JPS6181832A - Vehicle instrument lighting system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To achieve the optimal illuminance in day and night in a lighting device for car meters by connecting the lighting sources for illuminating the meters in parallel and lighting while interlocking with an ignition and lighting switches. CONSTITUTION:A white incandescent lamp 1 for illuminating a meter, an orange incandescent lamp 2 and a head light 3 are connected in parallel with a battery 4 where a lighting switch 5 is provided in circuit A while a switch for orange lamp 6 interlocked with the switch 5 is provided in circuit B and a normal close switch 7 for white lamp interlocked with the switch 5 is provided in circuit C. Upon closing of ignition switch 8 for the purpose of engine operation, the white lamp 1 will light while upon closing of the lighting switch 5 for the purpose to light the head light 3, the white lamp 1 will unlight and the orange lamp 2 will light.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION A. Object of the Invention [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a lighting device for instruments on an instrument panel in a vehicle, particularly in an automobile.

[Conventional technology]

The instruments on the instrument panel are equipped with an illumination device that uses indirect illumination, transmitted illumination, or a combination of push and pull methods to improve their visibility.

Recently, instruments with liquid crystal display using a liquid crystal panel on the instrument panel have become widely available. The illumination in this case is of a transmission type. As the light source, a discharge lamp such as a fluorescent lamp or an incandescent lamp is used.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

Liquid crystal display meters require day and night illumination, but visibility is sufficient during the day if the brightness of the letters on the meter is 200 cd/m2 or more. 4 to 10 cd at night to prevent glare
A brightness of about /m2 is appropriate. In other words, if the brightness of the characters on the instrument during the day is 100%, at night it is 2-5%.
It is desirable to dim the light to reduce the amount of light.

It is also possible to improve the visibility of the instrument by changing the color of the light source between day and night. For example, it is white during the day and orange or blue-green at night.

Discharge lamps are superior as light sources for instrument illumination, not only for liquid crystal display instruments but also for other types of instruments, in that they provide high brightness, high efficiency, low heat generation, and white light with good color rendering. discharge lamp.

When the applied voltage is lowered for dimming, the discharge becomes unstable, causing flickering or suddenly extinguishing, and therefore cannot be dimmed to the desired level for vehicle instrument lighting.In general, fluorescent lamps are dimmable. Range is 100-70
%, and in the case of cold cathode lamps it is 100-30%.

Therefore, it is difficult to provide instrument illumination with high day and night visibility using only discharge lamps.

In this regard, although incandescent light bulbs can be dimmed by changing the applied voltage, it is troublesome to manually adjust the voltage each time depending on day and night, ambient brightness, etc.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems of conventional vehicle instrument lighting devices.

Configuration of the invention [Means for solving the problem] A plurality of instrument illumination light sources are connected in parallel, and these light sources are
The light is selectively turned on in conjunction with the operation of the ignition switch and the lighting switch so that it exhibits colors and brightness suitable for both day and night.

[For production]

During the day, when the ignition switch is closed for driving, the instrument lighting light source turns on, illuminating the instruments brighter than the surrounding brightness.

When you close the lighting switch when driving at night,
As soon as the headlights are turned on, the light source for the instrument lighting switches to a non-dazzling brightness, giving the instruments the best visibility during the day and at night.

〔Example〕

The figure shows an electric circuit diagram of the instrument lighting device of the present invention. To explain FIG. connected in parallel.

And lighting switch 5 in headlight circuit A,
An orange incandescent light bulb switch 6 that opens and closes simultaneously in conjunction with the lighting switch 5 in the orange incandescent light bulb circuit B, and a switch 6 for the white incandescent light bulb that closes when the lighting switch 5 is opened,
When the lighting switch 5 is closed, it is linked to open. That is, a normally closed white incandescent light bulb switch 7 is provided.

The ignition switch 8 is provided in the white incandescent lamp circuit C in series with the white incandescent lamp switch 7. The ignition circuit is omitted from the drawing.

When an ignition switch 8 is closed for engine operation, a white incandescent light bulb 1 is turned on, and when a lighting switch 5 is closed to further light up a headlight 3, the white incandescent light bulb 1 is turned off and an orange incandescent light bulb 2 is turned on.

Although the white incandescent bulb 1 and the orange incandescent bulb 2 both use so-called color bulbs, a color filter or a color cap may be placed in front of the ordinary incandescent bulb.

Figure 2 shows a device in which a discharge lamp such as a fluorescent lamp or a cold cathode lamp and an incandescent lamp are installed together as a light source for instrument illumination. connected in parallel.

And lighting switch 15 in headlight circuit A
, the discharge lamp circuit C is linked to close when the lighting switch 15 is opened and to open when the lighting switch 15 is closed. That is, a normally closed discharge lamp switch 16 is provided.

The ignition switch 17 is provided in series with the normally closed switch 16 between the normally closed discharge lamp switch 16 and the battery 14 of the discharge lamp circuit C. The ignition circuit is omitted from the drawing.

The incandescent lamp circuit B is connected to a circuit between the normally closed switch 16 and the ignition switch 17 of the discharge lamp circuit C.

When the ignition switch 17 is closed to run the engine, the discharge lamp 11 and the incandescent bulb 12 are turned on at the same time, giving a bright light. Furthermore, when the lighting switch 15 is closed to turn on the headlights 13.

The discharge lamp 2 goes out and only the incandescent bulb 12 illuminates.
In other words, the brightness is lower than when driving during the day.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, the discharge lamp 11 may be replaced by an incandescent light bulb.

In each of the embodiments, two light sources for instrument lighting were connected in parallel, but three or more light sources could be connected in parallel and linked to small lamp switches and fog lamp switches attached to lighting stations and stations. It is also possible to configure the instrument lighting to be adjusted even when driving in a tunnel.

C1 Effects of the Invention The instrument lighting device of the present invention connects a plurality of light sources for instrument lighting in parallel as described above, and these light sources are arranged so that they exhibit colors and brightness suitable for each day and night. Since the system is configured to selectively turn on the lights in conjunction with the operation of the ignition switch and lighting switch, optimal brightness can be obtained during the day and night when driving, improving the visibility of the instruments. Furthermore, since the light source for instrument illumination is switched between day and night, it is effective in extending the life of each light source. Roughly, switching the light source mentioned above is an extra plus for the ignition switch and lighting switch, which are always operated when driving! Since the lighting device moves, there is no need to perform any special operations to switch the instrument lighting, and there is no need for troublesome operations, and it is effective as an instrument lighting device in vehicles such as automobiles.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an electric circuit diagram of a first embodiment of the instrument lighting device of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an electric circuit diagram of the second embodiment of the same. 1 and 2 are incandescent bulbs of different colors, 3 and 13 are headlights, 4 and 14 are batteries, 5 and 15 are lighting switches, 6 @ 7 and 16 are M operation switches, 8-17 are ignition switches, and 11 are Discharge lamp, 12 is an incandescent bulb.

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) Multiple light sources for instrument lighting are connected in parallel, and these light sources are selectively connected in conjunction with the operation of the ignition switch and lighting switch so that they exhibit colors and brightness suitable for day and night. A vehicle instrument lighting device characterized by lighting up.