JP7245436B2 - Display device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a display device mounted on a vehicle or the like.

2. Description of the Related Art A vehicle such as an automobile is equipped with a display device for displaying information necessary for driving, such as a speedometer and an engine tachometer. Such a display device has a dial plate having a design of scales, numerals, characters, symbols, etc. formed in the shape of cutout characters. The dial transmits light from a light source provided on the back side to display a design or illuminate it to make it stand out.

A display device has a required light shielding structure on a dial and its surrounding members so that light does not leak from areas other than the design.

JP 2014-25865 A

If the design is provided in the vicinity of the end face, which is a surface along the thickness direction of the dial, it is necessary to guide the light from the light source to the vicinity of the end face either directly or by using a light guide or the like. In this case, it is necessary to cover the end surface of the light guide with a light shielding member so that the light diffused inside the light guide does not leak from the end surface. However, due to the design of the display device, it may be difficult to secure a space for arranging the light shielding member, and a light shielding member with a high degree of freedom in design has been desired.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a display device capable of suitably shielding the end face of a light guide from light.

A display device according to the present invention includes a light source that emits light, a first dial that is provided on the front side of the light source and displays a design by transmitting the light, and is arranged on the back side of the first dial, a light guide that guides the light to the first dial; a light shielding member that covers an end surface of the light guide along the direction from the front to the back; and a second dial plate, wherein the light guide and the light shielding member are integrally molded products in which the light shielding member is in close contact with the end face , and the second dial plate is the light guide of the second dial plate. The area facing the body has a reflective layer with a higher reflectance than other areas.

In the display device according to the present invention, the end face of the light guide can be suitably shielded from light.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The front view which shows the display apparatus which is embodiment of the display apparatus which concerns on this invention. Sectional drawing which follows the II-II line of FIG. Sectional drawing which follows the III-III line of FIG. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing the positional relationship between the display panel and the light guide; FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a light guide and a light shielding member; FIG. 3 is an enlarged view for explaining the display screen dial, the speedometer dial, and the light guide shown in FIG. 2;

An embodiment of a display device according to the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. The display device according to the present invention is mounted, for example, on vehicles such as automobiles and motorcycles, ships, agricultural machinery, and construction machinery. In this embodiment, an example in which the display device according to the present invention is a display device for automobiles having a speedometer and a display screen will be described.

FIG. 1 is a front view showing a display device 1 which is an embodiment of a display device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line II--II of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line III--III in FIG.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing the positional relationship between the display panel 12 and the light guide 15. As shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the light guide 15 and the light blocking member 16. FIG.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged view for explaining the display screen dial 13, the speedometer dial 14, and the light guide 15 in FIG.

In the following description, the "front side" means the front side in FIG. 1 and the upper side in FIGS. 2 and 3, which is viewed by a viewer (driver). "Rear side" means the back side in FIG. 1 and the bottom side in FIGS.

The display device 1 has a speedometer 2 and a display screen 3 . The speedometer 2 is a pointer-type (mechanical) instrument that displays the speed of the vehicle. The display screen 3 is, for example, a liquid crystal display screen, and displays various information such as travel distance, remaining amount of gasoline, and navigation information. The speedometer 2 points to a speedometer dial 14 provided on the front side of the display screen 3 . Also, part of the speedometer 2 is superimposed on the front side of the display screen 3 .

The display device 1 includes a pointer 11, a display panel 12, a display screen dial 13, a speedometer dial 14, a light guide 15, a light shielding member 16, a circuit board 17, a case 18, mainly have

The pointer 11 is connected to a pointer shaft of a pointer drive section provided on a circuit board 17 and rotates on a plane parallel to the plane of the speedometer dial 14 . The pointer 11 indicates the scale (design 35) formed on the speedometer dial plate 14 corresponding to the speed of the vehicle.

The display panel 12 is provided behind the display screen dial 13 and displays information. The display panel 12 has a pair of surface glass substrates enclosing a liquid crystal layer. Transparent electrodes are formed on the pair of glass substrates using ITO (Indium Tin Oxide) or the like. The display panel 12 also has a pair of surface polarizing plates (polarizing filters) arranged to sandwich the pair of surface glass substrates. The display panel 12 is connected to a circuit board 17 via a flexible board such as FPC (Flexible Printed Circuits). The display panel 12 is controlled by the control section of the circuit board 17 to apply a driving voltage to the liquid crystal layer through the transparent electrodes. This controls the orientation of the liquid crystal molecules in the liquid crystal layer and switches individual pixels of the display panel 12 between a transmissive state and an opaque state. By combining such pixels, the display panel 12 displays predetermined information on the display screen 3 .

