JP5201491B2 - Illumination device for indicating instrument - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an illuminating device in an indicating instrument, which is a surface light source device using a light guide used as a backlight to transmit and illuminate an indicator portion of a display panel, for example.

  Conventionally, for example, Patent Literature 1 has been proposed as an illumination device (transmission illumination device) for instruments such as automobiles and motorcycles. The illumination device in the indicating instrument using the light guide according to Patent Document 1 is configured to illuminate and display the pointer and the display plate by a light source that illuminates the pointer and the indicator portion of the display plate. In this case, a light guide is arranged along the back surface of the display plate so as to guide light into both the display plate and the pointer, and the reflecting surface (inclined surface) of the light guide from behind the pointer by the light beam from the light source. ), And the indicator light of the display panel is transmitted through and illuminated from the back side of the display panel by directing the light beam from the light source into the light guide. .

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-239251

  By the way, in the vehicle meter as described above, because it is used in a vibrating atmosphere during the traveling of the vehicle, in the illumination device of the meter using a light guide used as a backlight, Since there is a possibility that squeaking noise may be generated by vibration, it is necessary to firmly fix and hold the light guide. In order to achieve this, as a means for fixing and holding the light guide, for example, a press-fit pin or the like is provided in an instrument case (instrument housing) and inserted into an insertion hole provided in the light guide, or held in a press-fit pin. After the insertion and holding, the light guide is firmly fixed and held to the instrument case by thermally welding the tip portion of the press-fit pin. However, there is a problem in that the light guide is simply not fixed to the press-fit pin and the press-fitting and holding type is unstable, and if the press-fit pin is fixed and held by heat welding, replacement work for parts replacement becomes troublesome. In consideration of the assembly workability, it may be possible to provide a locking claw and fix it. However, the length of the locking claw is set large in order to make the instrument thinner. As a result, the length of the claw portion may be shortened, so that the elasticity (bending deformation amount) of the claw piece may not be ensured sufficiently, and problems such as deformation or breakage of the claw piece may occur. Sometimes.

  Therefore, in order to address the above-described problems, the present invention provides an indicating instrument that is a surface light source device that can be fixed and held so that the mounting strength of the light guide can be sufficiently satisfied while enabling a reduction in thickness. An object is to provide a lighting device.

In order to solve the above-described problems, the present invention provides, in claim 1, a pointer that is fixed to the distal end side of a rotating shaft provided in the instrument body and rotates around the rotating shaft, and a back surface of the pointer. A display board with an indicator part composed of scales, numbers, symbols, etc., which is transmitted and illuminated, a hard circuit board located on the back side of the display board, and mounted on the circuit board to illuminate the display board A light source that is disposed on the front side of the circuit board, and a housing made of a synthetic resin that is provided so as to divide an illumination area for illuminating the display board. A light guide made of a synthetic resin material for receiving irradiated light and transmitting and illuminating the indicator portion of the display board, and the instrument body that rotates the rotating shaft is disposed behind the circuit board. And fixing the light guide Is provided with a light receiving part for guiding the irradiation light from the light source to the indicator part side, and provided with a hook part for locking for positioning and holding the housing on the end part side of the light guide, An engagement member provided with an engagement claw at the tip of a bent elastic arm piece is provided at the housing portion facing the hook portion for locking, and the hook portion and the engagement are provided. An illumination device for an indicating instrument, wherein the light guide is arranged on the housing so as to overlap with the engagement claw provided on a member.

