JPH0996547A - Vehicle-mounted measuring instrument - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a vehicle-mounted measuring instrument for reducing the number of parts while illuminating a display plate and hands by transmitted illumination. SOLUTION: A measuring instrument housing part 17 protruding outward through a step part 16 is formed on the opening side of a measuring instrument cover 8 consisting of a transparent box body. A display plate 11 which becomes a display surface 27 facing the front of the measuring instrument housing part 17 including the step part 16 by partially forming a light-transmissible display part 25 in a light-shielding ground part 24, hands 10 consisting of a light- transmissible material, and a measuring instrument 9 for storing a light source 13 for illuminating the hands 10 and the display part of the display panel 11 from the rear are housed in the measuring instrument housing part 17. A light- shielding part 28 which is bent to the rear along the inner periphery of the measuring instrument housing part 17 from the outer-periphery edge of the display surface 27 and is in a peripheral wall shape where a ground part 24 is continuously formed from the display surface 27 are provided in one piece on the display plate 11.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an on-vehicle instrument mounted on a vehicle such as an automobile or a motorcycle, and more particularly to an on-vehicle instrument provided with a lighting structure.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a vehicle-mounted instrument of this type,
An instrument main body including, for example, a speedometer equipped with a display plate and a pointer on the front side is installed in an instrument case, and at the same time, a light source and a light guide for transmitting and illuminating the display plate and the pointer from behind are also attached to the instrument. It is generally the one that is installed in a case, has a facing plate made of a decorative plate that makes only unnecessary portions of the display plate invisible in front of this meter, and further covers the front of this facing plate with a transparent meter cover. (See, for example, JP-A-7-47868).

By the way, such an on-vehicle instrument has not only the instrument body which is the main element having the display plate and the pointer as described above but also the peripheral elements including the instrument case, the dial plate and the instrument cover. Since it is necessary, there are many parts,
Since the cost becomes higher and the assembling work becomes complicated, it has been desired to reduce the number of parts. Therefore, as an example of responding to such a demand, for example, a structure shown in FIG. 4 can be considered.

That is, in the on-vehicle instrument shown in FIG. 4, a box-shaped instrument case 1 having an opening at the back is made of a black synthetic resin, and the instrument body 3 mounted on the substrate 2 is mounted on the instrument case 1. And the rear opening of the instrument case 1 is closed by the substrate 2 and the pointer shaft 4 of the instrument body 3 is passed through the upper surface of the instrument case 1 and the pointer 5 is fixed to the tip thereof, which is located around the lower portion of the pointer 5. On the top surface of the instrument case 1, there is a display section 6 including characters, scales, numbers, indexes, etc., which are points to be indicated by the pointer 5.
Is formed by printing or painting, and the upper surface of the instrument case 1 where the display portion 6 and the pointer 5 are located is covered with a transparent instrument cover 7. With such a configuration, the display plate and the dial plate are not required It is possible to reduce the score.

[0005]

However, if the indicator 5 and the illuminating means of the display portion 6 are provided in such a structure for reducing the number of parts, the front side position of the instrument case 1 including the inside of the instrument cover 7 will be described. There is no other means than the means for illuminating the pointer 5 and the display section 6 by providing the light source from this position and supplying the illumination light from this position. Therefore, the pointer 5 and the display section 6 are illuminated by the illumination light supplied from the backside. It is not possible to apply the means, and if such an illuminating means is applied, the instrument case 1 itself is molded with a transparent synthetic resin material, and printing is performed on the whole, or light shielding is performed by two-color molding. It is conceivable to provide a portion and a translucent portion (display portion 6), but it is difficult to print on a three-dimensional object.
Color molding has a problem that the process is complicated and the cost is high.

The present invention has been made in view of this point, and its main purpose is to provide an on-vehicle instrument capable of reducing the number of parts while illuminating a display plate and a pointer with transmitted illumination. .

