JP2002112400A - Car audio system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a car audio system that generates a proper sound field inside a vehicle. SOLUTION: An amplifier 10 detects the number and positions of passengers by passenger sensors 24-28. Then the amplifier 10 sets the sound outputted from speakers 14-22 to be optimum depending on the number and positions of the passengers on the basis of the result of detection. Then a signal from the amplifier 10 is fed via an on-vehicle LAN 30 to the speakers 14-22, where the signal is converted into an analog signal and sounded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a vehicle mounted on a vehicle,
The present invention relates to a car audio system that outputs sound from a plurality of speakers.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a vehicle is equipped with a car audio system such as a car stereo. The car audio system has a plurality of speakers, and outputs different sounds to these speakers to obtain various sound effects. Audio signals from various audio sources such as CDs, radios, MDs, and cassette tapes are amplified by an audio amplifier, supplied to respective speakers, and output from the speakers.

[0003]

Here, the interior of the vehicle is relatively narrow, and the speaker arrangement is constant. On the other hand, the passengers in the vehicle differ from time to time. That is, in addition to the case where only the driver is present, there may be a case where a passenger is present in the passenger seat or the rear seat. Therefore, the sound field in the vehicle interior changes greatly depending on the presence or absence of a passenger, the number of passengers, and the like. Therefore, there is a problem that an appropriate sound field cannot be formed in the vehicle interior depending on the number of passengers.

[0004] The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and has as its object to provide a car audio system capable of forming a more appropriate sound field in a vehicle cabin.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a car audio system mounted on a vehicle and outputting sound from a plurality of speakers, wherein the audio amplifier performs a separate amplification process on audio signals of a plurality of channels. A plurality of speakers arranged at different positions in the vehicle, each of which separately generates a sound based on the output of the audio amplifier, occupant detection means for detecting the position of the occupant of the vehicle, Correction means for correcting amplification processing in the audio amplifier according to the position of the user.

As described above, according to the present invention, the sound output from each speaker forms an optimum sound field in the vehicle in accordance with the number of passengers and their positions, so that the passenger can output a realistic audio output. You can enjoy.

Further, it is preferable that the audio amplifier and the occupant detection means are connected via the in-vehicle LAN. Further, the audio amplifier,
The plurality of speakers are connected via the in-vehicle LAN, and the A / D converter provided in each speaker converts audio data sent via the in-vehicle LAN into an analog signal and outputs sound from the speakers. It is preferred to do so.

[0008] This eliminates the need for a cable connecting the amplifier and the speaker, and reduces the number of wires in the wire harness.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention (hereinafter referred to as embodiments) will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing a configuration of a car audio system according to the embodiment. Car amplifier 10
The player 12 is provided on a front panel of the vehicle. A driver such as a driver operates the player 12 to select an audio source such as a DVD, a CD, an MD, or a radio, and generate an audio signal. The audio signal is subjected to a predetermined amplification process by an amplifier 10. The amplifier 10 is constituted by a DSP, processes the audio signal by digital processing, and outputs a digital audio signal.

The amplifier 10 is connected to the in-vehicle LAN 3
Connected to 0. The in-vehicle LAN 30 is a communication means for various in-vehicle devices mounted on the vehicle, and each in-vehicle device acquires a necessary signal via the in-vehicle LAN 30.

The in-vehicle LAN 30 includes speakers 16, 1
8, 20, and 22 are connected. The speakers 16, 18, 20, and 22 convert digital data supplied via the in-vehicle LAN 30 into analog signals, and then output the analog signals as sounds.

Further, passenger seats 24, 26, and 28 are provided on each seat except the driver's seat. The occupant sensors 24, 26, and 28 are configured by, for example, pressure sensors that detect the seating of a person. The occupant sensors 24, 26, and 28 are also connected to the in-vehicle LAN 30, and the detection results of the occupant sensors 24, 26, and 28 are supplied to the amplifier 10.

A front volume 3 is provided at the front of the vehicle.
2. A rear volume 34 is provided at the rear.
Therefore, the passenger can operate these volumes 32 and 34 to set the volume. Note that these volumes 32 and 34 are also connected to the in-vehicle LAN 30.

