WO2017175593A1

WO2017175593A1 - Illumination structure for operating device

Info

Publication number: WO2017175593A1
Application number: PCT/JP2017/011694
Authority: WO
Inventors: 晋也石丸; 浩糸川
Original assignee: 株式会社東海理化電機製作所
Priority date: 2016-04-04
Filing date: 2017-03-23
Publication date: 2017-10-12
Also published as: JP2017185869A

Abstract

Provided is an illumination structure for an operating device that enables a user to easily recognize the operating state, operating level, and operating position of an operational member. An illumination structure for an operated device (1) comprises a slide lever (8) capable of being slidably operated along an operation slot (6) formed in an operating panel (2), first and second light-emitting elements (10) individually mounted on base plates (9) anchored on both sides of the slide lever (8), first and second light guides (11), disposed facing the operation slot (6), for directing light from the first and second light-emitting elements (10) to the operation slot (6), a light guide anchoring component (12) for anchoring an end of the slide lever (8) and accommodating and anchoring the first and second light guides (11) on the two sides defined by said end of the slide lever (8), and a slide guide component (13) for slidably guiding and supporting the light guide anchoring component (12).

Description

Lighting structure of operation device

The present invention relates to an illumination structure of an operating device, and more particularly to an illumination structure of an operating device provided with a slide lever that can be slid.

As an example of the illumination structure of the operating device, for example, an illumination structure for indicating the position of a heater control knob in a heater control panel arranged on an instrument panel of an automobile is known (for example, see Patent Document 1).

The illumination structure of the heater control knob described in Patent Document 1 is provided with a transmissive display plate in which various patterns are engraved on the convex portion of the heater control panel having a concavo-convex portion extending in the lateral direction, and the concave portion of the heater control panel. A heater control knob is movably provided in the slit formed along the bottom surface via an arm.

An illumination bulb is disposed inside the convex portion of the heater control panel, and a small hole for introducing light from the illumination bulb is provided on the side surface of the irregular portion.

According to the illumination structure of the heater control knob described in Patent Document 1, the transmissive display board is lit up by turning on the illumination bulb, and the side surface of the heater control knob is illuminated by introducing light from the small hole. Is issued. By providing the structure for illuminating the heater control knob, the position of the heater control knob can be easily confirmed at night.

JP 9-315131 A

In the illumination structure of the heater control knob described in Patent Document 1, just by illuminating the heater control knob as the operation member, the heater control knob is in any operating state, and the heater control knob is in which position. It is difficult for the user to recognize by looking only at the heater control knob that the desired operation can be performed.

The objective of this invention is providing the illumination structure of the operating device which can recognize the operation state of the operation member, the operation ratio, and the operation position easily by the user.

[1] The illumination structure of the operation device according to the embodiment of the present invention is separately mounted on a slide lever that can be slid along an operation hole formed in the operation panel and on a substrate fixed on both sides of the slide lever. The first and second light emitting elements, the first and second light guides arranged to face the operation hole and guiding the light from the first and second light emitting elements to the operation hole, and the slide A light guide fixing part for receiving and fixing the first and second light guides on both sides defined by the end part of the slide lever, and a light guide fixing part slidable. A slide guide part for guiding and supporting.

[2] In the illumination structure of the operating device according to [1], the first light emitting element is disposed facing the end face of the first light guide, and the second light emitting element is the second light. It may be configured to face the end face of the guide.

[3] The illumination structure of the operating device according to [1] or [2] may be configured such that the first and second light emitting elements emit illumination lights of different colors.

[4] In the illumination structure of the operating device according to any one of [1] to [3], the first and second light guides are made of a flexible material, It may be configured such that a guide portion that changes the moving direction by curving the end portion of the light guide is formed.
[5] The illumination structure of the operating device according to any one of [1] to [4] may be configured such that the first and second light guides have a light reflecting film formed on the other end surface. Good.
[6] The illumination structure of the operating device according to any one of [1] to [5] is such that the first and second light emitting elements and the first and second light guides together with the slide lever are in the operating hole. The light emitting areas of the first and second light guides in the operation hole may be increased or decreased by movement of the slide lever.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to provide an illumination structure of an operation device that allows a user to easily recognize an operation state, an operation ratio, and an operation position of an operation member.

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view schematically showing an operating device having an illumination structure according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a perspective view schematically showing an appearance after the operation device is assembled. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of an essential part taken along line III-III in FIG. FIG. 4A corresponds to FIG. 3 and is an explanatory diagram showing a state when the slide lever is slid in one direction. FIG. 4B is an explanatory diagram showing a state when the slide lever is slid in the other direction. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of an essential part corresponding to FIG. 3 schematically showing an operating device provided with the illumination structure according to the second embodiment. FIG. 6 is a perspective view schematically showing an end edge portion of one component part constituting the illumination structure. FIG. 7A corresponds to FIG. 5 and is an explanatory view showing a state when the slide lever is slid in one direction. FIG. 7B is an explanatory diagram showing a state when the slide lever is slid in the other direction.

