JP2005038487A - On-vehicle information device and media ejection indicating method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an on-vehicle information device which allows a media ejecting operation to be easily performed though the device is provided with an invertible monitor covering a media insertion hole. <P>SOLUTION: A monitor part 200 is inclined in response to long-time depression of a tilt/eject button (affirmative judgement step S1). When the tilt-eject button 101 is depressed once for a short time, it is judged that ejection of a medium inserted to a CD/DVD reader 110 has been indicated. When the tilt-eject button 101 is depressed for a short time twice, it is judged that ejection of a medium inserted to an MD recording and reproducing device 120 has been indicated. When the tilt-eject button 101 is depressed for a short time three times, it is judged that ejection of a memory card reader/writer 130 has been indicated (step S3). The monitor part 200 is inclined to such angular position that the medium of which the ejection has been indicated can be ejected (step S5), and the medium is ejected (step S9). <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a technique for discharging a medium inserted in an in-vehicle information device in which an invertable monitor may cover a medium insertion / exhaust port.
[0002]
[Prior art]
2. Description of the Related Art An in-vehicle information device that has a tiltable monitor that is disposed on an instrument panel of a vehicle is known. In an in-vehicle information device called a so-called 2DIN size, an insertion port for various media such as a disc such as a DVD or a cassette tape is provided on the back side of a tiltable monitor (see Patent Document 1).
[0003]
[Patent Document 1]
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-338889
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
In the conventional in-vehicle information device, when ejecting the media, after tilting the standing monitor, it is necessary to press a discharge button disposed at a position deeper by the thickness of the monitor. Therefore, the eject button is difficult to operate.
[0005]
The present invention provides an in-vehicle information device that can easily eject a medium even if it has an invertible monitor that covers the insertion slot of the medium.
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
(1) A vehicle-mounted information device according to a first aspect of the present invention includes a monitor, a media playback device that has a medium insertion / exhaust port located on the back of the monitor and can read at least information recorded on the media, and a monitor And a single operation switch for instructing both the tilting of the monitor and the ejection of the medium.
(2) According to the second aspect of the present invention, in the in-vehicle information device according to the first aspect, when it is determined that the operation switch has been operated for a certain time or more, the tilting of the monitor is instructed, and the operation continuation time is less than the certain time. It is further characterized by further comprising an instruction means for instructing the discharge of the medium when judged.
(3) According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the in-vehicle information device according to the second aspect, when the in-vehicle information device includes at least two media playback devices and the instruction unit determines that the operation duration of the operation switch is less than a predetermined time, According to the number of times of the operation, it is determined whether to instruct to eject a medium inserted in any of the media playback devices.
(4) In the fourth aspect of the invention, in the in-vehicle information device according to the third aspect, when it is determined by the instructing means whether to instruct discharge of the media inserted in any of the media playback devices, The monitor is tilted to an angular position where the medium can be discharged, and the medium is discharged.
(5) The invention of claim 5 is the vehicle-mounted information device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the operation switch is provided on a main body side of the vehicle-mounted information device installed in the vehicle. The operation surface is located on substantially the same plane as the display surface of the standing monitor.
(6) In the media discharge instruction method according to the invention of claim 6, the monitor is tilted when the operation switch is continuously operated for a predetermined time or more, and when the operation switch operation duration is less than the predetermined time, the operation is in accordance with the number of operations of the operation. Thus, the medium inserted in any one of at least two media playback devices is determined, and the monitor is tilted to an angular position where the medium can be ejected to eject the medium.
[0007]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
With reference to FIGS. 1-9, one Embodiment by the vehicle-mounted information apparatus of this invention is described. FIGS. 1A and 1B are views showing the appearance of an in-vehicle information device that houses a monitor, and FIG. 2 is a view showing a II-II cross section of FIG.
[0008]
The in-vehicle information device 1 includes a main body unit 100 and a monitor unit 200 that tilts with respect to the main body unit 100 so as to be inverted. The main unit 100 includes a CD / DVD reader 110 for reading information recorded on CDs and DVDs, an MD recording / reproducing device 120 for recording and reproducing MDs, and a memory card. A memory card reader / writer 130 and a control circuit 145 for exchanging information are provided.