In the present invention, a pointer fixed to the tip end side of the rotary shaft provided in the instrument body and rotating around the rotary shaft, and an indicator comprising a scale, a number, a symbol, etc., which is located on the back side of the pointer and is transmitted and illuminated a display panel section has been subjected, and the circuit board of the hard positioned on the rear side of the display panel, is mounted on the circuit board, a light source for illuminating the display panel, arranged on the front side of the circuit board And a housing 9 made of synthetic resin provided so as to divide an illumination area for illuminating the display board, and an indicator of the display board that receives light emitted from the light source and is disposed on the housing 9 A light guide made of a synthetic resin material for transmitting and illuminating a portion of the light source, and placing and fixing the instrument body that rotates the rotating shaft behind the circuit board. , Irradiating light from the light source A light receiving portion for guiding the light guide to the side, a hook portion for locking for positioning and holding the housing on the end side of the light guide, and the housing facing the hook portion for locking the position, the engagement member having a engagement pawl provided at the tip of the curved shaped resilient arm piece, engages with the engagement claw provided on the engaging member and the hook portion for the engagement It is an illuminating device in an indicating instrument, wherein the light guide is arranged on the housing at the same time. With this configuration, the indicator portion of the display panel is brightly transmitted and illuminated. In addition, the hook portion of the light guide can be easily engaged and held with the engaging claws of the engaging member provided in the housing, and the bent elastic arm piece provided on the engaging member can improve the deflection. It is easy to assemble, and after assembly, it can be held on the hook portion of the light guide by the engaging claw, and the depth dimension can be suppressed by the curved elastic arm piece. An instrument body that rotates a rotating shaft is disposed behind the circuit board, and a synthetic resin housing is provided on the front side of the circuit board so as to partition an illumination area for illuminating the display board. Thus, it is possible to provide an illumination device for an indicating instrument which is a surface light source device that can be made thin, and thereby an intended purpose can be achieved.

FIG. 1 is a front view showing an indicating instrument for a vehicle in the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing the main part of the illumination device in the vehicle indicating instrument of FIG. FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view of an essential part of the illumination device in the indicating instrument showing the second embodiment of the present invention.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the indicator 3 is fixed to the distal end side of the rotary shaft 2 provided in the instrument body 1 and rotates around the rotary shaft 2 and is located on the back side of the pointer 3 and is transmitted and illuminated. A display board 5 provided with an index portion 4 made of scales, numbers, symbols, and the like, a hard circuit board 6 positioned on the back side of the display board 5, and mounted on the circuit board 6, the display board 5 A light source 8 that illuminates the display board 5, a housing 9 that is disposed on the front side of the circuit board 6 and that is provided so as to partition an illumination area for illuminating the display board 5, and the housing 9 And a light guide body 10 made of a synthetic resin material for receiving a light beam emitted from the light source 8 and transmitting and illuminating the indicator portion 4 of the display board 5, and behind the circuit board 6. The instrument body 1 that rotates the rotating shaft 2 is arranged and attached. In addition, the light guide 10 is provided with a light receiving portion 10A for guiding the irradiation light from the light source 8 to the indicator portion 4 side, and the housing 9 and the light guide 10 are arranged on the end side of the light guide 10. An engaging hook portion 21 for positioning and holding is provided, and an engaging claw 19 is provided at the tip of a curved elastic arm piece 18 at the nine locations of the housing facing the engaging hook portion 21. The engaging member 20 is provided and overlapped on the housing 9 when the engaging hook portion 21 and the engaging claw 19 provided on the engaging member 20 are engaged with each other. It is an illuminating device in the indicating instrument characterized by comprising. With this configuration, the indicator portion 4 of the display plate 5 is brightly transmitted and illuminated via the light guide 10. Further, the hook portion 21 of the light guide 10 can be easily engaged and held with the engaging claw 19 of the engaging member 20 provided in the housing 9, and the curved elastic arm provided on the engaging member 20 is provided. It is easy to assemble with good bending by the piece 18, and can be retained by the hook portion 21 of the light guide 10 by the engaging claw 19 after assembling, and the elastic arm piece 18 formed by bending is also provided. It is possible to suppress the depth dimension, and the instrument body 1 that rotates the rotating shaft 2 is arranged behind the circuit board 6, and an illumination area for illuminating the display board 4 on the front side of the circuit board 6 is provided. By disposing the housing 9 made of synthetic resin so as to be partitioned, an illumination device for an indicating instrument which is a surface light source device that can be thinned can be provided. Further, since it is possible to sequentially assemble the circuit board 6 on the rear side with respect to the housing 9 and the assembly parts such as the light guide 10 and the display board 5 on the front side, the assembly work efficiency can be improved and the surface can be improved. It is possible to reduce the thickness of the entire illumination device of the indicating instrument which is a light source device.

  Hereinafter, an example in which the surface light source device of the present invention is applied to an illumination device for an indicating instrument for a vehicle will be described.

