JP7226245B2 - vehicle instrument - Google Patents

Description

The present disclosure relates to a vehicle instrument housing.

A housing for a vehicle instrument has a structure that sandwiches the outer edge of the display in order to expose the surface of the display so that it can be visually recognized from the outside. In such a vehicle meter, when the moisture adhering to the surface of the display reaches the outer edge, the moisture enters the interior of the housing through a gap formed between the display and the housing.

Patent Literature 1 below discloses that a groove is provided in the outer edge of the display to allow moisture that has entered through the gap to flow out, so that moisture that has entered from the outer edge reaches a circuit board or the like positioned behind the display. Techniques for suppression are described.

JP 2018-194403 A

However, as a result of a detailed study by the inventor, it was found that in the prior art described in Patent Document 1, since grooves with a uniform depth are merely formed, the water content introduced into the grooves may vary depending on the mounting angle of the instrument. However, it has been found that there is a problem that it is not discharged from the housing and accumulates in the groove.

One aspect of the present disclosure is to provide a vehicular instrument capable of obtaining good drainage performance against moisture that enters the housing from the outer edge along the surface of the display regardless of the mounting angle.

One aspect of the present disclosure is a vehicle instrument comprising a display (2), a plate (4) and a housing (7). The display displays information measured by the vehicle. The plate covers the display surface of the display, and at least a portion of the portion facing the display surface has translucency. The housing accommodates the display and the plate, and has an opening on the front side for exposing at least the translucent portion of the plate. Further, the housing is provided with a drainage groove (83) along the lower edge of the housing when mounted on a vehicle. The drain has one or more outlets (831) that open on the rear side of the housing, and slopes (832, 833) that are inclined toward the outlet and guide the liquid running along the drain to the outlet. It is formed.

According to such a configuration, the liquid that enters the housing is collected in the drainage groove, and the liquid collected in the drainage groove is guided to the discharge port by the slope. Even if liquid enters the housing, the liquid can be efficiently discharged to the outside of the housing, and the liquid can be prevented from remaining in the housing.

1 is a front view of a vehicle instrument; FIG. 1 is a front view of a vehicle instrument with a front cover and a decoration plate removed; FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of area III in FIG. 2; FIG. FIG. 4 is a sectional view along IV-IV in FIG. 3; It is the perspective view which looked at the vehicle instrument from the back side with the rear cover removed. FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line VI-VI in FIG. 1;

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings.
[1. overall structure]
The vehicle instrument 1 shown in FIG. 1 is mounted in front of the driver's seat on the dashboard of the vehicle, and displays an image to the driver that indicates the measured amount of the vehicle, such as vehicle speed, engine speed, and remaining fuel. It is a device.

The display screen of the vehicle instrument 1 includes an image display area 1a and an icon display area 1b. The display screen of the vehicle instrument 1 has a substantially oblong trapezoidal shape with the upper side longer than the lower side. Hereinafter, the longitudinal direction of the display screen will be referred to as the lateral direction, and the lateral direction will be referred to as the vertical direction. The side shown in FIG. 1 is called the front side, and the opposite side is called the back side.

The image display area 1a is set near the center of the display screen of the vehicle instrument 1 in the horizontal direction. The image display area 1a is an area in which an arbitrary image is displayed using a plurality of two-dimensionally arranged pixels. For example, a speedometer, tachometer, odometer, etc. are displayed in the image display area 1a. These measured quantities may be specifically displayed by numbers or characters, or may be displayed analogously by bar graphs or pointer images.

The icon display area 1b is an area where icons are displayed by turning on and off the lamp. The icon display areas 1b are set on both lateral sides of the image display area 1a. The icon display area 1b displays various icons used as a direction indicating lamp, a shift lever position indicating lamp, a fuel gauge, a remaining fuel warning lamp, and the like.

The images displayed in the image display area 1a and the icon display area 1b are not limited to these. For example, the image displayed in the image display area 1a may be displayed in the icon display area 1b, or conversely, the image displayed in the icon display area 1b may be displayed in the image display area 1a.

The vehicle instrument 1 includes a display 2, a lamp group 3, a plate 4, a decoration plate 5, a circuit board 6, and a housing 7, as shown in FIGS.
The housing 7 includes a case body 8, a front cover 9, and a rear cover 10, all of which are made of a light-shielding resin material.

The case main body 8 is a plate-like member, and has a storage portion 81 for storing the indicator 2 and a plurality of recesses 82 for storing the lamp group 3 on the front side, and the circuit board 6 is attached on the back side. A storage portion 81 is formed in the image display area 1a, and a plurality of concave portions 82 are formed in the icon display area 1b.

The front cover 9 is a frame-shaped member attached to the front side of the case body 8 by a known technique such as adhesion, fitting, or screwing. The front cover 9 sandwiches the plate 4 and the decoration plate 5 together with the case body 8 so as to be held on the front side of the case body 8 .

The rear cover 10 is a bottomed cylindrical member attached to the back side of the case body 8 by a known technique such as adhesion, fitting, or screwing. The rear cover 10 forms a space for housing the circuit board 6 together with the case body 8 .

