JP2003260924A - Indicator structure - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an indicator structure with high quality in which a reduction of manufacturing cost can be easily realized and a reduction of a visual recognition property and a reduction of designability caused by an assembling accuracy are not generated. <P>SOLUTION: An indicator lens 22 is integrally molded by the same material as that of a decorated plate 20. As a result, a reduction of the number of parts, a molding die and the step number of assemblies can be carried out. By integrally molding the indicator lens 22 and the decorated plate 20, since the indicator lens 22 can be always arranged against the decorated plate 20 at a constant position relationship, the light of a light source can be stably led to a desired eye point direction. A reduction of a visual recognition property is prevented and it can be contributed to an enhancement of designability of the decorated plate by integration of the indicator. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an indicator structure, and more particularly, to an improvement in an indicator structure capable of achieving high quality while achieving cost reduction.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, on the surface of a heater control device mounted on an electronic device, for example, a vehicle, in addition to switches and knobs for actually operating the electronic device, an operating state and an operating state of the electronic device are displayed. An indicator for displaying is provided as shown in FIG. In the example of FIG. 3A, a part of the display surface 100 of the heater control device is shown, and whether the heater control device is currently operating in the “AUTO” state or the “LO” state, Indicators 102a to 102c are formed to indicate whether or not they are operating in the "HI" state. That is, any one of the indicators 102a to 102c corresponding to the operation is turned on to notify the user such as the driver of the operation state.

FIG. 3 (b) shows a cross section taken along the line AA of FIG. 3 (a). As shown in FIG. 3B, a substrate 106 having a predetermined circuit is fixed inside the main body housing 104 of the heater control device, and a light source (eg, LED) dedicated to each of the indicators 102a to 102c is fixed on the substrate 106. Etc.) 108a to 108c are arranged. Further, a decorative plate 110 formed of acrylic resin or the like is fixed to the surface of the main body housing 104, and the light sources 108 a to 1 are provided in the openings formed in the decorative plate 110.
Indicator lenses 112a to 112a formed of a transparent acrylic resin or the like for guiding the light of 08c to the surface side of the decorative plate 110
12c is inserted and fixed. Therefore, the main body housing 10 is controlled by the indicator lenses 112a to 112c.
The light of the light source turned on in 4 is satisfactorily guided to the surface of the decorative plate 110, and the predetermined indicators 102a to 102c can be turned on.

[0004]

However, the conventional indicator lenses 112a to 112c are molded independently of the decorative plate 110 and assembled to the decorative plate 110. Therefore, the number of parts and the assembly cost increase, and the indicator lenses 112a to 112a
There is a problem that it is necessary to create a mold for each part for molding c and the like, which increases the manufacturing cost. In addition, the indicator lenses 112a to 112a for the decorative plate 110
Considering the assemblability of inserting the 2c, it is necessary to provide a predetermined clearance in the insertion opening of the indicator lenses 112a to 112c, but this clearance causes a decrease in the assembling accuracy of the indicator lenses 112a to 112c. I have a problem. When the assembling accuracy is low, the directions of the light emitted from the indicator lenses 112a to 112c are different, and, for example, the indicator lenses 112a to 112a to 1a in the state where the user is seated in the driver's seat of the vehicle.
There is a problem that the lighting confirmation of 12c cannot be confirmed, that is, the visibility is reduced. Also, due to the clearance, the decorative plate 110 and each indicator lens 112a
There is also a problem that a gap is generated between the layers 112c to 112c and the designability is deteriorated.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and it is possible to easily reduce the manufacturing cost, and the visibility and the design are deteriorated due to the assembly accuracy. The purpose is to provide a high quality indicator structure that does not occur.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides an indicator structure which guides light emitted from the back to the display surface side of a device and guides the light to a desired eye point. And a decorative plate formed of a transparent material mounted on the display surface of the device, and a lens made of the same material as the decorative plate, the indicator lens being integrally molded with the decorative plate. .

Here, the transparent material is, for example, an acrylic resin or the like, which may be colorless and transparent or colored and transparent.

According to this structure, since the indicator lens and the decorative plate are integrally molded from the same material, the number of parts and the number of molding dies can be reduced, and the work for assembling the indicator lens and the decorative plate is required. Therefore, the assembly cost can be easily reduced.
Further, the visibility is not deteriorated due to the variation in the assembly accuracy. Further, by integrally molding, the gap that was conventionally present between the decorative plate and the indicator lens can be eliminated, so that the design can be improved.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides
In the above configuration, on the front surface or the back surface of the decorative plate,
It is characterized in that a display character indicating the display content is attached.

