Patent Publication Number: US-2023136371-A1

Title: Decorated switch for vehicles and interior panel for vehicles

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     The present application claims priority to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2021-0146616, filed Oct. 29, 2021, the entire contents of which is incorporated herein for all purposes by this reference. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present disclosure relates to a decorated switch for a vehicle, more particularly to a decorated switch for a vehicle and an interior panel for a vehicle including the decorated switch, the decorated switch having a structure improved by using the refraction of light that occurs on a cover or producing the cover having a surface obtaining by connecting polygonal flat surfaces with each other, so that a pattern printed on a film disposed under the flat surface is visible to a user in a form like a jewel. 
     2. Background of Technology 
     Many switches are installed in a vehicle, and the installed switches have different shapes and sizes. 
     As vehicle-related technique is developed, the demand for aesthetic factors is increasing along with the demand for excellence in driving performance such as the output or acceleration of a vehicle, and in riding comfortability realized by a suspension device. The demand for aesthetic factors includes the demand for the design of switches looking fancy, exclusive and luxurious. 
     With such a design demand, the interior including a switch of a vehicle, in particular, a passenger car, is decorated with various decorative materials. Glossy decorative materials called high glossy, metal decorative materials with a surface like metal, and wood decorative materials with a surface like wood are commonly used among the decorative materials. 
     However, the preference of consumers for the conventional decorative materials described above is gradually falling as the decorative materials have been used for a long time. Thus, the demand for decorative materials that provides a new feeling is increasing. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     One of the objects of the present disclosure is to provide a decorated switch for a vehicle and an interior panel for a vehicle, that satisfy needs of consumers by providing a switch having a surface decorated with a decorative material providing a new feeling that consumers have not experienced, such as jewelry-looking surfaces. 
     According to a first aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a switch installed in a vehicle. The switch includes a cover made of a transparent material, a plate disposed below the cover in an inner side of the cover, and a film combined to the plate, the film having a printed pattern printed thereon. The pattern printed on the film is enlarged by refraction of a light from the pattern while the light passing through the cover, and then is visible enlarged to eyes of a user. 
     The plate may be made of a transparent material. The film may be combined on a surface of the plate away from the cover or may be combined to a surface of the plate facing the cover, while the printed pattern of the film facing the cover. 
     Preferably, the cover and the plate are disposed to be spaced apart from each other by a predetermined distance so that an air layer is located between the cover and the plate. 
     Preferably, an inner surface of the cover is produced with a surface having at least one continuous portion of polygonal flat surfaces. 
     Preferably, the cover, the plate, and the film are disposed so that the cover abuts on the plate or the film, and at least a portion of an outer surface of the cover is produced with a surface having at least one continuous portion of polygonal flat surfaces. 
     The printed pattern on the film may be a continuous polygonal pattern. 
     According to a second aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided an interior panel for a vehicle including the decorated switch for a vehicle. 
     According to the present disclosure, it is possible to provide a decorated switch for a vehicle and an interior panel for a vehicle including the decorated switch for a vehicle, that is capable of providing an aesthetic feeling of jewel or crystal that is different from the known interior decoration of a vehicle without increasing the manufacturing cost too much, by using refraction of light or producing a cover having a surface obtaining by connecting polygonal flat surfaces with each other. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The above and other objectives, features, and other advantages of the present disclosure will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: 
         FIGS.  1 A to  2 B  are views for explaining various arrangements of a cover, a plate, and a film according to embodiments of the present disclosure. 
         FIG.  3 A  is a view for explaining enlargement of a pattern visible to a user by refraction of light occurring on the cover. 
         FIG.  3 B  is a view for explaining a difference in enlargement ratio of the pattern visible to the user depending on a position of an eye. 
         FIG.  4    is a picture showing an example of a polygonal pattern printed on the film. 
         FIG.  5    is a view showing that a surface of continuous or consecutive flat surfaces is formed on an inner surface of the cover according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. 
         FIG.  6    is a view showing that a surface of continuous or consecutive flat surfaces is formed on the outer surface of the cover according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. 
         FIGS.  7 A and  7 B  are views for explaining arrangement of a cover, a plate, and a film according to another embodiment of the present disclosure. 
         FIGS.  8 A and  8 B  are views for explaining that a pattern visible to a user varies depending on a position of an eye when a cover of continuous or consecutive polygonal flat surfaces is adopted according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION 
     Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the drawings in order to provide specific contents for embodying the present disclosure. 
     A decorated switch for a vehicle according to a first exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure will be described below. 
     The decorated switch for a vehicle according to an embodiment is a switch that is installed in a vehicle and can provide an excellent and unique aesthetic feeling and is configured to include a cover  10 , a plate  20 , and a film  30 . An air layer  40  filled with an air may be provided between the cover  10  and the plate  20  or between the cover  10  and the film  30 . Components such as sensors, boards, actuators, and the like related to various actions provided when a user pushes on switches may be installed below the plate  20  according to an embodiment. Such components do not directly relate to the present disclosure, and thus detailed descriptions thereof will not be provided in this specification. 
