JP5408103B2 - Vehicle display device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle display device mounted on a vehicle in order to display information related to the vehicle to a driver.

  As a conventional vehicle display device, for example, a scale of a meter is formed on a light guide plate made of a transparent material, and light emitted from a light source is incident on the light guide plate, and the light is reflected by the scale and visually recognized. (See Patent Document 1).

JP 2004-340915 A

  In the conventional vehicle display device described above, a scale is formed on the back side of the light guide plate. For this reason, in the visual recognition direction of the viewer, the visual recognition distance differs between the scale and the surface of the light guide plate, thereby enhancing the stereoscopic effect of the scale. However, the appearance of the scale itself is flat. Therefore, in order to further enhance the three-dimensional effect, for example, means such as laminating a plurality of light guide plates can be considered, but problems such as an increase in the number of parts and an increase in the physique may occur.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle display device having a three-dimensional appearance without increasing the number of parts, increasing the physique, and the like. is there.

In order to achieve the above object, according to the first aspect of the present invention, a light guide plate formed of a translucent material and disposed with the thickness direction thereof as a display direction, and a display formed on the back surface of the light guide plate A design portion and a light source arranged so that light enters the light guide plate, and the display design portion is illuminated and illuminated by light emitted from the light source and traveling through the light guide plate A display device for a vehicle, wherein a reflective layer is provided in a region including a display design portion in a back surface , and a transflective layer is provided in a region including a display design portion in a surface of a light guide plate. .

  According to the present invention, a part of the light emitted from the display design portion and traveling through the light guide plate and entering the transflective layer is transmitted through the transflective layer and travels in the display direction. It is visually recognized as a real image of the display design part. In addition, a part of the light emitted from the display design portion and traveling through the light guide plate and entering the semi-transmissive reflective layer is reflected by the semi-transmissive reflective layer and travels through the light guide plate again, and is provided on the back surface of the light guide plate. The light is incident on the reflected layer, is reflected there, travels through the light guide plate again, and enters the transflective layer. Part of this incident light passes through the semi-transmissive reflective layer and travels in the display direction, and is visually recognized by the driver or the like as a virtual image of the display design portion. Since the incident point at which the reflected light reflected by the semi-transmissive reflective layer enters the reflective layer is at a position away from the display design portion, the driver or the like is imaged next to the real image of the display design portion and this real image. Both virtual images of the display design part are visually recognized. In addition, since the light amount of the virtual image of the display design portion is reduced by repeating reflection and is smaller than the light amount of the real image of the display design portion, the virtual image of the display design portion has a lower luminance than the real image of the display design portion. Visible at. Further, a part of the virtual image light reflected by the reflective layer and traveling again in the light guide plate and entering the semi-transmissive reflective layer is reflected by the semi-transmissive reflective layer, is incident on the reflective layer, is reflected there, and is again transmitted by the semi-transmissive reflective layer. Incident to A part of the incident light passes through the transflective layer and travels in the display direction, and a part of the incident light is reflected by the transflective layer and travels toward the reflective layer. By repeating this, a plurality of virtual images of the display design portion are formed at intervals. The plurality of virtual images are viewed with lower luminance as they are farther from the real image.

  When the appearance of the display design portion on the light guide plate in the vehicle display device according to claim 1 of the present invention described above is summarized, in the vehicle display device according to claim 1 of the present invention, the display design is displayed. The real image of the part and a plurality of virtual images adjacent to the real image are visually recognized substantially in parallel with each other, and the emission luminance of the real image is the maximum, and the virtual image immediately adjacent to the real image is lower than that. It gets lower gradually as you move away. That is, adjacent to the real image of the high-luminance display design part, a plurality of virtual images have their luminance gradually lowered, in other words, appear in a gradation. With such appearance, the display design portion is visually recognized with the three-dimensional effect enhanced. By the way, a means for obtaining such appearance is to have a simple configuration in which a reflective layer is formed on the back surface side of the light guide plate and a transflective layer is formed on the front surface side. There will be no increase in the number of parts or physique.

  Therefore, it is possible to provide a vehicular display device having a three-dimensional appearance without increasing the number of parts, increasing the physique, and the like.

  The invention described in claim 2 includes display image light forming means for emitting display image light which is light constituting the display image, and the display image light forming means irradiates the surface of the light guide plate with the display image light. Forming a virtual image of the display image.