Details of the housing 7 will be described later.
The display device 2 is configured using, for example, a liquid crystal display (hereinafter referred to as LCD) or an organic EL display, and has a rectangular outer shape. The display device 2 is housed in the housing portion 81 and arranged so as to cover the entire image display area 1a.

The lamp group 3 includes a plurality of light emitting elements such as light emitting diodes. Each light emitting element belonging to the lamp group 3 is arranged in each of the recesses 82 .
The plate 4 is a sheet-like member made of a translucent material, and is attached to the case main body 8 so as to entirely cover the display surface of the display 2 housed in the housing portion 81 .

The decoration plate 5 is a sheet-like member made of a translucent material and has a size that covers the entire front surface of the case body 8 . The decoration plate 5 has an opening 51 in the vicinity of its central portion, and when assembled to the case main body 8, the portion of the display surface of the display 2 that is used as the image display area 1a extends from the opening 51. expose. When the decoration plate 5 is assembled to the case main body 8, an indicator icon is printed using translucent ink on each of the portions facing the recessed portions 82 in which the lamp group 3 is arranged. Furthermore, the decoration plate 5 forms a light shielding layer that shields light by printing light shielding ink on a portion other than the portion where the icon is printed.

That is, the opening 51 of the decoration plate 5 is provided to allow the display surface of the display 2 to be viewed from the outside through the plate 4 . The decoration plate 5 is provided to cover areas other than the opening 51 and to display an indicator icon printed at a position facing the light emitting element when the light emitting element belonging to the lamp group 3 is turned on. be done. The decoration plate 5 may be assembled integrally with the front cover 9 by a known technique such as adhesion, fitting, or screwing.

The circuit board 6 is arranged on the back side of the case body 8 and electrically connected to the indicator 2 and the lamp group 3 . The circuit board 6 is a printed board having a wiring pattern and a ground pattern formed on its surface, and may be mounted with a control circuit for controlling the display operations of the indicator 2 and the lamp group 3, for example. The control circuit need not be directly mounted on the circuit board 6 as long as it is electrically connected to the circuit board 6 . The circuit board 6 and the display device 2 may be electrically connected by a flexible printed circuit (hereinafter referred to as FPC).

[2. Case details]
The case body 8 has a trapezoidal outer shape. The case main body 8 further includes a drainage groove 83 in addition to the storage portion 81 and the plurality of recesses 82 described above.

The display unit 2 is housed in the housing part 81, and light-emitting elements belonging to the lamp group 3 are arranged in the plurality of recesses 82, respectively.
The drainage groove 83 is formed along the lower edge of the case main body 8 located below the image display area 1a and the icon display area 1b, at least below the portion where the plate 4 is arranged.

The drainage groove 83 has an outer peripheral wall that forms the lower end of the case body 8 and an opposing wall that faces the outer peripheral wall with a gap therebetween and also serves as the wall surface of the storage portion 81 . It has a bottom wall on the side. A bottom wall of the drainage groove 83 is provided with a plurality of discharge ports 831 , and the discharge ports 831 open toward the rear surface of the case main body 8 .

The bottom wall of drain 83 has slope 832 sloping to direct moisture to outlet 831 . The width of the discharge port 831 in the vertical direction is formed to be smaller than the opening width of the drainage groove 83, and the opposing wall positioned above the drainage groove 83 also has a slope 833 inclined from the opening end of the drainage groove 83 toward the discharge port 831. have

The front cover 9 is a frame-shaped member having the same outer shape as the outer periphery of the case body 8 . When the front cover 9 is assembled to the case body 8, as shown in FIG. Together, the plate 4 and the decoration plate 5 are sandwiched.

The plate 4 is arranged so that the lower edge of the plate 4 protrudes into the opening of the drain groove 83 when assembled to the housing 7 . Moreover, the decoration plate 5 has a portion where the lower end portion of the decoration plate 5 is bent toward the rear surface in a state where the decoration plate 5 is assembled to the housing 7 . This bent portion is positioned so as to cover the joint portion between the front cover 9 and the lower end wall of the case body 8 forming the drainage groove 83 from the inside of the housing 7 .

The rear cover 10 is attached to the case body 8 so as to cover the entire rear surface of the case body 8 above the discharge port 831 and expose the discharge port 831 to the rear surface of the housing 7 .

[3. action]
The vehicle instrument 1 is attached to the vehicle in a state in which the image display surface located in front of the housing 7 is substantially vertical, or in a state in which the upper end of the image display surface is tilted toward the rear side as shown in FIG. .

Moisture condensed on the surface of the plate 4 and liquid spilled on the plate 4 (hereafter referred to as liquid) travels along the surface of the plate 4 and reaches the portion where the plate 4 and the decoration plate 5 are overlapped. to enter the housing 7. Since the lower edge of the plate 4 reaches the opening of the drainage groove 83 , the liquid that has entered the housing 7 along the plate 4 is guided to the drainage groove 83 .

