JP2003315111A - Meter device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Problem] To provide a meter device having a new ring illumination with good appearance while simplifying the meter structure and reducing the number of assembling steps by eliminating the need for a light source dedicated to a ring member. SOLUTION: A light guide plate 1 for illuminating a dial 32 from behind.
The light emitted from the peripheral end surface 12a of the second and going outward is
The light is reflected upward through the inner wall 33a of the ring member 33. As a result, the ring member 33 shining in a ring shape is visually recognized from the upper eye point.

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 a vehicle or the like, and more particularly to a meter device having a ring member provided around a dial plate.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a meter device of this type mounted on a vehicle or the like, a dial and a dial on which a display design such as letters, numbers and scales are formed are illuminated from the back side by light from a dedicated light source. I am trying. Further, in recent years, for the purpose of increasing the sense of luxury and high quality, a ring member of a light guide is installed so as to circulate this display design, and similarly, a dedicated light source is used to illuminate it from the back side. There is known a meter device. However, in such a meter device, since the dedicated light source is required for the ring member, the structure is complicated and the cost is increased accordingly. This problem will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of essential parts for understanding the outline of a conventional meter device of this type. This meter device shows a part of a combination meter in which a speed indicator portion, a tachometer portion, a direction indicator portion, various warning display portions and the like are integrated.

As shown in the sectional view of the main part of FIG.
Is formed of an elongated taper-shaped resin having a light guiding property, and the pointing portion has a dial plate 92 centered around the pointer shaft portion 91a.
It is arranged so that the front side of is rotated. A hot stamp layer is usually formed on the lower surface of the pointer 91 to make the pointer 91 shine in a predetermined color, but it is omitted here. A black pointer cap 91b is covered on the upper surface side of the pointer shaft portion 91a.

The dial plate 92 is a thin disk-shaped sheet plate made of transparent cloth, and a black-painted disk-shaped sheet plate in which predetermined numbers, characters, and the like display designs are hollowed out. Further, the pointer shaft portion 91a is inserted and the light source 96a for the pointer is provided.
An opening portion 92a having an inner diameter slightly larger than the outer diameter of the pointer shaft portion 91a is formed so that the light from the light enters the periphery of the pointer shaft portion 91a. A window 92b is also formed so that the light from the light source 96b enters the ring member 93. Further, a light guide plate or a diffusion plate for efficiently guiding or diffusing light from the light source for the dial is often attached to the back surface of the dial 92, but it is omitted here. .

Further, the ring member 93 is a light guide frame which is provided so as to surround the display design, receives light from the light source 96b from the lower surface, and depends on the light source color or the color tone of the ring member. Shines like a ring. This ring member 93
Are fixed to the dial plate 97 by heat welding or the like. The base plate 94 fixes the dial plate 92 and the motor 95 at predetermined positions in the meter. The motor 95 is fixed to the base plate 94 and rotates the pointer 91. The rotating shaft 95a of the motor 95 is inserted and attached to the pointer shaft portion 91a of the pointer 91. Further, the motor 95 rotates the pointer 91 by a predetermined angle based on sensor outputs detected by various sensors (not shown), and instructs a predetermined display design formed on the dial plate 92.

The light sources 96a and 96b are fixed to the base plate 94 at a predetermined distance from the back surface of the dial plate 92. The light from the light source 96a goes upward, passes through the opening 92a of the dial plate 92, and is supplied to the peripheral portion of the pointer shaft portion 91a in order to make the pointer 91 shine. Also,
The light source 96b is provided independently of the light source 96a in order to make the ring member 93 shine. Further, although not shown here, a light source for illuminating the dial 92 from the back side is also provided. Here, other circuits and structures arranged on the base plate 94 are omitted. A dark semi-transparent front glass 98 is attached so as to cover the dial plate 92, the ring member 93, and the dial plate 97 in front.

In such a structure, when the light source 96a is turned on by a predetermined trigger, the upward light from the light source 96a passes through the opening portion 92a of the dial plate 92 and comes from the peripheral portion of the pointer shaft portion 91a. The light enters the inside of the pointer 91. This incident light is guided toward the tip end of the pointer 91 via a reflecting surface or the like formed inside the pointer 91, and the pointer 91 shines in the color tone of the hot stamp layer. Further, the dial 92 is also illuminated from the back side, and each display design on the dial 92 also shines. Further, the upward light from the light source 96b is received by the lower surface of the ring member 93, and the ring member 9
3 also shines in a ring shape depending on the light source color and the color tone of the ring member. Then, these are visually recognized by the driver or the like through the front glass 98.

