JP5353766B2 - Pointer instrument - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an indicating instrument of easy constitution which enables manufacturing in a short time at low cost and making luminance distribution in a pointer to be constant, resulting in high display quantity. <P>SOLUTION: The pointer 14 is composed to include a body 30, a second light guide layer 31, and a first light guide layer 32. The second light guide layer 31 forcing light to be reflected and transmitted so that the luminance distribution of a displaying surface part becomes a constant. At the first light guide layer 32, the distribution of transmittance of light entering the first light guide layer 32 is constant on the first light guide layer 32, and the reflectance to incident light from outside of a pointer 14 is constant on a surface thereof. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&amp;INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a pointer instrument having a pointer that emits light.

  In a conventional pointer instrument, a technique using a pointer that emits light is disclosed. Patent Document 1 discloses a technique in which an uneven surface is formed inside a pointer, light passing through the pointer is diffused by the uneven surface, and light unevenness is made inconspicuous.

  Patent Document 2 discloses a technique for increasing or decreasing the luminance of a light source in accordance with the rotation angle of a pointer. The positional relationship between the light source at the fixed position and the pointer changes depending on the rotation angle of the pointer. This changes the amount of light incident on the pointer from the light source. However, in the technique described in Patent Document 2, the amount of light incident on the rotating pointer is made constant by increasing or decreasing the luminance of the light source.

  Further, Patent Document 3 discloses a technique in which a diffusion layer having a different diffusivity according to the amount of light incident on the pointer is provided in a portion where light from a light source enters the pointer. By such a diffusion layer, the amount of light incident on the rotating pointer is made constant.

JP-A-10-148549 JP-A-2005-345106 Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 5-6325

  In the technique described in Patent Document 1 described above, a molding die is necessary to form an uneven surface inside the pointer. However, when the shape of the pointer is changed, it depends on the light emission state of the pointer. It is also necessary to change the mold for the uneven surface. Therefore, the manufacturing cost for manufacturing the molding die for uneven surfaces and the manufacturing time for manufacturing the molding die are necessary, and it is difficult to flexibly cope with the change in the shape of the pointer. There is.

  The techniques described in Patent Document 2 and Patent Document 3 described above are techniques for making the amount of light incident on the pointer constant without depending on the rotation angle, but for making the luminance distribution emitted by the pointer constant. This technique is not disclosed. Generally, the amount of light incident on the proximal end portion of the pointer decreases as it goes toward the distal end portion of the pointer due to light emission and attenuation to the outside. Therefore, the luminance at the distal end is smaller than the luminance at the proximal end. As a result, when the entire light emitting surface of the pointer is viewed, there is a problem that light emission is uneven and display quality is lowered.

  Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and provides a pointer instrument that has a simple configuration, can be manufactured in a short period of time and at a low cost, has a constant luminance distribution in the pointer, and has a high display quality. With the goal.

  The present invention employs the following technical means in order to achieve the aforementioned object.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the light exiting means for emitting light, the light is incident on one end side, the light travels from the one end side toward the other end side, and the light is emitted outward from the display surface portion spreading between the both ends. anda pointer thus the display surface emits light that emits, guidance, a body portion extending from one end to the other end, the display surface portion between both ends provided on the surface extending between opposite ends of the body portion The first light guide layer to be formed, the transmittance of light incident on the first light guide layer from the main body is constant, and the reflectance for light incident on the display surface from the outside of the pointer is A first light guide layer that is constant, and a second light guide layer provided on a back surface that extends between both ends of the main body , wherein the reflectance of light incident from the main body is changed from one end to the other end and a second light guide layer made formed to be larger toward the closed A first light guide layer and the second light guide layer, a indicating instrument, characterized in that different colors are colored together.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, the pointer instrument is configured to include the emitting means for emitting light and the pointer for emitting light from the display surface portion. With such a luminous pointer, the operator can visually recognize the value indicated by the pointer of the pointer meter even in an environment where the surroundings are dark.

