JP2016114365A - Gauge for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a gauge for a vehicle which is high in display efficiency by displaying a plurality of types of vehicle information with a bar graph.SOLUTION: A gauge A for a vehicle is configured to perform bar graph display by a display part 2 in which a plurality of segments 21 for display are arrayed in a predetermined shape and a plurality of light sources 3 arranged correspondingly to each segment 21 for display of the display part 2 and control means 5 for individually controlling lighting-on and lighting-off of the light sources 3 on the basis of a measurement value related to the state of a vehicle. The gauge A for a vehicle includes a display panel 4 for image-displaying an index 41 so as to correspond to the display part 2 on the basis of a control signal from the control means 5, and the control means 5 is configured to change the index 41 to be displayed by the display panel 4.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle instrument, and is particularly suitable for displaying vehicle information in a bar graph type display form.

  A vehicle meter is provided as a display device for informing the vehicle user of the state of the vehicle and the state of the in-vehicle device and prompting comfortable driving. The vehicle meter displays a measurement value that changes every moment, such as a speedometer that displays the traveling speed of the vehicle, a tachometer that displays the engine speed, and a fuel gauge that displays the remaining amount of fuel.

  In these vehicular instruments, the display format includes characters with scales of the measured values (quantities) around the pointer that rotates according to the measured values such as vehicle speed, engine speed, and remaining fuel. A so-called analog type is generally used in which a plate is arranged, and a measurement value is displayed by contrast reading according to the scale position indicated by the pointer.

  In addition to analog display formats for vehicle instruments, for example, display values such as liquid crystal display panels, fluorescent display tubes, or display panels using organic EL can be used to directly display measured values such as vehicle speed. A digital system such as a numerical display for displaying the engine speed, a remaining fuel amount, etc. in a zone or bar graph by a number of segments arranged in parallel is also adopted.

  In the digital display format described above, a display device such as a liquid crystal display panel or a fluorescent display tube may be used, but a light emitting diode (light source) is used, and each segment in which the light emitting diode is arranged is selectively emitted. By doing so, a measured value such as a vehicle speed is displayed as a number or a bar graph, which is disclosed in Patent Document 1, for example.

JP-A-10-26541

  As described above, in the vehicle instrument using the bar graph type display, the visibility is good and the change state of the measurement value is easy to grasp. However, on the other hand, since a large display area is required, there is room for improvement when applied to a composite instrument that needs to display a variety of information and has a limited display area.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle instrument with good display efficiency by paying attention to the above-mentioned problems and displaying a plurality of types of vehicle information in a bar graph.

The vehicle instrument of the present invention is
A display unit in which a plurality of display segments are arranged in a predetermined shape;
A plurality of light sources provided corresponding to each display segment of the display unit;
In a vehicle meter for displaying a bar graph by a control means for individually turning on / off the light source based on a measurement value relating to a vehicle state,
Based on a control signal from the control means, a display panel for displaying an image of the index so as to correspond to the display unit is provided,
The control means changes the index displayed on the display panel.

  The display segments are arranged along a boundary of an image display area of the display panel.

  Further, the control means changes the indicator of the display panel and the light source on / off control based on any one of a travel mode, a power supply state, and a stop state.

  Further, the control means controls the display panel so as to display a scale corresponding to the display unit and a type or unit of a measurement value as the index.

  The present invention relates to a vehicular instrument that displays vehicle information, and displays a plurality of types of vehicle information in a bar graph, thereby providing a display with high display efficiency.

The figure which shows the front of the meter for vehicles by embodiment of this invention. The block diagram which shows the electric circuit structure by embodiment same as the above. The figure which shows the example of a display by embodiment same as the above. The figure which shows the example of a display by embodiment same as the above. The figure which shows the display of another example of embodiment same as the above.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of a vehicle instrument according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings, taking as an example a vehicle instrument that is provided on an instrument panel and can be displayed via a steering wheel. .

  FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of a vehicle meter A according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 shows an electric circuit configuration of the vehicle meter A.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the vehicle meter A functions as a composite meter, and includes a pointer-type meter 1, a display unit 2, a light source 3, and a display panel 4.

  In this case, two pointer-type meters 1 are provided on both end sides with the display unit 2 and the display panel 4 interposed therebetween. The first pointer-type meter 11 indicates the traveling speed of the vehicle, and the second pointer-type meter 12 Indicates drive energy (output amount) of the vehicle. Each pointer-type meter 1 is a display board on which a rotating pointer 1a, a driving means 1b including a motor for rotating the pointer 1a, and an index portion such as a scale or a numerical value to be indicated by the pointer 1a are printed. 1c and a backlight 1d for a pointer-type instrument that transmits and illuminates the indicator portion from the back surface side (the side opposite to the display surface side) of the display plate 1c.

