JP2000309247A - In-dashboard monitor for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To allow only a predetermined person to operate the monitor housed inside a vehicle when operating it outside, thus preventing theft in which the monitor otherwise might be easily removed since mounted outside. SOLUTION: In this monitor, a fingerprint sensor 32 is installed above a monitor 3 photographing a fingerprint of a finger 42 by a CCD image pickup device 41. User's fingerprints of a first, middle, and third fingers and the like are registered in advance to a fingerprint registering portion 44. Then, detected fingerprints are collated to examine if they match the registered ones in a fingerprint collation portion 45. If not, it is impossible to take the monitor out. Furthermore, when a first finger's fingerprint matches to the registered one, for example, a signal is output to a monitor opening/closing portion 47. Similarly, when a middle finger's fingerprint matches the registered one, a navigation system works and shows the way to the person's home. When a third finger's fingerprint matches the registered one, still more functions other than the above are also in effect.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a monitor for displaying an image in, for example, an in-vehicle navigation apparatus, which is stored in a dashboard when not in use and is unfolded from the dashboard when in use to view the monitor. And a vehicle-mounted in-dash monitor.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, navigation devices have become widespread as on-vehicle devices, and can be mounted on dashboards as standard equipment or as options. In this navigation device,
A monitor is an essential device for displaying a map screen, displaying a guide, or displaying various information. If such a monitor is too small, its display is difficult to see, so a certain size is required. However, if a large monitor is always protruded and installed near the dashboard, it will not only obstruct the driver's view, but may also be damaged by contact with the body during some work in the vehicle. In addition, making the unused monitor protrude into the car does not detract from the aesthetics of the inside of the car, and when there are devices or their operation parts behind the deployed monitor, it is possible to operate or operate those devices. There is also a problem that it cannot be done.

For this reason, it is preferable that this monitor does not protrude from the dashboard as much as possible. However, arranging a large monitor along the surface of the dashboard requires the dashboard to have an audio device or air conditioner as another vehicle-mounted device. Etc. are often provided,
They compete with each other in terms of installation space and cannot satisfy both. Therefore, a large monitor that can be easily viewed can be installed, and it is stored in the dashboard when the monitor is not in use, from the viewpoint that it does not protrude from the dashboard and secures installation space for other in-vehicle devices. In addition, when used, an in-dash monitor that is protruded out of the dashboard and deployed is often provided.

The in-dash monitor is used not only for the navigation device described above but also as a monitor for a television. In addition, it may be used as a large display showing the operating state of audio equipment. When these devices are used, they are used out of the dashboard. By employing such an in-dash monitor, the console panel in the dashboard can store the monitor in a size such as 1 DIN which is a standard for the size of the in-vehicle device,
The retrofitting of the navigation device is facilitated, and the retrofitting as a large display of a television or audio equipment is also facilitated.

[0005]

When the in-dash monitor is mounted on the dashboard, it is not apparent at first glance whether or not the monitor is present. Anyone who has the knowledge of the above or a person skilled in the art of a car can know the type and model of the on-board equipment mounted on the car even by looking through the window from outside the car. Therefore, especially if you have an expensive monitor, you want that monitor on a regular basis, but for those who can not get it because it is expensive, there is a car equipped with such a monitor there And especially when the door is unlocked and the key is stuck in the car, there is no need to steal the car itself, and you may carry only the monitor.

In addition, the in-dash monitor can be easily moved out of the dashboard by pressing a switch, and the monitor is held horizontally inside the dashboard, so that the monitor can be moved out of the dashboard. Since the monitor is deployed almost vertically, the monitor support cannot have a strong structure.The monitor can be removed with a strong force and removed, and can be easily removed with a screwdriver or the like. I can do it. Therefore, removing this monitor is much easier than removing the entire in-dash monitor from the dashboard, so if you have an expensive in-dash monitor, it is very likely that the monitor will be stolen. It is expensive and requires some measures.

[0007] Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to prevent an in-dash monitor from being unfolded from a state stored in a dashboard to a person other than the user, and to prevent the monitor from being stolen. .

