WO2020065835A1

WO2020065835A1 - Vehicle operation switch

Info

Publication number: WO2020065835A1
Application number: PCT/JP2018/035986
Authority: WO
Inventors: 武有働; 竹祥藤本; 響子和才
Original assignee: 本田技研工業株式会社
Priority date: 2018-09-27
Filing date: 2018-09-27
Publication date: 2020-04-02

Abstract

The present invention addresses the problem of providing a vehicle operation switch (10A) that facilitates recognition of a symbol (21) even when high brightness color is selected for a background (30) and a light-emitting unit emits light during a twilight period. The vehicle operation switch (10A) according to the present invention is provided with: an operation body (11) that has an operation surface (14a); and a white light-emitting unit (13) that is disposed in the operation body (11), wherein the operation surface (14a) has a symbol (21) of low brightness and a background (30) which is of high brightness and which constitutes the background of the symbol (21). The background (30) has a first background (31) which is provided along the edge of the symbol (21) and a second background (35) which is provided outside the first background (31). The first background (31) exhibits high light transmittance, whereas the symbol (21) and the second background (35) do not allow light to transmit therethrough or exhibit low light transmittance.

Description

Operation switch for vehicle

The present invention relates to a vehicle operation switch (sometimes referred to as a “switch”).

スイッチ A plurality of switches are provided in the vehicle, for example, for changing the type of audio and adjusting the volume. In addition, a symbol portion such as a character or a figure is attached to the operation surface of the switch (the surface of the operation body), and a function executed when the switch is pressed can be recognized.

By the way, a low-brightness color such as black or gray is selected for the operation surface of the conventional switch, while the symbol portion has a strong contrast with the operation surface forming the background, and a color in which the symbol portion is easily recognized. For example, a color with high brightness, such as white, has been selected. As a result, visibility is ensured due to the difference in contrast between the operation surface constituting the background and the symbol portion. Hereinafter, an area other than the symbol part on the operation surface is referred to as a background part.

白色 A white light emitting section is provided inside the switch operation body. When the inside of the vehicle is dark, the light emitting section emits light and the symbol section glows white. According to this, the contrast between the background part that looks black because it is dark and the symbol part that looks white (glows) is strong, and the symbol part is easy to recognize (see Patent Document below).

JP-A-2013-133273

In recent years, in order to improve the aesthetics of the vehicle interior or to widen the range of design choices, it has been studied to make the interior of the switch a high-brightness color such as white or cream for the operation surface of the switch. Therefore, with regard to the operation surface, studies are being made on setting the background portion to have the same high-brightness color as the interior and the symbol portion to have the low-brightness color.
However, when the light emitting section emits light during the twilight time, the symbol section glows white against a white background that is not dark. Therefore, the contrast between the symbol part and the background part is weak, and it is difficult to recognize the symbol part.

Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above-described background, and recognizes a symbol portion even when a high-brightness color is selected for the background portion and the light-emitting portion emits light during the twilight time. It is an object to provide a vehicle operation switch that is easy to operate.

As means for solving the above problems, a vehicle operation switch according to the present invention includes an operation body having an operation surface, and a white light emitting unit disposed in the operation body, wherein the operation surface is A symbol portion having a low brightness, and a background portion having a high brightness that constitutes the background of the symbol portion, wherein the background portion includes a first background portion provided along an edge of the symbol portion; A second background portion provided outside a background portion, wherein the symbol portion and the second background portion do not transmit light or have low light transmittance, while the first background portion has a transmittance. Is higher.

According to the invention, when the light-emitting portion emits light, the first background portion shines white (appears white). On the other hand, the symbol portion looks black, the contrast with the symbol portion is strong, and the symbol portion is easily visible.