Here, the display character is a character or number indicating the operating state or operating state of the device, a mark, or any other design character or number that is not related to the operating state or operating state.
Each character, number, or mark may be individually attached, including a mark or the like, or a plurality of display characters may be collectively attached to a sheet-shaped one. When a sheet-shaped one is used, a decorative plate formed of a transparent material can be given an arbitrary color.

According to this structure, the decorative plate and the indicator lens can be formed of a colorless and transparent material, and the color of light emitted from behind, for example, the color of the LED can be used as the indicator color. Therefore, the versatility of the decorative plate integrated with the indicator lens, which is a molded product, can be improved. Further, the color of the decorative plate can be easily changed arbitrarily, and the versatility is further improved.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides
In the above-mentioned configuration, the surface of the indicator lens on the exit light side is subjected to a concavo-convex process for deflecting light.

Here, the uneven processing for deflecting light means
For example, it can be formed by a process of forming the surface into a diamond cut shape. According to this configuration, it is possible to easily deflect the light in the specific eyepoint direction depending on the direction of the uneven surface, which can contribute to the improvement of visibility.

[0014]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Preferred embodiments of the indicator structure of the present invention (hereinafter referred to as embodiments) will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the present embodiment, an example in which the indicator structure is applied to the heater control device will be shown.

FIG. 1 shows an indicator structure 1 according to this embodiment.
A partial cross-sectional view of the heater control device 12 to which 0 is applied is shown. The main body housing 14 of the heater control device 12 is resin-molded, and a substrate 16 having a predetermined circuit is fixed inside the main body housing 14 by fixing means such as screws and engaging claws. An opening 14a is formed at a predetermined position of the main body housing 14. Further, for example, an LED 18 which is a light source of the indicator of the present embodiment is mounted on the substrate 16 at a portion corresponding to the opening 14a.

The characteristic feature of this embodiment is that the decorative plate arranged on the front surface (front surface) side of the main body housing 14 and the indicator lens are integrally formed of the same material.

In the present embodiment, the decorative plate 20 is made of a transparent material, for example, colorless and transparent acrylic resin, and the indicator lens 22 is formed at a position corresponding to the mounting position of the LED 18. In FIG. 1, the area L corresponds to the indicator lens 22. As is clear from FIG. 1, the rear end side of the indicator lens 22, that is, LE
The side facing D18 projects from the base portion 20a of the decorative plate 20 to form a projecting portion 22a. Then, the LED enters the opening 14a of the main body housing 14 and
The light from 18 is surely led out. Further, the protruding portion 22a can be used as a positioning means for the main body housing 14. The projection 22a of the indicator lens 22 preferably has a surface shape and the like designed by a known method so as to guide the light received from the LED 18 to the surface side while internally reflecting the light so as not to diffuse the light.

Further, the exit light side surface 22b of the indicator lens 22 is formed in, for example, a diamond cut shape, and the exit light can be viewed in a desired direction, for example, a driver seated in a driver's seat, which is the most visible eye point. It is deflected in the direction to improve the visibility. Of course, the exit light side surface 2
2b may be a flat surface or a slope inclined in a predetermined direction.

By the way, on the decorative plate 20, display characters indicating the operating state and operating state of the heater control device 12, for example, characters such as "AUTO", "LO", "HI", numbers indicating the set temperature, and a fan. Mark is required. In addition, it is not related to the operating state or operating state,
Characters, numbers, or marks on the design, such as a manufacturer name, a model name, or an arbitrary mark, may be attached. When such a display character is attached, since the decorative plate 20 is formed of a transparent material, it can be easily formed by attaching a sheet-shaped display character on the back surface side. in this case,
Each display character may be a separate sheet,
A plurality of display characters may be collectively formed on one or several sheets. When the display character is formed on the sheet, it can be formed by printing the display character or punching the shape of the display character from the sheet.

Sheet 2 containing such display characters
4 is attached to the decorative plate 20, for example, when the decorative plate 20 is molded, the sheet 24 is previously inserted into the inner surface of the mold,
After that, in-mold molding in which a predetermined resin (for example, a transparent acrylic resin) is injected and molding can be easily performed.

