( In some cases, the width dimension of the direction closer to the center of rotation) is set to be narrow (thus, the light emitting region is also wide on the physical front end side of the pointing section and narrow on the opposite side). However, with this setting, the light introduction path for introducing light from the light source has a problem that the light guide efficiency is reduced because the volume near the light source is small and the volume far from the light source is large. In particular, when following the cross-sectional shape of the indicating portion described in Patent Document 3 and setting as described above, a significant reduction in luminance is caused.

  The present invention has been made in view of this point, and the main object of the present invention is that the light emission width on the side closer to the light source is far from the light source on the light introduction path for introducing the light from the light source in the light emitting area of the indicator. The main object is to provide a pointer-type instrument that can minimize a decrease in light guide efficiency even when the light emission width is narrower than the side.

The present invention, in order to achieve the above object, bypassing a display panel having a predetermined display unit, and a driving device for the display panel is arranged behind the having a drive shaft, the rear of the table 示板 attached to the drive shaft And a light source for illuminating the pointer, and the pointer is made of a synthetic resin having light permeability and has a substantially “L” cross section. A first pointer portion, a second pointer portion made of a synthetic resin having light transmittance and having a substantially inverted “L” cross section, and a second pointer portion that connects the first and second pointer portions. A light-shielding case that covers a required part of the light-transmitting part, and the second pointer part indicates the display part and introduces light from the light source to form a light-emitting region extending in a longitudinal direction instructing section is provided consisting of sexual material, provided on the light-shielding case Together with the light emitting region of the instruction unit by the area that is visible through the mouth portion is formed, the light emitting region of the instruction unit, in the light introducing path for introducing the light from the light source provided in the light-shielding case The light emission width on the side close to the light source is formed narrower than the light emission width on the side far from the light source, and the cross-sectional shape of the indicator is set to a tapered shape in which the front side is narrower than the back side. A characteristic pointer-type instrument.

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  Further, the present invention is characterized in that a step portion corresponding to the opening portion is formed on the front side of the indicating portion, and the opening portion is fitted to the step portion.

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According to the present invention, the intended purpose can be achieved, and even when the light emission width on the side closer to the light source is narrower than the light emission width on the side far from the light source on the light introduction path for introducing light from the light source into the indicator In addition, it is possible to provide a pointer-type instrument that can minimize a decrease in light guide efficiency.

  1 to 5 show a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a front view of a pointer-type meter according to this embodiment, FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG. 1, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line BB of FIG. 3, and FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing a comparative example.

  The pointer-type meter according to the present embodiment is composed of, for example, a speedometer. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the display board 1, the support body 2 that supports the display board 1, and the support body 2. A drive device 4 having a drive shaft 3 disposed behind the display plate 1, a circuit board 6 on which the drive device 4 and a light source 5 for illuminating a pointer to be described later are mounted, and the display plate 1 connected to the drive shaft 3. A pointer 7 that rotates about the axis along the axis and a shielding member 8 are provided.

  The display board 1 includes a display board 11 and an electronic display panel 12 made of, for example, an organic electroluminescent element.

  The display board 11 has a see-through window portion 13 made of, for example, a through-hole and is formed in a donut plate shape. As shown in detail in FIG. 1, a light-shielding ground portion (for example, black) 14 and, for example, white light transmission A sex indicator portion (display portion) 15 is printed.

  The display panel 12 has a disk shape corresponding to the outer shape of the display plate 11, corresponds to the see-through window portion 13 of the display plate 11, and displays, for example, simplified navigation information (see arrows) and vehicle travel distance information as predetermined information. Corresponding to the indicator portion 15 of the display board 11 and a surface light emitting region 17 that illuminates the indicator portion 15 from behind.

  The support 2 is made of, for example, white synthetic resin, and is formed in a disc shape corresponding to the outer shape of the display panel 1.

  The main body of the driving device 4 is disposed on the back surface of the circuit board 5, and the driving shaft 3 extends through the circuit board 6.

  The light source 5 is made of a light emitting diode, for example, and is arranged around the drive shaft 3 on the front side of the circuit board 5 to illuminate the pointer 7.

