JP2004051007A - Display - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a head-up display for a vehicle, which displays a picked up image and a route information image different in color from each other in the same display area. <P>SOLUTION: A controller 320 drives a driving circuit 310 based on the output of a navigator 330. Herewith, the driving circuit 310 displays the route information image in an area at the lower central portion of the entire area of a liquid crystal panel 10. As a result, the liquid crystal panel 10 displays the route information image in a part of display area of the image picked up by a camera 400. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a display device.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventionally, as shown in FIG. 9, a head-up type display device for a vehicle includes a liquid crystal display device 4 and a reflecting mirror 2 disposed inside an instrument panel 1 (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-107036). reference).
[0003]
In this device, the liquid crystal display device 4 includes a liquid crystal panel that displays the first and second information in different first and second display areas, and an illuminating unit that illuminates the liquid crystal panel with white light from the back side. . Further, when a first display light indicating the first information is received from the first display area, a green filter that emits the first display light as green light, and a second display light indicating the second information are provided. Is received from the second display area, and a red filter that emits the second display light as red light is provided.
[0004]
Here, the reflecting mirror 2 is disposed obliquely with respect to each of the display surface 4 a of the liquid crystal display device 4 and the front windshield 3. Further, when the reflecting mirror 2 receives the first display light emitted from the green filter and the second display light emitted from the red filter, the first and second display lights are transmitted to the opening of the instrument panel 1. The light is reflected toward the front windshield 3 through 1a. As a result, the first and second display lights are projected on the field of view of the front windshield 3.
[0005]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in the above-described display device, the first and second display lights indicating the first and second information are emitted in green and red, respectively, so that the first and second display lights correspond to the first and second display regions, respectively. It is necessary to arrange a green filter and a red filter. For this reason, the display colors of the information displayed in the first and second display areas are limited to green and red, respectively. That is, in the liquid crystal display device 2, it is necessary to divide the display area for each display color.
[0006]
Further, when a color liquid crystal display panel is used as the liquid crystal display panel, it is not necessary to limit the display colors of information displayed in the first and second display areas to green and red, respectively, but this leads to an increase in cost. Become. Further, when a color filter is used for color display, light transmittance is reduced by the color filter. Therefore, it is necessary to use an illumination unit having high luminance.
[0007]
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a display device in which first and second images displayed in different colors can be displayed in the same display area without using a color liquid crystal display panel.
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the display panel (10) displays the first image and the second image is displayed in a part of the display area of the first image. And a lighting unit (20) for illuminating the display panel, wherein the lighting unit is configured to illuminate the display panel with different colors corresponding to the first and second images. First and second light sources (220, 230) for emitting light, a first lens (250) for emitting light emitted from the first light source to a display area of a first image, and a second lens (250). A second lens (240) for emitting light emitted from the light source to the display area of the second image.
[0009]
As described above, the control unit controls the display panel so as to display the second image in a part of the display area of the first image, so that the display panel receives the light from the first and second lenses. Based on the emitted light, the first and second images are displayed in different colors. Thus, the first and second images displayed in different colors can be displayed in the same display area.
[0010]
It is preferable that the display device according to the first aspect of the invention is applied to a head-up display device for a vehicle. Specifically, as in the invention according to claim 2, the display panel and the lighting unit are provided inside the instrument panel of the vehicle, and are provided inside the instrument panel. A reflector (30) for reflecting display light emitted from the display panel and indicating at least one of the first and second images toward the front windshield of the vehicle through the opening (100a) of the instrument panel; It is characterized by having.
[0011]
Further, as in the third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a diffusing plate (210) for diffusing light emitted from the first lens and emitting the light to the display area of the first image, wherein the second lens is provided. Alternatively, the light emitted from the second light source may be emitted to the display area of the second image through the opening (211) of the diffusion plate.
[0012]
It should be noted that reference numerals in parentheses of the above-described units are examples showing the correspondence with specific units described in the embodiments described later.
[0013]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a head-up display device for a vehicle according to the present invention.
[0014]
The head-up display device for a vehicle includes a liquid crystal panel 10, a lighting unit 20, and a reflecting mirror 30. The liquid crystal panel 10 is disposed inside the instrument panel 100 together with the illumination unit 20 and the concave reflecting mirror 30. The liquid crystal panel 10 emits display light indicating an image when illuminated by the illumination unit 20.
[0015]
The illumination unit 20 is disposed on the back surface side of the liquid crystal panel 10 and emits one of white light and green light as described later. The concave reflecting mirror 30 is arranged to be inclined with respect to the liquid crystal panel 10 and also arranged to be inclined with respect to the front windshield 101. Further, the concave reflecting mirror 30 reflects the display light emitted from the liquid crystal panel 10 toward the inner surface of the front windshield 101 through the opening 100a of the instrument panel 100 by the reflecting surface 31.
[0016]
Next, the configuration of the illumination unit 20 will be described with reference to FIGS.
[0017]
2 is a view of the lighting unit 20 viewed from the liquid crystal panel 10 side, FIG. 3 is a view showing a diffusion plate, FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG. 2, and FIG. It is sectional drawing.
