JP5064894B2 - Instrument device and vehicle - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an instrument device and a vehicle, and more particularly to an instrument device and a vehicle that display a predetermined design at a predetermined position in the device.

  In addition to displaying the speed and the number of engine revolutions, an automobile instrument device can turn on various indicators of the vehicle as needed and turn on a predetermined indicator as a warning, so that the driver can see the vehicle information and the like at a glance. And recognizable notice.

  Various indicator lights such as brake warning lights, seat belt warning lights, half-door warning lights, etc. are provided as indicator lights. There are also cases where a notification is made of the control status such as being present or the maintenance timing.

  FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a structure of a brake warning light 70 as one of the above-described warning lights as the prior art 1. As shown in the figure, a light source 78 is provided in a warning chamber 77 partitioned by a wall provided in the case 72. And on the translucent dial cloth 73 above, a first light-shielding printing unit 74 that shields light by printing an opaque layer other than the shape portion so that only the shape portion of the brake warning light 70 is transmitted. A second light-shielding printing unit 75 and a protective layer 76 made of translucent ink of a predetermined color are sequentially provided. If necessary, a complementary color printing unit 79 for adjusting color development is provided on the lower surface (light source 78 side) of the dial cloth 73.

  By the way, in the case of the said structure, when the protective layer 76 is printed and formed, an unevenness | corrugation will arise. When the unevenness is generated, the shape of the brake warning light 70 emerges due to the light (external light) incident from the outside, even though the light source 78 is not lit. There is a risk of misunderstanding that it is lit even though it is not lit.

  In order to make it difficult to understand the presence of the indicator lamp when the light source 78 is not lit as described above, as a prior art 2, for example, by adding beads to a protective layer corresponding to the protective layer 76, A technique for producing minute irregularities and irregularly reflecting external light is disclosed (see Patent Document 1).

  Further, as the prior art 3, as shown in FIG. 7, there is a technique in which the first light shielding printing portion 84 and the second light shielding printing portion 85 are formed below the dial cloth 83, that is, on the warning chamber 87 side. Furthermore, as a prior art 4, a design shape is formed on the lower side of the dial cloth, and an area of the design shape is opened on the upper side of the dial cloth, and an opaque layer is formed covering the other areas. Yes. In addition, a disk-colored layer colored in a desired color is formed covering the opaque layer, and a disk-colored layer is formed in which the opening portion is colored to the same color as the disk-colored layer and has good light transmission (See Patent Document 2). With such a configuration, when the indicator lamp is not lit, the indicator lamp cannot be recognized.

JP 2000-338907 A JP-A-11-194724

  By the way, in the technique (prior art 2) disclosed in Patent Document 1, since the entire dial face is in a matte state, it cannot be applied when such a state is not desired in terms of design. Moreover, although the said fine unevenness | corrugation is formed by heating after printing the material containing a transparent bead, for example, the range of the diameter of a bead and heating conditions currently disclosed is wide, and the technique of patent document 1 is used. There was a problem that it was difficult to use. Further, in the prior arts 3 and 4, as shown in FIG. 7, due to the thickness of the dial cloth 83, a parallax d is generated in the first light-shielding printing portion 84 and the protective layer 86, and the visibility of the driver There was a risk of lowering.

  The present invention has been made in view of such a situation, and its purpose is to display a design displayed on an instrument device used in a vehicle or the like and equipped with a speedometer, an engine tachometer, etc., when the indicator lamp is not lit. The object is to provide a technique for making it possible to visually recognize the light when it is lit while preventing it from being recognized.

One embodiment of the present invention relates to an instrument device. The device includes a translucent dial fabric, a design layer formed by printing a portion other than a predetermined design shape on the dial fabric, and a protective layer formed on the design layer. A first light-shielding printing portion that is formed on the dial cloth and that is printed so as to shield light other than the design shape; and A second light-shielding print portion printed on the first light-shielding print portion, and the second light-shielding print portion has a gradation in which the printing density decreases as it approaches the outer edge of the design shape that is an opening. Part .
In addition, the first light-shielding print portion may be formed by solidly coating a region other than the design shape with a resin composition containing a black pigment .
Another aspect of the present invention relates to a vehicle, and the vehicle includes the instrument device described above.

  According to the present invention, in an instrument device used in a vehicle or the like and provided with a speedometer, an engine tachometer, and the like, when forming a design of a display light such as a warning light, gradation is applied to the outside of the design portion to display Good visibility can be realized when the lamp is lit while preventing the lamp from being recognized when the lamp is not lit.

  Hereinafter, the best mode for carrying out the present invention (hereinafter referred to as “embodiment”) will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an outline of an automotive instrument device (hereinafter simply referred to as “meter”) 10 according to the present embodiment. The meter 10 includes a speedometer 12 on the left side of the figure and an engine tachometer 13 on the right side. In addition, between the speedometer 12 and the engine tachometer 13, there are provided an AT shift indicator 15 for displaying a selection gear of the automatic transmission, a direction indicator lamp 16, and the like.

