JP2006053065A - Measuring instrument for displaying physical quantity using variation of color - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a measuring instrument allowing a driver of an automobile, and a person monitoring an instrument of a machine in a factory or a device to monitor the instrument without bearing a great monitoring burden, and capable of grasping easily an operation condition of the automobile, the machine in the factory or the device. <P>SOLUTION: In this instrument for displaying a physical quantity, the physical quantity is displayed by color variation to recognize intuitively a rough range of the physical quantity by visual sense of the human being, and the operation condition of the automobile, the machine in the factory or the device is grasped easily without bearing the great monitoring burden. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

The present invention relates to instruments used in general industrial machines and devices in addition to vehicles such as automobiles, and more specifically, displays physical quantities such as temperature, pressure, remaining amount, speed, force, voltage, current, time, and the like. It is related to the instrument used to do.

  Conventionally, in a meter that displays a specific physical quantity, it is known to change the color of the display unit of the meter when the measured value becomes a preset value (hereinafter referred to as a threshold value).

  For example, an instrument that uses an analog display method with a pointer, and when the pointer display part is illuminated, if the displayed value exceeds a certain threshold, it is possible to change the color of the pointer display part. It is known.

  In addition, even in an instrument using a color liquid crystal display and adopting an analog or digital display system, if the displayed value exceeds a certain threshold, the entire background of the display or the pointer display part There is an example in which the color of the instrument is changed to draw the attention of the person who monitors the instrument.

  Such an instrument capable of changing the color is used in, for example, a combination instrument of an automobile (an instrument showing speed, engine speed, remaining amount of fuel, cumulative travel distance, etc.) It makes it easy to detect critical driving conditions.

In addition, in order to enhance the design elements, the light of the instrument lighting device can be changed to multiple colors, and the brightness of the light source and the light source that controls the multi-color light emitting lighting device that makes adjustment control for the change easy. A method to do this has also been proposed.

JP2004-093311 JP2004-144547

  However, for those who need to monitor the instrument of a car driver or factory machine or device, the value of each physical quantity can be used to constantly monitor the instrument and understand what the physical quantity is in. It becomes a big monitoring burden to recognize it as it is. In particular, this burden increases as the number of instruments to be monitored increases.

  In addition, when a specific physical quantity exceeds a certain threshold value and the color suddenly changes, it may not be possible to cope with calmness.

  Furthermore, it is not always necessary for a driver of a car or a person who monitors a meter of a machine or device in a factory to quantitatively grasp the physical quantity indicated by the meter and grasp the operating state of the car, machine or device. In many cases, it may be sufficient to recognize that it is “about half of the allowable range” or “about 3/4 of the allowable range”.

The present invention has been made from such a viewpoint, and a person who monitors a driver of an automobile or an instrument of a factory machine or device can monitor the instrument without incurring a large monitoring burden. Alternatively, it is an object of the present invention to provide an instrument that can easily grasp the operating state of the apparatus.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, the invention described in claim 1 is a meter that displays a physical quantity, and uses a means for displaying the physical quantity by a change in color.

  By expressing physical quantities with color changes in this way, a rough range of physical quantities can be intuitively recognized by human vision, and even when the instrument is unconsciously viewed, It is possible to intuitively identify whether or not the physical quantity indicated by the instrument is within a safe range without any problem.

  Accordingly, a person who monitors the driver of a car or a machine or device in a factory can easily grasp the operating state of the car or the machine or apparatus in the factory without taking a large monitoring burden.

  In addition, this physical quantity is designed to be recognized by changing the color step by step, so that the instrument does not suddenly show a critical driving state, and it is not possible to detect the driver or the machine or device in the factory. A person who monitors the instrument can calmly operate a car, a factory machine or device.

  The invention described in claim 2 is a meter that displays a physical quantity, and is a meter that combines a means for displaying a physical quantity by a change in color and a means for displaying an analog or digital physical quantity. .

  By doing this, it is possible to intuitively recognize the rough range of the physical quantity by the human visual sense by the color displayed by dividing the physical quantity into several stages, and the analog type or digital type The means for displaying the physical quantity can also quantitatively grasp the specific physical quantity. Accordingly, the person who monitors the meter can determine whether the physical quantity is determined by color, or can be determined by means of displaying an analog or digital physical quantity, as necessary.

  The invention described in claim 3 is the instrument that displays the physical quantity described in claim 1 or 2, and can change the luminance of the color in accordance with the change of the color.

  By doing so, for example, as the physical quantity to be measured increases, the luminance of the display portion of the color can be increased, and the person monitoring the instrument can more easily grasp the state of the physical quantity. it can.

  Further, in the invention described in claim 4, the instrument for displaying the physical quantity according to any one of claims 1 to 3, the instrument capable of blinking the display unit by the color in accordance with the change of the color It was.