  A first embodiment of the illumination device for the indicating instrument of the present invention is shown in FIGS. A pointer 3 that is fixed to the distal end side of the rotating shaft 2 of the instrument body 1 and rotates around the rotating shaft 2 and an indicator portion 4 that is located on the back side of the pointer 3 and that is transmitted and illuminated, such as scales, numbers, and symbols. , A hard circuit board 6 positioned on the back side of the display board 5, and a light emitting diode provided on the circuit board 6 as a light source for illuminating the pointer 3 and the display board 5, respectively. 7 and 8, and a frame made of a synthetic resin that divides each instrument main body 1 and divides an illumination area for illuminating the pointer 3 and an illumination area for illuminating the display board 5 side into illumination areas. A lighting device in the entire indicating instrument is configured by a housing 9 having a shape and a light guide body 10 which is disposed on the housing 9 and is made of a synthetic resin material for transmitting and illuminating the indicator portion 4 of the display board 5. ing. An instrument body 1 that rotates the rotary shaft 2 is fixedly attached to the back of the circuit board 6.

  The pointer 3 is integrally formed of a transparent synthetic resin with an indicator 11 and a pointer base 12 fixed to the rotary shaft 2, and the pointer base 12 is covered with a pointer cap 13 made of a light-shielding synthetic resin. The indicator 11 receives light from the light emitting diode 7 and emits light.

  The display board 5 is composed of a flat substrate 14 made of a transparent synthetic resin. On the surface (upper surface in the drawing), for example, a white semi-transmissive display layer 15 is provided at four index portions such as scales, numbers, or symbols. A light-shielding black ground color layer 16 is applied to the entire surface of the display panel 5 except for the four indicator portions.

  A plurality of light emitting diodes 7 for emitting the pointer are located inside a cylindrical partition wall 17 provided in the housing 9, and a plurality of light emitting diodes 7 are provided on a circle around the rotation shaft 2 in the vicinity of the rotation shaft 2. 7 is provided so as to guide the irradiation light 7 to the pointer base 12 side on the inner side of the cylindrical partition wall 17.

  A plurality of light emitting diodes 8 for transmitting and illuminating the indicator portion 4 of the display panel 5 are provided on a circle around the rotating shaft 2 around the outside of the cylindrical partition wall 17. In order to guide the irradiation light beam toward the indicator portion 4 side of the display plate 5, the light receiving portion 10 </ b> A of the light guide 10 is configured to face the light emitting diode 8. In this case, the irradiated light received by the light receiving unit 10A is guided to the back side of the display plate 5 corresponding to the indicator unit 4 by the reflecting surface 10B. The configuration is such that the irradiation light beam reflected on the back side of the light guide body 10 illuminates the indicator portion 4 of the display plate 5 and the indicator portion 4 is transmitted and illuminated with the color (white) of the semi-transmissive display layer 15. Has been.

    In the first embodiment, the housing 9 is integrally provided with an elastic arm piece 18 that is U-shaped toward the back of the display plate 5 that is a display medium, and at the tip of the elastic arm piece 18. An engagement member 20 provided with an engagement claw 19 is formed. Further, a hook portion 21 for locking is formed on the end portion side of the light guide body 10 at a position facing the engaging member 20.

  In the first embodiment having the above-described configuration, the light guide 10 is set and pushed into the front side of the frame-shaped housing 9 as a reference so that the engagement claw 19 of the engagement member 20 provided on the housing 9 The hook portion 21 of the light guide 10 can be easily engaged and held. At this time, since it is possible to set the dimension of the region to be bent by the U-shaped elastic arm piece 18 provided in the engaging member 20, the elastic arm piece 18 is easily bent and easily assembled. After the assembly, the engagement claw 19 can hold the hook portion 21 of the light guide 10 so as not to be detached, and the U-shaped elastic arm piece 18 can suppress the depth dimension. Thus, it is possible to provide an instrument illumination device that is a surface light source device that can be made thin.

  Further, since the circuit board 6 can be assembled on the rear side with respect to the housing 9 and the assembly parts such as the light guide 10 and the display plate 5 which is a display medium can be assembled sequentially on the front side, the assembly work efficiency can be improved.

  In the illumination device for the indicating instrument according to the first embodiment having the above-described configuration, the light beam emitted from the light emitting diode 7 for emitting the pointer light enters the pointer base 12 provided on the pointer 3 to indicate the indicator. 11 emits light.

