JP5344381B2 - Pointer instrument - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a pointer instrument such that a periphery that a pointer indicates is easy read. <P>SOLUTION: A pointer instrument 1 has a dial 10 which has graduations 11a and guides light. The graduations are cut and formed in the dial 10. An insertion hole 12 for a pointer shaft 70 to which a pointer 30 is connected is formed in the dial 10. The insertion hole 12 is formed in a circular truncated cone shape, and a hole surface of the insertion hole 12 is a reflection part 13. An LED unit 60 is provided which irradiates all parts of the reflection part 13 with light. A light shield plate 50 having a slit 51 formed is provided between the dial 10 and LED unit 60. The center of the light shield plate 50 is fixed to the pointer shaft 70 so that the slit 51 is positioned below the pointer 30. Light L11 which is a part of light L1 from the LED unit 60 is reflected by the reflection part 13 to an indication direction of the pointer 30. Reflected light L2 impinges on and illuminates graduations 11a in the indication direction of the pointer 30. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2012,JPO&amp;INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a pointer instrument that is mounted on a vehicle, for example, and indicates a current vehicle speed or the like with a pointer.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been known an analog type pointer instrument in which an index such as a scale or a number is formed on a dial and the index is indicated by a pointer (see, for example, Patent Document 1). For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a timepiece that displays time with a light-emitting element for time display in addition to a hand in a timepiece as a pointer instrument. Specifically, a number indicating the time as an index is formed on the dial. Further, a plurality of light emitting elements are provided on the dial in a form accompanying each number. Based on the clock signal from the clock circuit, the driving order and driving time of the driving circuit that drives each light emitting element are controlled.

Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 64-55487

  By the way, the conventional pointer instrument has a mechanism for paying attention to an index such as a single scale indicated by the pointer, and the points to be noted are narrowly limited. On the other hand, since the entire display portion of the dial is always visible, it is difficult to see the index to be read because the point indicated by the pointer has to be read from a mixture of unnecessary indexes. In this regard, in the timepiece of Patent Document 1, the time display is also performed by light emission in addition to the hands, so it seems that the time readability can be somewhat improved.

  However, in the technique of Patent Document 1, since the light emitting element located at a position different from the index only emits light with a dot, it cannot be said that the peripheral legibility indicated by the pointer is sufficient. In particular, when the pointer cannot be watched for a long time, such as when the vehicle is operating, or when the pointer only enters the corner of the field of view, there is still a problem that the index to be read is still difficult to read.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a pointer instrument that can easily read the periphery indicated by the pointer.

In order to solve the above-described problem, the pointer instrument of the present invention includes a dial on which an index is formed over a certain range,
A pointer that is moved along the surface of the dial so that the tip side moves within a range where the indicator is formed;
A reflection part capable of reflecting incident light in each direction of the range in which the index is formed, the reflection part having a different reflection direction depending on a part where the incident light is incident;
A light source that irradiates light toward all the parts of the reflecting portion;
A light shield having a light shielding property provided between the reflector and the light source, which is moved in synchronization with the movement of the pointer so that a slit is formed and the relative positional relationship between the slit and the pointer is maintained. A light-shielding plate in which the slit is formed so that light from the light source is incident on a portion of the reflecting portion that reflects incident light in the direction indicated by the pointer,
The index is formed at an angle so that the reflected light reflected by the reflecting portion may be incident thereon.

  According to this, since the slit is formed in the light shielding plate, only the light incident on the slit among the light of the light source emitted toward all the parts of the reflecting portion passes through the light shielding plate. , Is incident on the reflecting portion. And since the incident site | part in the reflection part of the incident light is a site | part which reflects incident light in the indication direction of a pointer, the incident light from a light source is reflected in the indication direction of a pointer. Since the index is angled so that the reflected light reflected by the reflecting portion is hit, the index in the direction indicated by the pointer is illuminated with the reflected light.