[0009]
Each of these devices 110 to 130 has insertion / ejection ports 111, 121, and 131 for inserting / removing each medium, which is an information recording medium, into / from each of the devices 110 to 130. That is, the in-vehicle information device 1 has three slots into which various media can be inserted and removed. Each insertion / discharge port 111, 121, 131 is arranged at a position on the front surface of the main body 100 and covered by the monitor unit 200 standing upright and housed in the main body 100. Therefore, in order to insert / remove each medium, it is necessary to tilt the monitor unit 200 to expose the respective insertion / discharge ports 111, 121, 131. As will be described later, the control circuit 145 determines the pressing state of the tilt / eject button and tilts the monitor unit 200 to a predetermined angular position.
[0010]
Reference numeral 101 denotes a tilt / eject button provided on the upper front surface of the main body 100. The tilt / eject button 101 is a switch having an operation surface on substantially the same plane as the display surface of the monitor 201 of the monitor unit 200 housed in the main body unit 100. As will be described later, when the tilt / eject button 101 is continuously pressed (long-pressed) for a predetermined time or longer, the monitor unit 200 is tilted. When the pressing / shortening time of the tilt / eject button 101 is less than a certain time (short press), the monitor unit 200 is tilted to a predetermined position according to the number of short presses, and then pressed shortly. Depending on the number of times, the media inserted into any of the devices 110 to 130 are discharged. That is, the tilt / eject button 101 functions as a tilt (tilt) operation switch of the monitor unit 200 and also functions as a media eject (eject) switch.
[0011]
The monitor unit 200 includes a monitor 201, operation buttons 202, and a joystick 203. On the monitor 201, information read from a CD or DVD by the CD / DVD reader 110 is displayed as appropriate. The operation switch 202 and the joystick 203 function as an input device of the in-vehicle information device 1.
[0012]
――― About tilting movement of monitor 200 ―――
As shown in FIG. 2, the slide arm 141 and the rotation arm 142 are provided on the left and right side surfaces of the monitor unit 200, respectively. The slide arm 141 has a guide hole 141b, and the pin 100p of the main body 100 is inserted into the guide hole 141b. Thereby, the slide arm 141 is held so as to be movable in the front-rear direction with respect to the main body 100. The rotation arm 142 is held so as to be rotatable with respect to the main body 100 at a rotation center 142b. The side surface of the monitor unit 200 is rotatably supported by the monitor side end portion 141 a of the slide arm 141 and the monitor side end portion 142 a of the rotation arm 142. Therefore, the angular position of the monitor unit 200 is determined by the relative positions of the monitor side end portions 141a and 142a with respect to the main body unit 100.
[0013]
When the monitor tilting motor 144 is driven, the rack gear provided on the slide arm 141 is driven via a gear mechanism (not shown), so that the slide arm 141 is driven in the front-rear direction with respect to the main body 100. Similarly, when the motor 144 is driven, the gear side end portion 142c is rotated via the gear mechanism and the link, so that the rotation arm 142 is rotated with respect to the rotation center 142b. The tilt position of the monitor unit 200 is detected by a gear mechanism that drives the arms 141 and 142 and a linear sensor 143 connected to the link.
[0014]
As shown in FIGS. 2 to 5, the monitor unit 200 has an arbitrary angle from the state housed in the main body 100 (FIG. 2) to the angular position (FIG. 5) tilted by about 90 degrees with respect to the main body 100. Can tilt to position. When a monitor tilting motor (not shown) is driven in the forward rotation direction from the storage state of the monitor unit 200 shown in FIG. 2, the slide arm 141 is driven in front of the in-vehicle information device 1 and the rotating arm 142 is It is rotated counterclockwise about the rotation center 142b. That is, the monitor-side end 141a feeds the lower part of the monitor unit 200 to the front of the in-vehicle information device 1, and the monitor-side end 142a is located near the approximate center of the side surface of the monitor unit 200 held by the monitor-side end 142a. The vehicle-mounted information device 1 is sent forward and downward. As a result, the monitor unit 200 is tilted as shown in FIGS. Further, when a motor (not shown) is driven in the forward rotation direction, as shown in FIG. 5, the monitor unit 200 stops at an angular position tilted approximately 90 degrees from the housed state shown in FIG. When the motor is driven in the reverse rotation direction from the state shown in FIG. 5, the monitor unit 200 is housed in the main body unit 100 by an operation reverse to the above description.
