JP2010276592A - Illuminating device for instrument - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an illuminating device for an instrument which can suppress ununiformity in illumination of the instrument while thinning the device. <P>SOLUTION: The illuminating device includes a circuit board 2 mounted with a light emitting diode 1, a driving body 4 having a drive shaft 3, a pointer 7 which rotates by the rotation of the drive shaft 3, and a display board 8. The light emitting diode 1 is arranged near the drive shaft 3, and is a side-view type which emits light to the drive shaft 3 side and in a direction parallel to the circuit board 2. Between this light emitting diode 1 and the drive shaft 3, a first reflecting wall 25 is provided for reflecting light from the light emitting diode 1 to the back side and a lateral side of the light emitting diode 1, and a second reflecting wall 26 for reflecting the light reflected by the first reflecting wall 25 to the display board 8 side, is provided between the display board 8 and the circuit board 2. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an instrument provided in, for example, a vehicle, and more particularly to an illumination device thereof.

  As an illumination device for an instrument mounted on a vehicle, for example, there is Patent Document 1 or Patent Document 2 below. The instrument illumination device described in Patent Document 1 reflects light from the light source 6 disposed around the drive shaft 2 of the instrument body 3 to the outer periphery in order to reduce the number of parts, and to achieve low cost and light weight. A first reflecting portion 75 to be reflected, and a second reflecting portion 77 for reflecting the light reflected by the first reflecting portion 75 toward the front panel 5, and the light or light source reflected by the second reflecting portion 77. 6 illuminates the front panel 5 brightly and substantially uniformly with direct light from 6. Further, by illuminating the front panel 5 and the pointer 4 with the common light source 6, it is not necessary to separately provide a light source dedicated to the pointer.

  In addition, in the instrument illumination device described in Patent Document 2, a plurality of light sources 21 whose emission directions are lateral are arranged around the vicinity of the drive shaft 7 of the movement 6, and the light from the light sources is transmitted to the first reflector 14 and the light source 21. The display unit 10 of the display panel 11 is uniformly illuminated with the light reflected by the second reflector 23.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-099685 JP 2004-226285 A

  However, in the instrument illumination device described in Patent Document 1, when the distance between the front panel 5 and the circuit board 1 is reduced to further reduce the thickness of the instrument, the light source (LED) 6 is connected to the front panel. As the distance closer to 5, the range of the irradiation light that irradiates the front panel 5 becomes narrower, and as a result, there is a problem that unevenness in the illumination of the front panel 5 tends to occur. In addition, there are a portion illuminated by the reflected light reflected by the second reflecting portion 77 and a portion illuminated by the direct light from the light source 6, which also causes uneven illumination.

  In addition, the instrument illumination device described in Patent Document 2 emits light from the light source 21 toward the first reflector 14 side, and the second reflector 23 emits light directly from the light source 21 onto the display plate 11. Since the structure is such that it is blocked, the distance between the display board 11 and the circuit board 5 can be reduced. However, if the distance between the light source 21 and the first reflector 14 is short, the first reflecting surface 15 is used. The range of the irradiation light for irradiating is reduced. As a result, the light applied to the first reflecting surface 15 is unlikely to be uniform, and as a result, there is a problem that unevenness is likely to occur in the illumination of the display panel 11. To solve these problems, the number of light sources may be increased, but the cost will increase.

  This invention is made | formed in view of such a point, and it aims at providing the illumination device of the meter which can suppress the illumination nonuniformity of a meter, aiming at thickness reduction.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a circuit board on which a light emitting diode is mounted, a drive main body having a drive shaft that is mounted on the back side of the circuit board and extends forward through the circuit board, and an indicator And a pointer shaft fixed to the drive shaft, the pointer rotating by the rotation of the drive shaft, and a display plate disposed behind the pointer, and the light emitting diode is disposed in the vicinity of the drive shaft A side-view type that emits light toward the drive shaft in a direction parallel to the circuit board, and light from the light-emitting diode is placed behind the light-emitting diode between the light-emitting diode and the drive shaft. A first reflecting wall for reflecting the first reflecting wall and the second reflecting wall for reflecting the light reflected by the first reflecting wall toward the display plate side; and the circuit board; Established between It is characterized in. (Claim 1)

  Further, an opening hole through which light from the light emitting diode passes to the drive shaft side is provided in the first reflection wall, and a pointer reflection wall that reflects light that has passed through the opening hole to the pointer side is provided to the drive shaft. And on the circuit board side between the first reflection wall and the first reflection wall. (Claim 2)

