JPH04258869A - Display device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enlarge visible angle for a pinpoint light to be provided on the side of the display screen of a equipment box. CONSTITUTION:An operation button 5 provided with a light transmissive part 6 and light non-transmissive part 7 is formed by means of two-color forming by light transmissive synthetic resin and light non-transmissive synthetic resin. A projection part 6b1 on the front end of the light transmissive part 6 is formed so that it can be protruded from a front end face 7a of the light non- transmissive part 7, and the projection part 6b1 is lighted with incident light from the rear part of the light transmissive part 6.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a display device that is effective when applied to an operating body such as a switch operating button.

0002

[Prior Art] Conventionally, display devices that provide pinpoint illumination, such as switch operation buttons, have a cover made of non-transparent synthetic resin material welded to the front surface of the button body, which is made of translucent synthetic resin material. This cover has a small diameter through hole to expose a part of the translucent button body, and the front side of the operation button is illuminated by the light from the light source placed on the back side of the operation button. It was designed to provide pinpoint illumination through transparent holes.

0003

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] In a switch operation button with a pinpoint lighting structure constructed in this way, the lighting section is formed on the same level as the button surface or a slightly lower surface, so that it is difficult to see from the lighting side. This can be seen as a light spot, but it is difficult to see clearly when viewing from the top, bottom, left and right directions, and it is difficult to see it clearly.In particular, since in-vehicle audio equipment is installed at a low position, switch operation buttons etc. are not installed at an angle. Visibility from above is important, and if visibility is poor, there will be problems with operability. In addition, since the illumination part is small in diameter, if it is on the same level as the button surface or a slightly lower surface, dust etc. will easily adhere to it.
There was a problem that the illumination was reduced and visibility was further deteriorated.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and provides a display device suitable for application to switch operation buttons, etc., in which the visible range of the pinpoint illumination section is expanded and viewed from an oblique direction. The purpose is to

[0005]

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention uses a light-transmitting synthetic resin material and a non-light-transmitting synthetic resin material, so that the light-transmitting part is moved from the back side of the non-light-transmitting part to the front side. The light-transmitting part is integrally molded in two colors so as to be continuous with each other, and at least a part of the surface side of the light-transmitting part protrudes from the surface side of the non-light-transmitting part.

[0006]

[Operation] In the display device according to the present invention constructed as described above, the transparent part projects from the surface of the non-transparent part, and this projecting part becomes an illumination part that is illuminated by light from a light source disposed on the back side. This illumination section can be seen from the vertical and horizontal directions, expanding the viewing range and improving visibility.

[0007]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Examples of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings, in which the present invention is applied to a switch operation button of an in-vehicle audio device.

FIG. 2 shows the front panel of the in-vehicle audio device, and the front panel 1 includes a display section 2, a group of switching operation buttons 3 for tuner selection, tape cassette playback, CD changer control, etc., and a tape cassette insertion section 4. Further, an operation button 5 of a changeover switch is arranged on the side of the display section 2, and the present invention is applied to this operation button 5.

As shown in FIG. 1, this operation button 5 is formed of a light-transmitting part 6 and a non-light-transmitting part 7 by integral two-color molding of a light-transmitting synthetic resin material and a non-light-transmitting synthetic resin material. . That is,
After the light-transmitting portion 6 is primarily molded using a light-transmitting synthetic resin material, the non-light-transmitting portion 7 is second-molded using a non-light-transmitting synthetic resin material so as to surround the outer periphery of the front half of the light-transmitting portion 6 . In this molding, the rear half 6a of the transparent part 6 that protrudes from the rear side of the non-transparent part 7 is formed into a block shape and serves as a pressing part of the switch 9 mounted on the substrate 8. A reflective surface 6a1 is formed to reflect the incident light so that it is guided in the direction of the front half 6b, and the front half 6b is formed to have a small diameter so that its front end 6b1 is the front end surface 7a of the non-transparent part 7.
It protrudes from the top and serves as a lighting section.

In this example, the operation button 5 is operated by a display section 2 constituted by a liquid crystal display, as shown in FIGS. 2 to 5.
Four operation buttons (51, 52, 53, 54) are arranged in the vertical direction corresponding to the switches arranged on the side of the display section 2, and these operation buttons 51 to 54 are illuminated by the illumination lamp 10 of the display section 2. has been made.

This illumination lamp 10 is disposed corresponding to both sides of a light guide plate 11 that guides illumination light in order to illuminate the liquid crystal display constituting the display section 2 from the back side. An amber lamp 10A and a green lamp 10G are provided, respectively, and by switching between these lamps 10A and 10G to emit light, the illumination of the liquid crystal display can be switched between two colors. In this way, the operation button 5 (5
1 to 54) and the protruding portion 6b1 of the transparent portion 6
It is designed to illuminate.

