JP3274277B2 - Instrument indicator lighting device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a lighting device for an instrument indicator of an automobile or the like, and more particularly, to make the entire surface of a prism of an indicator incorporated together with an odometer or the like in a combination meter emit light uniformly and evenly.
The present invention relates to a lighting device for an instrument indicator suitable for performing multicoloring and fine color tone adjustment.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional display device of this type, FIG.
10 to FIG. 10 are known. In the illumination device of the instrument indicator shown in FIG. 7, a color filter 2 for coloring and transmitting light in a predetermined color is attached to an end of a prism 1 for illuminating an instrument (not shown). The light from the bulb 3 is introduced into the prism 1 through the filter 2, and the colored light causes the prism 1 to emit light of a predetermined color and brightness.

The instrument indicator lighting device 5 shown in FIG. 8 is disassembled with the display portion of the instrument for displaying the shift position of the A / T vehicle incorporated in the combination meter together with the odometer or the like facing upward. In this case, the combination meter main body and the display unit have a separate structure. The instrument indicator lighting device 5 includes a case body 6, a wiring board 8 fitted on a bottom surface of the case body 6 along a guide rail 7, a lens 9 mounted on a front surface of the case body 6, It is mainly composed of a prism 10 mounted on the upper surface of the lens 9 in a superposed manner, and a facing 11 arranged on the upper surface of the prism 10 and fixed to the front side of the case body 6.

In the illumination device 5 of the instrument indicator,
As shown in FIGS. 8 to 10, a notch 12 is formed at both ends of the lens 9, and a notch 13 with a reflection taper is formed at both ends of the prism 10. The end face of the notch 13 with the reflection taper of the prism 10 is connected to the notch 12 of the lens 9.
The projection 13 extends outward from the end face of the wiring board 8, and the projection 13 with the reflection taper forms a light receiving section 15 for introducing light from the bulb 14 attached to the upper surface of the wiring board 8 into the prism 10. .

For this reason, the light from the bulb 14 is directly introduced into the prism 10 without passing through the lens 9. In order to convert the light from the bulb 14 into colored light, FIGS. As shown in the figure, by covering the outer periphery of the bulb 14 with a color filter 16 of a predetermined color, light is colored when passing through the color filter 16 and enters the prism 10, and the inside of the prism 10 has a predetermined color. It is a mechanism to illuminate with.

[0006]

However, in order to illuminate the prisms 1 and 10 in a predetermined color in the conventional illumination device for an instrument indicator, the one shown in FIG. A color filter 2 is attached to the portion, and the light from the bulb 3 is colored by passing through the color filter 2. In the one shown in FIG. Since the light from the bulb 14 is colored by transmitting the light through the filter 16, it is necessary to mount the color filters 2 and 16 on the end surface of the prism 1 and on the outer periphery of the bulb 14. And the color filters 2 and 16 are limited in color type.
The lighting color cannot be set arbitrarily.
In the instrument indicator lighting device 5 shown in FIG.
Since the position of the bulb 14 and the position of the light receiving portion 15 of the prism 10 are restricted near both ends of the case body 6,
The problem is that the brightness of the prism 10 becomes brighter toward both ends near the bulb 14, and becomes darker toward the center far from the bulb 14, and it is difficult to emit light with uniform brightness. There was a point.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and it is not necessary to mount a color filter around an end of a prism or around a bulb for coloring illumination light.
Provided is a lighting device for an instrument indicator that can uniformly and uniformly emit light from the entire prism even when the position of the bulb and the position of the light receiving portion of the prism are restricted, and can perform multicoloring and fine color adjustment. It is intended to be.