[0015]
By tilting the monitor unit 200 from the state housed in the main body unit 100 (FIG. 2) to the angular position (FIG. 5) tilted by about 90 degrees with respect to the main body unit 100, the media to each of the devices 110 to 130 is tilted. Insertion / removal becomes possible. For example, when the monitor unit 200 is tilted from the housed state of the monitor unit 200 shown in FIG. 2 to the posture of FIG. 3, the upper part of the monitor unit 200 falls below the insertion / eject port 111 of the CD / DVD reader 110. FIG. 6 shows a state where the in-vehicle information device 1 shown in FIG. 3 is viewed from the front. As shown in FIG. 6, since the insertion / ejection port 111 of the CD / DVD reader 110 is exposed in the front of the in-vehicle information device 1, it is possible to insert / remove a CD / DVD into / from the CD / DVD reader 110. .
[0016]
When the monitor unit 200 is tilted from the state shown in FIGS. 3 and 6 to the posture shown in FIG. 4, the upper part of the monitor unit 200 is lowered below the insertion / discharge port 121 of the MD recording / reproducing apparatus 120. FIG. 7 shows a state where the in-vehicle information device 1 shown in FIG. 4 is viewed from the front. As shown in FIG. 7, since the insertion / extraction port 121 of the MD recording / reproducing apparatus 120 is exposed on the front surface of the in-vehicle information device 1, the MD can be inserted into and removed from the MD recording / reproducing apparatus 120.
[0017]
When the monitor unit 200 is tilted from the state shown in FIGS. 4 and 7 to the posture of FIG. 5, the upper part of the monitor unit 200 is lowered below the insertion / exit port 131 of the memory card reader / writer 130. The state which looked at the vehicle-mounted information apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 5 from the front is shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 5, since the insertion / extraction port 131 of the memory card reader / writer 130 is exposed on the front surface of the in-vehicle information device 1, the memory card can be inserted into and removed from the memory card reader / writer 130.
[0018]
――― Discharge of media ―――
FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing an operation for discharging the media inserted in each of the devices 110 to 130. When power is supplied from the vehicle to the in-vehicle information device 1 and the tilt / eject button 101 is pressed, the program shown in FIG. 9 starts operating in the control circuit 145. In step S1, it is determined whether or not the tilt / eject button 101 has been pressed for a long time. If a positive determination is made in step S1, the process proceeds to step S21 described later. If a negative determination is made in step S1, the process proceeds to step S3.
[0019]
In step S3, the media for which ejection is instructed is determined from the number of times the tilt / eject button 101 has been pressed for a short time. If the number of times the tilt / eject button 101 is short-pressed is one, it is determined that an instruction to eject the medium inserted into the CD / DVD reader 110 has been issued. If the number of times the tilt / eject button 101 is short-pressed is two, it is determined that the ejection of the medium inserted into the MD recording / reproducing apparatus 120 has been instructed. If the number of times the tilt / eject button 101 is short-pressed is three, it is determined that an instruction to eject the medium inserted into the memory card reader / writer 130 has been issued.
[0020]
If it is determined in step S3 that the media instructed to be ejected is determined from the number of times the tilt / eject button 101 has been pressed for a short time, the process proceeds to step S5. In step S5, the monitor unit 200 is tilted to the angular position at which the medium determined in step S3 can be discharged. If the monitor unit 200 has already been tilted to the angular position where the medium can be ejected determined in step S3, the monitor unit 200 is not tilted. As described above, the angular position detection of the monitor unit 200 is detected by the linear sensor 143.
[0021]
In step S7, it is determined whether or not there is a medium to be ejected determined in step S3, that is, whether or not the medium to be ejected is inserted in the devices 110 to 130. If a positive determination is made in step S7, the process proceeds to step S9, the medium to be ejected is ejected, and the process proceeds to step S11. In step S11, the process waits until the medium ejected in step S9 is removed from the insertion / ejection port 111, 121, 131.
[0022]
If a positive determination is made in step S11 or a negative determination is made in step S7, the process proceeds to step S13. In step S13, it is determined whether or not a new medium has been inserted into the insertion / ejection port 111, 121, 131. If an affirmative determination is made in step S13, the process proceeds to step S15 and waits until the medium determined to be inserted in step S13 is loaded into the apparatus 110-130. If an affirmative determination is made in step S15, the monitor unit 200 is tilted to the angular position before the medium is discharged, and the process returns.
[0023]
If a negative determination is made in step S13, the process proceeds to step S19, and it is determined whether the tilt / eject button 101 is pressed or a certain time has passed. If a negative determination is made in step S19, the process returns to step S13. If a positive determination is made in step S19, the process proceeds to step S17.