  As a result, the indicator in the direction indicated by the pointer is illuminated, and the other indicators are not illuminated. Therefore, it is possible to easily read the periphery indicated by the pointer. Further, since the slit maintains the relative positional relationship with the pointer even when the pointer is moved, the direction indicated by the pointer after the movement can be illuminated. That is, since the illuminated indicator changes in synchronization with the movement of the pointer, even if the pointer moves, it is possible to easily read the periphery indicated by the pointer. In addition, since the indicator itself emits light, the readability of the indicator can be improved as compared with the case where a portion other than the indicator is emitted as in Patent Document 1.

Further, in the pointer instrument of the present invention, the pointer is moved on the front side of the dial, the root is fixed to the pointer shaft and rotated around the pointer shaft,
The light-shielding plate has a center fixed to the pointer shaft on the back side of the dial so that the slit is rotated around the pointer shaft.

  Thus, by fixing the center of the light shielding plate to the pointer shaft of the pointer, the relative positional relationship between the slit formed in the light shielding plate and the pointer can be maintained even when the pointer is rotated. .

Further, in the pointer instrument of the present invention, the dial is formed of a material having a light guide property,
The indicator is formed in a form dug into the dial,
The reflecting portion is formed by processing the dial so as to reflect light from the light source in the direction of the index inside the dial.

  According to this, since the reflecting portion is formed by processing the dial, the structure can be simplified as compared with the case where the reflecting portion is formed on a member different from the dial. Further, since the dial is made of a light-guiding material, the reflected light reflected by the reflecting portion can be efficiently guided toward the index. Therefore, the luminous efficiency of the index can be improved. In addition, by forming the index so as to be dug inside the dial, the index can be angled so that the reflected light hits it. Furthermore, the index can be prevented from protruding from the dial.

Further, in the pointer instrument of the present invention, the reflection portion is a sloped surface of a truncated cone centered on the pointer shaft, formed in a recessed shape inside the dial,
The slit is formed at a position below the pointer through the dial.

  According to this, since the slit is formed at a position below the pointer through the dial, only the light on the pointer side among the light from the light source passes through the light shielding plate. In addition, since the reflecting portion is a truncated cone-shaped surface centering on the pointer axis, the light passing through the slit is incident on a part of the inclined surface on the pointer side. The Since some of the surfaces are surfaces on the pointer side of the inclined surface of the truncated cone, the light incident on the surface can be reflected in the direction indicated by the pointer. Therefore, it is possible to illuminate the indicator of the indication direction of the pointer. Further, since the reflecting portion is a truncated cone-shaped surface, the light from the light source can be reflected in the direction indicated by the pointer regardless of the position of the pointer. Furthermore, since the reflecting part is formed in a shape recessed on the side of the dial, it is possible to reflect light into the inside of the dial and to prevent the reflecting part from protruding from the dial. it can.

In the pointer instrument of the present invention, the dial is formed with an insertion hole through which the pointer shaft is inserted,
The reflection part is processed so that a hole surface of the insertion hole becomes a sloped surface of the truncated cone.

  According to this, since the reflecting portion is formed by processing the hole surface of the insertion hole through which the pointer shaft is inserted, the inclined surface of the truncated cone as described above can be easily formed. Further, by forming the reflecting portion near the pointer axis, the light source can be concentrated near the pointer axis. Therefore, the area occupied by the light source can be reduced.

  In the pointer instrument of the present invention, the shape of the slit is adjusted so that the reflected light is applied to the index within a certain range including the index in the direction indicated by the pointer.

  According to this, since a certain range of indicators in the direction indicated by the pointer is illuminated, when the pointer cannot be watched for a long time, such as when the vehicle is operating, or when the pointer only enters the corner of the field of view. Even so, it is possible to easily grasp where the guide points. Further, for example, it is possible to easily grasp how far the currently indicated index is from the target index.

1 is a front view of a vehicle meter 1. FIG. It is sectional drawing of the meter 1 for vehicles in the AA of FIG. It is a figure explaining the shape and function of the reflection part. 3 is a plan view of an LED unit 60. FIG. 3 is a plan view of a light shielding plate 50. FIG. It is the figure which illustrated the state where the scale 11c according to the indication direction of the pointer | guide 30 was illuminated. It is a figure explaining the example which the surface which comprises the reflection part 13 is 45 degree | times locally.