The amplifier 10 is connected to the occupant sensor 2.
4, 26, 28 detection results and volumes 32, 34
Based on the volume setting of each speaker 14, 16, 18,
The audio data supplied to 20, 20 is changed. That is, in the amplifier 10, the occupant sensors 24, 26, 2
The number of passengers and the position are calculated on the basis of the detection result of Step 8. Next, based on the calculation result, an optimal sound field for the number of passengers and the position is calculated. Then, each speaker 14, 16, 18, 20, 22 corresponding to the calculated optimum sound field.
Create audio data for the car LAN3
0 to each speaker 14, 16, 18, 20, 22.

As shown in FIG. 2, the amplifier 10 recognizes the number and position of the occupants based on the detection results of the occupant sensors 24, 26 and 28 (S11). When only the driver's seat is provided, the sound field is optimized for the driver's seat (S12). If there are passengers in the driver's seat and the passenger's seat, adjustment is made to optimize the sound field in the front seat (S13).

Further, when there are passengers in the driver's seat, the passenger seat, and the rear seat, the output from the rear speakers 18 and 20 is controlled according to the status of the rear volume 34 (S1).
4). That is, if the volume adjustment in the rear volume 34 is set to auto, the output of each of the speakers 16 to 22 is adjusted so that the sound field can be optimized for all seats (S15). When the volume setting of the rear volume 34 is low, a small amount of monaural / stereo sound is output from the rear speakers 18 and 20 and the front speakers 14, 16 and 22 are output.
The sound field is optimized for the front seat based on the output from (S16).
Further, when the volume setting in the rear volume 34 is off, the rear speakers 18 and 20 are turned off, and the sound field of the front seat is optimized by the front speakers 14, 16 and 22 (S17).

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the vehicle-mounted L
Audio data is transmitted using the AN 30. Therefore, the sound output from each of the speakers 14, 16, 18, 20, and 22 forms an optimal sound field in the vehicle according to the number of passengers and their positions, so that the passenger can enjoy a realistic audio output. Can be.

Transmission of audio data to each speaker is performed using the in-vehicle LAN 30. Therefore, a cable for connecting the amplifier 10 to each of the speakers 14, 16, 18, 20, 22 is not required, and the number of wires of the wire harness can be reduced. In addition, since the transmission is performed digitally, there is little danger that voice will be affected by various kinds of noise on the transmission line.

In the above example, the occupant sensor 24,
According to 26 and 28, only the presence of the passenger was detected,
It is also preferable that the size of the occupant is detected by a camera or the like, and thereby the optimum sound field is calculated.

Each of the speakers 14, 16, 18, 2
Reference numerals 0 and 22 have an interface for connection with the in-vehicle LAN 30 and also have a microcomputer for decoding and processing the protocol. Thus, audio data is received by communication with the amplifier, A / D converted, and the speaker is driven to output sound.

[0022]

As described above, according to the present invention,
The sound output from each speaker forms an optimal sound field in the vehicle according to the number of passengers and their positions, so that the passenger can enjoy a realistic audio output. Also,
By using the in-vehicle LAN for data transmission, a cable connecting the amplifier and the speaker is not required, and the number of wires in the wire harness can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an overall configuration of a system.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an operation.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 amplifier, 12 players, 14 to 22 speakers, 24 to 28 passenger sensor, 30 in-vehicle LAN, 3
2,34 volumes.

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Hirohisa Suzuki 2-5-5 Keihanhondori, Moriguchi-shi, Osaka F-term in Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd. (Reference) 3D020 BA02 BA10 BB01 BC01 BD05 BE03 5D062 CC05 CC13

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A car audio system mounted on a vehicle and outputting sound from a plurality of speakers, comprising: an audio amplifier for performing different amplification processes on audio signals of a plurality of channels; A plurality of speakers arranged to separately generate sounds based on the output of the audio amplifier, occupant detection means for detecting the position of the occupant in the vehicle, and an audio amplifier in accordance with the detected occupant's position A car audio system comprising: a correction unit that corrects the amplification process in the above. 2. The car audio system according to claim 1, wherein said audio amplifier and said occupant detection means are connected via said in-vehicle LAN. 3. The system according to claim 1, wherein the audio amplifier and the plurality of speakers are connected via the in-vehicle LAN, and are mounted on a vehicle by a D / A converter provided in each speaker. A car audio system, which converts audio data sent via a LAN into an analog signal and outputs sound from a speaker.