Patent · US Expired

Instrument panel having pointer driven by stepping motor

US6356046B1 · kind B1 · utility

13Cited by
8References
10Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateOct 13, 2000
Grant dateMar 12, 2002
Priority date
Expiry dateOct 13, 2020

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH02K37/14
  • WIPO fieldMeasurement
  • WIPO sectorInstruments

Abstract

An instrument panel for use in an automobile includes a speedometer, an engine rotational speed meter and other indicators. A pointer of each meter is driven by a stepping motor via a reduction gear train made of synthetic resin. Terminals of the stepping motor field coils are soldered on a circuit board. After the heat of the soldering is dissipated, the heat-sensitive gear train is assembled to the circuit board. Thus, the resin gears are protected from being damaged by the soldering heat. The soldering is performed under an automatic refolw-soldering or flow-soldering process. As long as the soldering is performed before assembling the resin gears, all the components of the stepping motor and the reduction gear train may be contained in a casing.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.