JPH07104183B2 - Self-luminous pointer - Google Patents

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a self-luminous indicator used for measuring instruments such as speedometers and tachometers.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, a self-luminous pointer is used in a speedometer or a tachometer arranged on an instrument panel of a vehicle. That is, as shown in FIG. 7, a printed board (material: glass epoxy) 42 is arranged in the pointer 41, and LED elements (LED chips) 43 are arranged on the printed board 42 in a line in the extending direction of the pointer 41. The pointer 41 is visually recognized by the light emitted from the LED element 43. Then, two holes 44a, 44 are formed at the center of rotation of the pointer 41 on the printed circuit board 42.
b is formed, and as shown in FIG. 8, the round terminals 45a and 45b made of a conductive material such as brass are press-fitted into the holes 44a and 44b, and soldering is performed to conduct electricity. In addition, one of the two round terminals 45a and 45b is a positive terminal and the other is a negative terminal, and one terminal 45b also serves as a boss and is press-fitted into the rotary shaft 46a of the cross coil (driving device) 46. Then, the pointer 41 is connected to the cross coil 46, and the pointer rotates in accordance with the vehicle speed and the like.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention]

However, according to the above structure, it is first difficult to form a conductive structure for energizing the LED element from the power supply. That is, since the LED elements are arranged on the printed circuit board, a terminal for energizing the printed circuit board is required, and it is necessary to solder the terminal and the printed circuit board in a small space, which makes assembly difficult. There is a problem.

Further, since the printed circuit board having a narrow width is arranged in the pointer, there is a problem that the rigidity is weak and the warp easily occurs.

In addition, LED elements are placed on the printed circuit board, so L
There is also a problem that the heat generated by the ED element is low in heat conductivity and heat is easily accumulated.

Therefore, the present invention easily achieves a conductive structure for energizing the LED element from the power source, and increases the rigidity of the pointer,
Furthermore, the purpose is to reduce the heat buildup.

[Means for Solving the Problems]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides, as described in claim 1, a resin pointer base, a first wiring portion arranged in the longitudinal direction of the resin pointer base, and the first wiring. A first connecting portion integrally formed with the second wiring portion, a second wiring portion arranged in the longitudinal direction of the resin pointer base along the first wiring portion, and a second wiring portion integrally formed with the second wiring portion. And a second connection part formed by exposing the first and second connection parts to each other, and molding the first and second wiring parts with the resin pointer base. A metal plate-shaped lead frame disposed in the resin pointer base and electrically connected between the first and second wiring portions of the lead frame, and on the front surface of the resin pointer base. Spontaneous arrangement including a plurality of LED elements arranged and arranged in the longitudinal direction of the resin pointer base Provide a light pointer.

[Action]

According to the present invention, the first and second connecting portions forming the terminal portion are exposed from the pointer base, and the connecting portions are attached to the pointer base in an open state to the outside. The LED element can be supplied with power via the first and second connection portions of the lead frame which are open to the outside.

In addition, the metal plate-shaped lead frame arranged in the pointer base serves as a skeleton to improve the rigidity of the elongated pointer and suppress the warp of the pointer base. Furthermore, the metal plate-shaped lead frame conducts the heat generated by the LED element, and the heat buildup is reduced.

〔Example〕

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

As shown in FIG. 2, the power supply substrate 1 is arranged in the meter case having the scale plate 11 on the upper surface, and the drive substrate 2 of the drive device (movement) is arranged above the power supply substrate 1. It is arranged. In this embodiment, the driving device (movement) is composed of crossed coils. A power source drive circuit for illuminating a pointer is arranged on the power source substrate 1. Further, a cross coil control circuit is arranged on the drive substrate 2, and the cross coil 3 is fixed. The crossing coil 3 is
The rotating shaft 3a projects upward.

The fixer plate 4 is fixed to the cross coil 3 with screws.

Further, at the installation position of the fixer plate 4, the insulator 5 is fitted on the rotary shaft 3a of the cross coil 3. The insulator 5 includes a disk portion 5a. The insulator 5 has a round bar-shaped terminal pin 6
a and 6b are vertically supported through.

