JP2000100275A - Switch of electrical equipment for automobile - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To emit the light emitted from a knob at an angle by which only the direct light enters into the visual field of a driver so as to prevent the reflected light from entering into the eyes of the driver or the like and troubling him or her by forming an opening part at a part of the knob of a switch and by arranging, at the opening part, a tip part of an optical member for guiding light from a light source corresponding to an operating state of the switch to emit the light only in a desired direction. SOLUTION: In an optical member, a prism 31 is arranged at a light emitting side end part, an optical path 32 for effectively guiding the light to the prism 31 is arranged between the prism 31 and a light source, and a light source side end part 33 is so formed into an angle and a curved surface corresponding to the position and size of the light source as to effectively converge the light and to effectively guide the light rays in the optical path 32. A projecting tip part 34 having a small dimension in both width and height is formed at the tip part of the prism 31, and the projecting tip part 34 is fitted to the opening part of the knob. Thereby, the light from the prism 31 is formed into two lines of optical flux divided rightward and leftward and emitted, so that it can be concurrently used for both an automobile with a right-hand drive and one with a left-hand drive.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to various switches for electrical components for automobiles having an illumination knob for indicating an operation state.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The basic structure of a switch of this kind for electrical equipment for automobiles is generally a bottomed cylindrical shape having a substantially rectangular cross section, and a terminal connected to each circuit is provided at an open front end. The bottom end has a knob, and when the knob is pushed, the movable part integrated with the knob is slid to the back and held in a state where the built-in switch is turned on,
When the switch is pushed again, the holding state is released, the movable portion is returned to the front position, and the switch is turned off, which is a switch of a so-called push-push mechanism. The switch is connected to the terminal portion, and a light source such as a miniature light bulb installed in the internal space is turned on / off in response to the opening / closing operation of the switch, and the light can be observed from the opening of the knob. The operation state of the switch can be confirmed. This type of switch is embedded and installed in the dashboard with the knob part exposed, and the knob is marked with a white mark corresponding to the standard to identify the switch. It has been done. Therefore, the light of the lamp inside the switch case can be observed through the white mark portion, so that it is possible to immediately recognize what switch is ON even at night.

However, since the light of the lighting knob is used to confirm the operation of the switch, it is necessary for the driver to sense the light even during the day, so that strong light is used. It hits glass and reflects. There has been a problem that the reflected light makes a driver or the like feel annoying, especially during running at night. As a countermeasure, a louver has conventionally been used to impart directivity to light to restrict the radiation direction of the light. However, this louver cannot be arranged in any type of switch, and a louver cannot be used in a switch that takes into account current design requirements.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, direct light is applied to the driver's field of view so that the reflected light of the light emitted from the illumination knob does not enter the eyes of the driver or the like and bother them. An object of the present invention is to provide a switch for a high-directivity automotive electrical component which is emitted at an angle enough to enter.

[0005]

An opening is provided in a part of a knob for opening and closing a switch in a switch of an electric component for an automobile, and light from a light source corresponding to the operation state of the switch is guided to emit light only in a desired direction. An optical member that emits light is used, and the tip of the optical member is arranged in the opening.

[0006]

