JP2007223416A - Vehicular instrument panel - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a vehicular instrument panel capable of ensuring the design property of the panel even when constituting a center cluster of screen-based components. <P>SOLUTION: A rear projection type operational position detector 4 is provided in a vehicle as an operation panel. The rear projection type operational position detector 4 projects a selection button on a surface of a translucent screen 5 from a back side by a projector 7, picks up an image of the touch operation of the selection button by an operator by a camera 9 on a back side of the translucent screen 5, and detects the touch operation based on the picked-up image. A center cluster 3 of an instrument panel 2 is constituted of the translucent screen 5 of the rear projection type operational position detector 4. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention projects a display object for a switch from its back side onto a translucent screen, and detects a back projection type operation for detecting an operator's switch operation performed on the screen based on a photographed image taken from the back side of the screen. The present invention relates to an instrument panel of a vehicle provided with a position detection device.

  Conventionally, an instrument panel of a vehicle has been provided with an operation panel (Patent Document 1 or the like) at its center cluster. This operation panel is operated when, for example, a car navigation device, an air conditioner, a sound device, or the like is operated, and includes various switch groups and a monitor capable of displaying various screens according to the switch operation. .

Today, for example, a touch panel type using a liquid crystal or the like is widely used as this type of operation panel. If a touch panel is used for the operation panel, there are effects such as reduction of parts cost required for the switch parts and simplification of the structure because the switch parts are unnecessary.
JP 2005-186660 A

  By the way, since such a liquid crystal touch panel is very difficult to produce a curved surface, most of the products on the market as a product have a flat plate shape. It is. For this reason, when using a touch panel as an operation panel, a flat plate panel must be adopted as a result.

  However, if such a flat panel is used, the panel portion of the center cluster inevitably has a planar shape, which is a design limitation. For this reason, when a flat panel is used as the operation panel, there is an influence when trying to improve the design of the center cluster.

  An object of the present invention is to provide an instrument panel for a vehicle that can ensure the design of the panel even if the center cluster is constituted by screen system parts.

  In order to solve the above problems, according to the present invention, in a vehicle instrument panel provided in front of a front seat and provided with instruments and operation systems, a translucent screen, and the translucent screen Based on the brightness of the image displayed on the translucent screen, using projection means for projecting a display object from the back side, imaging means for imaging the translucent screen from the back side, and image data acquired by the imaging means The operation position detection means for detecting the operation position on the display surface of the translucent screen, the operation position detected by the operation position detection means, and the coordinate position of the display object projected by the projection means are compared. When a rear projection type operation position detection device is provided in the vehicle, including an execution unit that executes processing according to the display object on the condition that the positions match. Moni, the whole area of the center cluster is summarized in that configured in the semi-transparent screen.

  According to this configuration, this type of operation position detection device that displays a switch display object on the screen (screen) and determines the operation position based on the screen operation can display various images on the screen. Therefore, it is possible to configure a center cluster on this screen. However, if a touch panel made of liquid crystal or the like is used as the operation position detection device, for example, this type of touch panel is generally a flat plate, so the instrument panel must have a flat touch panel portion. Therefore, the design is limited and the design of the instrument panel is hindered.

  However, in the rear projection type operation position detection device used in the present invention, the projection means for displaying the switch display object and the operation detection when operating the display object are separate parts from the translucent screen, and This is done by photographing means. Therefore, this rear projection type operation position detecting device does not need to incorporate special element parts or the like in the translucent screen, and can freely set the shape of the translucent screen.

  Therefore, in the present invention, since the center cluster is configured by a semi-transparent screen having a degree of freedom in design, even if this type of screen is used as the center cluster, the center cluster has a high degree of freedom with respect to its shape. . Thus, for example, if a semi-transparent screen has a curved surface shape that takes into account design, the center cluster will have a highly designed shape, which will give the instrument panel a sense of unity, and this kind of screen will be centered. Even if a cluster is formed, high designability of the instrument panel is ensured.

  The definition of “one zone of the center cluster” does not necessarily mean the entire center cluster, but represents a certain area, for example, 60 to 70% or more of the total area of the center cluster.

