JPH11143411A - Control panel of electronic apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a sure operation even under dark environment without using an electric means by displaying characters on a panel surface with a luminous paint visibly under the dark environment, and illuminating zoning sections with the light of the luminous paint more dimly than the characters. SOLUTION: Characters are displayed on the panel surface of a control panel 7, and zoning sections 8 indicating functional summaries are displayed behind the characters. The characters on the panel surface are displayed by a luminous paint, and it luminesces at night or at a dim place of illumination to make the characters clearly visible. The zoning sections 8 are illuminated more dimly than the characters by the light of the luminous paint. The characters are made clearly visible from the panel surface side through a transparent sheet under the environment such as at night or at the dark place of illumination, and the zoning sections 8 are made visible in the slightly bright state by the light dimmed by a dimming layer.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a control panel for an electronic device, and more particularly to a display structure of characters and the like on the panel surface.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art First, a conventional example will be described. Here, a video camera will be described as an example of the electronic apparatus.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a video camera as a whole. The video camera 1 comprises a camera body 2, a lens 3, and a camera adapter 4. The camera body 2, the lens unit 3, and the camera adapter unit 4 are configured independently of each other, and are used in combination with each other. Reference numeral 5 denotes a viewfinder attached to the camera body 2, and reference numeral 6 denotes a handle.

[0006] In the video camera 1, as shown in FIG. 2, a control panel 7 having switches and volume adjustment knobs for operating various functions is provided on the rear side of the camera adapter unit 4.

Characters are displayed on the panel surface of the control panel 7 as shown in FIG. 3, and a zoning portion (area indicated by oblique lines) 8 showing a grouping by function is displayed behind the characters.

FIG. 4 shows a conventional display structure of characters and a zoning portion on the control panel 7. As shown in FIG. That is, conventionally, a transparent sheet 10 having a thickness of 0.3 to 1 mm made of a plastic such as polycarbonate or polyethylene terephthalate is used as a base material of a panel, and characters are printed on the back side mainly using a white paint (character printing layer). 11), and a zoning portion is printed (a zoning portion printing layer 12) on the rear surface side using a paint of a color different from that of the characters.

Reference numeral 13 denotes a pressure-sensitive adhesive applied layer, and reference numeral 14 denotes a release paper. The release paper 14 is peeled off, and the pressure-sensitive adhesive applied layer 13 is adhered to the panel attaching surface of the camera adapter unit 4 housing. A panel is attached.

In the control panel 7 having the above-described structure, the characters and the zoning portion printed on the back surface of the transparent sheet 10 can be seen through the sheet from the front side of the panel. While operating the switch and the volume adjustment knob.

[0009]

In the conventional control panel as described above, characters and zoning can be sufficiently viewed outdoors in the daytime or under bright lighting, but cannot be viewed at night or in a place with dark lighting. At present, the user operates the switches and the volume adjustment knobs by relying on groping and intuition, and often causes erroneous operations.

To solve this problem, there is a method of electrically illuminating the panel surface. However, in this case, an electric light emitting mechanism and extra power are required.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and has as its object to provide a control panel that can be reliably operated even in a dark environment without using electric means.

[0012]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above object, the present invention relates to a control panel of an electronic device having a switch, a volume control knob, and the like, in which characters on the panel surface are displayed with a phosphorescent paint, and are used in a dark environment. However, the zoning portion, which indicates the wrapping of the function and the like, is made to be visibly illuminated thinner than the above-mentioned characters by light from the luminous paint. As a specific means for realizing this, on the back side of the transparent sheet which is a device of the panel, it has a function of dimming light, and a dimming layer where characters are removed, and a predetermined light-emitting paint A zoning layer with shining zones is multi-layer printed. Alternatively, on the back side of the transparent sheet that is the base material of the panel, characters are printed with luminous paint, and on the back side, a dimming layer that has the function of dimming light, and a zoning layer that shines a predetermined zone with luminous paint. May be a multilayer printed structure.

In the control panel of the present invention having the above-described structure, the characters and the zoning portion on the panel surface can be visually recognized even at night or in a place with dark lighting, so that the operation of the switch and the volume control knob can be reliably performed. In particular, in the control panel of the present invention, the characters are clearly shining, and the zoning portion is thinly illuminated.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. Here, as in the conventional example described above, the video camera of FIG. 1 will be described as an example of the electronic apparatus.

