JP2007134902A - Vehicle rear seat information presenting system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a vehicle rear seat information presenting system capable of easily and surely emitting optical signals into a wanted information presentation area. <P>SOLUTION: Light emitting diodes 21 constituting an optical signal presenter 15 are fixed to a substrate 25 through a spacer 23. The spacer 23 regulates arrangement and attitude of the plurality of light emitting diodes 21 so that the irradiation range of infrared signal from the plurality of light emitting diodes 21 covers the entire preset information presentation area, and supports the plurality of light emitting diodes 21 as one body. So, only by fitting the light emitting diodes 21 to the spacer 23 on manufacturing of a main body 3, the light emitting diodes 21 are easily and surely arranged so that the infrared signal is radiated to the entire wanted information presentation area, with no adjustment of fitting angle required after assembly. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle rear seat information providing system that provides information to a target device used by a passenger in a rear seat of a vehicle by an optical signal.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a rear seat entertainment (RSE) system is known as one of vehicle rear seat information providing systems that provide information such as video and audio to passengers in a rear seat of a vehicle.

  In this RSE system, generally, wireless is provided by using a display provided on a main body device installed on a ceiling or the like in a passenger compartment, and receiving an infrared signal emitted from the main body device to reproduce sound. It is designed to provide sound using headphones.

  In addition, a light emitting diode is used for the irradiation of the infrared signal, and the irradiation light (infrared signal) from the light emitting diode provided inside the main body device is translucent constituting a part of the casing of the main body device. It is irradiated to the outside of the main unit through the cover.

In addition, since it is necessary to be able to use wireless headphones anywhere in the backseat, the above-mentioned translucent cover is blasted so that the light emitted from the directional light-emitting diodes is widely diffused. (For example, refer patent document 1).
JP 2003-101483 A

  However, in the method of diffusing irradiated light using a blasted cover, it is difficult to accurately control the irradiation range and irradiation intensity, and therefore it is possible to perform uniform irradiation over the entire desired information provision range. There was a problem that it was not possible and was not reliable.

  In addition, the information provision range varies depending on the mounting position and number of the main unit, the size of the vehicle, etc., so eventually, depending on the information provision range required for each vehicle, There was a problem that the mounting angle of the light emitting diode had to be adjusted manually.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle rear seat information providing system that can easily and reliably realize irradiation of an optical signal to a desired information providing range.

  The vehicle rear seat information providing system of the present invention made to achieve the above object includes an optical signal providing unit that transmits an optical signal to a target device used by a passenger in the rear seat of the vehicle. In the signal providing unit, a plurality of light emitting elements are fixed to the substrate via spacers.

  However, the spacer defines the arrangement of the plurality of light emitting elements so that the light signal irradiation range by the plurality of light emitting elements covers the entire preset information providing range, and the plurality of light emitting elements are integrated. It is comprised so that it may support.

  According to the vehicle rear seat information providing system of the present invention configured as described above, it is possible to provide desired information only by assembling the light emitting element to the spacer at the time of manufacture without requiring adjustment of the mounting angle after the assembly. The light emitting element can be easily and reliably arranged so that the entire range can be irradiated with the optical signal.

  In other words, if a plurality of types of spacers are prepared in advance according to the information provision range determined by the mounting position and number of the optical signal providing unit, the size of the vehicle, etc., when the optical signal providing unit is manufactured, A vehicle rear seat information providing system having a desired irradiation range can be provided simply by selecting a spacer.

  In addition, according to the vehicle rear seat information providing system of the present invention, the use of the spacer that integrally supports the plurality of light emitting elements may cause an error in the arrangement between the light emitting elements due to the mounting error on the board. Since not only a stable irradiation range can be secured, but also by arranging a plurality of light emitting elements, the irradiation range is secured without using optical signal diffusion. The necessary irradiation intensity can be ensured over the entire information providing range, and the reliability of the system can be improved.