It is the perspective view which looked at the vehicle of an embodiment from the left front. It is the figure which looked at the right part of the steering of an embodiment from the driver's seat side. It is the enlarged view which expanded the switch unit of embodiment. It is the enlarged view which expanded the vicinity of the limit switch. FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line VV in FIG. 4. It is a figure showing a daytime limit switch. It is a figure showing a limit switch at night. It is an enlarged view which shows a switch unit at night. It is a figure which shows the limit switch at the time of dusk and the light emission part is turned off. It is a figure which shows the limit switch at the time of dusk and the light emission part is lit. It is a figure showing a limit switch concerning a modification.

A vehicle 1 to which the vehicle operation switch according to the embodiment is applied will be described.
As shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle 1 of the embodiment measures external brightness with an illuminometer 101, turns on a small light 102 when it is determined to be dim, and turns on a headlight 103 when it is determined that it is darker. It is lit. Further, a steering 2 for changing the traveling direction is provided in the cabin of the vehicle 1.

As shown in FIG. 2, the steering 2 includes a hub 3 connected to a steering shaft (not shown), an annular rim 4 gripped by a driver, and a plurality of spokes connecting the hub 3 and the rim 4 (in FIG. 1, 5 (only one is shown). Further, a switch unit 6 containing a plurality of switches 10 is attached to the steering 2.

As shown in FIG. 3, the plurality of switches 10 are push-type switches, and one of them includes an operation switch for a variable speed limiter mechanism (hereinafter, referred to as a “limiter switch”) 10A. The limiter switch 10A is for turning ON / OFF a limiter function for limiting the traveling speed so as not to exceed a predetermined speed.

The plurality of switches 10 include a MAIN switch 10B, a CANCEL switch 10C, a SET switch 10D, a distance switch 10E, a RESUME switch 10F, and a lane keeping assist switch 10G.
The MAIN switch 10B is for activating a cruise control or active cruise control system. Cruise control is a system that keeps the vehicle speed constant without the driver depressing the accelerator pedal. Active cruise control is a system in which a driver follows the vehicle or travels at a constant speed while maintaining the inter-vehicle distance with a preceding vehicle at a set distance without stepping on an accelerator pedal and a brake pedal.
When the SET switch 10D is pressed after the MAIN switch 10B is pressed, the cruise control or active cruise control starts (operates) at the vehicle speed at the time of pressing. When the SET switch 10D is pressed while the cruise control system or the active cruise control system is operating, the set speed decreases.
The CANCEL switch 10C is for canceling the operation of the cruise control or the active cruise control.
The distance switch 10E is for adjusting the inter-vehicle distance with the preceding vehicle while the active cruise control is operating.
If the RESUME switch 10F is pressed when the cruise control or the active cruise control is interrupted by depressing the brake pedal, the operation of the cruise control or the active cruise control resumes at the speed before the interruption. If the button is pressed during the operation of the cruise control or the active cruise control, the set speed increases.
The lane keeping assist switch 10G is for turning on / off a system for assisting the movement of the steering wheel 2 to assist in traveling in the left and right lanes.
Hereinafter, a limiter switch 10A will be described as a representative example of the plurality of switches 10.

文字 As shown in FIG. 4, a letter “LIM”, which is an abbreviation of Limiter, is attached to the center of the operation surface 14a of the limiter switch 10A as the symbol part 21.

As shown in FIG. 5, the limiter switch 10A includes an operating body 11 that is moved by being pressed by a finger, an urging member (not shown) that returns the moved operating body 11 to its original position, and a movement of the operating body 11. And a light-emitting unit 13 for detecting the pressure.
For convenience of description, the direction in which the operating body 11 moves by pressing is referred to as downward, and the direction in which the operating body 11 moves by the biasing member is referred to as upward.

