JPH09152360A - Meter for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a meter in which mechanical components in conventional cases are reduced, whose product qualities such as durability, reliability, display accuracy, visibility and the like are enhanced and which can be made thin. SOLUTION: In a meter, many recessed parts 14 whose cross section is triangular are formed continuously on the light reflecting face 12a of a light guiding part 12 at a light guiding piece, they are formed to be sawtooth-shaped, and one side face of every recessed part 14 is formed to be a total reflection face 14a. In addition, a light-emitting diode(LED) unit 20 and a parabolic mirror 25 are arranged in a support part 13 at the light guiding piece, light from the LED unit 20 is deflected to be nearly parallel light by the parabolic mirror 25 so as to enter the light guiding part 12, and the light is reflected to the surface side by every total reflection face 14a so as to be radiated. For example, an LED unit 20 which corresponds to a pointer in a prescribed angle position is made to emit light according to a running speed, and a speed is displayed.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicle meter applicable to an automobile speedometer, tachometer, etc., and more particularly to a light emitting diode (hereinafter, simply referred to as "L").
ED ”), and a meter for a vehicle in which a scale, a pointer, and the like can freely emit light.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional speedometer for a vehicle, a magnetic type speedometer is generally used. This speedometer has a dial, a pointer, and a drive unit for rotationally driving the pointer to display a speed. It is equipped with a pointer to display the speed on the dial scale.

On the other hand, a vehicle meter such as a speedometer has a function of transmitting man-machine information such as a vehicle speed, and also acts as a component of an interior of the vehicle. And
Vehicle meters occupy the main part of the instrument panel, which is the most noticeable part of the driver, and its design is also important.In recent years, various meters themselves have been created due to the diversification of user's taste and sensitivity. There have been various attempts such as the configuration of the above and their arrangement. Further, it is preferable to arrange the vehicle meter such as the speedometer as far as possible from the position of the eyes of the driver in consideration of hyperopia of middle-aged and elderly people.

[0004]

However, the conventional vehicular meter has a complicated mechanical structure, and there is room for improvement in terms of maintenance and display accuracy in consideration of wear of mechanical parts due to use. is there. Further, the design of the conventional vehicle meter is limited to that at the time of manufacture, and the design cannot be changed according to the individual taste of the user. Further, the conventional design including the dial and the pointer as a mechanical component cannot meet the diversified taste of the user, and there is room for improvement in terms of design.

Further, the conventional vehicular meter requires a space for the drive mechanism, and therefore requires a certain depth in the meter panel and cannot be made thin.
Therefore, the degree of freedom in designing the meter panel is reduced accordingly, and there is room for improvement in terms of design. In addition, for the same reason, it is not possible to increase the distance between the vehicle meter and the position of the eyes of the driver, and there is room for improvement in terms of visibility when considering hyperopia of middle-aged and elderly people.

Therefore, a first object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle meter in which the utilization efficiency of the light from the LED is increased to improve the product quality such as visibility.

Further, according to the present invention, it is possible to reduce the number of conventional mechanical components, improve the product quality such as durability, reliability, display accuracy, etc., make it thinner, and have more freedom in design. A second object is to provide a vehicle meter that can increase the distance between the driver's eyes and the driver's eyes.

A third object of the present invention is to provide a meter for a vehicle, which can produce a unique design effect by using LEDs.

[0009]

In a vehicle meter according to a first aspect of the present invention, a light guide piece is constituted by a light guide portion which is made of a light conductor and has a rectangular shape in cross section. One side surface in the vertical direction serves as a light reflecting surface and the other side surface serves as a light emitting surface. In addition, a number of concave portions having a triangular cross section are continuously formed in the lengthwise direction of the light reflecting surface to form a sawtooth shape, and the surface of each concave portion on the one end side in the lengthwise direction is formed from the one end side in the lengthwise direction. Is a total reflection surface inclined at an angle at which light in the predetermined direction is totally reflected. Further, an LED and a light diverting means are arranged on one end side in the length direction of the light guiding portion of the light guiding piece, and the light diverting means redirects the light from the LED into substantially parallel light to guide the light. The light is emitted in the predetermined direction from the one end side in the length direction with respect to the light guide portion of the piece.

A vehicle meter according to a second aspect of the present invention is the vehicle meter according to the first aspect, wherein the light guide portion of the light guide piece has a substantially trapezoidal plane shape with one end in the length direction being wider than the other end. A large number of light guide pieces are arranged adjacent to each other with one end in the length direction on the outer peripheral side and the other end on the inner peripheral side to form a planar substantially fan-shaped index means.

A vehicle meter according to a third aspect of the present invention is the vehicle meter of the second aspect, further comprising a control means for causing an LED corresponding to the light guide piece at a predetermined angular position to emit light in accordance with a traveling speed.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the vehicle meter according to the second or third aspect, the vehicle meter is arranged so as to correspond to the light guide pieces, and the light L enters the light guide pieces.
The ED has two or more colors.

According to a fifth aspect of the vehicle meter, the light guide plate is composed of a light guide portion made of a light guide and having a substantially fan plate shape at a predetermined angle, and one side surface in the thickness direction of the light guide portion is a light reflecting surface. And the other side surface was used as the light emitting surface. In addition, a large number of concave portions having a triangular cross section are continuously formed in the radial direction of the light reflecting surface to form a sawtooth shape, and the surface of each concave portion on the outer peripheral end side of the light guide portion is formed from the outer peripheral end of the light guide portion. The total reflection surface is inclined at an angle at which light in a predetermined direction is totally reflected. An LED and a light diverting means are arranged on the outer peripheral end side of the light guide portion of the light guide piece, and the light from the LED is converted into substantially parallel light to form an outer peripheral end with respect to the light guide portion of the light guide plate. The light enters from the side in the predetermined direction. Further, a pointer board having pointers cut out in a slit shape in a radial direction so as to guide light from the light exit surface of the light guide plate in a thickness direction is superposed concentrically with the light exit surface of the light guide plate. And arrange them so that they can rotate relative to each other.

According to a sixth aspect of the vehicle meter, the light guide plate is composed of a light guide part made of a light guide and having a substantially fan plate shape at a predetermined angle, and one side surface in the thickness direction of the light guide part is a light reflecting surface. And the other side surface was used as the light emitting surface. Further, a large number of concave portions having a triangular cross section are continuously formed in a radial direction of the light reflecting surface to form a sawtooth shape, and the surface of each concave portion on the inner peripheral end side of the light guide portion is formed from the inner peripheral end of the light guide portion. The total reflection surface is inclined at an angle at which light in a predetermined direction is totally reflected. An LED and a light diverting means are disposed on the inner peripheral end side of the light guide portion of the light guide piece, and the light from the LED is diverted into substantially parallel light to the light guide portion of the light guide plate. The light is emitted from the inner peripheral end side of the light guide portion in the predetermined direction. Further, a pointer board having pointers cut out in a slit shape in a radial direction so as to guide light from the light exit surface of the light guide plate in a thickness direction is superposed concentrically with the light exit surface of the light guide plate. And arrange them so that they can rotate relative to each other.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the vehicle meter according to the fifth or sixth aspect of the present invention, further, the control means for rotating the pointer of the pointer plate to a predetermined angular position of the light guide plate according to the traveling speed. Was set up.

According to an eighth aspect of the vehicle meter, the LED according to the fifth or sixth aspect has two or more colors.

[0017]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below.