By forming the display character on one sheet 24 (the entire surface of the decorative plate 20 excluding the rear surface side protruding portion 22), the decorative plate 20 can be lined. That is, in the present embodiment, since the decorative plate 20 and the indicator lens 22 are formed of the same material, for example, a colorless and transparent acrylic resin, when the heater control device 12 is viewed from the front side, the main body housing 14 is transparent. You can see it, but the entire required area is colored sheet 24
By covering it, a blindfold effect can be obtained.

As described above, by using the sheet 24, the decorative board 20 itself can be molded with a colorless and transparent material. In this case, since the indicator lens 22 can be made colorless and transparent, the emission color of the LED 18 can be used as it is as the display color of the indicator, and the emission color of the indicator can be selected regardless of the molded product. . That is, it is possible to improve the versatility of the decorative plate 20 integrated with the indicator lens, which is a molded product.

Of course, the transparent resin used for the decorative board 20 may be a colored transparent resin. Further, the sheet 24 may be arranged not only on the back surface side of the decorative plate 20 but also on the front surface side.

FIG. 2 shows a decorative plate 2 formed as described above.
0 and a perspective view illustrating a specific shape of the main body housing 14 are shown. As described above, the plurality of indicator lenses 22 are integrally formed on the front surface side of the decorative plate 20, and the “AU” is provided by the sheet 24 arranged on the back surface side.
Display characters such as "TO" can be seen.
Further, as described above, on the main body housing 14 side, the opening 14a is formed at a position corresponding to the LED arranged on the internal substrate, and the protruding portion 22a protruding on the back surface of the decorative plate 20 enters. , The light of the LED is satisfactorily guided to the front surface side of the decorative plate 20. In addition, in the case of FIG. 2, it is preferable that the display character formed on the decorative plate 20 also emits light when necessary (for example, during nighttime use). Therefore, an opening 14b for guiding the light of the light source (LED or bulb) arranged inside the main body housing 14 to the back surface of the decorative plate 20 is formed at the position corresponding to the display character of the main body housing 14. In the present embodiment, the openings 14b are individually formed at the positions corresponding to the display characters so that each display character can be illuminated from the back side. By doing so, it is possible to suppress a feeling of strangeness in which a portion other than the display character is illuminated, the surroundings of the display character are vaguely illuminated, and unnecessary portions are vaguely illuminated.

When the display character is illuminated,
The sheet 24 may be punched to form a display character so that the light from the light source directly reaches the surface of the decorative plate 20 through the opening 14b. Alternatively, the display character printed on the sheet 24 may be formed of a sheet material. It may be possible to perform transillumination through.

In the present embodiment, an example in which the indicator structure 10 is applied to the heat control device 12 has been shown, but any device that requires an indicator can be applied and similar effects can be obtained.

[0027]

As described above, according to the present invention,
By integrally molding the indicator lens with the same material as the decorative plate, it is possible to reduce the number of parts, the number of molding dies, and the number of assembling steps. In addition, by integrally molding, the indicator lens is always arranged in a fixed positional relationship with the decorative plate, which makes it possible to guide the light from the light source in the desired eyepoint direction in a stable manner. It is possible to prevent the deterioration of the property and improve the design of the decorative plate by integrating the indicator lens.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view illustrating an indicator structure according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating a specific indicator structure and a main body housing configuration according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a conventional indicator structure.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 indicator structure, 12 heater control device, 14 body housing, 14a, 14b opening,
16 substrates, 18 LEDs, 20 decorative plates, 22 indicator lenses, 22a protrusions, 22b emission light side surface, 24 sheets.

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    F-term (reference) 3D044 BA04 BA05 BA22 BA27 BB01                       BD05 BD13                 3L011 CS01                 5C096 AA02 AA24 AA26 BA04 BC02                       CA06 CA12 CA22 CA32 CB01                       CB02 CB06 CC06 CD04 CD10                       CD22 CD28 CD53 CG05 CJ02                       DC02 DC06 DC10 DC19 FA11                       FA12 FA17

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An indicator structure, which guides light emitted from the back to the display surface side of the device and guides the light to a desired eye point, wherein the decorative plate is made of a transparent material and is mounted on the display surface of the device. And an indicator lens that is made of the same material as the decorative plate and is integrally molded with the decorative plate. 2. The indicator structure according to claim 1, wherein a display character indicating a display content is attached to the front surface or the back surface of the decorative plate. 3. The indicator structure according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the surface of the indicator lens on the exit light side is subjected to a concavo-convex process for deflecting light.