  In a conventional vehicle display device, when a display image is formed on a light guide plate and displayed in a visible manner, the display image is formed on the light guide plate by printing or the like, and light is emitted from a light source installed behind the light guide plate. The display image is transmitted and illuminated to emit light. For this reason, it is very difficult to simultaneously display the display design different from the display image on the light guide plate for light emission display. To realize this, the display image and the display design are simultaneously displayed on the light guide plate. A complicated and large structure is required, such as adopting a complex structure that can be formed and installing a plurality of light sources corresponding to them.

  Therefore, with the configuration as in the invention described in claim 2, since the display image is visually formed as a virtual image on the surface of the light guide plate, it is not necessary to provide any equipment behind the light guide plate and behind it. . This makes it possible to display a display design different from the display image on the light guide plate at the same time without adopting a complicated and large structure, and to make the appearance of the vehicle display device more innovative. can do. Moreover, the display space on the light guide plate can be effectively utilized.

  The invention according to claim 3 is characterized in that the display image is an indicator or a warning for instructing an operating state of a device provided in the vehicle so as to be visible.

  According to the present invention, the display position of the indicator or warning on the light guide plate can always be easily set to the optimum position.

  The invention according to claim 4 is characterized in that the plate thickness of the light guide plate changes at least in a region including the display design portion.

  When the thickness of the light guide plate is uniform, the light emitted from the display design portion is reflected on the semi-transmissive reflective layer, subsequently reflected on the reflective layer, and again reflected on the semi-transmissive reflective layer. In this case, the incident angle (= exit angle) in the transflective layer is equal every time. At the same time, the incident angle (= exit angle) in the reflective layer is also equal to the incident angle (= exit angle) in the semi-transmissive reflective layer and is equal each time. Thereby, the interval and size (length, width, etc.) of the plurality of virtual images formed on the light guide plate are substantially equal.

  In contrast, when the plate thickness of the light guide plate changes at least in the region including the display design portion, the light emitted from the display design portion is half in the portion where the plate thickness of the light guide plate changes. When repeatedly reflecting on the transmissive reflective layer, subsequently reflecting on the reflective layer, and again reflecting on the semi-transmissive reflective layer, the incident angle (= outgoing angle) in the semi-transmissive reflective layer is not equal each time. Change. For example, it gradually increases or decreases. Further, the incident angle (= exit angle) in the reflective layer is different from the incident angle (= exit angle) in the semi-transmissive reflective layer and changes every time. For example, it gradually increases or decreases. This also changes the interval and size (length, width, etc.) of the plurality of virtual images formed on the light guide plate. For example, the interval gradually increases (or decreases) and the length gradually increases (or decreases).

  This enhances the three-dimensional appearance of the display design portion on the light guide plate and, at the same time, provides a more varied appearance.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, at least one of the back surface and the front surface of the light guide plate is formed in a curved shape.

  According to the present invention, the light guide plate functions like a concave lens or a convex lens. Then, the plurality of virtual images in the display design portion are visually recognized with the shape being deformed by the concave lens effect or the convex lens effect of the light guide plate. Therefore, in addition to forming a plurality of virtual images adjacent to the real image of the display design part, the shape of the virtual image is deformed by the concave lens effect or the convex lens effect of the light guide plate, so that the stereoscopic effect is enhanced and more It is possible to provide a vehicular display device with a variety of appearances.

  The invention described in claim 6 is characterized in that the display design portion is at least one of a scale of a pointer instrument and a numeral.

  The invention according to claim 7 includes a liquid crystal display, and the light guide plate is disposed in front of the liquid crystal display in the display direction and partially overlaps the liquid crystal display in the display direction. .

  Generally, a liquid crystal display has a space, like a frame, in which electrodes are arranged around a screen on which an image is actually formed. According to this invention, if the light guide plate is disposed in front of the liquid crystal display in the display direction and partially overlaps the liquid crystal display in the display direction, for example, in a space where the above-described electrodes are disposed, The light guide plate and the display screen of the liquid crystal display are visually recognized continuously and integrally. Accordingly, the display design part on the light guide plate is visually recognized with a three-dimensional appearance, and at the same time, the display screen of the liquid crystal display is arranged in the vicinity of the display design part. Can be made to have a more three-dimensional effect.

  The invention described in claim 8 is characterized in that the emission color of the light source can be switched.

