JP2008304296A - Meter for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a meter for a vehicle to support a driver's pleasant driving through accurate meter display. <P>SOLUTION: This meter for a vehicle is equipped with a first indicator 3 rotatively driven; a first scale 21 circumferentially disposed to serve as a scale for the first indicator 3; a second indicator 4 being provided shorter than the first indicator 3 coaxially with the first indicator 3, and rotatively driven; a second scale 22 circumferentially, disposed on the inner circumferential side of the first scale 21 to serve as a scale for the second indicator 4; a determination/control circuit 51 for performing instrumental display as a vehicle speedometer by means of the first indicator 3 and the first scale 21, while displaying a speed limit by means of the second indicator 4 and the second scale 22; a measurement circuit 61 for acquiring speed limit information; a navigation control circuit 52; an image processing part 53; and a process for hiding the second indicator 4, when it is determined that speed limit information is sufficient for presentation has not yet been acquired. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention belongs to the technical field of vehicular instruments that present detected values in vehicles.

Conventionally, a gear ratio calculation circuit that detects the rotation of the primary pulley and the secondary pulley with a gear ratio detection device, processes the detection signal to calculate the gear ratio, and a signal that activates the gear ratio indicator based on the calculation result Of a continuously variable transmission comprising: a display device driving circuit for converting to a display device; and a display meter for analogly displaying the engine speed transmitted by the engine rotation transmission means together with a gear ratio according to a signal from the display device driving circuit. In the display device, the engine rotation display means and the gear ratio display means provided in the indicator are arranged coaxially (for example, refer to Patent Document 1).
Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 5-49451 (2nd page, all figures)

  However, in the conventional vehicle instrument, the accuracy of the instrument display is insufficient.

  The present invention has been made paying attention to the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle instrument capable of displaying an accurate instrument and supporting a driver's comfortable driving. It is in.

  In order to achieve the above object, in the present invention, a first pointer that is rotationally driven, a first scale that is circumferentially arranged and serves as a scale for the first pointer, and is coaxial with the first pointer, A second pointer which is provided shorter than one pointer and is rotationally driven; a second scale which is circumferentially arranged on the inner peripheral side of the first scale and serves as a scale of the second pointer; and the first pointer; Vehicle speed meter control means for displaying an instrument of a vehicle speed meter with the first scale, speed limiter control means for displaying a speed limit with the second pointer and the second scale, and speed limit acquisition for acquiring speed limit information And display switching means for hiding the second pointer when it is determined that the speed limit information sufficient for presentation is not obtained by the speed limit acquisition means.

  Therefore, according to the present invention, accurate instrument display can be performed and more comfortable driving for the driver can be supported.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment for realizing a vehicle instrument according to the present invention will be described based on Example 1 corresponding to the first, second, and third aspects of the invention.

First, the configuration will be described.
FIG. 1 is an explanatory front view illustrating a configuration of a display portion of the vehicle instrument according to the first embodiment.
The display portion of the vehicular instrument 1 of the first embodiment mainly includes a dial 2, a first pointer 3, and a second pointer 4.
The dial plate 2 includes a first scale 21 provided on the outer peripheral side to be a scale for the first pointer 3 and a second scale 22 provided on the inner peripheral side to be a scale for the second pointer 4.
Between the 1st scale 21 and the 2nd scale 22, the scale number used by both is arrange | positioned.
In Example 1, a common scale number is provided.
Further, the dial 2 is provided with a character lighting unit 23 for displaying characters on the LCD.

Next, the pointer driving structure of the vehicle instrument according to the first embodiment will be described.
2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG.
The vehicle meter according to the first embodiment is a uniaxial two-needle analog meter, and is provided with a drive shaft 41 of a cylindrical second pointer 4 so that the drive shaft 31 of the first pointer 3 penetrates the inner hole. In this structure, the motors are individually driven by step motors 32 and 42 mounted on the substrate.
Therefore, as shown in FIG. 2, the second pointer 4 is connected to the drive shaft 41 between the dial 2 and the first pointer 3 supported and rotated by the drive shaft 31 protruding from the dial 2 toward the display side. It is a structure which is supported and rotationally driven by.