[0009]

However, the conventional meter device having such a ring illumination requires dedicated light sources for the dial, the pointer and the ring member, respectively. There is an idea that the light source for the dial and the light source for the pointer are shared, but in this case as well, a dedicated light source is separately required for the ring member. Therefore, the conventional meter device has a problem that the meter structure is complicated and the number of assembling steps is increased.

Therefore, in view of the above-mentioned present situation, the present invention provides a meter device having a novel ring illumination that is good-looking while achieving simplification of the meter structure and reduction of assembly man-hours by eliminating the need for a light source dedicated to the ring member. The task is to do.

[0011]

A meter device according to claim 1, which has been made to solve the above problems, has a display design 32.
a dial 32 on which a is formed, and a light guide plate 12 that is superposed on the back surface of the dial 32 and guides light from a light source for the dial in the peripheral direction to illuminate the dial 32 from the back surface. An inner wall 33 which is a frame installed so as to circulate the display design 32a and gradually opens toward the outside.
a ring member 33 having a, and light emitted from the peripheral edge surface 12a of the light guide plate 12 toward the outside is reflected upward through the inner wall 33a of the ring member 33. To do.

According to the first aspect of the invention, the dial 32 is provided.
The light emitted from the peripheral end surface 12a of the light guide plate 12 that illuminates the rear surface of the light and travels to the outside, the inner wall 33 of the ring member 33.
The light is reflected upward through a. And
From the upper eye point, the ring member 33 that shines like a ring is visually recognized.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a meter device according to a second aspect of the present invention is the meter device according to the first aspect, wherein a part of the light emitted from the peripheral end face 12a of the light guide plate 12 and directed to the outside is partly emitted. It is characterized in that a peripheral portion of the dial 32 is bent downward so as to linearly shield the light parallel to the surface of the light guide plate 12.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the light guide plate 12 is provided.
Since the peripheral edge portion of the dial 32 is bent downward so as to linearly shield a part of the light emitted from the peripheral edge surface 12a and going outward, parallel to the surface of the light guide plate 12, the ring-shaped contour is It is visually recognized as being bright with a clear border.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the meter device according to claim 3 is the meter device according to claim 2, wherein the lower layer base member 10 on which the light guide plate 12 is mounted cannot be seen from directly above. The bent peripheral edge portion of the dial plate 32 is extended in a direction approaching the inner wall 33a of the ring member 33.

According to the third aspect of the invention, the bent peripheral edge portion of the dial plate 32 is fixed to the inner wall 33a of the ring member 33 so that the lower layer base member 10 on which the light guide plate 12 is mounted cannot be seen from directly above. Since it is extended in the direction approaching, the light emitted from the peripheral edge surface 12a of the light guide plate 12 and unnecessary members are hidden.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a meter device according to the third aspect, wherein both the dial plate 32 'and the light guide plate 12' are in the outer periphery. It is characterized by being inclined so that it gradually lifts upward as it goes.

According to the invention of claim 4, the dial 3
Since the peripheral portions of the 2'and the light guide plate 12 'are inclined so as to be gradually lifted upward toward the outside, the stereoscopic effect is enhanced.

[0019]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention,
It is a front view showing an example in which the meter device of the present invention was applied to a combination meter.

As shown in FIG. 1, the meter device of the present invention is applied to a vehicle-mounted combination meter 1, for example. The meter 1 includes a fuel meter unit 2, a tachometer unit 3, a warning display unit 4, a direction indicator unit 5,
Speedometer unit 6, odometer unit 7, and water temperature gauge unit 8
And so on. Each of these parts 2 to 8 has a dial for displaying a display design such as numbers, characters, characters, etc., and a design pattern described later. The dial plate 9 forming the front surface side of the meter 1 has display windows corresponding to the above-mentioned respective portions 2 to 8, and the meter case 10 constituting the side surface and the back surface side.
Is integrated with the outer diameter of the meter 1. Further, the front of each part 2 to 8 is covered with a black transparent front glass 11. The color tone of the front glass 11 is combined with the color tone of each dial and the return part, and when the light is turned off, the meter 1 has a black face.

A light guide plate for guiding the light from the light source for the dial to illuminate the dial from the back is superposed on the back of each dial. Further, on the back side, a motor is provided for rotating the pointers of the fuel meter unit 2, the tachometer unit 3, the speedometer unit 6, and the water temperature meter unit 8 by a control mechanism (not shown) to rotate them by a predetermined angle. There is. Further, an LCD (Liquid Crystal Displ) not shown here, which is instructed by the control mechanism to display a predetermined accumulated mileage on the odometer unit 7.
Display devices such as ay) are also provided. Further, there is provided a light source (not shown) that supplies light to the dials and pointers from the back side to illuminate them.

