JPH10160520A - Instrument device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide satisfactory illumination and make an instrument device thin by arranging a light-transmissible disk having an indication section on the back face, arranging a plate body having a decorative design section on the front face behind the disk, and illuminating them from the front. SOLUTION: A disk 3 made of a transparent material is arranged behind a front cover 2, and a white indication section 4 is printed on its back face. A light-transmissible plate body 8 is arranged behind the disk 3, and a white dial decorative design section 10a and a warning decorative design section 10b are printed on its front face. The front face of the plate body 8 is covered with a shading layer 15 except for a window section, decorative design sections 10a, 10b, and a circular section. An instrument main body 6 and a liquid crystal display device 11 are fixed to a circuit board 18 behind the plate body 8. The light from an instrument illuminating light source 20 is reflected on the reflecting face 24 of a light guide body 21 to illuminate the indication section 4 and the decorative design sections 10a, 10b from the front. The indication section 4 is made thin in thickness, and an instrument device 1 can be made thinner by the illumination of the indication section 4.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an instrument device for a vehicle, and more particularly to an instrument device characterized by making the instrument device thinner.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional meter device is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H8-1057.
As shown in Japanese Patent Publication No. 69, a pointer made of a member having a light-transmitting property is provided, and a dial and a light guide are laminated behind the pointer. Further, a light source for illuminating the hands and the dial is provided behind the dial and the light guide. The pointer was illuminated via the light guide.

[0003]

Since the hands are three-dimensionally formed of a translucent member, the hands themselves have a thickness, and furthermore, the guides for supplying light to the hands. The thickness of the instrument was increased by the thickness of the optical body, making it difficult to reduce the thickness. Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of this point, and a main object of the present invention is to provide good instrument illumination and to provide a thin instrument device.

[0004]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a light-transmitting front cover, and a light-transmitting disk disposed behind the front cover and provided with an indicator on the back surface. A plate body disposed behind the disk, a dial design portion such as a character or a scale provided on at least one of the back surface of the front cover and the front surface of the plate body, and the back surface of the front cover or the plate body A warning design part of a warning display provided on at least one of the front faces of the instrument body, an instrument main body arranged behind the plate body, which rotationally drives the disk via a connecting shaft, and an instrument body arranged behind the plate body. A display device that transmits and displays the plate body, an instrument illumination light source that illuminates the indication unit and the design unit, and a warning display light source that transmits and illuminates the warning design unit. is there.

[0005] The present invention also provides a cylindrical light guide in which the dial design portion and the warning design portion are provided on a front surface of the plate, and guides light from the instrument illumination light source to a front surface of the plate. And a reflecting surface for irradiating the light from the light source for instrument illumination to the front surface of the plate body.

Further, the present invention provides the dial design portion and the warning design portion on the front surface of the plate, and the light from the instrument illumination light source is provided on the periphery of the front cover on the front surface of the plate. A reflecting surface for irradiation is provided.

Further, the present invention provides the dial design portion and the warning design portion on the back surface of the front cover, and a reflecting surface for irradiating light from the instrument illumination light source to the plate body front side. It is provided on the periphery of the front cover.

Further, the present invention provides a translucent front cover having a dial design portion such as a character and a scale and a warning design portion for displaying a warning on a back surface, and a rear cover disposed behind the front cover and having a front surface. The entire surface provided with the indicator is a dark-colored translucent disk, and an instrument body that is disposed behind the disk and drives the disk to rotate via a connecting shaft; and an instrument body that is disposed behind the disk, and A display device for transmitting and displaying light; a light source for instrument illumination for illuminating the indicator and the front cover; and a light source for warning display for transmitting and illuminating the warning design part.

[0009]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention relates to a light-transmitting front cover 2.
A light-transmitting disk 3 disposed behind the front cover 2 and having an indicator 4 on the back surface; a plate 8 disposed behind the disk 3; Board design part 10a
And a warning design part 10b, which is arranged behind the plate body 8 and rotationally drives the disk 3 via a connection shaft 7.
And a liquid crystal display device 11 disposed behind the plate body 8 to transmit and display the plate body 8, an instrument illumination light source 20 for illuminating the indicating portion 4 and the design portions 10a and 10b, and an instrument illumination light source A cylindrical light guide 21 provided with a reflecting surface 24 for guiding light from the front of the plate body 8 to the front side of the plate body 8 and irradiating light from the instrument illumination light source 20 to the front side of the plate body 8, and a warning design part 10 b And a warning display light source 19 that performs transmitted illumination.