The amber lamp 10A and the green lamp 10G are connected to a light guide plate 1 as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5.
1 is asymmetrical with respect to both sides 11a and 11b, that is, the amber lamp 10A is placed in the upper half on one side 11a and the lower half on the other side 11b, while the green lamp 10G is placed on one side. They are arranged in the lower half on the side 11a, and in the upper half on the other side 11b. Operation buttons 5 (51 to 54) are arranged in the vertical direction corresponding to the one side surface 11a of the light guide plate 11.

When the lamp 10A or 10B is turned on to illuminate the display section 2, that is, the liquid crystal display, the front end protrusion 6b1 of the transparent section 6 of the operation button 5 is illuminated as described above. For example, amber lamp 1
When 0A is lit, the second and third operation buttons 52 from the top
, 53 is the lamp 10 on one side 11a side of the light guide plate 11
The irradiated light of A is directly taken in, and the first and fourth operation buttons 51 and 54 are connected to the lamp 10G on the other side 11b side.
The irradiated light is taken in through the light guide plate 11, and the front end protrusion 6b1 of each light-transmitting part 6 is illuminated in amber color. In this illumination of the operation buttons 5, the light that passes through the light guide plate 11 at the first and fourth operation buttons 51 and 54 is reflected by the reflective surface 6a1 of the light-transmitting section 6 toward the front end protrusion 6b1, and is illuminated.

Furthermore, the operation button 5 is illuminated in the same manner by lighting the green lamp 10G, but since the rear end face of the green lamp 10G is transparent, it emits light in amber color. The opposing fourth operation button 54 is formed with a reflective surface 6a1 of the light-transmitting part 6 different from that of the first operation button 5 so as not to take in this light, and the lamp 10G is formed on the one side 11a side of the light guide plate 11.
The light emitted from the button 54 is not reflected in the direction of the operation button 54.

On the other hand, the light guide plate 1 is attached to the first operation button 51.
In order to make it easier to take in the irradiated light from the amber lamp 10A on the side 11a of the display 1, a reflective surface 11a1 is formed on the side 11a facing the first operation button 5. In addition, the second and third operation buttons 52 and 53 are provided with lamps 10 on one side 11a of the light guide plate 11 opposite thereto.
In order to prevent the irradiation lights A and 10G from being strongly incident, a shielding piece 7c is provided protruding from the flange 7b of the non-transparent part 7, facing the lamps 10A and 10G.

With the above configuration, the front end protrusion 6b1 of the transparent part 6 of the operation button 5 is uniformly illuminated, and this front end protrusion 6b1 is illuminated evenly by the front end surface 7a of the non-transparent part 7.
Since it is more protruded, the field of view for illumination recognition is expanded even with relatively weak illumination light.

In this example, the operation buttons are buttons 51 to 51.
54 are integrally connected by a flat connecting piece 7d having elasticity at the flange 7b of the non-transparent part 7, so that assembly to the front panel 1 can be easily performed and each operation can be performed easily. The buttons 51 to 54 are configured so that they can be operated individually without interfering with other buttons.

Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment and can be modified in various ways without departing from the spirit of the present invention. That is, the present invention can be applied not only to movable members such as operation buttons for operating switches as in the above-described embodiments, but also to fixed members such as panels of equipment as display lighting.

[0019]

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, the display device according to the present invention has
It consists of a transparent part and a non-transparent part that are integrally molded in two colors from a transparent synthetic resin material and a non-transparent synthetic resin material, and at least a part of the surface side of the transparent part is on the surface side of the non-transparent part. Since the projecting part of the transparent part is illuminated by light transmitted from the back side, this projecting part becomes pinpoint illumination and the viewing angle of this illumination is expanded, especially in diagonal directions. When applied to a switch operation button, for example, it is possible to perform safe and reliable operation even in a dark place such as at night.

[0020] Furthermore, since the illumination part on the surface side of the light-transmitting part protrudes from the non-light-transmitting part, even if mold matching is insufficient during molding, the secondary resin for molding the non-light-transmitting part can be easily used. This has the effect that fogging of the light-transmitting part molded with the primary resin on the illumination part is prevented, and a molded product capable of clear pinpoint illumination can be obtained.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of essential parts of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a front panel of an in-vehicle audio device to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of a portion of the front panel showing the relationship between the operation buttons and the lighting section.

FIG. 4 is a rear view illustrating an illumination path in the same case.

FIG. 5 is a rear view illustrating the illumination path in the same case.

[Explanation of symbols]

5 Operation button 6 Translucent part 6b1 Projection part 7 Opaque part 7a Front end surface 10 Lamp 11 Light guide plate

Claims (1)

[Claims] Claim 1: A transparent synthetic resin material and a non-transparent synthetic resin material are integrally molded in two colors so that the transparent part is continuous from the back side of the non-transparent part to the front side, At least a part of the front surface side of the part protrudes from the front surface side of the non-transparent part, and the protrusion part is illuminated by light transmitted through the transparent part from a light source disposed on the back side. A display device characterized by: