JP2010100106A - Vehicular display device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a vehicular display device enabling visual recognition of a transmission image and a reflection image both superimposed on a half mirror without any sense of discomfort, and enhancing the visibility. <P>SOLUTION: The vehicular display device 10 mounted on a vehicle to display information comprises a display unit 20 for displaying information, an image display unit 30 having a display screen 32 which is divided into a first display area 34 for illuminating the display unit 20 and a second display area 36 for image-displaying information different from that of the display unit 20, a half mirror 40 which transmits the light from one of the display unit 20 and the second display area 36 toward an occupant D, and reflects the light from the other toward the occupant D, and a control means 50 for controlling the display of the display unit 20 and the image display unit 30. The control means 50 sets the brightness of one of the first and second display areas 34, 36 to be higher than the brightness of the other. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle display device that is mounted on a vehicle and displays information.

  As a vehicle display device mounted on a vehicle and displaying information, a display unit (instrument) that displays information, a device that illuminates the display unit, an image display unit (display device) that displays information as an image, and a display unit There is known one including a half mirror that reflects light from the image display unit toward the driver and transmits light from the image display unit toward the driver (for example, see Patent Document 1).

  Conventionally, if the driver visually confirms the transmission image of the image display unit and the reflection image of the display unit on the half mirror, the design may be damaged, and the driver may feel uncomfortable. When the driver visually recognizes the transmitted image and the reflected image without overlapping, the individual images become smaller, which may adversely affect the visibility.

In the configuration described in Patent Document 1, in order to solve the above problem, an apparatus that illuminates the display unit is controlled to brighten one of the display unit and the image display unit and darken the other, and the image display unit on the half mirror One of the transmission image and the reflection image of the display unit is easily visible, and the other is difficult to visually recognize. Thereby, the transmission image and the reflection image can be superimposed on the half mirror and visually recognized without any sense of incongruity, and the visibility can be improved.
JP-T-2006-528101

  However, the configuration described in Patent Document 1 requires a dedicated device for illuminating the display unit, and thus the configuration is complicated.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above, and without complicating the configuration, the transmission image and the reflection image can be overlaid on the half mirror so that they can be visually recognized, and visibility is improved. An object of the present invention is to provide a display device for a vehicle that can perform the above.

To achieve the above object, the present invention provides a vehicle display device that is mounted on a vehicle and displays information.
A display for displaying information;
An image display unit having a display screen divided into a first display region for illuminating the display unit and a second display region for displaying an image of information different from the display unit;
A half mirror that transmits light from one of the display unit and the second display region toward an occupant and reflects light from the other toward the occupant;
Control means for controlling the display of the display unit and the image display unit,
The control means makes one luminance of the first and second display areas higher than the other luminance.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to obtain a vehicle display device that can make a transmitted image and a reflected image overlap each other on a half mirror without causing a sense of incongruity without complicating the configuration and improve visibility. .

  The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing an embodiment of a vehicle display device mounted on a vehicle display device according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a view as seen from the direction of the arrow A in FIG. The vehicle display device 10 of this embodiment is mounted on a vehicle and displays information to the driver D.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle display device 10 displays information on a display unit 20 that displays information, an image display unit 30 that displays information as an image, a half mirror 40, a display unit 20, and an image display unit 30. Control means 50 for controlling.

  The display unit 20 is arranged at a position where the driver D can easily see, preferably at a position where the driver D can see without greatly changing the visual field during driving. For example, the display unit 20 is attached to the instrument panel 2 as shown in FIG. The display unit 20 is configured with a meter that displays information for assisting the driving operation such as the vehicle speed, the engine speed, the temperature of the engine cooling water, and the remaining fuel amount.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the instrument 20 is perpendicular to the scale board 24, and a scale board 24 in which a scale (not shown) and numbers (not shown) indicating scale values are arranged along the ring 22. The rotating shaft 26 is installed in the direction, and the pointer 28 is rotatably supported on the scale plate 24 by the rotating shaft 26. The rotating shaft 26 that supports the pointer 28 is biased counterclockwise, for example, and is rotated based on detection signals from various sensors (not shown) such as a vehicle speed sensor that detects the vehicle speed. The driver D can visually grasp information such as the vehicle speed by reading the scale indicated by the pointer 28. As shown in FIG. 1, the instrument 20 is housed in a housing 60 and protected from water, dust, and the like.

  The housing 60 is formed of a light transmissive resin such as an acrylic resin. A metal thin film 40 is formed obliquely with respect to the line of sight of the driver D in a part of the housing 60. The metal thin film 40 is formed by depositing a metal such as Al or Ag by a sputtering method or the like. The metal thin film 40 functions as a half mirror that transmits light from the display unit 20 toward the driver D and reflects light from the second display region 36 of the image display unit 30 toward the driver D.

  Here, the film thickness of the metal thin film 40 is set so that the light transmittance and light reflectance of the metal thin film 40 are optimized. That is, although the film thickness of the metal thin film 40 will be described in detail later, when the display of the image display unit 30 is controlled, one of the transmission image and the reflection image can be easily viewed by the driver D. For example, the film thickness of the metal thin film 40 is set so that the light transmittance is 90% and the light reflectance is 10%.

  The image display unit 30 includes an image display device such as a transmissive liquid crystal display, a plasma display, or an organic EL display. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, the image display unit 30 may be disposed above the housing 60 and on the lower surface of the hood 4, or may be disposed below the housing 60. The image display unit 30 has a display screen 32 that projects an image toward the housing 60, and the display screen 32 is divided into first and second display areas 34 and 36.