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description, the front side of the operating device is referred to as the front, the back side of the operating device is referred to as the rear, and the operating device is referred to as up, down, left, and right when viewed from the front.

[First Embodiment]
(Configuration of operation device)
1 and 2 show an illumination structure of the operating device 1 according to the first embodiment. An operation device 1 according to the illustrated example is applied as, for example, a heater control device for an automobile, and includes an operation panel 2 for controlling the heater control device. The operation panel 2 is arranged on the design surface of the instrument panel of the automobile.

The operation panel 2 includes a rectangular case 3 made of a resin material such as ABS. The case 3 constitutes the appearance of the operation panel 2 by combining a front case body 4 that opens to the rear and a rear case body 5 that opens to the front. Two front and

lower operation holes

6 and 6 extending in the left-right direction are formed on the front surface of the front case body 4.

Slide operation knobs

7 and 7 as operation members are provided in the left and right directions in each operation hole 6. It is slidably arranged.

The upper operation knob 7 is for adjusting the set temperature by sliding left and right along the operation hole 6, and the lower operation knob 7 slides left and right along the operation hole 6. This is for adjusting the air flow rate. A rear portion of the rear case body 5 is provided with a mechanism (not shown) that transmits the slide operations of the upper and

lower operation knobs

7 and 7 to the heater control device.

(Lighting structure)
As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 and FIGS. 4A and 4B, the operation device 1 configured as described above is used for an indicator that displays the operation states, operation ratios, and operation positions of the upper and

lower operation knobs

7 and 7, respectively. The lighting structure is provided.

The illumination structure does not require a portion where a transparent display plate with various indicator patterns is provided on the design surface of the operation panel 2, and is provided on each sliding portion of the upper and

lower operation knobs

7 and 7. The structure has an illumination function and a display function, and is a main feature of the controller device 1.

The sliding portion of the operation knob 7 includes

operation holes

6 and 6 on the upper and lower sides of the operation panel 2. Each operation hole 6 is provided with an illumination unit that transmits the light La emitted from the light emitting element 10. When the light La from the light emitting element 10 passes through the illumination unit, the upper operation hole 6 is configured with a temperature display unit that displays a set temperature, and the lower operation hole 6 has a set air flow rate. A fan display unit for displaying is configured.

The illumination structure corresponding to each of the upper operation knob 7 for adjusting the set temperature and the lower operation knob 7 for adjusting the set air flow rate has substantially the same structure. In the description, as shown in FIG. 1, an illumination structure and members corresponding to the lower operation knob 7 for adjusting the set air flow rate will be described.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the parts constituting the indicator lighting structure are accommodated and disposed in an internal space formed by combining the rear opening of the front case body 4 and the front opening of the rear case body 5. ing.

The components constituting the illumination structure include a slide lever 8 that can be slid, a light emitting element 10 mounted on a substrate 9 fixed to the slide lever 8, and a light La emitted from the light emitting element 10 on the operation panel 2. A light guide 11 (diffusion light guide tube) diffused and guided to the operation hole 6, a light guide fixing part 12 for accommodating and fixing the light guide 11, and a slide guide part 13 for guiding and supporting the light guide fixing part 12 slidably. And.

A slide lever 8 that can be slid through the operation hole 6 of the operation panel 2 is used as a fixing member that is long in the front-rear direction. The front end portion of the slide lever 8 is fitted and fixed to the operation knob 7, and the rear end portion of the slide lever 8 is supported and fixed to a light guide fixing component 12 that accommodates and fixes the light guide 11.

Substrates

9 and 9 are fixed on the left and right sides of the slide lever 8, and a light emitting element 10 is mounted on each substrate 9. A slide lever 8 that moves left and right along the operation hole 6 of the operation panel 2 moves the light emitting element 10 and the light guide 11 of the substrate 9 together with the light guide fixing component 12.

The light emitting element 10 mounted separately on each substrate 9 is a light emitting diode that radiates toward the end face of the light guide 11, and includes, for example, chip LEDs having red, blue, or green color that emit different color lights. The light emitting element 10 is electrically connected to a power source (not shown) via a terminal, a lead wire, etc. (not shown) mounted on the substrate 9.