  Thereby, in addition to making the appearance of the display design portion formed on the light guide plate more rich in stereoscopic effect, the emission color of the display design portion can be switched, so the appearance of the vehicle display device is innovative. Can be.

It is a fragmentary sectional view which shows the structure of the combination meter by 1st embodiment of this invention, and is the II sectional view taken on the line in FIG. It is a figure which shows the planar shape of the light-guide plate of the combination meter by 1st embodiment of this invention, and is the II arrow directional view in FIG. It is a schematic diagram explaining the course after the light irradiated from the light source reflected in the scale in the light guide plate. It is a schematic diagram explaining the appearance of the scale in the combination meter by 1st embodiment of this invention, and is the IV section enlarged view in FIG. It is a front view of the ambient display part in the combination meter by a second embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which shows the structure of the ambient display part in the combination meter by 2nd embodiment of this invention, and is VI-VI sectional view taken on the line of FIG. It is a front view of the ambient display part in the combination meter by 3rd embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the structure of the ambient display part in the combination meter by 3rd embodiment of this invention, and is the VIII-VIII sectional view taken on the line of FIG.

  Below, a plurality of embodiments of the present invention are described based on a drawing.

(First embodiment)
A combination meter 1 that is a display device for a vehicle includes a plurality of display units that display information relating to a vehicle on which the meter is mounted so that a driver can visually recognize the instrument, and an instrument panel (see FIG. (Not shown) and are arranged with the front side facing the driver's seat.

  A case where the present invention is applied to a pointer instrument 2 which is one of display units included in the combination meter 1 will be described below as an example.

  The pointer instrument 2 is an instrument that displays, for example, the traveling speed of the vehicle or the engine rotation speed by a pointer and a scale indicated by the pointer. As shown in FIG. 1, the pointer instrument 2 includes a light guide plate 3, a scale 4 that is a display design portion formed on the light guide plate 3, a pointer 8, and a movement 9 as an actuator that rotates the pointer 8. .

  The light guide plate 3 is formed from a colorless and transparent resin material, which is a translucent material, in a planar shape as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 1, the light guide plate 3 is arranged in the pointer instrument 2 with the plate thickness direction as the display direction D. There is a driver's seat (not shown) ahead of the display direction D, and the driver visually recognizes the pointer instrument 2 from the left side of FIG. In FIG. 2, a through hole 33 is formed in a portion corresponding to the center of the central fan to allow a shaft 91 of the movement 9 described later to pass therethrough. In the completed state of the combination meter 1, the shaft 91 is located substantially at the center of the through hole 33. As shown in FIG. 2, the scale 4 which is a display design part is formed in the back surface 32 which is a surface on the opposite side to the display direction D of the light-guide plate 3. As shown in FIG. The scale 4 is formed on the back surface 32 of the light guide plate 3 by printing, for example. As shown in FIG. 2, a plurality of scales 4 are arranged radially around the through hole 33. As shown in FIG. 1, the reflective layer 6 is provided on the back surface 32 on which the scale 4 is formed. The reflective layer 6 is applied to the entire back surface 32. The reflective layer 6 is formed of a layer having a property of reflecting light with high efficiency. For example, the reflective layer 6 is formed by applying plating, coating, painting, or the like to the back surface 32 of the light guide plate 3 or attaching a thin film. The On the other hand, a transflective layer 7 is provided on the surface 31 of the light guide plate 3 as shown in FIG. The transflective layer 7 has a property of transmitting a part of the light incident thereon and reflecting a part thereof. That is, when the light traveling in the light guide plate 3 enters the transflective layer 7 on the surface 31, a part of the light passes through the transflective layer 7 and proceeds to the outside of the light guide plate 3, and a part of the light is translucent. The light is reflected by the reflective layer 7 and travels through the light guide plate 3 again. The transflective layer 7 is formed by, for example, plating or coating the surface 31 of the light guide plate 3 with a substance having a property of transmitting a part of incident light and reflecting a part thereof, or incident light. A thin film having a property of transmitting a part of the film and reflecting a part of the film is attached. As shown in FIG. 1, the light guide plate 3 is formed such that its thickness gradually decreases from the outer peripheral side toward the center side, that is, from the sector-shaped outer peripheral side toward the center side. Further, the light guide plate 3 is formed in a curved shape so as to be concave toward the display direction D. That is, as shown in FIG. 1, the front surface 31 of the light guide plate 3 is formed in a concave shape that is concave toward the display direction D, and the back surface 32 of the light guide plate 3 is directed in a direction opposite to the display direction D. It is formed in a convex shape that is convex. Then, as shown in FIG. 2, a light emitting diode 5 as a light source is attached to an end portion of the fan-shaped light guide plate 3 in the circumferential direction. The light emitting diode 5 is attached so that light emitted from the light emitting diode 5 enters the light guide plate 3 and travels as indicated by an arrow in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the circuit board 10 is disposed on the back surface 32 side of the light guide plate 3. A circuit element (not shown) is mounted on the circuit board 10 and constitutes an electric circuit portion of the combination meter 1. The light-emitting diode 5 described above is also electrically connected to the circuit board 10.