FIG. 1 is a front view showing an entire vehicle meter to which a vehicle meter according to a first embodiment of the present invention is applied. FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a speedometer as a vehicle meter according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is an end view taken along the line AA of FIG. 2 showing the vehicular meter of the first embodiment of the present invention cut in the radial direction. FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the light guide piece of the vehicle meter according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a plan view showing a main part of the vehicle meter of the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a partial cross-sectional view showing the reflecting surface of the light guide piece of the vehicle meter according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a partial plan view showing a usage state of the speedometer as the vehicle meter according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

1 and 2, a vehicle meter of the present embodiment is a speedometer, tachometer, fuel gauge,
It is embodied in a meter panel 1 in which a water temperature gauge and the like are appropriately arranged, and particularly embodied in an analog speedometer. In this speedometer, a flat substantially fan-shaped indexing means 10 is arranged at a predetermined position of a meter panel 1, and a numeral indicating the speed as a speedometer is arranged on the outer circumference of the indexing means 10 by engraving or printing to speed the speed. It constitutes the display scale. Inside the speed display scale of the meter panel 1, a visible light LED 2 that emits a predetermined color,
It is provided for displaying the speed display scale. Further, in the case of implementing the present invention, instead of the visible light LED2,
An LED that emits ultraviolet rays such as near ultraviolet rays may be used, and the numbers indicating the speed on the speed display scale may be colored with ultraviolet rays.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, the index means 10 includes a large number of light guide pieces 11 closely arranged so as to form a substantially fan-shaped plane, and LEDs installed in each light guide piece 11.
It is composed of a unit 20 and a parabolic mirror 25, which is also installed in each light guide piece 11 and serves as a light redirecting means. As shown in FIG. 4, each of the light guide pieces 11 is composed of a light guide made of a predetermined transparent resin material, has a long and narrow trapezoidal cross section, and has a light guide portion 12 having a substantially trapezoidal plane shape. The light guide 12 is integrally formed into a substantially L-shaped rod from a support 13 that extends downward from one end (the left end in FIG. 3) of the light guide 12. In this way, a large number of adjacent ones of the light guide portion 12 of the light guide piece 11 having a substantially trapezoidal shape with one end in the length direction wider than the other end are arranged with one end in the length direction on the outer peripheral side and the other end on the inner peripheral side. By doing so, the index means 10 is formed into a substantially fan-shaped plane. The light guide piece 11 has a light reflection surface 12a on one side in the thickness direction of the light guide portion 12 (a lower surface in FIG. 3) and a light emission surface 12b on the other side, and the length of the light reflection surface 12a. A large number of concave portions 14 each having a triangular cross section are continuously formed in a direction to form a sawtooth shape. In addition, the concave portion 14 is the light guide portion 12.
Has a straight groove shape extending in the width direction. Further, since the light guide portion 12 of the present embodiment has a substantially trapezoidal cross section that becomes thinner toward the inner peripheral end (the right end in FIG. 3), the light reflecting surface 12a.
Is inclined toward the light emitting surface 12b in the upper right direction in the drawing.

The LED unit 20 is composed of red, green and blue LEDs (LEDs of respective colors are not shown), and the support portion 13 is arranged at one end of the light guide portion 12 of the light guide piece 11 in the length direction. It is embedded and fixed at the lower end of the. For example, as shown in FIG. 4, the support portion 13 of the light guide piece 11
A housing hole 1 for housing the LED unit 20 substantially at the lower end of the
3a is integrally molded, and the LED unit 20 is inserted after the light guide piece 11 is molded. Note that, in FIG. 4, for convenience of description, only the accommodation hole 13a for accommodating one bullet LED is shown. At this time, when one red, one green, and one blue LED are used as the LED unit 20 corresponding to each light guide piece 11 as in the present embodiment, and when a bullet-shaped LED is used as the LED The support portion 13 of the light guide piece 11 may have a total of three accommodating holes 13a for accommodating red, green, and blue LEDs, respectively, and a length for accommodating these three LEDs in the same space. You may form the hole-shaped accommodation hole 13a. Further, as the LED, an LED other than the bullet-shaped LED may be used. In addition, each LED of the LED unit 20 is electrically connected to the print board 17, and the LE of a predetermined color is controlled by a driver 31 (see FIG. 8) described later.
The light emission is controlled by selecting D.

The parabolic mirror 25 is integrally provided at a corner portion with the support portion 13 located on one end side in the length direction of the light guide portion 12 of the light guide piece 11. The parabolic mirror 25 has, for example, a reflecting surface 25a in which a two-dimensional parabolic surface is divided into two in the curved direction, and the corner portion of the light guide piece 11 is
It is formed in a curved surface shape corresponding to the reflecting surface 25a. Then, a parabolic mirror 25 is provided at the corner of the light guide piece 11.
The reflecting surface 25a side of the LED unit 20 is closely joined, and the parabolic reflecting surface 25a diverts the light from the LED unit 20 into substantially parallel light and lengthens the light guiding portion 12 of the light guiding piece 11. Direction from one end side, that is, the length direction (Fig.
It is incident on the center right). Where the LE
The positional relationship between the D unit 20 and the parabolic mirror 25 is such that the LED unit 20, which is substantially a point light source, is located at the focal position of the parabolic mirror 25. Further, the arrangement direction of the LED unit 20 in the supporting portion 13 is LE if the optical axis is directed toward the center of the reflecting surface 25a of the parabolic mirror 25.
Reflecting surface 2 that reflects high-intensity light around the optical axis of D unit 20
By 5a, all can be converted into parallel light and be incident on the light guide section 12, and the amount of light incident on the light guide section 12 can be further increased.

Further, the light guide piece 11 is provided with each recess 14
1. A total reflection surface 1 inclining the surface on the one end side in the length direction at an angle at which light in the predetermined direction from the one end side in the length direction is totally reflected.
4a. That is, as shown in FIG. 6, the total reflection surface 14a located on the left side of the concave portion 14 is a parallel light that travels rightward in the light guide portion 12 of the light guide piece 11 along the length direction (in FIG. 6). The light is parallel to the axis X indicated by the alternate long and short dash line) and is inclined to the upper right with a predetermined inclination angle θ. This inclination angle θ
In consideration of the critical angle for total reflection depending on the type of transparent resin material forming the light guide piece 11, the incident angle of the parallel light on the total reflection surface 14a is the normal line of the total reflection surface 14a. On the other hand, it is set to be equal to or more than the critical angle. For example, when acrylic resin (PMMA) is used as the material of the light guide piece 11, the critical angle is 42 degrees to 43 degrees and the inclination angle θ is 47 degrees to 48 degrees or more. Epoxy resin also has the same critical angle, and the inclination angle θ of the total reflection surface 14a of the recess 14 can be set similarly to the acrylic resin. Such a recess 14 may be integrally formed on the back surface of the light guide portion 12 when the light guide piece 11 is formed. For example, when the light guide piece 11 is formed of epoxy resin,
It is formed on the back surface of the light guide piece 11 during the integral molding in the potting process of the epoxy resin. As a result, the parallel light incident from the LED unit 20 in the length direction of the light guide section 12 via the reflecting surface 25 a of the parabolic mirror 25 is orthogonal to the parallel light by the total reflection surface 14 a of the recess 14. The light is totally reflected (upward in FIG. 3), travels from the light reflecting surface 12a of the light guide portion 12 to the light emitting surface 12b, and is emitted to the outside from the light emitting surface 12b.

The reflected light from the reflecting surface 25a of the parabolic mirror 25 becomes parallel light in the thickness direction of the light guide portion 12, but remains diffused light in the width direction, so A white surface is coated with paint or the like on the both side surfaces in the width direction of the light guide piece 11 to provide reflecting surfaces 12c and 12d, and diffused light from the LED unit 20 in the width direction is reflected on both side surfaces 12c and 12d. It is reflected by.
Finally, the reflected light is totally reflected upward by the total reflection surface 14a of the concave portion 14 of the light reflection surface 12a, and the light emission surface 12
Emit from b. This prevents the light from the parabolic mirror 25 from leaking to the outside from both widthwise side surfaces of the light guide portion 12. Further, on the other end surface in the length direction (right end surface in FIG. 3) of the light guide portion 12, a white surface is coated with a paint or the like to provide a reflecting surface 12e, similarly to the both side surfaces in the width direction. Light reaching 25 from the other end surface in the length direction of the light guide portion 12 is reflected by the reflection surface 12e and does not leak to the outside. Here, the reflecting surface 25a of the parabolic mirror 25 is a three-dimensional parabolic surface, and the diffused light of the LED unit 20 is not only the vertical direction in FIG. 3 but also the front-back direction (direction orthogonal to the paper surface).
However, if the light is converted into parallel light and is incident within the range of the cross section of the corresponding light guide section 12, the white coating films on both side surfaces in the width direction may be omitted.

In the present embodiment, the light guide piece 11 is divided in the circumferential direction at regular intervals or at equal angles to form a large number of planar slender trapezoidal hands 15 on the surface side of the index means 10. . In the present embodiment, each pointer 15 has a speed of 1
The scale for speed display every 0 km / h is divided into two and the speed is displayed every 5 km / h.

Further, as shown in FIG. 5, the LED unit 20 is arranged in each of the light guide pieces 11 corresponding to all the hands 15. As a result, the LED unit 20 including LEDs of each color of red, green and blue is provided in the outer peripheral direction of the indexing means 10 including a large number of light guide pieces 11.
However, the same number as the number of the hands 15 is arranged, and each constitutes a red LED group, a green LED group and a blue LED group. Then, as described above, each of the LED units 20 is individually turned on to selectively cause one of the corresponding pointers 15 to emit light to display the speed (in FIG. 7, the pointer 15 at 50 km / h is turned on. display).