[0018]
2, the lighting unit 20 includes a case 200, a diffusion plate 210, a green light emitting diode 220, five white light emitting diodes 230, a convex lens 240, and five convex lenses 250.
[0019]
In FIG. 2, the case 200 is provided on the back surface side of the liquid crystal panel 10, and the opening 201 is provided facing the back surface of the liquid crystal panel 10. The diffusion plate 210 is disposed on the back side of the liquid crystal panel 10 in the case 200. As shown in FIG. 3, the diffusion plate 210 has a rectangular cutout 211 formed in the lower central portion. ing. Further, the diffusion plate 210 diffuses the light emitted from each convex lens 250 and emits the diffused light over the entire display area of the liquid crystal panel 10.
[0020]
The convex lens 240 is disposed in the cutout portion 211 of the diffusion plate 210, and has a radius of curvature of an emission surface set so that green light emitted from the green light emitting diode 220 travels straight. That is, a lens having strong straightness is used as the convex lens 240. For this reason, the convex lens 240 emits green light to the rectangular lower central portion of the liquid crystal panel 10 through the cutout portion 211.
[0021]
Each convex lens 250 is disposed on the back surface side of the diffusion plate 210, and each convex lens 250 has a larger radius of curvature of the emission surface than the convex lens 240. Therefore, the white light from each white light emitting diode 230 can be diffused and emitted toward the entire area of the diffusion plate 210. The convex lens 240 and each convex lens 250 are supported by the case 200 by a support member (not shown).
[0022]
Here, the green light emitting diode 220 and each white light emitting diode 230 are respectively mounted on a substrate 260, and the substrate 260 has, as shown in FIG. Reflectors 270 and 280 are provided to reflect light emitted from each of the light emitting diodes 220 and 230 toward the convex lens.
[0023]
Next, an electric circuit configuration of the head-up display device for a vehicle will be described with reference to FIG.
[0024]
The head-up display device for a vehicle includes an image processing circuit 300, driving circuits 310, 311, 312, and a control circuit 320. The image processing circuit 300 performs image processing on image data captured by the camera 400 and outputs an image processing signal. The camera 400 is installed, for example, to image the front of the vehicle. The drive circuit 310 causes the liquid crystal panel 10 to display an image. The drive circuit 312 lights the green light emitting diode 220. The drive circuit 311 turns on each white light emitting diode 230.
[0025]
The control circuit 320 includes a microcomputer or the like, and drives the drive circuits 311 and 312 to turn on the light emitting diodes 220 and 230, and controls the drive circuit 310 based on the output of the image processing circuit 300 or the output of the navigator 330. A process for controlling and displaying an image on the liquid crystal panel 10 is executed. The navigator 330 sets a route to the destination and outputs route guidance data for guiding the route.
[0026]
Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described.
[0027]
First, when the ignition switch 500 is on, the control circuit 320 operates by being supplied with power from the battery 410. For example, when the camera 400 images the front of the vehicle and outputs image data, the image processing circuit 300 outputs image processing data based on the image data from the camera 400. Accordingly, the control circuit 320 drives the drive circuit 310 based on the image processing data. For this reason, the drive circuit 310 displays an image captured by the camera 400 over the entire display area of the liquid crystal panel 10.
[0028]
In addition, when the control circuit 320 drives the drive circuit 311, the drive circuit 311 turns on each white light emitting diode 230. Accordingly, since each white light emitting diode 230 emits white light to the corresponding convex lens 250, each convex lens 250 emits white light over the entire area of the diffusion plate 210. Therefore, the diffusion plate 210 emits diffused light based on white light emitted from each convex lens 250 to all display regions of the liquid crystal panel 10.
[0029]
At this time, the liquid crystal panel 10 outputs display light indicating a captured image from all display areas to the concave reflecting mirror 30 based on the diffused light, so that the concave reflecting mirror 30 is emitted from the liquid crystal panel 10 by the reflecting surface 31. The displayed display light is reflected toward the front windshield 101 through the opening 100a of the instrument panel 100. Accordingly, the captured image is displayed in white on the front windshield 101 as shown in FIG. FIG. 7 shows an image of a school child crossing a crosswalk.
[0030]
When the navigator 330 outputs route guidance data, the control circuit 320 drives the drive circuit 310 based on the route guidance data instead of the image captured by the camera 400. For this reason, the drive circuit 310 displays a route guidance image based on the route guidance data in the lower central area of the entire display area of the liquid crystal panel 10.
[0031]
In addition, since the control circuit 320 drives the drive circuit 312 instead of the drive circuit 311, the drive circuit 312 turns on the green light emitting diode 220. Accordingly, the green light emitting diode 220 emits green light to the convex lens 240, so that the convex lens 240 emits green light.
[0032]
Here, the green light passes through the notch 211 of the diffusion plate 210 and enters the lower central region of the liquid crystal panel 10. For this reason, the liquid crystal panel 10 outputs the display light indicating the route guidance image from the lower central region to the concave reflecting mirror 30 based on the green light. The display light emitted from 10 is reflected toward front windshield 101 through opening 100 a of instrument panel 100. As a result, the route guidance image is displayed in green on the front windshield 101 as shown in FIG. FIG. 8 shows an image for guiding a route to turn left 200 meters ahead.