The operation body 11 is a transparent or translucent resin component, and is assembled to the switch unit 6.
The operating body 11 includes a plate-shaped operating portion 14 disposed on the upper side, and a rod-shaped rod portion 15 extending downward from the back surface 14 b of the operating portion 14 and having a lower end abutting on the contact portion 12 a of the push switch 12. ing. The operation unit 14 of the limiter switch 10A is integrated with the operation unit 14D of the SET switch 10D, the operation unit 14E of the distance switch 10E, and the operation unit 14F of the RESUME switch 10F, and has a ring shape ( (See FIG. 3).
The upper surface (front surface) of the operation unit 14 is an operation surface 14a pressed by the driver. On the upper surface of the operation surface 14a, a coating portion 20 formed by curing the applied paint is provided. The configuration of the covering section 20 will be described later.

The push switch 12 includes a contact portion 12a and a main body 12b fixed to the bottom wall 6a of the switch unit 6. Further, when the contact portion 12a is pressed by the rod portion 15 of the operating body 11, the main body portion 12b transmits an electric signal to a control portion (not shown), and the limiter function is turned ON or OFF.

(4) The light emitting unit 13 is an LED that emits cream-colored light, and is turned on in conjunction with lighting of the exterior lamps (small light 102 and headlight 103). The light emitting unit 13 is fixed to the bottom wall 6a of the switch unit 6, and is arranged so as to emit light toward the back surface 14b of the operation unit 14. Therefore, the light emitted from the light emitting unit 13 enters the operation unit 14 from the back surface 14b of the operation unit 14 and passes through the surface of the operation unit 14 (operation surface 14a).

As shown in FIG. 4, the covering unit 20 includes a symbol unit 21 that covers a substantially central portion of the operation surface 14a, and a background unit 30 that covers all regions other than the symbol unit 21 on the operation surface 14a.
The background portion 30 uses a cream color and is unified with the color of the interior. For the symbol part 21, black with low brightness is used, and a color that provides a strong contrast in relation to the color of the background part 30 (cream color) is selected. The surface of the switch unit 6 is also cream-colored, and is unified with the interior color.

The symbol portion 21 is formed by a combination of alphabets “L”, “I” and “M”, and is composed of a plurality of

marks

22, 23 and 24. Further, the paint used for the symbol portion 21 (each

mark

22, 23, 24) has a low transmittance, so that light is hardly transmitted.

The background section 30 includes a first background section 31 adjacent to the symbol section 21 and a second background section 35 provided outside the first background section 31. The paint used for the first background portion 31 has a high transmittance. On the other hand, the paint used for the second background portion 35 does not transmit light or has low transmittance.

The first background portion 31 includes an “L” background portion 32 extending along the edge of the mark 22 and surrounding the mark 22, and an “I” background portion 33 extending along the edge of the mark 23 and surrounding the mark 23. , Extending along the edge of the mark 24 and surrounding the mark 24. The “L” background section 32, the “I” background section 33, and the “M” background section 34 have a configuration corresponding to a “small background section” in the claims.
The “L” background portion 32, the “I” background portion 33, and the “M” background portion 34 are continuous, and are located between the “L” background portion 32, the “I” background portion 33, and the “M” background portion 34. The second background portion 35 does not intervene.

The second background portion 35 is formed in an area other than the symbol portion 21 and the first background portion 31 on the operation surface 14a.

As described above, the limiter switch 10A (vehicle operation switch) of the embodiment includes the operation body 11 having the operation surface 14a, and the cream (white) light emitting unit 13 disposed in the operation body 11; The operation surface 14a has a low brightness symbol portion 21 and a high brightness background portion 30 constituting the background of the symbol portion 21. The background portion 30 is provided along the edge of the symbol portion 21. The first background portion 31 and a second background portion 35 provided outside the first background portion 31. The symbol portion 21 and the second background portion 35 do not transmit or transmit light. , The first background portion 31 has a high transmittance. The light emitting unit 13 is turned on and off in conjunction with turning on and off the exterior lamps (small light 102 and headlight 103) of the vehicle 1 arranged in the operating body 11. The exterior lamps (small light 102 and headlight 103) are turned on and off by an illuminometer 101 provided in the vehicle 1.