[0008]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image forming apparatus comprising: a lens disposed at a predetermined distance from a light source; and a lens disposed on a surface of the lens opposite to the light source. And a prism on which a light receiving unit that receives light from the light source through the lens is formed, and an end surface of the lens is located outward from an end surface of the prism on which the light receiving unit is formed. Let it protrude,
A colored portion is formed on the surface of the lens that overlaps the light receiving portion of the prism, and light from the light source is introduced into the light receiving portion of the prism through the colored portion, thereby illuminating an instrument indicator that causes the prism to emit light. A device,
A light receiving portion of the prism, a light receiving surface overlapping the colored portion of the lens, and a reflecting surface formed on the light receiving surface and reflecting light incident from the light receiving surface, and the light receiving portion, The near-point irradiation light-receiving portion of the prism, the far-point irradiation light-receiving portion of the prism formed by being cut out at an obtuse angle with respect to the near-point irradiation light-receiving portion are provided in a C-shape, and the coloring portion is It is characterized by having a dark colored portion overlapping the near point irradiation light receiving portion and a light colored portion overlapping the far point irradiation light receiving portion.

[0009]

According to the present invention, since the colored portion is provided on the surface of the lens, the light transmitted through the colored portion of the lens is colored and becomes colored light.

Further, since the light from the bulb is introduced into the prism from the light receiving portion via the colored portion of the lens, the light is colored when passing through the colored portion of the lens to become a predetermined colored light. The colored light is introduced from the light receiving portion, and the whole prism emits light of a predetermined color.

Further, light transmitted through a dark colored portion is dimmed at the time of transmission, and light transmitted through a light colored portion is hardly dimmed at the time of transmission. The intensity of the light source and the density of the colored portion are appropriately combined. Thereby, the brightness of the transmitted light is adjusted, and the entire prism is uniformly illuminated. Light transmitted through the dark colored portion is suitable for illumination of a portion near the light source of the prism, and light transmitted through the light colored portion is suitable for illumination of the central portion of the prism far from the light source.

Further, since the far-point irradiation light-receiving part of the light-receiving part is formed at an obtuse angle with respect to the near-point irradiation light-receiving part, the reflection surface of the far-point irradiation light-receiving part faces the center of the prism. The light incident on the light receiving portion reaches the center of the far point sufficiently, and the prism emits light evenly.

[0013]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a lighting device for an instrument indicator according to the present invention. 1 to 6 show an embodiment of the present invention. In these figures, the same components as those shown in the prior art of FIGS. 7 to 10 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted.

FIG. 1 shows an exploded view of a lighting device A of an instrument indicator according to the present invention. The lighting device A of the instrument indicator includes a case body 6 and a bulb mounted on the bottom surface of the case body 6. (Light source) Wiring board 8 with 14 and lens 30 mounted on the front of case body 6
And a prism 40 mounted on the upper surface of the lens 30 in a superimposed manner, and a facing 11 arranged on the upper surface of the prism 40 and fixed to the front side of the case body 6. A colored portion 31 is formed at both ends of the prism 30, and a notch 4 is formed at both ends of the prism 40.
1 is formed. A light receiving portion 42 is formed by cutting the end face of the cutout portion 41 in a V shape (see FIG. 3). The light receiving portion 42 is a near point irradiation light receiving portion for illuminating a close range of the bulb 14. 42a and a far-point irradiation light-receiving section 42b that illuminates far from the bulb 14 (see FIG. 2).

FIG. 2 shows the instrument indicator lighting device A of this embodiment in an assembled state. A bulb 14 is disposed at the bottom of the case body 6 and a bulb is provided on the front of the bulb 14. A lens 30 is disposed slightly apart from the lens 14, and a prism 40 is disposed on the front surface of the lens 30 so as to overlap the lens 30. The lower end surface 32 of the lens 30 is the lower end surface 4 of the prism 40.
A colored portion 31 is formed on the portion of the lens 30 that protrudes downward (outside) from the position 3 and overlaps the position of the light receiving portion 42 formed in the cutout portion 41 of the prism 40. The colored portion 31 is formed in a rectangular shape in a range from the lower end surface 32 of the lens to the upper portion (inner side) of the light receiving portion 42 including the light receiving portion 42 of the prism 40. Then, the light from the bulb 14 passes through the colored portion 31 to the light receiving portion 42 of the prism 40.
It is being introduced inside.

FIGS. 3 and 4 are partially enlarged views of the vicinity of the colored portion 31 of the lens 30 of the illumination device A of the instrument indicator. It is formed by performing green halftone printing on the surface. The light receiving unit 42 is, as shown in FIG.
It comprises a near point irradiation light receiving section 42a formed in the horizontal direction and a far point irradiation light receiving section 42b formed in the vertical direction.