A backlight unit is provided on the back side of the display panel 12 . The backlight unit includes a light source such as an LED (Light Emitting Diode) and a light guide, and illuminates the display panel 12 from the back side. The display panel 12 is housed in a display panel case 12a (FIG. 4) together with a backlight.

The display screen dial 13 (dial 13 ) is a second dial, and is a thin plate member provided on the front side of the display panel 12 and on the back side of the light guide 15 .

The display screen dial 13 has an opening 31 and a design 32 . The opening 31 partitions the display panel 12 and exposes the display screen 3 . In other words, the display screen dial 13 exposes the display screen 3 in the display area of the display panel 12, and hides a portion of the peripheral edge of the display area and the display panel case 12a. Note that the opening 31 may be a transparent layer provided on the base material 21 .

The design 32 is, for example, a symbol indicating the state of the vehicle. The design 32 is displayed by lighting when the light from the light source irradiated from the back side of the display screen dial 13 is transmitted through the design 32 .

As shown in FIG. 6 , the display screen dial 13 has a base material 21 , a light shielding layer 22 and a reflective layer 23 .

The base material 21 is, for example, a transparent polycarbonate resin, and is a plate-like member having transparency (translucency).

The light shielding layer 22 is a printed layer formed on the front side (or the back side) of the base material 21 and printed with black light shielding ink. The light shielding layer 22 is provided at least in a visible region of the display screen dial 13, that is, in a region where the surface of the display screen dial 13 is not covered with other members. The light shielding layer 22 has a cutout character portion corresponding to the shape of the design 32 .

The reflective layer 23 is a region of the display screen dial 13 facing the light guide 15 , and is provided on the front side (or the back side) of the substrate 21 . That is, the reflective layer 23 is a region located on the back side of the speedometer dial 14 and is a region that is not visually recognized by the viewer. The reflective layer 23 is provided to reflect the light within the light guide 15 and diffuse it within the light guide 15 . The reflective layer 23 is, for example, a layer printed with high reflectance white ink, and has a higher reflectance than the base material 21 of the display screen dial 13 and the light shielding layer 22 .

The speedometer dial plate 14 (dial plate 14) is a first dial plate, and is a thin plate member provided on the front side of the light source 17a and the back side of the pointer 11, as shown in FIG. The speedometer dial 14 has an arc shape with a constant width. One end 14 a of the speedometer dial 14 in the circumferential direction (longitudinal direction) overlaps the display screen 3 . The speedometer dial 14 has a design 35 illuminated and displayed by transmitting the light from the light source 17a. Design 35 is a scale indicated by numbers, letters and hands 11 . A decorative ring 36 is arranged on the outer peripheral edge 14 b of the speedometer dial 14 . The decoration ring 36 decorates the outer peripheral edge 14b of the speedometer 2 and covers the gap between the speedometer dial 14 and the light shielding wall 41b of the middle case 41 (FIG. 2). The decoration ring 36 is not arranged on the one end 14a and the inner peripheral edge 14c of the speedometer dial 14. As shown in FIG. That is, the one end portion 14a and the inner peripheral edge 14c are exposed and are not covered with other members such as the decorative ring 36 or the like.

The light guide 15 is arranged on the back side of the speedometer dial 14 and guides the light from the light source 17 a to the speedometer dial 14 . 4 and 5, the light guide 15 is hatched.

The light shielding member 16 covers the end surfaces 15a and 15c along the thickness direction of the light guide 15 (the direction from the front surface to the back surface). The light guide 15 and the light shielding member 16 are an integrally molded product in which the light shielding member 16 is in close contact with the end surfaces 15a and 15c. The light guide 15 and the light shielding member 16 are formed by two-color molding or insert molding.

The details of the speedometer dial 14, the light guide 15, and the light shielding member 16 will be described later.

The circuit board 17 mainly has a driver and control section for the display panel 12 and the light source 17a, the light source 17a, and a pointer driving section.