Further, in the present embodiment, the light diffusion film 29 is polymerized and joined to the surface of the light guide piece 11. The light diffusion film 29 is used for the light guide piece 11
A large number of light guide pieces are integrally molded continuously with the outer peripheral edge and the inner peripheral edge of the light diffusing portion 29a and the light diffusing portion 29a having a translucent planar fan shape that is overlapped with the portion facing the pointer 15. It is composed of a mask part 29b and a mask part 29c of metal color which shield the outer peripheral end (corresponding to the LED unit 20) and the inner peripheral end of the index means 10 made of 11 respectively. The light-diffusing film 29 uses a known resin film or resin sheet having a light-diffusing function as the light-diffusing portion 29a, and its outer peripheral end and inner peripheral end are masked with a predetermined metal color by metal coating or material attachment. Parts 29b, 2
9c. The light diffusing section 29a is configured to scatter and diffuse light having directivity from the light reflecting surface 12a of the light guide piece 11 as a whole. In the light guide piece 11, the portion other than the portion shielded by the mask portions 29b and 29c, that is, the portion corresponding to the light diffusion portion 29a is visually recognized as the pointer 15 on the meter panel 1. In addition to the metal color, the mask portions 29b and 29c have a black color or the like as long as they have a masking effect of respectively shielding the outer peripheral end portion and the inner peripheral end portion of the index means 10.
Other colors may be used. Further, in the actual meter panel 1, a publicly known design surface film (not shown) is separately provided on the light diffusion film 29 so as to overlap the mask portion 29.
It is also possible to prevent deterioration of the design of the meter panel 1 due to b, 29c, etc. Or, by omitting the light diffusion film 29, the design surface film is directly polymerized on the light guide piece 11,
The design surface film may be used to mask the outer peripheral end and the inner peripheral end of the indexing means 10.

Next, the electrical construction and operation of the vehicle meter of this embodiment will be described. LED unit 20
The control unit 35 of the control means for controlling the emission of light is composed of a CPU, a ROM, a RAM and the like which constitute a microcomputer, and is used for speed display control by the pointer 15. Further, the control unit 35 is provided to execute the main program shown in FIG. 9 as a part of the circuit shown in FIG.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing the circuit configuration of the entire vehicle meter of the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the overall operation of the vehicle meter of the first embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 8, the detection signal from the speed sensor 32 is input to the counter 34 of the control unit 35 via the waveform shaping circuit 33 and counted in a unit of a predetermined time.
Then, the count value is stored in the storage circuit 36, and the record information is input to the driver 31 and used for the driver 31 to control the light emission of the LED group of each LED unit 20.

In the present embodiment, the driver 3
1, speed sensor 32, waveform shaping circuit 33, control unit 3
A control unit is constituted by 5.

Next, the flowchart of FIG. 9 will be described.

First, in step S1, the speed sensor 32
When a rising edge of the signal from the vehicle is detected, a gate circuit (not shown) is opened in step S2 to convert the vehicle speed signal into the waveform shaping circuit 33.
To the counter 34, and counting by the counter 34 is started. Then, when the preset measurement time has elapsed in step S3, the gate circuit is closed in step S4, and the counting operation by the counter 34 is stopped. Next, in step S5, the count data V2 of the counter 34
And the stored data V1 which is the current display speed data are compared. Only when the difference V1-V2 between them is 5 km / h or more, the count data V2 is sent to the driver 31 in step S6. Based on this new count data V2, the driver 31 changes the speed display by the LED unit 20 in step S7. That is, in the speedometer, the LED unit 20 corresponding to the pointer 15 for displaying the immediately preceding traveling speed is turned off, the pointer 15 at the angular position corresponding to the traveling speed of the count data V2 is calculated, and the pointer 1
The LED unit 20 corresponding to No. 5 is newly driven to emit light. The emission color of the speed display LED unit 20 may be a single color of red, green or blue.
Any color obtained by mixing these may be used. Then, in step S8, the count data V2 is stored in the storage circuit 36.
The stored data is set to V1 as the stored data, the counter 34 is cleared by the control unit 35 in step S9, and the above operation is repeated.

The entire operation itself is performed by the driver 3
The control operation is the same as that of the conventional speedometer except the display control of the pointer 15 using the LED unit 20 according to 1. In the speed display control operation, only the LED unit 20 corresponding to the speed display pointer 15 emits light, and only the pointer 15 emits or lights in a predetermined color. In order to make the contrast with the displayed pointer 15 clearer, all L
The ED unit 20 may be caused to emit light in a color that matches the color of the pointer 15 for speed display in a balanced manner, for example, white, and the entire index means 10 may be lit in that color. Further, another control method may be used as long as a signal indicating the traveling speed can be input to the control unit 35. In addition, each guideline 1
The LED unit 20 facing 5 is, as described above,
Instead of being composed of LEDs of three colors of red, green and blue, they may be composed of LEDs of any one color. But L
If the ED unit 20 is composed of two-color or three-color LEDs, various emission colors of the pointer 15 can be selected, and the design effect is increased.

Further, external information, for example, abnormality in operation of a specific part of the vehicle, abnormality such as abnormal approach to an obstacle, or alarm information is input, and the index means 10 is input according to the external information.
Any or all of the plurality of LED units 20 of FIG. 2 are made to emit light, and the entire indicator means 10 except the corresponding pointer 15 or the pointer 15 during speed display is made to emit a predetermined color, and the information thereof is superimposed on the pointer 13. can do. By doing so, such external information can be displayed on the speedometer that most attracts the driver's attention while driving the vehicle, and the driver's attention can be effectively given.

As described above, the vehicle meter according to the first embodiment has the light guide portion 12 made of a light guide and having a substantially rectangular cross section, and the thickness of the light guide portion 12. One side in the direction is used as the light reflecting surface 12a and the other side is used as the light emitting surface 12a.
b, a plurality of recesses 14 having a triangular cross section are continuously formed in the lengthwise direction of the light reflecting surface 12a to form a sawtooth shape, and the surface of each recess 14 on the one end side in the lengthwise direction is set to the lengthwise direction. A light guide piece 11 having a total reflection surface 14a inclined at an angle at which light in a predetermined direction from one end in the direction is totally reflected, and an LED arranged on one end side in the length direction of the light guide portion 12 of the light guide piece 11. The unit 20 and the light guide portion 1 of the light guide piece 11.
2 is disposed on the support portion 13 on one end side in the length direction, and the LE
A parabolic mirror as a light diverting unit that transforms the light from the D unit 20 into substantially parallel light and makes it enter the light guide portion 12 of the light guide piece 11 from the one end in the length direction in the predetermined direction. And is provided, which can be the embodiment of claim 1.

Therefore, by embodying such a structure in the pointer 15 of the indexing means 10 such as a speedometer, the LED unit 20 enters the light guide portion 12 of the light guide piece 11 through the parabolic mirror 25. The light is
Is totally reflected by the total reflection surface 14a, is emitted from the light emitting surface on the surface side of the index means 10 at a predetermined angle, and is visually recognized from the outside. At this time, most of the light in the light guide portion 12 is emitted to the outside at a constant angle, and therefore has a specific directivity and is visually recognized by a driver or the like who is a user. As a result, the brightness of the pointer 15 corresponding to the light guide portion 12 is significantly improved, and in particular, the inclination angle at the time of assembly in the meter panel 1, the arrangement position, etc. are appropriately set in consideration of the emission angle thereof. The amount of light reaching the user can be dramatically increased, and the visibility can be significantly improved.

In particular, in this embodiment, the total reflection surface 14a is provided on the back surface of the light guide portion 12 of the light guide piece 11, and the LE
Since the light from the D unit 20 is incident on the total reflection surface 14a as parallel light by the parabolic mirror 25, it is not necessary to provide a reflection surface such as a white coating on the rear surface of the light guide section 12
The light from the unit 20 can be totally reflected by the total reflection surface 14a with high efficiency and emitted from the light emission surface 12b, and the light does not leak from the rear surface of the light guide portion 12. Further, as compared with the case where the back surface of the light guide section 12 is simply made to have a total reflection angle, the light guide section 12 can be made significantly thinner, and the entire vehicle meter can be made thinner.

The embodiment according to claim 1 is different from the first embodiment in that the fan-shaped index means 10 is formed by integrally molding a large number of light guide pieces 11 continuously. Including the case where the light guide piece 11 is used alone. For example, the light guide piece 11 may be embodied as a pointer of a type that self-luminesces in a conventional analog meter. In this case, it is not necessary to arrange a large number of LEDs in the length direction of the pointer as in the conventional case, and a single LED or LED unit 20 can emit the entire pointer with sufficient brightness.