With the above configuration, the thickness of the pointing unit 4 can be reduced. Also, in order to illuminate the indicating unit 4,
Since it is not necessary to provide a conventional plate-shaped light guide and the indicator 4 can be illuminated, the instrument device 1 can be made even thinner.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a front view of a first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line AA in FIG.

The front cover 2 of the instrument device 1 is made of a transparent material having a light transmitting property such as acryl, and is a circular plate.

Behind the front cover 2, there is arranged a disk 3 made of a transparent material having a light transmitting property such as acrylic or polycarbonate. On the back surface of the disk 3, there is provided a white indicating portion 4 formed by printing. A connecting shaft 7 connected to a later-described instrument main body 6 is connected and fixed to a bearing portion 5 at the center of the back surface of the disk 3.

Behind the disk 3, a plate 8 made of a translucent material is arranged. A through hole 9 through which the connecting shaft 7 penetrates is provided at the center of the plate body 8, and has white design portions 10a and 10b formed by printing on the front surface thereof. The design portions 10a and 10b are provided with a dial design portion 10a such as a numeral indicating a speed, a character of km / h or a scale, and a warning design portion 10b including a sign indicating a warning display such as a high beam or a direction instruction. I have. The design portions 10a and 10b are both light-shielding. The plate 8 is a liquid crystal display device to be described later.
It has a window section 13 on which 11 display sections 12 face. The front surface of the plate body 8 is covered with a light-shielding paint 15 except for the window portion 13, the dial design portion 10a, the warning design portion 10b, and the circular portion 14 in the vicinity thereof.

Behind the plate 8, an instrument body 6 such as a stepping motor for driving the disk 3 to rotate via a connecting shaft 7.
Are arranged. A liquid crystal display device 11 is disposed behind the plate 8. The liquid crystal display device 11 is provided with a light source 17 behind the liquid crystal display element 16, and the display content of the liquid crystal display element 16 is displayed by the light source 17 through the window 13 of the plate 8.

A hard circuit board 18 made of glass-epoxy resin is provided behind the instrument body 6 and the liquid crystal display device 11, and the circuit board 18 drives the instrument body 6 and the liquid crystal display device 11. (Not shown). The instrument main body 6 and the liquid crystal display device 11 are fixed to the circuit board 18 and are also electrically connected. Also, this circuit board 18
Are provided with an LED 19 which is a light source for warning display which illuminates the warning design part 10b at the time of warning, and an LED 20 which is a light source for instrument illumination which illuminates the indicating part 4 and the design parts 10a and 10b.

The LED 19 of the light source for warning display is connected to the circuit board 18.
Is provided in a portion corresponding to the warning design portion 10b, and the LED 19 illuminating the warning design portion 10b emits directional and colored light, so that the warning design portion provided on the light source 19 and the plate body 8 is provided. There is no need to provide a light case for preventing the diffusion of light between the circular portion 14 and the circular portion 14 where the light shielding layer 15 is not provided near the warning design portion 10b. In addition, a plurality of LEDs 20 as a light source for instrument illumination are provided on the periphery of the circuit board 18, and by using a diffused one, the entire instrument can be uniformly illuminated via a light guide 21 described later. it can.

The light of the instrument illumination light source 20 is directed to the indicating section 4 or the design section.
In order to irradiate from the front of 10a, 10b, the instrument device 1 of the present embodiment includes a light guide 21. The light guide 21 has a cylindrical shape, and an upper end portion 22 is in contact with the front cover 2 and a lower end portion 23 is in contact with the circuit board 18. Then, light from the lower instrument illumination light source 20 is applied to the upper end portion 22 of the indicating portion 4 and the design portions 10a and 10a.
b is provided. Also, its lower end
An arch-shaped recess 25 that accommodates the instrument light source 20 on the 23 side
It has. Light from the light source 20 is reflected on the reflection surface 24 of the light guide 21.
And is reflected by the reflecting surface 24 to be directed to the indicating section 4 or the design section 10a.
Illuminate 10b.

