JP2000028402A - Pointer instrument - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a pointer instrument wherein fixing of a light-emitting element and feeding to it are done with a simple configuration by providing a light-emitting element for a light-emitting pointer on a flexible, and spiral, circuit board. SOLUTION: An insulator 50 is coaxially inserted in a left-side pointer axis 33 with a cylindrical boss 51 while supported by the pointer axis 33 for no relative rotation. A light-emitting element 60 is housed in a U-shape housing wall 53 of the insulator 50. An FPC 70 is so supported as to be coaxially positioned with the pointer axis 33, on the upper surface of the insulator 50.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a pointer instrument for vehicles and other various pointer instruments.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a pointer instrument of this type, for example, there is a cross-coil pointer instrument as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-128868. In this cross coil type pointer instrument, a light emitting pointer incorporating a plurality of light emitting diodes is
It is supported by the tip of a pointer shaft which extends coaxially from the bobbin through a through hole of the dial so as to be rotatable.

Further, a plate-shaped insulator is coaxially supported by a pointer shaft between the dial and the bobbin, and a spiral flexible printed board is coaxially supported by the pointer shaft directly above the insulator. ing. Here, each light-emitting diode incorporated in the light-emitting indicator is held at its connection terminal by each forked metal terminal connected to the inner end of the flexible printed circuit board.

[0004]

By the way, in the above-mentioned cross-coil type pointer instrument, as described above, each light-emitting diode which is a light source of the light-emitting pointer is connected to the inner end of the flexible printed board via each forked metal terminal. Connected to the unit.
This means that the above-mentioned cross-coil type pointer meter has a problem that extra components such as bifurcated metal terminals are separately required to connect each light emitting diode to the flexible printed circuit board.

Therefore, in order to cope with such a problem, the present invention arranges the light emitting element for the light emitting pointer on the spiral flexible circuit board, thereby simplifying the fixing of the light emitting element and the power supply to the light emitting element. It is an object of the present invention to provide a pointer instrument realized with a simple configuration.

[0006]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a dial (10a,
10b), a drive device (30) extending through the through-holes (13, 14) of the dial and rotatably extending the pointer shaft (33), and supported by the distal end portion (33a) of the pointer shaft. A light emitting pointer (8) including a pivot base (81) extending from the pivot base and an elongated pointer main body (82) extending along the dial.
0), a spiral flexible circuit board (70) coaxially supported by the pointer shaft between the driving device and the dial, and a power supply from the circuit board to pass through the through-hole portion of the dial, and the main body of the pointer. A light-emitting element (60) fixed to a part of the circuit board so that light is incident from the lower surface into the vicinity of the rotating base. A pointer instrument is provided in which the upper surface of the pointer is illuminated and the pointer body indicates a position on the dial.

As described above, since the light emitting element is fixed to a part of the spiral flexible circuit board, fixing of the light emitting element and power supply to the light emitting element can be realized with a simple configuration. Here, according to the invention described in claim 2, according to claim 1
In the pointer instrument described in (1), a plate-like insulator (5) coaxially supported by a pointer shaft between the dial and the drive device.
0), the circuit board is located on the dial side surface of the insulator.

[0008] Thus, the effects of the first aspect of the invention can be achieved while ensuring electrical insulation of the circuit board by the insulator. According to the third aspect of the present invention, the pointer shaft (33) is rotatably extended through the dial (10a, 10b) and the through holes (13, 14) of the dial. A driving device (30), a turning base (81) supported by a tip portion (33a) of a pointer shaft, and an elongated pointer main body (8) extending from the turning base along the dial.
2) a light emitting pointer (80), a plate-shaped insulator (50) coaxially supported by the pointer shaft between the driving device and the dial, and a central support of the insulator at the inner end thereof. And a flexible circuit board spirally extending from the inner end along the surface of the insulator, and receiving power from the circuit board and passing through the through-hole portion of the dial to a portion of the main body of the pointer near the pivot base. A light emitting element fixed to a part of one of the insulator and the circuit board so that light is incident from the lower surface, and the light emitting pointer emits light from the upper surface of the pointer main body by light incident on the above-described vicinity. In addition, there is provided a pointer instrument in which a pointer is indicated on the dial by the pointer body.

As described above, since the light emitting element is fixed to one of the insulator and the spiral flexible circuit board, the fixing of the light emitting element and the power supply to the light emitting element are performed with a simple structure. realizable. Claim 4
According to the invention described in (1), in the pointer instrument according to any one of claims 1 to 3, the vicinity portion of the pointer main body includes:
A light introducing part (83) protruding from the lower surface of the pointer body toward the light emitting element, and the light emitting element enters light into the light introducing part through a through hole of the dial.