The control unit has a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), etc., and executes predetermined arithmetic processing according to a program written in the ROM, for example. The control unit, for example, acquires vehicle speed, various vehicle information, and the like from an ECU (Electronic Control Unit) of the vehicle via various sensors and the like. The control unit drives and controls the speedometer 2 and the display screen 3 based on the acquired information.

The light source 17 a is an LED (Light Emitting Diode) and illuminates the speedometer dial 14 . The circuit board 17 also has a light source for the design 32 of the display screen dial 13 in addition to the light source 17a.

The case 18 has a middle case 41 , a lower case 42 and an upper case 43 .

The middle case 41 is made of synthetic resin such as white, and fixes or supports the display panel 12, the display screen dial 13, the speedometer dial 14 (the dials 13 and 14), and the circuit board 17. .

As shown in FIG. 3, the middle case 41 has a light shielding wall 41a that surrounds the light source 17a for the speedometer dial 14 and guides the light. The light shielding wall 41a is a wall that separates the illumination (light emitting) region of the light source 17a and forms a cylindrical space, and light passes through this cylindrical space. One end of the light shielding wall 41 a (the surface of the light shielding wall 41 a facing the circuit board 17 ) is in contact with the circuit board 17 , and the other end (the surface of the light shielding wall 41 a facing the speedometer dial 14 ) is connected to the light guide 15 . and the rear surface of the light shielding member 16 .

In addition, as shown in FIG. 2, the middle case 41 has a light shielding wall 41b for shielding the end face 15b on the outer peripheral side of the light guide 15 from light. The light shielding wall 41 b protrudes from the opening of the display screen dial 13 toward the front side and rises substantially perpendicularly to the dial 13 . The light shielding wall 41b also has a function of reflecting light traveling through the light guide 15. As shown in FIG.

The upper case 43 and the lower case 42 are made of, for example, a black synthetic resin or the like, and form an internal space formed by being fitted together. , speedometer dial 14 and circuit board 17 .

Next, the details of the speedometer dial 14, the light guide 15, and the light shielding member 16 will be described.

The speedometer dial 14 , the light guide 15 and the light blocking member 16 are components of the speedometer 2 . The light guide 15 and the light shielding member 16, which are integrally molded products, are arranged facing the front surface of the display screen dial plate 13. As shown in FIG. That is, the display screen dial plate 13 faces the light guide 15 and is provided on the back side of the light guide 15 . The light guide 15 and the light shielding member 16 are connected to the middle case 41 by a plurality of hooks protruding from the rear side of the light guide 15 and the light shielding member 16 toward the middle case 41 through the display screen dial plate 13 . are positioned by matching. The speedometer dial 14 is arranged on the front surface of the light guide 15 and the light shielding member 16 and on the tip surface 41c of the light shielding wall 41b (FIG. 2). The dial 14 is positioned by the shielding wall 16 b of the shielding member 16 . The dial 14 is fixed to the light guide 15 via, for example, an adhesive layer printed on the back surface of the dial 14 and then fixed by the decorative ring 36 . Although the dial 14 faces the shielding wall 16b, a certain gap is provided in the design. As a result, the one end 14a and the inner peripheral edge 14c of the dial 14 are exposed without being covered by other members.

As shown in FIG. 6 , the speedometer dial 14 has a base material 51 , a colored layer 52 and a light shielding layer 53 . The substrate 51 also has a damping layer 54 . The colored layer 52 , the light shielding layer 53 and the attenuation layer 54 are laminated on the substrate 51 . Specifically, on the front side of the base material 51, an attenuation layer 54, a colored layer 52, and a light shielding layer 53 are laminated in order from the base material 51 side. The light shielding layer 53 is provided on the attenuation layer 54 in the region where the colored layer 52 is not provided. Further, on the back side of the substrate 51, there are provided an attenuation layer 54, a colored layer 52, and a light shielding layer 53 in order from the substrate 51 side.

The base material 51 is, for example, a transparent polycarbonate resin, and is a plate-like member having transparency (translucency).

The attenuation layer 54 is a layer provided on the front and back surfaces of the substrate 51 to attenuate transmitted light or reflected light. The attenuation layer 54 is, for example, a smoke-printed layer printed with smoke-colored ink, and has a transmittance lower than that of the substrate 51 and a brightness lower than that of the colored layer 52 .