The pointer 21 of the fuel meter section 2 indicates the remaining amount of fuel, which is a display design formed on the dial 22. The pointer 31 of the tachometer unit 3 has a dial 3
It indicates the engine speed above 2. To briefly explain the drive mechanism related to this, the pointer 31 indicates the number or scale corresponding to the corresponding engine speed on the dial 32, whereby the engine speed is displayed. The pointer 31 is rotationally controlled by a predetermined angle by a pointer drive mechanism including the control mechanism and the motor based on a value corresponding to the engine speed detected by an engine speed sensor (not shown). The warning display unit 4 displays warnings such as oil shortage, a brake warning, and a charging warning by illuminating a character corresponding to them. The direction instructing unit 5 is for instructing to change the traveling direction of the vehicle. Speedometer part 6
The pointer 61 indicates the traveling speed on the dial 62. The odometer unit 7 displays the cumulative traveling distance. The pointer 81 of the water temperature measuring unit 8 is a dial 82.
It indicates the water temperature above. The drive mechanism of each of these units 2 to 8 is publicly known and is not necessary to understand the gist of the present invention, and therefore the description thereof is omitted here. Further, the dials 22, 32, and 82 may be formed in a single plate shape, or may be formed in a single plate shape for each adjacent portion. Shall be independent.

Each dial 22, 32, 62 and 82 is
In response to a predetermined trigger signal, it is illuminated from the back by light supplied from a dial light source corresponding to each dial.
Further, the hands 21, 31, 61, and 81 corresponding to the dials 22, 32, 62, and 82 also similarly shine by the light supplied from the light source for hands. With these,
Each display design and pointers are vividly viewed from the front of the meter, which was a black face.

Further, the circular analog type fuel gauge section 2, tachometer section 3, speedometer section 6 and water temperature gauge section 8 respectively have ring members 23, 33, 63, and ring members 23, 33, 63 so as to circulate the respective display designs. It has 83. Each of the ring members 23, 33, 63, and 83 is coated with gloss, and when the dial is illuminated, the light is applied from the peripheral portion of the light guide plate that is heavily attached to the dial back surface. It shines like a ring based on the color. As a result, the ring is vividly viewed from the front face of the meter, which has been blackfaced, together with each display design and pointer. As a result, a meter device with a very high quality can be obtained. Regarding the ring illumination of this meter device, the tachometer unit 3 will be described below as an example, while referring to FIG.
Add explanation using.

2 and 3 both show an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a front view of the tachometer portion of FIG.
FIG. 3A and FIG. 3B are sectional views of the main part of the tachometer unit. 3 (A) and 3 (B), the same structure as the conventional one is omitted, and a main part cross-section around the ring member, which is a feature of the present invention, is shown.

As shown in the front view of FIG.
Is, for example, a thin disc-shaped sheet plate of transparent cloth made of a polycarbonate sheet. This dial 32 has
Numbers indicating engine speed "0", "1", "2",
..., display design 3 for characters such as "× 1000 rpm"
2a is formed. These display designs 32a are formed by hollowing out the numbers and characters and applying black-colored ink to the dial 32, for example. The numbers "0", "1" indicating the engine speed,
"2", ... Is designated by the tip of the pointer 31 which rotates on the dial 32 around the pointer shaft 31a.
Also, the numbers "0", "1" indicating the engine speed,
A ring member 33 is installed on the front side of the dial 32 so as to go around "2", ....

The surface of the ring member 33, especially the inner wall 3
3a has gloss. This glossiness is preferably obtained by, for example, a plating treatment with high reflectance, but other treatment methods may be used. The point is that the inner wall 33a should have a certain degree of reflectance. However, according to the plating treatment, a ring illumination effect utilizing the luster of the plating is added synergistically with the decorative effect of the plating itself, so that it is possible to enhance the feeling of high quality and the marketability. The color tone is preferably a thin white color system having a contrast with the color tone of the front glass 11, but may be another color tone from the viewpoint of design as long as it is a color tone that can be visually recognized through the front glass 11 when the pointer is illuminated.