That is, in FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a video camera as a whole, and the video camera 1 comprises a camera body 2, a lens 3, and a camera adapter 4. The camera body 2, the lens unit 3, and the camera adapter unit 4 are configured independently of each other, and are used in combination with each other. Reference numeral 5 denotes a viewfinder attached to the camera body 2, and reference numeral 6 denotes a handle.

In the video camera 1, as shown in FIG. 2, a control panel 7 having switches and volume control knobs for operating various functions is provided on the rear side of the camera adapter unit 4.

Characters are displayed on the panel surface of the control panel 7 as shown in FIG. 3, and a zoning portion (area indicated by oblique lines) 8 showing a grouping by function is displayed behind the characters.

In this embodiment, the characters on the panel surface are displayed in a luminous paint, which shines at night or in a dark place, so that they can be clearly recognized. The zoning section 8 also shines lighter than the characters with light from the luminous paint.

FIG. 5 shows an example of a specific structure for realizing such a control panel. That is, the control panel 7 of this example has a thickness of 0.3 to 1 made of a plastic such as polycarbonate or polyethylene terephthalate.
The light-shielding layer 15 and the zoning layer 16 are sequentially multilayer-printed on the back surface side of the transparent sheet 10 mm in mm as a panel base material.

The dimming layer 15 has a function of dimming and transmitting light, and is printed in a pattern in which characters are transparently removed as shown in FIG. The same printing color as the exterior of the video camera 1 is used for the purpose of unifying the overall appearance.

The zoning layer 16 is for illuminating a predetermined zone, that is, the zoning portion 8, and includes a light-shielding layer 17 (see FIG. 8) in which a predetermined zone is transparently extracted from a light-impermeable, for example, black print color. , This shading layer 1
A light-storing layer 18 (see FIG. 9) formed by printing a light-storing paint on the entire rear surface of the light-emitting layer 7 is provided.

Reference numeral 13 denotes a coating layer of a pressure-sensitive adhesive, and reference numeral 14 denotes a release paper. The release paper 14 is peeled off and the coating layer 13 of the pressure-sensitive adhesive is adhered to the panel attachment surface of the housing of the camera adapter unit 4. A panel is attached.

In the control panel 7 of the present embodiment having the above-described structure, the light stored in the light storage layer 18 emits light, and this light passes only through the cutout portion of the light shielding layer 17, and the light is further transmitted to the light reduction layer 17. At 15, only the part of the character is transmitted as it is, and the other light is transmitted in a dimmed state.

Therefore, in an environment such as at night or in a place with dark lighting, characters due to the light transmitted through the cutout portion of the dimming layer 15 are clearly visible from the front side of the panel through the transparent sheet 10, and The zoning part is visually recognized as being slightly lit by the light attenuated in 15.

In the structure of the control panel 7, since the dimming layer 15 and the zoning layer 16 are printed on the back side of the sheet 10, the characters and the zoning section are operated from the front side of the panel when the switches and the volume adjustment knob are operated. Is not hurt.

FIG. 10 shows another example of the structure of the control panel 7. That is, the control panel 7 of this example
Prints characters on the back side of the transparent sheet 10 with a luminous paint (character print layer 19), and further, on the back side thereof, a dimming layer 15 (without a cutout portion) and a zoning layer 16 (shading of FIG. 8). The layer 17 and the phosphorescent layer 18 in FIG. 9) are sequentially printed in a multilayer manner. The application layer 13 of the pressure-sensitive adhesive and the release paper 14 are the same as in the above-described example.

In the control panel 7 having the structure shown in FIG. 10, as in the case of the above-described example, the characters are clearly recognized at night or in an environment such as a dark place, and the zoning part is slightly lit. Is visually recognized.

As shown in the above example, the characters and the zoning unit 8 of the control panel 7 shine in a dark environment, so that the operation of switches and volume control knobs, which conventionally rely on groping and intuition, can be performed reliably. Erroneous operation can be prevented. In addition, since the setting states of the switches and the volume adjustment knobs can be easily checked, the sense of security of the operator increases, and the user can concentrate on the operation.

In particular, in this control panel 7,
Since the characters are clearly shining and the zoning unit 8 is dimly lit, the zoning unit 8 is easily recognized and the squeezing of the zoning unit 8 is easy to recognize, so that the erroneous operation of the switch and the volume adjustment knob can be more reliably prevented.