Further, the near-point illuminating light-receiving section 42a has a light-receiving surface 38a formed on the end face of the notch so as to overlap with the colored layer 31 of the lens, and a taper formed on the upper surface thereof, so that the light is incident from the light-receiving surface 38a. Reflecting surface 3 that reflects reflected light
9a, and similarly, the far-point irradiation light-receiving section 42
b is composed of a light receiving surface 38b and an upper reflecting surface 39b (see FIG. 4). Then, the far point irradiation light receiving unit 42b is a near point irradiation light receiving unit 42 cut out in the horizontal direction.
is cut off at an obtuse angle with respect to
Are formed in a U-shape as a whole. As a result, the reflection surface 39b of the far-point irradiation light-receiving section 42b is positioned toward the center of the prism 40, and the light incident on the far-point irradiation light-receiving section 42b has a sufficient illuminance near the center of the prism 40. Can emit light.

Reference numeral 44 in the figure denotes a surface emitting portion, and FIG.
As shown in the figure, a symbol 44a such as a numeral or a letter indicating the shift position of the automatic vehicle printed on the surface of the prism 40 is provided.
And a colored filter 44b provided on the lens 31 and disposed so as to cover the back surface of the symbol 44a. For example, in the case of the present embodiment, the filter 44b is dark green so that the shift position can be changed. , A predetermined warning lamp 44c emits light, and the symbol 44a on the prism surface at that position emits dark green light.

Therefore, in the illumination device A of the instrument indicator, since the light from the bulb 14 is introduced into the light receiving portion 42 of the prism 40 via the colored portion 31, when the light passes through the colored portion 31, (Indicated by an arrow in FIG. 4), and is introduced into the prism 40, causing the entire prism 40 to emit light green light. The warning lamp 44c emits light at a part thereof more strongly than the prism illumination. Then, the design (symbol) emerges. Further, since the coloring portion 31 is colored by halftone printing, the lens 3 is formed using a halftone printing method applied to a conventional dial or the like.
In addition to being able to easily color the surface of No. 0, and printing three colors of red, yellow, and blue, or by combining them, it is possible to achieve multicoloring that was impossible with a conventional color filter. In addition, fine color adjustment can be performed. In addition, unlike a conventional lighting device, it is not necessary to provide a color filter for coloring around the bulb 14,
The components can be simplified and costs can be reduced.

Next, a second embodiment of the illumination device for the instrument indicator of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. Illumination device B of the instrument indicator of the second embodiment
In the colored portion 31 of the lens 30, a dark green colored portion (halftone dot printing) 33 constituting a shaded portion is applied to a portion located on the back surface of the near point irradiation light receiving portion 42a of the prism 40, and the far point irradiation is performed. Light green colored portion (halftone dot printing) 3 forming a shaded portion on the portion located on the back surface of the light receiving portion 42b.
4, the dark colored portion 33 and the light colored portion 3
The portion other than 4 is provided with an intermediate green colored portion (halftone dot printing) 35 constituting a shaded portion.

Therefore, in the illumination device B of the instrument indicator of the second embodiment, the dark green colored portion 3
3, the light passing through the light-colored portion 34 is darkened during transmission, and the light passing through the pale green colored portion 34 is not greatly reduced during transmission. The intense light passes through the dark colored portion and the brightness is weakened, and the portion far from the light source 14, that is, the weak light illuminating the distant point, passes through the pale colored portion and is hardly dimmed. It can reach the center and brightly illuminate. As a result, these near-point irradiation light receiving sections 33
The balance between the brightness of the light transmitted through the light source and the light transmitted through the far-point irradiation light receiving unit 34 is maintained, and the entire prism 40 can be uniformly and uniformly emitted in light green. Therefore, the position of the light receiving section 42 of the prism 40 is
Illumination unevenness caused by being limited to both ends of 0 can be eliminated.

In the illumination device of the instrument indicator according to the present invention, the position of the colored portion of the lens, the position of the light receiving portion of the prism, and the like can be freely adjusted to optimal positions without being limited to the above-described embodiment. Can be set. At that time, in consideration of the brightness of the bulb, the distance from the position of the bulb to the light emitting point, and the like, by varying the shading of the colored portion, it is possible to realize uniform and even illumination. By combining the three primary colors and halftone printing colors, it is possible to freely set multi-colors and subtle color tones.