1 and 2 show an embodiment of the present invention.
Shown in 1 is an external view, A is a front view from the knob side, and B is
2 is a side view thereof, and FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. First, the outline of the switch structure according to the present invention will be described with reference to the cross-sectional view of FIG. 1 is a switch case, 2 is a knob fitted to the tip of the sliding body 3, 4 is a terminal guide member for guiding the terminal 5, and 6 is a circuit board for holding the terminal piece and the valve 12. Reference numeral 11 denotes an optical member constituting an optical system which is a feature of the present invention. Reference numeral 13 denotes a pin attached to the circuit board 6, and the tip of the pin is inserted into a guide groove 14 provided in the sliding member 3. The pin 13 and the guide groove 14 form a so-called push-push mechanism in cooperation with a spring (not shown in the drawing, which is located at the back of the drawing) interposed between the sliding member 3 and the terminal guide member 4. I have. That is, when the knob 2 is pushed against the spring force, the knob 2 and the sliding body 3 slide backward. When the hand is released, the sliding body receives the force pushed back by the spring force, but the pin 13 engages with the engaging portion provided in the guide groove of the sliding member 3 to maintain the sliding position. When the knob 2 is pushed again, the engagement of the pin 13 is released, and the slide 3 is returned to the initial position by the spring force. A short-circuiting piece (not shown) is attached to the sliding body 3 to short-circuit the two terminals in a state where the terminal is slid and to release the terminal when the terminal is returned to the initial position, thereby forming a slide switch. ing.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the display of the switch identification mark and the pilot lamp for monitoring the opening and closing operation of the switch are separated. By doing so, the pilot lamp needs light that can be identified during the day, but it is not necessary to illuminate the entire mark, so a small opening is sufficient, and the identification mark does not require a backlight during the day. It is sufficient to turn on the light only at night because identification is possible, and since weak light is sufficient, reflection of window glass or the like does not matter. Therefore, only the pilot lamp needs to be considered for the directivity of light. FIG. 3 shows an example of the circuit. 51
55 to 55 are terminal strips, 12 is a pilot lamp, 15 is an identification mark lamp, and 16 is a switch. The terminal strip 51 is supplied with the positive voltage of the pilot lamp 12, the terminal strip 52 is supplied with the negative voltage of the pilot lamp 12, and the terminal strip 51 and the terminal strip 53 are switch terminals of the electrical circuit. The terminal piece 54 has an identification mark lamp 1
5, the negative voltage of the identification mark lamp 15 is supplied to the terminal strip 55.

When the knob 2 is pushed, the switch 16 is
When N, the switch terminal pieces 52 and 53 of the electric circuit are short-circuited, and the pilot lamp 12 is turned on, indicating that the switch of the electric circuit is ON. Lamp 1 for identification mark
5 is always connected to the terminal pieces 54 and 55 regardless of this switch. The terminal strip can be appropriately turned on when desired by a separate night switch (not shown). For this reason, the driver can easily recognize the position of the switch of the electrical equipment that he / she wants to use even at night. The present invention is characterized in that an optical member is used in order to have efficient directivity so that the strong light of the pilot lamp 12 is not emitted outside the driver's field of view. As can be seen from FIG. 1, an opening 21 for a pilot lamp, an identification mark 22, and a group of small non-slip projections 23 are provided on the surface of the knob 2.

[0009]

Embodiment 1 FIG. 4 shows a preferred embodiment of the present invention. 4A is a plan view, and FIG. 4B is a side view. This optical path member 11 has a feature in that a triangular prism 31 is disposed at an end on the light emission side. An optical path 32 for efficiently guiding light to the triangular prism 31 is disposed between the triangular prism 31 and the pilot lamp 12 as a light source, and the light source side end 33 has an efficiency corresponding to the position and size of the light source. Angles and curved surfaces are designed so that light is well condensed and light rays are efficiently guided in the optical path. At the tip of the triangular prism, a convex portion whose width and height are both reduced is formed, and this portion is fitted into the pilot lamp opening 21 of the knob 2.
The triangular prism portion 31 and the optical path 32 are connected to the connecting portion 3.
6 form an integral structure. 35 is a collar,
When the optical path member 11 is stored and held in the storage section formed in the sliding member 3, it engages with the end of the storage section to perform a positioning function. Reference numeral 37 denotes a chamfered part which is adapted to the shape of the storage part, so that the mounting direction relationship of the optical path member 11 is not mistaken. The light of the pilot lamp 12 as a light source is condensed at the end 33, forms an efficient light flux, travels through the optical path 32, exits the air layer from the end where the flange 35 is present, and enters the triangular prism 31. At this time, since the air and the prism have different refractive indexes, light incident at an incident angle is refracted on the prism surface. When a triangular prism having a shape as in this embodiment is used, light is emitted as two light beams separated to the left and right as shown in FIG.
This angle is designed to be compatible with right-hand drive and left-hand drive cars. The reason why the shape of the tip of the convex portion 34 of the prism has an angle is that the output angle in the vertical direction is determined in consideration of the installation position and orientation of the switch and the standard height of the driver's eyes. . As the material of the optical member 11, those used for plastic lenses such as diglycol diallyl carbonate, polymethyl methacrylate, polystyrene, and polycarbonate are suitable. Of course, glass may be used, but plastic is preferable because handling becomes troublesome.