As another example of the light emitting element 10, for example, a single color light of red light, blue light, or green light is mixed with two types of single color light, or three types of single color light is combined. A chip LED configured to emit white light mixed and combined can be used. Thereby, you may make it change the color rendering property of the operation hole 6 used as the sliding part of the operation panel 2. FIG.

The side surface of the light guide 11 that irradiates the operation hole 6 of the operation panel 2 with the light La emitted from the light emitting element 10 is disposed facing the operation hole 6 serving as an illumination unit and a display unit of the operation panel 2. By arranging the side surface of the light guide 11 at a position corresponding to the illumination part and display area of the operation hole 6, the operation state, operation ratio, and operation position of the operation knob 7 can be changed in the left and right light emitting areas in the operation hole 6. It can be expressed by.

The light guide 11 is a linear light guide member that propagates light La incident from one end surface on the light emitting element 10 side and diffuses the light La to the entire side surface. The light guide member is made of a flexible material having, for example, a transparent acrylic resin core and a fluorine resin clad covering the peripheral surface of the core. An example of this type of light guide member is a light string manufactured by 3M.

A light reflecting film 111 made of, for example, a metal film is formed on the other end surface of the light guide 11 opposite to the light emitting element 10 side, and light La is prevented from leaking outside from the other end surface of the light guide 11. ing. Light La incident from one end surface of the light guide 11 propagates through the core to the other end surface and is emitted from the entire surface of the cladding.

The light guide fixing component 12 for receiving and fixing the light guide 11 is formed with a long groove-shaped receiving recess 121 whose front sectional shape is open to the front, and the rear end of the slide lever 8 is formed on the center bottom surface of the receiving recess 121. A fixing groove 122 for supporting and fixing the portion is formed.

The receiving recess 121 of the light guide fixing component 12 is defined to the left and right via a fixing groove 122, and the light guide 11 is received and held in each of the pair of left and right receiving recesses 121 and 121. One end surface of the light guide 11 is disposed to face the light emitting element 10 on the substrate 9 fixed to the slide lever 8.

The slide guide part 13 that guides and supports the light guide fixing part 12 is a rectangular parallelepiped having a rectangular cross section. On the front surface of the rectangular parallelepiped, long concave groove-shaped

guide grooves

131 and 131 arranged in two rows are formed linearly. It is formed in parallel with. The light guide fixing component 12 is slidably received and held in the guide groove 131 and is slidably guided along the guide groove 131.

As shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B, the light guide fixing component 12 follows the movement of the operation knob 7 via a slide lever 8 that moves to the left and right along the operation hole 6 of the operation panel 2.

The light guide fixing component 12 moves the light emitting element 10 and the light guide 11 of the substrate 9 along the guide groove 131 of the slide guide component 13 to propagate the light La emitted from the light emitting element 10 to the light guide 11. Then, the operation hole 6 of the operation panel 2 is irradiated. Therefore, the operation state and operation ratio of the operation knob 7 are expressed by changes in the left and right light emitting areas in the operation hole 6 in accordance with the operation position of the slide lever 8.

(Effects of the first embodiment)
According to the operating device 1 in the first embodiment, in addition to the above effects, the following effects can be obtained.

Since the operation hole 6 serving as the sliding portion of each of the upper and

lower operation knobs

7 and 7 is structured to have both illumination and display functions, various design patterns for indicators are engraved on the design surface of the operation panel 2. It is possible to suppress the height of the operation panel 2 in the vertical direction without providing a transmissive display board, and to make the appearance of the operation panel 2 clear.

Since the light emitting element 10 is provided on the slide lever 8, the operation state, the operation ratio, and the operation position of the operation knob 7 that moves to the left and right along the operation hole 6 of the operation panel 2 are represented by the left and right light emitting areas in the operation hole 6. It is possible to express, and the user can sensuously recognize the illumination and display on the operation panel 2.

Since the light emitting element 10 and the light guide 11 can be moved to the left and right together along the operation hole 6 of the operation panel 2 via the slide lever 8, the change in the light emission area of the left and right emission colors can be made with a simple configuration. It is possible to express and to improve the effect of the operation panel 2.

Since the side surface of the light guide 11 is configured as an illumination unit and a display unit, the side surface of the light guide 11 can be used as the design surface of the operation panel 2 and the appearance as a product can be improved.

[Second Embodiment]
FIG. 5 shows an illumination structure of the operating device 1 according to the second embodiment. In the second embodiment, the same member names and reference numerals are used for members that are substantially the same as those in the first embodiment, and a detailed description of these members is omitted.

In the second embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, the left-right width dimension W2 of the operation panel 2 is set shorter than the left-right width dimension W1 of the operation panel 2 in the first embodiment. This is different from the first embodiment.

