JPH10315802A - Combination meter for automobile - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Problem] To make it easy to use a combination meter by making a part or all of a vehicle combination meter in front of a driver a mirror surface when an ignition switch of the vehicle is turned off. The present invention provides a combination meter for an automobile that can adjust the taste of the vehicle. SOLUTION: An instrument panel 1 in front of a driver's seat of an automobile includes instruments such as a speedometer 2, a fuel gauge, and a thermometer.
In a vehicle combination meter 10 provided with various warning lights and the like, a front plate 3 of a speedometer 2 is formed using a half mirror, and a light emitting member 13 for illuminating the back side of the half mirror 3 when an ignition switch 14 of the vehicle is turned on. And the ignition switch 14 of the car
Is turned off, the front plate 3 of the speedometer 2 is mirrored.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a combination meter for a vehicle, and more particularly, to a combination meter mounted on a vehicle instrument panel, and a part or all of the combination meter can be used as a mirror when an ignition switch of the vehicle is turned off. The present invention relates to a combination meter for an automobile.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an instrument panel of an automobile is called a combination meter provided with a speedometer for displaying the speed of the automobile, a fuel gauge, a water temperature gauge, a warning lamp for displaying various warnings, and the like. A car meter is installed.

In a conventional combination meter for an automobile, instruments such as a speedometer, a fuel gauge and a water temperature gauge are provided with hands on a dial plate on which numerical values and scales are printed. Is the mainstream. However, in recent years, with the development of electronic devices, many inexpensive digital display-type instruments have been used as instruments of combination meters.
In such a digital display combination meter, the power of the display element is cut off to prevent the consumption of the battery when the ignition key of the automobile is turned off because the display element consumes electricity when used. Therefore,
Digital display combination meters often have a black face with no display when the ignition key is off.

[0004] By the way, in recent years, the population of driving a car has been increasing, and the opportunities for working people to drive a car for work and for women to drive a car have been increasing. When driving a car at work or when the driver is a woman, he often corrects his hair and makeup before starting the car and before getting off the car to adjust his / her taste. In response to such demands, recent automobiles have a small mirror called a vanity mirror attached to the back of a sun visor provided above a windshield in front of a driver's seat or a passenger seat together with its cover. There are many things.

[0005]

However, in order to use a vanity mirror to adjust the taste, the sun visor must be lowered and the cover covering the vanity mirror cannot be used as a mirror unless it is lowered. However, there is a problem that it is troublesome and time-consuming, and furthermore, after adjusting the taste, the sun visor must be returned to its original position.

Accordingly, the present invention provides an easy-to-use combination meter by making a part or all of a vehicle combination meter in front of the driver a mirror when the ignition switch of the vehicle is off. It is an object of the present invention to provide a combination meter for an automobile capable of adjusting the taste of the vehicle.

[0007]

A vehicle combination meter according to the present invention that achieves the above object is constituted as the following first to third inventions.

A first invention is a vehicle combination meter provided on an instrument panel in front of a driver's seat of a vehicle and provided with instruments such as a speedometer, a fuel gauge, a thermometer, and various warning lights. The front plate of the speedometer is configured using a half mirror, and a light emitting member is provided for illuminating the back side of the half mirror when the ignition switch of the vehicle is turned on. When the ignition switch of the vehicle is turned off, the front surface of the speedometer is provided. Has a mirror surface.

A second invention is a combination meter for an automobile provided on an instrument panel in front of a driver's seat of an automobile, including instruments such as a speedometer, a fuel gauge, a thermometer, and various warning lights. The front panel of the meter is configured using a half mirror, the instruments and warning lights of the meter are separated from the front panel by a predetermined distance longer than a normal distance, and the ignition switch of the automobile is turned on. A light-emitting member that sometimes illuminates the design surface and the dial surface of the instruments is provided, and the front plate becomes a mirror surface when the ignition switch of the automobile is turned off.

A third invention is a vehicle combination meter provided on an instrument panel in front of a driver's seat of a vehicle, including instruments such as a speedometer, a fuel gauge, a thermometer, and various warning lights. The rear side of the front plate of the meter is divided into two front and rear spaces by a half mirror inclined by a predetermined angle with respect to the line of sight of the viewer of the meter. In the direction of the line of sight, a speedometer, fuel gauge, thermometer, various warning lights, etc. are arranged, and in the space on the surface side of the half mirror, a mirror is arranged in the direction perpendicular to the direction of the viewer's line of sight. A light emitting member is provided to illuminate the space on the back side of the half mirror when the ignition switch is turned on, so that the front surface of the meter becomes a mirror surface when the ignition switch of the automobile is turned off. It is characterized in that the.

The above-mentioned instruments may be analog meters provided with a pointer and a dial, or may be electric display type digital meters which use a luminous body to perform digital display.