The pointer is configured such that light emitted by the emitting means is incident on one end side and proceeds from one end side to the other end side. Such a pointer has a first light guide layer and a second light guide layer. A 2nd light guide layer is provided in the reverse surface opposite to the surface in which a 1st light guide layer is provided with respect to a main-body part. The second light guide layer is formed so that the reflectance of light incident from the main body portion increases from one end side to the other end side. In the conventional technology, the amount of light incident from one end side decreases as it goes to the other end side due to light emission and attenuation to the outside, so the brightness of the display surface portion on the other end side is displayed on one end side. It is smaller than the brightness of the surface. However, in the present invention, the second light guide layer is formed so that the reflectance of light incident from the main body portion increases toward the other end portion side, but the light amount decreases toward the other end portion side. The light reflected to the main body can be increased toward the other end. As a result, the luminance of the display surface portion between both ends can be brought close to a constant value. In other words, the difference in luminance can be reduced. Accordingly, the aesthetics of the pointer that emits light can be improved, and the visibility of the pointer can be improved.

  Furthermore, in this invention, it has a 1st light guide layer which comprises a display surface part. The first light guide layer has a constant distribution of transmittance of light incident from the inside of the pointer. Since the light incident on the first light guide layer has a small difference in luminance due to the second light guide layer, the first light guide layer does not change the luminance distribution of such incident light without changing the first light guide layer. The light can be emitted outward from the light guide layer. Further, the first light guide layer has a constant reflectance with respect to light incident on the surface of the display surface portion from the outside of the pointer. Since the pointer has a second light guide layer that allows light to enter so as to reduce the difference in luminance, the appearance of the pointer is impaired by the second light guide layer when the emitting means does not emit light. There is a risk of being. However, in the present invention, when the emitting means does not emit light, the pointer is visually recognized by the external light. However, since the first light guide layer has a constant reflectance with respect to the external light, the luminance of the display surface portion. The distribution does not depend on the transmittance of the second light guide layer. Thereby, even when the emitting means does not emit light, the visibility of the pointer can be improved without impairing the aesthetic appearance of the pointer.

Further, in the invention described in claim 2 , the second light guide layer is formed so that the transmittance or reflectance increases as the luminance of the display surface portion in the direction from one end to the other end decreases. Features.

According to the invention of claim 2, the second light guide layer, the higher the brightness of the display surface in a direction from one end to the other end is reduced, the transmittance or reflectance is formed so as to increase Thus, the difference in luminance of the display surface portion can be further reduced. Therefore, the aesthetics of the pointer can be further improved.

It is a front view which shows the pointer instrument 10 for vehicles of 1st Embodiment. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view seen from a cutting plane line II-II in FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view seen from a section line III-III in FIG. 2. It is a graph which compares and shows the pointer | guide 14 and the pointer | guide of a comparative example. It is sectional drawing of the pointer 14A of 2nd Embodiment.

  Hereinafter, a plurality of embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In some embodiments, portions corresponding to the matters described in the preceding embodiments are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant descriptions may be omitted. In addition, when a part of the configuration is described in each embodiment, the other parts of the configuration are the same as those of the embodiment described in advance. In addition to the combination of parts specifically described in each embodiment, the embodiments may be partially combined as long as the combination does not hinder the combination.

(First embodiment)
A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a front view showing a vehicular pointer instrument 10 according to a first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view seen from the section line II-II in FIG. The vehicle pointer instrument 10 is installed in front of a driver's seat (not shown) in the vehicle. The vehicle pointer instrument 10 indicates a vehicle state value, which is the state of the vehicle, by a pointer 14, and in this embodiment, a vehicle speed meter 11 that displays a vehicle speed value, a tachometer 12 that displays an engine speed, and a remaining fuel of the vehicle A fuel gauge 13 for displaying the quantity is provided. Since the vehicle speed meter 11, the tachometer 12 and the fuel meter 13 have substantially the same configuration, the vehicle speed meter 11 will be described in detail.

  The vehicle speedometer 11 includes an instrument panel 16, a pointer 14, a rotary inner unit 15, a wiring board 17, a backlight 18, and a control unit 19. The vehicle speedometer 11 displaces the pointer 14 with respect to the instrument panel 16 so as to be in a position corresponding to the current vehicle speed value which is the current vehicle speed value. As a result, the vehicle occupant can read the current vehicle speed value based on the position of the pointer 14.