Accordingly, the light emitting pointer has the light introducing portion integrally near the rotation base, and as a result, the light introducing path of the light emitting pointer and the assembling structure with the pointer shaft are simplified.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIGS. 1 and 2 show an example in which the present invention is applied to a cross-coil type pointer instrument for a vehicle, and the pointer instrument is disposed on an instrument panel provided in a vehicle cabin of the vehicle.

The pointer instrument has an instrument panel 10,
As shown in FIG. 1, the instrument panel 10 includes left and right dials 10a and 10b. In addition, these dial 1
Arc-shaped pattern display sections 11 and 12 are formed in 0a and 10b, respectively. The pattern display unit 1
1 corresponds to a vehicle speed scale pattern indicating the vehicle speed of the vehicle, and the pattern display section 12 corresponds to a rotation speed scale pattern indicating the engine speed of the vehicle. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 10c denotes an indicator unit, which corresponds to a shift position pattern indicating a shift position of the automatic transmission of the vehicle.

The pointer instrument is provided with a left dial 10a.
As shown in FIG. 2, a shield casing 20 and a left driving device 30 housed in the shield casing 20 are provided. The left driving device 30 includes a hollow bobbin 31, a cross coil 32 wound around a large diameter portion of the bobbin 31, and a left pointer shaft 33 coaxially and rotatably supported in the bobbin 31. The left pointer shaft 33 extends from the upper small-diameter portion 31a of the bobbin 31 to the through-hole portion 41 of the plate-shaped support member 40, the disk-shaped insulator 5
0 cylindrical boss 51 and through hole 13 of left dial 10a
And extends upwards.

The plate-shaped support member 40 is attached to each flange portion 31b of the bobbin 31 by fastening each screw 43 at each flange portion 42 formed on the outer peripheral portion thereof. The screw 44 is attached to a portion corresponding to the board 10a by fastening. In FIG. 2, reference numeral 34 denotes a hairspring. The hairspring 34 is coaxially supported at its inner end by the pointer shaft 33 immediately above the upper small-diameter portion 31a of the bobbin 31. I have.

As shown in FIG. 3, the left plate-shaped insulator 50 is coaxially inserted into the left pointer shaft 33 by a cylindrical boss 51 and is supported by the pointer shaft 33 so as not to rotate relatively. The left insulator 50 is coaxially located in the through hole 41 of the plate-shaped support member 40. The cylindrical boss 51 integrally projects upward from the upper surface of the insulator 50.

The left insulator 50 is provided with a substantially annular support wall 52. The support wall 52 protrudes upward from the upper surface of the insulator 50 on the outer peripheral side of the cylindrical boss 51. Also, the left insulator 50
Has a U-shaped accommodation wall 53 as shown in FIG. 4, and the U-shaped accommodation wall 53 is provided outside the support wall 53.
It protrudes upward from the upper surface of the insulator 50 integrally. In addition, the U-shaped housing wall 53 has two opposing wall portions 5.
At 3a, it is positioned so as to face a flat wall portion 52a formed on the support wall 52 via a narrow gap.

The left side light emitting element 60 is housed in a U-shaped housing wall 53 as shown in FIGS. This light emitting element 60 has a built-in light emitting diode,
The light emitting element 60 is located on the light receiving surface 61 so as to face upward as shown in FIG. Thereby, the light emitting element 60 emits light upward. However, the connection terminal extending from the lower surface of the left light emitting element 60 is connected to an inner end 71 of a spiral flexible printed board 70 described below.
Is electrically connected to Hereinafter, the flexible printed circuit board 70 is referred to as an FPC 70.

The left spiral FPC 70 is shown in FIGS.
As shown by, it is supported on the upper surface of the insulator 50 so as to be coaxial with the pointer shaft 33. Specifically, as shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, the left side FPC 70 has a pair of opposed wall portions 53 a of the U-shaped housing wall 53 and a flat wall portion 52 a of the support wall 52 at the inner end 71. It is supported by being sandwiched between.

The FPC 70 has an inner end 71
As shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, a spiral shape is wound along the upper surface of the insulator 50 so as to surround the support wall 52 and the accommodating wall 53, and the tip 72 of the FPC 70 is a plate-like support. The terminal 40 of the member 40 is sandwiched between the two forked portions 45a of the terminal 45 (see FIGS. 2 and 4). The terminal 45 is electrically connected to a circuit board (not shown).

