JPH07306063A - Self-light-emitting indicator type meter - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a self-light-emitting indicator type meter of high indicating accuracy which reduces a necessary space in the periphery of an indicator shaft, shortens the indicator shaft and flattens a main body thereof. CONSTITUTION:The self-light-emitting indicator type meter has an LED 13 arranged on an indicator fixed at a front end of an indicator shaft 3. Thin flexible coating conductors 5a, 5b are placed slack in the vicinity of the periphery of the indicator shaft 3 as lead wires to feed power to the LED.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a self-luminous pointer type instrument having a self-luminous pointer which is used for a vehicle speedometer, a tachometer and the like and has a self-luminous element on the pointer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As an instrument such as a speedometer and a tachometer for a vehicle, a self-luminous indicator type instrument in which an LED is mounted on a pointer and the LED is used to emit light has been proposed (for example,
JP-A-4-204323, JP-A-4-70513
(See the official gazette).

[0003]

In this type of self-luminous pointer type meter, since the LED is arranged on the pointer that rotates, the lead wire that energizes the LED from the meter body allows the pointer to rotate. Need to wire. Therefore, conventionally, two hair springs (thin spiral springs) connected to both terminals of the LED are arranged around the pointer shaft, and the LED is energized through these hair springs.

However, it is necessary to dispose the two hair springs in two steps up and down around the pointer shaft.
Insulator plates are arranged between the two upper and lower hairsprings in order to ensure the insulation between the hairsuplings of the book.

Therefore, a space for arranging the two hair springs and the insulator plate is required around the pointer shaft, and the length of the pointer shaft becomes long in order to secure the space. There is a problem that the thickness increases and the miniaturization of the instrument is hindered. Further, since the pointer shaft becomes long, the load applied to the bearing of the pointer shaft is increased, and the friction of the bearing is increased, so that the pointer hysteresis of the pointer is increased and the pointing accuracy of the meter is lowered.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and can reduce the required space around the pointer shaft, shorten the pointer shaft length, flatten the instrument main body, and give a pointing accuracy. It is an object of the present invention to provide a self-luminous pointer-type instrument with high efficiency.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, a self-luminous pointer type instrument of the present invention is a self-luminous pointer in which a self-luminous element is arranged on a pointer fixed to the tip of a pointer shaft. In the electronic instrument, as a lead wire for energizing the self-luminous element, a thin flexible coated conductive wire is arranged in a relaxed state near the periphery of the pointer shaft.

Here, one end of the coated conductive wire is connected to a terminal portion provided on the boss portion of the self-luminous pointer, the terminal portion is connected to the self-luminous element, and the other end of the coated conductive wire is provided on the instrument body side. Connected to the terminal board.

[0009]

In the self-luminous pointer type instrument according to the first aspect, the pointer shaft is driven to rotate by the movement of the movement, and the pointer rotates to the indicated angle. In this case, the drive torque of the movement and the covering conductivity. The angle at which the braking torque of the line and the braking torque of the spiral spring in the movement are balanced becomes the indicated angle. However, the braking torque of the coated conductive wire for energization is much smaller than that of the conventionally used hair spring, so it does not adversely affect the pointing accuracy of the pointer,
The pointer can be rotated with a small driving torque.

Further, structurally, since a thin covered conductive wire is simply provided in a relaxed state near the periphery of the pointer shaft,
Compared to the conventional structure in which an insulator plate is arranged between a pair of hair springs, the space required around the pointer shaft is reduced, which allows the pointer shaft to be shortened and the overall thickness of the instrument to be thin and flat. Can be transformed. Further, the shortening of the pointer shaft reduces the load applied to the bearing of the pointer shaft, and the friction of the bearing decreases, so that the indication hysteresis of the pointer decreases and the indication accuracy of the meter can be improved.

Further, according to a second aspect of the present invention, by connecting one end of the coated conductive wire to a terminal portion provided on the boss portion of the self-luminous pointer, the radius of gyration of the terminal portion, that is, one end of the coated conductive wire is reduced, and the coated wire is coated. The movement of the conductive wire can be minimized to reduce the braking torque due to the coated conductive wire.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a side view with a partial cross section of a self-luminous pointer type instrument, and FIG. 2 shows an exploded perspective view thereof. This self-luminous pointer-type instrument basically has a movement 2 mounted on a meter case 10 on the instrument body side, a pointer 3 projecting upward from the movement 2 and an LED 13 fixed on the pointer 3. It has a self-luminous indicator 1 and a dial 4 attached to the front surface of the meter case 10.

