JP2012173231A - Annular light guide device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an annular light guide device whose annular part lights substantially uniformly.SOLUTION: A first light-emitting element 30 emits first illumination light. A first annular part 12 has a prescribed width W1 and lights with the first illumination light. A first light guide part 13 has a width narrower than the prescribed width W1 of the first annular part 12, and formed integrally with the first annular part 12. A second light-emitting element 40 emits second illumination light. A second annular part 22 has a prescribed width W3 and lights with the second illumination light. A second light guide part 23 has a width narrower than the prescribed width W3 of the second annular part 22, and formed integrally with the second annular part 22. A part of the second annular part 22 overlaps the first annular part 12 in a front view.

Description

  The present invention relates to an annular light guide device having an annular portion that shines by illumination light emitted from a light emitting element.

  Conventionally, various vehicle indicating instruments equipped with an annular light guide device have been proposed, and disclosed in, for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2. Such an indicating instrument for a vehicle is provided with an annular portion made of a light guide member around a dial portion indicated by a pointer. The annular portion can be illuminated by illumination light emitted from the light emitting element, and can decorate the dial of the vehicle indicating instrument.

JP 2006-177864 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-144958

However, the luminance of the annular portion is not uniform, and there is a problem that the luminance decreases as the distance from the light emitting element increases. In other words, the width and height of the annular portion has a design demand for the indicator device for the vehicle. It was difficult to make the annular portion shine with uniform brightness, and the appearance was not always good.
The present invention has been made in view of this problem, and provides an annular light guide device in which an annular portion shines substantially uniformly.

  According to the present invention, the light emitting elements 30 and 40 that emit illumination light, the annular portions 12 and 22 that have predetermined widths W1 and W3 and are brilliant by the illumination light, and the annular portions 12, 22 and light guide portions 13 and 23 formed integrally with the predetermined width W1 and W3.

  Further, according to a second aspect of the present invention, a light shielding member 50 that covers at least the side surfaces of the light guide portions 13 and 23 is provided.

  Further, according to the present invention, as described in claim 3, the first light emitting element 30 that emits the first illumination light, and the first annular portion that has a predetermined width W1 and shines by the first illumination light. 12, a first light guide portion 13 formed integrally with the first annular portion 12 that is narrower than the predetermined width W <b> 1 of the first annular portion 12, and a second that emits second illumination light. The light emitting element 40, the second annular portion 22 having a predetermined width W3 and shining with the second illumination light, and the second annular portion 22 narrower than the predetermined width W3 of the second annular portion 22. And a second light guide portion 23 formed on the body, wherein a part of the second annular portion 22 overlaps the first annular portion 12 in a front view. It is what.

  Moreover, this invention is provided with the light-shielding member 50 which covers the side surface of said 1st light guide part 13 and said 2nd light guide part 23 at least as described in Claim 4.

  By providing the light guide unit formed integrally with the annular part, the annular part can be illuminated with substantially uniform luminance.

The front view which shows 1st embodiment of this invention. The perspective view of the light guide member which shows embodiment same as the above. Sectional drawing which shows embodiment same as the above. Sectional drawing which shows embodiment same as the above. Sectional drawing which shows embodiment same as the above. Sectional drawing which shows embodiment same as the above. Sectional drawing which shows embodiment same as the above. Sectional drawing which shows embodiment same as the above. Sectional drawing which shows embodiment same as the above. Sectional drawing which shows 2nd embodiment of this invention.

Hereinafter, an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a vehicular indicating instrument will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. 1 to 9 show a first embodiment. In order to prevent the drawing from becoming complicated, the cross-sectional area hatching (parallel oblique lines) is omitted.
The annular light guide device includes light guide members 10, 20, a light emitting element (first light emitting element) 30, a light emitting element (second light emitting element) 40, and a light shielding member 50.

  The light guide member 10 is made of a translucent resin, and the light receiving part 11, the annular part (first annular part) 12, and the light guide part 13 are integrally formed. The light receiving unit 11 is connected to both ends of the light guide unit 13 and receives illumination light emitted from the light emitting element 30. The annular portion 12 has an arch shape when viewed from the front, and is disposed around the scale portion 61 of the dial 60. The cross section of the annular portion 12 of the light guide member 10 has a uniform triangular shape in the circumferential direction. The annular portion 12 of the light guide member 10 has a predetermined width W1 (see FIG. 3).

  The light guide portion 13 of the light guide member 10 has a rectangular cross section. The width W2 of the light guide portion 13 is smaller than the predetermined width W1 of the annular portion 12, and is not visible from the front. The thickness of the light guide unit 13 gradually decreases as the distance from the light receiving unit 11 increases. That is, the cross section of the light guide portion 13 has a rectangular shape having a constant width W2 and gradually different heights in the circumferential direction. The rear surface of the light guide unit 13 is a reflection surface 13a including a plurality of fine grooves provided in the radial direction.

  The light guide member 20 is made of a translucent resin, and a light receiving portion 21, an annular portion (second annular portion) 22, and a light guide portion 23 are integrally formed. The light receiving unit 21 is connected to the light guide unit 23 and receives illumination light emitted from the light emitting element 40. The annular portion 22 has an arch shape when viewed from the front, and is disposed around the scale portion 62 of the dial 60. The cross section of the annular portion 22 of the light guide member 20 has a uniform triangular shape in the circumferential direction. The annular portion 22 of the light guide member 20 has a predetermined width W3 (see FIG. 7).