  On the back surface 32 side of the light guide plate 3, the movement 9 is arranged as shown in FIG. The movement 9 is for converting the current into the rotational torque of the shaft 91 to rotate the pointer 8 and is configured as a cross coil motor or a stepping motor. As shown in FIG. 1, a pointer 8 is fixed to the tip of the shaft 91, and the pointer 8 rotates integrally with the shaft 91. The movement 9 is mounted on a circuit board 10 as shown in FIG. When an electrical signal corresponding to the magnitude of the physical quantity instructed by the pointer meter 2 is input to the movement 9, the shaft 91 rotates by an angle corresponding thereto, and at the same time, the pointer 8 rotates along the surface 31 of the light guide plate 3. Then, the magnitude of the physical quantity is instructed to the driver by the pointer 8 and the scale 4 so as to be visible.

  The light guide plate 3, the circuit board 10, and the movement 9 described above are accommodated and held in the case 11 as shown in FIG. 1.

  Next, the function and effect of the light guide plate 3, which is the characteristic configuration of the combination meter 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention, mainly provided with the transflective layer 7 on the front surface 31 and the reflective layer 6 on the back surface 32, mainly. Explains the effect on the appearance of the scale 4 provided on the light guide plate 3.

  The light emitted from the light emitting diode 5 and traveling through the light guide plate 3 irradiates the scale 4 before long. The irradiation light incident on the scale 4 is reflected by the scale 4. As shown in FIG. 3, the reflected light is incident on the semi-transmissive reflective layer 7, but a part of the reflected light is transmitted through the semi-transmissive reflective layer 7 and emitted to the outside of the light guide plate 3, and proceeds in the display direction D. . By visually recognizing this light, the driver visually recognizes the scale 4 as a real image as shown in FIG. A part of the reflected light reflected by the scale 4 incident on the semi-transmissive reflective layer 7 is reflected by the semi-transmissive reflective layer 7 and again travels through the light guide plate 3 to the reflective layer 6 as shown in FIG. Incident. Then, the light is reflected by the reflective layer 6, travels through the light guide plate 3, and enters the transflective layer 7. A part of this light passes through the semi-transmissive reflective layer 7 and is emitted to the outside of the light guide plate 3, and proceeds in the display direction D. The driver visually recognizes this light as a virtual image 4i1 of the scale 4 as shown in FIG. Here, as shown in FIG. 4, the virtual image 4 i 1 is partly overlapped with the real image of the scale 4, and the length thereof is extended from the length of the real image 4 and is visually recognized. On the other hand, a part of the light incident on the semi-transmissive reflective layer 7 is reflected by the semi-transmissive reflective layer 7 and again travels in the light guide plate 3 and enters the reflective layer 6 as shown in FIG. Thus, the reflected light from the scale 4 is repeatedly reflected between the semi-transmissive reflective layer 7 and the reflective layer 6 in the light guide plate 3. Each time the light enters the transflective layer 7, a part of the incident light passes through the transflective layer 7, exits the light guide plate 3, proceeds in the display direction D, and is visually recognized by the driver as a virtual image. The That is, as shown in FIG. 3, the virtual image 4i2 and the virtual image 4i3 are visually recognized. Further, the reflected light from the scale 4 passes through the semi-transmissive reflective layer 7 and is emitted to the outside of the light guide plate 3. The light quantity of the emitted light is the maximum in the real image of the scale 4, and the virtual image 4i1, The virtual image 4i2 and the virtual image 4i3 decrease in this order. Therefore, when the driver looks at the light guide plate 3, the real image of the scale 4 appears brightest, and the virtual image 4i1, the virtual image 4i2, and the virtual image 4i3 appear darker in this order.

