JPH1183875A - Vehicular engine speed display device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To impart an engine speed display device characters as a simple fuel gauge using simple constitution. SOLUTION: This device comprises: a speed sensor 10 for detecting engine speeds Ne; a control unit 11 computing the frequency of occurrence of the engine speeds in every predetermined range according to the detected engine speeds Ne; a display monitor 12 displaying the computed frequency of occurrence of the engine speeds; an operation switch 13 by which the turning ON and OFF and resetting or the like of the display on the display monitor 12 are directed; and a power source 14 supplying constant-voltage power to the control unit 11 and the display monitor 12. A predetermined number of latest engine speeds Ne detected at predetermined time intervals are stored in time series in a RAM 11c constituting the control unit 11. The number of times of appearance in a predetermined section width is counted according to the stored engine speeds Ne to compute the frequency of occurrence, and the frequency of occurrence of the engine speeds is displayed in the form of a histogram on the display monitor 12.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an engine speed display apparatus for a vehicle, and more particularly, to a technique for displaying a frequency of occurrence of a rotation speed in a predetermined range and providing an indication of fuel-efficient driving.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when displaying the engine rotational speed of a vehicle, it has been general to display an instantaneous value using a tachometer (rotational speed meter). Then, the driver has performed a shift operation of the transmission based on the engine speed displayed on the tachometer such that the engine speed is within the allowable speed range.

[0003] By the way, when fuel-saving driving is performed, it is necessary to display vehicle operation information such as the tendency to use the engine speed as a guide for fuel-saving driving. Can not. For this reason, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-329296, a technique of recording a vehicle speed and an engine rotation speed at the time of vehicle operation on a portable recording medium, and analyzing and displaying vehicle operation information by an analysis device. Was proposed.

[0004]

However, in the technique for analyzing and displaying the vehicle operation information, since the vehicle operation information cannot be displayed in real time during the operation of the vehicle, it is not very practical as a guide for fuel-saving driving. Did not. In addition, there is a fuel efficiency meter that displays the fuel efficiency at the moment when the fuel efficiency is used as a guide for fuel-efficient driving. However, the fuel efficiency meter is expensive and has a problem that the vehicle price increases.

In view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, the present invention provides an engine rotation speed display device for a vehicle that can provide a measure of fuel-saving driving by giving a characteristic as a simple fuel economy meter with a simple configuration. The purpose is to provide.

[0006]

Therefore, according to the present invention, an engine rotational speed display device of a vehicle is detected at predetermined time intervals by a rotational speed detecting means for detecting an engine rotational speed. A rotation speed storage unit that stores a predetermined number of recent rotation speeds in a time series, and a rotation speed frequency calculation unit that calculates an occurrence frequency for each predetermined range of the rotation speed based on the stored rotation speed, Display means for displaying the frequency of occurrence of the calculated rotation speed.

According to such a configuration, the rotational speed detected at predetermined time intervals is stored in the rotational speed storage means in a time-series manner. Then, based on the stored rotation speed,
The frequency of occurrence of the rotation speed for each predetermined range, for example, when the number of rotation speed detections is 100, and the rotation speed is 100
When the number of times detected in the range of 0 to 1200 rpm is 10, the frequency of occurrence for this rotation speed is calculated as: frequency of occurrence = (10/100) × 100 = 10 [%]. Such processing is executed for the entire range of the rotation speed, and the result is displayed on the display means. Therefore, it is possible to indicate to the driver of the vehicle what kind of rotational speed the driver frequently uses, and the engine rotational speed display device is also used as a guide for fuel-efficient driving.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a vehicle speed detecting means for detecting a vehicle speed, a vehicle speed storing means for storing a predetermined number of the latest vehicle speeds detected at predetermined time intervals in a time-series manner. Vehicle speed frequency calculating means for calculating the frequency of occurrence of the vehicle speed for each predetermined range based on the vehicle speed, wherein the display means selectively selects the frequency of occurrence of the rotational speed and the frequency of occurrence of the vehicle speed. The display can be displayed.