  Next, an embodiment of a pointer instrument according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the present embodiment, an example in which the pointer instrument according to the present invention is applied to a vehicle meter will be described. FIG. 1 is a front view of the vehicle meter 1 of the present embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the vehicle meter 1 taken along the line AA of FIG. The line AA in FIG. 1 is a line passing through the center of the dial 10. Further, in FIG. 2, illustration of the numeric dial face 20 of FIG. 1 is omitted. First, the configuration of the vehicle meter 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.

  The vehicle meter 1 is provided, for example, at a position facing the driver's seat near the bottom of the windshield so that the driver can easily see while driving. The vehicle meter 1 is configured as an analog pointer instrument that displays a measured value of a physical quantity related to a vehicle state such as a vehicle speed and an engine speed with a pointer. In the present embodiment, the vehicle meter 1 is configured as a meter that displays the vehicle speed.

  Specifically, the vehicle meter 1 includes a disk-shaped dial 10 provided so that the surface 10a faces the viewer side. The dial 10 is formed of a material having a light guiding property and a light transmitting property, for example, an acrylic resin. On the dial 10, a scale 11 as an index is formed over an arcuate range along the outer periphery of the dial 10. The scale 11 includes a plurality of scale lines, and specifically includes a plurality of large scale lines 11a and a plurality of auxiliary scale lines 11b. When each position of the outer peripheral portion of the dial 10 is expressed by time, 10 pieces are observed over a range from the position of “6 o'clock” to the position of “3 o'clock” clockwise from the direction of FIG. Large scale lines 11a are formed at equal intervals. Further, nine auxiliary scale lines 11b are formed at equal intervals between two adjacent large scale lines 11a. A scale is not formed in the range from the “3 o'clock” position of the dial 10 to the “6 o'clock” position in the clockwise direction.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the scale lines 11 a and 11 b are formed so as to be dug into the dial 10 from the back surface 10 b of the dial 10. Note that. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG. 1, and therefore, the scale line 11a is illustrated in FIG. Specifically, on the back surface 10b of the dial plate 10, diggings 14 are formed at positions corresponding to the scale lines 11a and 11b, respectively. These diggings 14 have bottom surfaces as the scale lines 11a and 11b. Each bottom surface of the digging 14 is inclined with respect to the back surface 10b of the dial 10 so that the bottom surface of the digging 14 is directed not only to the front surface 10a side of the dial 10 but also to a pointer shaft 70 described later. That is, the scale lines 11a and 11b are formed with an angle with respect to the surfaces 10a and 10b of the dial plate 10. Specifically, when the light from the reflecting portion 13 described later hits the graduation lines 11 a and 11, an angle is set so that the light is emitted to the front side (viewer side) of the dial 10. ing.

  Further, the dial 10 is formed with an insertion hole 12 at the center thereof through which a later-described pointer shaft 70 is inserted. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the insertion hole 12 is a frustoconical hole in which the front surface 10 a side of the dial 10 is a bottom surface side and the back surface 10 b side is a top surface side. That is, the insertion hole 12 is a hole whose diameter at each height gradually increases as it goes to the surface 10a side. The hole surface 13 of the insertion hole 12 corresponds to a “reflecting portion” of the present invention, and is a portion that reflects light from the LED unit 60 described later in the direction of the scale 11. Hereinafter, the hole surface 13 is referred to as the reflecting portion 13. That is, the reflecting portion 13 is a surface having a shape of a truncated cone (a hole surface of the insertion hole 12).

  Here, FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the shape and function of the reflecting portion 13, and shows the vicinity of the insertion hole 12 in FIG. As shown in FIG. 3, the surface constituting the reflecting portion 13 is a surface inclined by 45 degrees with respect to the back surface 10 b of the dial 10. When the incident light L1 from the back side of the dial 10 is incident at a right angle to the back surface 10b, the incident light L1 travels through the dial 10 as it is and enters the reflecting portion 13 at 45 degrees. Incident at an angle. The incident light L1 is reflected in the direction of the outgoing angle of 45 degrees that is the same as the incident angle, that is, in the direction perpendicular to the incident direction of the incident light L1 (parallel to the surfaces 10a and 10b of the dial face 10). The reflected reflected light L2 travels inside the dial 10 formed of a light-guiding material. As described above, the reflecting portion 13 reflects light emitted from the back side of the dial 10 straight toward the reflecting portion 13 in a direction in the plane of the dial 10 (strictly, inside the dial 10). It has a function.

