JPS6150273B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a scale plate of a meter, etc.
More specifically, the present invention relates to a method of forming a hairline pattern on the surface of a scale plate or the like illuminated by a light source disposed on the back side.

The front panel of recent audio equipment is constructed from an aluminum plate, and a hairline pattern is formed on the surface of the aluminum plate to improve the luxury feel of the equipment. Furthermore, various instruments such as a level meter are attached to this type of audio equipment, but these instruments also have a hairline pattern on the instrument scale plate in order to harmonize the design of the equipment body. In this case, the scale plate is formed of an aluminum material, and when this aluminum material is used, a hairline pattern can be easily formed on the surface by a mechanical method.

By the way, the scale plate of the above-mentioned instrument is illuminated to make it possible to read the pointer in any environment and to improve the design effect by lighting, and depending on the specifications of the main device, the illumination source may be placed behind the scale plate. There are also many requests for the so-called back light type. In this case, the scale plate must naturally transmit light, so the aluminum material mentioned above cannot be used; for example, the scale plate material is molded from a transparent or opalescent synthetic resin material. Then, patterns such as scales, letters, or numbers are screen printed on this material. However, it has been extremely difficult to form a hairline pattern similar to that of the front panel of the device body on the scale plate manufactured by this method. As a conventional method, for example, a hairline pattern is directly formed on the surface of the molded material by brushing, etc., and a pattern such as a scale is printed on this intermediate material by screen printing (first method). method), a method in which the back side of the material is brushed to form a hairline pattern and a pattern such as a scale is printed on the surface (method 2), a pattern is printed on the material, and this printed surface is mechanically applied. A method of forming a hairline pattern by a method (third method), a method of printing a pattern on a material, further forming a transparent layer, and forming a hairline pattern on this transparent layer (fourth method), or a method of printing a pattern on a material and forming a hairline pattern on this transparent layer. Examples of methods include etching the aluminum material, bonding a film on which the aluminum material is vapor-deposited to the material and etching it, and forming an aluminum vapor-deposited foil by hot stamping (fifth method). However, in the first method, minute irregularities are formed on the surface, resulting in poor yield during screen printing and inconveniences such as damage to the printing plate.In the second method, the pattern can be seen through the hairlines of the material. If this pattern is distorted or depending on the condition of the light beam, the entire scale plate may become illuminated, making it difficult to see the pointer or pattern. In addition, in the third method, the thickness of the printed film is only about 20 μm, and it is substantially difficult to form a hairline pattern that does not reach the substrate. Furthermore, the fourth
However, due to the characteristics of the ink that passes through the printing plate (transparency), the method described above has the disadvantage that it is not possible to create extremely fine hairline patterns, and hairline treatment cannot be applied to specific areas.
This method is not suitable for practical use because it requires a large number of steps and has a low yield.

Therefore, the present invention is intended for use in so-called backlight type instrument scale plates, etc., which are subject to extremely strict conditions, such as requiring the same metallic luster and hairline pattern as the main body of the device. It is intended to be manufactured by a simple method and with a high yield. Therefore, in the present invention, a scale plate material is formed from a transparent or translucent synthetic resin material, and patterns such as numbers, letters, or scales are printed on the back side of this material, and the A background color is screen-printed using ink on the other background parts except for the areas corresponding to each pattern, and a hairline-treated film is applied to the screen-printed surface of this intermediate material, and this film is pressed with slightly heated pressure. A hairline pattern is engraved on the printed surface by pressing it against the printed surface using means.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained in detail with reference to embodiments shown in the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a front view of a scale plate of a level meter manufactured by the manufacturing method according to the present invention. That is, when the scale plate 1 is assembled in a meter case (not shown), a neon tube is arranged in the rear view of the scale plate, and it is a scale plate for a so-called backlight type meter that is illuminated from inside by the neon tube. It is molded from transparent polycarbonate, and a pattern 9 such as numbers, indicators, characters, or scales is printed on the back side, and rectangular scale display areas 2 and 3 are printed on the front side in correspondence with the pattern 9. It is left transparent, and all other base parts are made to have an aluminum luster, and fine horizontal striations, that is, hairline pattern A, are formed.

Next, a method of manufacturing this scale plate 1 will be explained with reference to FIGS. 2 to 4. First, a plate-shaped material 10 having an external shape as shown in FIG. 1 is formed from transparent polycarbonate (see FIG. 2A). Predetermined screen printing is performed on this plate-shaped material 10. That is, from the back side of the plate-shaped material 10, scale parts 11, etc. are printed corresponding to the scale display parts 2, 3, and other parts are printed, leaving the scale display parts 2, 3, indicators, and character parts on the surface. A background color print 12 is applied to the portion to form an intermediate material 20 (see FIG. 2B). This background color printing 12 uses silver ink mixed with fine powder of aluminum or the like, so that the surface of this intermediate material 20 exhibits an aluminum color. Thereafter, this intermediate material 20 is subjected to a type of press processing using a device as shown in FIG. 3, so that a fine line, that is, a hairline pattern A is formed on the surface printing layer 12, as shown in FIG. 2C. Dial plate 1 formed with
get.