Further, in the vehicle meter of the first embodiment, the light guide portion 12 of the light guide piece 11 has a substantially flat trapezoidal shape in which one end in the length direction is wider than the other end, and the light guide portion 12 is provided. A plurality of light guide pieces 11 are arranged adjacent to each other with one end in the lengthwise direction being the outer peripheral side and the other end being the inner peripheral side, and a substantially fan-shaped indexing means 10 in plan view.
Is configured, and this can be an embodiment of claim 2.

Therefore, in the embodiment of claim 2, by embodying such a structure in the index means 10 such as a speedometer, in addition to the operation and effect of the embodiment of claim 1, from the LED unit 20 The emitted light is
The light is reflected by the parabolic mirror 25 of the corresponding pointer 15, becomes parallel light, enters the light guide portion 12, and is recessed in the light reflection surface 12a.
The light is totally reflected by the total reflection surface 12 and is emitted from the light emitting surface 12b of the light guide portion 12 to the front side, and the corresponding pointer 15 is caused to emit light by the index means 10. At this time, the variable amount of speed change can be expressed by the change of the light emitting area (angle) of the index means 10 or the change of only the light emitting position of the single pointer 15. Further, only the change points can be expressed by changing the color of the corresponding pointer 15. Then, the driver can recognize the traveling speed by visually recognizing the pointer 15 which emits light at the predetermined angle position of the index means 10. Therefore, the pointer and the drive mechanism for the pointer, which are the conventional mechanical components, are unnecessary. As a result, it is possible to reduce conventional mechanical components and improve product quality such as durability, reliability, and display accuracy. Further, the depth dimension can be reduced by the amount of the pointer and the drive mechanism, the thickness can be reduced, the degree of freedom in design can be increased, and the distance from the driver's eye position can be increased. Further, the indicator means 10 is fan-shaped and can be used in an atmosphere similar to that of a conventional analog meter, which improves the design and does not give the user a particular discomfort.

Particularly, the present embodiment is provided with a control means for causing the LED of the LED unit 20 corresponding to the light guide piece 11 at the predetermined angle position to emit light according to the traveling speed. It can be an embodiment. Therefore, in addition to the operation and effect of the embodiment of claim 2, it can be used as a speedometer, and when the vehicle is traveling, the control means for controlling the light emission of the LED corresponds to the pointer 15 at the predetermined angular position according to the traveling speed. The LED unit 20 emits light and the corresponding pointer 15 emits light. Then, the driver can recognize the traveling speed by visually recognizing the pointer 15 which emits light at the predetermined angle position of the index means 10. Therefore, the pointer and the drive mechanism for the pointer, which are the conventional mechanical components, are unnecessary. as a result,
It is possible to reduce conventional mechanical components and improve product quality such as durability, reliability and display accuracy. Also, the depth dimension can be reduced by the amount of the pointer and the drive mechanism,
It is possible to make the device thinner, increase the degree of freedom in design, and increase the distance between the driver's eyes and the eyes.

Further, in the present embodiment, the light guide piece 11
The LEDs of the LED unit 20 which is disposed corresponding to the above and which makes the light incident on each light guide piece 11 have three primary colors of red, green and blue. In this kind of embodiment, an arbitrary color can be expressed, and the variable can be expressed in detail by the color. In addition, a plurality of other pieces of information can be superimposed on the variable information.

In this embodiment, the light guide piece 1
The LEDs of the LED unit 20 which is arranged corresponding to No. 1 and makes the light incident on each light guide piece 11 have three primary colors of red, green, and blue. When the present invention is carried out, There can be two or more colors, and this can be the embodiment of claim 4. In this type of embodiment, the variable can be represented by any two colors. Also, other information can be superimposed on the variable information.

In the case where the back surface (the lower surface in FIG. 3) of the light guide portion 12 of the light guide piece 11 is a flat surface and the flat surface is coated with a white surface to provide a reflective surface, the above-described embodiment is performed. Although a function similar to that of the embodiment is exhibited, in this case, light is diffusely reflected and scattered by the white surface of the back surface of the light guide portion, and this embodiment is more excellent in terms of brightness or visibility,
The reflected light rate is also highly efficient. Further, it is conceivable that the entire light reflection surface 12a of the light guide portion 12 is tilted with respect to the light from the parabolic mirror 25 at a contour angle which is a total reflection angle or more. Since the thickness of the piece 11 becomes excessively large and the dimension of the meter panel 1 in the depth direction is considerably large, the present embodiment is more suitable for the request for thinning.

By the way, in the above embodiment, the index means 1 is used.
0 has a form expanded into a fan shape (for example, 240 degrees) of a predetermined angle, but in the case of implementing the present invention,
The indexing means can also be arranged in a straight line. For example, if the shape of each light guide piece 11 is a substantially rectangular shape when viewed from the top and a large number of these light guide pieces 11 are closely arranged in the width direction, the bar graph display similar to that of the digital meter can be used as the index means.

In this type of embodiment as well, the same effects as those of the above-described embodiment are obtained, and the variable can be expressed in a substantially linear form, and the change can be expressed in a bar graph or only the position can be changed. it can.

Also in this case, similarly to the above-described embodiment, the embodiment is provided with the control means for causing the LED unit 20 facing the light guide piece 11 at the predetermined position to emit light according to the traveling speed. You can also Then, as in the above-described embodiment, the LED unit 20 that enters light into the light guide piece 11 may be an embodiment in which the LED unit 20 is composed of LEDs of two or more colors. In this type of embodiment, the variable can be represented by any two colors. Also, other information can be superimposed on the variable information.

Further, as in the above-mentioned embodiment, the LED unit 20 disposed on the outer peripheral portion of the piece and for making light incident on each light guide piece 11 has three primary colors of red, green and blue. It can also be in the form. In this kind of embodiment, an arbitrary color can be expressed, and the variable can be expressed in detail by the color. In addition, a plurality of other pieces of information can be superimposed on the variable information.

Next, another embodiment according to the present invention will be described below.

In each embodiment, only the differences from the first embodiment will be described, and the same components as those in the first embodiment will be described with the same reference numerals in the drawings. Is omitted.

FIG. 10 is a sectional view showing a vehicle meter according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

In this embodiment, the cross-sectional shape of the light guide portion 42 of each light guide piece 41 constituting the index means 10 is changed from the elongated trapezoidal shape of the first embodiment to a substantially rectangular shape, and its light reflecting surface is formed. 42a is substantially parallel to the light emitting surface 42b. In addition,
The planar shape of the light guide section 42 is the same as the light guide section 1 of the first embodiment.
It has an elongated trapezoidal shape similar to that of 2, and a large number of light guide pieces 41 are arranged in a fan shape to configure the indexing means 10. The LED unit 20 is installed at the lower end of the support portion 43 of the light guide piece 41. A parabolic mirror 45 is arranged at the corner of the light guide piece 41, and the LE is arranged at the focal position of the parabolic mirror 45.
The reflection direction of the reflection surface 45a is adjusted so that the light from the D unit 20 is incident on the light guide portion 42 at an angle inclined by a predetermined angle downward from the length direction of the light guide portion 42. Further, a concave portion 44 having a total reflection surface 44a is formed in the lengthwise direction of the light reflection surface 42a of the light guide portion 42 as in the first embodiment. The recess 44 has a linear groove shape extending in the width direction of the light reflecting surface 42a. Then, the recess 44
Is a total reflection surface 4 so that the reflected light from the parabolic mirror 45 enters the total reflection surface 44a at a critical angle or more and is totally reflected.
The inclination angle of 4a is set. That is, the total reflection surface 44a
However, the inclination angle θ is the same as in the first embodiment with respect to the traveling direction of the reflected light from the parabolic mirror 45. It should be noted that reflective surfaces (not shown) made of white coating similar to those in the first embodiment are formed on both side surfaces in the width direction and the other end surface in the length direction of the light guide portion 42. Other configurations are the same as in the first embodiment.

The vehicular meter of the second embodiment having the above-mentioned structure functions in the same manner as the first embodiment and has the same effect. In addition, the light reflecting surface 42a is replaced by the light emitting surface 42
Since it is substantially parallel to b, the thickness of the light guide portion 42 of the light guide piece 41 can be further reduced, and the overall thickness of the device can be further reduced.

FIG. 11 is a plan view showing a vehicle meter according to a third embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 12 is a sectional view taken along the line BB of FIG. 11 showing a vehicle meter of the third embodiment of the present invention cut in the radial direction. FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing the circuit configuration of the entire vehicle meter of the third embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 14 is a flow chart showing the overall operation of the vehicle meter of the third embodiment of the present invention.

