JP2015191168A - virtual image display device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a virtual image creation device that has enabled a user to properly visually recognize a virtual image by changing the angle in the horizontal direction of a concave mirror.SOLUTION: A virtual image display device projects a video output from a projector 4 on a screen 5, reflects the video projected on the screen 5 on a windshield 6 of a vehicle 2, and causes a driver 7 of the vehicle to visually recognize the video, so as to create a virtual image 8 of the video that is visually recognized by the driver 7 of the vehicle. When the position of the driver is displaced from a reference position, the virtual image display device calculates the amount of displacement from the reference position along the horizontal direction and changes the angle in the horizontal direction of a mirror 11 from a reference angle on the basis of the calculated amount of displacement.

Description

  The present invention relates to a virtual image display device that displays a virtual image visually recognized by a user.

  Conventionally, various means have been used as information providing means for providing driving information such as route guidance and obstacle warnings to passengers of moving bodies such as vehicles. For example, display on a liquid crystal display installed on a moving body, sound output from a speaker, and the like. In recent years, as one of such information providing means, a head-up display device (hereinafter referred to as HUD) is used in a space different from a position where an image is actually displayed using an illusion of human eyes. There is a virtual image display device for visually recognizing an image.

  Here, for example, the HUD installed on the vehicle as a moving body is located in front of the vehicle window (for example, the front window) as seen from the vehicle occupant as described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2008-197403. It is possible to generate driving information (for example, speed display, route guidance display, etc.) as a virtual image superimposed on the foreground of the front vision. As a result, the occupant can reduce the line-of-sight movement as much as possible when visually confirming the driving information, and can further reduce the burden during driving.

JP 2008-197403 A (page 4-5, FIG. 1)

  Here, in order to allow the user to visually recognize the virtual image appropriately in the HUD, the user's eyes must be positioned within a predetermined range. In other words, the HUD needs to reflect the image drawn on the drawing means such as a screen or a liquid crystal panel inside the HUD with a concave mirror and then reflect it on a mirror windshield or a combiner so that the user can see it with both eyes. However, if the positional relationship between the HUD (more specifically, the drawing unit and concave mirror in the HUD) and the user does not correspond exactly, an accurate virtual image cannot be generated at the correct position.

  Therefore, even if the positional relationship between the HUD and the user corresponds when the vehicle is on board, the positional relationship between the HUD and the user is shifted due to a subsequent change in the user's posture, etc. May not be visible. For example, when the user 103 moves to the right from a position corresponding to the concave mirror 101 or the screen 102 as shown in FIG. 15, the position of the virtual image 104 visually recognized by the user 103 as shown in FIG. Will also be on the left. As a result, when there is a target object 105 (pedestrian in FIG. 16) on which the virtual image 104 is to be superimposed, the virtual image 104 cannot be appropriately superimposed on the target object 105. Further, the virtual image 104 is also distorted. Therefore, especially when outputting information in which the position where a virtual image is generated is important (for example, when generating a virtual image at a position where an obstacle actually exists as a virtual image of a warning for an obstacle, As a virtual image to be guided, when a virtual image is generated at a point where the vehicle turns left and right, there is a problem in that appropriate information cannot be provided to the user.

  Moreover, although the said patent document 1 is disclosed about the technique which changes the angle of the concave mirror arrange | positioned in HUD, in patent document 1, changing the angle of a concave mirror so that sunlight may not enter a drawing means. The purpose is to change the angle of the concave mirror and also the vertical direction. However, since the direction of changing the posture of the user during driving is basically not the vertical direction but the horizontal direction, the technique of Patent Document 1 cannot properly maintain the positional relationship between the concave mirror and the user.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described conventional problems, and even when the positional relationship between the concave mirror and the user is displaced, the user can be changed by changing the horizontal angle of the concave mirror. It is an object of the present invention to provide a virtual image generating apparatus that makes it possible to appropriately view a virtual image.

  In order to achieve the above object, a virtual image generating apparatus (1) according to the present invention includes a screen (5), a projector (4) that projects an image on the screen, and a user that reflects the image projected on the screen. A virtual image generating means (6, 10, 11) including a concave mirror (11) for generating a virtual image of the video by making it visually recognized, a user position detecting means (9) for detecting the position of the user, and the position of the user Is displaced from a reference position, a displacement amount calculating means (31) for calculating a displacement amount from the reference position along the horizontal direction, and based on the displacement amount calculated by the displacement amount calculating means, And a concave mirror angle changing means (25) for changing a horizontal angle of the concave mirror from a reference angle corresponding to the reference position.