  First, the instrument panel 16 will be described. The instrument panel 16 has translucency and is arranged with its display surface 16a facing the driver's seat. The instrument panel 16 is transmitted and illuminated by a backlight 18 disposed behind the instrument panel 16 so as to emit light. The display surface 16a of the instrument panel 16 is a surface that displays a vehicle speed value as a vehicle state value, and the instrument panel 16 functions as a scale plate. The display surface 16a displays a scale 20 corresponding to a plurality of vehicle speed values, and is displayed in, for example, an arc shape from a lower limit value (0 km / h) to an upper limit value (for example, 180 km / h) as a reference. When the scale 20 is arranged in an arc shape in this way, the lower limit value is arranged, for example, on the counterclockwise direction X side when the display surface 16a is viewed from the front, and the upper limit value is arranged, for example, on the clockwise direction Y side. .

  Next, the wiring board 17 will be described. The wiring board 17 includes a base material 22 made of an insulating material, for example, ceramic, and a wiring 21 made of a conductive material, for example, copper. The wiring 21 is provided on the back surface portion (the lower surface portion in FIG. 2) of the base material 22. The wiring 21 is formed in a predetermined pattern so that each electronic component mounted on the wiring board 17 has a predetermined conductive relationship. Within the range shown in FIG. 2, the wiring board 17 is mounted with the LED 23, the turning inner unit 15, and the control unit 19 that constitute the backlight 18. The wiring board 17 is disposed on the back side of the instrument board 16 and at a position substantially parallel to the instrument board 16.

  Next, the backlight 18 will be described. The backlight 18 is an emission means, and emits light to the display surface 16 a of the instrument panel 16 and the proximal end portion 14 a of the pointer 14. The backlight 18 is disposed on the back side (the lower side in FIG. 2) of the instrument panel 16 and illuminates the instrument panel 16. The backlight 18 includes a light emitting diode 23 and a light guide 24. A light-emitting diode (abbreviated as LED) 23 converts supplied power into light to emit light and functions as a light source. The LED 23 is mounted on the wiring board 17. The light guide 24 is provided on the back surface of the instrument panel 16 and guides light emitted from the LED 23 to the back surface of the instrument panel 16 so as to irradiate a predetermined area of the instrument panel 16 with uniform brightness. Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the light guide 24 guides the light emitted from the LED 23 to the proximal end portion 14 a of the pointer 14. The light guide 24 is made of a translucent material such as a colorless and transparent acrylic resin or polycarbonate resin.

  Next, the rotating inner unit 15 will be described. The rotary inner unit 15 includes a step motor (not shown) and a pointer shaft 25, and the step motor angularly moves the pointer shaft 25 based on input information given from the control unit 19 via the wiring 21 of the wiring board 17. Displace. The pointer shaft 25 protrudes outward from the casing of the rotating inner unit 15 and penetrates the wiring board 17 and the instrument panel 16 to support the proximal end portion 14a of the pointer 14.

  Next, the pointer 14 will be described. The pointer 14 indicates a value corresponding to the current vehicle speed value among the vehicle speed values displayed on the display surface 16a. The pointer 14 is a needle-like member, and the base end portion 14 a is connected to the pointer shaft 25 of the rotary inner unit 15. The pointer 14 is connected so as to extend along the radial direction of the pointer shaft 25. Therefore, when the pointer shaft 25 rotates, the pointer 14 rotates around the pointer shaft 25. The pointer 14 is provided so as to rotate along the display surface 16 a of the instrument panel 16.

  Next, the control unit 19 will be described. The control unit 19 is a control means for controlling each part of the vehicular pointer instrument 10 and includes a central processing unit (abbreviated as CPU), ROM (read-only memory: abbreviated ROM), and ram (Random Access Memory). : An abbreviation RAM), a microcomputer having an input / output device (abbreviation I / O) port, and an electrically erasable programmable ROM (Electronically Erasable and Programmable Read Only) And a non-volatile memory such as Memory (abbreviated as EEPROM). The ROM stores an execution program for executing various processes, setting information for executing each execution program, and the like. The control unit 19 executes various functions when the CPU executes the execution program written in the ROM. Examples of the execution program include a vehicle speed value calculation program for calculating a current vehicle speed value. The nonvolatile memory periodically stores (updates) data indicating past vehicle conditions, such as the total travel distance and the total fuel consumption.