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an instrument cover comprising a transparent box body having an instrument housing portion projecting outward through a step on the opening side, and the instrument cover. A translucent display part, which is built in the instrument housing of the cover and is illuminated by a light source disposed behind in a light-shielding ground, is partially formed to face the front of the instrument housing including the step portion. A display plate serving as a display surface, and a meter having a pointer made of a translucent material that is illuminated from behind by the light source, and the inner circumference of the meter housing unit integrally with the outer peripheral edge of the display surface of the display plate. A light-shielding portion in the shape of a peripheral wall is provided, which is bent backward along the line and the ground portion is continuously formed from the display surface.

Further, in the present invention, the instrument has a light guide body which guides the illumination light from the light source to the display surface and the back of the pointer at least behind the display surface of the display plate, and through the light guide body. It supports the display plate.

Further, according to the present invention, a white colored portion is formed on the back surface of the display plate.

Further, the instrument is supported by a substrate which closes the opening side of the instrument cover.

[0011]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An instrument housing projecting outward through a step is formed on the opening side of an instrument cover made of a transparent box, and the instrument housing has a light-transmitting property in a light-shielding ground. The display plate is a display surface facing the front of the instrument housing that partially forms the display part including the step part, the pointer made of translucent material, and the display part of the pointer and the display plate is illuminated from behind. And a meter having a light source to be housed, the display plate is bent back from the outer peripheral edge of the display surface along the inner circumference of the meter housing, and the ground portion is formed continuously from the display surface. Since the light-shielding part is integrally provided, the display surface of the display plate is exposed to the front side of the instrument housing part protruding through the step part while transmitting and illuminating the display part of the display plate and the pointer by lighting the light source. This eliminates the need for a dedicated dial plate, and the light-shielding part of the display plate is inside the instrument storage part. To light leaks meter cover external to the position so as to surround this special instrument case is suppressed by the light blocking portion is not required along.

Further, in the above structure, since the display plate is supported by the light guide which guides the illumination light from the light source behind the display surface of the display plate to the back of the display surface and the pointer, the display plate is stable while increasing the illumination efficiency. Held in.

Further, in the above structure, since the white colored portion is formed on the back surface of the display plate, the reflection efficiency of the illumination light in the display plate is increased.

Further, in the above structure, since the instrument is supported by the substrate which closes the opening side of the instrument cover, the instrument housing of the instrument cover is supported in advance with the instrument having the display plate, the light source, and the light guide on the substrate. It can be stored and assembly workability is improved.

[0015]

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

FIGS. 1 to 3 show an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a sectional view of an on-vehicle instrument according to this embodiment, and FIG.
1 is an enlarged sectional view showing details of the display panel of FIG. 1, and FIG.
3 is an external perspective view showing the display plate of FIG.

Referring to FIG. 1, a vehicle-mounted instrument according to this embodiment includes an instrument cover 8, an instrument 9, a pointer 10, a display plate 11, a light guide.
The light source 13 and the light source 13 are incorporated in an instrument panel 14 inside a vehicle such as an automobile.

The instrument cover 8 is formed of a transparent synthetic resin material in the shape of a box, and the front side of the instrument cover 8 has an opening for the instrument panel 14.
A see-through portion 8a facing 15 is provided so that the display side of the instrument 9 can be visually recognized from the outside. Further, on the opening side, which is the rear position in the depth direction of the instrument cover 8, there is formed an instrument accommodating portion 17 which projects outward through a step portion 16.

The instrument 9 is composed of, for example, a speedometer main body having a pointer shaft 18, and a display plate 11 and a light guide 12 made of a transparent synthetic resin such as acryl, which will be described later, are provided in front of the speed guide main body.
12 are stacked and arranged so as to be located behind the display plate 11, and are screwed and fixed to the mounting portion 19. The pointer shaft 18 penetrates these plate surfaces, and the pointer 10 is attached to the tip thereof. The pointer 10 is made of a translucent synthetic resin material, and is adapted to receive illumination light through a reflecting portion 20 formed around the pointer shaft 18 of the light guide 12 and shine the pointing portion.

