JPH0739026Y2 - Switch lighting device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a switch illuminator, and more particularly to a switch illuminator suitable for illuminating an operating portion of a mode switch of various equipment such as a vehicle.

[Conventional technology]

Various mode switches are provided in an instrument panel of an automobile, etc. By operating these mode switches, temperature adjustment in a room and brightness of a lamp can be controlled. Some of these mode switches allow the driver to recognize whether or not the mode switch has been operated by mechanically changing the operation part, but the switch is turned on by operating the lamp in conjunction with the mode switch. Many illuminate the operation part.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

By illuminating the switch operating portion with the lamp, it is possible to recognize whether or not the mode switch is operated depending on the brightness of the switch operating portion. However, in the conventional lighting device, since the same lamp is turned on at the same brightness day and night, it may be difficult to recognize whether or not the mode switch is operated depending on the ambient brightness.

An object of the present invention is to provide a switch illuminator capable of changing the brightness of the mode switch operating unit depending on the day and night.

[Means for solving problems]

To achieve the above object, the present invention provides a main light emitting element and a sub light emitting element for illuminating a mode switch operating part, and a first energizing circuit for supplying an operating current to at least the main light emitting element when the mode switch is turned on. And when the mode switch and the night operation switch are both in the ON state, the second energization that supplies an operating current to each of the light emitting elements such that the illuminance of the mode switch operation unit becomes lower than that when the first energization circuit is formed. Circuit, and a third energizing circuit that supplies an operating current to at least the sub-light-emitting element, the operating current of which causes the illuminance of the mode switch operating unit to be lower than when the second energizing circuit is formed by turning on the night operation switch. The lighting device is configured.

[Action]

When the mode switch is turned on, the first energizing circuit is formed and at least the main light emitting element is turned on. When both the mode switch and the night operation switch are turned on, a second energizing circuit is formed and each light emitting element is turned on. At this time, the operating current of each light emitting element is smaller than that when the first energizing circuit is formed, so that the illuminance of the mode switch is lower than that when the first energizing circuit is formed. Next, when only the night operation switch is turned on, the third energizing circuit is formed and at least the sub light emitting element is turned on. Since the operating current at this time is smaller than that at the time of forming the second conducting circuit, the brightness of the mode switch operating portion becomes lower than that at the time of forming the second conducting circuit.

〔Example〕

 An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 1, the battery 10 is an ignition switch 1
2, the terminal T5, the mode switch 14, and the terminal T1 are connected to the bistable multivibrator 16 and the tail switch 18 to the tail lamp 20 and the terminal T6. The mode switch 14 is composed of a momentary contact type switch, and the contacts are closed only during operation. Further, the tail switch 18 is configured as a night operation switch, and when the tail lamp 18 is turned on, the tail lamp 20 is turned on.

The bi-stable multivibrator 16 is composed of transistors Q1 and Q2, diodes D1, D2 and D3, capacitors C1 and C2, and resistors R1 to R7. Terminal T4 is grounded, and relay 22 and diode D4 are connected between terminals T3 and T4. Are connected. Also terminals T1, T2
Diodes D2 and D3 are connected between them, and a relay contact 22a is connected between the terminal T2 and the terminal T1 via the mode switch 14.

Transistors Q3, Q4, diodes D5, D6, D7, light-emitting diode LED1, between terminals T2 and ground and between terminals T6 and ground.
An LED2 and resistors R8 to R17 are provided, and each element forms an energization circuit for the light emitting diodes LED1 and LED2. The light emitting diode LED1 is, as shown in FIG.
The mode switch operating unit 14a is housed on the rear side of the mode switch operating unit 14a as the main light emitting element for lighting, and the light emitting diode LED2 is the rear side of the mode switch operating unit 14a as the sub light emitting element for lighting the mode switch operating unit 14a. It is stored in.

In the above configuration, when the mode switch 14 is operated after the ignition switch 12 is turned on, the power of the battery 10 is supplied to the bistable multivibrator 16 to turn on the transistor Q2, and the relay 22 is actuated to operate the relay contact. 22a closes. At this time, the transistor Q1 has its base at a high level when the transistor Q2 is turned on, and is kept in an off state. After that, even if the operation of the mode switch 14 is released, the transistor Q is supplied with the electric power from the battery 10 through the diode D3 and the relay contact 22a, so that the self-holding circuit of the relay 22 is formed.