  The control unit 19 is mounted on the back side of the wiring board 17. The control unit 19 is electrically connected to the rotating inner unit 15, the LED 23, various sensors such as a vehicle speed sensor and a door sensor, an ignition switch, a battery power source, and the like via the wiring 21 of the wiring board 17 and various cables. For example, when the opening of the vehicle door is detected by a door sensor, the control unit 19 is started by direct power supply from a battery power source.

  The control unit 19 displays the vehicle indicator instrument 10 on the basis of the actual value data of the vehicle state inputted from various sensors for detecting the vehicle state and other control devices as needed and the data stored in the nonvolatile memory. Each unit is controlled to output power information. The control unit 19 controls, for example, the vehicle speedometer 11, the tachometer 12, and the fuel gauge 13.

  The control unit 19 executes the vehicle speed value calculation program periodically, for example, every 0.1 second. When the control unit 19 executes the vehicle speed value calculation program, the control unit 19 calculates the travel speed based on the detection signal from the vehicle speed sensor, and rotates the pointer shaft 15 so as to rotate the pointer shaft 25 by an angle corresponding to the calculated travel speed. Drive.

  Next, the pointer 14 will be described in more detail with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view seen from the section line III-III in FIG. FIG. 4 is a graph showing a comparison between the pointer 14 of the present embodiment and the pointer of the comparative example. The pointer 14 has translucency, and light emitted from the LED 23 is guided to the inside through the light guide 24, and at least the display surface portion 26 that is a part of the outer surface portion emits light. The display surface portion 26 of the pointer 14 is a surface portion where an operator such as a driver visually recognizes the pointer 14, and in the present embodiment, the direction in which the pointer shaft 25 protrudes from the casing (hereinafter sometimes referred to as “light emitting direction”). It is a surface part on the Z side. In other words, the display surface portion 26 is a surface portion of the surface portion of the pointer 14 that is opposite to the surface portion that faces the display surface 16 a of the instrument panel 16.

  The pointer 14 includes a pointer member 27, a cap member 28, and a balance member 29. The pointer member 27 is formed of a translucent material such as acrylic resin. The pointer member 27 includes a main body 30, a second light guide layer 31, and a first light guide layer 32. The main body 30 has a needle shape extending from the proximal end portion 14a on one end side to the distal end portion 14b on the other end side. The base end portion 14 a of the main body portion 30 is formed with a fitting portion 33 into which the tip end portion of the pointer shaft 25 is fitted. When the pointer shaft 25 is fitted to the fitting portion 33, the pointer member 27 rotates integrally with the pointer shaft 25. In addition, an incident surface 34 on which light emitted from the LED 23 is incident is formed on the base end portion 14a. As shown in FIG. 2, the incident surface 34 of the base end portion 14 a is at a position where light emitted from the LED 23 enters through the light guide 24. The base end portion 14a is formed with a reflecting surface 35 that reflects the light incident from the incident surface 34 toward the distal end portion 14b. The reflecting surface 35 is an inclined surface that inclines in the direction toward the distal end portion 14b as it goes in the light emitting direction Z. The light reflected by the reflecting surface 35 toward the tip end portion 14b travels in the pointer member 27 toward the tip end portion 14b, and is reflected by the bottom surface of the pointer member 27 (the lower surface in FIGS. 2 and 3). For example, after passing through the display surface portion 26, it goes out. As a result, the pointer member 27 emits the light reflected by the reflecting surface 35 in the light emitting direction Z and emits light.

  The cap member 28 is a bottomed cylindrical member that is formed of a light-shielding material such as black ABS resin and opens to the instrument panel 16 side. The cap member 28 is attached so as to cover the proximal end portion 14 a of the pointer member 27. As a result, the base end portion 14 a of the pointer member 27 is hidden visually when viewed toward the instrument panel 16.