  The first display area 34 is for illuminating the display unit 20. The light projected from the first display area 34 may be white light or colored light, and is transmitted through the housing 60 and applied to the display unit 20. The light from the display unit 20 is dimmed and transmitted to the driver D by the half mirror 40. Accordingly, the driver D visually recognizes the transmission image (real image) of the display unit 20 through the half mirror 40.

  The second display area 36 is for displaying an image of information different from the display unit 20. In the second display area 36, for example, an infrared image obtained by capturing the front of the vehicle with an infrared camera (not shown) during night driving is displayed. Light from the second display region 36 is reflected toward the driver D by the half mirror 40. Accordingly, the driver D visually recognizes the reflected image (virtual image) of the second display area 36 through the half mirror 40.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the reflected image B of the second display area 36 partially overlaps the transmitted image C of the ring 22 of the display unit 20 on the half mirror 40.

  The display unit 20 and the image display unit 30 are connected to a control unit 50 that controls display on the display unit 20 and the image display unit 30. The control means 50 is composed of a microcomputer composed of a CPU, a ROM, a RAM and the like connected to each other via a bus (not shown). The ROM and RAM store programs and data executed by the CPU.

  Various sensors such as operation switches, vehicle speed sensors, and infrared cameras are connected to the control means 50. The operation switch is provided in the vehicle interior and is provided at a position where the operation by the driver D is possible. The operation switch is normally maintained in an off state, and an on signal is output by the operation of the driver D. The control unit 50 controls the display of the image display unit 30 based on the output signal of the operation switch. Note that the control unit 50 may start or end imaging with an infrared camera in conjunction with display control of the image display unit 30.

  When the operation switch is off, the control means 50 makes the luminance of the first display area 34 higher than the luminance of the second display area 36. For example, when the operation switch is off, the control unit 50 displays a bright image (for example, a white image) in the first display area 34 to illuminate the display unit 20 and displays an image in the second display area 36. do not do.

  Thereby, the display part 20 can be brightened and the 2nd display area 36 can be darkened, and the transmission image of the display part 20 (the scale board 24 and the pointer | guide 28) can be easily visually recognized by the driver | operator D. FIG. Further, since the display unit 20 is illuminated using a part of the image display unit 30, a dedicated device for illuminating the display unit 20 is not necessary, and the configuration is not complicated.

  On the other hand, when the driver D turns on the operation switch, the control means 50 makes the luminance of the second display region 36 higher than the luminance of the first display region 34. For example, when the driver D operates the operation switch to turn on, the control unit 50 displays an infrared image in the second display area 36 without displaying an image in the first display area 34.

  As a result, the display unit 20 can be darkened and the second display region 36 can be brightened, and the bright reflected image B of the infrared image is superimposed on the dark transmitted image C of the ring 22 on the half mirror 40 so that it can be visually recognized by the driver D. Can be made. In this case, since the transmitted image C of the ring 22 is not conspicuous, even if the reflected image B of the infrared image is partially overlapped with the transmitted image C of the ring 22, the driver D can visually recognize the image without discomfort. Further, the reflected image B of the infrared image can be enlarged, and the visibility of the reflected image B of the infrared image can be improved.

  As described above, according to the image display device 10 of the present embodiment, the control unit 50 makes the luminance of one of the first and second display areas 34 and 36 higher than the luminance of the other. One of the second display areas 36 can be brightened and the other can be darkened. As a result, the transmission image C and the reflection image B can be superimposed on the half mirror 40 so that the driver D can visually recognize the display without discomfort, and visibility can be improved. Further, since the display unit 20 is illuminated using a part of the image display unit 30, a dedicated device for illuminating the display unit 20 is not necessary, and the configuration is not complicated.

  The preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above. However, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications and substitutions can be made to the above-described embodiments without departing from the scope of the present invention. Can be added.

  For example, in the above-described embodiment, the vehicle display device 10 displays information for the driver D. However, the vehicle display device 10 may display information for passengers other than the driver D. Good.

  In the above-described embodiment, the half mirror 40 transmits light from the display unit 20 and reflects light from the second display region 36 of the image display unit 30. And the light from the display unit 20 may be reflected and the light from the second display region 36 of the image display unit 30 may be transmitted.

  In the above-described embodiment, the half mirror 40 is formed of a metal thin film, but may be formed of a dielectric multilayer film.

  In the embodiment described above, the control unit 50 controls the display of the image display unit 30 based on the output signal of the operation switch, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, regardless of whether or not the operation switch is operated by the driver D, the image display unit 30 is based on an output signal of a light sensor including a photoelectric conversion element that receives light around the vehicle and outputs an electrical signal corresponding to the light amount. The display may be controlled. Specifically, when the amount of light around the vehicle is sufficient, the luminance of the first display region 34 is made higher than the luminance of the second display region 36, while the light sensor around the vehicle decreases the amount of light around the vehicle. May be made higher than the brightness of the first display area 34.

It is sectional drawing which shows one Example of the vehicle mounting state of the display apparatus for vehicles which concerns on this invention. It is the figure seen from the arrow direction A of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Display apparatus for vehicles 20 Display part (instrument)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 30 Image display part 32 Display screen 34 1st display area 36 2nd display area 40 Half mirror 50 Control means 60 Case

Claims (1)

In a vehicle display device that is mounted on a vehicle and displays information,
A display for displaying information;
An image display unit having a display screen divided into a first display region for illuminating the display unit and a second display region for displaying an image of information different from the display unit;
A half mirror that transmits light from one of the display unit and the second display region toward an occupant and reflects light from the other toward the occupant;
Control means for controlling the display of the display unit and the image display unit,
The said control means is a display apparatus for vehicles which makes one brightness | luminance of the said 1st and 2nd display area higher than the other brightness | luminance.

Images