  Furthermore, since the reflecting portion 13 is a truncated cone-shaped surface as described above, the direction in which the light is reflected in the plane of the dial 10 varies depending on the portion where the light is incident. . Specifically, the reflecting portion 13 reflects the light in the radial direction of the dial 10 passing through the portion of the reflecting portion 13 where the light is incident (or in a certain range around the radial direction). For example, when light is incident on the portion of the reflecting portion 13 at “12” in FIG. 1, the reflecting portion 13 corresponds to the direction of the dial 10 at “12”, that is, “120 km / h”. The light is reflected in the direction of the large scale line 11a. Moreover, since the reflection part 13 has a surface formed over the entire circumference, if light is incident on all parts of the reflection part 13, the light may be reflected in all directions in which the scale 11 is formed. it can. Thus, the reflection part 13 shall be able to reflect light in each direction of the range in which the scale 11 was formed.

  In addition, the whole surface which comprises the reflection part 13 does not need to be an angle of 45 degree | times with respect to the back surface 10b, and should just be 45 degree | times locally. Here, FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining an example in which the surface constituting the reflecting portion 13 is locally 45 degrees. As shown in FIG. 7A, the angle θ between the surface constituting the reflecting portion 13 and the back surface 10b of the dial 10 is 45 degrees or less. However, the surface which comprises the reflection part 13 is roughened, and as shown in FIG.7 (b) (enlarged view of the broken-line part B of Fig.7 (a)), it is 45 with respect to the back surface 10b locally. It is regarded as a degree. Thereby, the incident light L1 can be reflected in the perpendicular direction.

  A back plate 40 is provided on the dial 10 on the back surface 10b side. The back plate 40 is painted on its surface, for example, with a black color that does not transmit light. The back plate 40 is used for preventing the light hitting the scale 11 from coming out to the back side of the dial 10 and for brightening the peripheral portion other than the scale 11 by the light reflected by the back plate 40. .

  Connected to the outer periphery of the dial 10, there is provided a ring-shaped numeric dial 20 on which a numeral of the scale 11, that is, a numeral 21 indicating the vehicle speed is formed. As shown in FIG. 1, the numeral 21 is formed so as to be attached to the large scale line 11 a of the scale 11. Specifically, the position of the dial 10 at “6 o'clock” is “0” km / h. As shown in FIG. 4, each digit is formed at equal intervals of “20” km / h, which is formed at regular intervals up to the “3 o'clock” position. That is, the interval of the large scale lines 11a described above is an interval of “20” km / h. The number dial 20 is formed of a light-transmitting material such as polycarbonate. In addition, the surface of the number dial 20 is printed in the form of the number 21 (strictly, the portion other than the number 21 is light-shielded). The number 21 is emitted by irradiating the number dial 20 with light from the back side by the number LED (not shown).

  The number dial 20 may be formed of the same acrylic resin as the dial 10 and the number 21 may be emitted using the light of the LED unit 60 that causes the scale 11 to emit light. In other words, the reflected light reflected by the reflecting portion 13 is guided also to the inside of the number dial 20, and the reflected light is reflected by the boundary surface of the number dial 20. Then, the reflected light reflected at the boundary surface is emitted to the front side (viewer side) of the number dial 20. Thereby, only the number 21 around the direction indicated by the pointer 30 can be made to emit light.

  The pointer shaft 70 is inserted into the insertion hole 12 formed in the dial 10 so as to protrude to the front side of the dial 10. A pointer 30 (strictly speaking, a root portion 32 of the pointer 30) is connected to the tip of the pointer shaft 70. The pointer 30 indicates the scale 11 formed on the dial 10. Specifically, the pointer 30 is rotated around the pointer shaft 70 along the surface 10 a of the dial 10 so that the tip 31 moves within the range where the scale 11 is formed as the pointer shaft 70 rotates. It is moved in the form.

