The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art. Gauges are utilized within industries to display a value of a parameter being monitored by the gauge. In the automotive industry, gauges may be displayed as part of the instrument panel or dashboard for indicating information pertaining to the operating conditions of a vehicle. These gauges include, but are not limited to, speedometers, tachometers, engine coolant temperature, engine oil temperature, fuel level, oil pressure, battery voltage and the like. The gauges may include an analog face for displaying a valve of a monitored parameter. More specifically, an analog gauge may include a face plate having indicia thereon such as numbers, letters or indicators and an illuminated pointer that rotates to the indicia to indicate the level of the parameter. While current analog indicating instruments with illuminated pointers have generally proven satisfactory for their intended purposes, each has been associated with its share of limitations.
One such limitation of current illuminated pointers is that they are currently capable of being illuminated in only one color at a time. In a world of driving where increasing road speeds require gauges to be read with increased eye speed, a multiple color pointer may permit such gauge to be focused upon and read more quickly. Another limitation of current illuminated pointers is that utilizing a single color light source to concurrently achieve multiple colors of emitted light from the pointer is unachievable. Related to the single color light source problem is how to leave current gauge structure and methods largely unaltered while achieving a pointer that emits multiple colors.
What is needed then is a device that does not suffer from the above limitations. This, in turn, will provide a gauge pointer that is capable of being illuminated simultaneously in multiple colors while largely maintaining current gauge structure and a single color light source.