  By the way, when the angle in the horizontal plane along the surface of the substrate is a horizontal angle and the angle in a vertical plane perpendicular to the surface of the substrate is a vertical angle, the spacers are irradiated in all the light emitting elements in the irradiation direction (of the irradiation range). The central axis direction) may have a horizontal angle or a vertical angle that coincides with the central direction of the information providing range, and the irradiation direction of at least some of the light emitting elements is the same as the irradiation direction of the other light emitting elements. May be configured to have different horizontal or vertical angles.

  That is, when the irradiation range of each light emitting element is wider than the information providing range on either the horizontal plane or the vertical plane, the irradiation direction of all the light emitting elements is set to the center of the information providing range. What is necessary is just to make it correspond to a direction. In addition, when the information providing range is wider than the irradiation range of each light emitting element on either the horizontal plane or the vertical plane, the irradiation direction of at least some of the light emitting elements is set in the other direction. What is necessary is just to extend the irradiation range of the optical signal provision part obtained by synthesize | combining the irradiation range of each light emitting element by making it different from the irradiation direction of an element.

  The plurality of individual support portions formed on the spacer to individually support the light emitting elements include, for example, an arm portion that sandwiches the light emitting element, and a contact portion that contacts the light emitting element sandwiched between the arm portions. It may be comprised.

  In this case, the horizontal angle of the irradiation direction of each light emitting element, and hence the irradiation range in the horizontal plane by the optical signal providing unit, are defined by the arrangement of the individual support parts, and the irradiation direction of each light emitting element is determined by the shape of the contact part. The vertical angle, and hence the irradiation range in the vertical plane by the optical signal providing unit, is defined.

By the way, as the light emitting element, it is desirable to use a light emitting diode that emits infrared rays. In this case, information can be safely provided without adversely affecting the human body.
In addition, if the electrical signal is an acoustic signal and the target device is a wireless headphone, information provision (for example, reproduction of a CD, MD, music tape, radio broadcasting, etc.) is performed for the passengers in the rear seat. be able to.

  Furthermore, if the system is equipped with a display device that provides images to passengers in the rear seats, it can be used with wireless headphones to provide information using both audio and visual information (for example, videotapes and DVDs). Playback, TV broadcast, TV game, etc.).

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an outline of a rear seat entertainment (RSE) system as a vehicle rear seat information providing system configured by applying the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the RSE system 1 is for providing visual and auditory information to passengers in the rear seats, and includes a main unit 3 installed near the center of the ceiling in the vehicle interior, The wireless headphone 5 is a target device worn by a passenger in the rear seat.

  Of these, although not shown, the wireless headphones 5 receive a light receiving unit that receives an infrared signal transmitted from the main body device 3, a demodulation unit that demodulates a light reception signal from the light receiving unit and generates an audio signal, and a demodulation And a speaker that reproduces sound according to the sound signal demodulated by the unit.

  In addition, the main unit 3 is a video signal provided from various AV devices such as a CD player, an MD player, a radio tuner, a TV tuner, a video player, a DVD player, and a TV game machine that provide video and audio mounted on the vehicle. Or connected to receive audio signals.

Here, FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the external appearance of the main unit 3, and FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing the internal configuration of the main unit 3.
As shown in FIG. 2, the main body device 3 rotatably supports a monitor unit 10 composed of a liquid crystal display (LCD) for providing images to passengers in the rear seat and one end (upper end) of the monitor unit 10. In addition, the main body case 11 is provided with a recess 11 a for accommodating the monitor unit 10 and a transmission window 11 b for transmitting an infrared signal transmitted to the wireless headphones 5.

2 shows a state in which the monitor unit 10 is pulled out from the recess 11 a of the main body case 11, and FIG. 3 shows a state in which the monitor unit 10 is housed in the recess 11 a of the main body case 11.
In addition, an IR panel 13 made of a translucent resin material that transmits infrared rays is inserted into the transmission window 11b formed in the main body case 11, and is placed at a position facing the IR panel 13 in the main body case 11. Is provided with an optical signal providing unit 15 for generating an infrared signal.