  In addition, a light emitting display element is provided on the side opposite to the light emitting diode so as to sandwich the drive shaft, and light from the light emitting diode that has passed through the opening hole is reflected to the circuit board side corresponding to the light emitting display element. A third reflecting wall is provided on the display plate side between the drive shaft and the light emitting display element, and a fourth reflecting wall for reflecting light reflected by the third reflecting wall to the light emitting display element side is provided. It is provided between the light emitting display element and the circuit board. (Claim 3)

Further, the number of the light emitting diodes is one. (Claim 4)

  A plurality of the light emitting diodes are disposed adjacent to each other, and the plurality of light emitting diodes are turned on simultaneously. (Claim 5)

  In addition, a plurality of the light emitting diodes are disposed adjacent to each other, and the illumination colors of the light emitting diodes are different from each other. (Claim 6)

  It is possible to obtain an instrument illumination device capable of suppressing uneven illumination of the instrument while reducing the thickness.

It is a front view of the illuminating device of the meter which shows embodiment of this invention. It is sectional drawing (AA cross section in FIG. 1) of the illuminating device of the meter. It is a partial front view of the principal part which shows the center part of the case member with which the illuminating device of the meter is equipped. It is a partial side view (B direction in FIG. 3) which shows the center part of the case member. It is a partial front view of the principal part which shows the center part of the case member with which the illuminating device of the meter which shows the 2nd Embodiment of this invention is equipped. It is a circuit block diagram which drives the illuminating device of the meter which shows the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a partial front view of the principal part which shows the center part of the case member with which the meter illuminating device of 3rd Embodiment is equipped.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. 1 to 4 show an embodiment of the present invention. For example, a lighting device for a meter provided in a vehicle includes a hard circuit board 2 on which a light emitting diode 1 and the like are mounted, and a back side of the circuit board 2. A drive body 4 having a drive shaft 3 that is attached to the circuit board 2 in a conductive state and extends forward through the circuit board 2, and an indicator portion 5 and a pointer shaft portion 6 fixed to the drive shaft 3. The pointer 7 that is rotated by the rotation of the drive shaft 3, the display plate 8 disposed behind the pointer 7, and the display disposed on the rear side of the opening 19 that will be described later provided in the display plate 8. And a case member 10 disposed between the display board 8 and the circuit board 2 to support the display board 8 and the display 9.

  The pointer 7 includes a pointer main body 12 made of a colorless and transparent synthetic resin having a pointing portion 5 and a base portion 11 provided with a pointer shaft portion 6, and a pointer made of, for example, a black synthetic resin covering the front side and the periphery of the base portion 11. A cap 13 and a balancer 14 made of a metallic material such as brass or zinc are provided in a pointer cap 13 on the side opposite to the indicator 5. For example, a white foil (not shown) is hot stamped on the back surface of the instruction unit 5. When the surroundings are bright, such as daytime, the instruction unit 5 is visually recognized in white. A pointer reflecting surface 15 is formed on the base 11 side of the instruction unit 5.

  Although not shown in detail, the display board 8 is a vehicle that is to be instructed by the instructing unit 5 on the surface side of a substrate made of a colorless and transparent synthetic resin having a through-hole 16 at a position corresponding to the pointer shaft unit 6 of the indicating hand 7. After printing, for example, a white colored transmission layer that becomes the display unit 17 such as a scale or a number that expresses the speed, a portion that becomes the ground portion 18 other than the display unit 17 is printed with, for example, a black light shielding layer. Further, an opening 19 is provided on the front side of the center of the display plate 8 so that the display 9 can be seen. In FIG. 1, the display portion 17 is shown in black and the ground portion 18 is shown in colorless.

  One light emitting diode 1 is arranged on the circuit board 2 in the vicinity of the drive shaft 3, and is a side view type that emits light toward the drive shaft 3 in a direction parallel to the circuit board 2.

  Although the detailed description and illustration are omitted, the display device 9 is a well-known transmissive liquid crystal display panel (light emitting display element) 20 and a light diffusing plate disposed on the back side of the liquid crystal display panel 20. 21, and a plurality of metal connection terminals 22 that electrically connect the electrode portions formed on the edge of the liquid crystal display panel 20 and the circuit formed on the circuit board 2. The liquid crystal display panel 20 is disposed on the side opposite to the light emitting diode 1 so as to sandwich the drive shaft 3 of the drive main body 4, and displays, for example, the travel distance of the vehicle and the outside air temperature.

