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US 9,333,910 B2Granted
Display element, display instrument, display method, use of an optical waveguide and vehicle
AssigneeAudi AG
InventorStephan Schwantner
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A display element can be used to represent bars of variable length. The display instrument may have a plurality of light chambers which are disposed adjacent to one another and in each case have a light barrier to the respective adjacent light chamber. The light chambers each have an optical waveguide. The light barrier is formed from one side of the optical waveguide which is impermeable to light or only partially light-permeable. Moreover, a corresponding display instrument, vehicle and display method may use the optical waveguide and the display element.
Claims14
A display element comprising:
- a plurality of light chambers arranged alongside one another, each comprising:
- a light barrier to a respectively adjacent light chamber;
- and
- an optical waveguide provided for each light chamber so as to be spaced apart from the optical waveguide of the respectively adjacent light chamber, wherein
- each optical waveguide has a side which is light-nontransmissive or only partly light-transmissive, to thereby form the light barrier to the respectively adjacent light chamber.
- wherein
- the display element further comprises:
- a printed circuit board;
- and
- a dial plate arranged substantially parallel to the printed circuit board,
- each optical waveguide extends from the printed circuit board to the dial plate, each optical waveguide having a lower edged flush with the printed circuit board and an upper edge flush with the dial plate.
8 more elements
A display method, comprising:
- providing a display element having plurality of light chambers arranged alongside one another, each light chamber comprising:
- a light barrier to a respectively adjacent light chamber;
- and
- an optical waveguide provided for each light chamber so as to be spaced apart from the optical waveguide of the respectively adjacent light chamber, wherein
- each optical waveguide has a side which is light-nontransmissive or only partly light-transmissive, to thereby form the light barrier to the respectively adjacent light chamber;
- and
- illuminating a plurality of immediately adjacent light chambers such that between currently illuminated light chambers no light chamber is left unilluminated and an uninterrupted bar is represented by the currently illuminated light chambers of the display element,
- wherein
- the display element further comprises:
- a printed circuit board;
- and
- a dial plate arranged substantially parallel to the printed circuit board, and
- each optical waveguide extends from the printed circuit board to the dial plate, each optical waveguide having a lower edge flush with the printed circuit board and an upper edge flush with the dial plate.
10 more elements
A method comprising:
- partitioning a display element into light chambers using a plurality of optical waveguides, each optical waveguide having a light-nontransmissive or only partly light-transmissive side to form a light barrier between a pair of respectively adjacent light chambers;
- and
- wherein each optical waveguide is spaced apart from the optical waveguide of a respectively adjacent light chamber,
- wherein
- the display element further comprises:
- a printed circuit board;
- and
- a dial plate arranged substantially parallel to the printed circuit board, and
- each optical waveguide extends from the printed circuit board to the dial plate, each optical waveguide having a lower edge flush with the printed circuit board and an upper edge flush with the dial plate.
6 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.