  According to the virtual image generating device according to the present invention having the above-described configuration, even when a positional relationship between the concave mirror and the user is shifted, the position of the concave mirror and the user can be changed by changing the horizontal angle of the concave mirror. It becomes possible to modify the relationship. As a result, it is possible to prevent a deviation from occurring at the position where the virtual image is generated. Therefore, it becomes possible to make a user visually recognize a virtual image appropriately.

It is the figure which showed the installation aspect to the vehicle of HUD which concerns on this embodiment. It is the figure which showed the internal structure of HUD which concerns on this embodiment. It is the figure which showed the structure of the projector. It is the figure which showed the screen. It is the figure which showed the movement aspect to the front-back direction with respect to the optical path of a screen. It is the figure which showed the virtual image produced | generated by the image | video projected on the screen. It is the top view which showed the screen and mirror which were arrange | positioned at the turntable. It is the block diagram which showed the structure of HUD which concerns on this embodiment. It is a flowchart of the virtual image generation processing program which concerns on this embodiment. It is the figure which showed an example of the virtual image visually recognizable from the passenger | crew of a vehicle. It is the figure which showed the positional relationship of the passenger | crew of a vehicle, a screen, and a mirror. It is the figure which showed an example of the angle calculation table. It is the figure which showed an example of the correction coefficient table. It is a figure explaining the adjustment method of the angle of a screen and a mirror based on a correction coefficient. It is the figure shown about the problem of the prior art. It is the figure shown about the problem of the prior art.

  DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, a virtual image generating device according to the invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings with regard to an embodiment embodied in a head-up display device mounted on a vehicle.

  First, the configuration of a head-up display device (hereinafter referred to as HUD) 1 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an installation mode of the HUD 1 according to the present embodiment on the vehicle 2.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the HUD 1 is installed inside the dashboard 3 of the vehicle 2, and includes a projector 4 and a screen 5 on which an image from the projector 4 is projected. Then, the image projected on the screen 5 is reflected on the front window 6 in front of the driver's seat through the mirror and Fresnel lens provided in the HUD 1 as will be described later, and is made visible to the passenger 7 of the vehicle 2. ing. Note that the image projected on the screen 5 includes information related to the vehicle 2 and various information used for assisting the driving of the occupant 7. For example, warnings for obstacles (other vehicles and pedestrians), guidance information set by the navigation device and guidance information based on the guidance route (such as arrows indicating the direction of turning left and right), current vehicle speed, guidance signs, map images, traffic information, There are news, weather forecast, time, screen of connected smartphone, TV program and so on.

  Further, in the HUD 1 of the present embodiment, when the occupant 7 visually recognizes an image projected on the screen 5 by reflecting the front window 6, the occupant 7 is not at the position of the front window 6 but at the front of the front window 6. An image projected on the screen 5 at a distant position is configured to be visually recognized as a virtual image 8. The virtual image 8 that can be seen by the occupant 7 is an image projected on the screen 5, but the vertical direction is reversed because the image is projected through the mirror. In addition, the size is changed by using a Fresnel lens.

  Here, regarding the position where the virtual image 8 is generated, more specifically, the distance L from the occupant 7 to the virtual image 8 (hereinafter referred to as a generation distance) L, the shape and position of the mirror and Fresnel lens provided in the HUD 1, and the screen 5 with respect to the optical path It is possible to appropriately set the position depending on the position. In particular, in the present embodiment, the position of the screen 5 is configured to be movable in the front-rear direction along the optical path as will be described later. As a result, the generation distance L can be changed as appropriate. For example, the generation distance L can be changed between 2.5 m and 20 m.

  A vehicle camera 9 is installed on the upper surface of the dashboard 3. Here, the in-vehicle camera 9 uses a solid-state imaging device such as a CCD, for example, and is installed with the imaging direction facing the driver's seat as shown in FIG. Then, the upper body of the occupant 7 sitting in the driver's seat is imaged. The HUD 1 detects the position of the head of the occupant 7 from the captured image captured by the in-vehicle camera 9 as will be described later, and the horizontal angle of the screen 5 and the mirror based on the detected position of the head of the occupant 7. Is displaced.