[0010]

Embodiment 2 In the following embodiment, the shape of the triangular prism is changed as shown in FIG. This is only for the right handle without dividing the emitted light, and there is no difference from the first embodiment. If you reverse the direction of the prism, you can naturally make one for the left handle.

[0011]

Embodiment 3 FIG. 7 shows a still further embodiment in which an optical fiber is used as the optical member 11. This example utilizes the flexibility of an optical fiber and is applied to the present invention. The light source end of the bundle of optical fibers is expanded, and the light is efficiently condensed so as to surround the pilot lamp 12. Is installed in the opening 21. It is possible to obtain a light beam having higher directivity than the tip of the fiber. By installing a mechanism for rotating and displacing the bundle of fibers to the left and right at a position slightly distant from the opening as a fulcrum, it is possible to change the light emission direction. Further, it is also easy to divide the bundle into two sets and emit them as two light beams separated to the left and right as in the first embodiment, so that the bundle also serves as the left and right handles.

[0012]

According to the present invention, an opening is provided in a part of a knob for opening and closing a switch in a switch of an electric component for an automobile, and light from a light source corresponding to the operation state of the switch is guided to emit light only in a desired direction. The optical member that emits light is used, and the distal end portion is arranged in the opening, so that the reflected light of the light emitted from the lighting knob does not enter the eyes of the driver or the like, and bother the user. As described above, it is possible to provide a switch of a high-directivity automotive electrical component in which direct light is emitted at an angle enough to enter the driver's field of view. In addition, by separating the pilot lamp that monitors the opening and closing operation of the switch from the lamp for the identification mark that specifies the type of electrical equipment, the window of the knob can be small, and the light efficiency can be reduced by using an optical path. In addition, the light can be guided well and the directivity can be increased, so that a strong light source is not required unlike the related art. In addition, the identification lamp may have a brightness enough to allow the mark to be identified at night and can be turned off during the day, thereby saving energy as a whole.

[0013] Further, in the case of adopting a configuration in which the light is emitted as two light beams separated to the left and right by the optical system, it can be used also as the left and right handles, which is advantageous in terms of cost. If the backlight that illuminates the identification mark is installed separately from the pilot lamp, it can be displayed when necessary regardless of the operation of the switch, so it can be always displayed at night etc. Can be easily detected by the operator.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external view of a switch of the present invention, where A is a front view and B is
Is a side view.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the switch of the present invention, taken along the line 1A-A of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a basic circuit diagram of the switch of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a view showing one embodiment of the optical member of the present invention, wherein A is a plan view and B is a side view.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a light emission direction by a prism according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a light emission direction of a prism according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a light emission direction of an optical fiber according to a third embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Switch case 22 Identification mark 2 Knob 23 Non-slip protrusion group 3 Sliding body 31 Prism 4 Terminal guide member 32 Optical path 5 Terminal 33 Light source side end part 11 Optical member 34 Tip convex part 12 Pilot lamp 35 Flange part 13 Pin 36 Connection part 14 Guide Groove 37 Chamfer 15 Identification Mark Lamp 38 Optical Fiber 16 Switch 51-55 Terminal Strip 21 Opening

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 5G006 JA01 JB01 JC02 JF01 JF22 JF26 5G052 AA24 BB01 JA02 JA09 JB03 JB12 JC05 JC07

Claims (5)

[Claims] An opening is provided in a part of a knob for opening and closing a switch, and an optical member that guides light from a light source corresponding to an operation state of the switch and emits light only in a desired direction is used. A switch for electrical components for automobiles, wherein a switch is disposed in the opening. 2. The switch according to claim 1, wherein light is emitted only in a desired direction by using a prism for the optical member. 3. The switch according to claim 1, wherein the desired direction is set to two directions that are easy to see for the driver of the left and right steering wheels. 4. The switch according to claim 1, wherein the knob is provided with a translucent identification mark separately from the opening, and a backlight light source different from the light source is installed. 5. An optical member comprising a prism on a light emitting side and an optical path for efficiently guiding light from a light source to the prism, and a light source side end of the optical path allows light to efficiently enter the optical path. 5. The switch according to claim 2, wherein said switch has a shape having an inclination with respect to a light source and a condensing curved surface.