  The driving means 1b and the backlight 1d, which are electronic components, are mounted on a circuit board in the vehicle instrument A, and are connected to the control means 5 via a wiring pattern of the circuit board. The control means 5 outputs a control signal to the drive means 1b and the backlight 1d, thereby rotating the pointer 1a to a desired angle and illuminating the pointer 1a and the display board 1c with a desired brightness.

  The display unit 2 includes a plurality of display segments 21 provided in a row along a predetermined shape, in this case, one side serving as a boundary of the image display area of the display panel 4. The display unit 2 can also be provided with a light guide that guides illumination light from the light source 3.

  A plurality of light sources 3 are provided for illuminating each display segment 21, and each display segment 21 is transmitted and illuminated to perform bar graph display on the display unit 2. The light source 3 can be a light emitting diode mounted on the circuit board so as to face each display segment 21 and is selectively controlled to be turned on / off based on a control signal from the control means 5. In this case, in order to display the bar graph, the control means 5 is turned on sequentially from one end of the column-shaped display unit 2 to increase the measured value, and is turned off sequentially from the other end. Control is performed using the light source 3 as shown by the decrease. Further, the display unit 2 can express the measurement amount based on the switching position of each light source 3 to be turned on / off and an index of the display panel 4 described later.

  For example, a TFT-type liquid crystal display element can be applied to the display panel 4, and an image having a desired shape can be obtained by switching between transmission and non-transmission (light-on / off state) for each pixel based on a control signal from the control unit 5. Vehicle information such as accumulated mileage, average fuel consumption rate, gear position, navigation information (route guidance information), vehicle operation guide, alarm information, information such as time and outside air temperature, letters, numbers, marks, etc. It displays with the image of.

  Note that an illumination backlight 40 made of a light emitting diode is mounted on the circuit board on the back side of the display panel 4 and is transmitted and illuminated by the control of the control means 5 so that the vehicle user Can visually recognize the display screen of the display panel 4 even in a dark place such as at night. The display image of the display panel 4 is prepared by the control means 5 so that a plurality of patterns of display contents (display items) are prepared in advance and the screen can be switched based on a switch operation by the vehicle user or an interruption process under a predetermined condition. Has been.

  Further, the display panel 4 displays an image of the index so as to correspond to the display unit 2 based on a control signal from the control means 5. For example, as shown in FIG. 3, the control means 5 controls the light source 3 so as to change the number of lighting of the display unit 2 according to the fuel remaining amount, and at this time, a scale 41 a corresponding to the display segment 21. Or, an indicator 41 including a design 41b indicating the values of “F, 1/2, E” and a symbol mark 41c related to fuel is displayed.

  The vehicle user can check the fuel remaining amount (measured value) by comparing and interpreting the boundary between the lighting state and the light-off state in the display segment 21 of the display unit 2 and the indicator 41 of the display panel 4. In addition, the control means 5 can also display vehicle information such as time information 42 and accumulated travel distance information 43 using the remaining display space separately from the index 41.

  In addition, the vehicle meter A can not only use the display unit 2 as a fuel fuel gauge as described above, but can also display other types of vehicle information in accordance with predetermined conditions. For example, as shown in FIG. 4, the control means 5 can also display the display unit 2 as a thermometer, and a scale 44a and a design 44b composed of “H” indicating high temperature and “C” indicating low temperature, An indicator 44 including a symbol mark 44c indicating the water temperature is displayed, and each light source 3 is controlled to be turned on / off according to the water temperature value instead of the remaining fuel value in the input vehicle information.

  The vehicle information is changed (in this case, the display is switched from the remaining fuel amount to the water temperature), as the predetermined condition, a manual operation using a vehicle user switch or a measured value (water temperature) is set to a predetermined threshold value. The control means 5 determines that the alarm state has been reached, and the display type can be automatically changed based on the determination result. In the case of automatic change, it is also possible to notify that the display has been changed by voice guidance, blinking, alarm sound, color change of the backlight 1d or the light source 3, and the like. In addition, in other space of the display panel 4, it is possible to display a guide such as alarm contents and countermeasures.

  The control means 5 can be applied to a microcomputer having a calculation section and a storage section. By calculating based on a predetermined program stored in the storage section, vehicle information to be input, etc., the drive means 1b, the display panel 4, Control signals can be transmitted to the backlights 1d and 40 and the light source 3 to prompt a desired display. Here, the vehicle information includes vehicle running information including the engine speed, gear position, direction instruction operation, etc., vehicle status, and abnormal signals from each device, and by communication with an electronic control unit (ECU), A signal is input. The control means 5 also includes a semiconductor component that performs drawing calculation processing such as selecting an image pattern to be displayed on the display panel 4 from the storage unit.