  Next, a more specific configuration of the HUD 1 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an internal configuration of the HUD 1 according to the present embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the HUD 1 basically includes a projector 4, a screen 5, a reflection mirror 10, a mirror (concave mirror) 11, a Fresnel lens 12, a control circuit unit 13, and a CAN interface 14. ing.

  Here, the projector 4 is an image projection apparatus using an LED light source, a lamp light source, or a laser light source as a light source, and is, for example, a laser scanning projector. The projector 4 may be a DLP projector, a liquid crystal projector, or an LCOS projector. When a projector other than the laser scanning projector is used, it is necessary to separately arrange a projection lens for the projector 4.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the configuration of the projector 4. As shown in FIG. 3, the projector 4 includes a laser light source 15 inside. For example, in a laser scanning projector, the laser light output from the light source 15 is reflected by the MEMS mirror 16 and scanned on the screen 5. As a result, a desired image is projected onto the screen 5.

  On the other hand, the screen 5 is a projection medium on which an image projected from the projector 4 is projected. For example, a transmissive screen made of a diffusing plate such as ground glass or a microlens array is used. Here, FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the screen 5.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the screen 5 has a projection area 22 on which an image is projected, and an image projected from the projector 4 is displayed. The screen 5 is configured to be movable in the front-rear direction along the optical path. Specifically, by driving the screen front / rear drive motor 24 on the back side of the screen 5, as shown in FIG. 5, the screen 5 can be moved in the front / rear direction along the optical path. As a result, as shown in FIG. 6, it is possible to change the position (specifically, the generation distance L that is the distance from the occupant 7 to the virtual image 8) where the virtual image 8 of the image projected on the screen 5 is generated. is there. The generation distance L depends on the distance from the mirror 11 to the screen 5. That is, the generation distance L is changed in length depending on the distance from the mirror 11 to the screen 5.

  For example, when the screen 5 is moved to the projector 4 side (the side where the distance to the mirror 11 is increased), the generation distance L is increased (that is, the virtual image 8 is viewed farther from the occupant 7). . On the other hand, if the screen 5 is moved to the side opposite to the projector 4 (the side where the distance to the mirror 11 is shortened), the generation distance L is shortened (that is, the virtual image 8 is visually recognized closer to the passenger 7). Become).

  The screen front / rear drive motor 24 is a stepping motor. The HUD 1 controls the screen front / rear drive motor 24 based on the pulse signal transmitted from the control circuit unit 13, and can appropriately position the front / rear position of the screen 5 with respect to the set position.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the screen 5 and the mirror 11 are arranged on the turntable 25 and are configured so that the angle in the horizontal direction can be changed as the turntable 25 rotates. Here, FIG. 7 is a top view showing the screen 5 and the mirror 11 arranged on the turntable 25.

  As shown in FIG. 7, on the turntable 25, the screen 5 and the mirror 11 are fixed at positions where the relative angles are parallel to each other. Therefore, even if the turntable 25 rotates and the horizontal angle of the screen 5 and the mirror 11 is changed, the screen 5 and the mirror 11 are integrally changed in the same direction in the same direction. The screen 5 and the mirror 11 are always kept parallel. Further, the distance from the screen 5 to the mirror 11 is designed based on the range of the generation distance L realized in the HUD 1.

  Further, a drive mechanism 26 is disposed adjacent to the turntable 25 as means for driving the turntable 25 to rotate. The HUD 1 can control the drive mechanism 26 based on a control signal transmitted from the control circuit unit 13 and appropriately rotate the turntable 25 to an arbitrary angle. In particular, in the HUD 1 according to the present embodiment, the positional relationship of the three of the screen 5, the mirror 11, and the occupant 7 by rotating the turntable 25 in accordance with the position of the head of the occupant 7 of the vehicle as described later. Can be kept appropriate.

  On the other hand, the reflecting mirror 10 is a reflecting plate that reflects an image projected from the projector 4 to change the optical path and projects it onto the screen 5 as shown in FIG.

  Further, the mirror 11 reflects the image light from the screen 5 as shown in FIG. 2, and causes the occupant 7 to visually recognize the image of the screen 5 through the front window 6. 1), and constitutes a virtual image generating means together with the reflecting mirror 10 and the front window 6. As the mirror 11, a spherical concave mirror, an aspheric concave mirror, or a free-form curved mirror for correcting distortion of a projected image is used. Since the image projected on the screen 5 is reflected by the reflecting mirror 10 and the mirror 11, the generated virtual image is an image obtained by inverting the image projected on the screen 5 vertically and horizontally.