  A substrate (not shown) is provided on the back side of the dial 10, and an LED unit 60 as a light source for irradiating light toward the reflecting portion 13 is provided on the substrate. Here, FIG. 4 is a plan view of the LED unit 60 viewed from the direction of FIG. As shown in FIG. 4, the LED unit 60 has a plurality of LEDs 61 arranged in a circular arc shape in plan view. The arc shape of the LED unit 60 corresponds to the shape (arc shape) in the range in which the scale 11 is formed. Therefore, when viewed from FIG. The arc is in the range up to the “hour” position. The LED unit 60 is provided so that each LED 61 is on a circumference centered on the pointer shaft 70, that is, at a position below the reflecting portion 13. More specifically, the LED unit 60 is provided such that the arc-shaped open portion thereof coincides with the arc-shaped open portion of the scale 11.

  Then, the LED unit 60 irradiates light toward all the parts of the reflecting part 13 (strictly speaking, the part of the arc-shaped reflecting part 13 corresponding to the shape of the LED unit 60). Further, this light is incident on the back surface 10 b of the dial 10 at a substantially right angle. In addition, when the light from the LED unit 60 is incident on all the parts of the reflecting portion 13, as described above, the light is reflected in all directions in the range where the scale 11 is formed, and the entire scale 11. Is emitted, but the light from the LED unit 60 is incident on only a part of the reflecting portion 13 by a light shielding plate 50 described later.

  The light shielding plate 50 is a light shielding plate provided between the dial 10 and the LED unit 60, as shown in FIG. The light shielding plate 50 is made of, for example, a black resin. Here, FIG. 5 is a diagram of the light shielding plate 50 viewed from the direction of FIG. 1 as a plan view of the light shielding plate 50. As shown in FIG. 5, the light shielding plate 50 has a disk shape. The light shielding plate 50 has a slit 51 formed in a part thereof. The slit 51 is formed over a certain range in the circumferential direction near the outer periphery of the light shielding plate 50 (for example, about 1/8 of the entire circumference of the light shielding plate 50 in FIG. 5). The shape is gradually widened toward the outer peripheral side of the plate 50.

  The light shielding plate 50 is provided such that the center 52 is fixed to the pointer shaft 70. At this time, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the light shielding plate 50 is provided so that the slit 51 is positioned below the pointer 30. In FIG. 1, the light shielding plate 50 including the slits 51 is indicated by a broken line.

  By providing the light shielding plate 50 in this way, only a part of the light from the LED unit 60 is incident on the reflecting portion 13. Specifically, only the light incident on the slit 51 among the light from the LED unit 60 passes through the light shielding plate 50 and is incident on the reflecting portion 13. As described above, since the slit 51 is positioned under the pointer 30, the light from the LED unit 60 is incident on the portion 13a of the reflecting portion 13 below the pointer, while the other portion. It is not incident on 13b. The range of the part 13 a on which light is incident is determined by the shape of the slit 51. The light incident on the portion 13a is reflected in a certain range including the direction indicated by the pointer 30, but in this embodiment, the slit 51 is reflected so as to be reflected in the range 80 shown in FIG. The shape is determined. Specifically, the range 80 is a scale 11 (100 km in FIG. 1) in the range of approximately ± 20 km / h with reference to the scale 11 in the direction indicated by the pointer 30 (scale 11 of 120 km / h in FIG. 1). This is the range in which light is reflected in the direction of the scale 11) in the range of / h to 140 km / h. In other words, the range 80 is a range that radiates from the portion 13a where the light is incident to the range of the scale 11 having a width of 40 km / h (in FIG. 1, the scale 11 in the range of 100 km / h to 140 km / h). is there.

  Further, since the center 52 (see FIG. 5) of the light shielding plate 50 is fixed to the pointer shaft 70, it is interlocked with the rotation of the pointer shaft 70, that is, in synchronization with the movement of the pointer 30, around the pointer shaft 70. Moved in a rotated form. That is, even when the pointer 30 moves, the relative positional relationship between the slit 51 and the pointer 30 is maintained. Specifically, the slit 51 is always held at a position below the pointer 30. Therefore, the part 13 a on which the light of the reflecting part 13 is incident varies according to the movement of the pointer 30 (the movement of the slit 51), and specifically, is always the part of the reflecting part 13 below the pointer 30. The Accordingly, the range 80 in which light is reflected by the reflecting portion 13 also varies according to the movement of the pointer 30 (the movement of the slit 51). Specifically, the range 80 is always in the direction indicated by the pointer 30. The range is based on.