When the light guide 21 is not used, a reflection surface for irradiating the indicator 4 and the design portions 10a and 10b with light from the instrument illumination light source 20 may be provided on the periphery of the front cover 2. . With this configuration, the light from the instrument illumination light source 20 directly reaches the reflective surface of the front cover 2 and illuminates the indicator 4 and the design portions 10a and 10b with the light reflected by the reflective surface. With such a configuration, the number of light guides 21 can be reduced, and the cost can be reduced.

The components described above are covered with an upper case 26 and a lower case 27 made of synthetic resin to constitute the instrument device 1.

Instruction part 4, dial design part 10a, warning design part
10b is a reflection surface of the light guide 21 for the light from the instrument illumination light source 20.
The driver, not shown, is illuminated from the front by 24,
The indicating section 4 and the design sections 10a and 10b can be visually recognized.
In addition, the indicating unit 4 receives the diffused light from the reflecting surface 24 of the light guide 21 or the diffused light from the instrument illumination light source 20 that does not pass through the light guide 21.
It is also illuminated from the end face 28. As described above, by providing the indicator 3 on the disk 3, the thickness of the indicator 4 can be reduced. Further, in order to illuminate the indicator 4, it is not necessary to provide a conventional plate-shaped light guide, and the indicator 4 can be illuminated. Therefore, the instrument device 1 can be further thinned. .

It is also possible to make the dial design portion 10a of the character or scale portion of the plate 8 translucent, and to perform transillumination by the instrument illumination light source 20.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 3 is a front view of a second embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line BB in FIG. In addition, the first
The same and corresponding parts as in the embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

The front cover 2 is made of a light-transmitting transparent material such as acryl, and is a circular plate-like body having a reflective surface 29 on its periphery.
It has.

On the back surface of the front cover 2, there are provided white design portions 30a and 30b formed by printing. The design portions 30a and 30b include a dial design portion 30a such as a numeral indicating a speed, characters of km / h or a scale, and a warning design portion 30b including a sign indicating a warning display such as a high beam or a direction instruction. I have. The design portions 30a and 30b are both light-shielding.
The front cover 2 is formed in a plate shape, so that the design portion
It is easy to form 30a and 30b by printing. Further, in the present embodiment, the design portions 30a and 30b are all formed by means such as printing. However, for example, a projection or a recess is provided on the front cover 2 without using printing, and the design portions 30a and 30b are formed.
May be formed.

Behind the front cover 2, a translucent disk 3 having an indicator 4 on its back is arranged. Disk 3
A plate body 8 made of a light-transmitting material is arranged behind. A through hole 9 through which the connecting shaft 7 passes is provided in the center of the plate body 8, and a liquid crystal display device 11 is provided on the front surface thereof.
The front surface of the plate 8 is covered with a ground color layer 31 made of a translucent dark paint except for the window portion 13.

The indicator 4 and the design section are illuminated by the light from the instrument illumination light source 20.
In order to illuminate 30a and 30b, the meter device 1 of the present embodiment includes a light guide 32. The light guide 32 is cylindrical and has an upper end 33 in contact with the front cover 2 and a lower end 34 in the circuit board 18.
Is in contact with The lower end 34 is provided with an arch-shaped recess 35 for accommodating the instrument illumination light source 20. light source
The light from 20 is reflected on the reflection surface of the front cover 2 via the light guide 32.
It is led to 29 and reflected by the reflecting surface 29 to indicate the indicator 4 and the design unit 30.
a, 30b are illuminated.

When the light guide 32 is not used, the light from the instrument illumination light source 20 directly reaches the reflection surface 29 of the front cover 2 and is reflected by the reflection surface 29 so that the indicator 4 or the design portion 30
a, 30b are illuminated. With this configuration,
The number of the light guides 32 can be reduced, and the cost can be reduced.