  The Fresnel lens 12 is a magnifying glass for generating a virtual image 8 by enlarging the image projected on the screen 5 as shown in FIG. And in HUD1 which concerns on this embodiment, the image | video projected on the screen 5 is further reflected on the front window 6 via the mirror 11 and the Fresnel lens 12, and is made to be visually recognized by the passenger | crew 7, so that the front of the front window 6 is visible. The image projected on the screen 5 at a distant position is enlarged and is visually recognized by the occupant as a virtual image 8 (see FIG. 1).

  The control circuit unit 13 is an electronic control unit that controls the entire HUD 1. Here, FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the HUD 1 according to the present embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 8, the control circuit unit 13 includes a CPU 31 as an arithmetic device and a control device, a RAM 32 used as a working memory when the CPU 31 performs various arithmetic processes, a control program, and a virtual image generation described later. A ROM 33 in which a processing program (see FIG. 9) is recorded, an internal storage device such as a flash memory 34 for storing a program read from the ROM 33, an angle calculation table (to be described later), and a correction coefficient table are provided. The control circuit unit 13 is connected to the projector 4, the screen front / rear drive motor 24, and the drive mechanism 26, respectively, and performs drive control of the projector 4, various motors, and mechanisms.

  The CAN (controller area network) interface 14 is an interface for inputting / outputting data to / from CAN which is an in-vehicle network standard for performing multiplex communication between various on-vehicle devices installed in a vehicle and control devices for vehicle equipment. It is. The HUD 1 is connected to a control device (for example, the navigation device 48, the AV device 49, etc.) of various vehicle-mounted devices and vehicle equipment via the CAN so as to be able to communicate with each other. Accordingly, the HUD 1 is configured to be able to project output screens of the navigation device 48, the AV device 49, and the like.

  Next, a virtual image generation processing program executed by the CPU 31 in the HUD 1 having the above configuration will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 9 is a flowchart of the virtual image generation processing program according to the present embodiment. Here, the virtual image generation processing program is executed after the ACC of the vehicle is turned on, generates a virtual image that is visible to the user who is the vehicle occupant, and adjusts the angles of the screen 5 and the mirror 11 according to the position of the occupant. It is a program to do. The program shown in the flowchart of FIG. 9 below is stored in the RAM 32 or ROM 33 provided in the HUD 1 and is executed by the CPU 31.

  First, in step (hereinafter abbreviated as S) 1 in the virtual image generation processing program, the CPU 31 sets the positions of the screen 5 and the mirror 11 to a reference angle. Here, the HUD 1 has a configuration in which the image drawn on the screen inside as described above is reflected on the front window 6 and visually recognized by the occupant 7, and in order to generate an accurate virtual image at the correct position. The positional relationship between the HUD 1 (more specifically, the screen 5 and the mirror 11 in the HUD 1) and the vehicle occupant 7 that is the user needs to correspond strictly. The reference angle is an angle at which an accurate virtual image can be generated at the correct position in a state where the vehicle occupant 7 is at the reference position (position where the vehicle seat is in the correct posture). For example, the angles are perpendicular to the optical path of the projector 4. The reference position of the occupant 7 may be the position of the occupant 7 when the vehicle ACC is turned on or when driving is started. The reference position of the passenger 7 at that time is detected by, for example, the in-vehicle camera 9.

  Next, in S <b> 2, the CPU 31 transmits a signal to the projector 4 and starts projecting an image on the screen 5 by the projector 4. The video projected by the projector 4 includes information related to the vehicle 2 and various information used for assisting the driving of the occupant 7. For example, warnings for obstacles (other vehicles and pedestrians), guidance information set by the navigation device and guidance information based on the guidance route (such as arrows indicating the direction of turning left and right), current vehicle speed, guidance signs, map images, traffic information, There are news, weather forecast, time, connected smart phone screen, TV screen and so on. In particular, in the present embodiment, when the vehicle is stopped, an image of the current vehicle speed of the vehicle and a TV screen are projected out of the above images, and when the vehicle is traveling, warnings for obstacles and guidance routes set by the navigation device The guidance information based on the guidance route is output.