Next, the system configuration of the vehicle instrument of the first embodiment will be described.
FIG. 3 is a system block diagram of the vehicle instrument according to the first embodiment.
The vehicle meter 1 according to the first embodiment includes a character lighting unit 23, drive circuits 33 and 43, a controller 5, a vehicle speed signal 6, a measurement circuit 61, VICS information 7, an own vehicle position detection unit 8, and a camera 9 as main components. ing.

The character lighting unit 23 displays the “limit speed” display as a lit character, and switches to a state where the “limit speed” is not displayed when the character is turned off. This switching is performed according to a control command from the judgment control circuit 51 of the controller 5.
The drive circuit 33 drives the step motor 32 according to the control command from the determination control circuit 51 of the controller 5 to rotate the first pointer 3.
The drive circuit 43 drives the step motor 42 in accordance with a control command from the determination control circuit 51 of the controller 5 to rotate the second pointer 4.

The controller 5 mainly includes a determination control circuit 51, a navigation control circuit 52, and an image processing unit 53, and controls a single-axis two-needle analog meter.
The determination control circuit 51 performs display determination of the speed limit, input state of the second pointer, display determination of the character lighting unit 23 from input information, and performs display control of the first pointer 3, the second pointer 4, and the character lighting unit 23. Do.
Control is performed so that the vehicle speed is displayed by the first hand 3 and the speed limit is displayed by the second hand 4.

The navigation control circuit 52 determines the speed limit of the current vehicle position from the VICS information 7 and the vehicle position information from the vehicle position detection unit 8, and outputs it to the determination control circuit 51.
The image processing unit 53 performs image processing on the vehicle forward image captured by the camera 9, performs processing for recognizing a road sign, determines a speed limit, and outputs the speed limit to the determination control circuit 51.
The vehicle speed signal 6 is a signal of vehicle speed information input from a sensor provided in the vehicle or a vehicle device using the value.
The measurement circuit 61 calculates the vehicle speed from the vehicle speed signal 6 and outputs it to the determination control circuit 51.

The VICS information 7 is for obtaining road traffic information by communication, and is transmitted mainly by a transmission device provided on the road.
The own vehicle position detection unit 8 detects the current own vehicle position. For example, the longitude and latitude information of the own vehicle is acquired by GPS.
The camera 9 captures the front of the vehicle and captures a road sign.

Next, the operation will be described.
[Accurate instrument display]
FIG. 4 is an explanatory front view illustrating a configuration of a display portion of the vehicle instrument according to the first embodiment.
5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line BB in FIG.
In the vehicle display device of the first embodiment, the display of the speedometer (vehicle speed meter) is performed as the main display by the first pointer 3 and the first scale 21 (see FIG. 1).
Then, the speed limit of the traveling road is displayed as a sub display by the second pointer 4 and the second scale 22 (see FIG. 1).
When the speed limit is displayed, a character “limit speed” is lit on the character lighting unit 23 to strongly indicate to the driver that the speed limit is being displayed.

The speed limit is determined first by processing an image captured by the camera 9 and recognizing a road sign, then detecting the position of the vehicle by GPS or the like and using road information incorporated in the navigation system.
The priority of the speed limit information is assumed to be higher for road signs than for map information (navigation) on ordinary roads. On the expressway, the VICS information 7 is higher than the fixed road sign.

  Further, in the vehicle instrument 1 of the first embodiment, when the speed limit cannot be detected, the character “limit speed” of the character lighting unit 23 is turned off, and the first pointer 3 and the second pointer 4 give the same instruction. To do. That is, the second pointer 4 is hidden behind the first pointer 3 (see FIGS. 4 and 5).

As described above, in the vehicle meter according to the first embodiment, the speed limit information is automatically displayed on the meter toward the driver, so that the speed limit is more actively presented so as to promote compliance with the speed limit. be able to.
In addition, by displaying the speed limit on the dial 2 that is the same as the vehicle speed display, the driver can check without moving the line of sight, which can be used for further compliance with the speed limit.

Furthermore, when speed limit information cannot be obtained, only normal speedometer display is used so that incorrect information is not given to the driver (see FIGS. 4 and 5).
Therefore, an accurate instrument display is performed.