     The cover  10  may be produced with a transparent material according to an embodiment and may be produced with a material such as polycarbonate (PC). 
     As illustrated in  FIGS.  1 A to  2 B , the plate  20  may be configured to have a flat plate and be disposed below the cover  10  to be spaced from an inner side surface of the cover  10  by a predetermined distance.  FIGS.  1 A and  2 A  illustrate a state where the cover  10 , the plate  20 , and the film  30  are separated from each other.  FIGS.  1 B and  2 B  illustrate a state where the cover  10 , the plate  20 , and the film  30  are combined with each other. 
     The plate  20  functions to fix the film  30 . The cover  10  and the plate  20  may be disposed such that the above-described air layer  40  is formed to form a sense of three-dimensional space and light reflected from the film  30  is appropriately refracted. 
     The film  30  is combined to the plate  20  and has a configuration in which a predetermined pattern is printed. The film  30  may be produced in glossy or matte, and the pattern may be produced in various forms according to the preference of the user. 
     Regarding the up-down arrangement relationship between the film  30  and the plate  20 , the film  30  may be combined to the lower portion of the plate  20  as illustrated in  FIGS.  1 A and  1 B , or the film  30  may be combined to the upper portion of the plate  20  as illustrated in  FIGS.  2 A and  2 B . The plate  20  may be made of a transparent material in order to combine the film  30  to the lower portion of the plate  20 . The plate  20  may be produced with a material such as polycarbonate (PC), similar to the cover  10 . 
       FIG.  1 B or  2 B  illustrates the state where the cover  10 , the plate  20 , and the film  30  are combined with each other. The pattern printed on the film  30  is seen to be enlarged by refraction. 
       FIG.  3 A  is a exemplary view for explaining the principle that the pattern formed on the film  30  is enlarged by refraction. A in  FIG.  3 A  indicates a portion of the actually printed pattern. Light reflected from A is refracted twice in the process of passing through the cover  10 . That is, the light is firstly refracted when the light enters from the air layer  40  into the cover  10 , and is secondly refracted when the light is emitted from the cover  10  to the outside of the cover  10 . The reason that such refraction occurs is because the media of the cover  10  and the air layer  40  are different. The cover  10  is a relatively dense medium, and the air in the air layer  40  is a relatively sparse medium. Light is refracted when the light enters from a sparse medium into a dense medium and when entering from a dense medium into a sparse medium. As a result, the light passing through the cover  10  is refracted twice. 
     Such the refraction described above causes A to look like B to the eyes (e) of the user. Though B is marked under A in order to distinguish B from A in  FIG.  3 A , B and A in fact are seen to be in the same plane to the human eye. In  FIG.  3 A , the length of A is o, and the length of B is b longer than o. As described above, due to the refraction, from the perspective of human eye (e), a pattern as an enlarged image instead of the actual pattern printed on the film  30  is visible to the human eye (e). 
     The pattern of the film  30  is visible to be enlarged at a different ratio depending on the viewing angle. This is because the length of the passage of the light passing through the cover  10  is different depending on the position of the eye. As illustrated in  FIG.  3 B , the path of light reaching the left eye (e 1 ) is different from the path of light reaching the right eye (e 2 ). The lengths of the passages of the light passing through the cover  10  are set as d 1  and d 2  from such different paths. The difference in length of the passages causes different refraction paths. 
     A continuous or consecutive polygonal pattern as in the picture in  FIG.  4    may be printed on the film  30  included in the decorated switch for a vehicle according to the first example described above. In a case where the film  30  on which the continuous or consecutive polygonal pattern is printed is adopted as described above, it is possible to provide an image similar to a well-cut jewel to the eyes of the user and thus to expect an effect of providing an excellent and unique aesthetic feeling as compared to a conventional switches. 
     A decorated switch for a vehicle according to a second example of the present disclosure will be described below. 
     Similar to the above-described example, the decorated switch for a vehicle according to the second embodiment is a switch that is installed in a vehicle and can provide an excellent and unique aesthetic feeling and is configured to include a cover  10 , a plate  20 , and a film  30 . An air layer  40  filled with an air is provided between the cover  10  and the plate  20  or between the cover  10  and the film  30 . 
     The cover  10  may be made of a transparent material. The inner surface or the outer surface of the cover  10  may be produced with a surface of continuous or consecutive polygonal flat surfaces  11 . 
     For an example,  FIG.  5    shows the cover  10  in which the continuous or consecutive polygonal flat surfaces  11  are etched on the inner surface. For another example,  FIG.  6    shows the cover  10  in which the continuous or consecutive polygonal flat surfaces  11  are etched on a portion of the outer surface. 
     The plate  20  and the film  30  may have configurations corresponding to the configurations in the above-described examples, and thus detailed descriptions thereof will not be repeated. 
     The principle of the effect that can be expected when the inner surface or the outer surface of the cover  10  is etched in a form of continuous or consecutive polygonal flat surfaces is as follows. 