  The balance member 29 is a member for adjusting the center of gravity of the pointer 14. Since the pointer member 27 has a needle shape, the center of gravity of the pointer 14 is near the center in the longitudinal direction of the pointer member 27 in the state where the balance member 29 is not provided. In such a case, since the rotation axis of the pointer shaft 25 and the center of gravity of the pointer 14 are greatly shifted, it is difficult to finely adjust the pointer 14 by turning. Accordingly, the balance member 29 is used to bring the center of gravity of the pointer 14 closer to the pointer shaft 25 side. The balance member 29 is disposed inside the bottomed cylindrical cap member 28.

  Next, the configuration of the pointer member 27 will be described in more detail. As shown in FIG. 3, the second light guide layer 31 is laminated on the surface of the main body 30 on the light emission direction Z side, that is, on the surface extending between both ends between the distal end portion 14b and the proximal end portion 14a. Is provided. As shown in FIG. 3, the first light guide layer 32 is provided so as to be laminated on the surface of the second light guide layer 31 on the light emission direction Z side.

  The second light guide layer 31 reflects and transmits light so that the difference in luminance between the display surface portions 26 is reduced. The second light guide layer 31 is formed such that the incidence rate of light incident on the first light guide layer 32 from the inside of the pointer 14 increases from the proximal end portion 14a toward the distal end portion 14b. Specifically, the second light guide layer 31 is provided between the main body 30 and the first light guide layer 32, and the light incident from the main body 30 as the distance from the incident surface 34 increases. It is formed to increase the transmittance.

  The distribution of the transmittance of the second light guide layer 31 will be described with reference to FIG. The vertical axis in FIG. 4 indicates the luminance and transmittance on the display surface portion 26, and the horizontal axis in FIG. 4 indicates the position of the pointer member 27 in the longitudinal direction. In FIG. 4, the left side is the distal end portion 14b side, and the right side is the proximal end portion 14a side. First, a comparative example will be described. The configuration of the pointer member of the comparative example is a configuration of only the main body 30 that does not include the second light guide layer 31 and the first light guide layer 32. In other words, the pointer member 27 of the present embodiment is configured by providing the second light guide layer 31 and the first light guide layer 32 on the pointer member of the comparative example.

  The transmittance of the pointer member of the comparative example is constant in the longitudinal direction of the pointer 14 as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 4, the brightness of the pointer when light is incident on the incident surface of the base end portion of the pointer member having such a configuration becomes lower as it goes toward the distal end portion. This is because the amount of light decreases due to light emission and attenuation to the outside as the light incident from the base end moves toward the front end. As a result, when the entire pointer member of the comparative example is viewed, the light emission becomes uneven, which causes the display quality to deteriorate.

  On the other hand, the transmittance of the pointer member 27 of the present embodiment, that is, the transmittance of the second light guide layer 31 is not constant, and is configured to increase toward the distal end portion 14b. As shown in FIG. 4, the rate of change in transmittance is not constant, but this is because the rate of change in luminance distribution of the pointer member of the comparative example is not constant. Since the rate of change in the luminance of the pointer member of the comparative example is not constant due to the shape of the pointer member 27 and the like, the transmittance distribution of the second light guide layer 31 also increases as the luminance of the pointer member of the comparative example increases. , The transmittance is set to increase. As shown in FIG. 4, the brightness of the pointer 14 when light is incident on the incident surface 34 of the base end portion 14a of the pointer member 27 having such a configuration is small, and is constant in the present embodiment. Become. As described above, the amount of light incident from the base end portion 14a decreases as it goes toward the distal end portion 14b, but the transmittance of the light incident from the main body 30 as the distance from the incident surface 34 increases. This is because by forming the second light guide layer 31 so as to be larger, the light emitted to the outside can be increased as it is closer to the tip end portion 14b.

  The second light guide layer 31 is formed by, for example, printing on the surface of the main body 30 and pasting a light guide sheet that is a precursor of the second light guide layer 31 to the surface of the main body 30. The When printing the 2nd light guide layer 31, it forms from the acrylic resin etc. which have translucency by the printing process by digital printing. Digital printing is also called inkjet printing. For example, colorless and transparent acrylic resin-based ink is repeatedly ejected as small dots by a piezo jet method or thermal jet method from a small hole called a nozzle provided in a head (not shown). It is a printing method. By adjusting the amount of ink or the like according to the printing position on the pointer member 27, the second light guide layer 31 having partially different transmittance can be formed.

