JP2001343262A - Meter device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a meter device capable of achieving reduction in cost. SOLUTION: The meter device is provided with at least a drive device (first drive device) to drive a rotating shaft 11 according the speed of a motor vehicle, drive device (second drive device) 2 to drive a rotating shaft 21 according to the rotational frequency of an engine, pointer (first pointer) 12 to be inserted and fixed to the rotating shaft 11 of the drive device 1, pointer (second pointer) 22 to be inserted and fixed to the rotating shaft 21 of the drive device 2, and dial plate 51 to be arranged in the rear of the pioneers 12 and 22. In the dial plate 51, a plate surface 512 corresponding to the pointer 22 is arranged at a deeper location to an observer than a plate surface 511 corresponding to the pointer 12 and is set so as to achieve L1<L2, wherein the L1 is the amount of insertion of the pointer 12 in the rotating shaft 11 and the L2 is the amount of insertion of the pointer 22 in the rotating shaft 21.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a meter device mounted on, for example, an automobile or a motorcycle, and more particularly to a meter device obtained by integrating a plurality of types of meters into a unit.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A plurality of instruments, each of which operates according to a different measured quantity, such as a speedometer for displaying a vehicle speed, a tachometer for displaying an engine speed, a fuel gauge for displaying remaining fuel, and a temperature of engine cooling water. There is known a so-called combination meter in which a plurality of types of gauges including a water temperature gauge to be displayed are unitized.

[0003] Each instrument mainly comprises a driving device for driving a rotating shaft according to different measured quantities, a pointer connected to the rotating shaft of the driving device, and a scale plate located behind the pointer. As a constituent element, the measured amount can be read by comparing an index portion provided on the scale plate according to each measured amount with a pointer rotating on the scale plate according to the measured amount.

In order to unitize such a plurality of types of instruments, each instrument consisting of a driving device, a pointer, and a scale plate is divided into subunits for each type, and a structure in which these subunits are integrated through a housing or the like is old. However, such a structure requires a process of sub-uniting the instrument for each type, and is difficult to assemble and productivity.
As shown in Japanese Patent Publication No. 73, a structure is adopted in which a plurality of types of driving devices are mounted on a reference member formed of a single circuit board, and a pointer or a scale plate is mounted on the driving devices to integrate them. Have been.

[0005]

Incidentally, in this type of combination meter, there is a type in which the position of the scale plate surface with respect to the observer has a front-back difference (step) according to the type of the meter. When adopting an integrated configuration through the reference member as described above in this type of combination meter, it is necessary to make the pointer position correspond to the plate surface position of the scale plate. Different drive units must be prepared, which has caused an increase in cost.

The present invention has been made in view of these points, and a main object of the present invention is to change the height of the drive unit even if the scale plate has a front-back difference. Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a meter device capable of achieving cost reduction.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a first driving device for driving a rotating shaft according to a first measured amount, and a rotating shaft according to a second measured amount. A second driving device, a first pointer inserted and fixed to a rotation shaft of the first driving device, a second pointer inserted and fixed to the rotation shaft of the second driving device, A scale plate disposed behind the first and second hands, wherein a plate surface corresponding to the second hand is closer to the viewer than a plate surface corresponding to the first hand. It is placed in a recessed position,
The insertion amount of the second hand with respect to the rotating shaft is larger than the insertion amount of the first hand with respect to the rotating shaft.

The present invention is characterized in that the first and second driving devices are mounted on a single reference member.

Further, the present invention is characterized in that the reference member is formed of a hard circuit board.

Further, the present invention is characterized in that the first drive device and the second drive device have the same height including the rotation axis when mounted on the reference member.

Further, the present invention is characterized in that the first and second hands have holes which are inserted and fixed to the respective rotating shafts.

Further, the invention is characterized in that the first and second hands comprise a pointing portion extending along the surface of the scale plate and an insertion member having the hole.