According to the first to third aspects described above, when the ignition switch is in the off state,
Since part or all of the vehicle combination meter in front of the driver's seat is formed in a mirror surface, it is possible to easily adjust the taste.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1A is a cross-sectional view of an instrument panel 1 of an automobile, showing a configuration of an automobile combination meter 10 according to a first embodiment of the present invention, at a position of a speedometer 2. The speedometer 2 of the vehicle combination meter 10 of the first embodiment has a front plate 3 on the front surface of a housing 4 like the conventional speedometer,
Inside the instrument, there are an internal meter 5 and a dial 6, a light guide plate 8 and a light source 9 for illuminating the dial 6 from the back side, and a pointer 7 attached to a rotating shaft of the internal meter 5. On the other hand, in this embodiment, the front plate 3 is configured using a half mirror. On the inner surface side of the front plate 3, a surface light emitting member 13 including a light guide plate 11 and a light source 12 is provided.

The light source 12 of the surface light emitting member 13 is connected to a battery 15 via an ignition switch 14 of an automobile. Therefore, when the ignition switch 14 is turned on, the surface light emitting member 13 emits light.

FIG. 1B shows an ignition switch 14.
FIG. 2 is a front view of the vehicle combination meter 10 shown in FIG. When the ignition switch 14 is off, the inside of the housing 4 of the speedometer 2 is dark, so the front plate 3 composed of a half mirror reflects light incident from the driver side. As a result, the front plate 3 of the speedometer 2 has a mirror surface, so that the driver can be photographed.

FIG. 1C is a front view of the vehicle combination meter 10 shown in FIG. 1A with the ignition switch 14 turned on. When the ignition switch 14 is on, the surface light-emitting member 13 composed of the light source 12 and the light guide plate 11 emits light, so that the inside of the housing 4 of the speedometer 2 becomes bright, and the front plate 3 composed of a half mirror is Light inside the housing 4 is totally transmitted to the driver side, rather than reflecting light incident from the driver side. As a result, the front plate 3 of the speedometer 2 becomes similar to the glass surface, so that the notation on the dial 6 and the hands 7 are transmitted to the driver side.

FIG. 2A is a cross-sectional view of an instrument panel 1 of a vehicle at a position of a speedometer 2 showing a configuration of a vehicle combination meter 20 according to a second embodiment of the present invention. The speedometer 22 in the vehicle combination meter 20 according to the second embodiment has a meter 24 inside the housing 24, a dial 26, and a dial for illuminating the dial 26 from the rear side, similarly to the conventional speedometer. There is a light plate 28, a light source 29, and a pointer 27 attached to a rotation shaft of the meter internal unit 25. Further, a front plate 23 is provided on the front surface of the meter case 21, and in this embodiment, the front plate 23 is configured using a half mirror. The surface light-emitting member 19 is provided on the inner surface side of the front plate 23.

The surface light-emitting member 19 is connected to a battery 15 via an ignition switch 14 of the vehicle. Therefore, when the ignition switch 14 is turned on, the surface light-emitting member 19 emits light.

FIG. 2B shows the state of the ignition switch 14.
FIG. 3A is a front view of the vehicle combination meter 20 shown in FIG. When the ignition switch 14 is off, the inside of the meter case 21 is dark, so that the front plate 2 composed of a half mirror is not used.
Reference numeral 3 reflects light incident from the driver side. As a result, the entire surface of the front plate 23 becomes a mirror surface, so that the driver can be photographed.

FIG. 2C is a front view of the vehicle combination meter 20 shown in FIG. 2A with the ignition switch 14 turned on. When the ignition switch 14 is on, the surface emitting member 1
9 emits light, so that the inside of the meter case 21 becomes brighter, and the front plate 23 composed of the half mirror reflects the light inside the meter case 21 to the driver rather than reflecting the light incident from the driver side. To the side. As a result,
Since the front plate 23 of the meter case 21 is similar to a glass surface, the driver can visually recognize the speedometer 22, other instruments 18, the warning light 17, and the like in the meter case 21.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing the structure of a combination meter 30 for a vehicle according to a third embodiment of the present invention at the position of the speedometer 22 of the instrument panel 1 of the vehicle.

In the third embodiment, the rear side of the front plate 23 of the meter case 31 is divided into two front and rear internal spaces 31A, 31A by a half mirror 32 which is inclined by a predetermined angle with respect to the line of sight E of the meter viewer. 31B.

A dial 26 on which a speedometer 22, a fuel gauge (not shown), a thermometer, various warning lights, and the like are arranged is provided in the direction of the line of sight of the meter in the space 31B on the back side of the half mirror 32. Have been. In addition, this internal space 3
On the bottom side of 1B, a surface light-emitting member 34 is provided,
It is connected to a battery 15 via an ignition switch 14 of the vehicle. Therefore, when the ignition switch 14 is turned on, the surface light-emitting member 19 emits light.

The speedometer 22 includes a meter inner unit 25 and a dial 26 inside a housing 24, a light guide plate 28 and a light source 29 for illuminating the dial 26 from the back side, similarly to a conventional speedometer.
And a pointer 27 attached to the rotating shaft of the meter internal unit 25
There is.