  By the way, as shown in FIG. 1, the light guide plate 3 is formed such that its thickness gradually decreases from the outer peripheral side toward the central side, that is, from the outer peripheral side of the sector shape toward the central side. On the other hand, the scale 4 is arranged with its longitudinal direction positioned in the radial direction of the fan-shaped light guide plate 3. That is, the longitudinal direction of the scale 4 substantially coincides with the thickness change direction in the light guide plate 3. For this reason, the difference between the lengths of the adjacent real image and the virtual image, and the difference between the lengths of the adjacent virtual image and the virtual image are not equal, but between the real image 4 and the virtual image 4i1, between the virtual image 4i1 and the virtual image 4i2, As shown in FIG. 4, the lengths between the virtual image 4i2 and the virtual image 4i3 are gradually shortened to l1, l2, and l3, respectively. Furthermore, the brightness of each of the real image 4, the virtual image 4i1, the virtual image 4i2, and the virtual image 4i3 is darker in the order of the real image 4 → the virtual image 4i1 → the virtual image 4i2 → the virtual image 4i3.

  Accordingly, the scale 4 provided on the light guide plate 3 can see the plurality of virtual images 4i1 to 4i3 while partially overlapping the real image 4, and the brightness of the virtual images becomes darker as they move away from the real image 4, and the plurality of virtual images. Since the length increase rate of 4i1 to 4i3 is not constant but gradually decreases, the stereoscopic effect of the scale 4 appears to be emphasized.

  Moreover, according to the combination meter 1 by 1st embodiment of this invention, by the simple structure of providing the transflective layer 7 in the surface 31 of the one light-guide plate 3, and providing the reflective layer 6 in the back surface 32, respectively. Since the effect of making the appearance of the scale 4 more rich in stereoscopic effect can be obtained, it is possible to provide a display device for a vehicle having an appearance rich in stereoscopic effect without increasing the number of parts, increasing the physique, and the like.

(Second embodiment)
In the second embodiment of the present invention shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the present invention is applied to the ambient display unit 12 in place of the pointer instrument 2 in the first embodiment. The ambient display unit 12 aims to allow the driver to more intuitively recognize the operating state of the vehicle. Specifically, the operation area of the vehicle is displayed by switching the light emission state, for example, light emission color, light emission luminance, continuous light flashing, etc. To do.

  Below, the structure of the combination meter 1 by 2nd embodiment of this invention is demonstrated.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the ambient display unit 12 is formed behind the opening 22a of the facing plate 22 (on the side opposite to the display direction D), and the driver visually recognizes the ambient display unit 12 through the opening 22a. . The light guide plate 13 is formed in a substantially rectangular shape from a colorless and transparent resin material which is a translucent material. As shown in FIG. 6, decorative lines 14 that are display design portions are formed on the back surface 132 that is the surface opposite to the display direction D of the light guide plate 3. The decoration line 14 is formed on the back surface 132 of the light guide plate 13 by printing, for example. As shown in FIG. 6, the reflective layer 6 is provided on the back surface 132 on which the decoration line 14 is formed. The reflective layer 6 is applied to the entire back surface 132. The reflective layer 6 is formed of a layer having a property of reflecting light with high efficiency. For example, the reflective layer 6 is formed by plating, coating, painting, or the like on the back surface 132 of the light guide plate 13 or by attaching a thin film. The On the other hand, a transflective layer 7 is provided on the surface 131 of the light guide plate 13 as shown in FIG. The transflective layer 7 has a property of transmitting a part of the light incident thereon and reflecting a part thereof. That is, when the light traveling in the light guide plate 13 enters the transflective layer 7 on the surface 131, a part of the light passes through the transflective layer 7 and travels out of the light guide plate 13, and a part of the light is translucent. The light is reflected by the reflective layer 7 and travels through the light guide plate 13 again. The transflective layer 7 is, for example, plated on the surface 131 of the light guide plate 13 with a material having a property of transmitting a part of incident light and reflecting a part of the light, or a semitransparent reflection. It is formed by attaching a thin film having the above properties. As shown in FIG. 6, the light guide plate 13 is formed such that its thickness gradually decreases as it moves away from the side on which the decorative line 14 is applied. And the light emitting diode 5 which is a light source is attached to the edge part by the side of the decoration line 14 of the light-guide plate 3 as shown in FIG. The light emitting diode 5 is attached so that light emitted from the light emitting diode 5 enters the light guide plate 13 and travels as indicated by an arrow in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the circuit board 10 is disposed on the back surface 132 side of the light guide plate 13. A circuit element (not shown) is mounted on the circuit board 10 and constitutes an electric circuit portion of the combination meter 1. The light-emitting diode 5 described above is also electrically connected to the circuit board 10.

