Patent ID: 8120506

Claim:
A display unit comprising: a doughnut-shaped dial having a substantially circular hole at the center thereof; a circular display device provided beneath the dial, a front surface of the display device being viewable via the hole of the dial with marginal area of the front surface of the display device covered by the dial; and an indicating needle that turns about a shaft provided beneath the display device, the indicating needle including: (a) an elongated substrate that extends beneath the display device in a radial direction with respect to the shaft, with one end secured to the shaft and with the other end reaching a space more outward in the radial direction than an edge of the display device; (b) a light source provided on a portion of the substrate, the portion being more outward in the radial direction than the edge of the display device; and (c) a light guide including a first light-guide portion extending upward in an axial direction with respect to the shaft, past the edge of the display device, with one end thereof facing a surface of the light source and with the other end thereof reaching a space higher in the axial direction than the display device, a second light-guide portion extending inward in the radial direction with one end thereof continuing to the other end of the first light-guide portion and the other end thereof residing above the display unit and more inward in the radial direction than an inner periphery of the dial, a third light-guide portion extending upward in the axial direction with one end thereof continuing to the second light-guide portion and with the other end thereof reaching a space higher than the dial, and a needle portion extending outward in the radial direction with one end thereof continuing to the other end of the third light-guide portion and the other end thereof residing above the dial so that the dial is pointed to by the other end of the needle portion.