On the other hand, a mirror 33 is provided on the ceiling side of the internal space 31A on the front side of the half mirror 32. The mirror 33 is reflected by the half mirror 32 and is visually recognized by the driver.

In the third embodiment, when the ignition switch 14 is off, the inside of the meter case 31 is dark, so that the mirror 33 is reflected by the half mirror 32 and is visually recognized by the driver. The state in which the vehicle combination meter 30 is viewed from the front in this state is the same as FIG. 2B. As a result, the mirror 33 is reflected and seen from the front plate 23.
The driver's figure can be copied to the vehicle.

On the other hand, when the ignition switch 14 is turned on, the surface light emitting member 34 emits light, so that the inside space 31B of the meter case 34 becomes brighter.
The dial 26 provided with the instruments and warning lights in B is completely transmitted to the driver side. As a result, the dial 26 can be seen through the front plate 23 of the meter case 31, so that the speedometer 22, other instruments, warning lights, and the like in the meter case 31 can be visually recognized by the driver.

In the above-described embodiment, the instruments are described as analog meters provided with hands and a dial, but these instruments are electronically-displayed digital meters that perform display digitally using a light-emitting body. It may be.

[0030]

As described above, according to the present invention,
When the ignition switch of the car is off, part or all of the car combination meter in front of the driver becomes a mirror surface, so that the combination meter can easily adjust the taste. is there.

[Brief description of the drawings]

1A is a cross-sectional view of an instrument panel of an automobile showing a configuration of a first embodiment of an automobile combination meter of the present invention, and FIG. 1B is an automobile of FIG. 1A with an ignition switch turned off. Front view of the combination meter for use, (c) shows the ignition switch turned on.
FIG. 3A is a front view of the vehicle combination meter of FIG.

FIG. 2 (a) is a cross-sectional view of an instrument panel of an automobile showing the configuration of a second embodiment of the automobile combination meter according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 (b) is the automobile of FIG. 2 (a) with an ignition switch turned off. Front view of the combination meter for use, (c) shows the ignition switch turned on.
FIG. 3A is a front view of the vehicle combination meter of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of an instrument panel of a vehicle, showing a configuration of a third embodiment of the combination meter for a vehicle according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Instrument panel 2, 22 Speedometer 3, 23 Front plate 4, 24 Housing 5, 25 Meter inner machine 6, 26 Dial 7, 27 Pointer 8, 11, 28 Light guide plate 9, 12, 29 Light source 10 First Combination meter for vehicle 13, 19, 34 Surface emitting member 14 Ignition switch 15 Battery 17 Warning light 18 Other instruments 20 of embodiment Combination meter 21, 31 Meter case 30 for vehicle of second embodiment Combination meter for automobile 32 Half mirror 33 Mirror

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. An automobile combination meter provided on an instrument panel in front of a driver's seat of an automobile, such as a speedometer, a fuel gauge, a thermometer, and various warning lights. The front plate is formed using a half mirror, and a light emitting member is provided to illuminate the back side of the half mirror when the ignition switch of the vehicle is turned on. When the ignition switch of the vehicle is turned off, the front of the speedometer is turned off. A combination meter for an automobile characterized by having a mirror surface. 2. A combination meter for a vehicle, which is provided on an instrument panel in front of a driver's seat of a vehicle and includes instruments such as a speedometer, a fuel gauge, and a thermometer, and various warning lights. The face plate is constituted by using a half mirror, and the instruments and the warning lights of the meter are separated from the front plate by a predetermined distance longer than a normal distance, and the instrument is turned on when an ignition switch of the automobile is turned on. A combination meter for a vehicle, comprising: a light emitting member for illuminating a design surface and a dial surface of a kind, wherein the front plate is a mirror surface when an ignition switch of the vehicle is turned off. 3. A combination meter for an automobile, which is provided on an instrument panel in front of a driver's seat of the automobile and includes instruments such as a speedometer, a fuel gauge, and a thermometer, and various warning lights. The rear side of the face plate is divided into two front and rear spaces by a half mirror that is inclined by a predetermined angle with respect to the line of sight of the meter viewer, and in the space of the back side of the half mirror in the line of sight of the meter viewer. The speedometer, a fuel gauge, a thermometer, various warning lights, etc. are arranged, and a mirror is arranged in a direction orthogonal to a line of sight of a viewer, of a meter in a space on the surface side of the half mirror, A light emitting member for illuminating the space on the back side of the half mirror when the ignition switch is turned on is provided, and when the ignition switch of the automobile is turned off, the front surface of the meter is mirror-finished. Automotive combination meter being characterized in that set to be. 4. The vehicle combination meter according to claim 1, wherein said meters are analog meters provided with hands and a dial. 5. The combination meter for an automobile according to claim 1, wherein the meters are an electric display type digital meter that performs digital display using a light emitter.