On the upper and lower parts of the insulator 5, a pointer 12 to be described later is attached to a scale plate 11
Spiral springs 7 and 8 for urging the zero point side of the spiral spring are arranged. Fixer terminals in which the inner ends of the spiral springs 7 and 8 are connected to the terminal pins 6a and 6b, respectively, and the outer ends of the spiral springs 7 and 8 are attached to the fixer plate 4.
They are linked to 9 and 10, respectively.

In addition, an engaging projection 13 is formed on the disk portion 5a of the insulator 5 and the engaging projection 13 of the insulator 5 contacts the fixer plate 4 so that the pointer 12 does not give an instruction below the zero point. A stopper arm 14 is attached.

On the other hand, the fixer terminal 10 connected to the spiral spring 8
Are electrically connected to the power supply substrate 1 via the terminals 15, terminal pins 16 and plug-in terminals 17a. The fixer terminal 9 connected to the spiral spring 7 is electrically connected to the power supply substrate 1 via the terminal 18, the terminal pin 19, and the plug-in terminal 17b.

An opening 11a is formed in the center of the scale plate 11.

The structure described so far is the same whether the pointer having the LED element is used or the pointer having the cold cathode tube is used.

Next, the LED pointer 12 supported by the rotating shaft 3a of the cross coil 3 through the opening 11a of the scale plate 11 will be described.

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a lead frame type LED pointer 12, and FIG. 3 shows a cross section of the LED pointer 12. As shown in FIG. 3, the lead frame 20 is made of phosphor bronze and has a thickness of
A 0.2 mm strip is used. The entire top surface (element bonding surface) of the lead frame 20 is plated with Ag (silver), and the back surface of the lead frame 20 is entirely Sn (tin).
It is plated. The lead frame 20 is an LED element (L
ED chip) 21 has a bonding body and wiring function.

Then, a plurality of lead frames 20 are provided in the longitudinal direction.
LED elements (LED chips) 21 are bonded in a line. In addition, as shown in FIG. 3, the lead frame 20 has a lead house (resin needle base) 22 except for the LED element 21 on the upper surface.
Molded in, this lead house 22 is made of white polycarbonate. Further, the upper surface opening 22a of the lead house 22 is filled with a silicone resin 23. Further, the lead house 22 is housed in the pointer case 24, and the pointer case 24 is made of black polycarbonate.
An opening 24a formed in the upper surface of the pointer case 24 serves as a pointer light emitting portion, and a lens 25 is formed in the opening 24a.

As shown in FIG. 4, the boss 26 that is press-fitted into the rotating shaft 3a of the cross coil 3 of the LED pointer 12 has a lead frame 20.
Is formed integrally with the lead house 22 during insert molding.

Next, a current-carrying structure for electrically connecting the lead frame 20 of the LED pointer 12 and the terminal pins 6a, 6b will be described.

As shown in FIG. 1, in the lead frame 20, two connector terminals (first and second connecting portions) 27 are provided at the center of rotation of the pointer 12 so as to project in a direction orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the pointer 12. Has been done. The connector terminal 27 is exposed from the lead house 22 and the pointer case 24, and its tip is folded back from both sides.

The terminal 28 fitted to the connector terminal 27 is made of a phosphor bronze plate and has a surface plated with Sn. As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the terminal 28 has a first pressure contact portion 29 formed on the upper side thereof. First pressure contact part (first and second fitting parts) 29
Substrate 29a extends in the horizontal direction and its front end side is folded back,
Has elastic force. The connector terminal 27 of the lead frame 20 is inserted into the first pressure contact portion 29. That is, the terminal 28 can be plugged into the connector terminal 27 of the lead frame 20 in the X arrow direction (horizontal direction) in FIG. Further, on the lower end side of the terminal 28, a box-shaped second pressure contact portion (first and second power feeding portions) 30 that opens in the vertical direction is provided.
Are formed. The second press-contact portion 30 is provided with a pair of sandwiching pieces 30a and 30b that are biased in the direction of approaching each other. Then, the terminal pins (power supply terminals) 6a, 6b are inserted between the sandwiching pieces 30a, 30b of the second pressure contact portion 30.

Next, the connector terminal 27 of the lead frame 20 and the terminal
The positioning structure with 28 will be described.

