Decorative part

The decorative part of this invention, which means a part having an aesthetically treated indication, comprises a first indicator which permits the transmission of light, a semitransparent part placed behind the first indicator which reflects the light coming from the front and passes the light coming from the rear, a second indicator which permits the partial transmission of light and is placed behind the semitransparent part, and an illuminant placed behind the second indicator. Thus, it is possible to switch the display of the decorative part as desired by turning on and off the illuminant at proper time.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
The present invention relates to a decorative part suitable for an emblem, 
top mark, decorative molding, or nameplate of a car. More particularly, 
the invention relates to a decorative part which is improved such that the 
characters or patterns on an emblem or top mark can be changed as 
required. An emblem is an object that shows the name of manufacturer, the 
name of car, the class of car, etc. in a symbolized sign. A top mark is an 
object bearing the above-mentioned sign which is mounted on the front part 
of the hood. A molding is a long narrow member used for external 
decoration of a car. A nameplate is an object which indicates the name of 
manufacturer in letters. A garnish is a decorative part which covers a 
certain part or edge of the interior of a car. 
2. Description of the Prior Art 
The typical decorative parts used in cars include emblems, top marks, 
moldings, and nameplates. The main constituent in these decorative parts 
is the indicator showing characters, patterns, and/or symbols in certain 
thickness. In the case of conventional decorative parts, it is impossible 
to change what the indicator shows whenever required. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention was completed with the above-mentioned technical 
background in mind. Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to 
provide an improved decorative part having a plurality of indicators which 
can be switched from one to another whenever required, for example, in 
daytime and at night. 
The decorative part of this invention comprises a first indicator which 
permits the transmission of light, a semitransparent part placed behind 
said first indicator which reflects the light coming from the front and 
passes the light coming from the rear, a second indicator which permits 
the partial transmission of light and is placed behind said 
semitransparent part, and an illuminant placed behind said second 
indicator. The term "front" means that side of the decorative part which 
faces a person who watches the decorative part, and the term "rear" means 
that side of the decorative part which is farthest from a person who 
watches the decorative part. 
The decorative part of this invention means a part having an aesthetically 
treated indicator. Examples of such decorative parts include emblems, top 
marks, moldings, nameplates, garnishes, and number plates which are used 
for vehicles, particularly automobiles. However, the usage of the 
decorative part of this invention is not limited to them; it will be 
suitably used for decorating the exterior and interior of a car. 
The first indicator, which is one of the constituents of the invention, is 
an object which shows a specific sign. Usually, it is made of coated film 
or deposited film that forms aesthetically designed characters, patterns 
or symbols. 
In the case where the decorative part of this invention is used as an 
emblem, the pattern formed on the surface of the emblem is the first 
indicator. In the case where it is used as a nameplate, what constitutes 
the characters of the name is the first indicator. The first indicator is 
placed at that side of the decorative part which faces a person who 
watches the decorative part. Incidentally, the first indicator is given a 
proper color according to the application of the decorative part. 
The first indicator is required to have a property that permits the 
transmittance of light. Therefore, it should be made of a colored 
semitransparent film. For example, it should preferably be made up of a 
transparent substrate and a colored translucent film formed on the surface 
thereof. The thickness of the translucent film should preferably be 10 to 
100 micrometers. This translucent film may be formed by screen printing or 
spray coating on the surface of a transparent substrate. Usually, the ink 
or paint for printing or coating is of translucent type. The translucent 
film may also be formed by sputtering, vacuum deposition, or ion plating 
of metal or ceramics on the surface of a transparent substrate. 
The transparent substrate may be in any form, e.q., thin plate, thick 
plate, film, or concave or convex lens. The substrate should preferably be 
as transparent as possible. Thus the substrate should preferably be made 
of transparent glass or plastics. The substrate should preferably be 
colorless and transparent; but it may be colored and transparent. A 
transparent substrate may be made of polyvinyl chloride resin, ABS resin, 
polycarbonate resin, or acrylic resin. 