[0033]
As described above, according to the present embodiment, the drive circuit 310 displays the image captured by the camera 400 on the entire display area of the liquid crystal panel 10. Further, the drive circuit 310 displays a route guidance image instead of the captured image in the lower central area of the entire display area of the liquid crystal panel 10. As a result, the liquid crystal panel 10 displays the route guidance image (second image) in a part of the display area of the image captured by the camera 400 (first image). Therefore, the captured image and the route guidance image displayed in different colors can be displayed in the same display area. Accordingly, in the visual recognition area of the front windshield 101, the captured image and the route guidance image displayed in different colors can be displayed in the same area.
[0034]
The display of the captured image by the camera 400 may be performed at night, and the display of the route guidance image may be performed during the day. In this case, although the display of the captured image does not require a large luminance, the display of the route guidance image requires a sufficient luminance. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the convex lens 240 corresponding to the display of the route guidance image is one that causes the green light emitted from the green light emitting diode 220 to go straight. Therefore, when displaying the route guidance image, sufficient luminance can be secured.
[0035]
The image captured by the camera 400 is displayed in the entire display area of the liquid crystal panel 10. However, since the green light emitting diode 220 is disposed in the lower central portion of the liquid crystal panel 10, the entire display area of the liquid crystal panel 10 is displayed. The white light emitting diode 230 cannot be arranged to correspond to the region. On the other hand, although it is conceivable that the luminance of the lower central portion of the entire display area of the liquid crystal panel 10 is lower than that of the other areas, the use of the diffusion plate 210 and the convex lenses 250 causes uneven luminance. Is to be suppressed.
[0036]
Note that, in the above-described embodiment, an example in which a captured image and a route guidance image are used as the first and second images has been described, but not limited to the captured image and the route guidance image, and various images may be used. Good.
[0037]
Further, in the above-described embodiment, an example is described in which white and green are used as display colors for displaying a captured image and a route guidance image. However, display colors other than white and green may be used.
[0038]
Further, in the above-described embodiment, an example is described in which the light emitting diodes 220 and 230 are used as the first and second light sources that emit light of different colors, but various light sources such as a light bulb may be used. Good. Further, the light source is not limited to a light emitting diode such as a light emitting diode that emits light of a display color by self-luminous light. A combination of a filter and a filter that emits light of a desired display color may be used. Further, the light emitting element and the filter are not limited to being integrated, and may be arranged separately from each other.
[0039]
Further, in the above-described embodiment, an example in which both the diffusion plate 210 and each convex lens 250 are used to emit white light to the entire display area of the liquid crystal panel 10 has been described. If only one of the convex lenses 250 can sufficiently diffuse the white light emitted from each of the white light emitting diodes 230 and emit the diffused light over the entire display area of the liquid crystal panel 10, It is also possible to use only one of them and delete the other.
[0040]
Further, in the above-described embodiment, an example has been described in which the liquid crystal panel 10 displays one of the captured image and the route guidance image by switching to the other, but the liquid crystal panel 10 displays both the captured image and the route guidance image simultaneously. It may be.
[0041]
In the above embodiment, the green light emitted from the convex lens 240 is emitted directly to the lower central display area of the liquid crystal panel 10 without passing through the diffusion plate 210. Although the example in which the notch 211 as the opening is provided is described, a hole instead of the notch 211 may be provided in the diffusion plate 210. Further, the shape of the notch 211 may be changed according to the route guidance image (second image).
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an embodiment of a head-up display device for a vehicle according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a front view of a lighting unit.
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a diffusion plate.
FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. 2;
FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line BB in FIG. 2;
FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an electric circuit configuration of a vehicle head-up display device.
FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a display on a liquid crystal panel.
FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a display by a liquid crystal panel.
FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a conventional head-up display device for a vehicle.
[Explanation of symbols]
10: liquid crystal panel, 20: lighting unit, 30: reflecting mirror, 310: driving circuit.
330 ... Navigator, 400 ... Camera.

Claims (3)

A display panel (10) and control means (320) for displaying the first image and controlling the display panel so as to display the second image in a part of the display area of the first image. ), And an illumination unit (20) for illuminating the display panel,
The lighting unit,
First and second light sources (220, 230) for emitting different colors of light corresponding to the first and second images,
A first lens (250) for emitting light emitted from the first light source to a display area of the first image;
A second lens (240) for emitting light emitted from the second light source to a display area of the second image;
A display device comprising: The display panel and the lighting unit are disposed inside an instrument panel of a vehicle,
A vehicle is disposed inside the instrument panel and transmits display light emitted from the display panel and indicating at least one of the first and second images through an opening (100a) of the instrument panel. The display device according to claim 1, further comprising a reflector (30) that reflects toward the front windshield. A diffusing plate (210) for diffusing light emitted from the first lens and emitting the light to a display area of the first image;
3. The device according to claim 1, wherein the second lens emits light emitted from the second light source to a display area of the second image through an opening of the diffusion plate. The display device according to the above.

Images