In the first embodiment, the lateral width W1 of the operation panel 2 is set in accordance with the lateral movement range of the light guide 11, whereas the second embodiment is the same as that in the first embodiment. Without changing the operation range of the operation knob 7, the width dimension W2 in the left-right direction of the operation panel 2 can be arbitrarily set.

5 and 6,

partition walls

133 and 133 having

openings

132 and 132 intersecting with the bottom surface are formed at the left and right edge portions of the guide groove 131 of the slide guide component 13. The partition wall 133 is configured as a guide surface 134 that guides the other end of the light guide 11 opposite to the light emitting element 10 by curving backward.

The guide surface 134 of the partition wall 133 having the opening 132 is formed as an arc surface that curves and deforms the other end of the light guide 11. With this configuration, the partition wall 133 having the opening 132 functions as a guide that can change the moving direction of the other end of the light guide 11.

The guide portion according to the illustrated example includes a pair of

partition walls

133 and 133 that are opposed to each other with a predetermined distance. The distance between the opposed end surfaces of the partition wall 133 is formed to be smaller than the outer diameter of the light guide 11. However, it is not limited to the illustrated example. The structure which the guide surface 134 connects and is formed may be sufficient by integrating the end surfaces which a pair of partition part 133 opposes.

As shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B, the light guide fixing component 12 follows the movement of the operation knob 7 via a slide lever 8 that moves left and right along the operation hole 6 of the operation panel 2. The light guide fixing component 12 moves the light emitting element 10 and the light guide 11 of the substrate 9 along the guide groove 131 of the slide guide component 13 to propagate the light La emitted from the light emitting element 10 to the light guide 11. Then, the operation hole 6 of the operation panel 2 is irradiated.

As the end position of the operation knob 7 in the operation range is approached, the end portion of the light guide 11 is guided and guided backward along the guide surface 134 of the partition wall 133 of the slide guide component 13. Therefore, the operation state and operation ratio of the operation knob 7 are expressed by changes in the left and right light emitting areas in the operation hole 6 in accordance with the operation position of the slide lever 8.

(Effect of 2nd Embodiment)
By adopting the operating device 1 according to the second embodiment configured as described above, the following effects can be obtained in addition to the same effects as those of the first embodiment.

The lateral width W2 of the operation panel 2 can be set to a short dimension without narrowing the operation range of the operation knob 7. Since the height dimension W2 of the operation panel 2 can be shortened in combination with the fact that the height dimension of the operation panel 2 can be shortened, the operation panel 2 can be further downsized.

In each embodiment, the heater control device is exemplified, but the operation device is not limited to the illustrated example as long as the operation device includes a slide lever that can be slidably operated. Of course you can.

As is clear from the above description, the illumination structure of the operating device of the present invention has been described based on each embodiment, modified example, and illustrated example, but the present invention is applied to each embodiment, modified example, and illustrated example. It is not limited and can be implemented in various modes without departing from the scope of the invention.

Therefore, it should be noted that not all the combinations of features described in the embodiments, the modified examples, and the illustrated examples are essential to the means for solving the problems of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Operation apparatus 2 Operation panel 6 Operation hole 7 Operation knob 8 Slide lever 10 Light emitting element 11 Light guide 12 Light guide fixing | fixed part 13 Slide guide part 111 Reflective film 121 Accommodation recessed part 122 Fixing groove 131 Guide recessed groove 132 Opening part 133 Partition part 134 Guide plane

Claims

A slide lever that can be slid along an operation hole formed in the operation panel;
First and second light emitting elements separately mounted on substrates fixed on both sides of the slide lever;
A first light guide and a second light guide which are arranged facing the operation hole and guide light from the first and second light emitting elements to the operation hole;
A light guide fixing component for fixing the end portion of the slide lever, and for accommodating and fixing the first and second light guides on both sides defined by the end portion of the slide lever;
An illumination structure for an operating device, comprising: a slide guide part that slidably guides and supports the light guide fixing part.
The first light emitting element is disposed to face one end face of the first light guide, and the second light emitting element is disposed to face one end face of the second light guide. The lighting structure of the operating device described in 1.
The illumination structure of the operating device according to claim 1, wherein the first and second light emitting elements emit illumination lights of different colors.
The first and second light guides are made of a flexible material,
The illumination of the operating device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein a guide portion is formed at both ends of the slide guide component to bend the end portion of the light guide to change a moving direction. Construction.
The lighting structure for an operating device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the first and second light guides have a light reflecting film formed on the other end surface.
The first and second light emitting elements and the first and second light guides move along the operation hole together with the slide lever, and the first and second light guides in the operation hole are moved by the movement of the slide lever. The lighting structure for an operating device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the light emitting area of the light guide 2 is increased or decreased.