  By doing this, when the physical quantity to be measured exceeds a predetermined threshold value, the person who monitors the instrument understands that the physical quantity is in a critical state by blinking the display part by color. Can be made easier.

  Further, in the invention described in claim 5, the instrument for displaying the physical quantity described in any one of claims 1 to 4 is provided, and the instrument can freely adjust the color change.

  By doing so, the person who monitors the instrument can freely set the order of color change and the range of physical quantity indicated by a specific color so that the physical quantity to be monitored can be easily grasped. Become.

  The method invention described in claim 6 has the following configuration.

  That is, a physical quantity display method for a meter that displays a physical quantity, and a physical quantity display method that displays a physical quantity by a change in color is employed.

  By doing this, it is possible to intuitively recognize the rough range of the physical quantity by the color displayed by dividing the physical quantity into several stages, and it is possible to recognize the rough range of the physical quantity by a human being. It is possible to easily grasp the operation state of the vehicle without incurring a large monitoring burden.

  The method invention described in claim 7 has the following configuration.

  In other words, a physical quantity display method for an instrument that displays a physical quantity, which employs a physical quantity display method that combines a method of displaying a physical quantity by a change in color and a method of displaying an analog or digital physical quantity.

By doing this, it is possible to intuitively recognize the rough range of the physical quantity by the human visual sense by the color displayed by dividing the physical quantity into several stages, and also the analog type or digital type A specific physical quantity can be quantitatively grasped also by the method of displaying the physical quantity.

  By expressing a physical quantity with a change in color, it is possible to intuitively recognize the rough range of the physical quantity by human vision, and even when viewing the instrument unconsciously, It is possible to intuitively identify whether or not the physical quantity indicated by the meter is within a safe range with no problems. Accordingly, a person who monitors an instrument such as an automobile driver or a factory machine or device can easily grasp the operating state of the automobile, factory machine or apparatus without incurring a large monitoring burden.

  In addition, this physical quantity is designed to be recognized by changing the color step by step, so that the instrument does not suddenly show a critical driving state, and it is not possible to detect the driver or the machine or device in the factory. A person who monitors the instrument can calmly operate a car, a factory machine or device.

  In addition, it is possible to grasp a specific physical quantity quantitatively and easily by using a means for displaying a physical quantity by color by dividing the physical quantity into several stages and a means for displaying an analog or digital physical quantity. It becomes possible.

  Furthermore, by increasing the luminance of the color display portion as the physical quantity to be measured increases, it becomes possible for the person monitoring the instrument to more easily understand the state of the physical quantity.

  In addition, when the physical quantity to be measured exceeds a predetermined threshold, it is easier for the person monitoring the instrument to grasp that the physical quantity is in a critical state by blinking the display unit with color. It becomes possible.

In addition, by making the instrument that can freely adjust the color change, the person who monitors the instrument can change the order of the color change or the physical quantity indicated by the specific color so that the person can monitor the physical quantity being monitored. This range can be set freely.

  Hereinafter, examples relating to the “instrument for displaying a physical quantity using color change” according to the present invention will be described in more detail.

  FIG. 1 illustrates a meter 2 (first embodiment) for monitoring the temperature, pressure, and current of a mechanical device that uses only color. The meter of FIG. 1 is provided with areas 21, 22, and 23 for displaying temperature, pressure, and current values, and these areas are display areas for displaying physical quantities that change from moment to moment by color. .

  For example, if the temperature display range is from 0 ° C to 80 ° C, divide this into 8 equal parts, purple from 0 ° C to 10 ° C, blue from 10 ° C to 20 ° C, and from 20 ° C to 30 ° C Is blue green, 30 ° C to 40 ° C is green, 40 ° C to 50 ° C is yellowish green, 50 ° C to 60 ° C is yellow, 60 ° C to 70 ° C is orange, 70 ° C to 80 ° C is red The color corresponding to the measured temperature value is displayed on the entire display areas 21, 22, and 23 described above.

  By displaying in this way, it is possible to immediately determine the range of the physical quantity to be monitored by the displayed color, compared with the case where the physical quantity is grasped by reading the scale of the pointer. The burden on the person who monitors the instrument can be greatly reduced.

   With respect to pressure and current, which are physical quantities other than the temperature of the instrument shown in FIG. 1, each physical quantity can be displayed in the same manner as in the case of temperature.

  The instrument as shown in FIG. 1 can be realized by using a color liquid crystal display, but can also be realized by an instrument panel using a light emitting diode. In the case of an instrument panel using light emitting diodes, a transmitting plate that transmits light is placed in the display area described above, and three light emitting diodes that emit blue, green, and red light are arranged on the back side. By controlling the amount of light, various colors can be created.