According to the present invention, the gist is that the translucent screen is integrally formed with a panel main body portion constituting a main body portion of the instrument panel.
According to this configuration, when manufacturing an instrument panel having a translucent screen, an operator does not need to assemble the translucent screen to the panel body, and simplifies the manufacturing operation when manufacturing the instrument panel. It becomes possible to plan.

  According to the present invention, the translucent screen is formed as a separate part from the panel main body constituting the main body of the instrument panel, and is attached to the panel main body during panel assembly, so that the panel main body The gist is that they are integrated.

  According to this configuration, when the panel main body part that is a colored product and the semitransparent screen through which the color passes are formed integrally, a laborious work process is required. However, the translucent screen and the panel main body part are required. Can be manufactured by a simple manufacturing process.

  According to the present invention, the design of the panel can be ensured even if the center cluster is constituted by the screen system parts.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of a vehicle instrument panel embodying the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 1, an instrument panel 2 is provided in front of the front seat of the vehicle 1 in the vehicle width direction. The instrument panel 2 is molded from resin or the like, and is provided with a monitor for instruments (meters), an airbag for a passenger seat, and the like.

  The center cluster 3 of the instrument panel 2 is provided with a rear projection type operation position detection device 4 as an operation panel that is operated when an occupant operates an on-vehicle device. The rear projection type operation position detection device 4 will be described below. The center cluster 3 is provided with a translucent screen 5 in almost the entire area. The translucent screen 5 is made of, for example, an acrylic resin or polycarbonate, and is integrally formed with the panel body 6 of the instrument panel 2. The translucent screen 5 has a curved plate shape in accordance with the shape of the surrounding panel body 6.

  On the back surface 5a (see FIG. 3) of the translucent screen 5, a projector 7 that projects an image onto the surface of the translucent screen 5 is provided in a state of being attached to the vehicle body side. The projector 7 is a device for projecting an image by combining light that has passed through RGB filters, and for example, a liquid crystal projector is used. The projector 7 projects various selection buttons 8 operated when operating on-vehicle equipment such as a car navigation device, an air conditioner, and an audio device from the back surface 5 a of the translucent screen 5 onto the surface of the translucent screen 5.

  On the back surface 5 a of the translucent screen 5, a camera 9 that photographs the translucent screen 5 from the back surface 5 a side is provided on the vehicle body in a state of being attached to the projector 7. The camera 9 is a CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) camera or the like that can capture an image with visible light, and can capture the entire area of the back surface 5 a of the translucent screen 5.

  The rear projection type operation position detection device 4 projects a selection button 8 from the rear surface 5a onto the surface of the semitransparent screen 5 by the projector 7, and displays the selection button 8 with the surface of the semitransparent screen 5 as the display surface 5b. Then, the rear projection type operation position detection device 4 captures the touch operation of the selection button 8 by the operator with the camera 9 on the back surface 5a of the translucent screen 5, and detects the touch operation based on the captured image.

  In the rear projection operation position detection device 4 of this example, the touch operation of the selection button 8 displayed on the translucent screen 5 changes the brightness (for example, brightness K) of the image data acquired by the camera 9. Since the captured image acquired by the camera 9 is sufficient if the change in the luminance K is seen because it is detected by viewing, the number of pixels of the camera 9 may be about several hundred thousand pixels, for example. The rear projection type operation position detection device 4 corresponds to a rear projection type operation position detection device, and the selection buttons 8 constitute operation systems and display objects. Further, the projector 7 corresponds to a projection unit, and the camera 9 corresponds to a photographing unit.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the vehicle 1 is equipped with an operation position detection circuit 10 that performs overall control of the rear projection type operation position detection device 4. The operation position detection circuit 10 calculates the operation position Px when the user performs a touch operation on the selection button 8 based on the XY coordinate position, and determines which selection button 8 on the translucent screen 5 is touched. To do. The operation position detection circuit 10 is connected to an in-vehicle device control circuit 11 that controls the in-vehicle device. The in-vehicle device control circuit 11 operates various in-vehicle devices based on a command from the operation position detection circuit 10.