Since the control panel 7 uses a luminous paint as a means for illuminating the characters and the zoning unit 8, the control panel 7 does not require any electric light emission mechanism or extra power, and is easy to implement. .

It is desirable that the luminous paint used in the control panel 7 has a characteristic that the luminescence is maintained for a long time with a short luminous storage. An example of the most suitable luminous paint for this purpose is "N Night Light" (trade name) manufactured by Nemoto Special Chemical Co., Ltd.

Briefly, the luminous paint “N night light” is composed of strontium aluminate (SrAl ₂
O ₄ ) as a host crystal, and the rare earth element europium (E
u) and desprosium (Dy) as an activator. The SrAl ₂ O ₄ phosphor is prepared by adding an activator such as Eu to a predetermined amount of SrCO ₃ , Al ₂ O ₃ and a flux as raw material powders and mixing the mixture.
It is synthesized by firing for several hours in a reducing atmosphere at the above high temperature.

The luminous paint “N night light” is: Glows overnight without any radioactive material. 2. The afterglow luminance is ten times brighter and the afterglow time is ten times longer. 3. The stronger the exciting light, the better the light. 4. The wavelength range of the light to be excited is wide (200 to 450 n
m). 5. Excellent light resistance and can be used outdoors. 6. Contains no harmful substances and is environmentally friendly. Therefore, it is most suitable as a luminous paint used for the control panel of the present invention.

Although the embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment. For example, in the above example, the case where the present invention is applied to a control panel of a video camera has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to a video camera and can be widely applied to control panels of other various electronic devices.

In the above example, the zoning layer 16 for illuminating a predetermined zone with the luminous paint is composed of two layers of the light-shielding layer 17 and the luminous layer 18. However, the zoning layer 16 has a single layer, The structure in which the luminous paint is printed only in the zone may be adopted.

Further, the luminous paint is not limited to "N night light" as an example, and various other luminous paints on the market can be used.

[0037]

As is clear from the above description, the control panel of the present invention is provided with a switch and a volume control knob, which have conventionally relied on groping and intuition, when characters and zoning on the panel surface shine in a dark environment. Can be performed reliably, and erroneous operations can be prevented. Further, since the setting states of the switches and the volume adjustment knobs can be easily checked, the sense of security of the operator is increased and the user can concentrate on the operation.
In addition, especially in the control panel of the present invention, the characters are clearly shining and the zoning part is thinly lit, so that the zoning part can be easily recognized and the zoning part can be easily recognized, so that erroneous operations such as switches and volume adjustment knobs can be more reliably performed. Can be prevented. Since this control panel uses a luminous paint as a means for illuminating the characters and the zoning portion, it does not require any electric light emitting mechanism or extra power, and is therefore easy to implement.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view of a video camera.

FIG. 2 is a diagram viewed from the back side of the same.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a control panel.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a cross-sectional structure of a conventional control panel.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a cross-sectional structure of a control panel according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of a sheet as a base material of the panel.

FIG. 7 is a plan view of the same dimming layer.

FIG. 8 is a plan view of the same light-shielding layer.

FIG. 9 is a plan view of the luminous layer.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory view showing another example of the cross-sectional structure of the control panel according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 video camera (electronic equipment), 7 control panel, 8 zoning unit, 10 seat, 15 cm
‥ Dimming layer, 16 ‥‥ Zoning layer, 17 ‥
{Shading layer, 18} Luminescent layer

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A control panel for an electronic device having a switch, a volume control knob, and the like, wherein characters on the panel surface are displayed in a luminous paint so that the characters can be visually recognized even in a dark environment, and a zoning unit indicating a group of functions and the like. A control panel for an electronic device, wherein the control panel is illuminated with light from the phosphorescent paint thinner than the characters. 2. A dimming layer having a function of dimming light and having a character part removed, and a zoning layer having a predetermined zone illuminated by a luminous paint, on the back side of a transparent sheet as a substrate of the panel. The control panel of an electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the control panel is formed by multi-layer printing. 3. A luminous paint is printed on the back side of a transparent sheet as a base material of the panel with a luminous paint, and on the back side, a dimming layer having a function of dimming light, and a predetermined zone is formed by the luminous paint. The control panel of an electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the control panel is configured by multilayer printing of a luminous zoning layer.