  A light guide 20 is disposed behind the facing plate 22 as shown in FIG. The light guide 20 is formed from a colorless and transparent resin material that is a translucent material. As shown in FIG. 6, the light guide 20 is disposed so as to face the surface 131 of the light guide plate 13 and not to be seen from the opening 22 a of the facing plate 22 in the display direction D. For this reason, when the driver looks at the combination meter 1, only the light guide plate 13 is visible through the opening 22 a of the facing plate 22, and the light guide 20 is not visible. As shown in FIG. 6, a light emitting diode 21 that is a light source is disposed at the end of the light guide plate 20 on the side opposite to the facing plate 22 so that light emitted from the light emitting diode 21 can enter the light guide 20. The light emitting diode 21 is mounted on the circuit board 10.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the light guide 20 is provided with a fog lamp indicator 16 which is a display image. The fog lamp indicator 16 is lit and displayed while a fog lamp (not shown) provided in the vehicle is lit, thereby allowing the driver to recognize that the fog lamp is lit. In the combination meter 1 according to the second embodiment of the present invention, the fog lamp indicator 16 has a light shielding layer 19 on the surface of the light guide 20 on the light guide plate 13 side, on the background portion of the figure indicated by reference numeral 16i in FIG. It is formed by painting or printing. Thereby, when the light emitting diode 21 is turned on, the light emitted from the light emitting diode 21 travels through the light guide 20 and is emitted from the fog lamp indicator 16. That is, the figure indicated by reference numeral 19i in FIG. This light is incident on the light guide plate 13, reflected there, and travels in the display direction D as shown in FIG. Accordingly, the driver visually recognizes the virtual image 16 i of the fog lamp indicator 16 on the ambient display unit 12. In the combination meter 1 according to the second embodiment of the present invention, as a display image, in addition to the fog lamp indicator 16 described above, as shown in FIG. 5, a turn signal indicator 17 (virtual image 17i), a battery voltage warning 18 (virtual image). 18i) is provided. The turn signal indicator 17 blinks in synchronization with a turn signal lamp (not shown) provided in the vehicle when the blinking operation is in progress. The battery voltage warning 18 is turned on when the voltage of a battery (not shown) included in the automobile is equal to or lower than a predetermined value. Each of the turn signal indicator 17 and the battery voltage warning 18 includes a light emitting diode (not shown) for causing light emission display, and can be displayed or not displayed independently.

  Next, the characteristic effect of the combination meter 1 according to the second embodiment of the present invention is the operational effect of the light guide plate 3 provided with the transflective layer 7 on the front surface 131 and the reflective layer 6 on the back surface 132, that is, The appearance of the decorative line 14 provided on the light guide plate 13 and the effect of the display structure such as the fog lamp indicator 16 will be described.