For the movement 2, for example, a cross coil type internal machine is used, and a rotational torque is applied to the pointer shaft 3 according to an input signal. A hair spring 6 is arranged with one end fixed around the pointer shaft 3 in the move met 2, and at the balance point of the rotational torque and the elastic force of the hair spring 6, the pointer shaft 3
To stop.

As shown in FIGS. 2 to 5, the self-luminous pointer 1 has a lead frame 12 arranged in a longitudinal direction in a housing 11 having a groove formed in the upper portion thereof.
A plurality of LEDs 13 are mounted on the lead frame 12
The upper part of the housing is covered with a transparent synthetic resin 16, and the refraction lens 14 is mounted thereon, and the cover body 15 is attached to the housing 1 from above.
It is constructed by covering one.

The housing 11 has a boss portion 11 at the base thereof.
It is integrally molded with a synthetic resin into a shape having a. A hole for inserting a pointer shaft is bored from below in the boss portion 11a, and locking recesses 11b for locking the cover body are provided on both sides of the bottom of the housing body as shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 3, the lead frame 12 is patterned so as to mount a plurality of LEDs 13 at respective points of the two conductive portions at regular intervals, and a boss portion 12a is formed downward at the base portion thereof. It is formed to project. Two conductive patterns are also extended to the boss portion 12a, and terminal portions 12b and 12c are provided at the end portions of each conductive pattern.

The lead frame 12 as described above is inserted into the groove of the housing 11 and has a boss 12a.
Are attached along the outer peripheral portion of the boss portion 11 a of the housing 11. A bending lens 1 on the lead frame 12 in the groove
6 is inserted, and the transparent synthetic resin 14 is attached on the light bending lens 16. The lead frame 12, the light bending lens 16, and the transparent synthetic resin 14 in the housing 11 are the housing 1 with the lead frame 12 as an insert.
It can also be placed in one mold and insert molded. As shown in FIG. 8, the light-deflecting lens 16 is formed by juxtaposing projections (protrusions having a peak angle of 90 °) having an equilateral cross section on its upper surface.

The cover body 15 is made of black synthetic resin, and a semitransparent portion 15a having a light diffusion effect is integrally formed in the longitudinal direction of the central portion. The cover body 15 includes a lead frame 12, a light bending lens 16, and a transparent synthetic resin 14 mounted on the housing 11, and a locking projection 15b provided below the housing 11 at a housing recess 11b. It is locked and attached (Fig. 5).

Terminal portions 12b and 12c of the extended portion of the lead frame 12 provided on the boz portion 11a of the housing 11.
Then, the ends of the thin coated conductive wires 5a and 5b are connected by soldering. The coated lead wires 5a and 5b are, for example,
This is a general-purpose flexible lead wire in which a coating layer of soft vinyl chloride is formed around a thin copper wire having a diameter of about 0.1 mm. Since the copper wires of the coated conductive wires 5a and 5b are single wires or twisted wires and are very thin wires, they have almost no spring elasticity and have good flexibility even in a coated state.

The self-luminous pointer 1 constructed as described above is
On the pointer shaft 3 protruding above the movement 2, the buzz part 1
The hole of 1a is fitted and press-fitted to be mounted. Then, the tips of the coated conductive wires 5a and 5b attached to the outer circumference of the boss portion 11a are wound around the terminal plates 9a and 9b provided on the terminal substrate on the movement 2 as shown in FIG. 6 and soldered. . At this time, the two covered conductive wires 5a and 5b are moved in a fixed rotation range (about 270 mm) of the pointer shaft 3, that is, the self-luminous pointer 1.
At (°), it is arranged around the boss portion 11a with a margin so as to maintain the relaxed state.

Next, the operation of the self-luminous pointer type instrument having the above structure will be described. When an input signal is applied to the cross coil in the movement 2, the pointer shaft 3 is rotationally driven according to the input signal, and the self-luminous pointer 1 rotates to the indicated angle.