According to this configuration, the vehicle speed storage means includes:
Vehicle speeds detected at predetermined time intervals are stored in chronological order, and the frequency of occurrence of the vehicle speed for each predetermined range is calculated based on the stored vehicle speed. And the frequency of occurrence of the rotational speed,
The occurrence frequency of the vehicle speed is selectively displayed. Therefore, in addition to the frequency of occurrence of the rotational speed, the frequency of occurrence of the vehicle speed can be grasped at a glance, and a measure for enabling efficient fuel-efficient driving can be obtained.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a shift speed detecting means for detecting a shift speed of a transmission, and a shift which stores a predetermined number of the latest shift speeds detected at predetermined time intervals in a time series manner. A speed storage frequency calculating means for calculating an occurrence frequency for each speed step based on the stored speed steps, wherein the display means includes: The rotation speed, the vehicle speed, and the frequency of occurrence of the gear position can be selectively displayed.

According to this configuration, the shift speed storage means stores the shift speeds detected at predetermined time intervals in a time-series manner, and based on the stored shift speeds, an occurrence frequency for each shift speed is determined. Is calculated. Then, the frequency of occurrence of the rotational speed, the frequency of occurrence of the vehicle speed, and the frequency of occurrence of the shift speed are selectively displayed. Accordingly, in addition to the frequency of occurrence of the rotational speed and the frequency of occurrence of the vehicle speed, the frequency of occurrence of the shift speed can be grasped at a glance, and a measure for enabling more efficient fuel-efficient driving can be obtained.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the display means includes:
The frequency is displayed in a histogram. According to this configuration, the frequency is displayed as a histogram on the display unit. Therefore, the driver of the vehicle can grasp his driving tendency at a glance, which is effective as a guide for fuel-saving driving.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, the display means includes:
The frequency is displayed as a line graph. According to this configuration, the frequency is displayed on the display unit in a line graph. Therefore, the driver of the vehicle can grasp his driving tendency at a glance, which is effective as a guide for fuel-saving driving.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, the display means includes:
The configuration is such that a graph is displayed in different colors for each predetermined range. According to such a configuration, the graph displayed on the display means is displayed in different colors for each predetermined range, so that the driving tendency of the driver can be more intuitively grasped.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the attached drawings. FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a vehicle engine speed display device (hereinafter, referred to as “rotation speed display device”) according to the present invention. The rotation speed display device includes a rotation speed sensor 10 (rotation speed detection means) for detecting the rotation speed Ne of the engine, and an occurrence frequency (hereinafter referred to as “rotation speed”) for each predetermined range of the rotation speed based on the detected rotation speed Ne. Control unit 11 with a built-in microcomputer that calculates the frequency of occurrence of rotation speed, and a display monitor 12 that displays the frequency of occurrence of the calculated rotation speed.
(Display means) and display ON on the display monitor 12
Operation switch 13 for instructing / OFF, reset, etc.
And a power supply 14 for supplying a constant voltage power to the control unit 11 and the display monitor 12. The control unit 11 has a function as a rotation speed frequency calculation unit.

The control unit 11 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 11a for controlling the interpretation and execution of instructions,
A ROM (Read Only Memory) 11b storing a program for controlling the rotation speed display device and the like, and a RAM (Random) storing a predetermined number of the latest rotation speeds Ne among the rotation speeds Ne detected by the rotation speed sensor 10 in time series. Access Memory)
11c (rotation speed storage means), and interfaces 11d and 11e for inputting and outputting data between the control unit 11 and the outside.

The display monitor 12 displays the frequency of occurrence of the rotational speed as shown in FIG. 2 in the form of a histogram, for example, to give the driver an indication of fuel-efficient driving. Next, the operation of the rotation speed display device having such a configuration will be described with reference to FIG.
And a flowchart shown in FIG. Note that the flowcharts shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 are those in which a program stored in the ROM 11b of the control unit 11 is executed as software.

FIG. 3 shows the processing of accumulating the latest one of the rotational speeds Ne in a time series, and is executed at predetermined time intervals (for example, every one second) immediately after the engine is started. In step 1 (abbreviated as “S1” in the figure, the same applies hereinafter), the rotation speed Ne is read from the rotation speed sensor 10.

In step 2, the read rotation speed Ne is read.
Is written in the RAM 11c of the control unit 11 in time series. However, since the capacity of the RAM 11c is limited, when a predetermined number of recent rotation speeds Ne, for example, one-hour rotation speeds Ne are stored, a maximum of 3600 rotation speeds Ne are stored. So that the capacity is set. This can be realized by using a ring buffer or the like. Also, just after starting the engine,
A counter for counting the number of accumulated rotation speeds Ne is provided so that the frequency of occurrence of rotation speeds can be displayed even when the number of accumulations of rotation speed Ne is small.