[0013] Also, in the present invention, the hole portion may include a small-diameter portion press-fit into the rotary shaft and a large-diameter portion larger than the rotary shaft, and the axial length of the small-diameter portion may be smaller than that of the rotary shaft. The first and second pointers are equal.

[0014]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A meter device according to the present invention has a first
A first driving device that drives the rotating shaft according to a measured amount of the vehicle, for example, the vehicle speed; a second driving device that drives the rotating shaft according to a second measured amount, for example, the engine speed; A first pointer inserted and fixed to the rotation shaft of the device, a second pointer inserted and fixed to the rotation shaft of the second drive device, and a scale plate disposed behind the first and second hands. At least, and the scale plate is at a second position higher than the plate surface corresponding to the first pointer.
The plate surface corresponding to the first pointer is disposed at a position recessed with respect to the observer, and the insertion amount of the first pointer with respect to the rotation axis is L1,
When the insertion amount of the second pointer with respect to the rotation axis is L2,
This is set so that “L1 <L2”. In this way, by adjusting the height of the first pointer and the height of the second pointer according to the front-back difference of the scale plate surface by changing the insertion amounts of the respective hands, the plate surface position of the scale plate can be changed. Even with a structure having a difference, it is not necessary to change the height dimension of the driving device, the driving device can be shared, and the cost can be reduced.

The meter for changing the insertion amount of the pointer according to the front-back difference of the scale plate surface is not limited to only two meters, but depends on the number of applied meters and the front-back difference of the scale plate. Can be selected as appropriate, and the insertion amount of the pointer may be different for all instruments, or may be partially (at least 2
The insertion amount of the pointer may be made different for only one of the instruments. The scale plate may be a single scale plate having a front-back difference through a step, or a pair of different scale plates may be arranged with a front-rear difference.

Further, the present invention is advantageous in a configuration in which the first and second driving devices are mounted on a single reference member, and the reference member can be any arbitrary one that can determine the position of each driving device itself. A member can be used. For example, a hard circuit board is suitable, and in this case, each drive device may be mounted in front of the circuit board, or may be mounted behind the circuit board and the rotation shaft may penetrate the circuit board.

When the first and second hands are inserted and fixed to the rotary shaft, a hole is provided on the hands and the holes can be inserted into the rotary shaft to fix the hands. At this time, a boss extending along the rotation axis may be formed in the indicator of the pointer extending along the surface of the scale plate, and a hole may be formed in the boss. The portion may be configured with an insertion member connected to the rotation shaft, a boss extending along the rotation axis may be formed on the insertion member, and a hole may be provided in the boss. In particular, by using the insertion member, the conventional pointer can be used, which is effective for further cost reduction.

The hole is formed by a small-diameter portion press-fitted into the rotary shaft and a large-diameter portion larger than the rotary shaft, and the axial length of the small-diameter portion is defined by the first and second pointers. When set equal, the mounting strength of the pointer can be kept substantially constant in each instrument.

[0019]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a combination meter according to the present invention; FIG.

FIGS. 1 to 3 show a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a front view showing a front side of a combination meter, FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line A--A in FIG. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a main part of the main part of the speedometer and the tachometer, partially omitted.

Referring to FIG. 1, the combination meter according to the present embodiment includes a speedometer SP, a tachometer TA, a fuel gauge FU, and a water temperature gauge TM.

These various instruments SP, TA, FU, TM
As shown in detail in FIG. 2, cross-coil type or stepping motor type driving devices 1 to 4 and hands inserted and fixed to the distal ends of the rotating shafts 11, 21, 31, 41 of these driving devices 1 to 4 12, 22, 32, 42 and a scale plate 5 arranged behind these hands 12, 22, 32, 42
1, 52, and 53.