Instruction part 4, dial design part 30a, warning design part
30b is illuminated from the front by the reflection surface 29 of the front cover 2 with the light from the instrument illumination light source 20. The instruction unit 4
The diffused light from the instrument illumination light source 20 that does not pass through the reflection surface 29 of the front cover 2 or the light guide 32 enters from the end surface 28 of the disk 3 and is illuminated. In this manner, the indicating unit 4 is attached to the disk 3.
Is provided, the thickness of the indicating section 4 can be reduced. In addition, since the indicator 4 can be illuminated without the need to provide a conventional plate-shaped light guide to illuminate the indicator 4, the instrument device 1 can be made even thinner. .

The warning design part 30b is a directional LED.
The ground light layer 31 of the plate body 8 is transmitted and illuminated by the colored light 19 as shown by a circle 36 in FIG. In the above-described embodiment, the warning design portion 30b is illuminated by using the LED 19 that emits colored light. However, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment. A colored portion is provided in a portion corresponding to the warning design portion 30b of the front cover 2 on the back surface, and the colored portion is irradiated with light from the warning display light source 19, transmitted through the colored portion, and transmitted through the ground color layer 31. The design part 30b of the front cover 2 may be illuminated with the colored light by the colored light.

In the first and second embodiments, both the dial design portions 10a and 30a and the warning design portions 10b and 30b are provided on the same surface. However, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment. Instead, for example, the dial design portion 30a may be provided on the back surface of the front cover 2, and the warning design portion 10b may be provided on the front surface of the plate 8. Moreover, you may provide in reverse. With such a configuration, the design portions 10a, 10b, 30
Since the surfaces on which a and 30b are provided are different, it is possible to obtain the instrument device 1 having a sense of depth.

Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 5 is a front view of a third embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along line CC in FIG. The same and corresponding parts as those in the first and second embodiments are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

On the back surface of the front cover 2, a white design portion 30 is provided.
a and 30b. Note that, similarly to the second embodiment, the design portions 30a and 30b may be formed by providing a convex or concave portion on the front cover 2 without printing. Behind the front cover 2, there is arranged a disk 37 made of a transparent member such as acrylic or polycarbonate and colored in a dark color such as black. The front surface of the disk 37 is provided with a white indicator 4 formed by printing.

As in the second embodiment, the light guide 32
Is not used, the light from the instrument illumination light source 20 directly reaches the reflecting surface 29 of the front cover 2, and the indicator 4 and the design portions 30a and 30b are illuminated by the light reflected by the reflecting surface 29. With this configuration, the number of light guides 32 can be reduced, and the cost can be reduced.

Behind the disk 36, the disk 36 is connected to the connecting shaft 7
And a liquid crystal display device 11 that transmits and displays through the disk 36. Liquid crystal display
Reference numeral 11 denotes a negative display, in which the driver can visually recognize a display content 38 in which a character portion transmitted through the dark disk 37 by the light source 17 emits light.

The dial design portion 30a and the warning design portion 30b are illuminated from the front by the reflection surface 29 of the front cover 2 with light from the instrument illumination light source 20. The indicator 4 is also illuminated by the reflection surface 29 of the front cover 2. As described above, by providing the indicating portion 4 on the disk 36, the thickness of the indicating portion 4 can be reduced. In addition, since the indicator 4 can be illuminated without the need to provide a conventional plate-shaped light guide to illuminate the indicator 4, the instrument device 1 can be made even thinner. .

In this embodiment, a disk provided with the indicator 4 is provided.
Since 36 has the same dark color as the plate 8 of the first and second embodiments, the plate 8 is unnecessary, and the number of parts is smaller than that of the first and second embodiments.

In each of the above embodiments, the display device 11
Although a liquid crystal display device is used as the above, a fluorescent display tube may be used. In particular, in the case of the third embodiment, since a dark disk 37 is transmitted, high-luminance display can be performed in terms of luminance and the like. It is more preferable because it can be performed.

