JPH0447767B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a display device for an indicator suitable for application mainly to a combination meter for an automobile.

For example, when installing a meter with a torque converter indicator on a manual transmission vehicle in order to reduce the number of types of meters, or when it is desired to make the display characters invisible when the lamp is not lit due to design requirements, conventional technology can The structure is such that letters are printed on the back of a smoked lens with a textured surface, and a colored lens is placed underneath. However, since light leaks from the edge of the dial when the meter is illuminated at night, the edge is coated with black magic etc. It is necessary to prevent light leakage, which has the disadvantage of increasing costs.

Therefore, in order to eliminate the above-mentioned drawbacks, the present invention has the following features:
By applying a light absorption layer to the area corresponding to the smoked lens on the surface of the transparent display board, and printing characters and other indications on the back side, light leakage from the edge surface is eliminated.
Further, the purpose is to achieve significant cost reduction by eliminating the need for smoke lenses, and to achieve the effect of improving appearance in terms of design.

The present invention will be described below with reference to embodiments shown in the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a combination meter for a vehicle to which the present invention is applied, in which a speedometer 1 is equipped with a fluorescent display tube 3'.
The speed is displayed digitally. The engine tachometer 2 has display elements such as light emitting diodes arranged in a row, and is displayed in the form of a bar graph. The fuel gauge 3 and water temperature gauge 4 are both displayed in the form of a bar graph using a fluorescent display tube or the like. Other instruments provided on the vehicle combination meter shown in FIG. 1 include a mileage totalizer 5, a torque converter vehicle engine position display section 6, and the like.

Case 7 includes the above-mentioned instruments 1, 2, 3, 4,
5, 6, etc., and the facing plate 8 is
The front opening of this case 7 is covered. The one-piece display board 9 is made of synthetic resin such as transparent acrylic, transparent plate glass, etc., and includes various measurement value display windows 1a, 2a, 3a, 4a, 5a, etc. such as the speedometer 2, and display parts such as the torque converter display. 6, each display character 1b,
2b, 3b, 4b, etc.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line A-A in FIG. The case 7 is also compressed by a screw (not shown). The case 7 has an instrument storage area such as a speedometer 1 and a fuel gauge 3, and an indicator light area such as a position indicator and direction indicator light. , D, N, R, P, etc.), and at the bottom of each small room 7a,
Indicator lamp 12 is installed and case 7
Power is supplied by a printed wiring board 13 placed on the back side of the . A colored filter 11 is press-fitted and fixed so as to close the opening of each indicator light compartment 7a. The printed wiring board 14 has a fuel gauge drive circuit (not shown), and the fuel gauge display tube 3'
is attached to one side and is fixed to the case 7 with screws (not shown) so that the display portion of the display tube 3' faces through the display window 3a of the display board 9. The display board 9 is attached so as to cover almost the entire surface of the opening end of the case 7, and furthermore, a facing plate 8 is attached in front of the display board 9, and is sandwiched and fixed between the case 7 and the facing plate 8.

As shown in FIG. 3, display windows 1a, 2a, 3 are provided on the front cover 10 side (display surface side) of the display board 9.
A white printing layer 9a is applied to the entire surface except for the display windows 1a, 2a, 3a, 4a, 5a, the display section 6 and the display characters 1b, 2b. , 3b and 4b are coated with an opaque printed layer 9b of matte black or the like.
The white printed layer 9a reflects the light of an illumination lamp (not shown) inside the case 7 during night illumination, and displays each display character 1b, 2.
This is for displaying b, 3b, and 4b brightly. The display part 6 is printed with a matte black light-absorbing layer 9c (matte smoke printing) so as to overlap the opaque print layer 9b to some extent, and the back side of the display board 9 is printed with a matte black light-absorbing layer 9c, except for letters and symbols 6a. , opaque printing 9d in black or the like is printed in approximately the same size as the printing 9c on the light-absorbing layer.

In the display windows 1a to 5a, the speed is displayed digitally, and the other values are displayed as a bar graph. The display section 6 is
When the lamp 12 is off, the black light absorbing layer 9
c, it appears as a matte black color equivalent to the surrounding ground color, so no characters, symbols, etc. are displayed. When the lamp 12 is turned on, the corresponding displayed characters/symbols 6a are colored by the filter 11 and appear. Further, at night, the display characters 1b, 2b, 3b, and 4b are transmitted through the white printed layer 9a and displayed, and the totalizer 5 is also illuminated by a built-in illumination lamp (not shown). Furthermore, although the above is applied to a torque converter vehicle, if the above instrument is used as it is for a manual transmission vehicle, the torque converter display on the display section 6 will not light up at all.
In addition, since the ground color of the display board 9 (opaque printed layer 9b) and the display section 6 are applied with the same matte (or semi-matte) finish, the display section 6 does not stand out so much, and the display characters/symbols 6a etc. cannot be seen.

In addition, in the present invention, the following modifications to the above-mentioned embodiment can also be considered.

(1) Although the display section 6 was explained as a torque converter display,
It can also be applied to display oil level, parking brake, flasher, etc.

(2) Although the display unit 6 is configured so that the characters and symbols shine, the entire colored filter 11 is displayed,
Characters and symbols may be displayed therein using opaque printing.

(3) The display section 6 is provided on the transparent plate 9, and the entire surface cover 10
However, if the transparent plate 9 is used as a front cover, the front cover 10 may be omitted. However, in this case, each print may be printed on the back side of the transparent plate 9.

(4) The black light-absorbing layer 9c may be of a dark color (green, blue, red, etc.) such that characters and symbols are not visible when the lamp 12 is off. In this case, the colored filter 11 can be omitted.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing an embodiment of the device of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view taken along line A-A shown in FIG.
FIG. 3 shows the above A-A of the display board in the above embodiment.
It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view corresponding to a cross section. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1...Speedometer, 2...Engine tachometer, 3...Fuel gauge, 4...Temperature meter, 5...Midometer totalizer, 6...Display section, 1a, 2a, 3a, 4a, 5a...Measurement value display window, 6a... Characters/symbols, 9...Transparent display board, 9a...
White printing, 9b... Opaque printing layer, 9c... Black light absorbing layer.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In an indicating instrument having a transparent display plate on which an opaque or semi-transparent layer is formed except for a measurement value display window for displaying measured values such as speed, fuel, etc., a part of the transparent display plate is coated with the opaque or semi-transparent layer. A layerless display area is formed, display characters, symbols, marks, etc. are displayed on this display area, and light is absorbed in front of the display characters, symbols, marks, etc. so as to cover the entire surface of this display area. A display device of an indicating instrument with a sexual layer.