The driving devices 1 to 4 include various instruments SP, TA, F
In U and TM, a common driving device having the same structure is used, and a driving device (first device) used for the speedometer SP is used.
The drive device 1 used for the tachometer TA is the engine speed, the drive device 3 used for the tachometer TA is the engine speed, and the drive device 3 used for the fuel meter FU is the remaining device in the fuel tank. The drive unit 4 used for the fuel and the water thermometer TM adjusts the rotating shafts 11, 21, 31,.
41 can be driven, and the rotation shaft 1 of the driving device 1
1, a pointer (first pointer) 12, a pointer (second pointer) 22 on a rotating shaft 21 of the driving device 2, a pointer 32 on a rotating shaft 31 of the driving device 3, and a rotation of the driving device 4. Hands 42 are inserted and fixed to the shafts 42, respectively.

Each of the scale plates 51, 52 and 53 is composed of a ground color portion B (see FIG. 1) made of a light-shielding printing layer and a colored light-transmitting printing layer on the surface of a base material made of a transparent material. Scales, characters, and pointers indicated by the hands 12, 22, 32, and 42
A display portion M (see FIG. 1) such as a mark is formed, and the display portion M is provided in a portion excluding the ground color portion B.

Of these graduation plates 51, 52, 53, the graduation plate 51 constituting the speedometer SP and the tachometer TA is continuous via the step 510, and is connected to the driving device 1 and the driving device 2
, The plate surface 511 on the speedometer SP side is located on the front side closer to the observer, and the plate surface 512 on the tachometer TA side is located farther backward from the observer. They are arranged with a front-back difference so that they can be visually recognized. The scale plates 52 and 53 constituting the fuel gauge FU and the water temperature gauge TM are:
Each is composed of a separate scale plate, and is disposed at an equal position deeper than the scale plate 51.

Each of the driving devices 1 to 4 is mounted directly on a hard circuit board (reference member) PC made of, for example, a single glass epoxy board at appropriate intervals, and formed on the circuit board PC. Directly connected to a circuit pattern (not shown). Scale plates 51, 52,
Each of the circuit boards 53 surrounds the periphery of the circuit board PC and partially contacts the circuit board PC, and is formed by the middle case 6 forming the framework of the combination meter.
Supported above.

A light source 7 is provided at a predetermined location on the circuit board PC.
A plurality of light guides 8 corresponding to the driving devices 1 to 4 are arranged behind the scale plates 51, 52, 53, and the light from the light source 7 is guided by these light guides 8. hand,
Scale plates 51, 52, 53 and hands 12, 2 described in detail later
2, 32, 42 can be illuminated.

Thus, the circuit board PC and the middle case 6
Instruments SP, TA, FU, TM integrated through
Is covered with a facing frame 9 that conceals unnecessary areas and exposes the necessary areas. Further, the front side of the facing frames 9 is covered with a transparent cover C1, and the back of the circuit board PC is covered with a closing cover C2. Covered.

Next, the detailed structure of the hands 12, 22, 32, 42 will be described using the hands 12, 22 as a representative example.
In FIG. 3, the hands 12 and 22 are pointing cups 121 and 221 which are made of light-transmitting synthetic resin and extend along the plate surfaces 511 and 512 of the scale plate 51, and a substantially cup-shaped cover which covers the center of rotation of the pointing board 121. The pointer caps 122 and 222 are made of light-shielding synthetic resin, and the insertion members 123 and 223 are made of light-shielding synthetic resin for connecting the indicating portions 121 and 221 to the rotating shafts 11 and 21.

The indicating portions 121 and 221 have a reflection surface at the center of rotation for reflecting the light guided by the light guide 8 toward the front end.

The same components are used for the insertion members 123 and 223, and the pedestal portion 12 on which the indication portions 121 and 221 are mounted is mounted.
4, 224 and the pedestals 124, 224
The bosses 125 and 225 have holes 126 and 226 for inserting the rotating shafts 11 and 12, respectively.
The 224 is provided with through holes 127 and 227 for lighting corresponding to the instruction units 121 and 221. In this embodiment, different parts are used for the insertion members 123 and 223 of the hands 12 and 22 and the insertion members of the hands 32 and 42 (not shown). Can also be configured.