  The pointer 7 includes a first pointer portion (pointer portion) 71 made of a light-transmitting synthetic resin and having a substantially “L” cross section, and a cross-section substantially reverse “L” made of the same light-transmitting synthetic resin. A second pointer portion 72 having a letter shape and a light shielding case 73 that connects the first and second pointer portions 71 and 72 and covers a required portion of the second pointer portion 72 are formed. In the case of this example, the cross-sectional shape when the first and second pointer portions 71 and 72 are joined is substantially “U” shape.

  The first pointer 71 extends behind the display board 1 and between the circuit board 5 and the driving device 4 in the lateral direction in FIG. 2 and is not visually recognized by the observer because it is blocked by the display board 1. The rotation base of the first pointer 71 has a boss 71 a connected to the drive shaft 3 and a light receiving / reflecting surface 71 b that faces the light source 5 and introduces the light into the first pointer 71. Is formed.

  A first joint end 74 that is bent and extended in a direction parallel to the rotation shaft 3 is formed on the distal end side of the first pointer 71, and a bent portion outer wall surface of the first joint end 74 is formed on the first pointer end 71. A first reflection surface 71c that reflects the light taken in from the light receiving reflection surface 71b toward the second pointer portion 72 is formed.

  The end face of the first joint end 74 (end face facing a second joint end described later) is set to be substantially flat in order to suppress irregular reflection and diffuse reflection of light. A restricting portion 74 a for restricting the insertion position of the connecting member 73 is formed on the side portion of the first joining end portion 74.

  The second pointer portion 72 is positioned on the display plate 1 (display plate 11) and is visually recognized by an observer, and an instruction portion 75 that points to the indicator portion 15 and the drive shaft 3 ( The second joint end portion 76 is bent and extends so as to be parallel to the first joint end portion 74) and joined to the first joint end portion 74 of the first pointer portion 71.

  Although not shown in the figure, for example, a red colored layer and a white reflective layer are attached by hot stamping on the back surface of the instruction unit 75, and on the outer wall surface of the bent portion extending from the instruction unit 75 to the second joining end portion 76. The second reflecting surface 72a for reflecting the light from the first reflecting surface 71c on the first pointer portion 71 side toward the distal end side of the pointing portion 75 is provided. By reflecting the light introduced into the indicator 75 through the first and second reflecting surfaces 71c and 72a by the reflective layer, the indicator 75 itself shines. At this time, the front surface of the indicator 75 is the light emitting surface. Thus, the light emitting area LA is formed by an area that is visually recognized through an opening, which will be described later, provided in the light shielding case 73. When the light source 5 is turned off, external light that has entered the indicator 75 through the opening is reflected by the reflective layer and is emitted again from the opening, so that the light emitting area LA is This is an instruction area when the light source 5 is turned off.

  Note that the end surface of the second joint end portion 76 (the end surface facing the first joint end portion 74) is set to be substantially flat in order to suppress irregular reflection and diffuse reflection of light, similarly to the end surface of the first joint end portion 74. ing.

  The light shielding case 73 is made of, for example, a black light shielding synthetic resin material, and surrounds the outer periphery of the first and second joint end portions 74 and 76 and opens along the extending direction of the joint end portions 74 and 76. And the cover part 732 which covers the outer periphery required part of the instruction | indication part 75 from the outer side of the 2nd reflective surface 72a.

  Specifically, the cover portion 732 continuously covers the front surface side and the side surface side of the instruction portion 75 from the second reflection surface 72a. The front surface (light emitting surface) side is partially exposed so as to be seen through, and an opening 732a that forms a light emitting region LA (the indication region) is formed. Further, a step 751 corresponding to the inner peripheral edge of the opening 732a is formed at a position on the front surface side of the indicating portion 75 corresponding to the opening 732a, and the inner peripheral edge of the opening 732a is fitted to the step 751. As a result, the protrusion of the cover portion 732 to the front side of the wall thickness is suppressed, and the visibility of the light emitting area LA that is visually recognized through the opening 732a (the indication area when the light source 5 is turned off) is improved. ing.

  Here, the assembly example will be described. First, the first pointer portion 71 is connected to the drive shaft, the support body 2 is arranged in front of it, and the display panel 12 and the display plate 11 are arranged in that order in that order. Next, the second pointer portion 72 in which the light shielding case 73 has been assembled in advance is connected to the first pointer portion 71. In this connection, the extended portion from the second joint end portion 76 of the light shielding case 73 combined with the second pointer portion 72 is brought into contact with the restriction portion 74a until the first joint end of the first pointer portion 71 is contacted. This is done by inserting it into the section 74. The light shielding case 73 is assembled to the second pointer portion 72 by inserting the second pointer portion 72 in the direction shown in FIG. 2 from the back side of the light shielding case 73 in FIG.