  The first light guide layer 32 is provided in the most light emitting direction Z of the pointer member 27. Therefore, the surface portion on the light emission direction Z side of the first light guide layer 32 constitutes the display surface portion 26. In the first light guide layer 32, the distribution of the transmittance of light incident on the first light guide layer 32 through the main body 30 and the second light guide layer 31 is constant in the first light guide layer 32. In addition, the reflectance with respect to the light incident on the surface of the display surface portion 26 from the outside of the pointer 14 is constant on the surface. The first light guide layer 32 is provided with a color such as red. Accordingly, when the first light guide layer 32 is visually recognized by external light, it is visually recognized as a uniform red color without depending on the transmittance distribution of the second light guide layer 31.

  Similar to the second light guide layer 31, such a first light guide layer 32 is, for example, printed on the surface of the second light guide layer 31 and a guide that is a precursor of the first light guide layer 32. The light sheet is formed by sticking the surface of the second light guide layer 31 or the like. When printing the 1st light guide layer 32, it forms from the acrylic resin etc. which have translucency by the printing process by digital printing.

  As described above, the vehicular pointer instrument 10 of the present embodiment includes the LED 23 that emits light and the pointer 14 having translucency. The indicator 14 emits light from the display surface portion 26 when light emitted from the LED 23 is guided to the inside. With such a pointer 14 that emits light, the operator can visually recognize the value indicated by the pointer 14 of the vehicular pointer instrument 10 even in a dark environment.

  The main body portion 30 constituting such a pointer 14 has an incident surface 34 on the base end portion 14a on which light emitted from the LED 23 is incident. As a result, the light incident on the inside of the main body 30 from the incident surface 34 is guided from the proximal end portion 14a toward the distal end portion 14b. The second light guide layer 31 is provided on the surface of the main body 30 and reflects and transmits light so that the luminance distribution of the display surface portion 26 is constant. In the prior art, as the light incident from the base end part decreases toward the front end part due to light emission and attenuation to the outside, the brightness of the display surface part at the front end part is displayed at the base end part. It is smaller than the luminance of the surface portion (see FIG. 4). However, in the present embodiment, the luminance distribution of the display surface portion 26 is made constant by the second light guide layer 31 (see FIG. 4). As a result, the aesthetic appearance of the pointer 14 that emits light can be improved, and the visibility of the pointer 14 can be improved.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the first light guide layer 32 constituting the display surface portion 26 is provided. In the first light guide layer 32, the distribution of the transmittance of light incident on the first light guide layer 32 via the main body 30 and the second light guide layer 31 is constant in the first light guide layer 32. It is. The light incident on the first light guide layer 32 through the main body 30 and the second light guide layer 31 has a constant luminance distribution by the second light guide layer 31, and thus such a luminance distribution is constant. The luminance distribution of the incident light can be emitted outward from the first light guide layer 32 without being changed by the first light guide layer 32. Further, the first light guide layer 32 has a constant reflectance within the surface of the display surface portion 26 with respect to light incident on the surface of the display surface portion 26 from the outside of the pointer 14. Since the pointer 14 includes the second light guide layer 31, the appearance of the pointer 14 may be impaired by the second light guide layer 31 when the LED 23 does not emit light (when the LED 23 is off). There is. When the LED 23 does not emit light, the pointer 14 is visually recognized by the external light. However, since the reflectance to the external light is constant by the first light guide layer 32, the luminance distribution of the display surface portion 26 is the first. It does not depend on the transmittance of the second light guide layer 31 or the like. Thus, even when the LED 23 does not emit light, the aesthetic appearance of the pointer 14 can be improved, and the visibility of the pointer 14 can be improved.

  The second light guide layer 31 and the first light guide layer 32 do not have any problem even if they have low rigidity unlike the main body portion 30 that is the basis of the pointer 14. Can be manufactured. In other words, since the second light guide layer 31 and the first light guide layer 32 do not require a molding die for manufacturing, it is possible to flexibly cope with a design change of the pointer 14 and the like. As a result, the manufacturing cost of the pointer 14 can be reduced. Therefore, the vehicular pointer instrument 10 that can make the luminance distribution in the pointer 14 constant with a simple configuration can be realized.