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the left light emitting pointer 80 is provided corresponding to the left dial 10a. As shown in FIG. 3, the left light emitting pointer 80 is formed of a translucent resin material so as to have a pivot base 81 and a longitudinal pointer main body 82 extending integrally from the pivot base 81. As shown in FIG. 3, the left light-emitting pointer 80 has a tip 33a of a left pointer shaft 33 that extends through the through hole 13 of the left dial 10a at a boss 81a of the rotating base 81. Is supported coaxially.

As shown in FIG. 3, the left light emitting pointer 80 has a protruding light introducing portion 83, which extends downward from the lower surface of the base of the pointer main body 82 near the boss 81. The instrument panel 10
Through the through hole 13 of the light emitting element 60. As a result, the left light emitting pointer 80 passes through the lower surface of the light guide 83 and the light receiving surface 61 of the light emitting element 60.
The light emitted from the pointer main body 8 is introduced.
The pointer main body 82 is formed by the inclined reflection surface 84 provided at the base of the pointer 2.
The pointer is reflected inward and is advanced toward the tip of the pointer body 82.

A reflective film is formed on the lower surface of the pointer main body 82 of the left light emitting pointer 80, and this reflective film reflects light traveling inside the pointer main body 82 toward the upper surface of the pointer main body 82. . Thus, the light emitting pointer 80 emits light on the upper surface of the pointer main body 82. Note that the left light emitting pointer 80
The reflective film formed on the lower surface of the substrate may be a light emitting film formed by hot stamping or the like.

Also, in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, reference numeral 80a
Indicates a light-shielding cap. Further, the right driving device 30 and the right luminous hands 80 corresponding to the right dial 10b have the same configuration and functions as the left driving device 30 and the left luminous hands 80. In addition, the right luminous hands 80 correspond to the right dial 10b.
Is supported by the distal end of a right pointer shaft 33 that extends through the through-hole portion 14. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 90 indicates a dial plate, and reference numeral 100 indicates a front panel.

In this embodiment having the above-described configuration, a case where an instruction is displayed by the left light emitting pointer 80 will be described as an example. When the left pointer shaft 33 rotates according to the electromagnetic force of the two cross coils 32 of the left driving device 30, the left light emitting pointer 80 rotates along the upper surface of the dial 10a. Also,
When the left light emitting element 60 is supplied with power via the circuit board and the left FPC 70 at the connection terminal thereof and emits light by the light emitting diode, the light emitting element 60 has its light receiving surface 61
Is emitted toward the light introducing portion 83 of the left light emitting pointer 80.

Then, the light emitted from the left light emitting element 60 is introduced into the light introducing portion 83 and is reflected toward the pointer main body 82 by the reflecting surface 84. Along with this, the light reflected inside the pointer main body 82 travels toward the tip end thereof while being reflected by the reflection film on the lower surface of the pointer main body 82. Then, the light traveling in this manner is directed toward the upper surface of the pointer main body 82 and reflected by the reflection film. Therefore, the left light emitting pointer 80 emits light on the upper surface of the pointer main body 82.

As a result, the left light emitting pointer 80 displays an instruction on the pattern display section 11 of the dial 10a by the light emission. Further, as described above, the light emitting element 60 for the left light emitting pointer 80 is connected to the U-shaped accommodation wall 53 of the insulator 50.
Since the light-emitting element 60 is housed in the inside, the light-emitting element 60 can be securely fixed with a simple configuration. In this case, the fixing of the light emitting element 60 to the insulator 50 is not limited to the accommodation in the U-shaped accommodation wall 53, and for example, the light emitting element 60 may be directly fixed to a part of the upper surface of the insulator 50. Good.

The light emitting element 60 is connected to the insulator 50.
Since it is connected to the inner end 71 of the FPC 70 above,
There is no need to use an extra terminal, and the light emitting element 6
0 can be supplied with a simple configuration. Further, since the light emitting pointer 80 has the light introducing portion 83 integrally near the rotating base 81, the light introducing path of the light emitting pointer 80 and the assembling structure with the pointer shaft 33 are simplified.

The operation and effect as described above are obtained by
The same applies to the case where an instruction is displayed by 0. FIG. 6 shows a modification of the above embodiment. In this modification, the FPC 70 described in the above embodiment is fixed to the flat wall 52a of the support wall 52 at the inner end 71 thereof.