  As a result, for example, when the vehicle is in a traveling state and the pedestrian 61 approaches the front in the traveling direction of the vehicle as shown in FIG. 10, a warning virtual image 8 is generated at the position of the pedestrian 61. Further, the distance from the occupant 7 to the pedestrian 61 is calculated using a sensor or a camera, and the calculated distance is set as the generation distance L. As described above, the HUD 1 according to the present embodiment can change the generation distance L by moving the screen 5 in the front-rear direction along the optical path (see FIG. 6). Accordingly, the CPU 31 controls the position of the screen 5 so that the virtual image 8 is generated at a position separated from the occupant 7 by the generation distance L. As a result, the position where the virtual image 8 is generated is the position ahead of the generation distance L set by the occupant 7 (the position of the pedestrian 61 in the example shown in FIG. 10). Therefore, it is possible to associate the position of the virtual image 8 with the scenery in front of the occupant 7, and the occupant 7 can minimize the movement of the line of sight when viewing the virtual image 8. If the distance from the occupant 7 to the pedestrian 61 changes as the vehicle moves thereafter, the generation distance L is also changed accordingly.

  Subsequently, in S3, the CPU 31 detects the position of the head of the occupant 7 in particular by imaging the upper body of the occupant 7 of the vehicle seated in the driver's seat with the in-vehicle camera 9 and performing image processing on the captured image. To do. Thereafter, the position of the head of the occupant 7 is continuously detected at predetermined intervals.

  Thereafter, in S4, the CPU 31 determines the HUD 1 (more specifically, the screen 5 and the mirror 11 in the HUD 1) and the vehicle occupant who is the user based on the current position of the head of the occupant 7 detected in S3. It is determined whether or not a positional deviation with respect to 7 has occurred. Specifically, when the position of the head of the occupant 7 is moved due to a change in the posture of the occupant 7 or the like, it is determined that the positional relationship between the HUD 1 and the occupant 7 has shifted. Even when the position of the head of the occupant 7 moves, if the amount of movement is very small (for example, within 5 cm), there is no deviation in the positional relationship between the HUD 1 and the occupant 7. It is desirable to judge.

  If it is determined that the positional relationship between the HUD 1 and the occupant 7 has shifted (S4: YES), the process proceeds to S5. On the other hand, if it is determined that there is no deviation in the positional relationship between the HUD 1 and the occupant 7 (S4: NO), the process proceeds to S11.

  In S5, based on the current position of the head of the occupant 7 detected in S3, the CPU 31 obtains how much the current position of the head of the occupant 7 is misaligned with respect to the reference position. . Specifically, the difference between the reference position and the current position of the head of the occupant 7 (hereinafter referred to as the displacement direction) and the reference position and the current position of the head of the occupant 7 (hereinafter referred to as the displacement amount). Each). Note that the displacement direction and the displacement amount acquired in S5 are the direction and amount along the horizontal direction.

  Next, in S6, the CPU 31 first determines, based on the displacement direction and displacement amount of the occupant 7 acquired in S5, the screen 5 for the occupant 7 at the current position to visually recognize the accurate virtual image 8 at the correct position. The angle of the mirror 11 (hereinafter referred to as a target angle) is specified. Thereafter, the CPU 31 changes the angle of the screen 5 and the mirror 11 to change the current angle of the screen 5 and the mirror 11 to the specified target angle (hereinafter referred to as the angle change direction) and the amount of change (hereinafter referred to as the angle change direction). , Referred to as a necessary angle change amount). The angle change direction and the required angle change amount calculated in S6 are the direction and amount along the horizontal direction.

  Here, as shown in FIG. 11, the target angle between the screen 5 and the mirror 11 is, for example, an angle rotated counterclockwise from the reference angle when the occupant 7 is positioned in the right direction with respect to the reference position. It becomes. On the other hand, when the occupant 7 is positioned in the left direction with respect to the reference position, the angle is a clockwise rotation with respect to the reference angle. The specific target angle value may be calculated from the angle calculation table shown in FIG. 12, or may be calculated from a calculation formula. Here, the angle calculation table is a table in which the target angle is defined in association with the displacement direction and the displacement amount with respect to the reference position of the occupant 7 as shown in FIG.

  Next, in S <b> 7, the CPU 31 acquires a generation distance L that is a distance from the vehicle occupant 7 to the virtual image 8 generated based on the current position of the screen 5. Here, the HUD 1 according to the present embodiment is configured so that the screen 5 can be moved in the front-rear direction along the optical path as described above, and the generation distance L is changed by moving the position of the screen 5 along the optical path. It is possible (see FIG. 6). In particular, in the present embodiment, the generation distance L is configured to be changeable between 2.5 m and 20 m.