At this time, the angle at which the driving torque of the movement 2 and the braking torque of the hair spring 2 in the movement 2 are balanced becomes the indicated angle, and the coated conductive wires 5a, 5b.
Since the braking torque of is very small compared to that of the hair spring 6, it does not adversely affect the pointing accuracy of the pointer. Therefore, the self-luminous pointer 1 can be driven with substantially the same drive torque as a normal pointer (a pointer that does not have a coated conductive wire).

The coated conductive wires 5a and 5b move as the pointer shaft 3 rotates, but since they are coated and electrically insulated, they contact each other or other parts. There is no problem. Further, even if the coated conductive wires collide with each other when the pointer shaft 3 rotates, no abnormal noise is generated unlike the hairspring.

On the other hand, the power supply circuit (not shown) to the terminal board 9
The LEDs 13 in the self-luminous pointer 1 are energized through the a and 9b, the coated conductive wires 5a and 5b, and the lead frame 12, and the LEDs 13 are turned on. By turning on the LED 13, the semi-transparent portion 1 in the center of the cover body 15 of the self-luminous pointer 1
From 5a, the diffused light is emitted to the front surface.

At this time, the light emitted from each LED 13 passes through the transparent synthetic resin 16 and is incident on the light bending lens 14 as shown in FIG. Light is incident on the light-reflecting lens 14 from the LEDs 13 arranged at intervals at various inclination angles. For example, when the incident angle is 26 °, these lights are emitted with a refraction angle of 0 °, and the incident angle is Emitted with a refraction angle of 19 ° at 45 °, refraction angle of 31 ° at an incident angle of 60 °
It is refracted so that it is emitted at.

Therefore, the light obliquely emitted from the LED 13 is also radiated to the upper side of the pointer satisfactorily, and even when the LEDs 13 are arranged at intervals, the light is emitted from the upper surface of the self-luminous pointer 1 in the longitudinal direction. Light of uniform brightness can be emitted.

As described above, since the self-luminous indicator 1 and the instrument body are connected by the flexible covered conductive wire in a relaxed state, the insulator plate is different from the conventional case where the hair spring is used as the conductive wire. It is possible to reduce the space around the pointer shaft, shorten the length of the pointer shaft, and reduce the thickness of the entire instrument without needing.

Further, compared to the case where the hair spring is used as a conductive wire, the load applied to the bearing of the pointer shaft can be reduced, the frictional force of the bearing can be reduced, and the indication hysteresis of the pointer can be reduced to indicate the indication of the instrument. The accuracy can be improved.

Since the coated conductive wires 5a and 5b arranged around the pointer shaft 3 do not require much space,
It is also possible to arrange three or more, and a plurality of color-coded L
It is possible to drive the lighting in various modes, such as arranging the ED on the pointer, changing the color according to the rotation angle of the pointer for lighting display, or partially changing the brightness for lighting.

As the self-luminous element on the self-luminous pointer 1, an EL element, a cold cathode discharge tube or the like can be used in addition to the LED.

In addition to the speedometer and the tachometer, the present invention can be applied to a needle-type fuel gauge or thermometer which does not have a hairspring for zeroing.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view with a partial cross-section of a self-luminous pointer type meter showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the instrument.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a lead frame 12 and a coated conductive wire.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged vertical sectional view of a boss portion of the self-luminous indicator 1.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged vertical sectional view of a self-luminous indicator 1.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a terminal plate to which a coated conductive wire is connected.

FIG. 7 is an electrical connection diagram of the LED 13.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing a refracted light path of emitted light of the LED 13.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1-self-luminous pointer, 2-movement, 3-pointer shaft, 5a, 5b-coated conductive wire, 9a, 9b-terminal plate, 12-lead frame, 12b, 12c-terminal portion, 13-LED (self-luminous element) .

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A self-luminous pointer type instrument in which a self-luminous element is disposed on a pointer fixed to the tip of a pointer shaft, wherein a thin flexible wire is used as a lead wire for energizing the self-luminous element. A self-luminous pointer-type instrument characterized in that a coated conductive wire is arranged in a relaxed state near the periphery of a pointer shaft. 2. One end of the coated conductive wire is connected to a terminal portion provided on a boss portion of a self-luminous pointer, the terminal portion is connected to the self-luminous element, and the other end of the coated conductive wire is on the instrument body side. The self-luminous pointer-type instrument according to claim 1, which is connected to a terminal plate provided in.