  The operation position detection circuit 10 includes a CPU (Central processing Unit) 12 that controls the main control of the detection circuit 10, a ROM (Read-Only Memory) 13 that stores various programs and data groups, and an operation of the CPU 12 when the program is executed. A RAM (Random Access Memory) 14 serving as an area and an interface 15 serving as an input / output port for various data are provided. These devices are interconnected through a bus 16 in the operation position detection circuit 10. The CPU 12 constitutes an operation position detection unit and an execution unit.

  The projector 7 and the camera 9 are connected to the interface 15 via respective wiring cables. The interface 15 is connected to a noise removal circuit 17 that can remove noise of the image data Da captured from the camera 9. The interface 15 sends the image data Da captured from the camera 9 to the noise removal circuit 17, removes the noise by the noise removal circuit 17, and then transfers the image data Da to the CPU 12 and the RAM 14.

  The ROM 13 stores an operation position detection program 18 for detecting an operation position Px when the user selects and operates the selection button 8 on the display surface 5b. The operation position detection program 18 drives the projector 7 to display the selection button 8 on the translucent screen 5, and when the operator selects and operates the selection button 8 on the translucent screen 5, the image is displayed on the camera 9. And a user's operation position Px is detected based on the image data Da.

  When an engine switch (not shown) of the vehicle is operated to the ACC position or the IG position, the CPU 12 detecting the operation starts up the operation position detection program 18 in the ROM 13 and starts the operation position detection process. At this time, the CPU 12 outputs an activation start command and display data Db to the projector 7 via the interface 15. The projector 7 starts to be activated when an activation start command is input from the operation position detection circuit 10, and a display screen (that is, the selection button 8) based on the display data Db input from the operation position detection circuit 10 is displayed on the translucent screen 5. Project.

  The CPU 12 outputs an activation start command to the camera 9 via the interface 15 in the same manner as outputting the activation start command to the projector 7. The camera 9 starts activation when an activation start command is input from the operation position detection circuit 10, images the translucent screen 5 from the back surface 5 a, and outputs the image data Da to the operation position detection circuit 10. The camera 9 captures an image within a time range of several tens to several hundreds of μs every time an activation start command is received from the CPU 12, and outputs continuous images to the operation position detection circuit 10 by continuously receiving the activation start command. .

  The CPU 12 takes in the image data Da output from the camera 9 via the noise removal circuit 17, and sequentially calculates the brightness K of the captured image using the image data Da after noise removal. By the way, when the user performs a touch operation on the translucent screen 5 from the display surface 5b side, the light projected from the projector 7 is reflected by the finger or the hand, and the reflected light is diffused. The closer to 5, the higher the brightness K of the captured image (light is brighter). Therefore, the CPU 12 calculates the difference M between the luminance K0 at the normal time when the user does not touch the selection button 8 and the luminance Kx when the luminance change occurs, and the portion where the difference M is equal to or greater than the threshold value Ma is determined by the user. The user's operation position Px is calculated by cutting it out as a finger or a hand.

  When the CPU 12 compares the calculated XY coordinate position of the operation position Px with the XY coordinate position of each selection button 8 and determines that the operation position Px overlaps the coordinate position of the selection button 8, the selection button 8. Is recognized as a touch operation, and an operation request signal Ss notifying that is output to the in-vehicle device control circuit 11.

  When the operation request signal Ss is input from the operation position detection circuit 10, the in-vehicle device control circuit 11 operates the in-vehicle device according to the operation request signal Ss. For example, when the power on button of the car navigation device is selected and operated on the translucent screen 5, the car navigation device is activated, and when the destination input button is selected and operated while the car navigation device is activated, the car navigation device is activated. The operation mode of the navigation device is switched to the destination input mode.

  Next, the manufacturing procedure of the instrument panel 2 will be described. The instrument panel 2 of this example is manufactured by injection molding. However, since the translucent screen 5 is made of acrylic resin (polycarbonate) and the panel body 6 is made of ABS resin, it is manufactured by two-color molding. The

  The manufacturing procedure of the instrument panel 2 is as follows. First, as shown in FIG. 4, molds 19 and 20 on which a mold surface of the translucent screen 5 is formed are prepared, and the molds 19 and 20 are clamped (in a mold matching state). At this time, a molding space 21 that takes the shape of the translucent screen 5 is formed between the mold 19 and the mold 20. Then, for example, an acrylic resin is injected into the molding space 21 through the sprue 22 formed in the mold 20, and the translucent screen 5 is manufactured through a cooling process.