Note that the shapes of the first and second joint end portions 74 and 76 and the joint portion 731 of the light-shielding case 73 that is the connecting member are respectively set to a polygonal cross section (in this case, a quadrangular shape). This prevents the pointer portions 71 and 72 from rotating around the extending direction of the joint end portions 74 and 76 as an axis. That is, the pointer portions 71 and 72 are set so as not to rotate with respect to the light shielding case 73 which is a connecting member. As a means for restricting the rotation of the pointer portions 71 and 72, various shape settings are conceivable. For example, the joint end portions 74 and 76 of the pointer portions 71 and 72 and the shape of the joint portion 731 are cross-sectioned “D”. The outer shape of each joint end portion 74, 76 and the joint portion 731 may be a circular shape in cross section, and one of the joint end portions 74, 76 may have a cross section polygon or “ D ”-shaped hole portion may be formed on the other side, and a rectangular column or a cross-sectional“ D ”-shaped column fitted into this hole portion may be formed on the other side to restrict rotation. Can be adopted.

  The concealing member 8 is made of, for example, black light-shielding synthetic resin, has an opening 81 that exposes the pointer 6 and a required portion of the display panel 1, and other regions (unnecessary portions that need not be shown to the observer) are: It is something to hide.

  Here, paying attention to the shape of the light emitting area LA, the light emitting area LA emits light on the side closer to the light source 5 on the light introduction path LP (see the dotted arrows in FIGS. 2 and 3) for introducing light from the light source 5. The width CW is set narrower than the light emission width FW on the side far from the light source 5 (see FIG. 3). This is to make the pointer 7 appear as if it is floating on the display board 1. Originally, the indication portion 75 is supported by the first pointer portion 71 on the side opposite to the physical tip. However, when setting the shape of the light emitting area LA (the indication area when the light source 5 is turned off), the physical tip side of the pointing section 75 (the side far from the light source 5 on the light introduction path) is widened (see the light emission width FW). 1), by setting the opposite side (that is, the side indicated by the first pointer 71 and the side closer to the light source 5 on the light introduction path) to be narrow (see the light emission width CW), FIG. As shown in FIG. 5, the visual effect is as if the pointer 7 is floating.

On the other hand, the indicator 75 has a trapezoidal shape in which the side on the front side is narrower than the side on the back side, as shown in FIG. 4 in its cross-sectional shape (cross-sectional shape in a direction substantially orthogonal to the longitudinal direction). This is set to a tapered shape as a base. This is an improvement in the moldability of the indicating portion 75 itself (improvement in workability due to improved mold release during injection molding), and on the light introduction path LP on the side closer to the light source 5. This is to cope with the elimination of insufficient luminance on the wide side in the light emitting area LA where the light emission width CW is narrower than the light emission width FW on the side far from the light source 5.

That is, in the case of the light emitting region LA where the light emission width CW <the light emission width FW, the light travels from the narrow part to the wide part on the light introduction path LP, which is disadvantageous for illumination. If, by the cross-sectional shape of the indicator 75 on the front side edge is set in a tapered shape which is based on a trapezoidal shape which is narrow relative to the sides of the rear side, emission width CW <disadvantage emission width FW late Is kept to a minimum.

  FIG. 5 shows a comparative example. In this comparative example, the cross-sectional shape of the indicator 75 is set to a tapered shape based on a trapezoidal shape in which the front side is wider than the back side. The width W of the light emitting area LA is exactly the same as that in FIG. 4, but the cross-sectional area is greatly different, and the setting of the present example shown in FIG. Accordingly, a decrease in light guide efficiency can be minimized, and this contributes to the elimination of insufficient luminance on the wide side.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the display plate 1 having the predetermined indicator portion (display portion) 15, the drive device 4 having the drive shaft 3 disposed behind the display plate 1, and the drive shaft 3 are interlocked. A pointer 7 that moves on the display board 1 and a light source 5 that illuminates the pointer 7, and the pointer 7 indicates the indicator portion 15 and introduces light from the light source 5 to extend in the longitudinal direction. The light emitting area LA has a light emission width CW closer to the light source 5 in the light introduction path LP for introducing light from the light source 5 and emits light on the side farther from the light source 5. It is formed narrower than the width FW, and the cross-sectional shape of the indicator 75 is set to be a tapered shape whose front side is narrower than the back side, so that it is close to the light source 5 on the light introduction path LP in the light emitting area LA. Emission width CW on the side farther from the light source 5 Even if made narrower than, the lowering of the light efficiency can be minimized.