  The light guide 23 of the light guide member 20 has a rectangular cross section. A width W4 of the light guide portion 23 is smaller than the predetermined width W3 of the annular portion 22, and is not visible from the front. The thickness of the light guide portion 23 gradually decreases as the distance from the light receiving portion 21 increases. That is, the cross section of the light guide portion 23 is a rectangle having a uniform width W4 in the circumferential direction and gradually different heights. The rear surface of the light guide unit 23 is a reflective surface 23a composed of a plurality of fine grooves provided in the radial direction.

  The light emitting elements 30 and 40 are made of top view type light emitting diodes, and are mounted on a circuit board (not shown). The light emitting elements 30 and 40 irradiate the light receiving portions 11 and 21 of the light guide members 10 and 20 with green illumination light, respectively. The light shielding member 50 is made of an opaque resin and prevents the illumination light from leaking to the dial plate 60. The light shielding member 50 has a U-shaped cross section that covers the side surfaces and rear surfaces of the light guide portions 13 and 23. The light shielding member 50 supports the annular portions 12 and 22 of the light guide members 10 and 20. The width W5 of the light shielding member 50 is narrower than the predetermined widths W1 and W3 of the annular portions 12 and 22 and wider than the widths W2 and W4 of the light guide portions 13 and 23.

  The annular portions 12 and 22 and the light guide portions 13 and 23 of the light guide members 10 and 20 and the light shielding member 50 are arranged on the front side of the dial 60. On the other hand, the light emitting elements 30 and 40 are disposed on the rear surface side of the dial 60.

  Although the light guide member 10 and the light guide member 20 are separate bodies, as shown in FIG. 6, one end 22 a of the annular portion 22 of the light guide member 20 overlaps with the annular portion 12 of the light guide member 10. Therefore, the light guide member 10 and the light guide member 20 seem to be integrated, and the light emitting elements 30 and 40 are individually turned on, so that the light guide member 10 and the light guide member 20 are individually illuminated. It is possible to make it.

  FIG. 10 shows a second embodiment. The annular portion 72 of the light guide member 70 is disposed on the front surface of the dial plate 80, and the light guide portion 73 penetrates the dial plate 80. The light guide 73 of the light guide member 70 is covered with the case body 90.

  The shape of the annular parts 12, 22, 72 (predetermined widths W1, W3 and height) has a design demand, so the cross-sectional area of the annular parts 12, 22, 72 is limited. As in the second embodiment, by providing the light guide portions 13, 23, 73 formed integrally with the annular portions 12, 22, 72, the illumination light emitted from the light emitting elements 30, 40 is transmitted to the annular portions 12, 22, 72. It is possible to secure a sufficient cross-sectional area in the circumferential direction of the light guide members 10, 20, 70 to sufficiently reach the entire circumference of the light source, and to shine the annular portions 12, 22, 72 with substantially uniform brightness. Is possible. In addition, the widths W2, W4 of the light guides 13, 23, 73 are equal to the predetermined widths W1,. Since it is smaller than W3, the light guide parts 13, 23, 73 are not visually recognized, and there is no possibility that the beauty of the annular parts 12, 22, 72 is impaired. However, since the light guide members 10, 20, and 70 are transparent, the light guide portions 13, 23, and 70 are transparent so that the ridgelines of the light guide portions 13, 23, and 73 are not visible through the annular portions 12, 22, and 72 It is desirable to select the shape of 73 as appropriate.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to each embodiment, A various deformation | transformation is possible. For example, the annular portion of each embodiment has a triangular cross section. For example, the annular portion of the light guide member may have a semicircular cross section. Further, the predetermined width W1 of the annular portion 12 and the predetermined width W3 of the annular portion 22 may be the same. For example, the predetermined width W3 of the annular portion 22 may be slightly smaller than the predetermined width W1.

  Further, the light emitting elements 30 and 40 may be disposed on the front side of the dial 60. In each embodiment, the present invention is applied to a vehicular indicating instrument. However, an annular light guide or the like may be arranged on the screen of a liquid crystal display. The illumination light emitted from the light emitting element 30 and the illumination light emitted from the light emitting element 40 may be the same color or different colors.

12 Annular part (first annular part)
13 Light guide (first light guide)
22 Annular part (second annular part)
23 Light guide (second light guide)
30 Light emitting element (first light emitting element)
40 Light emitting element (second light emitting element)
50 Shading member W1 predetermined width W3 predetermined width

Claims (4)

  A light emitting device that emits illumination light, an annular portion that has a predetermined width and shines by the illumination light, and a light guide portion that is formed integrally with the annular portion and is narrower than the predetermined width. Annular light guide device.   The annular light guide device according to claim 1, further comprising a light shielding member that covers at least a side surface of the light guide unit. A first light-emitting element that emits first illumination light; a first annular portion having a predetermined width and shining by the first illumination light; and the first annular portion narrower than the predetermined width of the first annular portion. A first light guide portion integrally formed with one annular portion, a second light emitting element emitting second illumination light, and a second annular shape having a predetermined width and shining with the second illumination light An annular light guide device, and a second light guide part formed integrally with the second annular part, which is narrower than the predetermined width of the second annular part,
A part of said 2nd annular part has overlapped with said 1st annular part by front view, The cyclic | annular light guide apparatus characterized by the above-mentioned.   The annular light guide device according to claim 3, further comprising a light shielding member that covers at least side surfaces of the first light guide unit and the second light guide unit.

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