  The case member 10 is made of, for example, a white synthetic resin having a light shielding property, and is disposed between the placement portion 23 on which the display plate 8 is placed, the peripheral wall 24, the light emitting diode 1, and the drive shaft 3 of the drive body 4. 1st reflection which is arrange | positioned and reflects the light from the light emitting diode 1 in the back side (direction almost opposite to the light emission direction) and the both sides (direction substantially orthogonal to the light emission direction) of the light emitting diode 1 A wall 25 is formed between the display board 8 and the circuit board 2 so as to surround the drive shaft 3 from the circuit board 2 side on the drive shaft 3 side toward the peripheral edge of the display board 8, and the first It has the 2nd reflecting wall 26 which reflects the light reflected by the reflecting wall 25 to the display board 8 side. In the present embodiment, the first reflecting wall 25 includes a vertical wall 27 that is substantially perpendicular to the circuit board 2 and an inclined wall 28 that is provided closer to the display board 8 than the vertical wall 27. A cylindrical portion 29 is provided so as to surround the drive shaft 3. That is, the first reflecting wall 25 in the present embodiment refers to a portion of the cylindrical portion 29 on the light emitting diode 1 side.

  Further, the first reflecting wall 25 is provided with an opening hole 30 through which light from the light emitting diode 1 passes to the drive shaft 3 side. Further, three wedge-shaped reflecting walls 31 for the pointer that reflect the light that has passed through the opening hole 30 to the base 11 side of the pointer 7 are provided on the circuit board 2 side between the drive shaft 3 and the first reflecting wall 25. It is. Although not shown, the pointer reflecting wall 31 is partially connected to the cylindrical portion 29.

  Further, on the display plate 8 side and the liquid crystal display panel 20 side of the cylindrical portion 29, it passes through an opening hole 30 provided in the first reflection wall 25 and further, a portion other than the pointer reflection wall 31 (pointer reflection wall 31 A third reflecting wall 32 is provided to reflect the light from the light emitting diode 1 that has passed through the periphery of 31 to the circuit board 2 corresponding to the liquid crystal display panel 20. Therefore, a display opening hole 33 through which light from the light emitting diode 1 passes to the third reflecting wall 32 side is provided at 29 locations on the liquid crystal display panel 20 side.

  The case member 10 is provided with a cell case 34 for holding the liquid crystal display panel 20 and the diffusion plate 21. The cell case 34 is formed from the side wall 35 corresponding to the other edge of the rectangular liquid crystal display panel 20 excluding one end on the light emitting diode 1 side, and from the circuit board 2 side between the liquid crystal display panel 20 and the circuit board 2. The liquid crystal display panel 20 includes a fourth reflecting wall 36 that extends obliquely toward the edge side opposite to the light emitting diode 1 side.

  When the light emitting diode 1 that emits white light, for example, when the surroundings are dark, such as at night, for example, is turned on in the lighting device of the instrument configured as described above, the light from the light emitting diode 1 is emitted as shown by the arrows in FIGS. The first reflecting wall 25 is irradiated toward the drive shaft 3 side of the drive body 4. Then, the light reflected by the vertical wall 27 and the inclined wall 28 proceeds to the back side and both side sides of the light emitting diode 1 (the space side formed between the display panel 8 and the second reflecting wall 26), and the second Reflected by the reflecting wall 26 toward the display panel 8 side. There is also light that is reflected by the first reflecting wall 25 and travels toward the display panel 8 side. The display unit 17 of the display panel 8 is transmitted and illuminated in white by these lights. Here, by forming the second reflection wall 26 in a range that covers at least the display unit 17, the light can be reflected by the second reflection wall 26 and guided to the display unit 17 side.

  A part of the light entering the opening hole 30 provided in the first reflecting wall 25 is reflected by the reflecting wall 31 for the pointer and enters the base 11 toward the pointer 7 side. Then, it is reflected by the pointer reflecting surface 15 and directed toward the distal end side of the indicating unit 5 so that the indicating unit 5 is transmitted and illuminated in white.

  The light that has entered the opening hole 30 of the first reflecting wall 25 and passed through the display opening hole 33 and applied to the third reflecting wall 32 is reflected by the third reflecting wall 32 and is reflected by the fourth reflecting wall. Head toward 36. Then, the light is reflected by the fourth reflection wall 36 and transmitted through the liquid crystal display panel 20 toward the liquid crystal display panel 20 side.

