Patent Application
20170219392
The present disclosure relates to an instrument panel cluster.
This section provides background information related to the present disclosure, which is not necessarily prior art.
Instrument clusters are often used with vehicles or other machinery to convey information to a driver or operator of the machinery. For example, instrument clusters are often used to convey vehicle speed, engine speed, engine temperature, fuel level, engine oil level, etc. Instrument clusters often include one or more pointer needles, which are movable to point to different portions of a meter or gauge in order to convey information to the driver/operator. The pointer needles are often illuminated, such as when vehicle headlights are activated, in order to enhance visibility of the pointer needle when the vehicle is being operated at night. While current instrument clusters are suitable for their intended use, they are subject to improvement. The present teachings provide improved instrument cluster assemblies, which address numerous needs in the art and provide various advantages, as described herein and as one skilled in the art will recognize.
This section provides a general summary of the disclosure, and is not a comprehensive disclosure of its full scope or all of its features.
The present teachings provide for an instrument cluster assembly including a display screen having a backlight. A pointer is movable to point to different portions of an instrument cluster gauge in order to convey information to a driver or operator. A light guide is included with the pointer. The light guide is configured to receive light from the backlight of the display screen, and illuminate the pointer.
Further areas of applicability will become apparent from the description provided herein. The description and specific examples in this summary are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.
The drawings described herein are for illustrative purposes only of select embodiments and not all possible implementations, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.
Corresponding reference numerals indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views of the drawings.
Example embodiments will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings.
With initial reference to
The gauge 20 can be configured to convey any suitable type of information to the driver/operator. For example, when the gauge 20 is included with a vehicle instrument cluster, the gauge 20 can be configured as any one of a speedometer, engine speed gauge, fuel level gauge, engine temperature gauge, engine oil level gauge, etc. The numerals 24 may be printed on the instrument cluster assembly 10 in any suitable manner, or be displayed by the display screen 12. When the numerals 24 are displayed by the display screen 12, the display screen 12 can readily change the numerals 24 that are displayed in order change the type of gauge 20 displayed. For example, the driver/operator can change the gauge 20 from a speedometer to a tachometer according to driver preference.
Although the instrument cluster assembly 10 is described herein as a vehicle instrument cluster assembly. The instrument cluster assembly 10 can be used with any other type of equipment or machinery, such as generators, building HVAC systems, security systems, military systems, or any other suitable equipment. With respect to vehicles, the instrument cluster assembly 10 can be used with any suitable vehicle, such as a passenger vehicle, motorcycle, mass transit vehicle, watercraft, aircraft, construction equipment, military vehicle, etc.
The pointer 50 generally includes a hub 52 and a needle 54 extending from the hub 52. With additional reference to
The pointer 50 includes a light guide, which has a light receiving or pickup portion 62, and an illuminated indicator portion 64. The light pickup portion 62 is arranged on an inner surface of the hub 52, which faces the display screen 12. The illuminated indicator portion 64 is arranged along a length of the needle 54. As illustrated in
The display screen 12 is any suitable display screen, and as illustrated in
Illuminating the pointer 50 with light from the backlight 80 of the display screen 12 provides numerous advantages. For example, using the backlight 80 eliminates the need for a separate light source for illuminating the pointer 50, thereby simplifying the instrument cluster assembly 10 and reducing the assembly time and overall cost of the instrument cluster assembly 10. Furthermore, the color of light emitted at the illuminated indicator portion 64 can be regularly and easily changed using color filters included with the TFT layer 84.
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The foregoing description of the embodiments has been provided for purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the disclosure. Individual elements or features of a particular embodiment are generally not limited to that particular embodiment, but, where applicable, are interchangeable and can be used in a selected embodiment, even if not specifically shown or described. The same may also be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the disclosure, and all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the disclosure.
Example embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough, and will fully convey the scope to those who are skilled in the art. Numerous specific details are set forth such as examples of specific components, devices, and methods, to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments of the present disclosure. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that specific details need not be employed, that example embodiments may be embodied in many different forms and that neither should be construed to limit the scope of the disclosure. In some example embodiments, well-known processes, well-known device structures, and well-known technologies are not described in detail.
The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular example embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting. As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” may be intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. The terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “including,” and “having,” are inclusive and therefore specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. The method steps, processes, and operations described herein are not to be construed as necessarily requiring their performance in the particular order discussed or illustrated, unless specifically identified as an order of performance. It is also to be understood that additional or alternative steps may be employed.
When an element or layer is referred to as being “on,” “engaged to,” “connected to,” or “coupled to” another element or layer, it may be directly on, engaged, connected or coupled to the other element or layer, or intervening elements or layers may be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being “directly on,” “directly engaged to,” “directly connected to,” or “directly coupled to” another element or layer, there may be no intervening elements or layers present. Other words used to describe the relationship between elements should be interpreted in a like fashion (e.g., “between” versus “directly between,” “adjacent” versus “directly adjacent,” etc.). As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.
Although the terms first, second, third, etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, components, regions, layers and/or sections, these elements, components, regions, layers and/or sections should not be limited by these terms. These terms may be only used to distinguish one element, component, region, layer or section from another region, layer or section. Terms such as “first,” “second,” and other numerical terms when used herein do not imply a sequence or order unless clearly indicated by the context. Thus, a first element, component, region, layer or section discussed below could be termed a second element, component, region, layer or section without departing from the teachings of the example embodiments.
Spatially relative terms, such as “inner,” “outer,” “beneath,” “below,” “lower,” “above,” “upper,” and the like, may be used herein for ease of description to describe one element or feature's relationship to another element(s) or feature(s) as illustrated in the figures. Spatially relative terms may be intended to encompass different orientations of the device in use or operation in addition to the orientation depicted in the figures. For example, if the device in the figures is turned over, elements described as “below” or “beneath” other elements or features would then be oriented “above” the other elements or features. Thus, the example term “below” can encompass both an orientation of above and below. The device may be otherwise oriented (rotated 90 degrees or at other orientations) and the spatially relative descriptors used herein interpreted accordingly.