Next, the effect will be described.
In the vehicle instrument according to the first embodiment, the effects listed below can be obtained.
(1) The first pointer 3 that is rotationally driven, the first scale 21 that is circumferentially arranged and serves as the scale of the first pointer 3, and is coaxial with the first pointer 3 and shorter than the first pointer 3. The second pointer 4 that is rotationally driven, and the second scale 22 that is arranged circumferentially on the inner peripheral side of the first scale 21 and that serves as the scale of the second pointer 4, the first pointer 3, and the first scale 21 The determination control circuit 51 displays the speedometer with the second pointer 4 and the second scale 22, the measurement circuit 61 that acquires the speed limit information, the navigation control circuit 52, and the image processing unit 53. When it is determined that sufficient speed limit information for presentation is not obtained, a process for hiding the second pointer 4 is provided, so that an accurate instrument display can be provided to support a driver's comfortable driving. .

Further, the speed limit information is automatically displayed on the meter to the driver, so that the speed limit can be presented more actively so as to promote compliance with the speed limit.
Furthermore, by displaying the speed limit on the dial 2 that is the same as the vehicle speed display, the driver can check without moving the line of sight, which can be used to comply with the speed limit more.

  (2) In the display switching process, the first pointer 3 and the second pointer 4 are overlapped, and the second pointer 4 is concealed by the first pointer 3 by rotating in synchronization. Can be provided, and an accurate instrument display can be provided to support more comfortable driving for the driver.

  (3) A character string indicating that the speed limit is displayed is lit on, and when the second pointer 4 is hidden by the display switching means, the character lighting unit 23 turns off the lit display and hides it. Therefore, it is possible to highlight the fact that the speed limit is being presented and display the speed limit more actively so as to promote compliance with the speed limit.

  As mentioned above, although the vehicle instrument of this invention has been demonstrated based on Example 1, it is not restricted to these Examples about concrete structure, The summary of the invention which concerns on each claim of a claim As long as they do not deviate, design changes and additions are permitted.

  For example, in the first embodiment, the speed limit is determined from the GPS information, the VICS information, and the front image. However, other information may be acquired or may be determined using only other information. .

  In the first embodiment, the vehicle speedometer and the speed limiter are controlled by the determination control circuit 51. However, an individual determination control circuit may be provided.

It is a description front view which shows the structure of the display part of the meter for vehicles of Example 1. FIG. It is AA sectional drawing of FIG. 1 is a system block diagram of a vehicle instrument according to Embodiment 1. FIG. It is a description front view which shows the structure of the display part of the meter for vehicles of Example 1. FIG. It is BB sectional drawing of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Vehicle meter 2 Dial 21 First scale 22 Second scale 23 Character lighting part 3 First pointer 31 Drive shaft 32 Step motor 33 Drive circuit 4 Second pointer 41 Drive shaft 42 Step motor 43 Drive circuit 5 Controller 51 Judgment control Circuit 52 Navigation control circuit 53 Image processing unit 6 Vehicle speed signal 61 Measurement circuit 7 VICS information 8 Own vehicle position detection unit 9 Camera

Claims (3)

A first pointer driven to rotate;
A first scale that is circumferentially arranged and serves as a scale for the first pointer;
A second hand that is coaxial with the first hand and is shorter than the first hand and is rotationally driven;
A second scale that is circumferentially arranged on the inner circumference side of the first scale and serves as the scale of the second pointer;
Vehicle speed meter control means for displaying an instrument of a vehicle speed meter by the first pointer and the first scale;
Speed limiter control means for displaying a speed limit by the second pointer and the second scale;
Speed limit acquisition means for acquiring speed limit information;
Display switching means for hiding the second pointer when it is determined that the speed limit information sufficient for presentation is not obtained by the speed limit acquisition means;
A vehicle instrument characterized by comprising: The vehicle instrument according to claim 1, wherein
The display switching means includes
The first pointer and the second pointer are overlapped with each other, and the second pointer is hidden by the first pointer by being driven to rotate synchronously.
A vehicle instrument characterized by that. In the vehicle meter according to claim 1 or 2,
A character string indicating that the speed limit is displayed is lit by the speed limiter control means, and when the second pointer is hidden by the display switching means, the lighting display is turned off and no display is made. A vehicle instrument characterized by comprising character lighting display means.

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