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention collates a fingerprint sensor provided on a monitor, a fingerprint registration unit, and a fingerprint detected by the fingerprint sensor with a fingerprint of the fingerprint registration unit. An in-vehicle in-vehicle monitor includes a fingerprint collating unit that outputs a match signal when a fingerprint matches, and a control unit that outputs an operation signal to a monitor driving device when the match signal is output.

The fingerprint registration unit registers the fingerprint of each finger, and the control unit outputs a plurality of operation signals corresponding to the fingerprint of each finger detected by the fingerprint sensor.
Further, the plurality of operation signals are an operation signal for a monitor driving device and a signal for starting route guidance to the home of the navigation device.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 3 shows a state where the monitor 3 of the in-dash monitor for a vehicle according to the present invention is housed inside, and FIG. 4 shows a state where the monitor 3 is deployed outside. As shown in FIG. 5, the internal mechanism is provided with an intermediate case 2 in a housing 1 and a monitor 3 on a side plate of the intermediate case 2.
And a guide groove 5 for moving the drive bracket 4,
6, 7 are formed. A drive bracket 4 is provided inside the middle opening case 2, and guide shafts 10 and 11 provided on the drive bracket 4 are inserted into the guide grooves 5.

The monitor 3 is rotatably supported by a guide shaft 10 in front of the drive bracket 4 and a guide shaft 11 in the rear.
, A driving gear 12 is supported. Drive bracket 4
Is mounted with a drive mechanism 14 having a motor 13, and the power of the motor 13 is reduced by a gear train in the drive mechanism 14, and the reduced speed power drives the drive gear 12 to rotate. A rack 15 is provided at the bottom of the housing 1, and a rack 16 is also provided at the bottom of the intermediate case 2. When the drive gear 12 rolls on the rack 15, the intermediate case 2 advances, and when the drive gear 12 rolls on the rack 16, the drive bracket 4 advances in the intermediate case 2.

A link member 1 is provided on a side surface of the display member 3.
7 is rotatably supported by a shaft 18. A rotation center shaft 20 is provided at the tip of the link member 17, and
A guide pin 21 inserted into the guide groove 7 of the intermediate case 2 and fixed to the link member 17 is inserted into the guide groove 6. When not in use, both the intermediate case 2 and the drive bracket 4 are moving in the direction A2 in the housing 1, and the monitor 3 is stored in the horizontal posture shown in FIG.

When a control signal from a fingerprint sensor to be described later is input to the motor 13, the drive gear 12 is driven by the drive mechanism 14 to roll on the rack 15, and the drive bracket 4 and the intermediate case 2 are put together. Move in the A1 direction. The intermediate case 2 stops at the solid line position shown in FIG. 5, after which the drive gear 12 rolls on the rack 16, and the drive bracket 4 moves forward in the stopped middle open case 2. At this time, the monitor 3 moves to the front of the housing 1 in the horizontal posture, but the rotation center axis 18 of the link member 17 is
At the time when the monitor 3 hits the forefront, the monitor 3 is in the protruding position shown in FIG. From this state, the driving bracket 4
When the link member 17 moves forward in the A1 direction, the link member 17 starts to rotate counterclockwise about the rotation center shaft 18, and the guide pin 21 of the link member 17 comes out of the guide groove 6, and
The monitor 3 rotates around the shaft 18 to the rising posture shown in FIG.

As described above, the monitor 3 which is driven by the motor 13 and goes in and out has the monitor 3 shown in FIG.
A fingerprint detection window 31 is formed on a monitor upper surface 30 which is an upper surface in the unfolded state shown in FIG. 4 and is an upper surface in an unfolded state shown in FIG. 4, and a fingerprint sensor 32 having the configuration shown in FIG. In recent years, this fingerprint sensor 32 has been researched and developed for security checks in various fields and has been miniaturized. In vehicles, it has been adopted as a keyless system for operating doors, engines and accessories, and monitors them. It can be provided in a monitor, or can be provided in a monitor with a smaller size.