The pressing process will be explained with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. In this pressing process, the scale plate intermediate material 20, which has been screen printed on the front and back sides, is
This is a step of forming the above-mentioned hairline pattern A on the surface. The intermediate material 20 obtained in the previous printing process is
After a predetermined drying period, it is sent onto the belt conveyor 8 with its surface facing up. In the middle of the conveyor 8, there are die rollers 5 and punch rollers 6 facing upward and downward.
is installed. The die roller 5 is made of metal or hard rubber, and is rotated clockwise in FIG. is made of rubber or the like which is slightly softer than the die roller 5, and is adapted to be rotated clockwise in the figure. It is assumed that the punch roller 6 is supported such that the distance between the punch roller 6 and the die roller 5 can be freely adjusted. Further, the punch roller 6 has a heater built in therein (not shown), and is heated to about 150° C. by this heater. It is assumed that the heating temperature of the punch roller 6 by the heater is controlled by a suitable regulator so as to be variable within a range of about 100 to 200°C. A film-like sheet 7 is disposed between the die roller 5 and punch roller 6 so as to be freely movable. The film 7 is made of Teflon, and its lower surface is brushed to form fine linear irregularities in the longitudinal direction. Then, the scale plate intermediate material 20 is placed on the belt conveyor 8, and the die roller 5 and punch roller 6 are placed on the belt conveyor 8.
When it is fed into the gap, it is pressed by these rollers 5 and 6. As mentioned above, the punch roller 6
Since the material is heated, the printed layer 12 on the surface of the material is slightly softened. Intermediate material 20 and punch roller 6
The film 7 is interposed therebetween, and in accordance with the fine linear irregularities of the film 7, the slightly softened printing layer 12 is also engraved with fine irregularities. In other words, the hairline pattern A is formed on the ground color portion 4 of the aluminum colored scale plate 1. Of course, since the scale display parts 2 and 3 are made of polycarbonate material, they are not affected by the punch roller 6 heated to about 200°C.
Therefore, the hairline pattern of the film 7 is not engraved.

Although the above embodiment describes a method for manufacturing the scale plate 1 to be incorporated into a backlight type level meter, the method can also be applied to scale plates of various devices, decorative plates, etc., as well as the scale plate of a normal level meter. Of course you can get it. Further, in the above embodiment, the intermediate material 20 was placed on the belt conveyor 8 and transferred, and pressed by the die roller 5 and punch roller 6, but the conveyance means and press means are not limited thereto. It will be clear that a variety of devices may be employed. Further, by making the punch roller 6 freely adjustable upward and downward, and furthermore, by making the temperature of the punch roller 6 freely adjustable, the state of the hairline pattern on the scale plate 1, etc. can be appropriately selected according to specifications.

As explained in detail above, according to the method of manufacturing a scale plate, etc. according to the present invention, it is possible to print various colors on the back side of a material made of transparent or translucent synthetic resin material. An intermediate material is formed by printing a pattern such as a scale using a standard screen printing method, and screen printing a background color on the surface other than the pattern-corresponding area to form an intermediate material. By applying a hairline-treated screen to the area and applying heat and pressure to carve the hairline pattern, it has become possible to form hairline patterns with extremely simple equipment, efficiency, and precision. This has the great effect of making it possible to manufacture equipment scale plates and the like at extremely low cost.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing a scale plate of a level meter manufactured according to the present invention, FIGS. 2A, B, and C are sectional views of essential parts for explaining the manufacturing process of the scale plate, and FIG.
The figure is a side view of the main part of the hairline processing device, and FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view of the same. 1... Scale plate, 4... Printing surface (base part), 5...
... Die roller, 6 ... Punch roller, 7 ... Film, 10 ... Material, 11 ... Scale section, 12 ...
Printing layer, 20...intermediate material.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 A material such as a scale plate is formed from a transparent or colored semi-transparent synthetic resin material, and patterns such as numbers, letters or scales are printed on the back side of this material, and the surface of this material is printed with a pattern corresponding to each of the above patterns. An intermediate material is obtained by screen-printing the ground color on the other background parts, and after applying a hairline-treated film to the surface of this intermediate material, this film is pressed by a slightly heated pressing means. 1. A method for manufacturing a scale plate, etc., characterized in that a hairline pattern is engraved on the printed surface by pressing it against a printed surface.