  The substrate on which the LED unit 60 is provided is provided with a motor (not shown) that rotates the pointer shaft 70 and a control unit (not shown) that controls the rotation of the motor, lighting of the LED unit 60, and the like. The control unit receives a vehicle speed signal indicating the current vehicle speed from a vehicle speed sensor (not shown), and rotates the motor to indicate the scale 11 corresponding to the vehicle speed indicated by the vehicle speed signal.

  Next, a specific example of the operation of the vehicle meter 1 will be described. As a specific example, first, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the operation when the pointer 30 indicates the scale 11 of 120 km / h will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. In this case, of the light L1 from the LED unit 60, the light L11 directed to the slit 51 passes through the light shielding plate 50 and is incident on the reflecting portion 13, while the light L12 directed to the other portion is light shielding plate. The light is shielded by 50 and is not incident on the reflecting portion 13. The light L11 is incident on a portion 13a of the reflecting portion 13 below the pointer 30. At the portion 13a, the light L11 is reflected at a right angle to the traveling direction of the light L11 (see FIG. 2) and in a range 80 (see FIG. 1) in the plane of the dial 10. In addition, the range 80 is the range of the scale 11 in the range of 100 km / h to 140 km / h as described above.

  The reflected light L <b> 2 reflected by the reflecting portion 13 travels toward the scale 11 in the range of 100 km / h to 140 km / h through the inside of the dial 10, and is then applied to each scale 11. The light L3 applied to each scale 11 is emitted to the front side (viewer side) of the dial 10. Therefore, the scale 11 in the range of 100 km / h to 140 km / h emits light, while the other scales 11 do not emit light. In addition, a part of the light L3 applied to the scale 11 illuminates the back plate 40 provided on the back side of the dial 10. Therefore, the scale 11 in the range of 100 km / h to 140 km / h and the vicinity thereof can be illuminated. In addition, the number 21 of the scale 11 is light-emitted independently from the scale 11 by the number LED (not shown) as described above, or is emitted by the light from the LED unit 60.

  Thereby, the user can easily grasp that the pointer 30 indicates the scale 11 in the range of 100 km / h to 140 km / h. As a result, since the user only needs to pay attention to only the range, it can be easily read that the pointer 30 indicates the scale 11 of 120 km / h. In addition, two large scale lines 11a adjacent to the 120km / h scale 11 (100km / h large scale line 11a and 140km / h large scale line 11a) are also illuminated. Can be made easier. Furthermore, even when the pointer 30 cannot be watched for a long time or when the pointer 30 only enters the corner of the field of view, it is possible to easily feel the rough position and movement of the pointer 30.

  Next, the operation when the pointer 30 indicates the scale 11 of 60 km / h will be described. In this case, in synchronization with the movement of the pointer 30, the slit 51 moves to the scale 11 side of 60 km / h, and the light is incident as the slit 51 moves and the portion 13 a of the reflecting portion 13 and the light are reflected. The range 80 to be moved moves to the scale 11 side of 60 km / h. When the scale 11c is the scale 11c and the non-illuminated scale 11d is the scale 11d, as shown in FIG. 6 (a), the scale 11c indicated by the pointer 30 is about 40km / h. The area around the scale 11c in the range of h to 80 km / h is illuminated, and the area around the other scale 11d is not illuminated. That is, the illuminated scale 11c moves in synchronization with the movement of the pointer 30.

  Further, when the pointer 30 moves to a position indicating the scale 11 between 80 km / h and 100 km / h, the pointer 30 indicates as shown in FIG. 6B by the same operation as described above. The area around the scale 11c in a certain range centered on the scale 11 is illuminated, and the area around the other scale 11d is not illuminated. In FIGS. 6A and 6B, the numeral 21 on the scale 11 is also illuminated only around the direction indicated by the pointer 30. Thereby, it is possible to make it easier to read the direction indicated by the pointer 30.