When the relay contact 22a turns on, the resistance R10, diode D5,
The base current of the transistor Q3 flows through the resistor R12, the base current of the transistor Q4 flows through the resistor R17, and both the transistors Q3 and Q4 are turned on. That is, the battery 10, the relay contact 22a, the transistors Q3 and Q4, the resistor R1
The 0, R11, R12, R15, R17 and the diode D5 form a first energizing circuit that supplies an operating current to the light emitting diode LED1. At this time, an operating current limited by the resistance value of the resistor R11 flows through the light emitting diode LED1 and the light emitting diode LED1
The mode switch operating unit 14a is illuminated by the light emission of the LED1. The resistance value of the resistor R11 is set based on the daytime illuminance of the mode switch operation unit 14a. That is, the illuminance is set so that it can be recognized that the mode switch 14 is operated by the light emission of the light emitting diode LED1 even in the daytime. When the mode switch 14 is operated again, the transistor Q1 is turned on and the transistor Q2 is turned off, the coil of the relay 22 is de-energized, the relay contact 22a is opened, and the energizing circuit of the light emitting diode LED1 is cut off. .

Next, when the tail switch 18 is turned on while the contact 22a is closed by operating the mode switch 14, a current flows through the tail lamp 20, and a current flows through the resistor R13, the light emitting diode LED2, and the resistor R14. At the same time, the current flows through the diode D6 and the resistor R12. Therefore, the base of the transistor Q3 becomes the same level as the emitter, and the transistor Q3 turns off. That is, the transistor Q3 is turned off when the voltage of the battery 10 is applied to the terminal T6 even when the transistor Q4 is turned on, and the base potential is increased. From this time, a current flows through the light emitting diode LED1 via the relay contact 22a, the resistor R8, and the resistor R11. The resistor R8 has a higher resistance than the resistor R11, and since the resistors R8 and R11 act as limiting resistors for the light emitting diode LED1, the operating current supplied to the light emitting diode LED1 is the same as when the mode switch 14 is turned on. The current is smaller than the operating current. Since the resistor R13 has a high resistance, its resistance value is set so that the mode switch operating unit 14a becomes slightly brighter even when the light emitting diode LED2 emits light. Therefore, even if the light emitting diodes LED1 and LED2 both emit light, the illuminance of the mode switch operating unit 14a is lower than that when the first energizing circuit is formed. That is, battery 10, relay contact 22a, resistor R8, resistor R11, resistors R12, R13, R14, R15, R17, diode D6, transistor Q
A second energizing circuit is formed by 4, and the second energizing circuit applies an operating current that causes the illuminance of the mode switch operating portion 14a to be lower than when the first energizing circuit is formed, to each light emitting diode.
It is configured to supply to LED1 and LED2. this is,
If the illuminance of the mode switch operating unit 14a at night is not lower than that at daytime, the mode switch operating unit 14a will be too bright and difficult to see.
It is set to be smaller than when the energizing circuit is formed.

Next, when only the tail switch 18 is turned on when the relay contact 22a is opened, a current flows through the tail lamp 20, and a current flows through the route of the resistor R13, the light emitting diode LED2, and the resistor R14, and the diode D6, the resistor The current flows through the route of R12. That is, resistors R12, R13, R14, diode D
6, the tail switch 18, and the battery 10 form a third energizing circuit. As a result, the light emitting diode LED2 emits light, and the operating portion 14a is illuminated with a slight brightness. That is, since only the light emitting diode LED2 emits light, the illuminance of the mode switch operating unit 14a becomes lower than that when the second energizing circuit is formed. The driver can recognize the position of the mode switch operation unit 14a by the light emission of the light emitting diode LED2.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the illuminance of the mode switch operation unit 14a is changed by distinguishing between day and night.
Even if the ambient illuminance changes, the operating state of the mode switch 14 can be reliably confirmed, which can contribute to the improvement of operability.

FIG. 3 shows the configuration of the embodiment of the present invention.

In this embodiment, the light emitting diode LED1 and the light emitting diode LED2 are
Are connected in series, and in order to form first to third energizing circuits for these light emitting diodes, transistors Q4, Q5, Q6, between terminals T2 and ground and between terminals T6 and ground,
Diodes D10, D11, D12, D13, D14, resistors R15, R16, R17, R2
0, R21, R22, R23, R24, R25, R26, R27, R28 are provided, and other configurations are similar to those of FIG. Descriptions thereof are omitted.