The illustrated fingerprint sensor 32 has a prism 33 having a right-angled isosceles triangle in cross section, and a first surface corresponding to the long side of the right-angled isosceles triangle is a finger placement surface 34 and is exposed on the monitor upper surface 30. . The second of the prism 33
A light scattering plate 36 is provided on the surface 35 side, and a light source 37 is fixed opposite to the light scattering plate 36. Third surface 38 of prism 33
Has a convex lens 40 and a CCD imager 41 facing this surface.
Are sequentially arranged and fixed. By arranging the components of the fingerprint sensor 32 in this manner, the components can be compactly arranged at the upper corner of the monitor 3.

In the fingerprint sensor 32, the prism 3
In a state where the finger 42 is pressed against the finger mounting surface 34 of No. 3, light from the light source 37 is converted into parallel light through the light scattering plate 36 and introduced into the prism 33. The light is reflected on the surface of the finger 42, and the reflected light is emitted as parallel light from the prism 33, and the parallel emitted light is guided to the CCD imager 41 through the convex lens 40, and becomes a fingerprint image binarized by the CCD element. .

A signal processing device for processing a signal from the fingerprint sensor 32 as a fingerprint image detecting unit is configured as shown in the block diagram of FIG. 1, and a fingerprint image detecting unit 43 as a signal output unit of the fingerprint sensor 32 is registered in advance. A fingerprint registration unit 44 storing a fingerprint, a fingerprint matching unit 45 for comparing and comparing the registered fingerprint with the detected fingerprint, a control unit 46 for outputting a control signal for controlling various devices based on the matching result, And a monitor opening / closing section 47 for operating the monitor opening / closing motor 13 in response to a signal from the control section 46, and outputs a control signal to a navigation device 48 or the like as necessary as a device outside the in-vehicle in-dash monitor. The operation of the fingerprint sensor 32 can be started by, for example, pressing a switch 50 provided on a monitor, or a transparent touch panel is provided on the finger mounting surface 34 of the prism 33, and the finger is shaken on the transparent touch panel. The operation can also be started automatically when it is started.

The operation of this device is performed according to the flow shown in FIG. That is, the detected fingerprint image from the fingerprint sensor 32 is stored as binarized data (S1), and it is determined whether the fingerprint is to be compared or not (S2). This determination can be made in the fingerprint registration mode when a switch provided on the monitor 3 is pressed, or when the registration operation is performed along the guide screen displayed on the monitor, the display on the monitor is changed to the fingerprint registration mode. Can also be performed by detecting that is selected. Otherwise, the mode is determined to be the fingerprint collation mode. In the above-described determination, when it is detected that the fingerprint registration mode is set, the binarized data is registered in the fingerprint registration unit 44. At this time, the identification number of the registrant, the index finger of the registrant, or the like by operating a switch provided on the monitor or by operating a remote controller or the like along a guide screen displayed on the monitor.
Information such as the middle finger and the ring finger is registered together (S3). In addition, in this system, when this in-dash monitor is mounted on a right-hand drive vehicle, the finger of the left hand is to be detected, and in particular, from the viewpoint of simplifying the fingerprint collation operation, the thumb and the little finger are removed as described above. Index finger, middle finger, ring finger 3
One finger is to be registered. However, the system can be changed to a system in which all fingers are registered.

When it is determined that the fingerprint is to be collated (S2), the fingerprint collation unit 45 reads the registered fingerprint image from the fingerprint registration unit 44 (S4), aligns the images (S5), and compares the detected fingerprint image with the detected fingerprint image. Is performed (S6), the number of unmatched pixels is counted (S7), and a collation judgment is made (S8). In this collation determination, when the number of mismatched pixels is equal to or more than a predetermined number, a signal indicating mismatch is output (S9), and a lamp, buzzer, sound, or the like indicates that the fingerprint is not properly detected by the operating person. To inform the user to perform the detection operation again. It should be noted that, without outputting such a mismatch output signal, it is possible to simply set not to perform the opening / closing operation of the monitor and other operations, and to repeat the fingerprint detection operation as described above to continuously perform the operation. It is also possible to set an alarm to be issued to the outside when the mismatch operation is repeated, particularly when the stored monitor is deployed.

