JPH0540413Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a lighting device for a vehicle instrument.

[Prior Art] The display section of a general mechanical meter installed in an automobile is as shown in FIG. A window 3 is formed for viewing 2 through. Usually, each instrument dial 2 is illuminated by reflective illumination or transmissive illumination to provide illumination at night or in a dark place. is not structured to provide illumination. That is, since the meter panel 1 is made of a non-transparent resin such as ABS resin or PP, the meter panel 1 cannot be illuminated with transmitted light. If you are forced to illuminate this meter panel, for example, one or more illumination lamps may be arranged on the front of the meter panel 1, and by lighting these lamps, the front of the meter panel 1 and the dial 2 may be illuminated. It can be displayed using reflected light.

[Problems to be solved by the invention] However, in the case of the above-mentioned instruments without illumination means on the front of the meter panel, when the display board 2 is illuminated in a dark place, especially at night, the illumination contrast between the display board and the meter panel is low. If this is too strong, problems may occur such as the driver's eyes becoming easily strained while driving or poor display visibility. Furthermore, when the front surface of the meter panel 1 is illuminated with one or more illumination bulbs, uneven illumination occurs where the brightness is high near where the illumination bulbs are placed and becomes lower as the distance increases. There is a problem where the illuminated meter panel becomes difficult to see.

[Means for Solving the Problems] The present invention has been made by focusing on such conventional problems, and includes a fluorescent pigment that emits light when excited by ultraviolet light on the front of the instrument display surface consisting of the meter panel and the instrument dial. While forming a mixed transparent paint layer,
An ultraviolet light emitting light source is placed in front of the display surface, and an ultraviolet absorbing layer that gradually becomes denser and coarser as the distance from the light source increases is applied to the surface of the transparent paint layer. By turning on the light source, the instrument display surface is excited with ultraviolet rays to emit light, and the luminescence is illuminated with uniform brightness over the entire display surface, thereby improving the display performance or visibility of the instrument. The purpose is to provide lighting devices for instruments.

Therefore, according to this instrument lighting device, the entire display surface of the meter can be uniformly illuminated with an extremely simple structure, so that economical lighting can be obtained. By selectively using colored materials, a display surface that emits light in a desired color can be obtained.

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

Figure 1 is a front view of the instrument according to this embodiment;
The figure shows a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the instrument, and in the figure, 10 is the display surface of the instrument, and this display surface consists of a meter panel 14' and a dial plate 1, which will be described later.
Consists of 8. 11 is a lower housing made of resin such as ABS or PP, and 12 is the lower housing 11.
The instrumentation machine body assembled inside, 13 indicates an integration wheel. Reference numeral 14 denotes a resin upper housing similar to the one described above, which is attached to the front surface of the lower housing 11. This upper housing 14 has a dial transparent window 15 formed therein. A dial 18 is attached to a pointer shaft 16 of the mechanical body 12 to indicate the indicated value of a pointer 17. Reference numeral 14' denotes a meter panel that forms the front surface (front surface) of the upper housing 14 and surrounds the dial 18, and this meter panel 1
4' and the front surface of the dial 18, that is, the display surface 10, are coated with a transparent paint layer 19 containing a fluorescent pigment that is excited and emits light when exposed to ultraviolet rays. The paint forming this paint layer 19 is, for example, a mixture of a base resin such as ink or paint and an oxide or sulfide phosphor, and preferably a sulfide phosphor with good light resistance is used. 20 is a transparent front cover attached to the front of the Atsupa housing 14;
Reference numeral 1 denotes an ultraviolet light emitting lamp disposed in front of the upper housing 14 to excite the paint layer 19 to emit light. Reference numeral 22 denotes an ultraviolet absorbing layer on the surface of the applied paint layer 19, which gradually becomes denser and coarser as the distance from the lamp 21 increases. As shown in Figures 3A and 3B, it is formed in the form of dots or lines. Further, it is effective for the ultraviolet absorbing layer 22 to be formed by mixing an absorbent such as benzotriazole, cyanoacrylate, or hisodade amine with an appropriate stabilizer.

The configuration of this embodiment has been described above. Next, the operation will be described. It is well known that the detected value is indicated by the operation of the instrumentation machine 12, and is no different from the conventional operation. This instrument machine body 12
The display surface 10 provided at the front of the display screen 10 is displayed by reflected illumination during the daytime, and by transmitted illumination or reflected illumination by a light source (not shown) at night. However, in this embodiment, by lighting the ultraviolet lamp 21, the paint layer 19 coated on the display surface 10 is excited to emit light. This excitation emission color can be changed depending on the amount of phosphor mixed or the type of phosphor.
The excitation emission brightness of the display surface 10 tends to be high brightness near the light source 21 and low brightness far away, causing brightness unevenness.In order to eliminate this brightness unevenness, ultraviolet absorption as shown in FIG. A layer 22 has been applied. Therefore, this ultraviolet absorbing layer 22
As a result, the entire surface of the display surface 10 is excited to emit light with substantially uniform brightness.

[Effect of the invention] Therefore, according to this instrument lighting device, the display surface 10 of the instrument is excited to emit light of a predetermined color when the ultraviolet lamp 21 is turned on, and furthermore, the entire display surface 10 is illuminated by the action of the ultraviolet absorbing layer 22. Since the display is displayed with uniform brightness, the instrument display surface 1
0. In particular, the visibility of the dial 18 is improved, making it difficult to see when driving in a dark place such as at night, which is useful for safe driving. Furthermore, the display surface 10
is caused by the paint layer 19 and the ultraviolet lamp 21,
Since the entire surface is illuminated,
It is less expensive than those using EL lamps, and moreover, it enables uniform illumination and has the effect of improving illumination quality. Furthermore, by selectively using a fluorescent pigment of an appropriate luminescent color to be contained in the paint layer 19, a different color feeling can be easily obtained, and a color tone that is advantageous as a luminescent color of an instrument can be obtained. Some effects are extremely simple.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a front view showing an embodiment of the instrument according to the present invention, Fig. 2 is an explanatory longitudinal cross-sectional view thereof, and Figs.
B is an enlarged explanatory view of the ultraviolet absorbing layer forming pattern, and FIG. 4 is an explanatory front view of the conventional meter. 10...Display surface, 11...Lower housing, 1
2...Instrument machine body, 13...Installation vehicle, 14...Atsupa housing, 14'...Meter panel, 15
...See-through window, 16... Pointer shaft, 17... Pointer, 1
8...Dial board, 19...Paint layer, 20...Front cover, 21...Ultraviolet lamp, 22...Ultraviolet absorption layer.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] A transparent paint layer 19 mixed with a fluorescent pigment that is excited and emits light when exposed to ultraviolet light is applied to at least the surface of the display surface 10 mounted in the instrument case 11 that is to display light emission.
A light source 21 is provided in front of the display surface 10 to emit ultraviolet rays to excite the fluorescent pigment to emit light, and furthermore, a light source 21 is provided on the surface of the paint layer 19 gradually as it moves away from the light source 21. A lighting device for an instrument, characterized in that an ultraviolet absorption layer 22 ranging from dense to coarse is deposited.