  On the other hand, similarly, as shown in FIG. 5, molds 23 and 24 in which the mold surface of the panel body 6 of the instrument panel 2 is formed are prepared, and the molds 23 and 24 are clamped (die matching). State). At this time, a molding space 25 is formed between the mold 23 and the mold 24 and takes the shape of the panel body 6 of the instrument panel 2. And the panel main-body part 6 of the instrument panel 2 is manufactured by inject | pouring ABS resin into the shaping | molding space 25 through the sprue 26 formed, for example in the metal mold | die 24, and passing through a cooling process.

  Subsequently, one mold 20 is removed from the molds 19 and 20 for producing the translucent screen, and one mold 24 is also removed from the molds 23 and 24 for producing the instrument panel. Then, as shown in FIG. 6, the mold 19 and the mold 23 are aligned so as to face each other, and the peripheral edge of the translucent screen 5 and the opening 25 a that faces the translucent screen 5 in the panel body 6. The peripheral edge is joined over the entire periphery.

  At this time, a resin material filling space 27 in which a resin material can be filled is annularly formed along the periphery of the translucent screen 5 between the periphery of the translucent screen 5 and the periphery of the opening 25 a of the panel body 6. Formed. Then, for example, a resin material 29 such as ABS resin is injected into the resin material filling space 27 through a spru 28 formed in the mold 23, and the translucent screen 5 is formed at the peripheral end of the panel body 6 by the resin material 29. It sticks to. Thereby, the instrument panel 2 in which the translucent screen 5 and the panel body 6 are integrated is manufactured.

  Now, in this example, an image of the selection button 8 or the like is projected on the translucent screen 5 and is photographed by the camera 9 located on the back surface 5a of the translucent screen 5, so that it is copied onto the translucent screen 5. The touch operation of the selected button 8 is detected. For this reason, even if almost the entire area of the center cluster 3 is constituted by the semi-transparent screen 5, it is possible to match the color and shape with the surroundings by projecting the surrounding color and shape. Even if configured, there is no sense of incongruity.

  Further, since the rear projection system operation position detection device 4 of this example has a structure in which video display is performed by the projector 7 and touch operation detection is performed by the camera 9, the translucent screen 5 has a structure independent of these functions. . For this reason, the translucent screen 5 can be freely designed.

  Therefore, even if the center cluster 3 is composed of the semi-transparent screen 5 as in this example, the design of the semi-transparent screen 5 can be matched to the surrounding shape, which places design restrictions on the center cluster 3. Disappear. For this reason, for example, by making the translucent screen 5 into a curved plate shape (curved surface shape) in consideration of design, it becomes possible to give a sense of unity between the translucent screen 5 and the panel body 6, High designability of the center cluster 3 and consequently the instrument panel 2 is ensured.

According to the configuration of the present embodiment, the following effects can be obtained.
(1) The center cluster 3 is configured by the translucent screen 5 of the rear projection type operation position detection device 4. Therefore, since the center cluster 3 is constituted by the semi-transparent screen 5 having a high degree of freedom in design, even if the center cluster 3 is constituted by the semi-transparent screen 5, the design characteristics of the center cluster 3 and the instrument panel 2 are ensured. can do.

  (2) In constructing the center cluster 3 with the translucent screen 5, the translucent screen 5 and the panel body 6 were integrally formed. Therefore, when assembling the instrument panel 2 to the vehicle body, there is no need to perform the work of assembling the translucent screen 5 to the panel body 6 and the work of assembling the panel body 6 to the vehicle body. Simplification can be achieved.

(3) Since it is possible to ensure high designability in the center cluster 3 that is most noticeable to the occupant, it is very effective in improving the added value of the vehicle 1 in terms of interior design.
In addition, this embodiment is not limited to the said structure, You may change into the following aspects.