According to the above configuration, as shown in FIG. 6, in the daytime when the amount of sun light is large, the symbol portion 21 of the operation surface 14a looks black and the background portion 30 looks creamy. Thus, while the brightness of the symbol portion 21 is low, the brightness of the background portion 30 is high and the contrast is strong.

(7) As shown in FIG. 7, the headlight 103 is lit at night, and the light emitting unit 13 emits light correspondingly. In addition, the cream-colored light emitted from the light emitting unit 13 passes through the first background portion 31 having high transmittance, so that the first background portion 31 looks cream-colored. On the other hand, the symbol portion 21 and the second background portion 35 with low transmittance appear black (or dark gray) because light is not transmitted or the amount of transmitted light is extremely small. Therefore, the brightness of the first background portion 31 is high while the brightness of the symbol portion 21 is low, and the contrast is strong.

As shown in FIG. 8, the second background portion 35 of the limiter switch 10A cooperates with the second background portion 35C of the adjacent CANCEL switch 10C to form the first background portion 31 of the limiter switch 10A and the CANCEL switch 10C. Are separated from the first background portion 31C. Therefore, the symbol part 21 of the limiter switch 10A and the symbol part 21C of the CANCEL switch 10C are visually recognized separately, and visibility is improved.
The same effect can be obtained because the second background portion 35 of the limiter switch 10A is adjacent to the second background portion 35D of the SET switch 10D and the second background portion 35F of the RESUME switch 10F.

As shown in FIG. 9, when the small light 102 is not turned on due to the low light amount of the sun and the small light 102 is not lit, the light amount of the sun illuminating the background portion 30 of the operation surface 14 a is small, and the background portion 30 becomes dark, for example, beige. Looks like. Further, since the amount of the sun illuminating the symbol portion 21 is small, the symbol portion 21 looks blacker. Therefore, the lightness of both the symbol part 21 and the background part 30 is reduced, and the lightness difference between them is still large (the contrast between the symbol part 21 and the background part 30 is strong).

As shown in FIG. 10, when the small light 102 is turned on at dusk, the light emitting unit 13 emits light. Therefore, the cream light emitted from the light emitting unit 13 passes through the first background unit 31, and the first background unit 31 looks cream-colored. On the other hand, the symbol portion 21 has a small amount of transmitted light and looks black. Therefore, the brightness of the first background portion 31 is high while the brightness of the symbol portion 21 is low, and the contrast is strong.
As described above, according to the present embodiment, it is easy to always recognize the symbol portion 21 and it is possible to use a high-brightness color for the interior.

ため Since the light-emitting portion is turned on and off in conjunction with the turning on and off of the exterior lamp, it is possible to achieve both improved user convenience and improved visibility during twilight.

(4) Even if the light emitting unit 13 emits light unintentionally by the driver (even if the light emitting unit 13 is turned on by the lighting of the small light 102), the symbol unit 21 can be recognized, so that the convenience is high.

In the limiter switch 10A (operation switch for a vehicle) of the embodiment, the symbol part 21 is composed of a plurality of

marks

22, 23, and 24, and the first background part 31 is composed of the

marks

22, 23, and 24. And a plurality of

small background portions

32, 33, 34 provided along the edge of the plurality of

small background portions

32, 33, 34, and the plurality of

small background portions

32, 33, 34 are formed continuously.
According to FIG. 5, the "L" background portion 32, the "I" background portion 33, and the "M" background portion 34 illuminate integrally, and the plurality of

marks

22, 23, and 24 are associated with each other. Therefore, the symbol portion 21 can be easily recognized. In other words, it is possible to avoid a possibility that the plurality of

marks

22, 23, and 24 are separately and independently viewed and the symbol portion 21 does not perform its function.

The limiter switch 10A (vehicle operation switch) of the embodiment is provided on the steering wheel 2. According to this, light emitted from another instrument provided on the instrument panel is unlikely to enter the operation surface 14a. Therefore, the possibility that the entire operation surface 14a shines and the contrast becomes weak can be reduced.