  In this way, the light from the light emitting diode 1 is transmitted between the driving shaft 3 and the side view type light emitting diode 1 disposed near the driving shaft 3 of the driving body 4 and emitting light toward the driving shaft 3. A first reflecting wall 25 that reflects the back side and the side is provided, and a second reflecting wall 26 that reflects the light reflected by the first reflecting wall 25 to the display plate 8 side is provided with the display plate 8 and a circuit. By providing between the substrate 2 and the substrate 2, the light from the light emitting diode 1 that directly shines on the back surface of the display panel 8 is suppressed, and the light reflected from the light emitting diode 1 is reflected by the first reflecting wall 25. Can be expanded. And the uneven illumination of the display part 17 can be suppressed by reflecting this spread reflected light with the 2nd reflective wall 26, and irradiating the display board 8. FIG. Further, since the side-view type light emitting diode 1 is used, even if the interval between the display board 8 and the circuit board 2 is narrowed, the reflected light range is not affected, so that the instrument can be thinned.

  In addition, an opening hole 30 through which light from the light emitting diode 1 passes to the drive shaft 3 side is provided in the first reflection wall 25, and the pointer reflection wall 31 that reflects the light that has passed through the opening hole 30 to the pointer 7 side is driven. By providing on the side of the circuit board 2 between the shaft 3 and the first reflecting wall 25, the light emitting diodes for the display panel 8 illumination and the pointer 7 illumination do not need to be dedicated light emitting diodes, respectively, and can be shared. .

  Further, a liquid crystal display panel 20 is provided on the side opposite to the light emitting diode 1 so as to sandwich the drive shaft 3, and light from the light emitting diode 1 that has passed through the opening hole 30 is reflected to the circuit board 2 side corresponding to the liquid crystal display panel 20. The third reflection wall 32 is provided on the display plate 8 side between the drive shaft 3 and the liquid crystal display panel 20, and the fourth reflection for reflecting the light reflected by the third reflection wall 32 to the liquid crystal display panel 20 side. By providing the wall 36 between the liquid crystal display panel 20 and the circuit board 2, it is not necessary to use light emitting diodes for the display panel 8 illumination, the pointer 7 illumination, and the display 9 illumination as dedicated light emitting diodes. Can be shared.

  Further, the number of light emitting diodes for illuminating the display plate 8 and the pointer 7 or the number of light emitting diodes for illuminating the display plate 8, the pointer 7 and the indicator 9 can be reduced.

  In the present embodiment, the case member 10 is provided with the cylindrical portion 29 and the cell case 34, but may be separately provided. Moreover, the shape of each reflecting wall is arbitrary. In short, it is only necessary to reflect light to a desired location.

  Further, although one light emitting diode 1 is desirable, as shown in FIG. 5, in the second embodiment, the light emitting diode 1 with two side-view types of white illumination is placed on the circuit board 2 near the drive shaft 3. They are arranged adjacent to each other and are provided so as to emit light toward the drive shaft 3 in a direction parallel to the circuit board 2. In this case, the two light emitting diodes 1 are turned on simultaneously. It is provided to do.

  In this way, by using two light emitting diodes 1, the range of the reflected light reflected by the first reflecting wall 25 can be further expanded, and the display range of the display unit 17 of the display panel 8 is wide. In addition, it is possible to suppress uneven illumination of the display unit 17.

  Further, by arranging two light emitting diodes adjacent to each other, for example, when one of the light emitting diodes 1 is disconnected, the other light emitting diode is turned on, so that the illumination brightness is reduced. Although the display plate 8, the pointer 7, the indicator 9, and the like can be confirmed as being displayed on the whole, the safety can be ensured during traveling.

  At the time of disconnection, for example, the circuit board 2 on which the light emitting diode 1 is mounted may be replaced for each unit.

  FIGS. 6 and 7 show a third embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, two side view types with different illumination colors on the circuit board 2 near the drive shaft 3 are shown. The light emitting diodes 1A and 1B are arranged so as to emit light toward the drive shaft 3 in a direction parallel to the circuit board 2. As the illumination color, one of the light emitting diodes 1A is lit white, for example, and the other of the light emitting diodes 1B is lit in blue, for example.

  An electric circuit configuration for driving the illumination device of the meter will be described with reference to FIG. A control device 100 composed of a microcomputer or the like is connected to a drive main body 4 that detects a signal S from a vehicle or the like and rotates a pointer 7, for example, and also has a display board 8, a pointer 7, a display 9, and the like. Two light emitting diodes 1A and 1B for illumination are connected. The control device 100 is connected to a changeover switch 200 that enables the light emitting diodes 1A and 1B to be switched on.

  When the light emitting diode 1 that emits white light, for example, when the surroundings are dark, such as at night, for example, is turned on in the illumination device of the instrument configured as described above, The light is directed to the drive shaft 3 side of the drive body 4 to irradiate the first reflection wall 25, the display portion 17 of the display panel 8 is transmitted and illuminated in white, and an opening hole provided in the first reflection wall 25 is provided. A part of the light entering 30 is reflected by the reflecting wall 31 for the pointer, is incident on the base 11 toward the pointer 7, and is reflected by the reflecting surface 15 of the pointer and is directed toward the tip of the indicating unit 5. Is transmitted and illuminated in white.