The semitransparent part, which is one of the constituents of the 
invention, reflects the light coming from the front and passes the light 
coming from the rear. The light coming from the front means the light 
which is emitted from the front side or the side of the person who watches 
the decorative part. The light coming from the rear means the light which 
is emitted from the opposite side of the person who watches the decorative 
part or the light which is emitted by the illuminant. The light means 
visible light. The reflectance for the light coming from the front and the 
transmittance for the light coming from the rear should be as high as 
possible. The semitransparent part may be formed by any known means such 
as thin film technology. For example, it may be formed by sputtering or 
vacuum deposition on the back of said substrate. The thin film thus formed 
increases the transmittance of the light coming from the rear and the 
reflectance of the light coming from the front. The thin film may be made 
of TiO, CeO, Al, Ag, Cr, or Au. The thickness of the thin film should 
preferably be 100 to 1000 A. The thin film may be a single layer or 
multiple layers. In the latter case, a titanium oxide film or the like 
having a high refractive index and a silicon dioxide film or the like 
having a low refractive index are laminated on top of the other. The 
multilayered thin film is more effective in the prevention of the 
reflection of the light coming from the rear and the increase of the 
reflection of the light coming fromthe front. A known half-mirror may also 
be used as the semitransparent part. 
The second indicator, which is one of the constituents of the invention, is 
intended to show a specific sign in the same way as the first indicator. 
Usually, it bears aesthetically designed characters, or symbols. In the 
case where the decorative part of this invention is used as an emblem, the 
pattern of the emblem is drawn on the second indicator. In the case where 
it is used as a nameplate, the characters of the name are written on the 
second indicator. 
The second indicator is required to be at least partially transparent. 
Those sections which pass the light perform display. The second indicator 
may be formed by opening windows on a light-shielding material. In this 
case, the windows not covered by the light-shielding material permits the 
transmission of light, whereby performing a desired display. The second 
indicator may be formed by screen printing a lightshielding ink or paint 
on a transparent or translucent film or plate, whereby forming a 
light-shielding film and simultaneously forming windows. The 
light-shielding film should preferably be 70 micrometers. The 
lightshielding film of the second indicator may be formed by plating, 
vacuum deposition, sputtering, or ion plating. Those sections where the 
light-shielding film is not formed become the above-mentioned windows. 
The illuminant, which is one of the constituents of the invention, is 
placed behind the second indicator. The illuminant may be of any type so 
long as it is capable of emitting light toward the semitransparent part. 
Thus any known illuminant may be used. An illuminant having a luminance of 
1 to 1000 foot Lambert is desirable. A typical illuminant that can be used 
is an electroluminescent panel which emits light upon application of 
electrical field to a fluorescent substance. The electroluminescent panel 
(EL panel) is formed by attaching electrodes to both sides of a 
lightemitting layer of zinc sulfide (ZnS) or zinc selenide (ZnSe) in the 
form of panel. When a voltage is applied across the electrodes, the 
light-emitting layer emits light. The luminance of the EL panel formed as 
mentioned above is not so high for illumination; but it is sufficient for 
a person to recognize characters from a distance at night. The EL panel 
has many advantages. It has a luminance of 1 to 100 foot Lambert. It can 
be recognized easily. It emits light in many different colors. It is a 
surface illuminant. The voltage to be applied to an EL panel is 50 to 150 
volts. This voltage can be supplied by using a booster (which raises the 
battery voltage--12 V) in the case where an EL panel is used on a car. The 
El panel in this invention may be distributed type, thin film type, glass 
type, enamel type, or flexible type. The color of the EL panel may be 
selected from green, blue, red, yellow, white, white yellow, or yellow 
orange. In the meantime, the EL panel is vulnerable to moisture, and 
therefore, it should be provided with a moistureproofing means, such as 
moistureproof coating or embedding in a transparent plastic, in the case 
where it is used for a decorative part such as an emblem of a car. The 
illuminant is not necessarily limited to an EL panel; a light-emitting 
diode or fluorescent lamp may be used according to the type of the 
decorative part. 
The above-mentioned first indicator, second indicator, semitransparent 
part, and illuminant may be accomodated in a container or frame when in 
use. 
We have described the structure of the decorative part of this invention. 
Now we describe in the following the typical usage of the decorative part 
of this invention. 
In an instance where it is desirable to let the first indicator work in 
daytime or at a bright place, the illuminant is turned off so that the 
light from the illuminant does not enter the semitransparent part. In such 
an instance, the first indicator is visible to a person watching the front 
of the decorative part, but the second indicator is completely invisible 
or hardly visible, because the illuminant is turned off and the light 
coming from the front is mostly reflected by the semitransparent part. 