As a result of the collation judgment, if there is a fingerprint that matches the registered fingerprint (S8), it is determined whether or not the fingerprint is registered as an index finger (S10). If it is the same as the one registered as (1), the monitor is opened and closed (S1).
1). At this time, a forward or reverse rotation signal is sent to the motor 13 for driving the in-dash monitor, and a motor drive signal for expanding the monitor when the monitor is retracted, and a motor drive signal for retracting when the monitor is deployed. Send a signal.

When it is determined that the fingerprint is not the fingerprint of the index finger, it is determined whether the fingerprint is the fingerprint of the middle finger (S12).
As a result, if it matches the fingerprint registered as the middle finger, in the illustrated embodiment, a signal is sent to the guidance route search unit of the navigation system to start the operation of route guidance to the home (S13). . When it is determined that the fingerprint is not the middle finger at the time of the determination (S12), since the detected fingerprint is neither the index finger nor the middle finger, the system of this embodiment determines that it is the fingerprint of the remaining ring finger (S12). A signal is sent to the search unit of the navigation system to start an operation for performing various searches for guidance around the current location (S14).

In the above system, an example is shown in which the route guide to the home is used as a short-cut key for performing a route search to the home when the fingerprint of the middle finger is used and a peripheral search is performed when the fingerprint of the ring finger is used. It can be changed to perform various operations. Also, when this monitor is used as a TV monitor, it can be set to forward the channel or to increase or decrease the volume, and when it is used as an audio display screen, it can change the selection of the audio equipment to be activated , Or to increase or decrease the volume.

As described above, by using the fingerprint sensor as a shortcut key, there is no need to perform an operation such as searching for and pressing an operation switch or the like when operating various devices. The operation can be performed, and the operation can be easily performed while driving or in a dark vehicle. In addition,
The fingerprint registration unit, fingerprint collation unit, control unit, and the like may be provided in the monitor, or may be incorporated in a part of the in-vehicle device control device outside the monitor.

[0024]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, as described above, the monitor driving device does not operate unless the fingerprint detected by the fingerprint sensor matches the fingerprint registered in advance. The monitor cannot be easily removed, prevents the monitor from being stolen, and eliminates the need to find a switch that activates the monitor drive, making it easy to deploy or retract the monitor .

Further, in the invention according to claim 2, the control section outputs a plurality of operation signals corresponding to the fingerprints of the respective fingers detected by the fingerprint sensor. Operation can be performed, so that it is not necessary to search for operation switches of various devices, and various devices can be easily operated. By setting the operation signal as a shortcut key, a specific operation can be immediately performed without performing a plurality of operations. Further, in the invention according to claim 3, since the plurality of operation signals are a monitor drive device operation signal and a navigation device start route guidance signal to the home, the route to the home frequently used by the navigation device is provided. Guidance can be provided immediately without performing a plurality of operations, and the operability of the navigation device is improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an outline of a fingerprint sensor used in the device of the present invention and a block configuration of a signal processing device.

FIG. 2 is an operation flowchart of the apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a monitor storage state of the vehicle mounted in-dash monitor of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing an expanded state of the monitor.

FIG. 5 is a side view showing the housed state, the expanded state, and an intermediate state of the monitor.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 housing 2 intermediate case 3 monitor 12 drive gear 13 motor 17 link member 30 monitor upper surface 31 fingerprint detection window 32 fingerprint sensor 33 prism 34 finger placement surface 37 light source 41 CCD imager 42 finger 43 fingerprint detector 44 fingerprint registration unit 45 fingerprint Verification unit 46 Control unit 47 Motor open / close unit

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A fingerprint sensor provided on a monitor, a fingerprint registration unit, and a fingerprint matching unit that compares a fingerprint detected by the fingerprint sensor with a fingerprint of the fingerprint registration unit and outputs a match signal when both fingerprints match. A control unit that outputs an operation signal to a monitor driving device when the coincidence signal is output. 2. The in-vehicle in-dash monitor according to claim 1, wherein the fingerprint registration unit registers the fingerprint of each finger, and the control unit outputs a plurality of operation signals corresponding to the fingerprint of each finger detected by the fingerprint sensor. 3. The vehicle-mounted in-dash monitor according to claim 2, wherein the plurality of operation signals are an operation signal for a monitor driving device and a signal for starting route guidance of a navigation device to a home.