In FIGS. 11 and 12, a speedometer as a vehicle meter of the present embodiment comprises a circular light guide plate 51 and a circular pointer plate 60 superimposed on each other. The light guide plate 51 is made up of a light guide portion 52, which is formed of a transparent resin material similar to that of the first embodiment, in a disk shape having a predetermined radius, and a support portion 53 which hangs downward from the outer peripheral end of the light guide portion. It is molded. Further, the light guide section 52 has a shape such that its cross section becomes thinner toward the center, and one side in the thickness direction (the lower surface in FIG. 12) serves as a light reflecting surface 52a and the other side surface serves as a light emitting surface 52b. . The light guide 52 has a sawtooth shape in which a large number of recesses 54 each having a triangular cross section are continuously formed in the lengthwise direction of the light reflecting surface 52a. In addition, the light guide section 52 of the present embodiment
Has a cross-sectional shape that becomes thinner toward the center, and therefore the light reflection surface 52a is inclined so as to approach the light emission surface 52b toward the center while being inclined upward. Also,
Since the light guide plate 51 of the present embodiment has a disk shape, the concave portion 54 has a circular groove shape extending along the circumferential direction of the light guide plate 51, and the circular groove shape is provided on the back surface of the light guide section 52. Therefore, a large number of concave portions 54 are formed side by side.

A plurality of LED units 20 having the same structure as the LED unit 20 of the first embodiment are embedded and fixed to the lower end portion of the support portion of the light guide plate at a predetermined angular position in the circumferential direction. . The LED unit 20 is electrically connected to a print board (not shown). In addition, the light guide plate 5
In the corner portion between the light guide portion 52 and the support portion 53 of No. 1, at the position corresponding to the arrangement position of the LED unit, a parabolic surface having the same configuration as the parabolic mirror of the first embodiment. The mirror 55 is joined and fixed. That is, the parabolic mirror 55 of the present embodiment has a reflecting surface 55a having a shape obtained by dividing a two-dimensional parabolic surface into two in the curved surface direction, as in the first embodiment. The corner portion is formed in a curved surface shape corresponding to the reflecting surface 55a. Then, the reflecting surface 55a side of the parabolic mirror 55 is closely joined to the corner portion of the light guide plate 51,
The LED unit 20 is formed by the parabolic reflection surface 55a.
The light from is converted into substantially parallel light and is incident on the light guide portion 52 of the light guide plate 51 from the outer peripheral end side in a predetermined direction, that is, in the radiation direction. Here, the positional relationship between the LED unit 20 and the parabolic mirror 55 is such that the LED unit 20 which is substantially a point light source is located at the focal position of the parabolic mirror 55. Moreover, if the optical axis of the LED unit 20 in the support portion 53 is oriented toward the center of the reflecting surface 55a of the parabolic mirror 55, the high intensity light around the optical axis of the LED unit 20 is emitted. Can be converted into parallel light by the reflecting surface 55a and incident on the light guide section 52, and the amount of light incident on the light guide section 52 can be further increased.

Furthermore, in the light guide plate 51, the surface of each recess 54 on the outer peripheral end side (the surface on the parabolic mirror 55 side) is inclined at an angle at which light in the predetermined direction from the outer peripheral end side is totally reflected. It is a total reflection surface. As in the first embodiment, the total reflection surface of the concave portion 54 is upward at a predetermined inclination angle with respect to the parallel light traveling in the light guide portion 52 of the light guide plate 51 along the radial direction. It is inclined. This inclination angle takes into account the critical angle for total reflection depending on the type of the transparent resin material forming the light guide plate 51, and the angle of incidence of the parallel light on the total reflection surface is the normal line of the total reflection surface. On the other hand, it is set to be equal to or more than the critical angle. As a result, the parallel light incident from the LED unit 20 through the reflecting surface 55a of the parabolic mirror 55 in the length direction of the light guide portion 52 is orthogonal to the parallel light by the total reflection surface of the recess 54 ( (In the upper part of FIG. 12), the light is totally reflected and travels from the light reflecting surface 52a of the light guide portion 52 to the light emitting surface 52b.
The light is emitted from the light emitting surface 52b to the outside.

Since the scale portion 57 having a speed display is formed on the outer peripheral portion of the surface of the light guide plate 51, it is needless to say that the meter panel 1 of the present embodiment is not required to have a speed display. The light guide plate 51 is fixed so as not to rotate relative to the meter panel 1. The pointer disc 60 has a substantially circular plate shape having a smaller diameter than the light guide plate 51, and is arranged concentrically with the light guide plate 51 so as to expose the scale portion 57. The scale part 57 is provided on the light emitting surface 52b of the light guide part 52 on the inner peripheral side of the corner part of the light guide plate 51 and on the outer side of the outer peripheral edge of the pointer plate 60. The pointer board 60 is formed of a resin material or the like capable of blocking light, and is notched in a slit shape at a predetermined angular position in the radial direction to serve as a pointer 61, and a portion other than the pointer 61 serves as an opaque light shielding portion 63.
The LED unit 20 from the light emitting surface 52b of the light guide plate 51
The light is blocked by the light shielding portion 63 and is transmitted only from the pointer 61. Further, the center of the pointer board 60 is drive-coupled via a drive shaft 65 to a drive unit 71 arranged inside the automotive meter 1, and is rotatable with respect to the light guide plate 51. The drive unit 71 is configured to rotate the pointer board 60 via the drive shaft 65 by an amount according to the traveling speed of the vehicle under the control of a driver 81 (see FIG. 13) described later.

Regarding the color type and the total number of LED units 20 to be arranged, the entire scale display section 50 is made to emit light clearly, the scale section 53 is clearly displayed, and the light from the scale display section 50 is used as a pointer. It can be appropriately selected as long as the pointer 61 of the board 60 is sufficiently transmitted to enable speed display by the pointer 61. Further, the LED unit 20 may be composed of a single color LED, but a different color L
If the ED is internally provided in the support portion 53 of the light guide plate 51 and the emission color of the light guide plate 51 can be changed variously, the designability of the vehicle meter can be diversified and the design effect is increased. In this case, the light emission control circuit (not shown) controls the L of a predetermined color.
The ED is selected and the light emission is controlled to emit light of a desired color.

Further, in the present embodiment, the light guide plate 51 is
A film similar to the light diffusion film 29 of the first embodiment is polymerized and bonded to the surface of the light reflecting surface 5 of the light guide plate 51.
The light having directivity from 2a is scattered and diffused as a whole, and the parabolic mirrors 55 to L at the outer peripheral end of the light guide plate 51 are also scattered.
The ED unit 20 part may be masked. Further, the light guide plate 51 of the present embodiment is formed in a substantially fan plate shape with a predetermined angle as long as it is within the angle range of the scale portion 57, and a reflection surface such as a white painted surface is formed on both end surfaces in the circumferential direction. It may be provided.

Next, the electrical configuration and operation of the vehicle meter of this embodiment will be described.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing the circuit configuration of the entire vehicle meter of the third embodiment of the present invention. FIG.
4 is a flow chart showing the overall operation of the vehicle meter of the third embodiment of the present invention.

The vehicular meter of this embodiment has an electric configuration similar to that of the first embodiment (see FIG. 8) as a whole, and is the same as that of the first embodiment. It operates according to a program similar to the program (see FIG. 9). On the other hand, in the first embodiment, the driver 31 changes the L
By controlling the light emission of the ED group, the pointer 15 is displaced to an angular position corresponding to the traveling speed to display the speed, whereas the vehicle meter of the present embodiment is shown in FIGS.
As shown in, the driver 81 connected to the storage circuit 36 of the control unit 35 controls the rotation of the drive unit 71 to displace the pointer 61 to the angular position corresponding to the traveling speed and display the speed.

That is, in FIG. 13, in the vehicle meter of the third embodiment, the driver 81 is connected to the memory circuit 36, and the driver 81 is connected to the drive section 71.
Other configurations are the same as in the first embodiment. In the present embodiment, the speed sensor 32, the waveform shaping circuit 33,
The control unit 35, the drive unit 71, and the driver 81 constitute a control unit that controls the rotation of the pointer board 60 with respect to the light guide plate 51.

Further, in FIG. 14, the vehicle meter of the third embodiment has the count data V2 of the counter 34 and the current display speed data in step S15 after the counting operation by the counter 34 in steps S1 to S4. The stored data V1 is compared with the stored data V1 and the count data V2 is sent to the driver 81 in step S6 only when the difference V1-V2 between them is 1 km / h or more. Based on the new count data V2, the driver 81 controls the rotation direction and the rotation amount of the drive unit 71 in step S17, controls the rotation of the pointer board 60, and changes the speed display by the pointer 61. That is, the scale portion 5 of the light guide plate 51 of the pointer 61 of the pointer board 60 corresponding to the traveling speed of the count data V2.
The angular position with respect to 7 is calculated, and the pointer 61 is set at that angular position.
The pointer 71 is rotated by the drive unit 71 via the drive shaft 65 so that Other operations are the same as those in the first embodiment. In the present embodiment, during the above operation, L
The ED unit 20 is constantly driven to emit light, and the light guide plate 51 is always made to emit light.

