JPH0355211Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] This invention relates to improvement of an indicator device, particularly an indicator device in which a plurality of light emitting elements are arranged in a row and a diffusing lens is placed over each light emitting element. It is.

[Prior Art] Indicators are used in various types of equipment, such as audio equipment or air conditioning equipment, to indicate the operating status of the equipment.Generally, the indicators include a light-emitting element provided near a switch operation part, etc.
This blinking allows the operator to recognize the operating status of the device.

For example, modern vehicles are equipped with various switches to change the mode or temperature of various on-board devices, especially the air conditioner in the vehicle interior, and even during driving operations, various on-board switches are installed. Indicator devices are widely used to easily inform drivers of the control status of equipment.

Generally, in an indicator device, in order to enlarge the small light emitting area of a light emitting element, such as an LED (light emitting diode), and make it easier to see, a lens is placed overlapping the light emitting element to diffuse the light.

In addition, since the indicator device has multiple light emitting elements arranged in a row, in order to accurately check the light emitting display of the indicator device, it is necessary to prevent light from leaking to the adjacent light emitting display section. The structure of the housing and the light emitting element holder of the indicator device is such that it can prevent light from leaking to an adjacent light emitting display section.

FIG. 3 shows an exploded structure of such a conventional indicator device, in which a plurality of LEDs 10 used as light emitting elements are mounted in an LED holder 1.
2 are each held by a pair of holding claws 14 integrally formed with each other.

An indicator lens 16 that diffuses the light of the LED superimposed on each LED 10 is connected to each LED 10.
It is held by a lens holding claw 20 integrally formed on the housing 18 at a position facing the light emitting surface of the lens 10 .

Further, the housing 18 is integrally formed with a light shielding plate 22 for shielding light from the LED 10 from leaking to other adjacent indicator lenses and obscuring the light emission display position of the indicator.

[Problems to be solved by the invention] According to the structure of the conventional indicator device described above,
To form the indicator device, as shown in FIG.
6 is fitted into the lens holding claw 20.

Next, attach the LED 10 to the holding claw 1 of the LED holder 12.
4 in the direction of arrow 102 to fit the flange 28 provided on the LED 10 into the holding claw 14.

Then, the housing 18 and the LED holder 12
and from the directions of arrows 104 and 106, respectively, so that the state shown in FIG. 5 is obtained.

Therefore, the number of steps is large, and the housing 18 must be provided with both the lens holding claw 20 and the light shielding plate 22, making its shape complicated. Furthermore, there was a problem in that the indicator lenses 16 had to be attached one by one, which involved complicated work.

The present invention was devised in view of the above-mentioned problems, and its purpose is to provide an indicator device whose members can be easily formed and which can be assembled reliably with a reduced number of steps.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, the indicator device according to the present invention includes a light emitting element holder that holds a plurality of light emitting elements in an aligned state, and a light emitting element holder that holds the light emitting elements on the inner surface thereof. A pair of elastic flappers having a holding portion and opening toward the distal end and being inclined are provided at the positions of the respective light emitting elements, and the elastic flappers press the indicator lens to the housing, and each adjacent light emitting element Further, the indicator lens is formed between a plurality of lens parts arranged at predetermined positions and a lens part formed between each of these lens parts to prevent light leakage to an adjacent lens part. a connecting part with cutouts provided on the front and back surfaces for
It is characterized by a lens array that is integrally formed.

[Function] By configuring as described above, there is no need to form a light shielding plate or a lens holding claw on the indicator housing, and the structure can be easily formed. By forming a lens array in which the and the connecting parts between each lens part are integrally formed, there is no need to push and install the indicator lenses one by one, which reduces the number of man-hours for assembling the indicator device and reduces the work time. Facilitation can be achieved.

[Embodiment] FIG. 1 shows an exploded overall configuration of a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and elements similar to those of the conventional device shown in FIG. 3 are given the same reference numerals.

Each LED 10 is held by a holding claw 32 provided on the inner surface of a pair of elastic flappers 30 formed at a predetermined position on the LED holder 12 (for convenience of explanation, only one LED (not shown).

A pair of flappers 30 are formed in a bent thin plate shape, and are arranged vertically to the LED holder 1 in a direction perpendicular to the drawing.
2, and has an opening angle in the direction away from the LED holder 12.