The colored layer 52 is a layer provided at least in the region where the design 35 is provided. The colored layer 52 is a layer having an arbitrary color printed with, for example, white ink. The colored layer 52 acts as the color of the design 35 when not illuminated by the light from the light source 17a. Further, the colored layer 52 functions as a filter for the color of the light from the light source 17a when illuminated by the light from the light source 17a. The colored layer 52 on the front side is provided only in the area where the design 35 is formed. On the other hand, the colored layer 52 on the back side is provided over the entire surface of the dial 14 . The coloring layer 52 on the front side mainly has a function of displaying the color of the light transmitted through the dial 14 in a desired color. The colored layer 52 on the back side has a function of making the color of the light transmitted through the colored layer 52 on the front side clearer, and a function of reflecting the light in the base material 51 and diffusing it over a wide range. there is

The light shielding layer 53 is a layer provided for shielding light from the light source 17a, printed with black light shielding ink, for example. The light shielding layer 53 has a cutout character portion corresponding to the shape of the design 35 . That is, the light shielding layer 53 blocks light in areas other than the area of the design 35 . The light shielding layer 53 on the front side is provided on the front side of the attenuation layer 54 (base material 51), but the region where the colored layer 52 is provided is provided so as to cover the peripheral edge of the colored layer 52. there is

The light guide 15 is made of, for example, transparent acrylic resin (PMMA). The light guide 15 has a light receiving portion 61 and a light guide portion 62 (FIG. 3). The light receiving portion 61 faces the light emitting surface of the light source 17a, receives the light from the light source 17a, and guides the light from the rear surface to the front surface of the display device 1 (from the light source 17a toward the dial 14). The light guide portion 62 is a plate-like member vertically bent and extending from the light receiving portion 61, and has an arc shape with a constant width. The light guide portion 62 may be provided at least on the back side of the design 35 of the dial 14 , and has substantially the same outer shape as the dial 14 in this embodiment.

The light shielding member 16 is made of, for example, a black ABS resin, and is made of a light shielding material. The light shielding member 16 covers the end surfaces 15a and 15c of the light guide 15 in order to prevent light leakage from the exposed end surfaces 15a and 15c that are not shielded by the decorative ring 36 and the light shielding wall 41b. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 5 , the light shielding member 16 is an end face 15 a in the circumferential direction (longitudinal direction) of the light guide 15 that overlaps the display screen 3 , and an inner wall of the light guide 15 . It covers the end face 15c (in the width direction) along the periphery.

From the viewpoint of thinning the light guide 15 , it is preferable that the light shielding member 16 is provided only on the end surfaces 15 a and 15 c of the light guide 15 and not provided on the back side of the light guide 15 . As a result, the light guide 15 can be made thinner, and the display screen 3 and the speedometer 2 can be brought closer together in the thickness direction. Further, in order to reflect the light in the light guide 15 by the light shielding wall 41b of the middle case 41, the end face 15b (in the width direction) along the outer peripheral edge facing the light shielding wall 41b among the end faces of the light guide 15 has: It is preferable that the light shielding member 16 is not provided.

As shown in FIG. 6, the light shielding member 16 has a shielding wall 16b protruding from the outer peripheral edge of the top portion 16a. The shielding wall 16b faces an end face 14d along the thickness direction of the dial 14 (from the front to the back). The shielding wall 16b is higher than the thickness direction height of the dial 14 when the dial 14 is arranged on the light guide 15 and the light shielding member 16 . The shielding wall 16b covers the end surface 14d of the dial 14 in the thickness direction, thereby preventing light from leaking from the base material 51 of the dial 14 through a slight gap between the dial 14 and the shielding wall 16b, and To prevent the end face 14d from being visually recognized by a viewer. In addition, it is possible to prevent light leaking from the dial 14 from unintentionally illuminating the top surface 16c of the shielding wall 16b.

In the present embodiment, the speedometer 2 (the speedometer dial 14 and the light guide 15) is partially superimposed on the front side of the display screen 3 in terms of the appearance design of the display device 1, thereby reducing the speed. The display on the total 2 and the display on the display screen 3 are made to have continuity. In this case, when the end surface of the light guide 15 overlapping the display screen 3 is covered with the decoration ring 36, the decoration ring 36 emphasizes the boundary between the speedometer 2 and the display screen 3, and the display on the speedometer 2 and the display screen 3. Continuity with the above display is lost.