  The instrument panel 2 is not necessarily limited to the semi-transparent screen 5 and the panel main body 6 being integrally formed. For example, as shown in FIG. 7, the translucent screen 5 and the panel main body 6 are separately provided. It may be manufactured and manufactured through a manufacturing process in which the translucent screen 5 is attached to the panel body 6 later. When the translucent screen 5 and the panel body 6 are fixed with a snap-fit structure, a plurality of locking pieces 31 are provided at the peripheral end of the translucent screen 5, and a plurality of locking pieces 31 are provided on the periphery of the opening 25 a of the panel body 6. The semi-transparent screen 5 is fixed to the panel body 6 by providing the locking holes 32 and locking the locking pieces 31 to the locking holes 32. If the method of manufacturing the translucent screen 5 and the panel main-body part 6 separately is used, the instrument panel 2 can be manufactured even if it does not pass through the complicated manufacturing process called two-color molding.

  -When manufacturing the semi-transparent screen 5 and the panel main-body part 6 separately, and assembling them later, the assembling method is not limited to the above-mentioned snap fit structure, For example, you may assemble | attach using a screw | thread.

The shape of the translucent screen 5 is not limited to the curved plate shape having a substantially bay shape, and may be appropriately changed according to the shape of the surrounding panel body 6.
The material of the translucent screen 5 is not necessarily limited to acrylic resin or polycarbonate, and is not particularly limited as long as it is a material having image performance. Further, the material of the panel body 6 is not limited to ABS resin or the like, and various resin materials can be used as appropriate.

  The semi-transparent screen 5 is not necessarily limited to being formed almost in the entire area of the center cluster 3, and in this example, has an area range of, for example, 60 to 70% of the total area of the center cluster 3. I will do it.

Next, technical ideas that can be grasped from the above-described embodiment and other examples will be described below together with their effects.
(1) In Claim 3, the said translucent screen is being fixed to the said panel main-body part by the snap-fit structure with respect to the said panel main-body part. In this case, the translucent screen can be attached to the panel body with a simple structure called snap fit.

  (2) In any one of claims 1 to 3, the entire area of the center cluster is constituted by the translucent screen. In this case, even when the whole area of the center cluster is constituted by a semi-transparent screen, the designability of the whole area of the center cluster can be ensured.

The perspective view which shows the outline of the front seat in a vehicle in one Embodiment. The perspective view which shows the outline of a rear projection system operation position detection apparatus. The block diagram which shows schematic structure of a rear projection system operation position detection apparatus. Sectional drawing of the metal mold | die which carries out the injection molding of the translucent screen. Sectional drawing of the metal mold | die which injection-molds the panel main-body part of an instrument panel. Explanatory drawing at the time of integrally forming a translucent screen and a panel main-body part. The expansion perspective view which shows the outline of the vehicle interior front seat in another example.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Vehicle, 2 ... Instrument panel, 3 ... Center cluster, 4 ... Rear projection system operation position detection apparatus as a rear projection system operation position detection apparatus, 5 ... Semi-transparent screen, 5a ... Back surface, 5b ... Display surface, 6 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS ... Panel main-body part, 7 ... Projector as projection means, 8 ... Selection button which comprises operation system and display thing, 9 ... Camera as imaging means, 12 ... CPU which comprises operation position detection means and execution means, Da ... image data, K (K0, Kx) ... luminance, Px ... operation position.

Claims (3)

In the instrument panel of the vehicle, which is provided in front of the front seat and has instruments and operation systems,
A translucent screen,
Projection means for projecting a display object from the back side onto the translucent screen;
Photographing means for photographing the translucent screen from the back side;
Operation position detection means for detecting an operation position on the display surface of the translucent screen based on luminance of an image reflected on the translucent screen, using image data acquired by the imaging means;
The operation position detected by the operation position detection unit is compared with the coordinate position of the display object projected by the projection unit, and the process according to the display object is executed on condition that these positions match. And a rear projection type operation position detecting device provided with means for the vehicle,
A vehicle instrument panel, wherein a zone of the center cluster is configured by the translucent screen.   The vehicle instrument panel according to claim 1, wherein the translucent screen is integrally formed with a panel main body portion constituting a main body portion of the instrument panel. The translucent screen is formed as a separate part from the panel main body constituting the main body portion of the instrument panel, and is integrated with the panel main body by being attached to the panel main body during panel assembly. The instrument panel of the vehicle according to claim 1.

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