  As described above, according to the vehicle meter 1 of the present embodiment, only the periphery of the indication direction of the pointer 30 is illuminated, so that the legibility of the indication direction of the pointer 30 can be improved. Further, since the reflecting portion 13 and the scale 11 are formed by processing the dial 10 inside the dial 10, it is possible to suppress an increase in the number of parts and prevent them from protruding from the dial 10. it can. Further, since the LED unit 60 is provided in the vicinity of the pointer shaft 70 at the center of the dial 10, the area occupied by the LED unit 60 can be reduced.

  The pointer instrument according to the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the claims. For example, in the above-described embodiment, an example in which the present invention is applied to a vehicle meter has been described. However, the present invention can also be applied to other pointer instruments. Moreover, in the said embodiment, although it was set as the range of the scale 11 of about 40 km / h width as the range which illuminates the scale 11, you may make it narrower or wider than the range of the scale 11 of 40 km / h width. When narrowing, the slit 51 should be made small, and when making it wide, the slit 51 should be enlarged.

  Moreover, although the said embodiment demonstrated the case where the scale 11 as a parameter | index was illuminated, you may apply this invention to the illumination of another parameter | index. In this case, the index may be formed in the form of being dug into the dial 10. In the above embodiment, the light from the LED unit 60 is directly incident on the reflection unit 13. However, the light from the LED unit 60 is input to the reflection unit 13 between the LED unit 60 and the reflection unit 13. A light guide portion for guiding light may be provided. According to this, the light from the LED unit 60 can be efficiently incident on the reflecting portion 13. For example, the light guide portion is formed of the same acrylic resin as the dial 10 and is formed integrally with the dial 10.

1 Vehicle meter (pointer meter)
10 Dial 10a Front of Dial 10 10b Back of Dial 10 11 Scale (Indicator)
12 Insertion hole 13 Reflecting portion 14 Digging 30 Pointer 50 Light shielding plate 51 Slit 52 Center of light shielding plate 50 LED unit (light source)
70 Pointer shaft

Claims (6)

A dial with indicators formed over a certain range;
A pointer that is moved along the surface of the dial so that the tip side moves within a range where the indicator is formed;
A reflection part capable of reflecting incident light in each direction of the range in which the index is formed, the reflection part having a different reflection direction depending on a part where the incident light is incident;
A light source that irradiates light toward all the parts of the reflecting portion;
A light shield having a light shielding property provided between the reflector and the light source, which is moved in synchronization with the movement of the pointer so that a slit is formed and the relative positional relationship between the slit and the pointer is maintained. A light-shielding plate in which the slit is formed so that light from the light source is incident on a portion of the reflecting portion that reflects incident light in the direction indicated by the pointer,
The pointer instrument according to claim 1, wherein the indicator is formed at an angle so that the reflected light reflected by the reflecting portion is incident. The pointer is moved on the front side of the dial in such a manner that the root is fixed to the pointer shaft and rotated around the pointer shaft,
The pointer instrument according to claim 1, wherein a center of the shading plate is fixed to the pointer shaft on the back side of the dial so that the slit is rotated around the pointer shaft. The dial is formed of a material having a light guide property,
The indicator is formed in a form dug into the dial,
The said reflection part is formed by processing the said dial so that the light from the said light source may be reflected in the direction of the said index | index inside the said dial, It is characterized by the above-mentioned. Pointer instrument. The reflecting part is a sloped surface of a truncated cone centered on the pointer shaft, formed in a shape recessed inside the dial.
The pointer instrument according to claim 3, wherein the slit is formed at a position below the pointer through the dial. The dial has an insertion hole through which the pointer shaft is inserted,
The pointer instrument according to claim 4, wherein the reflecting portion is processed so that a hole surface of the insertion hole becomes a sloped surface of the truncated cone.   The pointer instrument according to claim 5, wherein the shape of the slit is adjusted so that the reflected light is applied to the index within a certain range including the index in the pointing direction of the pointer.