  In other words, by providing the second light guide layer 31 that gradually changes in accordance with the luminance of the main body without the second light guide layer 31, light emission unevenness can be eliminated and light can be emitted uniformly. Furthermore, since the transmittance of the first light guide layer 32 is constant, the configuration without making the user feel that the transmittance of the second light guide layer 31 is gradually changing in appearance when not emitting light. can do. As a result, the appearance of the pointer 14 can be kept high.

  In the present embodiment, the second light guide layer 31 is provided between the main body 30 and the first light guide layer 32. Therefore, the light incident on the first light guide layer 32 is light that has passed through the main body 30 and the second light guide layer 31. The second light guide layer 31 is formed so that the transmittance of light incident from the main body 30 increases as the distance from the incident surface 34 increases. The amount of light incident from the base end portion 14a having the incident surface 34 decreases as it goes toward the distal end portion 14b. However, as the distance from the incident surface 34 increases, the transmittance of the light incident from the main body 30 increases. By forming the second light guide layer 31 in such a manner, the light emitted to the outside can be increased as the distance from the distal end portion 14b is increased. Thereby, the luminance distribution of the display surface portion 26 can be made constant. Therefore, the vehicular pointer instrument 10 that can improve the aesthetics of the pointer 14 with a simple configuration and can improve the visibility of the pointer 14 can be realized.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the first light guide layer 32 is colored, and the LED 14 is in an off state in which light is not emitted, and the pointer 14 when the pointer 14 is visually recognized by external light. Can improve the aesthetics. The visibility of the pointer 14 can be improved by the colored pointer 14.

  Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the second light guide layer 31 is formed by digital printing, so that the settings of transmittance and reflectance can be adjusted with high accuracy. Thus, the second light guide layer 31 having desired transmittance and reflectance can be realized. In addition, since digital printing does not require a mold, a printing film, and the like, the second light guide layer 31 can be easily manufactured even for the pointers 14 having various shapes. This eliminates the need for a step of manufacturing a mold and a printed film, so that the manufacturing period can be shortened and the manufacturing cost including labor costs can be reduced.

  In this way, focusing on the uniform light emission of the pointer 14 without the need to change the molding die, the second light guide layer 31 having a non-uniform transmittance is provided on the display surface portion 26 in a uniform manner. It is possible to realize the pointer 14 that can be made to emit light and that the first light guide layer 32 does not impair the appearance when light is not emitted.

(Second Embodiment)
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the pointer 14A of the second embodiment. In the present embodiment, the arrangement of the main body 30, the second light guide layer 31A and the first light guide layer 32A of the pointer member 27A constituting the pointer 14A, and the second light guide layer 31A and the first light guide layer 31A. The light guide layer 32A is characterized in that different colors are given to each other.

  The first light guide layer 32 </ b> A is provided so as to be laminated on the surface portion of the main body 30 on the display direction side. 31 A of 2nd light guide layers are provided so that it may laminate | stack on the surface part on the opposite side to the surface part in which 32 A of 1st light guide layers are provided with respect to the main-body part 30. FIG. In other words, the second light guide layer 31A is located on the opposite side of the front surface of the main body 30 and is provided on the back surface that extends between the distal end portion 14b and the proximal end portion 14a. Therefore, the second light guide layer 31A is provided on the lower side in FIG. Accordingly, the main body 30 is located between the second light guide layer 31A and the first light guide layer 32A in the light emission direction Z. Further, the second light guide layer 31A is colored, for example, blue, and the first light guide layer 32A is colored red.

