JP2011226881A - Instrument for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an instrument for a vehicle that can perform lighting at optimum brightness during battery charging.SOLUTION: An instrument comprises: a liquid crystal display panel 1 for displaying various information on a vehicle powered by an on-vehicle battery; a backlight 2 for transmission-lighting the liquid crystal display panel 1; input means 3 for performing operations related to display data on the liquid crystal display panel 1 or a brightness adjustment operation on the backlight 2; and control means 4 for controlling the liquid crystal display panel 1 and the backlight 2 by inputting a signal from the input means 3 and the various information. The control means 4 performs control during battery charging so that the liquid crystal display panel 1 displays a charging state and the backlight 2 changes output brightness according to the signal from the input means 3.

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle instrument that illuminates a display using a backlight, and is particularly suitable for a vehicle instrument having a dimming function capable of changing the illumination brightness.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a vehicle instrument equipped with a battery that can be charged via a power plug, it is necessary to make it easy to see the display contents during battery charging operations and other settings. In particular, the state of charge of an electric motorcycle or an electric vehicle is often displayed using a liquid crystal display panel of a vehicle instrument, and the backlight is generally turned on during normal operation and battery charging.

JP 2000-333382 A

  In addition, the battery is charged after returning home, after the evening of work, or in a dark garage, so the backlight is bright when checking the charging settings or setting the current time. It is easier to perform the setting operation. However, once various settings and confirmation operations are completed, the backlight is not necessary. That is, it is a waste of power consumption to keep the backlight on during battery charging.

  Also, depending on the external environment, such as the charging location, time of day, brightness according to the weather, and individual differences among users, the optimal brightness of the vehicle meter differs, so either turning on / off is preset. In such a case, there is a problem that a case where the display of the instrument is difficult to visually recognize due to being too bright or too dark occurs.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle meter that can illuminate with an optimum luminance while charging a battery.

  Another object of the present invention is to provide a vehicular instrument that can display a state of charge with power-saving illumination during battery charging.

  An instrument for a vehicle according to the present invention includes a liquid crystal display panel that displays various types of information about a vehicle that is driven by a battery mounted on the vehicle, a backlight that transmits and illuminates the liquid crystal display panel, and an operation related to display contents of the liquid crystal display panel. Or an input means for performing a brightness adjustment operation of the backlight, and a control means for inputting the signal and the various information from the input means to control the liquid crystal display panel and the backlight, The control means controls the liquid crystal display panel so as to display a charging state at the time of charging the battery, and controls the backlight so as to change the output luminance in accordance with a signal from the input means. It is characterized by that.

  Further, the control means stores the output luminance value of the backlight after the change in a storage unit, and the backlight is turned on in accordance with the output luminance value stored in the storage unit when the battery is charged next time. It is characterized by being controlled.

  Further, the control means controls the liquid crystal display panel to perform the charging state and a display indicating the warning state when the battery is charged when the vehicle is in a warning state. And

  The control means controls the backlight to be turned off after the battery charging is completed.

  The control means switches the control means to a power saving mode after the battery charging is completed.

  The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display panel that displays various types of information about a vehicle that is driven by a battery mounted on the vehicle, a backlight that transmits and illuminates the liquid crystal display panel, an operation related to display contents of the liquid crystal display panel, With respect to a vehicle instrument comprising an input means for performing a brightness adjustment operation of a light, and a control means for inputting a signal from the input means and the various information and controlling the liquid crystal display panel and the backlight. It can illuminate with optimal brightness while charging the battery.

The block diagram which shows the structure of embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the display at the time of battery charge in embodiment same as the above. The flowchart which shows the process sequence of the control means in embodiment same as the above.

  Hereinafter, embodiments in which the present invention is applied as a vehicle instrument for an electric motorcycle will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration according to the present invention, which includes a liquid crystal display panel 1, a backlight 2, input means 3, and control means 4. These components are electrically connected via a circuit board, wiring, etc., are held in a case made of synthetic resin, and are provided near the center of the steering wheel so that a vehicle user can easily confirm during driving.

  The liquid crystal display panel 1 displays desired vehicle information such as vehicle speed, travel distance, remaining capacity, and alarm by switching between transmission and non-transmission based on a control signal from the control means 4 to form a display image. It is an output means. The liquid crystal display panel 1 is provided with a liquid crystal display element and a drive driver in which liquid crystal is sealed between a pair of translucent substrates having a polarizing film and a transparent electrode, and the display surface is provided by a vehicle user. It is provided at a position or angle facing the vehicle user so that it can be seen.

  In addition, the liquid crystal display panel 1 has a charge state display unit indicating that charging is being performed based on a control signal from the control unit 4. In this case, as shown in FIG. 2, “CHARGE” is obtained. Can be displayed and output in characters. The liquid crystal display panel 1 can also express the remaining charging time or charging capacity using the remaining capacity display unit during battery charging. It is possible to confirm that the battery is being charged and the progress of the charging work on the display 11 indicating the charging state including the charging state display unit and the remaining capacity display unit.