The embodiment has been described above, but the present invention is not limited to the above-described example.
In the embodiment, as the symbol part 21 and the background part 30, the covering part 20 formed by curing the paint is used. However, a cover that covers the operation surface 14 a may be used. In addition, since the first background portion 31 only needs to transmit light, the operation surface 14a may be exposed (the covering portion 20 and the cover are not used).
Alternatively, the symbol portion 21 and the background portion 30 may be formed by coloring the resin material forming the operation portion 14. In this case, it is necessary to change the transmittance for each of the parts constituting the symbol part 21, the first background part 31, and the second background part 35.
Alternatively, the light transmittance of the first background portion 31 and the second background portion 35 can be reduced by changing the thickness of the paint without changing the type of the paint between the first background portion 31 and the second background portion 35. It may be changed.

In addition, cream is used as the color of the background portion 30 in the embodiment, but a color with high brightness such as white, pale yellow (light yellow), beige (extremely light yellow to brown), and khaki (light brown) is used. And it is not particularly limited.

{Circle around (3)} Although black is used as the color of the symbol portion 21 in the embodiment, the color is not particularly limited as long as a strong contrast corresponding to the background portion 30 such as dark gray can be obtained.

In addition, the light emitting unit 13 of the embodiment emits cream-colored light, but the light emitting unit of the present invention has a strong contrast between the symbol portion 21 and the color of the light transmitted through the first background portion 31 and recognized. It is only necessary to be able to obtain white light such as white or yellow light.

{Circle around (2)} Although the symbol section 21 of the present embodiment is composed of a plurality of

marks

22, 23 and 24, it may be composed of a single mark. Further, the mark is not limited to a character, but may be a symbol or a figure.

In the first background portion 31 of the embodiment, a plurality of small background portions (“L” background portion 32, “I” background portion 33, and “M” background portion 34) are continuous. As shown in FIG. 11, a plurality of small background portions (“L” background portion 32A, “I” background portion 33A, and “M” background portion 34A) may be a first background portion 31A that is not continuous.

The symbol portion 21 and the second background portion 35 have low transmittance, but may be one that can completely block light from the light emitting portion 13.

The light emitting unit 13 is linked to turning on and off the small light 102 and the headlight 103, but may be linked to an exterior lamp such as a position lamp or a fog lamp.

Reference Signs List 1 vehicle 2 steering 6 switch unit 10 switch (operation switch for vehicle)
Reference Signs List 10A Variable speed limiter mechanism operation switch 10B MAIN switch 10C CANCEL switch

10D SET switch

10E Distance switch 10F RES (Resume) switch 10G Lane keeping support switch 11 Operating body 13 Light emitting section 14 Operating section 14a Operation surface 15 Rod section 20 Covering section 21

Symbol part

22, 23, 24 mark 30 background part 31 first background part 32 "L" background part (small background part)
33 "I" background part (small background part)
34 "M" background part (small background part)
35 Second background section

Claims

An operating body having an operating surface, and a white light emitting unit disposed in the operating body,
The operation surface has a low-brightness symbol portion, and a high-brightness background portion forming a background of the symbol portion,
The background section has a first background section provided along an edge of the symbol section, and a second background section provided outside the first background section.
The operation switch for a vehicle, wherein the symbol portion and the second background portion do not transmit light or have low light transmittance, while the first background portion has high transmittance.
The symbol portion is composed of a plurality of marks,
The first background portion includes a plurality of small background portions provided along an edge of each mark,
The vehicle operation switch according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of small background portions are formed continuously.
3. The vehicle operation switch according to claim 1, wherein the light emitting unit is arranged in the operation body and turns on and off in synchronization with turning on and off an exterior lamp of the vehicle. 4.
The vehicle operation switch according to claim 3, wherein the exterior lamp is switched on and off by an illuminometer provided on the vehicle.
The vehicle operation switch according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the operation switch is mounted on a steering wheel.