The holes 126 and 226 are provided on the rotating shafts 11 and 21 respectively.
The small-diameter portions 128 and 228 which are located at the inlet side of the shaft and can be inserted so that the distal ends of the rotating shafts 11 and 21 are press-fitted, and the large-diameter portions 129 and 229 having a larger diameter than the rotating shafts 11 and 21. The tip of the rotating shaft 11 has a small-diameter portion 128 and a large-diameter portion 129.
, Whereas the tip of the rotating shaft 21 reaches almost the middle of the large-diameter portion 229. Thereby, the pointer 12 corresponding to the plate surface 511 closer to the observer and the pointer 22 located on the plate surface 512 farther from the observer are:
In the assembled state, the positional relationship between the insertion portions 126 and 226 and the rotating shafts 11 and 21 is different.
Lines connecting the tips of the bosses 125 and 225 are represented by Ln1 and the ends of the bosses 125 and 225 on the side of the drive device 1 and Ln2 and Ln3, respectively. Ln4 (= Ln1), Ln
n5 (= Ln2) The dimension from Ln1 to Ln2 (the insertion amount of the pointer 12 with respect to the rotating shaft 11) is L1. The dimension from Ln1 to Ln3 (the insertion amount of the pointer 22 with respect to the rotating shaft 21) is the dimension from L2 Ln2 to Ln4 ( L of the pointer 12)
3 Dimensions from Ln3 to Ln5 (the press-fit amount of the pointer 22)
4, the dimensions L1 to L4 are set as L1 <L2 L3 = L4.
The heights of the hands 12 and 22 are different from each other including the same height (the distance from the tip of each of the rotating shafts 11 and 21 to the bottom of the driving devices 1 and 2). . Here, the fact that the heights of the driving devices 1 and 2 and the press-fit amounts (L3, L4) of the hands 12, 22 are equal takes into account errors and tolerances at the component level or in the assembled state.

The insertion amount (L1) of the pointer 12 with respect to the rotary shaft 11 and the insertion amount (L1) of the pointer 22 with respect to the rotary shaft 21
In making 2) different, when inserting and fixing the hands 12 and 22 to the rotating shafts 11 and 21 (when assembling), the hands 12 and 22 are inserted with reference to the plate surface portions 511 and 512 of the scale plate 51. The amounts L1 and L2 are determined. That is, in the present embodiment, the difference (L2-L1) between the insertion amount of the pointer 12 and the insertion amount of the pointer 22 is set to be the front-back difference between the plate surfaces 511 and 512 of the scale plate 51.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the driving device (first driving device) 1 that drives the rotating shaft 11 according to the vehicle speed, and the driving device that drives the rotating shaft 21 according to the engine speed. The device (second drive device) 2, a pointer (first pointer) 12 inserted and fixed to the rotation shaft 11 of the drive device 1, and a pointer (second pointer) inserted and fixed to the rotation shaft 21 of the drive device 2 Pointer) 22, and a scale plate 51 disposed behind the hands 12, 22. The scale plate 51 has a plate surface 512 corresponding to the hands 22 more than a plate surface 511 corresponding to the hands 12 to the observer. When the insertion amount of the pointer 12 with respect to the rotation shaft 11 is L1 and the insertion amount of the pointer 22 with respect to the rotation shaft 21 is L2, "L1 <L2" is set. Plate surfaces 511, 5 of scale plate 51
Even if 12 is a structure having a front-back difference with respect to the observer,
It is not necessary to change the height dimensions of the driving devices 1 and 2, and a conventionally used driving device can be diverted, the driving devices can be shared, and the cost can be reduced.

In the present embodiment, the pointers 12 and 22 are extended along the plate surfaces 511 and 512 of the
221 and insertion members 123 and 223, and by connecting the indicating portions 12 and 22 to the rotating shafts 11 and 21 through the inserting members 123 and 223, the conventional hands (indicating portions) can be diverted. This is possible and is effective for further cost reduction.