When the terminal 28 is inserted into the connector terminal 27 of the lead frame 20, it comes into contact with the boss 26 and the position in the X direction is determined.
Further, as shown in FIG. 6, the lead house 22 is integrally formed with a pair of ribs 31 conforming to the outer shape of the terminal 28.
The ribs 31 position the terminal 28 in the y direction. Then, when the terminal 28 is inserted into the connector terminal 27 of the lead frame 20, the protrusion 32 formed on the terminal 28 is fitted into the locking hole 33 formed on the lead frame 20 as shown in FIG. It is designed to prevent the slipping out.

The second press contact portion 30 of the terminal 28 has terminal pins 6a, 6
Although b is inserted and fitted, the prevention of bending of the terminal 28 at the time of this plug-in fitting will be described. Bending of the terminal 28 is prevented by applying the lower surface of the rib 31 to the upper surface of the second pressure contact portion 30 of the terminal 28.

Regarding the deformation of the lead frame 20, as shown in FIG. 5, the distance l between the axis L1 of the terminal pins 6a and 6b and the end face of the lead house 22 holding the upper surface of the lead frame 20 is reduced. The lead frame 20 is prevented from being deformed by reducing the moment.

Here, the reason why the connector terminal 27 of the lead frame 20 is folded back will be described. The first reason is that the connector terminal 27
The thickness of is doubled to secure the bending margin of the terminal 28 when the terminal 28 is fitted. The second reason is that the Sn plated portion of the lead frame 20 is arranged on the upper surface.

That is, the Sn plating formed on the back surface of the lead frame 20 can be formed on the upper surface side of the lead frame 20 by bending the connector terminal 27 of the lead frame 20, and the connector terminal 27 can be provided with the Sn plating portion over the entire circumference. That is,
When two members are electrically connected, Sn-Sn plating in which Sn is applied to each member has been used for various connectors up to now and has excellent contact reliability. This makes Terminal 28
Sn plating, terminal pins 6a, 6b can also be Sn plating,
Cost reduction.

In other words, if the Ag-plated portion of the connector terminal 27 of the lead frame 20 is exposed, the contact resistance will increase due to the sulfurization of the Ag-plating. Also, when the lead frame 20 is plated with Au, it is necessary to also plate the terminals 28 and Au for the terminal pins 6a and 6b in order to ensure contact reliability, resulting in a significant cost increase. I will end up. However, in the present embodiment, such a situation is avoided, and the contact reliability between the lead frame 20 and the terminal 28 can be ensured at a minimum cost.

Incidentally, it is technically easy to perform Ag plating on the bonding surface of the LED chip 21 and Sn plating on the back surface of the lead frame 20. In addition, the LED element 2 in the lead frame 20
The bonding surface of 1 may be Au (gold).

In the instrument thus configured, when the rotating shaft 3a is driven by the driving of the cross coil 3, the pointer 12 rotates against the biasing force of the spiral springs 7 and 8. To indicate a predetermined scale. On the other hand, as shown in FIG.
Current from the power supply board 1 side is plug-in terminal 17a
→ terminal pin 16 → terminal 15 → fixer terminal 10 → spiral spring 8 → terminal pin 6b → terminal 28
→ Lead frame 20 connector terminal 27 → Lead frame
20 → LED element 21 → Lead frame 20 → Lead frame 20
Connector terminal 27 → terminal 28 → terminal pin 6a →
Spiral spring 7 → fixer terminal 9 → terminal 18 →
It flows from the terminal pin 19 to the plug-in terminal 17b to the board 1. By this power supply, the LED element 21 emits light, and light is emitted from the opening 24a of the pointer 12.

As described above, in this embodiment, instead of the conventional printed circuit board, a plurality of LED elements 21 are used as the LED pointers in the lead frame 2.
The LED elements 21 and the lead frame 20 are molded with resins 22 and 23, and the two connector terminals 27 of the lead frame 20 are exposed, and the LED pointer 12 and the LED pointer 12 are separated from each other. The plate terminal 28 was prepared, and the terminal 28 was fitted to the connector terminal 27 of the LED pointer 12 so as to be electrically connected to the LED element 21. That is, the plus and minus terminals of the pointer 12 are taken out (electrically conducted and fixed) by plugging the terminal 28 into the two connector terminals 27 of the lead frame 20 to rationalize the assembly. it can.