The optical signal providing unit 15 is fixed to the outer wall of a shield plate 19 disposed so as to cover the main board 17 that processes video signals and audio signals captured from the outside of the main unit 3.
4A is a plan view of the optical signal providing unit 15 (viewed from below in FIG. 3), and FIG. 4B is a configuration and a mounting state of components constituting the optical signal providing unit 15. FIG. 5 is an exploded view of the optical signal providing unit 15.

  As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the optical signal providing unit 15 converts the electrical signal into an infrared signal and irradiates a plurality of (eight in the present embodiment) light emitting diodes 21 and these light emitting elements. A spacer 23 that integrally supports the diode 21 and determines the mounting posture of each light-emitting diode 21 (and thus the irradiation direction of the infrared signal), and the spacer 23 is fixed, and a through-hole that supplies an electric signal to the light-emitting diode. And the substrate 25 on which at least an electrode 25a is formed.

  On the board 25, a connector 27 for taking in power, audio signals and the like from the main board 17, a drive circuit for driving the light emitting diode 21 in accordance with the audio signals, a power supply circuit for stabilizing the taken in power, and the like are also formed. .

  Further, in the state where the main body device 3 is installed on the ceiling of the vehicle interior, the substrate 25 is arranged such that the component placement surface on which the spacer 23 assembled with the light emitting diode 21 and the connector 27 are placed faces the IR panel 13. The light emitting diodes 21 are fixed to the main body device 3 so that the light emitting diodes 21 are aligned in a line along the vehicle width direction.

  In the following, the surface along the component mounting surface of the substrate 25 is a horizontal plane, the angle in the horizontal plane is a horizontal angle (however, the vehicle retraction direction is 0 °), and the plane is orthogonal to the horizontal plane and the vehicle traveling direction. A surface along the vertical plane is called a vertical plane, and an angle within the vertical plane is called a vertical angle (however, the horizontal direction and the backward direction of the vehicle are 0 °).

  Among these, the spacer 23 constituting the optical signal providing unit 15 is formed with engaging portions 23a and 23b that engage with the fixing holes 25b and 25c formed in the substrate 25 at both ends, and a tool or the like is used. It can be fixed to the substrate 25 with one touch without any trouble. The spacer 23 is formed with a plurality of individual support portions 24 for individually supporting the light emitting diodes 21 between the engaging portions 23a and 23b.

  The individual support portion 24 comes into contact with a sandwiching portion 24a including a pair of arms that sandwich a cylindrical body portion 21a of the light emitting diode 21 and a body portion 21a of the light emitting diode 21 sandwiched between the sandwiching portions 24a. The first abutting portion 24b, the second abutting portion 24c that abuts on the terminal 21b of the light emitting diode 21, and the strength of the second abutting portion 24c are reinforced, and the sandwiched light emitting diode 21 in the front-rear direction is strengthened. It consists of a reinforcing rib 24d that restricts movement.

  The first contact portion 24b and the second contact portion 24c have a vertical angle in the irradiation direction of the infrared signal of the light emitting diode 21 held in contact therewith (that is, the direction of the central axis of the main body portion 21a). The light emitting diode 21 is formed in a shape that is inclined with respect to the component mounting surface of the substrate 25 so as to face the center of the information providing range in the vertical plane.

  Further, the individual support portion 24 is arranged so that the horizontal angle in the irradiation direction of the supported light emitting diodes 21 increases as the position is located on the outer side, and the irradiation direction in the horizontal plane of each light emitting diode 21 spreads in a fan shape. Yes.

  Specifically, as shown in FIG. 1, the information provision range (the range in which the wireless headphones can receive infrared signals) has an angle (horizontal angle) in the horizontal plane of ± 65 ° and an angle in the vertical plane ( When the vertical angle) is 0 ° to 40 ° (where the horizontal direction is 0 °) and the irradiation range of the light emitting diode 21 is ± 20 ° with the irradiation direction as the center (0 °), the individual support 24 And the shapes of the first and second contact portions 24b and 24c are set as follows.