In this embodiment, the indicator lens, which is superimposed on the light emitting surface of each LED 10 in order to diffuse the light emitted from the LED, has a lens array that is integrally formed with a plurality of lens parts 34 and a connecting part 36 that connects each lens part. 38 is used.

The lens array 38 is made of a transparent material such as acrylic acid resin, and each connecting portion 36 is provided with a plurality of V-shaped grooves 40 on the front and back surfaces to reflect stray light. This prevents light from entering the lens section.

A housing 42 that covers the LED holder 12 and the lens array 38 is a surface part of the indicator device, and a display surface 44 is decorated with a decorative pattern.
An opening 46 into which the tip of the lens portion 34 fits is provided on the inner surface. That is, the lens section 3
The light of the LED 10 diffused by the opening 4
Light is emitted from 6 and a light emitting display is performed on the display section.

The assembly of the indicator device according to this example is as follows:
First, each LED 10 is pushed into a pair of elastic flappers 30 from the direction of arrow 108. Fratupa 3
0 has elasticity, so when the LED 10 is pushed in, it is pushed open and the holding claw portion 32 is caught on the flange 28 of the LED 10. As a result, each LED 10
It is fixed in a predetermined position, and then its terminals are soldered and fixed to a printed circuit board (not shown).

Next, the lens array 38 is placed on the LED holder 12.
is positioned and mounted, and furthermore, the housing 42 is covered at a predetermined position from above. LED holder 12
The housing 42 and the housing 42 are each provided with a fitting claw (not shown), and the two are fitted together.

By this fitting, the head of the lens part 34 of the lens array 38 is attached to the housing 4 as shown in FIG.
fitted into and positioned in each opening 46 of 2;
The entire lens array 38 is also fixed.

Since the flapper 30 presses the lens array 38 against the housing 42 with its elasticity, there is no possibility that the lens array 38 will be displaced.

Furthermore, the pair of flappers 30 have their tips in close contact with the lens array and have the same width as the LED holder 12, so that they completely block the light from each LED 10, and the lens part 30 of the adjacent LED Prevents light leakage.

Although a lens array in which a plurality of lens parts are integrally formed is used as the indicator lens in this embodiment, the present invention is not limited to this, and even when a plurality of indicator lenses are used, each indicator lens The present invention can be utilized by positioning and mounting on the flapper 30.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the present invention, the light emitting element can be fixedly held, the light can be blocked, and the indicator lens can be pressed by the elastic flap provided on the light emitting element holder.

As a result, the housing of the indicator can be formed into a shape that is easy to form without the need to provide holding claws and light shielding plates on the inner surface, and the work of fixing and holding the indicator lens in advance becomes unnecessary.

Furthermore, by using a lens array, there is no need to individually mount indicator lenses, and it is possible to reduce the number of man-hours and the number of jigs.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is an exploded sectional view of the overall configuration of a preferred embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a partially enlarged sectional view of the assembled embodiment, and FIG. 3 is an exploded sectional view showing the configuration of a conventional device. Figure 4 is a diagram showing the assembly process of the conventional device.
FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing the assembled state of the conventional device. 10...LED, 12...LED holder, 30...
...Flapper, 32... Holding claw part, 34... Lens part, 36... Connection part, 38... Lens array, 4
0... Cut groove, 42... Housing.

Claims (1)

[Claims for Utility Model Registration] (1) A plurality of light emitting elements that perform a display function in accordance with the control state of the device are held in a light emitting element holder in a predetermined alignment state, In an indicator device in which a housing for positioning an indicator lens provided for diffusing light from each light emitting element is fitted into the light emitting element holder, the light emitting element holder includes a housing for holding a light emitting element on an inner surface thereof. A pair of elastic flappers having a holding portion and opening toward the tip and being inclined are provided at the positions where each of the light emitting elements is disposed, and the elastic flapper blocks light between adjacent light emitting elements, and the tip thereof An indicator device characterized in that an indicator lens is crimped onto a housing. (2) In the indicator device according to claim 1 of the utility model registration claim, the indicator lens includes a plurality of lens parts arranged at predetermined positions, and a lens part formed between each of these lens parts to emit light to an adjacent lens part. A connecting part with cutouts on the front and back sides to prevent intrusion;
An indicator device characterized by having a lens array integrally formed with.