  Such a vehicle instrument includes a display unit 2 in which a plurality of display segments 21 are arranged in a predetermined shape, a plurality of light sources 3 provided corresponding to each display segment 21 of the display unit 2, and a vehicle In the vehicle instrument A that performs bar graph display by the control unit 5 that individually controls the light source 3 to be turned on / off based on the measurement value relating to the state, the display unit 2 is controlled based on the control signal from the control unit 5. A display panel 4 that displays an image of the index 41 is provided so as to correspond, and the control unit 5 changes the index 41 displayed on the display panel 4.

  Therefore, the type of vehicle information to be displayed can be switched by changing the indicators 41 and 44 and controlling the light source 3 to be turned on / off based on the corresponding vehicle information. For this reason, various vehicle information can be efficiently displayed in the limited display space, sharing the display space of the display unit 2 and the light source 3.

  The display segment 21 is arranged along the boundary of the image display area of the display panel 4 so that the correspondence between the indicators 41 and 42 of the display panel 4 and the display unit 2 is easy to see, and the measured value has good visibility. Can be compared.

  Further, the control means 5 automatically changes the priority by changing the indicator 41 of the display panel 4 and the lighting / extinguishing control of the light source 3 based on any one of the driving mode, the power supply state, the stop state, and the alarm state. Vehicle information can be provided to vehicle users.

  The control means 5 controls the display panel 4 to display the scale 41a corresponding to the display unit 2 and the measurement value type 41c as the index 41, even if there is a change. The display items on the display unit 2 and their values can be confirmed.

  Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not construed as being limited to the above-described embodiments, and can be applied to various embodiments without departing from the scope of the present invention. . For example, the display panel 4 has been described by taking a liquid crystal display element having a backlight 40 as an example, but it may be replaced with a self-luminous organic EL panel.

  Moreover, although the example in which the fuel remaining amount and the water temperature are changed as the vehicle information indicated by the display unit 2 as described above has been described, for example, instantaneous fuel consumption, shift up indicator, cruise control setting state, inter-vehicle distance information, and the like You can also change to the display. Note that, since the light emitting diode on / off driving can usually be switched faster than the display update of the liquid crystal display element, the vehicle information expressed by the display unit 2 is advantageous when displaying a measured value whose display change is severe. It becomes.

  Moreover, what the display panel 4 displays in the rectangular display area has been described above. However, as shown in FIG. 5, for example, a substantially circular display area for displaying the vehicle speed 61 or the like is provided. It can also be configured by the display panel 6 having a display section 7 having a plurality of display segments 71 provided along the boundary of the display area. In this case, the display unit 7 is displayed as a bar graph with the corresponding light source controlled to be turned on / off based on the engine speed, and is displayed on the display panel 6 by an index 62 including a unit 62a of “× 1000 rpm”. The display type can be determined.

  Moreover, although the vehicle instrument A has been shown to be provided on the instrument panel of an automobile, it may be applied as an instrument provided near the center of the steering wheel, such as a motorcycle, a four-wheel buggy (ATV), or a water bike. it can. Even in this case, since the display area (display space) is narrow, the application of the above-described embodiment is effective.

  The present invention relates to a vehicular instrument, and is suitable, for example, as a vehicular instrument that is mounted on a moving body including an automobile, a motorcycle, an agricultural machine, or a construction machine.

2 Display unit 21 Display segment 3 Light source 4 Display panel 41 Index 41a Scale 41b Design 41c Symbol mark (type of measurement value)
5 Control means A Vehicle instrument

Claims (4)

A display unit in which a plurality of display segments are arranged in a predetermined shape;
A plurality of light sources provided corresponding to each display segment of the display unit;
In a vehicle meter for displaying a bar graph by a control means for individually turning on / off the light source based on a measurement value relating to a vehicle state,
Based on a control signal from the control means, a display panel for displaying an image of the index so as to correspond to the display unit is provided,
The vehicular instrument characterized in that the control means changes the index displayed on the display panel.   The vehicle instrument according to claim 1, wherein the display segments are arranged along a boundary of an image display area of the display panel.   2. The vehicle instrument according to claim 1, wherein the control unit changes the indicator of the display panel and the light source on / off control based on one of a travel mode, a power supply state, and a stop state. .   2. The vehicle instrument according to claim 1, wherein the control unit controls the display panel to display a scale corresponding to the display unit and a type or unit of a measurement value as the index. .

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