Also, the second pressure contact portion 30 of the terminal 27 and the terminal pin 6
The fitting structure of a and 6b can be made the same shape as the case of a pointer with a built-in cold cathode tube, and below the terminal pins 6a and 6b,
That is, the conduction structure from the terminal pins 6a and 6b to the external power supply can be made completely common. That is, it can be shared with the conducting structure of the cold cathode tube pointer shown in the embodiment of Japanese Patent Application No. 2-184685.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described in detail above, the invention described in claim 1 is LE of the guideline.
Since the power supply connection part to the D element is open to the outside of the pointer base, the power supply member to this connection part can be easily attached, resulting in excellent assembly.

In addition, the molded lead frame serves as a framework of the pointer base body to improve the rigidity of the pointer base body and prevent disconnection due to the warp of the pointer base, and the pointer base body and the conducting portion in the pointer are integrally formed. Therefore, the manufacturing is simple, and the conducting portion in the pointer is reliably fixed to the pointer base, so that the conducting path in the pointer can be secured.

Further, since the lead frame is in the shape of a metal plate, the heat conductivity of the heat generated by the LED element is improved, and the heat buildup can be reduced.

According to the second aspect of the invention, the power supply terminal can be plug-in connected to the first and second connection portions of the lead frame, and the connection can be facilitated.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the first and second connecting portions have the folded portions, the elastic force of the folded portions can maintain good electrical contact.

In the invention according to claim 4, the surface of the wiring portion of the lead frame is exposed, which facilitates connection and arrangement of the LED elements. Further, the invention according to claim 5 is good due to silver plating on the exposed surface. It is possible to easily secure good continuity.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the pointer of the instrument of the embodiment, FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the instrument, FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the pointer, FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the pointer, and FIG. Figures and 6 are A- of Figure 5.
Sectional view A, FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a pointer for explaining the related art, and FIG. 8 is a sectional view of the pointer for explaining the related art. 3 is a cross coil, 11 is a scale plate, 12 is an LED pointer, 20 is a lead frame, 21 is an LED element, 27 is a connector terminal, and 28 is a terminal.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (56) References Showa 55-91429 (JP, U) Showa 54-157502 (JP, U) Showa 48-92444 (JP, U) Japanese public Sho 55- 35593 (JP, B2) Actual public 42-11956 (JP, Y1) Actual public 57-30571 (JP, Y2)

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A resin pointer base, a first wiring portion arranged in a longitudinal direction of the resin pointer base, a first connecting portion integrally formed with the first wiring portion, and the first wiring portion. A second wiring portion arranged along the first wiring portion in the longitudinal direction of the resin pointer base and a second connection portion integrally formed with the second wiring portion; 1,
A metal plate-shaped lead frame in which the first and second wiring portions are molded by the resin pointer base and are disposed in the resin pointer base with the second connection portion exposed. A plurality of electrically connected between the first and second wiring portions of the lead frame, arranged on the front surface of the resin pointer base, and arranged in the longitudinal direction of the resin pointer base. Self-luminous pointer with LED element. 2. A first fitting portion that fits into the first connecting portion is provided at one end, and the other end extends in the direction of the pointer drive shaft when the resin pointer base body is attached. A first terminal having a first power supply portion fitted to one of the power supply terminals connected to the power source, and a second fitting portion having a first terminal fitted to the second connection portion, A second terminal is provided at the other end, the second terminal extending in the direction of the pointer drive shaft and having a second power feeding portion that is fitted to the other power feeding terminal connected to the power source. The self-luminous indicator described in 1. 3. The self-luminous pointer according to claim 1, wherein the first connecting portion and the second connecting portion have a folded-back portion. 4. At least one surface of the first and second wiring portions is exposed to the front surface of the resin pointer base, and the LED element is arranged on the exposed surface. The self-luminous indicator according to claim 1, wherein 5. The self-luminous indicator according to claim 4, wherein the exposed surface is plated with silver.