JP2003037003A - Illumination structure for knob - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide the illumination structure for a knob, which can illuminate the illumination part as a whole with uniform illuminance. SOLUTION: The structure is constituted of the knob having a display part, light-emitting elements which are disposed on the back side of the knob and illuminate the display part of the knob and a heat-insulating spacer which is formed into a cylindrical shape and prevents illumination light from leaking from the outer periphery of the knob. The opening part of the light-shielding spacer is formed into a polygonal shape, where the light-emitting elements are made as apexes so that the light quantity of a part where light beams are overlapped between the light-emitting elements.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a lighting structure for a knob such as a volume or a cursor used on the front surface of an electronic device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 3 shows an illumination structure of a conventional volume knob.
Will be explained.

FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an illumination structure of a conventional volume knob, which is (a) a plan view and (b) a BB sectional view. FIG. 4 is a schematic plan view showing the relationship between a conventional light emitting element and a light shielding spacer.

Reference numeral 50 denotes an illumination structure of a volume knob configured in electronic equipment. As shown in FIG. 2, the knob 60, a light-shielding spacer 70, light emitting elements 75a, 75b and 75c, a volume 77, a printed circuit board 80, a front panel 85, etc. It is composed by.

The knob 60 is a knob for fitting and fixing the rotary shaft of a volume 77 provided on the printed circuit board 80 for adjustment. The knob 60 is provided with a knob portion 62 that extends in a cylindrical shape from the outer periphery of the top surface 61, and a fixed portion 63 that extends in a tubular shape from the center of the back surface of the top surface 61 and that is fitted into the rotary shaft 78 of the volume 77. Therefore, an illumination symbol (not shown) is formed on the top surface 61 according to the function of the volume 77. The shape and size of the knob 60 are determined according to the design of the front panel 85.

The illumination symbol of the knob 60 is a printed circuit board 80.
A light emitting element (for example, three LEDs) 75a,
Although illuminated by 75b and 75c, a part of the cylindrical portion of the cylindrical light-shielding spacer 70 is provided to prevent the illumination light from leaking through the gap between the knob insertion hole 86 of the front panel 85 and the outer periphery of the knob 60. Are arranged so as to be loosely inserted into the inner diameter of the knob 60.

[0007]

However, in the illumination structure 50 of the volume knob described above, since the shape of the opening of the cylinder of the light blocking spacer 70 is circular, as shown in FIG. 4, the light emitting elements (LEDs 75a, 75b, 75c) and the light-shielding spacer 70, LEDs 75a, 75b, 75
In the middle part of c, a part where each illumination light overlaps occurs, and the overlapping part (K, K, K)
Becomes brighter than other places (just above the LEDs 75a, 75b, 75c), leading to uneven illumination of the illumination section of the knob 60.

In addition, when the main body of the volume 77 is large or when the knob 60 is small, the light emitting elements 75a, 75
It may be difficult to arrange b and 75c at suitable positions, and they may be arranged at distant positions. In this case, the illumination light is blocked by the light-shielding spacer 70 and other components, which leads to uneven illumination of the knob 60.

The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a lighting structure for a knob that can illuminate the entire lighting unit with uniform illuminance.

[0010]

The present invention achieves the above-mentioned object, and includes a knob having a display portion, a light-emitting element provided on the back side of the knob for illuminating the display portion of the knob, and an annular shape. And a light-shielding spacer that is provided on the back surface of the knob and that prevents illumination light from leaking from the outer periphery of the knob,
The opening of the light-shielding spacer is deformed so that the amount of light in the overlapping portion of the light between the light emitting elements can be adjusted.

Further, the opening of the light-shielding spacer is formed in a polygonal shape having the light emitting element as an apex.

The light-shielding spacer is formed of a light-shielding rubber member.

Further, the light-shielding spacer comprises a light-guide portion formed of a light-transmitting resin member, and a light-shielding portion having an outer periphery of the light-guide portion formed of a light-shielding resin member. To do.

Further, the light-shielding spacer is composed of a light guide portion formed of a light-transmitting rubber member, and a light-shielding portion having an outer periphery of the light guide portion formed of a light-shielding rubber member. To do.

The light-shielding spacer is formed of a light-transmitting resin member, and the outer periphery is coated with a light-shielding paint.

Further, the light-shielding spacer is formed of a light-shielding resin member, and the inner surface is coated with a light-reflecting paint.

[0017]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an illumination structure of a volume knob according to an embodiment of the present invention, (a) a plan view,
(B) It is an AA sectional view. FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view showing the relationship between the light emitting element and the light shielding spacer according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Reference numeral 10 denotes an illumination structure of a volume knob configured in an electronic device, which is composed of a knob 20, a light shielding spacer 30, light emitting elements 35a, 35b, 35c, a volume 37, a printed board 40, a front panel 45 and the like.

The knob 20 is a knob for fitting and fixing the rotary shaft 38 of the volume 37 provided on the printed circuit board 40 for adjustment. The knob 20 has a knob portion 22 that extends from the outer periphery of the top surface 21 into a cylindrical shape, and a fixed portion 23 that extends from the center of the back surface of the top surface 21 into a tubular shape and that is fitted into the rotary shaft 38 of the volume 37. Illumination symbols (not shown) are formed on the top surface 21 according to the function of the volume 37.
Are formed. The shape and size of the knob 20 are determined according to the design of the front panel 45.
Illumination symbols of the knob 20 are light emitting elements (for example, LEDs hereinafter referred to as LEDs) 35a, 3a arranged on the printed board 40.
Illuminated by 5b and 35c.