[0024]
If a positive determination is made in step S1, the process proceeds to step S21, shifts to the monitor tilt mode, starts tilting the monitor unit 200, and proceeds to step S23. In step S23, it is determined whether or not the long press of the tilt / eject button 101 is continued. If an affirmative determination is made in step S23, the process proceeds to step S25, the tilt of the monitor unit 200 is continued, and the process proceeds to step S27. In step S <b> 27, it is determined whether or not the monitor unit 200 has tilted to the angle position (FIG. 5) tilted by approximately 90 degrees with respect to the main body unit 100, that is, the tilt lower limit position. If a negative determination is made in step S27, the process returns to step S23. If an affirmative determination is made in step S27, the process proceeds to step S29, the monitor unit 200 is returned to the state housed in the main body unit 100 (FIG. 2), and the process returns. If a negative determination is made in step S23, the process proceeds to step S31, the tilting of the monitor unit 200 is stopped, and the process returns.
[0025]
In the on-vehicle information device 1 described above, the inserted media is discharged as follows. When the tilt / eject button 101 is pressed once for a short time, it is determined that the ejection of the medium inserted into the CD / DVD reader 110 has been instructed (step S3). Then, the monitor unit 200 is set to the angular position shown in FIGS. 3 and 6 so that the insertion / ejection port 111 of the CD / DVD reader 110 is exposed (step S5). Similarly, if the number of short presses of the tilt / eject button 101 is two, the insertion / extraction port 121 of the MD recording / reproducing apparatus 120 is exposed (FIGS. 4 and 7), and if it is three times, the memory card reader The angular position of the monitor unit 200 is set so that the insertion / exhaust port 131 of the writer 130 is exposed (FIGS. 5 and 8).
[0026]
After the monitor unit 200 tilts to a predetermined angular position, the medium is ejected (step S9). If the media is removed (Yes in step S11), or if no media to be ejected is inserted (No in step S7), whether the media is inserted (Yes in step S13), tilt / eject button It waits until 101 is pressed or a fixed time elapses. Then, the monitor unit 200 is returned to the angular position before the medium ejection instruction (step S17).
[0027]
When the tilt / eject button 101 is pressed for a long time (step S1 affirmative determination), the monitor shifts to the monitor tilt mode, and the monitor unit 200 is tilted while the tilt / eject button 101 is pressed for a long time (step S23 to step S23). S27). When the monitor unit 200 is tilted to an angle position (FIG. 5) tilted by approximately 90 degrees with respect to the main body unit 100, that is, to the tilt lower limit position, the monitor unit 200 is brought into a state of being housed in the main body unit 100 (FIG. 2). Return (step S29).
[0028]
The in-vehicle information device 1 described above has the following effects.
(1) The tilt / eject button 101 can be used to instruct a tilting operation of the monitor unit 200 and a media discharging operation. Thus, even when the monitor unit 200 is at an angular position that covers the media insertion ports 111, 121, and 131, the media can be easily ejected. Further, since it is not necessary to separately provide an operation button for discharging the media, the manufacturing cost can be reduced.
[0029]
(2) The tilt operation of the monitor unit 200 and the media discharge operation can be separately instructed according to the pressing time of the tilt / eject button 101. This improves the operability of each operation and simplifies the operation unit.
(3) The media to be ejected can be selected according to the number of times the tilt / eject button 101 is pressed briefly. This facilitates selection of media to be ejected and is highly convenient.
[0030]
(4) The tilt / eject button 101 is provided on the front surface of the main body unit 100, and an operation surface is provided on substantially the same plane as the display surface of the monitor 201 of the monitor unit 200 housed in the main body unit 100. Accordingly, it is not necessary to press the discharge button disposed at a position deeper by the thickness of the monitor as in the conventional case, so that the pressing operation is easy. Even when the monitor unit 200 is tilted, the pressing operation is easy.
[0031]
――― Modifications ――――
In the above description, the media to be inserted into and removed from the devices 110 to 130 mounted on the in-vehicle information device 1 are CD / DVD, MD, and memory card, but the present invention is not limited to this. Various media such as a cassette tape and a removable hard disk may be used. In the above description, the number of slots into which media can be inserted is 3. However, the present invention is not limited to this. There may be 1 or 2 slots, or 4 or more slots.