  The backlight 2 uses a light source composed of a light emitting diode, and is provided on the opposite side of the display surface of the liquid crystal display panel 1. In this case, the backlight 2 can be applied with an LED chip element provided on the circuit board, and is configured so that the output luminance can be changed in accordance with a control signal from the control means 4. Note that the backlight 2 may be an edge light system using a light guide.

  The input means 3 can apply a trip switch for switching and displaying the total travel distance or section travel distance of the vehicle instrument, or a dimming switch for setting the illumination brightness of the vehicle instrument including the liquid crystal display panel 1. . Further, the input unit 3 outputs an operation signal corresponding to the pressing operation of the vehicle user to the control unit 4.

  The control means 4 is provided with a storage unit such as a ROM or a RAM (not shown) used for storing a predetermined program and various data, a storage area at the time of calculation, a CPU for performing arithmetic processing according to the predetermined program, an input / output interface, and the like. The microcomputer can be applied, and operation signals from the input means 3 and vehicle information based on various sensors of the vehicle are input via a dedicated cable, and the liquid crystal display panel 1 and the backlight 2 are controlled according to these signals. A control signal is generated and output.

  The control means 4 includes a normal mode in which a vehicle meter is activated when a separately mounted main switch (start switch) is turned on, and vehicle information such as vehicle speed is displayed on the liquid crystal display panel 1, and the main switch is turned off. A stop mode in which the display output of the vehicle instrument is stopped and the power saving operation is performed, and a charge mode in which the state of charge is displayed on the liquid crystal display panel 1 when the battery is charged by connecting the power plug. It is.

  The control means 4 is connected to the backlight 2 via a switch circuit such as a transistor. When the backlight 2 is controlled, the backlight 2 is controlled at a desired brightness (brightness) by pulse width modulation control. Control to emit light. The control unit 4 has a storage area in the storage unit for storing the set output luminance value of the backlight 2.

  Next, the processing procedure of the control means 4 according to the charging mode will be described with reference to FIG.

  The control means 4 performs a mode determination process (step S1) for determining whether or not the charging display mode is set. The control means 4 can determine whether or not it is in the charging mode by detecting whether or not the power plug is connected or powered.

  When the control unit 4 determines that the charging mode is in the mode determination process in step S <b> 1, the control unit 4 outputs a control signal for prompting the liquid crystal display panel 1 to display the charging state and stores the control signal in the storage unit of the control unit 4. Based on the output luminance value thus output, a control signal for prompting the illumination output by the backlight 2 is output (step S2). Therefore, the user can confirm the state of charge of the battery by visually recognizing the display output (for example, the display shown in FIG. 2) of the liquid crystal display panel 1 illuminated with the initial value or the previously set output luminance.

  Note that the control means 4 performs an alarm determination process for determining whether or not the alarm state is caused by a separate calculation process based on the vehicle information. If the vehicle is in any alarm state by this determination, the control means 4 is charged. The liquid crystal display panel 1 can be controlled to display and output an alarm state together with the state. For example, the control means 4 has alarm states such as a motor alarm based on an abnormal signal from a motor control device serving as a drive source of the electric motorcycle, or a battery alarm based on vehicle information such as battery deterioration or temperature abnormality. Determine whether there is an alarm. Moreover, in the liquid crystal display panel 1, for example, as shown in FIG. It is also conceivable to express the alarm content in text.

  Next, based on the operation signal from the input unit 3, the control unit 4 performs an operation determination process (step S3) for determining the presence or absence of an operation of the vehicle user that prompts the user to change the output luminance value of the backlight 2. .

  When it is determined by the operation determination process that there is an operation, the control means 4 performs a luminance adjustment process (step S4) for changing the output luminance of the backlight 2 to be increased or decreased. In this case, in the charging mode, the control means 4 is set so that the output luminance of the backlight 2 can be changed in five steps from extinguishing to full lighting by using pulse width modulation control. The desired output luminance can be selected based on the above.

  Further, the control means 4 stores the output luminance value of the backlight 2 selected by the luminance adjustment processing in step S4 in the storage unit (step S5), and the output luminance adjusted when the next charging mode is entered. It is possible to illuminate with.

  Moreover, after performing the process of step S5, or when it determines with there being no operation in the operation determination process of step S3, the control means 4 will be charged based on the vehicle information regarding a charge condition. Is determined (step S6).

  The control means 4 continues the display of the charging state by the liquid crystal display panel 1 or the backlight 2 until the charging is completed, and controls the backlight 2 to be turned off when the charging is completed (step S7). ). In this case, the control unit 4 switches the control unit 4 to a power saving mode in which the display control of the liquid crystal display panel 1 and the measurement value calculation process based on vehicle information are stopped in order to further save power.