  FIG. 2 shows an example of a combination instrument 1 (second embodiment) for an automobile in which colors and analog instruments are combined. In this instrument, a speed meter 11, an engine speed meter 12, and a fuel remaining amount meter 13 are displayed. This type of instrument can be realized by using a color liquid crystal display, but it can also be realized by a mechanical instrument panel using illumination.

  The speed meter 11 will be described. The measured speed is displayed in an analog manner by the scale plate 16 and the pointer 14 of the speed meter 11.

  It is also possible to display the speed magnitude by changing the color of the center part of the pointer 14 or the color of the entire dial 16 according to the measured speed magnitude. Both of them can display the speed state.

  For example, if the speed display range is from 0 Km / h to 150 Km / h, this is purple from 0 Km / h to 20 Km / h, blue from 20 Km / h to 30 Km / h, Blue from 30 Km / h to 40 Km / h, green from 40 Km / h to 50 Km / h, yellow green from 60 Km / h to 80 Km / h, 80 Km / h to 100 Km / h Is yellow, 100 Km / h to 120 Km / h is orange, 120 Km / h to 150 Km / h is red, and the color corresponding to the measured speed is the center part of the above-mentioned pointer 14, or Displayed as the color of the entire dial 16.

  By displaying in this way, it is possible to immediately determine the speed range in which the vehicle driver is currently driving without having to read the scale on the instrument panel. The burden can be greatly reduced.

  When a color liquid crystal display is used, the method for changing the color does not need to be explained in particular. However, in the case of a mechanical instrument panel using illumination, as in the method described in the first embodiment, By placing a light transmitting plate on the back, and arranging three light emitting diodes that emit blue, green, and red light on the back side, various colors can be created by controlling the light quantity of the three light emitting diodes. In addition, a light guide tube or a mirror can be used to guide the color light to the pointer.

  FIG. 3 (third embodiment) and FIG. 4 (fourth embodiment) show other examples of instruments that combine colors and analog instruments. FIG. 3 shows an example of a meter when only one physical quantity is displayed, and FIG. 4 shows an example of a meter when three physical quantities are displayed.

  In these embodiments, the entire range of the physical quantity to be displayed is divided into a plurality of blocks, the color of each block is set in advance, and each color is displayed according to the measured physical quantity. (The hatched portions in FIGS. 3 and 4 are portions where a plurality of different colors are displayed.) Therefore, by providing a scale on the color display unit, it can be used as a meter that combines color and analog instruments.

  Further, in the instrument described as the third and fourth embodiments, the entire range of physical quantities to be displayed is divided into a plurality of blocks, and the method of displaying each block by changing the color in order is shown, but it is not divided into such blocks. The entire color display unit may be displayed as one color. In this case, the length of the color display unit changes in proportion to the measured physical quantity, and one displayed color changes sequentially in accordance with the physical quantity.

  In the first to fourth embodiments described so far, the luminance of the color display unit can be changed in accordance with the magnitude of the physical quantity. For example, by increasing the luminance of the color display unit in proportion to the physical quantity, it becomes possible for a person monitoring the instrument to more easily understand the state of the physical quantity.

  In addition, when the physical quantity to be measured exceeds a predetermined threshold value, the color display unit may be blinked. In this way, the person who monitors the instrument can more easily understand that the physical quantity is in a critical state.

  Further, it is possible to freely adjust the color change of the instrument that displays the physical quantity.

By doing in this way, the person who monitors a meter can freely set the order in which the colors change and the range of the physical quantity indicated by a specific color so that the physical quantity to be monitored can be easily grasped.

FIG. 1 is a view showing a meter according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a view showing a meter according to the second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a meter according to a third embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a view showing a meter according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols

11 Speed meter
12 Engine revolution meter
13 Fuel level meter
14 Guidelines
15 Guidelines
16 Scale plate
21-23 Color display area
31-36 Color display block
41-43 Color display area

Claims (7)

  An instrument for displaying a physical quantity, comprising: means for displaying the physical quantity by a change in color.   An instrument for displaying a physical quantity, comprising: means for displaying the physical quantity by a change in color; and means for displaying the physical quantity in an analog or digital manner.   3. The instrument for displaying a physical quantity according to claim 1, wherein the brightness of the color is changed in accordance with the change of the color.   4. The instrument for displaying a physical quantity according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the display unit for the color blinks in accordance with a change in the color.   5. The instrument for displaying a physical quantity according to claim 1, wherein the color change method can be freely adjusted.   An instrument physical quantity display method for displaying a physical quantity, wherein the physical quantity is displayed by a change in color.   An instrument physical quantity display method for displaying a physical quantity, comprising: combining a method of displaying the physical quantity by a change in color and a method of displaying the physical quantity of an analog type or a digital type.

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