  The engine tachometer 13 has a substantially circular shape, and the pointer 19 rotates and moves at a predetermined angle according to the number of revolutions of the engine. And the warning light area | region 18 is provided in the area | region where the pointer | guide 19 does not move, and it arrange | positions so that warning lights, such as the brake warning light 20, can be lighted.

  Next, a cross-sectional structure of the warning light region 18 will be described with reference to FIG. Here, the cross-sectional structure of the brake warning light 20 is illustrated. The design shape of the brake warning light 20 is shown by a broken line on the upper side of the figure, and the AA cross section is shown on the lower side of the figure.

  As shown in the drawing, the dial 14 is attached to the upper portion of the case wall portion 22 provided on the wiring board 21 so as to have a desired height. A warning chamber 27 is configured by the dial plate 14, the wiring board 21, and the case wall portion 22. A light source 28 made of a light emitting diode (LED) is attached to a predetermined position on the wiring board 21 in the warning chamber 27.

  In addition, the dial 14 includes a dial fabric 23 and a first light-shielding printing unit 24 and a second light-shielding printing unit 25 as a design layer formed on the dial fabric 23. For the dial material 23, a transparent or light-transmitting material such as polycarbonate resin or MMA (methyl methacrylate) resin is used.

  The first light-shielding printing unit 24 is formed on the dial material 23, and the second light-shielding printing unit 25 is formed on the first light-shielding printing unit 24. In the first light-shielding printing unit 24 and the second light-shielding printing unit 25, a resin composition containing a black pigment or the like is printed at a predetermined thickness in a desired region. For example, a technique such as screen printing or offset printing is used for this printing. More specifically, an opening in which the above-described resin composition is not printed is formed, and the light transmitted from the light source 28 passes through the opening, so that the driver can recognize a desired shape.

  Incidentally, as shown in FIG. 6, conventionally, when the above-described design layer is formed, so-called solid coating corresponding to the thickness of the first light-shielding print layer and the second light-shielding print layer of the present application has been performed. As a result, the boundary with the opening is clearly separated, for example, even when the brake warning light 20 is not lit, due to the difference in reflection on both sides of the boundary depending on the outside light, The driver may recognize the shape of the brake warning light 20. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 4, in the present embodiment, the first light-shielding printing unit 24 fills a region other than the design shape, but in the second light-shielding printing unit 25, the area around the design shape However, as the outer edge of the design shape is approached, printing is performed such that the printing density decreases, and gradation portions (31a, 31b, 32a, 32b, 33a, 33b) described below are formed.

  Specifically, the left outer display area 41a, the left central display area 42a, the central display area 43, the right central display area 42b, and the right outer display area 41b are formed from the left in the cross-sectional view as the opening of the design shape portion. Yes.

  In order from the outside, a first left gradation portion 31a is formed on the left side of the left outer display region 41a, and a first right gradation portion 31b is formed on the right side of the right outer display region 41b at the symmetrical position. Turning to the explanation on the inside, the second left gradation portion 32a is formed between the left outer display area 41a and the left central display area 42a, and between the right outer display area 41b and the right central display area 42b at symmetrical positions. The second right gradation portion 32b is formed. Moving further to the description on the inside, a third left gradation portion 33a is formed between the left center display area 42a and the center display area 43, and the third right gradation area 33b is located between the right center display area 42b and the center display area 43 at a symmetrical position. A gradation portion 33b is formed.

  Here, each gradation part (31a, 31b, 32a, 32b, 33a, 33b) is printed so that the print density in the vicinity of the end part on the opening side becomes small.

  A protective layer 26 is formed on the second light-shielding print portion 25 with a desired thickness so as to cover the above-described design-shaped opening. At this time, in the second light-shielding printing portion 25, the peripheral portion of the outer edge of the design shape is formed so that the printing side has an opening side that is the design shape side as described above, and therefore the outer edge portion of the design shape, That is, in the protective layer 26 formed above the boundary portion between the gradation portion (31a, 31b, 32a, 32b, 33a, 33b) and each opening, the unevenness of the hue caused by the boundary of the outer edge portion of the design shape is smooth. become. As a result, when the light source 28 is not lit, the design shape, here, the shape of the brake warning light 20 is not recognized.

  The protective layer 26 is generally formed by smoke printing, but depending on the required display color or the like, the protective layer 26 is printed with a display color using translucent ink such as white, silver, or blue. Further, a complementary color printing unit 29 is formed on the back side of the dial fabric 23, that is, inside the warning chamber 27 so as to correspond to the design shape described above, and performs wavelength correction of light output from the light source 28. When the light output from the light source 28 has a desired color wavelength, the complementary color printing unit 29 is not necessary.