As described above, the vehicle meter of the third embodiment has the light guide portion 52 formed of a light guide and having a substantially fan plate shape or a disk shape with a predetermined angle. One side in the thickness direction is a light reflecting surface 52a and the other side is a light emitting surface 52b, and a large number of recesses 54 each having a triangular cross section are continuously formed in a radial direction of the light reflecting surface 52a to form a sawtooth shape. At the same time, the surface of each recess 54 on the outer peripheral end side of the light guide portion 52 is
The light guide plate 51 is a total reflection surface that is inclined at an angle at which light in a predetermined direction from the outer peripheral end side of the light guide part 52 is totally reflected, and the LED arranged on the outer peripheral end side of the light guide part 52 of the light guide plate 51. The unit 20 and the light guide part 52 of the light guide plate 51 are arranged on the outer peripheral end side, and convert the light from the LED unit 20 into substantially parallel light to form an outer peripheral end with respect to the light guide part 52 of the light guide plate 51. And a parabolic mirror 55 as a light diverting means which is incident in the predetermined direction from the side, and is arranged concentrically with respect to the light emitting surface 52b of the light guide plate 51 so as to be rotatable relative to each other. A pointer board 60 having a pointer 61 which is cut out in a slit shape in the radial direction so as to guide the light from the light emitting surface 52b of 51 in the thickness direction. Can be

Therefore, when the LED unit 20 is caused to emit light, the light emitted from the LED unit 20 is reflected by the parabolic mirror 55 on the outer peripheral end side of the light guide plate 51 and is incident on the light guide section 52 as parallel light. , The light reflecting surface 52 on the back side
The light is totally reflected by the total reflection surface of the concave portion 54 of a and is emitted from the light emitting surface 52b on the front surface side. At this time, the light emitting surface 5 is removed by the pointer board 60 located on the front surface side of the light guide plate 51 except for the scale portion 57 of the light guide plate 51 and the pointer 61 of the pointer board 60.
Light emission from 2b is blocked. Therefore, the driver sees only the scale portion 57 of the light guide plate 51 and the pointer 61 of the pointer board 60. As a result, the pointer 61 can be used to emit light by using the LED unit 20, and the indicator 61 that emits light and the scale portion 57 that emits light at the outer peripheral portion of the light guide plate 51 can exhibit a unique design effect. .

Further, since the LED units 20 are arranged on the outer periphery of the light guide plate 51, the number of the LED units 20 can be increased, and the light guide plate 51 as a whole can be made brighter.

Particularly, in the present embodiment, the concave portion 54 having the total reflection surface 54 is provided on the back surface of the light guide portion 52 of the light guide plate 51, and the light from the LED unit 20 is converted into parallel light by the parabolic mirror 55. Since the light enters the total reflection surface, the light guide portion 5
2LED without white coating on the back
The light from the unit 20 can be totally reflected by the total reflection surface with high efficiency and emitted from the light emitting surface 52b, and the light does not leak from the back surface of the light guide portion 52. Further, as compared with the case where the back surface of the light guide section 52 is simply made to have a total reflection angle, the light guide section can be made significantly thinner, and the entire vehicle meter can be made thinner.

On the other hand, in the third embodiment, the LED
The support portion 5 that positions the unit 20 on the outer peripheral portion of the light guide plate 51.
In the case of carrying out the present invention, the LED unit 20 can be arranged in the inner peripheral portion of the light guide plate 51 by providing an insertion hole in the central portion of the light guide plate 51. You can also At this time, although the thickness of the light guide plate 51 is not shown, it is opposite to that of the present embodiment.

That is, the description will be given using the member numbers of the vehicle meter of the third embodiment. The light guide section 52 is made of a light guide and has a substantially fan plate shape or a disk shape with a predetermined angle. One side surface in the thickness direction of the light guide portion 52 is a light reflecting surface 52a, and the other side surface is a light emitting surface 52b.
A large number of recesses 54 each having a triangular cross-section are continuously formed in the radial direction of a to form a sawtooth shape, and the surface of each recess 54 on the inner peripheral end side of the light guide portion 52 is formed on the inner peripheral end of the light guide portion 52. The light guide plate 51 that is a total reflection surface inclined at an angle at which light in a predetermined direction from the side is totally reflected, the LED unit 20 arranged on the inner peripheral end side of the light guide portion 52 of the light guide plate 51, and the light guide plate. It is arranged on the inner peripheral end side of the light guide portion 52 of the light plate 51, redirects the light from the LED unit 20 into substantially parallel light, and guides the light from the inner peripheral end side of the light guide portion 52 of the light guide plate 51 from the inner peripheral end side. A parabolic mirror 55 as a light diverting member which is incident in a direction and a light emitting surface 52b of the light guide plate 51 are concentrically overlapped and arranged so as to be rotatable relative to each other. There is a pointer 61 that is cut out in a slit shape in the radial direction so as to guide the light from the surface 52b in the thickness direction. Can also be configured to and a guidance plate 60 that, which can be the embodiment of claim 6.

Therefore, when the LED unit 20 is caused to emit light, the light emitted from the LED unit 20 is reflected by the parabolic mirror 55 on the inner peripheral end side of the light guide plate 51 and is incident on the light guide section 52 as parallel light. The light reflection surface 52 on the back side
The light is totally reflected by the total reflection surface of the concave portion 54 of a and is emitted from the light emitting surface 52b on the front surface side. At this time, the light emitting surface 5 is removed by the pointer board 60 located on the front surface side of the light guide plate 51 except for the scale portion 57 of the light guide plate 51 and the pointer 61 of the pointer board 60.
Light emission from 2b is blocked. Therefore, the driver sees only the scale portion 57 of the light guide plate 51 and the pointer 61 of the pointer board 60. As a result, the pointer 61 can be used to emit light by using the LED unit 20, and the indicator 61 that emits light and the scale portion 57 that emits light at the outer peripheral portion of the light guide plate 51 can exhibit a unique design effect. .

Further, since the LED units 20 are arranged on the inner circumference of the light guide plate 51, uniform brightness can be obtained even if the number of the LED units 20 is reduced.

In particular, in this embodiment, the total reflection surface 5 is provided on the back surface of the light guide portion 52 of the light guide plate 51, as in the fifth embodiment.
4 is provided with the concave portion 54 and the LED unit 2
Since the light from 0 is incident on the total reflection surface as parallel light by the parabolic mirror 55, the light from the LED unit 20 is highly efficient by the total reflection surface without providing a white coating or the like on the back surface of the light guide section 52. Thus, the light can be totally reflected and emitted from the light emitting surface 52b, and light does not leak from the back surface of the light guide portion 52.
Further, as compared with the case where the back surface of the light guide section 52 is simply made to have a total reflection angle, the light guide section can be made significantly thinner, and the entire device can be made thinner.

Further, in the third embodiment, the speed sensor 32, the waveform shaping circuit 33, the control section 35 and the driving section 71.
The driver 81 constitutes a control means for controlling the rotation of the pointer board 60 with respect to the light guide plate 51. The control means causes the LED unit 20 corresponding to the light guide plate 51 at a predetermined position to emit light according to the traveling speed. This is an embodiment of claim 7.

Therefore, the above claim 5 or claim 6
In addition to the operation and effect of the embodiment described above, it can be used as a speedometer, and when the vehicle is traveling, the light guide plate 51 and the pointer board 60 are relatively rotated by the control means at an angle according to the traveling speed. The pointer 61 in the light emitting state indicates the speed display of the scale portion 57 of the light guide plate 51 at a predetermined angular position. As a result, the driver can adjust the light guide plate 5 according to the traveling speed.
It is possible to visually recognize the pointer 61 that emits light at a predetermined angle position of the first scale portion 57 and instructs a predetermined speed display, and it is possible to recognize the traveling speed. As a result, the LED unit 2
The pointer 61 can be used to emit light by using 0, and the indicator 61 that emits light and the scale portion 57 that emits light at the outer peripheral portion of the light guide plate 51 can exhibit a unique design effect.

In the third embodiment, the light guide plate 5 is used.
The LED unit 20 that allows light to enter 1 has two or more colors, and this can be the embodiment of claim 8. In this type of embodiment, the variable can be represented by any two colors. Also, other information can be superimposed on the variable information.