  In the present embodiment, the indication unit 75 is covered with the light shielding case 73 having the opening 732a corresponding to the light emitting area LA, so that unnecessary areas other than the light emitting area LA do not emit light, and a sharp light emitting design is achieved. Can be visually recognized. In this example, the light-shielding case 73 is provided with the opening 732a to expose the instruction unit 75. However, the opening 732a may be covered with a transparent body or the like to form a see-through portion.

  In the present embodiment, a step 751 corresponding to the opening 732a is formed on the front side of the instruction unit 75, and the opening 732a is fitted to the step 751 so that the light shielding case 73 (the cover 732). ) Can be prevented from protruding to the front side and the visibility can be improved.

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  FIG. 6 is a front view of the light emitting area LA showing the second embodiment of the present invention. In this example, the left end in the drawing is closest to a light source (not shown) on the light introduction path LP, and is shown from this position. The light emission width is gradually widened from the middle to the right side, and the light emission width is set to be constant when proceeding to the right side in the figure.

  FIG. 7 is a front view of the light emitting area LA showing the third embodiment of the present invention. In this example, the ellipse is elongated and the left end is the light introduction path LP. Above, it is closest to the light source (not shown), and the light emission width gradually increases from this position to the center in the figure, and further, the light emission width is set to gradually decrease toward the right side in the figure.

  The effects similar to those of the first embodiment can be expected also by the second and third embodiments formed as described above.

  In addition, the cross-sectional shape of the instruction | indication part 75 is arbitrary as long as the front side becomes a taper shape narrower than the back side, and it is not restricted to the taper shape based on a trapezoid or a trapezoid.

The front view of the pointer type instrument by the 1st Embodiment of this invention. AA sectional drawing of FIG. The front view of the pointer | guide by the same embodiment. BB sectional drawing of FIG. Sectional drawing which shows a comparative example. The principal part front view which shows the light emission area | region by the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. The principal part front view which shows the light emission area | region by the 2nd Embodiment of this invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Display board 2 Support body 3 Drive shaft 4 Drive apparatus 5 Light source 6 Circuit board 7 Pointer 8 Shielding member 11 Display board 12 Display panel 11 Display board 13 Transparent window part 14 Ground part 15 Indicator part (display part)
16 Information display area 17 Surface emission area 71 First pointer part (pointer part)
71a Boss part 71b Light reception reflection surface 71c 1st reflection surface 72 2nd pointer part 72a 2nd reflection surface 73 Light-shielding case 74 1st joining edge part 74a Control part 75 Indicating part 76 2nd joining edge part 731 Bonding part 732 Cover part 732a Opening 751 Step part CW Light emission width FW Light emission width LA Light emission area LP Light introduction path W width

Claims (2)

A display board having a predetermined display unit;
A drive device disposed behind the display panel and having a drive shaft;
And guidance provided to reach the front of the panel, bypassing the rear of the attached table 示板 to said drive shaft,
A light source for illuminating the pointer,
The pointer includes a first pointer portion made of a light-transmitting synthetic resin and having a substantially “L” cross section, and a first pointer portion made of the same light-transmitting synthetic resin and having a substantially inverted “L” cross section. 2 and a light shielding case that connects the first and second pointer portions and covers a required portion of the second pointer portion,
The second pointer portion is provided with an indicator portion made of a translucent material that indicates the display portion and introduces light from the light source to form a light emitting region extending in a longitudinal direction .
The light emitting area of the pointing unit is formed by an area visually recognized through an opening provided in the light shielding case,
The light emitting area of the indicating unit is formed such that the light emission width on the side closer to the light source is narrower than the light emission width on the side far from the light source in a light introduction path for introducing light from the light source provided in the light shielding case. And
A cross section of the indicator is set to a tapered shape in which the front side is narrower than the back side. 2. The pointer-type instrument according to claim 1, wherein a step portion corresponding to the opening portion is formed on a front side of the instruction portion, and the opening portion is fitted to the step portion .

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