On the other hand, in the display device 1 of the present embodiment, the light shielding member 16 is provided as an integrally molded product with the light guide 15, so that light can be suitably shielded without impairing the appearance of the display device 1. FIG. That is, since the light shielding member 16 is integrally molded with the light guide 15, a structure for attaching the light shielding member 16 to the light guide 15 is not required. Therefore, compared to the case where the light shielding member 16 and the light guide member 15 are separate members, they can be arranged in close contact with each other without a gap. Also, the light shielding member 16 can be made thin. As a result, the end surfaces 15a and 15c of the light guide 15 can be brought closer to the end surfaces (the one end 14a and the inner peripheral edge 14c) of the dial 14. As shown in FIG. By arranging the light guide 15 in this manner, the position of the design 35 on the dial 14 can be arranged close to the end surface of the dial 14 .

In addition, when the speedometer 2 is superimposed on the display screen 3 due to the appearance design of the display device 1 described above, the display on the speedometer 2 and the display on the display screen 3 can be made close to each other. The appearance of the display device 1 can be improved.

Furthermore, by providing the light shielding member 16, it is possible to prevent the light in the light guide 15 from leaking to the display screen 3 side. As a result, even when the speedometer 2 is superimposed on and close to the display screen 3, the visibility of the display screen is not reduced.

While several embodiments of the invention have been described, these embodiments have been presented by way of example and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These novel embodiments can be implemented in various other forms, and various omissions, replacements, and modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. These embodiments and modifications thereof are included in the scope and gist of the invention, and are included in the scope of the invention described in the claims and equivalents thereof.

Attenuating layer 54 may be omitted and the substrate itself made of a material that attenuates light, such as a smoke material, may function as the attenuating layer. Compared to the case where the damping layer 54 is separately provided on the base material 51, even if the end face of the base material is visible, the base material is less conspicuous than when it is transparent.

Although an example in which the display screen dial 13 has the reflective layer 23 has been described, the reflective layer may be omitted and the substrate 51 may face the light guide 15 . In this case, the light guide 15 faces the white middle case 41 via the base material 51 , and the middle case 41 functions as a light reflecting layer inside the light guide 15 . As a result, the light guide efficiency can be improved, and at the same time, the printing process of the reflective layer 23 of the display screen dial 13 can be reduced.

From the viewpoint of light reflection in the light guide 15 , the light shielding layer 53 on the back side of the speedometer dial 14 may be omitted, and the colored layer 52 on the back side may face the light guide 15 .

The colored layer 52 on the front side and the back side, the light shielding layer 53 on the front side and the back side, and the attenuation layer 54 on the front side and the back side may be provided on only one side if necessary. good.

The display panel 12 may be a segment type liquid crystal display panel, an organic EL (Electro-Luminescence) panel, a matrix liquid crystal display panel such as a TFT (Thin Film Transistor), or an organic EL panel.

1 display device 2 speedometer 3 display screen 11 pointer 12 display panel 12a display panel case 13 display screen dial 14 speedometer dial 15 light guide 16 light shielding member 16b shielding wall 17 circuit board 17a light source 18 case 21, 51 base material 22, 53 light shielding layer 23 reflective layer 31 opening 32, 35 design 36 decoration ring 41 middle case 41a, 41b light shielding wall 42 lower case 43 upper case 52 colored layer 54 attenuation layer 61 light receiving section 62 light guiding section

Claims (3)

a light source that emits light;
a first dial provided on the front side of the light source and displaying a design by transmitting the light;
a light guide disposed on the back side of the first dial and guiding the light to the first dial;
a light shielding member covering an end surface along the direction from the front surface to the back surface of the light guide;
a second dial provided on the back side of the first dial and the light guide,
The light guide and the light shielding member are an integrally molded product in which the light shielding member is in close contact with the end face,
The display device, wherein the second dial has a reflective layer having a higher reflectance than other areas in a region of the second dial facing the light guide. Further comprising a display panel provided on the back side of the second dial for displaying information,
The second dial has an opening that exposes the display panel and partitions the display screen,
A part of the first dial and the light guide are arranged to overlap on the front side of the display screen,
2. The display device according to claim 1 , wherein the light shielding member covers at least the end surface of the light guide overlapping the display screen. The light shielding member has a shielding wall projecting from the outer peripheral edge of the light shielding member and facing the end surface of the first dial plate along the direction from the front surface to the back surface and covering the end surface of the first dial plate in the thickness direction. Item 1. The display device according to item 1.

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