[0032]
In the above description, the tilt / eject button 101 is only pressed for a short time to tilt the monitor unit 200 and eject the media. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the media may not be ejected unless the monitor unit 200 is tilted to an angular position where the media can be ejected by a long press operation of the tilt / eject button 101. In other words, the tilting operation of the monitor unit 200 may be required prior to discharging the media. Even with such a configuration, the tilting operation of the monitor unit 200 and the media discharging operation can be separately instructed according to the pressing time of the tilt / eject button 101. Therefore, the operability of each operation is improved and the operation is improved. This has the effect of simplifying the part. Furthermore, the above-described embodiments and modifications may be combined.
[0033]
In the above embodiment and its modifications, the operation switch corresponds to the tilt / eject button 101, and the instruction means corresponds to the control circuit 145. The media reproducing device corresponds to the CD / DVD reading device 110, the MD recording / reproducing device 120, and the memory card reader / writer 130. The driving means includes a slide arm 141, a rotating arm 142, and a motor 144. Furthermore, as long as the characteristic functions of the present invention are not impaired, the present invention is not limited to the device configuration in the above-described embodiment.
[0034]
【The invention's effect】
According to the present invention, the operation switch can be instructed to tilt the monitor and eject the medium. As a result, even when the monitor is at an angular position covering the medium insertion / ejection port, the medium can be easily ejected.
[Brief description of the drawings]
1A and 1B are views showing an external appearance of an in-vehicle information apparatus 1 that houses a monitor unit 200, where FIG. 1A is a front view and FIG. 1B is a side view;
FIG. 2 is a view showing a II-II cross section of FIG.
3 is a diagram illustrating a state in which a monitor unit 200 is tilted from the state illustrated in FIG. 2;
4 is a diagram illustrating a state in which a monitor unit 200 is further tilted from the state illustrated in FIG. 3;
5 is a diagram illustrating a state in which the monitor unit 200 is stopped at an angular position tilted by approximately 90 degrees from the storage state illustrated in FIG. 2;
6 is a front view of the monitor unit 200 shown in FIG. 3 at an angular position. FIG.
7 is a front view of the monitor unit 200 shown in FIG. 4 at an angular position. FIG.
8 is a front view of the monitor unit 200 shown in FIG. 5 at an angular position. FIG.
FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing an operation of discharging media inserted in the devices 110 to 130.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 In-vehicle information apparatus 100 Main-body part 101 Tilt / eject button 110 CD / DVD reader 111,121,131 Insertion discharge port 120 MD recording / reproducing apparatus 130 Memory card reader / writer 141 Slide arm 142 Rotating arm 143 Linear sensor 144 Motor 145 Control Circuit 200 Monitor unit 201 Monitor

Claims (6)

A monitor,
A media playback device having a media insertion / extraction port located on the back of the monitor and capable of reading at least information recorded on the media;
Driving means for driving the monitor to an arbitrary angular position;
A vehicle-mounted information device comprising: a single operation switch that instructs both tilting of the monitor and discharging of the media. The in-vehicle information device according to claim 1,
When it is determined that the operation switch has been operated for a predetermined time or more, the monitor is further instructed to tilt, and when it is determined that the operation continuation time is less than the predetermined time, an instruction means for instructing discharge of the medium is further provided. In-vehicle information device. The in-vehicle information device according to claim 2,
Comprising at least two media playback devices,
When the instruction means determines that the operation duration time of the operation switch is less than a predetermined time, the instruction means instructs discharge of the media inserted in any of the media playback devices according to the number of times of the operation. An in-vehicle information device characterized by determining whether or not. The in-vehicle information device according to claim 3,
When the instruction means determines whether to instruct to eject any of the media inserted in the media playback device, the monitor is tilted to an angular position where the media can be ejected, and the media is ejected. An in-vehicle information device characterized by that. In the in-vehicle information device according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The operation switch is provided on the main body side of the in-vehicle information device installed in the vehicle,
The in-vehicle information device characterized in that an operation surface of the operation switch is positioned on substantially the same plane as a display surface of the standing monitor. If the operation switch continues to be operated for a certain period of time, the monitor will tilt,
When the operation duration of the operation switch is less than a predetermined time, the medium inserted in at least two or more media playback devices is determined according to the number of operations of the operation,
A medium discharge instruction method, wherein the medium is discharged by tilting the monitor to an angular position where the medium can be discharged.

Images