  That is, since the size of the information provision range in the vertical plane is 40 °, which is the same as the irradiation range of the light emitting diode 21 alone, the vertical angle in the irradiation direction of the light emitting diode 21 is the information provision in the vertical plane. The shapes of the first and second contact portions 24b and 24c are set so that the light emitting diode 21 is supported so as to coincide with the center direction of the range (vertical angle 20 °).

  Moreover, since the size of the information provision range in the horizontal plane is larger than the size of the irradiation range of the light emitting diode 21 alone, the irradiation direction (horizontal angle) in the horizontal plane of each light emitting diode 21 is slightly different, and the irradiation is performed. The arrangement of the individual support portions 24 is set so that parts of the ranges overlap each other and the entire irradiation range covers the entire information providing range.

Next, the assembly procedure of the optical signal providing unit 15 will be described.
First, the spacers 23 are fixed to the substrate 25 by engaging the engaging portions 23 a and 23 b of the spacer 23 with the fixing holes 25 b and 25 c of the substrate 25.

  Next, the light emitting diodes 21 in which the terminals 21b are bent in advance (110 ° in the case of the above-described specific example) in accordance with the vertical angle of the irradiation direction of the infrared signal are assembled to the individual support portions 24 of the spacers 23.

  At this time, the light emitting diode 21 is supported while being in contact with the first and second contact portions 24b and 24c, whereby the posture of the light emitting diode 21 is determined, and the bent terminal 21b is formed on the substrate. Is smoothly inserted into the through-hole electrode 25a formed in the above.

The terminal 21b inserted into the through-hole electrode 25a is soldered to complete the assembly.
The optical signal providing unit 15 assembled in this way generates an infrared signal by causing the light emitting diode 21 to emit light in accordance with the audio signal received through the connector 27, and this infrared signal is transmitted via the IR panel 13. It will be irradiated toward the rear seat (information provision range).

As described above, in the RSE system 1, the light emitting diodes 21 constituting the optical signal providing unit 15 are fixed to the substrate 25 via the spacers 23.
In addition, the spacer 23 defines the arrangement and orientation of the plurality of light emitting diodes 21 so that the irradiation range of the infrared signal from the plurality of light emitting diodes 21 covers the entire preset information providing range, The light emitting diodes 21 are integrally supported.

  Therefore, according to the RSE system 1, only the light emitting diode 21 is assembled to the spacer 23 at the time of manufacturing the main body device 3, and it is not necessary to adjust the mounting angle after the assembly, and the infrared light to the entire desired information providing range is obtained. The light emitting diode 21 can be easily and reliably arranged so that signal irradiation is possible.

  That is, if a plurality of types of spacers are prepared in advance according to the information provision range determined by the mounting position and number of the optical signal providing unit 15 and the size of the vehicle, the optical signal providing unit 15 is manufactured. The RSE system 1 having a desired irradiation range can be simply provided by simply selecting a spacer as appropriate.

Further, according to the RSE system 1 of the present invention, by using the spacer 23 that integrally supports the plurality of light emitting diodes 21, an error occurs in the arrangement between the light emitting diodes 21 due to an attachment error to the substrate 25. Therefore, not only can a stable irradiation range be ensured, but a plurality of light emitting diodes 21 is provided to ensure a wide irradiation range without using infrared signal diffusion. Therefore, irradiation with a required intensity can be reliably performed over the entire information providing range, and the reliability of the system 1 can be improved.
[Other Embodiments]
As mentioned above, although one Embodiment of this invention was described, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment, In the range which does not deviate from the summary of this invention, it is possible to implement in various aspects.

For example, in the above embodiment, an infrared signal is used as an optical signal, but visible light may be used instead.
In the above embodiment, an audio signal is transmitted to the wireless headphones 5 by an infrared signal, but a signal other than an audio signal, for example, a video signal or a signal for transmitting various data to be provided to a personal computer or the like. Also good.