As shown in the cross-sectional view of the main part of the embodiment of FIG. 3A, the pointer 31 is made of a thin and slender tapered transparent resin having a light guiding property, and has a pointer shaft portion (not shown). )
Is arranged so as to rotate the front surface of the dial 32. On the lower surface of the pointer main body 31a, in order to make the pointer 31 shine in a predetermined color, the hot stamp layer 3 such as red or white is used.
1a1 is formed. A black pointer cap that covers the vicinity of the shaft portion from above while sandwiching the balancer is covered near the pointer shaft portion on the right side in the drawing.
The shaft portion of No. 1 is connected to the rotary shaft of the motor, but the configuration thereof is the same as that of the example shown in FIG. Further, the operation of the pointer is as described above, and thus the repeated description is omitted.

The dial plate 32 has the display design 32a formed by blanking and painting as described above, and a circular shaft hole opening (not shown) through which the pointer shaft is inserted is provided at the center thereof. ing. A light guide plate 12 that guides light supplied from a light source for a dial plate (not shown) in the peripheral direction to illuminate the dial plate 32 from the back side is overlapped on the back surface of the dial plate 32. It is worn. The light guide plate 12 is attached to, for example, the meter case 10 (corresponding to the lower layer base member in the claims).

The peripheral edge portion of the dial plate 32 faces downward over the entire circumference so as to linearly shield a part of the light emitted from the peripheral edge surface 12a of the light guide plate 12 and traveling outward in parallel with the surface of the light guide plate 12. A bent portion 32b is formed by being bent. Thereby, the outline of the ring illumination can be made clear. In addition, the meter case 1 to which the light guide plate 12 is attached from the eye point of the driver or the like in the direct upward direction.
The bent portion 32b of the dial plate 32 is extended so as to approach the inner wall of the ring member 33 so that 0 and the like cannot be seen. As a result, the light emitted from the end surface 12a of the light guide plate 12 and unnecessary members are hidden from the eye point in the direct upward direction, and a high quality feeling is provided.

On the other hand, the ring member 33 surrounds the dial plate 3 so as to surround the display design 32a and the like formed on the dial plate 32.
It is installed on the front side of 2. This ring member 33 is
It has an inner wall 33a having a convex cross-section that gradually opens in a curved shape toward the outside. The inner wall 33a is
The surface shape is not necessarily curved, and may be any surface shape that can reflect light from the peripheral edge surface 12a of the light guide plate 12 upward. Then, of the surface of the ring member 33, at least the inner wall 33a is coated with plating or the like to have gloss. Of course, the entire surface of the ring member 33 may be painted for ease of processing. The color tone is, for example, a light white system, but may be another color tone from the viewpoint of design. A desired ring illumination color can be easily obtained only by changing the coating color of the inner wall 33a. Further, the ring member 33 has a locking piece 33b which has a claw portion formed at its tip and extends downward. The locking piece 33b is used when fixing the ring member 33 via the mounting holes 9b and 10b.

As the light source for the pointer and the light source for the dial, for example, an LED (Ligh
t Emitting Diode) is used. Although the light source for the pointer and the light source for the dial are not shown in this embodiment, they are independently provided. However, they may be shared for the purpose of the present invention.
What is important is that the light source for the ring member is unnecessary.

The dial plate 9 is made of black resin and forms the front side of this meter device. The dial plate 9 has a display window that is slightly larger than the rotation range of the pointer 31, and covers the area other than the display area of the dial 32. In addition, the dial plate 9, dial 32,
A dark-colored semi-transparent front glass 11 covering the front of the ring member 33 is fixed to the dial plate 9.

In such a structure, the light R1 traveling in the light guide plate 12 is emitted from the end face 12a and goes to the outside. Then, the light is reflected upward by the inner wall 33a of the ring member 33 to become reflected light R2, which passes through the front glass 11 and reaches an eye point of a driver or the like. Front glass 1
Since No. 1 is a dark color system, it seems that the ring member 33 vividly emerges. At this time, if the inner wall 33a of the ring member 33 has a convex shape in cross section that gradually opens in a curved manner toward the outside, the reflected light R2 has a certain angle range to the front of the dial 32. You will be heading, and some fluctuations in eye points will be absorbed. That is, it is possible to give a high-quality feeling without depending on the posture and body type of the meter viewer.

In another embodiment shown in FIG. 3 (B), both the dial plate 32 'and the light guide plate 12' and their peripheral portions are inclined so as to gradually rise upward toward the outside. On the dial plate 32 ', a display design 32a' which is blank-painted is formed. Other than this, the dial plate 32 and the light guide plate 12 are the same. Also, the ring member 3
3'is slightly higher than the ring member 33 in correspondence with the inclined portion, but the other points are similar to those of the ring member 33. In addition, in FIG.
The same parts as those in FIG. 3A are denoted by the same reference numerals, and duplicated description will be omitted.