The light-shielding spacer 30 has a cylindrical shape with a triangular opening having LEDs 35a, 35b, and 35c arranged on the printed circuit board 40 as vertices, and the outer periphery of the knob 20 and the knob insertion hole of the front panel 45. It is a component that prevents the illumination light from leaking through the gap with respect to 46 and guides the illumination light to the illumination unit. The light blocking spacer 30 includes an LED 35a,
A light guide section 31 for diffusing the light emitted by 35b and 35c and guiding it to the illuminating section of the knob 20 to illuminate the illuminating section evenly.
And a light-shielding portion 32 which is provided on the outer peripheral portion of the light guide portion 31 and prevents light from leaking out from the light guide portion 31. The light guide portion 31 is made of a transparent or milky white translucent resin member, and the light shield portion 32 is made of a black light-shielding resin member as the material of the light-shielding spacer 30, and is molded by two-color molding. The light-shielding spacer 30 is arranged such that a part of the tip of the opening is loosely inserted into the knob 20.

As described above, according to the illumination structure 10 of the volume knob according to the embodiment of the present invention, the opening shape of the light shielding spacer 30 has the LEDs 35a, 35 arranged therein.
By forming a triangle with b and 35c as vertices,
As shown by, the light emitting elements (LEDs 35a, 35b, 35
In the relationship between c) and the light-shielding spacer 30, the LED 35
Since the light amount of the bright part (a, a, and c) between a, 35b, and 35c is adjusted and the illumination part of the knob 20 can be illuminated evenly, the visibility of the illumination part is improved and the operability of the knob 20 is improved. Is improved.

In this embodiment, the three LEDs 35 are used.
Although a triangle having a, 35b, and 35c as vertices is used, the present invention is not limited to this, and the same effect can be obtained with a polygon corresponding to the number of LEDs arranged.

Further, it is possible to surely prevent the illumination light from leaking through the gap between the outer periphery of the knob 20 and the knob insertion hole 46 of the front panel 45, so that the illumination quality of the front panel 45 can be improved.

In addition, the light-shielding spacer 30 and the light guide portion 31 are provided.
By providing the, for example, the illumination light of the LED disposed at a position away from the illumination portion of the knob 20 in the outer peripheral direction is not blocked by other components, and the illumination light is guided to a desired position. Since the illumination range can be narrowed down, it can be applied to small knobs. That is, since the knob can be downsized, the entire front panel can be downsized.

In this embodiment, a light-transmitting and light-shielding resin member is used as the material of the light-shielding spacer 30, but not limited to this, a light-transmitting rubber member is used on the inner side and the light-shielding property is provided on the outer periphery thereof. The same effect as in the present embodiment can be obtained even if the rubber member is used for two-color molding.

Alternatively, the entire light-shielding spacer 30 may be formed of a light-transmitting resin or a light-transmitting rubber member, and the outer periphery thereof may be coated with a light-shielding paint. Alternatively, the entire light-shielding spacer 30 may be formed of a light-shielding resin or a rubber member having a light-shielding property, and the inner surface may be coated with a paint that reflects light.

[0028]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to uniformly illuminate the entire illumination portion of the knob with uniform illuminance.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an illumination structure of a volume knob according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view showing the relationship between the light emitting element and the light shielding spacer according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an illumination structure of a conventional volume knob.

FIG. 4 is a schematic plan view showing a relationship between a conventional light emitting element and a light shielding spacer.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 ... Volume knob lighting structure 20 ... Knobs 21 ... 22 ... Knob 23 .. Fixed part 30..Light-shielding spacer 31..Light guide section 32..Light-shielding part 35a, 35b, 35c ... Light emitting element (LED) 37 ... Volume 38 ... Rotating shaft 40 .. Printed circuit board 45 ... Front panel 46 .. Knob insertion hole

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A knob having a display portion, a light-emitting element provided on the back surface side of the knob for illuminating the display portion of the knob, and an illumination light which is annularly provided on the back surface of the knob and is illuminated from the outer circumference of the knob. A lighting structure for a knob, comprising: a light-shielding spacer for preventing leakage, wherein an opening of the light-shielding spacer is deformed so that a light amount of a light overlapping portion between the light emitting elements can be adjusted. 2. The illumination structure for a knob according to claim 1, wherein the opening of the light blocking spacer is formed in a polygonal shape having the light emitting element as an apex. 3. The knob illumination structure according to claim 1, wherein the light-shielding spacer is formed of a light-shielding rubber member. 4. The light-shielding spacer comprises a light guide portion formed of a light-transmitting resin member, and a light-shielding portion having an outer periphery of the light guide portion formed of a light-shielding resin member. The lighting structure for a knob according to claim 1 or 2. 5. The light-shielding spacer comprises a light-guide portion formed of a light-transmitting rubber member, and a light-shielding portion having an outer periphery of the light-guide portion formed of a light-shielding rubber member. The lighting structure for a knob according to claim 1 or 2. 6. The lighting structure for a knob according to claim 1, wherein the light-shielding spacer is formed of a light-transmitting resin member, and an outer periphery of the light-shielding spacer is coated with light-shielding paint. . 7. The knob illumination structure according to claim 1, wherein the light-shielding spacer is formed of a light-shielding resin member, and an inner surface of the light-shielding spacer is coated with a light-reflecting paint. .