In this modified example, a light emitting element 60a is employed in place of the light emitting element 60 described in the above embodiment.
It is pinched and fixed by both fixing members 54 on a receiving plate 53 projecting in parallel from 2a to the upper surface of the insulator 50. Here, the light receiving surface 62 of the light emitting element 60a is formed on the lower surface of the light introducing portion 83 of the light emitting pointer 80 through the through hole 1 of the dial 10a.
3 facing each other. The light emitting element 60a is connected to a connection terminal extending from the left side surface in FIG.
0 is electrically connected to the inner end 71. Other configurations are the same as those of the above embodiment.

In this modified example configured as described above,
Unlike the light emitting element 60 described in the above embodiment, the light emitting element 60a incorporating a light emitting diode is similar to the above embodiment except that power is supplied through the FPC 70 at a connection terminal extending from the left side surface. The effect of the invention can be achieved. In this modification, the example in which the light emitting element 60a is fixed on the receiving plate portion 53 has been described. Instead, the inner end 71 of the FPC 70 is bent toward the light emitting element 60a and the inner end 71 is bent. The light-emitting element 60a may be fixed on the bent portion of.

In implementing the present invention, the light emitting element 6
The lamps 0 and 60a are not limited to those having a built-in light emitting diode, but may be lamps, cold cathode tubes, or the like. In this case, the number of light emitting diodes, lamps, and the like is not limited to one but may be plural. Here, when there are a plurality of light emitting diodes, it is possible to change the emission color.

In implementing the present invention, a spiral F
A spiral RPC may be used instead of the PC. Also,
In practicing the present invention, the present invention may be applied to various pointer instruments such as a pointer instrument using a stepping motor as a drive source, without being limited to the cross-coil type pointer instrument. In this case, the pointer instrument is not limited to a vehicle, but may be a pointer instrument used in ships, aircraft, and various industrial devices.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially broken front view showing an embodiment of a vehicle pointer instrument according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic exploded perspective view of the pointer instrument of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line 3-3 in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the insulator and the FPC of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a partial plan view of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a partial sectional view showing a modification of the above embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the insulator, the light emitting element, and the FPC of FIG. 6;

[Explanation of symbols]

10a, 10b: Dial, 13, 14: Through hole, 33
... Pointer shaft, 33a ... Tip, 50 ... Insulator, 6
0, 60a: light emitting element, 70: FPC, 80: light emitting pointer, 81: rotating base, 82: pointer main body, 83: light introducing part.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A dial (10a, 10b) and a through-hole (13, 14) of the dial are passed through the pointer shaft (3).
3) a driving device (30) extending rotatably, a turning base (81) supported by the tip (33a) of the pointer shaft, and extending along the dial from the turning base. The light emitting pointer (8) provided with a protruding elongated pointer main body (82).
0), a spiral flexible circuit board (70) coaxially supported by the pointer shaft between the driving device and the dial, and a through-hole of the dial powered by the circuit board. A light emitting element (60) fixed to a part of the circuit board so that light is incident from a lower surface of the pointer body through the portion into the vicinity of the rotation base portion of the pointer main body. A pointer instrument in which the upper surface of the pointer body is illuminated by light incident on the vicinity, and the pointer body indicates an instruction on the dial. 2. A plate insulator (5) coaxially supported by said pointer shaft between said dial and said driving device.
0), wherein the circuit board is located on the dial side surface of the insulator. 3. The dial (10a, 10b) and the dial shaft (3, 14) passing through the through holes (13, 14) of the dial.
3) a driving device (30) extending rotatably, a turning base (81) supported by the tip (33a) of the pointer shaft, and extending along the dial from the turning base. The light emitting pointer (8) provided with a protruding elongated pointer main body (82).
0), a plate-shaped insulator (50) coaxially supported by the pointer shaft between the drive device and the dial, and supported by the insulator at an inner end at a center side thereof. A flexible circuit board spirally extending from the inner end along the surface of the insulator; and receiving power from the circuit board and passing through the through-hole portion of the dial in a portion of the pointer body near the turning base. A light emitting element fixed to a part of one of the insulator and the circuit board so that light is incident from the lower surface of the pointer main body. A pointer instrument that emits light on the upper surface and indicates on the dial with the pointer body. 4. The light-introducing portion (83) protruding from the lower surface of the pointer body toward the light-emitting element, wherein the light-emitting element passes through a through-hole of the dial. The pointer instrument according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein light is incident into the light introducing unit.