By the way, in the third embodiment, the driving portion 71 is connected to the pointer board 60 so as to be rotatable with respect to the light guide plate 51.
May be connected to be rotatable with respect to the pointer board 60. In this case, if the pointer 61 of the pointer board 60 is fixed at the vertical position on the meter panel 1, the driver can always visually recognize the pointer 61 at the same position, and can easily and surely check the traveling speed. it can. That is, according to the present invention, the light guide plate 51 and the pointer board 60 may be rotated relative to each other so that the pointer 61 can instruct the scale portion 57 to display a predetermined speed.

Furthermore, the present invention may be embodied in other instruments such as the tachometer 5 in addition to the speedometer.
Further, the electrical configuration of the present invention and its control program are not limited to those in the above embodiment. In addition, the resolution of the pointer 13 in the first embodiment is set to 5 km / h, but depending on the size of the LED unit 20, the light emission characteristics, etc.
The resolution of the pointer 13 is 1 km / h to 4 km / h, or 6 km / h
The above may be set.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the light reflecting surfaces 12a and 5 are provided on the back surface of the light guide piece 11 or the light guide plate 51.
Although the recesses 14 and 54 having the total reflection surface 14a are integrally formed as 2a, the same inclination as above is applied to the back surface of the sheet or film material made of the same material (same refractive index) as the light guide piece 11 or the light guide plate 51. A light reflecting surface may be formed by providing a concave portion having an angled total reflection surface and bonding such a material to the back surfaces of the light guide portions 12 and 52. The light diverting means of the present invention may be any one as long as parallel light can be incident on the light guide portions 12, 42 and 52, and the parabolic mirror 2 of each of the above embodiments.
5, 45, 55, for example, the light of the LED is converted into parallel light through the collimator lens as the light guides 12, 4.
Other configurations, such as incident on 2, 52, may be used.

[0082]

As described above, according to the vehicle meter of the first aspect, a large number of concave portions having a triangular cross section are continuously formed in the lengthwise direction of the light reflecting surface of the light guide portion of the light guide piece to form a sawtooth shape. In addition, the surface of each recess on the one end side in the lengthwise direction is a total reflection surface inclined at an angle at which light in the predetermined direction from the one end side in the lengthwise direction is totally reflected. The LED and the light diverting means are arranged on one end side in the length direction of the light section, and the light diverting means diverts the light from the LED into substantially parallel light to the light guide section of the light guide piece. The light is emitted from the one end side in the length direction in the predetermined direction.

Therefore, the parallel light incident on the light guide portion of the light guide piece from the LED unit via the light diverting means is
The light is totally reflected by the total reflection surface of the concave portion, emitted from the light emission surface on the light guide surface side at a predetermined angle, and visually recognized from the outside. At this time, most of the light in the light guide section is emitted to the outside at a constant angle, and therefore has a specific directivity and is visually recognized by the driver or the like who is the user. As a result, the brightness of the light guide section is significantly improved, and in particular, the amount of light reaching the user can be set by appropriately setting the angle of inclination, the position of installation, etc. in the meter panel in consideration of the emission angle. Can be dramatically increased, and visibility can be significantly improved.
In particular, without providing a reflective surface such as a white coating on the back surface of the light guide portion, the light from the LED unit can be totally reflected by the total reflection surface with high efficiency and emitted from the light emission surface, and the light leaks from the back surface of the light guide portion. There is no such thing. Further, the thickness of the light guide portion can be significantly reduced as compared with the case where the back surface of the light guide portion is simply made to have a total reflection angle, and the entire vehicle meter can be made thin.

According to a second aspect of the vehicle meter, the light guide portion of the light guide piece according to the first aspect has a substantially trapezoidal planar shape, and one end in the length direction of the light guide portion is the outer peripheral side and the other end is the inner peripheral side. The light guide pieces of are arranged adjacent to each other to form a substantially fan-shaped index means in a plane.

Therefore, by embodying such a structure in an indexing means such as a speedometer, for example,
In addition to the effect of, the light emitted from the LED unit becomes parallel light by the light redirecting means of the corresponding pointer and enters the light guide portion, and is totally reflected by the total reflection surface of the concave portion of the light reflection surface. The light is emitted from the light emitting surface of the light guide section to the front side, and the corresponding pointer is caused to emit light by the index means. Then, the driver can recognize the traveling speed by visually recognizing the pointer that emits light at the predetermined angular position of the index means. Therefore, the pointer and the drive mechanism for the pointer, which are the conventional mechanical components, are unnecessary. As a result, it is possible to reduce conventional mechanical components and improve product quality such as durability, reliability, and display accuracy. Further, the depth dimension can be reduced by the amount of the pointer and the drive mechanism, the thickness can be reduced, the degree of freedom in design can be increased, and the distance from the driver's eye position can be increased. Further, the indicator means is fan-shaped and can be used in an atmosphere similar to that of a conventional analog meter, which improves the design and does not give the user a particular discomfort.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the vehicle meter of the second aspect, the control means causes the LED corresponding to the light guide piece at a predetermined angular position to emit light according to the traveling speed. Therefore, in addition to the effect of claim 2, it can be used as a speedometer, and when the vehicle is running, L
The LED corresponding to the pointer at the predetermined angular position emits light according to the traveling speed by the control means for controlling the emission of the ED, and the corresponding pointer emits light. Then, the driver can recognize the traveling speed by visually recognizing the pointer that emits light at the predetermined angular position of the index means. Therefore, the pointer and the drive mechanism for the pointer, which are the conventional mechanical components, are unnecessary. As a result, it is possible to reduce conventional mechanical components and improve product quality such as durability, reliability, and display accuracy. Further, the depth dimension can be reduced by the amount of the pointer and the drive mechanism, the thickness can be reduced, the degree of freedom in design can be increased, and the distance from the driver's eye position can be increased.

According to the vehicle meter of claim 4, in the configuration of claim 2 or claim 3, since the LEDs have two or more colors, vehicle speed information or other information can be expressed by color. Therefore, claim 2 or claim 3
In addition to the effect of, the variable can be expressed by any two colors. Also, other information can be superimposed on the variable information.

According to a fifth aspect of the vehicle meter of the present invention, a large number of recesses each having a triangular cross section are continuously formed in the radial direction of the light reflecting surface of the light guide portion of the light guide plate to form a sawtooth shape, and the guide of each recess is provided. The surface on the outer peripheral end side of the light portion is an inclined surface that is inclined at an angle at which light in the predetermined direction from the outer peripheral end of the light guide portion is inclined, while the LED and the light are provided on the outer peripheral end side of the light guide portion of the light guide piece. Arranging a diverting means, the light from the LED is diverted into substantially parallel light, which is incident on the light guide portion of the light guide plate from the outer peripheral end side in the predetermined direction, and further, the light exit surface of the light guide plate. A pointer board having pointers cut out in a slit shape in the radial direction so as to guide light from the thickness direction is concentrically overlapped with the light exit surface of the light guide plate and is rotatably arranged relative to the light exit surface. It is a thing.

Therefore, when the LED emits light, LE
The light emitted from D is collimated by the light diverting means on the outer peripheral end side of the light guide plate, is incident on the light guide portion, and is totally reflected by the total reflection surface of the concave portion of the light reflection surface on the rear surface side. , Is emitted from the light emitting surface on the front surface side. At this time, the pointer board located on the front surface side of the light guide plate blocks light emission from the light emitting surface except for the scale portion of the light guide plate and the pointer of the pointer board. Therefore,
Only the scale part of the light guide plate and the pointer of the pointer board are visually recognized by the driver. As a result, the LED can be used to display the pointer by light emission, and a unique design effect can be exhibited by the pointer that emits light and the scale portion that emits light at the outer peripheral portion of the light guide plate. Furthermore, since the LEDs are arranged around the outer periphery of the light guide plate, the number of LEDs can be increased, and the entire light guide plate can be made brighter. In particular, a concave portion having a total reflection surface is provided on the back surface of the light guide portion of the light guide plate, and the light from the LED is incident on the total reflection surface as parallel light by the light redirecting means. Without providing the above, the light from the LED can be totally reflected by the total reflection surface with high efficiency and emitted from the light emission surface, and the light does not leak from the back surface of the light guide section. Further, the thickness of the light guide portion can be significantly reduced as compared with the case where the back surface of the light guide portion is simply made to have a total reflection angle, and the entire vehicle meter can be made thin.

