JPH04174322A - Illuminating apparatus for indicator of measuring instrument - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make the indicated position of an indicator clearly visible by forming an index on the surface of the indicator by a paint in which a fluorescent pigment is mixed, casting ultraviolet rays from the front side of the indicator, and allowing the fluorescent pigment to emit light from excitation. CONSTITUTION:An indicating part 12 is formed in the vicinity of the periphery of a character plate 11. An indicator 13 is turned over the surface of the character plate 11. An index 19 is printed on the main body of the indicator by a paint. A fluorescent pigment which emits light through excitation to the ultraviolet rays is mixed in the paint. If a measuring instrument is provided with this indicator 13, when a light source 20 is turned ON at night and the light is guided via a light guide 21 to a photoconductor of the indicator 13, the light is cast to the character plate 11 and the vicinity of the indicating part of the indicator 13 is illuminated. At the same time, the index formed on the surface of the indicator 13 emits light when the ultraviolet emitting lamp is turned ON. Accordingly, the indicated position of the indicator 13 is easily confirmed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a pointer illumination device for instruments installed in automobiles.

[Prior Art] For example, in a conventional example of reflective illumination of a general mechanical instrument installed in a car in a dark place such as at night, when a light source is turned on, the pointer and scale plate are reflected and illuminated by the illumination light. Is it possible to visually check the indicated value?In a dark place, the surface of the pointer and the entire surface of the scale plate are reflected and illuminated, so the contrast between the pointer and the scale plate, that is, the luminance of the pointer is low. Another problem was that it was difficult to immediately check detailed indicated values during operation. Therefore, in order to solve this problem, for example, the fourth
As shown in the figure, a paint 3 mixed with a fluorescent pigment that is excited and emits light when exposed to ultraviolet light is printed on the surface of an instrument pointer 2 that rotates along the surface of an instrument dial 1, and a paint 3 mixed with a fluorescent pigment that is excited and emits light when exposed to ultraviolet light is printed on the surface of the instrument pointer 2 that rotates along the surface of an instrument dial 1. We have proposed an instrument pointer in which the surface of the pointer 2 can be clearly displayed by emitting ultraviolet light by irradiating it with ultraviolet light that is excited and emitted by lighting up a light source (for example, No. 83-76248).

"I1 Problem to be Solved by the Invention" However, in the instrument pointer having such a structure, the surface of the instrument pointer is excited and emitted light by ultraviolet rays, and although the degree of luminescence display of the pointer is improved, the dial plate Since the luminance of the indicator was not improved, the luminance of the pointer was high, and furthermore, the illumination balance of the entire instrument was poor, causing problems such as difficulty in viewing.

[Means for Solving the Problems] The present invention has been made by focusing on such conventional problems, and includes printing a paint containing fluorescent pigment on the surface of the pointer, and excitation of the surface of the pointer with ultraviolet rays to cause it to emit light. At the same time, a light irradiation part is provided on the back of the pointer to irradiate the light guided by the pointer toward the dial surface, so that at night, etc., the pointer is excited with ultraviolet rays and emits light, which is emitted from the pointer. To provide an instrument pointer illumination device that is capable of illuminating a part of the dial (instruction section) with visible light, providing illumination with excellent visibility and illumination that gives a sense of luxury. be.

[Example] The present invention will be explained in detail below based on the example shown in FIGS. 1 to 3.

Reference numeral 11 denotes an instrument dial, and near the periphery of this dial 11, a display section 12 such as a scale, display characters, etc. is provided. 1
3 is a pointer that rotates along the surface of the dial 11, and this pointer 13 is rotated by the operation of a movement (not shown). As shown in FIG. 3, this pointer 13 includes a pointer main body 14 made of an opaque material, and
It has a shape that is fitted into the pointer body 14 from the lower side of the pointer body 14, and includes a support shaft section 15 attached to the pointer shaft of the movement, a light receiving and reflecting section 16, and the light reflected by the reflecting section. It consists of a transparent light guide 18 having a light guide section 17 that guides light in the longitudinal direction of the pointer and radiates it toward the dial surface.Moreover, the surface of the pointer main body 14 and the longitudinal direction of the pointer are exposed to ultraviolet rays. An indicator 19 made of paint mixed with a fluorescent pigment that emits light upon excitation is provided with a narrow width narrower than the width of the pointer body 14. The light guide 18 is fixed to the lower side of the pointer main body 14 constructed in this manner using an appropriate adhesive to form the pointer 13 as shown in FIG.

By assembling the pointer 13 configured in this way into a meter, the light source 20 can be turned on at night, and the guided light can be introduced into the light guide body 18 of the pointer 13 through the light guide 21. Light is emitted from the light guide 18 toward the dial 11 as shown in FIG. 1, and as a result, the vicinity of the pointing portion of the operating pointer on the dial 11 is brightly illuminated. At the same time, an indicator 19 provided on the surface of the pointer 13 is illuminated by lighting an ultraviolet light emitting lamp (not shown), making it easy to confirm the index position of the pointer.

In this embodiment, the surface of the pointer 13 is excited to emit light upon receiving ultraviolet light, and the indicating portion of the dial to which the pointer 13 corresponds is irradiated from the light guide 18 of the pointer 13. Since it is illuminated with visible light, the excited light emission of the pointer and the partial illumination of the dial display the pointer clearly floating, as if it were floating, and as a result, the finger position of the pointer can be clearly determined. It is possible to provide an instrument pointer illumination device that allows visual confirmation, gives a sense of luxury to the illumination means of the pointer, and has an effective design and indexing effect that cannot be obtained in the past.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, the present invention has the pointer 13 disposed close to the face of the dial 11 and having the pointer part 17 made of a translucent material. Visible light for illumination is incident, and the visible light illuminates the surface of the dial 11 from the pointer section 17, and the indicator surface of the pointer section is coated with a paint mixed with a fluorescent pigment that is excited and emits light when exposed to ultraviolet light. This is an illumination device for an instrument pointer that forms an indicator 19 and irradiates ultraviolet rays from the front of the pointer 13 to excite the fluorescent pigment and emit light. , the pointer is clearly displayed as if it were floating, and as a result, the finger position of the pointer can be clearly visually confirmed, and the illumination means of the pointer has a sense of luxury that cannot be obtained with conventional methods. The present invention has the advantage of providing an instrument pointer illumination device with an effective design and index effect.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a side view of essential parts showing an embodiment of the instrument pointer illumination device according to the present invention, Fig. 2 is a plan view thereof, Fig. 3 is an exploded explanatory view showing the configuration of the indicator, and Fig. 4 is a conventional example. FIG. 11... Dial plate 12... Scale etc. 13...
Pointer 14...Pointer body 15...Spindle part
16... Light receiving and reflecting section 17... Light guiding section
18... Light guide 19... Index 20...
Light source 21...Light guide and 4 others Figure 1

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 Visible light for illumination is incident from the direction of the pointer axis onto the rotational center of the pointer (13), which is disposed close to the face of the dial (11) and has a pointer section (17) made of a translucent material. The visible light illuminates the face of the dial (11) from the pointer (17), and the indicating surface of the pointer is coated with paint containing a fluorescent pigment that is excited and emits light when exposed to ultraviolet light. 19), and irradiates ultraviolet rays from in front of the pointer (13) to excite the fluorescent pigment and cause it to emit light.