A light source 13 made of an incandescent lamp is located on the side of the instrument 9 so as to face the light introducing portion 21 of the light guide 12, and is supported together with the instrument 9 on a substrate 22 made of a printed circuit board.
In this way, through the substrate 22, the light source 13, the pointer 10, the display board 11,
The instrument unit U is configured by supporting the instrument 9 to which the light guide body 12 is attached, and the instrument unit U is housed in the instrument housing section 17. At this time, the instrument unit U is screwed and fixed to the rear surface of the instrument cover 8 through the substrate 22.

As shown in FIG. 2, the display board 11 has a base portion made of, for example, a black print layer having a light-shielding property over the entire surface except a part of a base material 23 made of a transparent synthetic resin sheet-like thin plate.
On the part of the base material 23 on which the ground portion 24 is not formed and which does not form the ground portion 24, there is formed a display portion 25 having a light-transmitting property, for example, an instrument index such as letters, numbers, scales, etc., which is formed of an orange printing layer. This is located in the ground portion 24, and the colored portion 26 made of a white printing layer is formed on the back surface of the base material 23 corresponding to the ground portion 24. In the case of this embodiment, as shown in FIG. The cross-shaped display plate 11 in which the ground portion 24, the display portion 25, and the coloring portion 26 are formed by printing on the base material 23 in advance is bent along the inner circumference of the instrument storage portion 17 of the instrument cover 8 by bending (pressing). The display surface 27, which is located in the ground portion 24 and faces the front area of the instrument housing portion 17 including the step portion 15, and the outer peripheral edge of the display surface 27 along the inner circumference of the instrument housing portion 17. And the back part of the ground 24
And a light-shielding portion 28 in the form of a peripheral wall formed continuously from the display surface 27.

As means for forming such a bent display plate 11, in addition to the above-mentioned drawing (pressing) means, for example, a film in which a ground portion 24, a display portion 25, and a colored portion 26 are formed in advance. It is also possible to use a foil (in-mold) forming means for obtaining a bent display panel 11 by solidifying the molten resin in a forming die set with,
According to this forming means, there is an advantage that the shape of the light shielding portion 28 can be arbitrarily set.

When the light source 13 is turned on, the illuminating light illuminates the display unit 25 through the light guide 12 from behind the display plate 11, and at the same time, a part of the illuminating light is supplied to the pointer 10 through the reflecting unit 22. Then, the design portion of the pointer 10 shines brightly so that the illumination design can be visually recognized from the transparent portion 8a of the transparent cover 8.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the instrument housing 17 is formed on the opening side of the instrument cover 8 so as to project outward through the step portion 15. The instrument housing 17 has a light-shielding property. A display plate 11 formed by partially forming a translucent display portion 25 in the ground portion 24 and forming a display surface 27 facing the front of the instrument storage portion 17 including the step portion 16, and a pointer 10 made of a translucent material. The instrument 9 having the pointer 10 and the light source 13 for illuminating the display part 25 of the display plate 11 from behind is housed, and the display plate 11 is integrally formed on the inner periphery of the instrument housing part 17 from the outer peripheral edge of the display surface 27. By providing a light-shielding portion 28 that is bent back along and the ground portion 24 is continuously formed from the display surface 27, the light source 13 is turned on and the display portion 25 of the display plate 11 and the pointer are shown.
While transparently illuminating 10 and 10, the display surface 27 of the display plate 11 can be faced to the front side of the instrument housing 17 protruding through the step 16, so that a dedicated dial plate is not necessary and the display plate Since the light shielding portion 28 of 11 is positioned so as to surround the instrument housing portion 17 along the inner circumference thereof, light leakage to the outside of the instrument cover 8 is suppressed by the light shielding portion 28, and a dedicated instrument case is not required. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the number of components while allowing the display unit 25 of the display plate 11 and the pointer 10 to be transmitted and illuminated.