In such a structure, the light R1 'traveling in the light guide plate 12' is emitted from the end face 12a 'and goes to the outside. Then, the inner wall 33 of the ring member 33 '
The reflected light R2 'is reflected upward by a'and the front glass 1
It passes through 1 and reaches the eye point of the driver or the like.
Since the front glass 11 is a dark color system, it looks as if the ring member 33 has vividly emerged. In particular, dial 3
Since the peripheral portions of 2'and the light guide plate 12 'are inclined so as to be lifted upward, the three-dimensional effect is enhanced and a more attractive new ring illumination is provided.

As described above, according to this embodiment, since the reflected light of the light emitted from the peripheral edge surface of the light guide plate for the dial plate is used, the dedicated light source for the ring illumination is not necessary. For this reason, simplification of the meter structure and reduction in the number of assembly steps are achieved, and a meter device having a novel ring illumination different from the conventional type in which the ring member itself emits light is provided.

The present meter device can also be applied to general meter devices other than the tachometer unit and the combination meter. Further, the shape of the ring member is not limited to the perfect circular ring, and may be, for example, an elliptical ring or a partially cut ring shape.

[0039]

As described above, according to the invention described in claim 1, the light guide plate 12 for illuminating the dial 32 from the back side.
The ring illumination is performed by reflecting upward the light emitted from the peripheral edge surface 12a toward the outside through the inner wall 33a of the ring member 33. Therefore, since a dedicated light source for the ring illumination is not required, simplification of the meter structure and reduction of assembly man-hours are achieved. Further, since the reflective illumination is used, a meter device having a novel ring illumination different from the conventional type in which the ring member itself emits light is provided. Furthermore, the inner wall 33 of the ring member 33
A desired ring illumination color can be easily obtained only by changing the coating color of a.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the light guide plate 12 is provided.
Since the peripheral edge portion of the dial 32 is bent downward so as to linearly shield a part of the light emitted from the peripheral edge surface 12a and traveling outward, the ring-shaped contour is It is visually recognized as being bright with a clear border. Therefore, a meter device having a ring illumination with high quality is provided.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the bent peripheral edge portion of the dial plate 32 is provided with the inner wall 33a of the ring member 33 so that the lower layer base member 10 on which the light guide plate 12 is mounted cannot be seen from directly above. Since it is extended in the direction approaching, the light emitted from the peripheral edge surface 12a of the light guide plate 12 and unnecessary members are hidden. Therefore, a meter device having ring illumination with a higher quality is provided.

According to the invention described in claim 4, the dial 3
Since the peripheral portions of 2'and the light guide plate 12 'are inclined so as to gradually rise upward as they go outward, the three-dimensional effect is enhanced, and a meter device having a novel ring illumination with a better appearance is provided. Provided.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing an embodiment of the present invention and showing an example in which a meter device of the present invention is applied to a combination meter.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the tachometer unit shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a main part of the tachometer unit in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of an essential part showing an outline of a conventional meter device of this type.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 combination meter 2 Fuel meter 3 Tachometer section 4 Warning display 5 direction indicator 6 Speedometer section 7 Odometer part 8 Water thermometer 9 Facing plate 10 meter case 11 front glass 12, 12 'Light guide plate 12a, 12a 'peripheral edge surface 31 guidelines 32, 32 'dial 32a, 32a 'display design 32b, 32b 'Bent section 33, 33 'ring member 33a, 33a 'inner wall Light from R1 and R1 'light sources R2, R2 'reflected light

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A dial having a display design, and a light guide plate, which is superposed on the back surface of the dial and guides light from a light source for the dial in the peripheral direction to illuminate the dial from the back surface. And a frame member installed so as to circulate the display design, and having a ring member having an inner wall that gradually opens toward the outside, and the light is emitted from the peripheral end surface of the light guide plate to the outside. The meter device is characterized in that the light that is directed is reflected upward through the inner wall of the ring member. 2. The meter device according to claim 1, wherein a part of the light emitted from the peripheral edge surface of the light guide plate and traveling outward is linearly shielded in parallel with the surface of the light guide plate. A meter device, characterized in that the peripheral portion of the plate is bent downward. 3. The meter device according to claim 2, wherein the bent peripheral edge portion of the dial is brought closer to the inner wall of the ring member so that the lower layer base member on which the light guide plate is mounted cannot be seen from directly above. The meter device is characterized in that it is extended in the direction. 4. The meter device according to claim 3, wherein both the dial plate and the vicinity of the peripheral portion of the light guide plate are inclined so as to be gradually lifted upward toward the outside. .