In another instance where it is desirable to let the second indicator work 
at night or at a dark place, the illuminant is caused to emit light by 
applying an electric current. The light from the illuminant passes through 
the windows on the second indicator, the semitransparent part, and the 
first indicator and reaches the person in front of the decorative part. In 
other words, the second indicator is visible to the person in front of the 
decorative part; but the first indicator is completely invisible or hardly 
visible because it is transparent. 
As mentioned above, the first indicator is visible when the illuminant is 
turned off in daytime or at a bright place, and the second indicator is 
visible when the illuminant is turned on at night or at a dark place. Thus 
it is possible to switch the display of the decorative part as desired by 
turning on and off the illuminant at a proper time. In other words, the 
decorative part of this invention displays the first indicator when the 
illuminant is turned off in daytime or at a bright place, and displays the 
second indicator when the illuminant is turned on at night or at a dark 
place.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
FIGS. 1 to 4 illustrate an embodiment of the decorative part of this 
invention. FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view. FIG. 2 is a 
longitudinal sectional view, with the important parts disassembled. The 
illustrated decorative part is designed for use on the hood. The 
decorative part in this example is made up of a first indicator 1, a 
semitransparent part 2 placed behind the first indicator 1, a second 
indicator 3 placed behind the semitransparent part 2, and an illuminant 
(EL panel) 4 placed behind the second indicator 3. 
The first indicator 1 bears the character A as shown in FIG. 3. The 
character A is formed by applying a yellow acrylic paint to the back of a 
transparent substrate 5 made of clear acrylic resin, as shown in FIG. 2. 
The yellow acrylic paint forms a translucent film 6. The thickness of the 
substrate 5 is 2 to 4 mm and the thickness of the translucent film 6 is 
about 50 micrometers. 
The semitransparent part 2 is formed by aluminum sputtering on the back of 
the substrate 5. The thickness of the sputtering film is 200 A. The 
semitransparent part 2 passes the light in the direction from (B) to (A) 
in FIG. 2 but reflects most of the light in the direction from (A) to (B) 
in FIG. 2. This semitransparent part 2 conceals the light-shielding part 9 
in daytime. 
The EL panel 4 is composed of a transparent electrode layer made of ITO 
(indium-tin oxide), a lightemitting layer of zinc sulfide, an aluminum 
electrode layer, and lead wires connected to the electrodes. This EL panel 
is of organic dispersion type, having a thickness of 0.8 mm. It emits 
green light when activated with 60 volts, 400 Hz. The luminance is about 
12 foot Lambert. 
The second indicator in this example bears the character B as shown in FIG. 
4. The character is formed on a 200-micron thick transparent polyester 
film 8 with a light-shielding part 9, with windows 10 left uncoated. In 
this example, the light-shielding part 9 is formed by applying a black 
acrylic paint in a thickness of about 70 micrometers by screen printing. 
The above-mentioned first indicator 1, semitransparent part 2, second 
indicator 3, and EL panel 4 are accommodated in a frame 11 made of ABS 
resin. 
If the EL panel 4 is turned off in daytime, the character A on the first 
indicator is visible to a person in front of the decorative part or at the 
side (C) in FIG. 1. This is because the side (C) is bright in daytime. The 
character B on the second indicator is completely invisible or hardly 
visible. This is because the bright light entering from the side (C) is 
reflected for the most part by the semitransparent part 2 and the EL panel 
4 which is turned off looks dark. 
The EL panel 4 is turned on at night so that emits green light. The light 
emitted from the EL panel is partly intercepted by the light-shielding 
part 9; but the other part of the light passes through the windows 10, the 
semitransparent part 2, and the transparent substrate 5. As the result, 
the second indicator 3 is visible in green color to a person in front of 
the decorative part. In this instance, the character A is hardly visible 
because it is made of the translucent film 6 and the surrounding of the 
decorative part is dark at night. 
The above-mentioned example which employs the EL panel 4 as an illuminant 
has the following advantages. The second indicator is highly visible at 
night or in a dark place. 
The EL panel, which is a surface illuminant, makes it possible to display a 
large area. The EL panel consumes only a small amount of electric energy. 
The EL panel is thin, say 0.8 mm, and this makes it possible to produce a 
thin decorative part. The EL panel is superior in shock resistance. For 
these advantages, the decorative part of this invention is suitable for 
emblems, top marks, etc. of a car.