In the above configuration, when the relay contact 22a is closed by operating the mode switch 14, the base current of the transistor Q5 flows through the resistor R21, the diode D10, and the resistor R26, and the base current of the transistor Q4 flows through the resistor R17. Q4 and Q5 are turned on. As a result, the base current of the transistor Q6 flows through the resistor R27, the diode D14, the resistor R15, and the transistor Q4, and the transistor Q6 is turned on. As a result, a current flows through the transistor Q5, the diode D2, the light emitting diodes LED1 and LED2, the resistor R23, the transistor Q6, the diode D14, the resistor R15, and the transistor Q4, and the light emitting diodes LED1 and LED2 both emit light. That is, the battery 10, the relay contact 22a, the transistors Q4, Q5, Q
6, resistors R15, R16, R17, R20, R21, R27, R28, R23, diode
A first energizing circuit is formed by D10, D12 and D14, and an operating current is supplied to the light emitting diodes LED1 and LED2. A low resistance R23 acts as a limiting resistance in each of the light emitting diodes LED1 and LED2, and the operating current flows through them.
22a is illuminated brightly.

Next, when the tail switch 18 is operated while the relay contact 22a is closed, a current flows through the tail lamp 20 and a current flows through the diode D11 and the resistor R26. Therefore, the base of the transistor Q5 becomes high level and the transistor Q5 is turned off. Therefore, the transistor Q
Only 4, Q6 is turned on, so resistor R22 and diode D
13, light emitting diode LED1, LED2, resistor R23, transistor
Current flows through the path of Q6, diode D14, resistor R15, and transistor QQ4. That is, battery 10, tail switch 1
8, resistor R22, diode D13, diode D11, resistor R2
6, resistor R23, transistors Q6, Q4, resistors R27, R28, R15, R1
A second energizing circuit is formed by 7, R16. At this time, the resistors R22 and R23 act as limiting resistors for the light emitting diodes LED1 and LED2, so that the illuminance of the mode switch operating unit 14a becomes lower than when the first energizing circuit is formed.

Next, when only the tail switch 18 is turned on when the relay contact 22a is opened, the transistors Q4, Q5, and Q6 are both kept in the off state, so that a current flows in the path of the diode D11 and the resistor R26. With resistor R22, diode
A current flows through the path of D13, the light emitting diodes LED1, LED2, and the resistors R23, R24, R25. That is, battery 10, tail switch
The third energizing circuit is formed by 18, the resistor R22, the diode D13, the resistors R23, R24, 25, the diode D11, and the resistor R26.
A smaller operating current is supplied to the light emitting diodes LED1 and LED2 than when the second energizing circuit is formed. At this time, the resistance R22,
Since R23 and R24 act as limiting resistors for the light emitting diodes LED1 and LED2, the illuminance of the mode switch operating unit 14a is
It is lower than when the energizing circuit is formed.

In the present embodiment, as in the previous embodiment, the brightness of the mode switch operating unit 14a can be changed by distinguishing between day and night, so that the operation state of the mode switch 14 can be sufficiently maintained even when the ambient brightness changes day and night. You can check. Further, in this embodiment, the light emitting diode LE
When D1 and LED2 emit light, the same current flows through each element, so that the uneven illuminance can be made smaller than that in the above embodiment.

[Effect of device]

As described above, according to the present invention, the mode switch operating portion is illuminated by the main light emitting element and the sub light emitting element, and the operating current of each light emitting element is changed according to the illuminance of the outside world. Even if the angle changes, the operating state of the mode switch can be surely grasped, which can contribute to the improvement of operability.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a circuit configuration diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a mode switch operating portion, and FIG. 3 is a circuit configuration diagram showing another embodiment of the present invention. 10 ... Battery, 12 ... Ignition switch, 14 ...
… Mode switch, 14a …… Mode switch operation part, 16
…… 2 stable multivibrator, 18 …… Tail switch, Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4, Q5, Q6 …… Transistor, LED1, LED2…
… Light emitting diodes.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A main light emitting element and a sub light emitting element for illuminating a mode switch operation part, a first energizing circuit for supplying an operating current to at least the main light emitting element when the mode switch is turned on, the mode switch and night. When the operation switches are both in the ON state, a second energizing circuit that supplies an operating current to the light emitting element, the illumination current of the mode switch operating unit is lower than that when the first energizing circuit is formed, and the night operation switch. A switch lighting device, comprising: a third energizing circuit that supplies at least an operating current to the sub-light emitting element with an operating current that causes the illuminance of the mode switch operating unit to be lower than when the second energizing circuit is formed by the on operation.