FIG. 4 shows the display processing contents of the rotation speed display device, and the execution is started at the same time when the engine is started. In step 10, it is determined whether or not to display the frequency of occurrence of the rotation speed based on the instruction signal from the operation switch 13. If there is a display instruction, the process proceeds to step 11 (Yes). Proceed to (No).

In step 11, the frequency of occurrence of the rotational speed is displayed as a histogram on the display monitor 12 by the following processing. (1) Based on the rotation speed Ne accumulated in the RAM 11c of the control unit 11, the number of appearances of the rotation speed Ne for each rotation speed division width (for example, 200 rpm) at the allowable rotation speed of the engine (for example, 400 to 3400 rpm) is determined. Count.

(2) Based on the number of appearances of the rotation speed Ne counted for each rotation speed section width, the occurrence frequency for each rotation speed section is calculated by the following equation. In this case, by using the counter counted in step 2 above,
Even when the number of stored rotation speeds Ne is small, such as immediately after the start of the engine, a histogram can be displayed.

Frequency of occurrence = (number of appearances / number of accumulated rotation speeds) × 100 [%] (3) A histogram is displayed based on the calculated frequency of occurrence. At this time, as shown in FIG. 2, the rotation speed range is set to a low speed range (400 to 1200 rpm) and a medium speed range (1200 to 1200 rpm).
2200 rpm) / high-speed range (2200 to 3400 rpm), and may be displayed in different colors (for example, blue, yellow, and red). In this case, the driver can grasp his / her driving tendency only by looking at the display monitor 12 at a glance, so that the visibility can be improved.

Note that the above processes (1) and (2) correspond to the rotational speed frequency calculating means. In step 12, it is determined based on an instruction signal from the operation switch 13 whether or not the display of the frequency of occurrence of the rotational speed is reset, that is, whether or not to display the display immediately after the engine is started. Proceed (Yes), and if there is no reset instruction, proceed to Step 14 (No).

In step 13, a reset process is performed to return the display of the frequency of occurrence of the rotational speed to the display state immediately after the engine is started. That is, the RAM of the control unit 11
11c clears the rotation speed Ne stored in the memory 11c and sets a counter for counting the accumulated number of rotation speeds Ne to 0.
Reset to. In step 14, it is determined whether or not the engine has stopped based on, for example, a signal from the rotational speed sensor 10. If the engine stops, this routine ends (Yes), and if the engine is running, step 1
Return to 0 (No).

According to this processing, the latest one of the rotation speeds Ne is stored in the RAM 11c of the control unit 11 in a time-series manner at a predetermined time interval (for example, one second) immediately after the start of the engine. . Then, based on the accumulated rotational speed Ne, the frequency of occurrence of the rotational speed for each predetermined range is displayed, so that, for example, the driving tendency in the past past hour can be grasped, and the standard for fuel-efficient driving can be obtained. It can be. Further, since the engine speed display device has the characteristics of a simple fuel economy meter without using an expensive fuel economy meter, it is possible to suppress an increase in vehicle price. Further, the engine speed is suppressed to a low speed in order for the driver of the vehicle to perform fuel-efficient traveling, so that the vehicle speed is reduced, which can contribute to safe driving.

FIGS. 5 and 6 show an example in which the frequency of occurrence of another element is displayed on the display monitor 12. FIG.
That is, a vehicle speed sensor (vehicle speed detecting means) for detecting the vehicle speed is provided, and as shown in FIG. 5, a frequency of occurrence of the vehicle speed for each predetermined range is displayed in a histogram, or a shift position for detecting a gear position of the transmission is provided. A sensor (gear detecting means) may be provided, and the frequency of occurrence for each gear may be displayed in a histogram as shown in FIG. In this case, the display of the frequency of occurrence of the rotational speed, the frequency of occurrence of the vehicle speed, and the display of the frequency of occurrence of the shift speed can be arbitrarily performed by the operation switch 13.

The details of the process of displaying the vehicle speed or the occurrence frequency of the shift speed on the display monitor 12 are the same as those in the flowcharts of FIGS. 3 and 4 described above, and therefore the description thereof will be omitted. In this case, the ROM 11c of the control unit 11 functions as a vehicle speed storage unit and a gear position storage unit.
Has a function as a vehicle speed frequency calculation means and a shift speed frequency calculation means.