[0039]

As described in detail above, the present invention relates to a light-transmitting front cover, a light-transmitting disk disposed behind the front cover and having an indicator on the rear surface, and a light-transmitting disk. A plate body disposed at the rear, a dial design portion such as a character and a scale provided on at least one of the front cover back surface or the front surface of the plate body, and at least a front surface of the front cover back surface or the plate body. A warning design portion of a warning display provided on one of the two sides, an instrument main body arranged behind the plate body for driving the disk to rotate via a connecting shaft, and an instrument main body arranged behind the plate body; A display device that transmits and displays light, an instrument illumination light source that illuminates the indication unit and the design unit, and a warning display light source that transmits and illuminates the warning design unit. The thickness of the part can be reduced, It attained the thickness of the vessel apparatus. In addition, since the indicator can be illuminated without providing a conventional plate-shaped light guide to illuminate the indicator, the instrument device can be further thinned.

Further, a translucent front cover having a dial design portion such as a character and a scale and a warning design portion for displaying a warning on the back surface, and a translucent front cover disposed behind the front cover and having an indicator portion on the front surface. The entire surface is a dark-colored translucent disk, an instrument main body that is arranged behind the disk and rotationally drives the disk via a connecting shaft, and an instrument body that is arranged behind the disk and emits light through the disk. A display device for displaying, an indicator light source for illuminating the indicator and the front cover, and a warning display light source for illuminating the warning design portion by transmission, the thickness of the indicator of the meter device is reduced. It can be made thinner, and the instrument device can be made thinner. In addition, since the indicator can be illuminated without providing a conventional plate-shaped light guide to illuminate the indicator, the instrument device can be further thinned.

Further, since the disk provided with the indicating portion is dark, the number of parts can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line AA in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a front view of a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line BB in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a front view of a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line CC in FIG. 5;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Instrument apparatus 2 Front cover 3, 37 disk 4 Indicator part 5 Bearing part 6 Instrument main body 7 Connecting shaft 8 Plate body 9 Through hole 10a, 30a Dial design part 10b, 30b Warning design part 11 Liquid crystal display device 12 Display part 13 Window Part 14 Circular part 15 Light shielding layer 16 Liquid crystal display element 17 Light source 18 Circuit board 19 Light source for warning display 20 Light source for instrument illumination 21, 32 Light guide 22, 33 Upper end 23, 34 Lower end 24, 29 Reflective surface 25, 35 Recess 26 Upper case 27 Lower case 28 Edge 31 Ground color 38 Display

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A light-transmitting front cover, a light-transmitting disk disposed behind the front cover and provided with an indicator on a back surface, a plate disposed behind the disk, and the front surface A dial design portion such as a character or a scale provided on at least one of the back surface of the cover and the front surface of the plate, and a warning design of a warning display provided on at least one of the back surface of the front cover and the front surface of the plate body. Part, disposed behind the plate body, an instrument body that rotationally drives the disk via a connection shaft, and a display device disposed behind the plate body and displaying the plate body through the display, An instrument device comprising: an instrument illumination light source that illuminates an instruction unit and the design unit; and a warning display light source that transmits and illuminates the warning design unit. 2. A method according to claim 1, wherein the dial design portion and the warning design portion are provided on a front surface of the plate, and a cylindrical light guide for guiding light from the light source for instrument illumination to the front surface of the plate is provided. The instrument device according to claim 1, wherein the light guide is provided with a reflecting surface for irradiating light from the instrument illumination light source to the front surface of the plate body. 3. A reflecting surface which is provided with the dial design portion and the warning design portion on the front surface of the plate body, and irradiates light from the instrument illumination light source to the front surface of the plate body on the periphery of the front cover. The instrument device according to claim 1, further comprising: 4. The dial design portion and the warning design portion are provided on the back surface of the front cover, and a reflecting surface for irradiating light from the instrument illumination light source to the front surface of the plate body is provided at the periphery of the front cover. The instrument device according to claim 1, wherein the instrument device is provided. 5. A translucent front cover having a dial design portion such as a character and a scale and a warning design portion for displaying a warning on a back surface thereof, and a translucent front cover disposed behind the front cover and having an indicator on the front surface. The entire surface is a dark-colored translucent disk, an instrument main body that is arranged behind the disk and rotationally drives the disk via a connecting shaft, and an instrument body that is arranged behind the disk and emits light through the disk. An instrument device, comprising: a display device for displaying; an instrument illumination light source for illuminating the indication unit and the front cover; and a warning display light source for transmitting and illuminating the warning design unit.