According to a sixth aspect of the vehicle meter of the present invention, a plurality of recesses each having a triangular cross section are continuously formed in a radial direction of the light reflecting surface of the light guide portion of the light guide plate so as to form a sawtooth shape, and the guide of each recess is provided. The surface on the outer peripheral end side of the light portion is an inclined surface that is inclined at an angle at which the light in the predetermined direction from the outer peripheral end of the light guide portion is inclined, while the LED and the LED on the inner peripheral end side of the light guide portion of the light guide piece. A light diverting unit is arranged to diverte light from the LED into substantially parallel light, which is incident on the light guide portion of the light guide plate from the inner peripheral end side in the predetermined direction, and further, the light of the light guide plate. A pointer board having pointers cut out in a slit shape in the radial direction so as to guide the light from the exit surface in the thickness direction is overlapped concentrically with the light exit surface of the light guide plate, and is relatively rotatable. It is to be placed.

Therefore, when the LED is made to emit light, LE
The light emitted from D is collimated by the light diverting means on the inner peripheral end side of the light guide plate, is incident on the light guide portion, and is totally reflected by the total reflection surface of the concave portion of the light reflection surface on the rear surface side. And is emitted from the light emitting surface on the front surface side. At this time, the pointer board located on the front surface side of the light guide plate blocks light emission from the light emitting surface except for the scale portion of the light guide plate and the pointer of the pointer board. Therefore,
Only the scale part of the light guide plate and the pointer of the pointer board are visually recognized by the driver. As a result, the LED can be used to display the pointer by light emission, and a unique design effect can be exhibited by the pointer that emits light and the scale portion that emits light at the outer peripheral portion of the light guide plate. Further, since the LEDs are arranged on the inner periphery of the light guide plate, uniform brightness can be obtained even if the number of LEDs arranged is small. In particular, a concave portion having a total reflection surface is provided on the back surface of the light guide portion of the light guide plate, and the light from the LED is incident on the total reflection surface as parallel light by the light redirecting means. Without providing the above, the light from the LED can be totally reflected by the total reflection surface with high efficiency and emitted from the light emission surface, and the light does not leak from the back surface of the light guide section. Further, the thickness of the light guide portion can be significantly reduced as compared with the case where the back surface of the light guide portion is simply made to have a total reflection angle, and the entire vehicle meter can be made thin.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the vehicle meter of the fifth or sixth aspect, the control means causes the LED corresponding to the light guide piece at a predetermined position to emit light according to the traveling speed. Therefore, in addition to the effect of claim 5 or claim 6, it can be used as a speedometer,
When the vehicle is traveling, since the light guide plate and the pointer board are relatively rotated by the control means at an angle according to the traveling speed, the pointer in the light emitting state indicates the speed display at the predetermined angular position of the scale portion of the light guide plate. Thereby, the driver can visually recognize the pointer indicating the predetermined speed by emitting light at a predetermined angular position of the scale portion of the light guide plate according to the traveling speed, and can recognize the traveling speed. As a result, the LED can be used to display the pointer by light emission, and a unique design effect can be exhibited by the pointer that emits light and the scale portion that emits light at the outer peripheral portion of the light guide plate.

According to the vehicle meter of claim 7, in the structure of claim 5 or claim 6, since the LEDs have two or more colors, vehicle speed information or other information can be expressed by color. Therefore, claim 5 or claim 6
In addition to the effect of, the variable can be expressed by any two colors. Also, other information can be superimposed on the variable information.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing an entire vehicle meter to which a vehicle meter according to a first embodiment of the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a speedometer as a vehicle meter according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an end view taken along the line AA of FIG. 2 showing the vehicular meter of the first embodiment of the present invention cut in the radial direction.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a light guide piece of a vehicle meter according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a plan view showing a main part of the vehicle meter of the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a partial cross-sectional view showing a reflecting surface of the light guide piece of the vehicle meter according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a partial plan view showing a usage state of a speedometer as a vehicle meter according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration of an entire vehicle meter according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the overall operation of the vehicle meter of the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is an end view showing a vehicle meter according to a second embodiment of the present invention by cutting it in a radial direction.

FIG. 11 is a plan view showing a vehicle meter according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a sectional view taken along the line BB of FIG. 11 showing the vehicular meter of the third embodiment of the present invention cut in the radial direction.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration of an entire vehicle meter according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing the overall operation of the vehicle meter of the third embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Indicator means 11,41 Light guide piece 12,42 Light guide part 12a, 42a Light reflecting surface 12b, 42b Light emitting surface 14,44 Recessed portion 14a, 44a Total reflection surface 25,45 Parabolic mirror (light redirecting means) 20 LED unit (LED) 31, 81 Driver (control means) 32 Speed sensor (control means) 51 Light guide plate 52 Light guide part 52a Light reflection surface 52b Light emission surface 54 Recessed portion 55 Parabolic mirror (light redirecting means) 60 Pointer board 61 pointer

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A long light guide section made of a light guide and having a substantially rectangular cross section, wherein one side surface in the thickness direction of the light guide section serves as a light reflecting surface and the other side surface serves as a light emitting surface. , A plurality of concave portions having a triangular cross section are continuously formed in the lengthwise direction of the light reflecting surface to form a sawtooth shape, and the surface of each concave portion on the one end side in the lengthwise direction is formed from the one end side in the lengthwise direction. A light guide piece that is a total reflection surface that is inclined at an angle at which light in a predetermined direction is totally reflected; a light emitting diode that is disposed on one end side in the length direction of the light guide portion of the light guide piece; It is arranged on one end side in the length direction of the light section,
Light redirecting means for redirecting the light from the light emitting diode into substantially parallel light and entering the light guide portion of the light guide piece from the one end side in the length direction in the predetermined direction. A vehicle meter. 2. The light guide portion of the light guide piece has a generally trapezoidal shape with one end in the length direction wider than the other end, and one end in the length direction of the light guide portion is the outer peripheral side and the other end is the inner peripheral side. The vehicle meter according to claim 1, wherein a large number of light guide pieces are arranged adjacent to each other to form a substantially fan-shaped indicator means in a plane. 3. The vehicle meter according to claim 2, further comprising control means for causing a light emitting diode corresponding to the light guide piece at a predetermined angle position to emit light according to a traveling speed. 4. The light emitting diode, which is arranged corresponding to the light guide piece and which makes light incident on each light guide piece, has two or more colors. Vehicle meter. 5. A light guide part formed of a light guide and having a substantially fan plate shape or a substantially disk shape at a predetermined angle, wherein one side face in the thickness direction of the light guide part is a light reflecting face and the other side face is formed. As the light emitting surface,
A large number of concave portions having a triangular cross section are continuously formed in the radial direction of the light reflecting surface to form a sawtooth shape, and the surface of each concave portion on the outer peripheral end side of the light guide section is formed from the outer peripheral end side of the light guide section. A light guide plate that is a total reflection surface that is inclined at an angle at which light in a predetermined direction is totally reflected, a light emitting diode disposed on the outer peripheral end side of the light guide part of the light guide plate, and an outer peripheral end of the light guide part of the light guide plate. A light diverting unit that is disposed on a side of the light emitting diode and that transforms the light from the light emitting diode into substantially parallel light to enter the light guide portion of the light guide plate in the predetermined direction from the outer peripheral end side; A pointer having a pointer that is concentrically overlapped with the emitting surface and is rotatably arranged relative to the emitting surface, and is notched in a radial direction so as to guide light from the light emitting surface of the light guide plate in the thickness direction. A vehicle meter comprising a panel. 6. A light guide portion formed of a light guide and having a substantially fan plate shape or a substantially disk shape at a predetermined angle, wherein one side surface in the thickness direction of the light guide section serves as a light reflecting surface and the other side surface is formed. As the light emitting surface,
A large number of recesses each having a triangular cross section are continuously formed in the radial direction of the light reflecting surface to form a sawtooth shape, and the surface of each recess on the inner peripheral end side of the light guide section is formed from the inner peripheral end side of the light guide section. A light guide plate that is a total reflection surface that is inclined at an angle at which light in a predetermined direction is totally reflected, a light-emitting diode that is disposed on the inner peripheral end side of the light guide part of the light guide plate, and a light guide part of the light guide plate. A light diverting member which is disposed on a peripheral end side and which redirects light from the light emitting diode into substantially parallel light and enters the light guide section of the light guide plate from the inner peripheral end side in the predetermined direction; A pointer that is concentrically overlapped with the light exit surface of the light plate and is rotatably arranged relative to the light exit surface, and is slit in the radial direction so as to guide the light from the light exit surface of the light guide plate in the thickness direction. A meter for a vehicle, comprising: 7. The vehicle according to claim 5, further comprising control means for rotating a pointer of the pointer board to a predetermined angle position of the light guide plate according to a traveling speed. For meter. 8. The vehicle meter according to claim 5, wherein the light-emitting diodes that enter light into the light guide plate have two or more colors.