  In the above embodiment, the first and second contact portions 24b and 24c of the spacer 23 are configured in such a shape that the vertical angles of the irradiation directions of all the light emitting diodes 21 coincide with the center direction of the information providing range. When the information providing range is wider than the irradiation range of each light emitting diode 21, the vertical angle of the irradiation direction of each light emitting diode 21 is different from each other as shown in FIG. Also good.

Explanatory drawing which shows the outline | summary of a rear seat entertainment (RSE) system. The perspective view which shows the external appearance of the main body apparatus which comprises a RSE system. Sectional drawing which shows the internal structure of a main body apparatus. The top view and explanatory drawing which show the structure and attachment state of an optical signal provision part. The exploded view of an optical signal provision part. Explanatory drawing which shows the other structure of an optical signal provision part (especially spacer).

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Rear seat entertainment (RSE) system, 3 ... Main body apparatus, 5 ... Wireless headphones, 10 ... Monitor part, 11 ... Main body case, 11a ... Recessed part, 11b ... Transmission window, 13 ... IR panel, 15 ... Optical signal provision part, DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 17 ... Main board | substrate, 19 ... Shield plate, 21 ... Light emitting diode, 21a ... Main part, 21b ... Terminal, 23 ... Spacer, 23a, 23b ... Engagement part, 24 ... Individual support part, 24a ... Clamping part, 24b ... No. 1 contact part, 24c ... 2nd contact part, 24d ... reinforcement rib, 25 ... board | substrate, 25a ... electrode, 25b, 25c ... fixing hole, 27 ... connector.

Claims (7)

In a vehicle rear seat information providing system including an optical signal providing unit that transmits an optical signal to a target device used by a passenger in a rear seat of the vehicle,
The optical signal providing unit includes:
A plurality of light-emitting elements that convert an electrical signal into an optical signal and irradiate it;
A substrate on which an electrode for supplying an electric signal to the light emitting element is formed via a terminal provided in the light emitting element;
The plurality of light emitting elements are fixedly used on the substrate, and the arrangement of the plurality of light emitting elements is defined so that the irradiation range of the optical signal by the plurality of light emitting elements covers the entire preset information providing range, and the plurality of light emitting elements A spacer that integrally supports the light emitting element;
A vehicle rear seat information providing system comprising: An angle in a horizontal plane along the surface of the substrate is a horizontal angle, an angle in a vertical plane orthogonal to the surface of the substrate is a vertical angle,
The spacer is
2. The rear portion of the vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the arrangement of the light emitting elements is defined so that irradiation directions of all the light emitting elements have the same horizontal angle or vertical angle that coincides with a center direction of the information providing range. Seat information provision system. An angle in a horizontal plane along the surface of the substrate is a horizontal angle, an angle in a vertical plane orthogonal to the surface of the substrate is a vertical angle,
The spacer is
The arrangement of the light emitting elements is defined so that an irradiation direction of at least some of the light emitting elements has a horizontal angle or a vertical angle different from the irradiation directions of the other light emitting elements. Vehicle rear seat information provision system. The spacer includes
The arm portion sandwiching the light emitting element, and a contact portion contacting the light emitting element sandwiched between the arm portion, a plurality of individual support portions for individually supporting the light emitting element are formed,
The horizontal angle in the irradiation direction of the light emitting element is defined by the arrangement of the individual support portions, and the vertical angle in the irradiation direction of the light emitting element is defined by the shape of the contact portion. The vehicle rear seat information providing system according to claim 2 or claim 3.   The vehicle rear seat information providing system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the light emitting element is a light emitting diode that emits infrared rays.   The vehicle rear seat information providing system according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the electrical signal is an acoustic signal, and the target device is a wireless headphone.   The vehicle rear seat information providing system according to claim 6, further comprising a display device that provides an image to a passenger in the rear seat.