[0023]

As described above, according to the illumination device of the instrument indicator of the present invention, even if the installation position of the light receiving portion of the bulb or the prism is restricted to the corner of the illumination device, the near-point irradiation light receiving portion is provided. The brightness of the transmitted light can be adjusted to illuminate the prism uniformly and evenly by appropriately combining the shading of the colored portion of the lens in correspondence with each light receiving portion of the light receiving portion and the far point irradiation light receiving portion. Furthermore, the far-point irradiation light-receiving part is cut off at an obtuse angle with respect to the near-point irradiation light-receiving part, and the light-receiving part is provided in a V shape. Position, so that the light incident on the light receiving unit reaches the center of the far point sufficiently,
Light can be emitted sufficiently to the center of the prism.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a lighting device of an instrument indicator according to an embodiment of the present invention, with a display portion of the lighting device facing upward.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an assembled state of the illumination device of the instrument indicator according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged explanatory view of the vicinity of a colored portion of the illumination device of the instrument indicator according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged side cross-sectional view showing the vicinity of a colored portion according to one embodiment of the present invention, showing a cross section taken along line IV-IV of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged perspective view showing the vicinity of a coloring portion of the illumination device of the instrument indicator according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged front view of a colored portion of a lens, showing a lighting device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory perspective view showing a conventional instrument indicator lighting device, in which a color filter is mounted on an end face of a prism.

FIG. 8 is an exploded perspective view showing a conventional illumination device for an instrument indicator, with a display unit facing upward.

FIG. 9 is an enlarged explanatory view showing a conventional illumination device for an instrument indicator, in the vicinity of a light receiving section.

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line XX of FIG. 9 and illustrating the vicinity of a light receiving portion of a conventional illumination device for an instrument indicator.

[Explanation of symbols]

 14 Bulb (light source) 30 Lens 31 Colored part 32 Lower end surface (end face) 33 Dark colored part 34 Light colored part 40 Prism 42 Light receiving part 42a Near point light receiving part 42b Far point light receiving part

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (56) References Japanese Utility Model Showa Sho 53-28746 (JP, U) Japanese Utility Model Showa 55-35738 (JP, U) Japanese Utility Model Showa 55-95183 (JP, U) Japanese Utility Model Showa 52- 23186 (JP, U) Fully open sho 56-35669 (JP, U) Fully open 2-1778 (JP, U) Fully open sho 59-95290 (JP, U) Fully open sho 61-56710 (JP, U) Japanese Utility Model Showa 62-9122 (JP, U) Japanese Utility Model Showa 56-77799 (JP, U) Japanese Utility Model Showa 63-19299 (JP, U) Japanese Utility Model Showa 62-60926 (JP, U) Japanese Utility Model Showa 55-121285 (JP, U) Japanese Utility Model Showa 55-30862 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G09F 13/18 F21V 8/00

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A lens disposed at a predetermined distance from a light source and disposed on a surface of the lens opposite to the light source, and receives light from the light source via the lens. A prism on which a light receiving portion is formed, and projecting the end face of the lens outward from the end face on which the light receiving portion of the prism is formed, and forming a colored portion on a surface portion of the lens overlapping the light receiving portion, An illumination device for an instrument indicator that causes the prism to emit light by introducing light from the light source to the light receiving unit of the prism through the light receiving unit, wherein the light receiving unit of the prism overlaps a colored portion of the lens. A light-receiving surface, a reflective surface formed on the light-receiving surface and reflecting light incident from the light-receiving surface, and the light-receiving portion includes a near-point irradiation light-receiving portion of a prism; The far-point irradiation light-receiving part of the prism formed by being cut out at an obtuse angle with respect to the near-point irradiation light-receiving part is provided in a square shape, and the coloring part is positioned so as to overlap the near-point irradiation light-receiving part. A lighting device for an instrument indicator, comprising: a darkly colored portion; and a lightly colored portion located so as to overlap with the far point irradiation light receiving portion.