  First, how the decorative line 14 provided on the light guide plate 13 looks will be described. The light with the decoration line 14 emitted from the light emitting diode 15 and traveling through the light guide plate 13 eventually irradiates the decoration line 14. The irradiation light incident on the decoration line 14 is reflected by the decoration line 14. As shown in FIG. 6, the reflected light is incident on the semi-transmissive reflective layer 7, but a part of the reflected light is transmitted through the semi-transmissive reflective layer 7 and emitted to the outside of the light guide plate 13, and proceeds in the display direction D. . By visually recognizing this light, the driver visually recognizes the decoration line 14 as a real image as shown in FIG. A part of the reflected light reflected by the decoration line 14 incident on the semi-transmissive reflective layer 7 is reflected by the semi-transmissive reflective layer 7 and again travels in the light guide plate 13 as shown in FIG. Is incident on. Then, the light is reflected by the reflective layer 6, travels through the light guide plate 13, and enters the transflective layer 7. A part of this light passes through the semi-transmissive reflection layer 7 and is emitted to the outside of the light guide plate 13 and proceeds in the display direction D. The driver visually recognizes this light as a virtual image 14i1 of the decoration line 14 as shown in FIG. On the other hand, a part of the light incident on the semi-transmissive reflective layer 7 is reflected by the semi-transmissive reflective layer 7 and again travels in the light guide plate 13 and enters the reflective layer 6 as shown in FIG. Thus, the reflected light from the decoration line 14 is repeatedly reflected between the semi-transmissive reflective layer 7 and the reflective layer 6 in the light guide plate 13. Each time the light enters the transflective layer 7, a part of the incident light passes through the transflective layer 7, exits the light guide plate 13, proceeds in the display direction D, and is visually recognized by the driver as a virtual image. The That is, as shown in FIG. 6, a virtual image 14i2, a virtual image 14i3, and a virtual image 14i4 are formed on the light guide plate 13, and these are visually recognized by the driver as shown in FIG. The reflected light from the decoration line 14 passes through the semi-transmissive reflection layer 7 and is emitted to the outside of the light guide plate 13. The amount of the emitted light is maximum in the case of the real image of the decoration line 14, and is a virtual image. 14i1, virtual image 14i2, virtual image 14i3, and virtual image 14i4 decrease in this order. Therefore, when the driver looks at the light guide plate 13, the real image 14 of the decoration line 14 appears brightest, and the virtual image 14i1, the virtual image 14i2, the virtual image 14i3, and the virtual image 14i4 appear darker in this order.

  By the way, the light guide plate 13 is formed so that its thickness gradually decreases from the circuit board 10 side toward the turn-back plate 22 side, as shown in FIG. On the other hand, the decoration line 14 is arranged so that the longitudinal direction thereof is orthogonal to the thickness change direction of the light guide plate 13. That is, the longitudinal direction of the decoration line 14 is substantially coincident with the thickness change direction of the light guide plate 13. As a result, the decoration line 14 and the plurality of virtual images 14i1, 14i2, 14i3, 14i4 are separated from the real image without being equal to each other, and the interval between the adjacent real images and virtual images and the interval between the adjacent virtual images are not equal. It is getting smaller. Further, the brightness of each of the real image 14, the virtual image 14i1, the virtual image 14i2, the virtual image 14i3, and the virtual image 14i4 is darker in the order of real image 4 → virtual image 14i1 → virtual image 14i2 → virtual image 14i3 → virtual image 14i4.

  Therefore, the decoration line 14 provided on the light guide plate 13 shows a plurality of virtual images 14 i 1 to 14 i 4 along with the real image 14 in addition to the real image 4. In addition, the luminance of the real image 4 and the virtual images 14i1 to 14i4 is the brightest in the real image 14, and becomes darker as the distance from the real image 14 increases in the zero virtual images 14i1 to 14i4. Further, the interval between the real image 4 and the virtual images 14 i 1 to 14 i 4 arranged substantially in parallel gradually decreases as the distance from the real image 14 increases. As described above, the three-dimensional effect of the decoration line 14 is emphasized, so that the appearance of the ambient display unit 12 can be enriched with the three-dimensional effect. The display color of the real image 14 and the virtual images 14i1 to 14i4 is switched by using a light emitting diode 15 having a plurality of types of light emitting colors or using a plurality of light emitting diodes having different light emitting colors as the light emitting diode 15. Ambient display.

  Next, the effect of the display structure such as the fog lamp indicator 16 will be described. The fog lamp indicator 16 in the combination meter 1 according to the second embodiment of the present invention irradiates the light guide plate 13 of the ambient display unit 12 with the display light in the shape of the fog lamp indicator 16 from the light guide 20, where the display direction D The virtual image 16i is formed on the light guide plate 13 to be visually recognized. Therefore, it is not necessary to provide a member for displaying the fog lamp indicator 16 behind the light guide plate 13 itself. Accordingly, it becomes possible to easily display the fog lamp indicator 16 different from the decorative line 14 which is an ambient display image on the light guide plate 13 at the same time without taking a complicated and large structure. Can be made more innovative. In addition, the display space on the light guide plate 13 can be effectively utilized.

(Third embodiment)
The third embodiment of the present invention shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 is a digital speed equipped with a liquid crystal display 24 as shown in FIG. 7 adjacent to the ambient display section 12 in the second embodiment described above. A meter 23 is arranged.