  By repeating the above processing, the illumination brightness of the liquid crystal display panel 1 can be changed to an optimal value for the vehicle user during battery charging, so that the state of charge can be confirmed with a display with good visibility. Further, for example, when there is no need to check the state of charge, the operation can be performed to reduce the output luminance of the backlight, so that a battery charging operation that saves power can be provided.

  Such a vehicle instrument relates to a liquid crystal display panel 1 that displays various types of information of a vehicle that is driven by a battery mounted on the vehicle, a backlight 2 that transmits and illuminates the liquid crystal display panel 1, and display contents of the liquid crystal display panel 1. An input means 3 for performing an operation or a brightness adjustment operation of the backlight 2, and a control means 4 for inputting a signal from the input means 3 and the various information and controlling the liquid crystal display panel 1 and the backlight 2. The control unit 4 controls the liquid crystal display panel 1 so as to display the state of charge when the battery is charged, and controls the backlight 2 so as to change the output luminance in accordance with a signal from the input unit 3. Do it.

  Therefore, the vehicle instrument can be illuminated with optimum brightness during battery charging.

  Further, the control means 4 stores the changed output luminance value of the backlight 2 in the storage unit, and sets the backlight 2 according to the output luminance value stored in the storage unit when the battery is charged next time. By controlling, it is possible to display and output with the adjusted illumination brightness, so that it is possible to obtain a display output suitable for the use environment of the vehicle or the user's preference. Even when the brightness environment at the time of charging changes, the optimum output luminance can be selected according to the user's operation.

  Further, when the vehicle is in an alarm state, the control means 4 controls the liquid crystal display panel 1 so as to display the charge state and the display indicating the alarm state when the battery is charged. Since the alarm state is displayed not only during the driving operation of the vehicle, the probability that the vehicle user visually recognizes the alarm state can be increased.

  Moreover, the control means 4 can suppress power consumption and save power by controlling the backlight 2 to be turned off after the battery charging is completed. In addition, it becomes a clue for the vehicle user to determine whether the battery is being charged or not.

  Moreover, the control means 4 can suppress the power consumption of the battery as a further power saving state by switching the control means 4 to the power saving mode after the battery charging is completed.

  Although the vehicular instrument of the present invention has been described as an example in the configuration of the above-described embodiment, the present invention is not limited to this, and other configurations depart from the gist of the present invention. It goes without saying that various improvements and design changes can be made without departing from the scope.

  For example, in the backlight illumination as described above, the illumination area for the liquid crystal display panel is separated, and only the backlight light source in the vicinity of the display 11 indicating the charging state is controlled to be turned on, thereby further saving power.

  Further, in the charging mode, by flashing the display 11 indicating the charging state and the display 12 indicating the alarm state, flashing the illumination of the backlight 2, or changing the illumination color by the backlight 2, the vehicle user can be changed. On the other hand, the discriminability between the mode and the alarm state can be improved. In particular, by flashing the backlight 2, further power saving is achieved.

  In addition, although the stepwise adjustment selection by the pulse width modulation control has been shown to be selectable in five steps, the number of steps may be different, and the backlight may be configured by a circuit configuration in which the current value can be varied. The output luminance can be changed. It is also conceivable to apply a rotary switch or the like as the input means so that the output luminance of the backlight changes continuously.

  The vehicle meter according to the present invention can be applied as a meter for a moving body such as an automobile or a motorcycle, and is particularly suitable as a vehicle instrument mounted on a vehicle requiring battery charging such as an electric vehicle or an electric motorcycle.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Liquid crystal display panel 2 Backlight 3 Input means 4 Control means

Claims (5)

A liquid crystal display panel that displays various types of information about the vehicle running on the battery mounted on the vehicle;
A backlight for transmitting and illuminating the liquid crystal display panel;
An input unit for performing an operation related to display contents of the liquid crystal display panel or a luminance adjustment operation of the backlight;
A control means for inputting a signal from the input means and the various information and controlling the liquid crystal display panel and the backlight;
The control means controls the liquid crystal display panel so as to display a charging state at the time of charging the battery, and controls the backlight so as to change an output luminance in accordance with a signal from the input means. A vehicle instrument characterized by comprising:   The control means stores the changed output luminance value of the backlight in the storage unit, and controls the backlight according to the output luminance value stored in the storage unit at the next battery charging. The vehicular instrument according to claim 1, wherein   The control means controls the liquid crystal display panel to perform the charging state and a display indicating the warning state when the battery is charged when the vehicle is in a warning state. The vehicle instrument according to claim 1 or 2.   The vehicle instrument according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the control unit controls the backlight to be turned off after the battery charging is completed.   5. The vehicle instrument according to claim 1, wherein the control unit switches the control unit to a power saving mode after the battery charging is completed.

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