  The light that has entered the opening hole 30 of the first reflecting wall 25 and passed through the display opening hole 33 and applied to the third reflecting wall 32 is reflected by the third reflecting wall 32 and is reflected by the fourth reflecting wall. The liquid crystal display panel 20 is reflected by the fourth reflecting wall 36 toward the liquid crystal display 36 side, and the liquid crystal display panel 20 is translucently illuminated by the liquid crystal display panel 20 side.

  Further, for example, when it is desired to switch the illumination color to another set blue color according to the driver's preference, by operating the changeover switch 200, the lighting of one light emitting diode 1A is switched to the other light emitting diode 1B. The display unit 17 of the display board 8, the indicator unit 5 of the pointer 7, and the liquid crystal display panel 20 are each transmissively illuminated in blue, so that the illumination color can be switched easily and arbitrarily. Can do.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the gist of the present invention. For example, in the second embodiment, the light emitting diode 1 with two side-view type white illuminations is disposed adjacent to the circuit board 2 near the drive shaft 3 and is parallel to the circuit board 2. In this case, the light emitting diodes 1 are arranged so as to emit light to the drive shaft 3 side, but two or more light emitting diodes 1 may be arranged adjacent to each other so as to be lit simultaneously. In addition, when the specifications such as the display form and display area of the display unit 17 of the display board 7 are different, and a slight illumination unevenness occurs in the entire illumination area, a light emitting diode is partially added as an auxiliary. It may be made to do. In the third embodiment, the light emitting diodes 1A and 1B made of white and blue illumination colors are arranged adjacent to each other and set to be arbitrarily switched. However, the illumination colors are made of other shades. In addition, the number of light emitting diodes is not limited to two, and a larger number may be arranged so that the illumination colors of multiple colors (three colors or more) are switched.

S Signal 1, 1A, 1B Light-emitting diode 2 Circuit board 3 Drive shaft 4 Drive body 5 Pointer 6 Pointer shaft 7 Pointer 8 Display board 9 Display 10 Case member 11 Base 12 Pointer body 17 Display 19 Opening 20 Liquid crystal display Panel (light-emitting display element)
25 First reflecting wall 26 Second reflecting wall 27 Vertical wall 28 Inclined wall 29 Cylindrical portion 30 Opening hole 31 Reflecting wall for pointer 32 Third reflecting wall 33 Opening hole for display 34 Cell case 35 Side wall 36 Fourth reflection Wall 100 Controller 200 Changeover switch

Claims (6)

  A circuit board on which a light emitting diode is mounted; a drive body having a drive shaft that is mounted on the back side of the circuit board and extends forward through the circuit board; and a pointer shaft that is fixed to the indicator and the drive shaft And a display plate disposed behind the pointer, the light emitting diode being disposed in the vicinity of the drive shaft in a direction parallel to the circuit board. A side-view type that emits light toward the drive shaft, and a first light that reflects light from the light-emitting diode to the back side and the side of the light-emitting diode between the light-emitting diode and the drive shaft. And a second reflecting wall for reflecting the light reflected by the first reflecting wall toward the display board is provided between the display board and the circuit board. Instrument lighting device   An opening hole through which light from the light emitting diode passes to the drive shaft side is provided in the first reflection wall, and a pointer reflection wall that reflects the light that has passed through the opening hole to the pointer side is provided to the drive shaft and the drive shaft. The instrument illumination device according to claim 1, wherein the illumination device is provided on the circuit board side between the first reflection wall and the first reflection wall.   A light emitting display element is provided on the opposite side of the light emitting diode so as to sandwich the drive shaft, and a third light that reflects light from the light emitting diode that has passed through the opening hole to the circuit board side corresponding to the light emitting display element. A reflective wall is provided on the display plate side between the drive shaft and the light emitting display element, and a fourth reflective wall for reflecting the light reflected by the third reflective wall to the light emitting display element side is the light emitting element. The instrument illumination device according to claim 2, wherein the instrument illumination device is provided between a display element and the circuit board.   The lighting device for an instrument according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the number of the light emitting diodes is one.   The lighting device for a meter according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein a plurality of the light emitting diodes are arranged adjacent to each other, and the plurality of the light emitting diodes are simultaneously turned on.   4. The light emitting diode according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of the light emitting diodes are arranged adjacent to each other, and the illumination colors of the light emitting diodes are different from each other. Illumination device of the described instrument.

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