According to such processing, the vehicle speed and the shift speed detected at predetermined time intervals are accumulated in the RAM 11c of the control unit 11 in time series in addition to the rotational speed. Then, the rotation speed, the vehicle speed, and the frequency of occurrence of the shift speed are selectively displayed on the display monitor 12 according to the instruction of the driver. Therefore, in addition to the frequency of the rotational speed, the frequency of the occurrence of the vehicle speed and the frequency of the shift speed can be grasped, so that it is possible to obtain a measure for enabling more efficient fuel-efficient driving.

In this embodiment, the display monitor 12
Are displayed in a histogram, but may be displayed in a line graph. Even in this case, as in the case of the histogram, the driver can grasp his / her driving tendency only by looking at the display monitor 12 at a glance.

[0031]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the engine speed display device is provided with the characteristics of a simple fuel economy meter with a simple configuration, so that an increase in vehicle price can be suppressed. In addition, it can be used as a guide for fuel-efficient driving. In addition, if the driver performs driving at a reduced rotational speed in order to perform fuel-saving driving based on the frequency of occurrence of the displayed rotational speed for each predetermined range, the vehicle speed decreases, which can contribute to safe driving. .

According to the second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the frequency of occurrence of the rotational speed in each predetermined range, the frequency of occurrence of the vehicle speed in each predetermined range can be grasped at a glance, thereby enabling efficient fuel-efficient driving. You can get an indication. According to the third aspect of the present invention, in addition to the frequency of occurrence of the rotation speed in each of the predetermined ranges, the frequency of occurrence of the vehicle speed in each of the predetermined ranges and the frequency of occurrence of each of the gears can be grasped at a glance, so that more efficient fuel saving can be achieved. It is possible to obtain a guide for running.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the display object is displayed as a histogram, so that the driver can grasp his driving tendency at a glance. According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the display target is displayed as a line graph,
The driver can grasp his driving tendency at a glance. According to the invention described in claim 6, the graph displayed on the display means is displayed in different colors for each predetermined range, so that the driver of the vehicle can more intuitively grasp his driving tendency. And visibility can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 shows an example of the frequency with respect to the rotation speed displayed in the above.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing processing for accumulating a rotational speed according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing processing contents of the above operation.

FIG. 5 is an example of the occurrence frequency of the vehicle speed for each predetermined range displayed in the same manner as above.

FIG. 6 shows an example of an occurrence frequency for each shift speed displayed as above.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 10 rotation speed sensor 11 control unit 11c RAM 12 display monitor

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A rotational speed detecting means for detecting a rotational speed of an engine, a rotational speed storing means for storing a predetermined number of the latest rotational speeds detected at predetermined time intervals in a time series manner, and Rotation speed frequency calculating means for calculating the frequency of occurrence of the rotation speed for each predetermined range based on the rotation speed,
Display means for displaying the frequency of occurrence of the calculated rotational speed;
An engine rotation speed display device for a vehicle, comprising: 2. A vehicle speed detecting means for detecting a vehicle speed, a vehicle speed storing means for storing a predetermined number of recent vehicle speeds out of vehicle speeds detected at predetermined time intervals in a time-series manner, and based on the stored vehicle speed. Vehicle speed frequency calculating means for calculating the frequency of occurrence of each predetermined range of vehicle speed, wherein the display means can selectively display the frequency of occurrence of the rotational speed and the frequency of occurrence of the vehicle speed. The engine rotation speed display device for a vehicle according to claim 1, wherein: 3. A shift speed detecting means for detecting a shift speed of the transmission, a shift speed storing means for storing a predetermined number of the latest shift speeds detected at predetermined time intervals in time series, and storage. Speed frequency calculating means for calculating the frequency of occurrence for each speed step based on the performed speed step, wherein the display means displays the rotational speed and the frequency of occurrence of the speed step,
3. The engine speed display device for a vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the rotation speed, the vehicle speed, and the frequency of occurrence of the shift speed can be selectively displayed. 4. 4. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said display means displays said frequency in a histogram.
4. The engine rotation speed display device for a vehicle according to claim 1. 5. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said display means displays the frequency in a line graph.
4. The engine rotation speed display device for a vehicle according to claim 1. 6. The engine speed display device for a vehicle according to claim 4, wherein said display means displays a graph in different colors for each predetermined range.