The light beam emitted from the light emitting diode 8 for emitting light on the display panel enters the light guide body 10 upward from the light receiving portion 10A of the light guide body 10, is reflected by the reflecting surface 10B, and is guided laterally. Then, the light beam reflected on the back side of the light guide 10 is emitted to the front surface side, and the emitted light beam is guided to the indicator part 4 of the display plate 5, and the semi-transmissive display layer of the indicator part 4 15 is brightly transmitted and illuminated in white by irradiation light.

  FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of an essential part showing a second embodiment of the present invention. In the same manner as in the first embodiment described above, the housing 9 has a U in the rear direction of the display plate 5 as a display medium. An elastic arm piece 18 having a letter shape is integrally provided, and an engaging member 20 having an engaging claw 19 provided at the tip of the elastic arm piece 18 is formed. Further, a hook portion 21 for locking is formed on the end portion side of the light guide body 10 at a position facing the engaging member 20. Further, a notch 6 </ b> A for receiving the lower end side of the elastic arm piece 18 is provided at six locations on the circuit board facing the U-shaped elastic arm piece 18 provided in the housing 9.

  Accordingly, in this embodiment, the circuit board 6 can be assembled on the rear side with respect to the housing 9, and the assembly parts such as the light guide 10 and the display plate 5 as a display medium can be assembled sequentially on the front side. The work efficiency can be increased, and the notch portion 6A for receiving the lower end side of the elastic arm piece 18 provided in the housing 9 is provided in the circuit board 6 so that the thickness dimension of the housing 9 is formed thin. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the thickness of the entire illumination device of the indicating instrument as the entire surface light source device.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the present invention. For example, in each of the above-described embodiments, a light emitting diode is used as a light source. The light source may be a lamp or a cold-cathode tube, and the number of light sources and the installation positions may be set in accordance with the thickness and shape of the light guide 10. In the embodiment, the light guide 10 is formed to be colorless and transparent. However, in some cases, the light guide 10 may be formed in a blue color or other colors, and may be formed in a housing. What is necessary is just to set suitably the length of the U-shaped elastic arm piece 18 provided in 9, the width dimension, the attachment position, etc.

    Although not shown, in addition to the light guide with respect to the housing, the end side of the display medium may be simultaneously overlapped and held by the engaging member. By sequentially assembling the light body and the display medium, it is possible to improve the assembling work efficiency and to reduce the thickness of the entire surface light source device.

  Further, as described in detail in the above-described embodiments and the like, the illumination device for the instrument has been described by taking the vehicle indicator as an example of the surface light source device. However, the instrument is not limited to the vehicle instrument, but is a marine instrument or an agricultural instrument. It is also possible to apply in such as.

1 Instrument body
2 rotation axis
3 Guidelines
4 indicators
5 Display board
6 Circuit board
6A Notch
7 Light emitting diode
8 Light emitting diode
9 Housing
10 Light guide
10A light receiving part
10B Reflective surface
11 Indicator
12 Pointer base
13 Pointer cap
14 Substrate
15 Translucent display layer
16 ground color layer
17 Partition wall
18 Elastic arm pieces
19 Engaging claw
20 engaging member
21 Hook part

Claims (1)

A pointer that is fixed to the tip of the rotating shaft provided on the instrument body and rotates around the rotating shaft, and an indicator section that is located on the back side of the pointer and that is composed of scales, numbers, and symbols that are transmitted and illuminated. a display plate is a circuit board of the hard positioned on the rear side of the display panel, is mounted on the circuit board, a light source for illuminating the display panel, arranged on the front side of the circuit board, the panel A housing made of synthetic resin provided so as to divide an illumination area for illuminating the light source, and a light beam emitted from the light source for receiving the light emitted from the light source and illuminating the indicator portion of the display plate A light guide body made of a synthetic resin material, and the instrument body that rotates the rotating shaft is disposed and fixed behind the circuit board, and the light guide body has a light guide from the light source. The irradiation light was led to the indicator part side A light receiving portion, a hook portion for locking to be positioned and held on the end side of the light guide, and a curved portion at the housing portion facing the hook portion for locking. engaging member provided with a engaging claw on the tip of the shaped elastic arm piece is provided, the upper housing when engaged with the engagement claw provided on the engaging member and the hook portion for the engagement An illumination device for an indicating instrument, wherein the light guide is disposed so as to overlap with the indicator.

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