  Below, the structure of the combination meter 1 by 3rd embodiment of this invention is demonstrated. In the third embodiment, the configuration of the ambient display unit 12 and the effect on the appearance thereof are exactly the same as those in the second embodiment, and thus the description thereof is omitted. The configuration of the digital speedometer 23 and the digital speed The positional relationship between the meter 23 and the ambient display unit 12 will be described.

  In the digital speedometer 23, as shown in FIG. 7, a liquid crystal display 24, which is a display member that displays a number indicating a vehicle speed, includes an image display unit 24a in which a large number of pixels are arranged vertically and horizontally, and an image display unit. The electrode portion 24b is provided on the outer periphery of the 24a and is provided with a conductive member for energizing each pixel. As shown in FIG. 8, a light source for transmitting and illuminating the image display unit 24a, for example, a light emitting diode 25 is disposed behind the liquid crystal display 24. The light emitting diode 25 is mounted on the circuit board 10. The liquid crystal display 24 and the circuit board 10 are accommodated and held in the case 26 as shown in FIG.

  A part of the light guide plate 13, which is a main component of the ambient display 12, is arranged so as to overlap a part of the liquid crystal display 24 in the display direction D. Specifically, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the light guide plate 13 is disposed so as to cover the front side (driver side) of the liquid crystal display 24 in the display direction D and the electrode portion 24 b of the liquid crystal display 24. Has been. Further, on the front side of the liquid crystal display 24 and the light guide plate 13, a facing plate 22 is disposed as shown in FIG. As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the facing plate 22 is arranged so as to cover the electrode portion 24 b of the liquid crystal display 24.

  With the configuration described above, the electrode portion 24b of the liquid crystal display 24 is not visually recognized, and the ambient display portion 12 is immediately visible adjacent to the image display portion 24a of the liquid crystal display 24. As a result, the appearance of the ambient display unit 12 can be enhanced with a stereoscopic effect, and at the same time, the appearance of the digital speedometer 23 can also be enhanced with a stereoscopic effect due to its synergistic effect.

1 Combination meter (Vehicle display device)
2 Indicator instrument 3 Light guide plate 31 Front surface 32 Back surface 4 Scale (display design part)
4i, 4i1, 14i2, 14i3 Virtual image 5 Light emitting diode (light source)
6 Reflective layer 7 Semi-transmissive reflective layer 8 Pointer 9 Movement 91 Shaft 10 Circuit board 11 Case 12 Ambient display part 13 Light guide plate 131 Surface 132 Back face 14 Decoration line (display design part)
14i1, 114i2, 114i3, 14i4 Virtual image 15 Light emitting diode (light source)
16 Fog light indicator (display image)
16i virtual image 17 turn signal indicator (display image)
17i virtual image 18 battery voltage warning (display image)
18i virtual image 19 light shielding layer 20 light guide 21 light emitting diode 22 turn-back plate 22a opening 23 digital speedometer 24 liquid crystal display 24a image display unit 24b electrode unit 25 light emitting diode 26 case D display direction t1, t2 plate thickness

Claims (8)

A light guide plate formed of a translucent material and disposed with the thickness direction as the display direction;
A display design portion formed on the back surface of the light guide plate;
A light source disposed so that light enters the light guide plate,
A display device for a vehicle that emits and displays the display design portion by irradiating the display design portion with light emitted from the light source and traveling in the light guide plate,
A vehicle display device, wherein a reflective layer is provided in a region including the display design portion in the back surface , and a transflective layer is provided in a region including the display design portion in the surface of the light guide plate. . Comprising display image light forming means for emitting display image light which is light constituting the display image;
2. The vehicular display device according to claim 1, wherein the display image light forming unit irradiates the surface of the light guide plate with the display image light to form a virtual image of the display image on the surface.   The vehicle display device according to claim 2, wherein the display image is an indicator or a warning for instructing an operating state of a device included in the vehicle so as to be visible.   The vehicle display device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein a thickness of the light guide plate changes at least in a region including the display design portion.   The vehicle display device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein at least one of the back surface and the front surface of the light guide plate is formed in a curved shape.   The vehicle display device according to claim 1, wherein the display design portion is at least one of a scale of a pointer instrument and a numeral. With a liquid crystal display
7. The light guide plate according to claim 1, wherein the light guide plate is disposed in front of the liquid crystal display in the display direction and partially overlaps the liquid crystal display in the display direction. The display apparatus for vehicles as described in one.   The vehicular display device according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein a light emission color of the light source can be switched.

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