In this embodiment, the holes 126 and 226 are formed by the small-diameter portions 128 and 228 press-fitted into the rotary shafts 11 and 21 and the large-diameter portions 129 and 229 larger than the rotary shafts 11 and 21. By setting the lengths (L3, L4) of the small-diameter portions 128, 228 in the axial direction to be equal in the hands 12, 22, variations in the mounting strength of the hands 12, 22 are suppressed, and are kept substantially constant. Can be.

In this embodiment, the pointers 12 and 22 are constituted by the indicating portions 121 and 221 and the insertion members 123 and 223. However, as shown in FIG. 221, bosses 125, 225 are formed integrally with the bosses 125, 225.
6 can also be provided.

[0038]

As described above, according to the present invention, the first driving device that drives the rotating shaft according to the first measured amount and the second driving device that drives the rotating shaft according to the second measured amount are provided. And a first drive device inserted and fixed to a rotation shaft of the first drive device.
Hands, a second hand inserted and fixed to the rotating shaft of the second drive device, and a scale plate disposed behind the first and second hands, wherein the scale plate is The plate surface corresponding to the second pointer is disposed at a position deeper than the observer from the plate surface corresponding to the first pointer, and the second pointer is more inserted than the insertion amount of the first pointer with respect to the rotation axis. Since the amount of insertion of the pointer into the rotary shaft is large, it is possible to provide a meter device capable of achieving cost reduction.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing a front side of a combination meter according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a main part of the main part of the speedometer and the tachometer, which is partially omitted.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a main part showing a second embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1, 1st, 2nd drive device 3, 4 drive device 6 middle case 7 light source 8 light guide 9 return frame 11-14 rotation axis 12, 22 first and second hands 32, 42 hands 51-53 Scale plate 121, 221 Pointer 122, 222 Pointer cover 123, 223 Insertion member 124, 224 Base 125, 225 Boss 126, 226 Hole 127, 227 Through hole 128, 228 Small diameter portion 129, 229 Large diameter portion 510 Step portion 511, 512 Plate surface B Ground color portion C1 Transparent cover C2 Closed cover M Display FU Fuel gauge TA Tachometer TM Water temperature gauge SP Speedometer L1 to L4 Dimensions

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[Procedure amendment]

[Submission date] May 31, 2000 (2005.3
1)

[Procedure amendment 1]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] Name of invention

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

[Title of the Invention] Meter device

Claims (7)

[Claims] A first driving device that drives a rotating shaft according to a first measured amount; a second driving device that drives a rotating shaft according to a second measured amount; and the first driving device. A first pointer inserted and fixed to the rotation shaft of the device, a second pointer inserted and fixed to the rotation shaft of the second drive device, and a scale disposed behind the first and second hands A plate surface corresponding to the second pointer is arranged at a position deeper than a plate surface corresponding to the first pointer with respect to an observer, and A meter device, wherein the insertion amount of the second pointer with respect to the rotation shaft is larger than the insertion amount with respect to the rotation shaft. 2. The meter device according to claim 1, wherein said first and second driving devices are mounted on a single reference member. 3. The meter device according to claim 2, wherein said reference member comprises a hard circuit board. 4. The meter device according to claim 2, wherein the first drive device and the second drive device have the same height including the rotation axis when mounted on the reference member. 5. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first and second hands have holes inserted and fixed to the respective rotation shafts.
The meter device as described. 6. The meter device according to claim 5, wherein the first and second hands comprise a pointing portion extending along a surface of the scale plate and an insertion member having the hole. 7. The small diameter part press-fits the rotary shaft into the rotary shaft and a large diameter part larger than the rotary shaft, and the axial length of the small diameter part is equal to the first and the second diameter. 7. The meter device according to claim 6, wherein the second guideline is equal.