Also, the liquid running along the surface of the decoration plate 5 enters the housing 7 through the contact portion between the front cover 9 and the decoration plate 5 . Since the front cover 9 is formed so as to cover the drainage groove 83 , the liquid entering through this contact portion is also guided to the drainage groove 83 .

The moisture guided to the drainage groove 83 is collected at the discharge port 831 by the slopes 832 and 833 formed in the drainage groove 83 and discharged out of the housing 7 from the rear side of the housing 7 .
[4. effect]
According to the embodiment detailed above, the following effects are obtained.

(4a) In the vehicle instrument 1, a drainage groove 83 is formed along the lower edge of the housing 7, and the liquid that enters the housing 7 through the gap between the plate 4 and the decoration plate 5 is collected in the drainage groove 83. . Furthermore, slopes 832 and 833 are formed in the drainage groove 83 to guide the liquid in the drainage groove 83 to the discharge port 831 . Therefore, according to the vehicle meter 1 , even if liquid enters the housing 7 , the liquid can be efficiently discharged to the outside of the housing 7 , and the liquid can be prevented from remaining in the housing 7 . Moreover, the slopes 832 and 833 provided in the drainage groove 83 can guide the liquid in the drainage groove 83 to the discharge port 831 regardless of the installation angle of the vehicle instrument 1 .

(4b) Since the outlet 831 is provided in a limited manner in the vehicle meter 1, entry of foreign matter such as insects through the outlet 831 can be suppressed.
[5. Other embodiments]
Although the embodiments of the present disclosure have been described above, the present disclosure is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made.

(5a) In the above embodiment, the drainage groove 83 is provided at the lower end of the housing 7, but the present disclosure is not limited to this. If the housing 7 has a gap through which moisture may enter, a drainage groove 83 may be provided in the vicinity of the gap.

(5b) A plurality of functions possessed by one component in the above embodiment may be realized by a plurality of components, or a function possessed by one component may be realized by a plurality of components. . Also, a plurality of functions possessed by a plurality of components may be realized by a single component, or a function realized by a plurality of components may be realized by a single component. Also, part of the configuration of the above embodiment may be omitted. Moreover, at least part of the configuration of the above embodiment may be added or replaced with respect to the configuration of the other above embodiment.

(5c) In addition to the vehicle instrument 1 described above, the present disclosure can also be implemented in various forms such as a system having the vehicle instrument 1 as a component.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Vehicle instrument, 1a... Image display area, 1b... Icon display area, 2... Indicator, 3... Lamp group, 4... Plate, 5... Decoration plate, 6... Circuit board, 7... Housing, 8... Case Main body 9 Front cover 10 Rear cover 51 Opening 81 Storage portion 82 Recess 83 Drainage groove 831 Discharge port 832, 833 Slope.

Claims (4)

a display (2) on which information measured by the vehicle is displayed;
a plate (4) that covers the display surface of the display and has translucency at least part of a portion facing the display surface;
a housing (7) containing the display and the plate and having an opening on the front side for exposing at least the translucent portion of the plate;
with
The housing includes a case body (8) having a storage portion for storing the display, and a front cover (9) attached to the front side of the case body with at least part of the display exposed to the outside. ), wherein the housing is provided with a drainage groove (83) along an edge located at the lower end of the housing when mounted on the vehicle;
The drainage groove is provided below the storage portion in the case body, opens to the front side of the housing, and is formed to have a bottom wall on the back side of the housing,
The bottom wall has one or more discharge ports (831) that open to the back surface of the case body , and slopes (832, 833) that are inclined toward the discharge port and guide the liquid flowing through the discharge grooves to the discharge port. ) was formed,
Vehicle instrument. a display (2) on which information measured by the vehicle is displayed;
a plate (4) that covers the display surface of the display and has translucency at least part of a portion facing the display surface;
a housing (7) containing the display and the plate and having an opening on the front side for exposing at least the translucent portion of the plate;
with
The housing includes a case body (8) having a storage portion for storing the display, and a front cover (9) attached to the front side of the case body with at least part of the display exposed to the outside. ), wherein the housing is provided with a drainage groove (83) along an edge located at the lower end of the housing when mounted on the vehicle;
The drainage groove is provided below the storage part in the case body, and the drainage groove has one or more outlets (831) that open on the back side of the housing, and slopes (832, 833) are formed to guide the liquid flowing along the drain to the outlet ,
The plate is arranged with a lower edge of the plate protruding into the opening of the drainage groove,
The front cover is configured to block the opening of the drainage groove and sandwich the plate together with the case body at a boundary portion between the drainage groove and the storage portion in the case body.
Vehicle instrument. A vehicle instrument according to claim 2 , wherein
The drainage groove is formed so as to open on the front side of the housing and have a bottom wall on the back side of the housing,
The slope is formed at least on the bottom wall. Vehicle instrument. A vehicle instrument according to any one of claims 1 to 3 ,
Further comprising a decoration plate (5) covering at least a portion other than the display on the front side of the case body,
A vehicle instrument, wherein the front cover sandwiches the decoration plate in addition to the plate together with the case body.

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