Further, according to the present embodiment, the display surface of the display plate 11 is
27 Since the display plate 11 is supported by the light guide 12 which guides the illumination light from the light source 13 behind the display unit 25 and the pointer 10, it is possible to enhance the illumination efficiency and stably hold the display plate 11. it can.

Further, according to the present embodiment, since the white colored portion 26 is formed on the back surface of the display plate 11, the reflection efficiency of the illumination light in the display plate 11 can be increased and the illumination efficiency can be increased.

Further, according to this embodiment, the pointer 10 and the display plate 1
1, the instrument unit U with the light guide 12 mounted thereon and the light source 13 are supported by the substrate 22 that closes the opening side of the instrument cover 8.
Therefore, the instrument 9 can be housed in the instrument housing 17 of the instrument cover 8 while being supported on the substrate in advance, and the workability of assembling can be improved.

[0028]

As described in detail above, according to the present invention,
An instrument cover consisting of a transparent box that has an instrument housing that protrudes outward through a step on the opening side, and a light source that is installed inside the instrument housing of this instrument cover and is placed behind in a light-shielding ground. And a light-transmissive light which is illuminated from the rear by the light source, and a display plate which partially forms a light-transmissive display part that is illuminated by A gauge having a pointer made of a material, and is bent back from the outer peripheral edge of the display surface of the display plate along the inner circumference of the instrument storage portion and the ground portion is continuously formed from the display surface. By providing the light-shielding portion in the shape of the peripheral wall, it is possible to provide a vehicle-mounted instrument that can reduce the number of parts by illuminating the display plate and the pointer with transmitted illumination and eliminating the need for a dedicated dial plate and a dedicated instrument case.

Further, according to the invention, the instrument has a light guide body which guides the illumination light from the light source to at least the display surface of the display plate to the display surface and the back of the pointer. By supporting the display plate through
The lighting efficiency can be improved and the display plate can be stably held.

Further, according to the present invention, by forming a white colored portion on the back surface of the display plate, the reflection efficiency of the illumination light can be enhanced and the illumination efficiency can be enhanced.

According to the present invention, the instrument is supported by the substrate that closes the opening side of the instrument cover, and the instrument can be stored in the instrument housing portion of the instrument cover while being supported by the substrate in advance. The workability of assembling can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of an on-vehicle instrument according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing details of the display plate of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the appearance of the display plate of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 8 Instrument cover 9 Instrument 10 Pointer 11 Display plate 12 Light guide 13 Light source 16 Step section 17 Instrument housing section 22 Board 24 Ground section 25 Display section 26 Coloring section 27 Display surface 28 Light-shielding section

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An instrument cover formed of a transparent box body having an instrument storage portion projecting outward through a step portion on the opening side, and an instrument storage portion of the instrument cover, which is internally provided in a light-shielding ground portion. Illumination from behind by the display plate and the light source, which has a translucent display part which is illuminated by a light source arranged behind and which is a display surface facing the front of the instrument housing part including the step part. And a gauge having a pointer made of a translucent material, which is integrally bent from the outer peripheral edge of the display surface of the display plate along the inner periphery of the gauge storage portion and the ground portion is the display. An in-vehicle instrument, comprising a peripheral wall-shaped light-shielding portion formed continuously from the surface. 2. The instrument has a light guide body that guides illumination light from the light source to the display surface and the back of the pointer, at least behind the display surface of the display plate, and through the light guide body, the display plate is provided. The vehicle-mounted measuring instrument according to claim 1, which is supported. 3. The white-colored portion is formed on the back surface of the display plate, according to claim 1 or 2.
In-vehicle instrument described. 4. The instrument is supported by a substrate that closes an opening side of the instrument cover.
4. The vehicle-mounted instrument according to claim 3.