  FIG. 3 is a first conceptual diagram showing the structure of the boundary portion between the first left gradation portion 31a and the left outside display region 41a by enlarging the region B in FIG. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a cross-sectional structure of the first left gradation portion 31a and the second left gradation portion 32a on both sides of the left outside display area 41a. These drawings have a configuration common to the boundary portions of the above-described gradation portions (31a, 31b, 32a, 32b, 33a, 33b). Hereinafter, when the gradation parts (31a, 31b, 32a, 32b, 33a, 33b) are not distinguished, they are referred to as gradation parts 40. As the gradation portion 40 approaches the design portion 51 on the right side of the drawing corresponding to the opening (41a, 41b, 42a, 42b, 43), the dot-shaped particle size of the printed material changes from “large” to “small”. Is gradually changing. As a result, if the number of dots is the same, the area occupied by the printing material, that is, the density decreases as the design portion 51 is approached. The particle size is adjusted by the shape of the screen eye during screen printing.

  FIG. 5 is a second conceptual diagram showing the structure of the boundary portion between the first left gradation portion 31a and the left outside display region 41a by enlarging the region B of FIG. 2 separately from FIG. In the gradation portion 40, the particle size of the dot shape is not changed, but the density of the printed material is changed while the dot shape is constant. That is, in the region far from the design portion 51, the dot interval is “dense”, while the dot interval is wider (“rough”) as the design portion 51 is approached. Note that the above-described dot interval is adjusted by the arrangement of screen eyes during screen printing.

  As mentioned above, according to this embodiment, the design layer which has the design shape of indicator lights, such as brake warning light 20, is formed with two layers, the 1st shading printing part 24 and the 2nd shading printing part 25, and further, A gradation part 40 is provided in the second light-shielding printing part 25. As a result, when the protective layer 26 is formed, the unevenness of the shade becomes smooth at the boundary portion of the opening portion which is the design shape, so that the shape of the indicator lamp is not recognized when the indicator lamp is not lit. it can.

  The present invention has been described based on the embodiments. This embodiment is an exemplification, and it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various modifications can be made to combinations of these components, and such modifications are also within the scope of the present invention. For example, in the present embodiment, the present invention is applied to an indicator lamp such as a warning lamp, but the present invention is not limited thereto. In addition, the present invention may be applied to a structure that displays numbers and scales of the speedometer 12 and the engine tachometer 13, or may be used for the direction indicator lamp 16 and other symbols. Further, the design layer is not limited to the two layers of the first light-shielding printing unit 24 and the second light-shielding printing unit 25, and may be three or more layers. In addition, the gradation portion 40 is formed in the upper second light-shielding printing portion 25, but the present invention is not limited to this, and may be formed in the first light-shielding printing portion 24.

  The present invention can be widely applied to, for example, a vehicle, a ship, an aircraft, and the like including an instrument device having a function of displaying a predetermined design at a predetermined timing.

It is a figure showing the outline | summary of the instrument device (meter) of the motor vehicle which concerns on this embodiment. It is a figure which shows the cross-section of the brake warning light which concerns on this embodiment. FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a region B in FIG. 2 as a first conceptual diagram illustrating a structural example of a gradation portion of a brake warning light according to the present embodiment. It is the figure which showed the cross-section of the 1st left gradation part and the 2nd left gradation part of the both sides of the left outside display area of the gradation part of the brake warning light concerning this embodiment. FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a region B in FIG. 2 as a second conceptual diagram showing another structural example of the gradation portion of the brake warning light according to the present embodiment. It is a conceptual diagram showing the cross-sectional structure of the brake warning light based on the prior art 1. FIG. It is a conceptual diagram showing the cross-sectional structure of the brake warning light based on the prior art 3. FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Meter 11 Dial 12 Speedometer 13 Engine tachometer 14 Dial 18 Warning light area 19 Pointer 20 Brake warning light 21 Wiring board 22 Case wall 23 Dial fabric 24 First light shielding printing part 25 Second light shielding printing part 26 Protection Layer 27 Warning room 28 Light source 29 Complementary color printing section 31a First left gradation section 31b First right gradation section 32a Second left gradation section 32b Second right gradation section 33a Third left gradation section 33b Third right gradation section 40 Gradation section 41a Left outside display area 41b Right outside display area 42a Left center display area 42b Right center display area 43 Center display area 51 Design part

Claims (3)

A translucent dial fabric, a design layer formed by printing a portion other than the design shape on the dial fabric with a predetermined design shape as an opening, and a protection formed on the design layer An instrument device comprising a dial having a layer,
The design layer is
A first light-shielding printing portion formed on the dial cloth and printed so as to shield light other than the design shape ;
A second light-shielding printing part printed on the first light-shielding printing part;
Have
The instrument device, wherein the second light-shielding printing section has a gradation section in which the printing density decreases as the outer edge of the design shape that is an opening approaches . 2. The instrument device according to claim 1, wherein the first light-shielding printing unit is formed by solidly coating a region other than the design shape with a resin composition containing a black pigment .   A vehicle comprising the instrument device according to claim 1.

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