     The user can see the switch because light emitted from a light source, such as the sun or a lighting outside or inside the vehicle, is reflected from the switch and reaches the eyes of the user. At this time, the lights may pass through several different paths. Some rays of a light from outside of the switch are reflected from the front surface of the cover  10  and then reaches the eyes, and some rays of the light from outside of the switch pass through the cover  10 , and are reflected from the film  30 , and then reaches the eyes. The rays of the light reflected from the film  30  reach the eyes in a state of being refracted while passing through the cover  10 . 
     While the inner surface or the outer surface of the cover  10  is etched with a form of the continuous or consecutive polygonal flat surfaces  11 , because the entering angle and intensity of the light into the respective etched flat surfaces  11  may vary, and the degrees of the light being refracted on the respective etched flat surfaces  11  may vary, a three-dimensional shape is seen to the eyes of the user. 
     Even if the film  30  has a monochromatic pattern, each flat surface  11  is seen in a different color to the human eye, for example, a certain plane  11  from among the continuous or consecutive polygonal flat surfaces  11  etched on the cover  10  is seen in a dark color and another certain plane  11  is seen in a bright color. Thus, the monochromatic pattern may look as if a three-dimensional pattern is printed. 
     A third example of the present disclosure will be described below. 
       FIGS.  7 A and  7 B  are views for explaining arrangement of a cover, a plate, and a film according to another embodiment of the present disclosure.  FIGS.  8 A and  8 B  are views for explaining that a pattern visible to a user varies depending on a position of an eye when a cover of continuous or consecutive polygonal flat surfaces is adopted. 
     A decorated switch for a vehicle according to the present embodiment is configured to include a cover  10 , a plate  20 , and a film  30 . Differing from the embodiments previously described, the cover  10 , the plate  20 , and the film  30  are disposed such that the cover  10  abuts on the plate  20  or the film  30 . In a case where the film  30  is located on an side of the plate  20  away from the cover  10  as illustrated in  FIG.  7 A , the cover  10  abuts on the plate  20 . In a case where the film  30  is located on a side of the plate  20  toward or facing the cover  10 , the cover  10  abuts on the film  30 . In both cases of  FIG.  7 A  and  FIG.  7 B , the printed patter on the film  30  are placed facing the cover  10 . 
     As similar to features illustrated in  FIGS.  6  to  7 B , in the decorated switch for a vehicle according to the present example, continuous or consecutive polygonal flat surfaces  11  are etched on (a portion of) the outer surface of the cover  10 . 
       FIGS.  8 A and  8 B  are views for explaining that the same patterns are seen in different foams due to refraction varying depending on the positions of the eyes. The pattern indicated by C is seen as D at the position of the eye illustrated in  FIG.  8 A , but the pattern indicated by C′ is seen as D′ at the position of the eye illustrated in  FIG.  8 B . The patterns indicated by C and C′ are actually the same patterns, but are seen as D or D′ depending on the position of the eye of the user. D and D′ indicate the similar patterns, but the sizes or the positions thereof are seen to differ. This is also a phenomenon that occurs because the refraction of the light incident on the eye varies depending on the position of the eye. 
     As described above, the present disclosure has an effect of giving a user an excellent and unique decorative feeling by forming any one pattern to look different depending on the position of the eye with the principle of refraction. 
     If continuous or consecutive polygonal flat surfaces are etched on either the inner or outer surface of the cover  10 , the visual effect is similar. In a case where the outer surface of the cover  10  is etched, the outer surface itself may have unevenness. In a case where the inner surface of the cover  10  is etched, the outer surface is smooth. Thus, which surface the polygonal flat surface is etched on is an optional point, and may be appropriately selected by the preference survey of the user. The flat surfaces  11  may be etched on both the inner surface and the outer surface of the cover  10 . In this case, a complex pattern is visible to the eyes of the user. Such a point is also included in the options, and which surface the flat surface is etched on may be determined by the preference survey of the user. 
     The embodiments of the present disclosure may be applied to any interior panel for a vehicle including the above-described decorated switch for a vehicle. The interior panel for a vehicle refers to all panels installed in the vehicle. As long as a panel is installed in the vehicle, this panel may serve as the interior panel for a vehicle regardless of the installation location such as a door, a dashboard, and a ceiling. 
     The interior panel for a vehicle is characterized by the above-described decorated switch for a vehicle, and there is no difficulty in applying the decorated switch for a vehicle to other interior panels for a vehicle. Thus, the additional description of other interior panels for a vehicle will be omitted. 
     Hitherto, the three examples of the present disclosure have been described to provide the specific contents for embodying the present disclosure. However, the technical ideas of the present disclosure are not limited to the above examples, and decorated switches for a vehicle and interior panels for a vehicle including the decorated switches for a vehicle can be made in various forms within a range without departing from the technical ideas of the present disclosure. 
     Also, it is noted that any one feature of an embodiment of the present disclosure described in the specification may be applied to another embodiment of the present disclosure. 
     Although the above description of the present disclosure has been provided for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions, and substitutions are possible, without departing from essential characteristics of the disclosure. Therefore, embodiments of the present disclosure are not intended to limit the technical spirit of the disclosure but rather to describe the technical spirit of the disclosure, and the scope of the disclosure is not to be limited by the above embodiments. The scope of the present disclosure is defined only by the accompanying claims and the equivalents thereof.