  The second light guide layer 31 </ b> A is formed so that the reflectance of light incident from the main body 30 increases as the distance from the incident surface 34 increases. Therefore, the reflectance of the second light guide layer 31A is not constant, and is configured to increase toward the tip end portion 14b. The rate of change in reflectance is determined based on the rate of change in the luminance distribution of the pointer member of the comparative example that does not include the second light guide layer 31A, as in the first embodiment. When the light is incident on the incident surface 34 of the base end portion 14a of the pointer member 27A having such a configuration, the brightness of the pointer 14A becomes smaller and becomes constant in the present embodiment. As described above, the amount of light incident from the base end portion 14a decreases as it goes toward the distal end portion 14b, but the reflectance of the light incident from the main body portion 30 as the distance from the incident surface 34 increases. This is because by forming the second light guide layer 31A so as to increase the amount of light, the amount of light reflected to the main body 30 can be increased.

  The second light guide layer 31A is formed by, for example, printing on the surface of the main body 30 and attaching a light guide sheet that is a precursor of the second light guide layer 31A to the surface of the main body 30. The When printing the 2nd light guide layer 31A, it forms from the acrylic resin etc. which have translucency by the printing process by digital printing. By adjusting the amount of ink or the like according to the printing position on the pointer member 27A, the second light guide layer 31A having partially different reflectivities can be formed.

  Thus, in the present embodiment, the luminance distribution of the display surface portion 26 can be made constant as in the first embodiment described above. Therefore, the vehicular pointer instrument 10 that can improve the aesthetics of the pointer 14A with a simple configuration and can improve the visibility of the pointer 14A can be realized.

  In the present embodiment, since the second light guide layer 31A and the first light guide layer 32A are given different colors, they emit light with the color (blue) of the pointer 14A when light is emitted. The color (red) of the pointer 14 </ b> A when not present is different from each other. Thereby, the aesthetics of the pointer 14A can be improved. In other words, by setting the second light guide layer 31 </ b> A and the first light guide layer 32 </ b> A to different color tones, it is possible to realize the pointer 14 </ b> A having different color tones when emitting light and when not emitting light.

(Other embodiments)
The preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above, but the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

  In the above-described first embodiment, the light guide layer provided in the main body 30 is the two layers of the second light guide layer 31 and the first light guide layer 32, but is not limited to two layers. More than one light guide layer may be used. Even if the number of layers is three or more, any configuration that can achieve the same functions and effects as those of the second light guide layer 31 and the first light guide layer 32 may be used.

  In the first embodiment described above, the pointer instrument is realized by the vehicle pointer instrument 10 mounted on the vehicle, but the object on which the pointer instrument is mounted is not limited to the vehicle. Moreover, even when mounted on a vehicle, the vehicle is not limited to a passenger car, and the present invention may be applied to various vehicle pointer instruments 10 used in buses, trucks, motorcycles, and the like.

  In the first embodiment described above, the emitting means is realized by the LED 23 and the light guide 24. However, the emitting means is not limited to such a configuration. For example, a light bulb, a discharge lamp, an EL panel, or the like is used as the light source. May be. Moreover, you may comprise so that the light which the light source radiate | emitted may inject into the base end part 14a through an air layer, without using the light guide 24 for an output means.

10 ... Vehicle pointer instrument (pointer instrument)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 14 ... Pointer 14a ... Base end part 14b ... Tip part 18 ... Backlight (light emission means)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 30 ... Main-body part 31 ... 2nd light guide layer 32 ... 1st light guide layer 34 ... Incident surface 35 ... Reflective surface

Claims (2)

Emitting means for emitting light;
It is the light incident on one end, and guidelines which light proceeds toward the other end from the one end side, is thus the display surface to emit light outwardly from the display surface that extends between opposite ends to emit light, Including
The guidelines are:
A main body extending from the one end to the other end;
A first light guide layer provided on a surface extending between the both ends of the main body part to form the display surface part between the two ends, wherein light incident on the first light guide layer from the main body part A first light guide layer having a constant transmittance and a constant reflectance with respect to light incident on the display surface portion from the outside of the pointer;
A second light guide layer provided on a back surface that extends between the both ends of the main body so that the reflectance of light incident from the main body increases from the one end side toward the other end side. a second light guide layer made of formed, was closed,
The pointer instrument, wherein the first light guide layer and the second light guide layer are colored different from each other . Said second light guide layer, claim 1, wherein said higher brightness of the display surface is reduced, the front Kihan morphism ratio is formed so as to increase in a direction toward the other end from the one end The indicator instrument described in 1.

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