  Subsequently, in S8, the CPU 31 specifies a correction coefficient based on the generation distance L acquired in S7 and the correction coefficient table shown in FIG. Here, the correction coefficient table is a table in which correction coefficients are defined in association with the generation distance L as shown in FIG. The correction coefficient is specified as “1” when the generation distance L is 2.5 m, which is the minimum, and a smaller value is specified as the generation distance L increases.

  Thereafter, in S9, the CPU 31 calculates, as the angle change amount, a value obtained by multiplying the necessary angle change amount calculated in S6 by the correction coefficient specified in S8. The angle change amount calculated in S9 is the amount by which the angle between the screen 5 and the mirror 11 is actually changed in S10 described later. That is, the amount of changing the angle between the screen 5 and the mirror 11 is corrected using the correction coefficient.

  Here, the importance of the information provided as the virtual image 8 is not constant but differs for each virtual image 8. For example, the virtual image 8 generated at a position close to the vehicle is likely to be important information having urgency, while the virtual image 8 generated at a position far from the vehicle is not likely to have urgency. Therefore, the HUD 1 according to the present embodiment is as far as possible without considering the control burden so that the occupant 7 can visually recognize the accurate virtual image 8 at the correct position when the virtual image 8 is generated at a position close to the vehicle. The angle between the screen 5 and the mirror 11 is adjusted. On the other hand, in the state where the virtual image 8 is generated at a position far from the vehicle, the influence on the occupant 7 is small even if the position where the virtual image 8 is generated is slightly deviated from the original position or the virtual image 8 is distorted. In order to reduce the control burden related to the change, adjustment is performed so that the amount by which the angle is displaced is smaller than the originally required amount.

For example, as illustrated in FIG. 14, a situation in which the forward vehicle 62 exists in front of the traveling direction of the vehicle and gradually approaches the vehicle will be described as an example.
As shown in FIG. 14, since the urgency is low at a step diameter where the distance from the vehicle to the forward vehicle 62 is long, even if a slight deviation occurs in the position where the virtual image 8 that warns the forward vehicle 62 is generated, the passenger 7 is given Since the influence is small, adjustment is performed so that the amount by which the angle is displaced by multiplying the correction coefficient is smaller than the originally required amount.
After that, since the urgency is high at the stage where the forward vehicle 62 approaches and the distance from the vehicle to the forward vehicle 62 is short, the position where the virtual image 8 that warns the forward vehicle 62 is generated is not displaced as much as possible. The correction coefficient is set to a value closer to 1. As a result, adjustment is performed so that the amount by which the angle is displaced approaches the originally required amount.

  Thereafter, in S10, the CPU 31 transmits a control signal to the drive mechanism 26 to rotate the turntable 25. Then, the angles of the screen 5 and the mirror 11 are displaced by the angle change amount calculated in S9 in the angle change direction specified in S6. As a result, the occupant 7 at the current position can visually recognize the accurate virtual image 8 at the correct position. As described above, the screen 5 and the mirror 11 are arranged on the turntable 25, and are configured to change the angle in the horizontal direction as the turntable 25 rotates (FIG. 7). The angle change period of the screen 5 overlaps with the angle change period of the mirror 11.

  Thereafter, in S11, the CPU 31 determines whether or not to end the projection of the video on the screen 5. For example, when the ACC of the vehicle is turned off or when the shift position is set to “P”, it is determined that the projection of the image on the screen 5 is finished.

  And when it determines with complete | finishing the projection of the image | video with respect to the screen 5 (S11: YES), the said virtual image generation process program is complete | finished. On the other hand, when it is determined not to end the projection of the image on the screen 5 (S11: NO), the process returns to S4, and the image is projected onto the screen 5 continuously.

  As described above in detail, according to the HUD 1 according to the present embodiment, an image output from the projector 4 is projected on the screen 5, and the image projected on the screen 5 is reflected on the front window 6 of the vehicle 2 to By making the occupant 7 visually recognize, a virtual image 8 of an image visually recognized by the occupant 7 of the vehicle is generated. If the user's position is displaced from the reference position, the amount of displacement from the reference position along the horizontal direction is calculated (S5), and the horizontal angle of the mirror 11 is calculated based on the calculated amount of displacement. Since the reference angle is changed (S10), the position of the mirror 11 and the occupant 7 can be changed by changing the horizontal angle of the mirror 11 even if the positional relationship between the mirror 11 and the occupant 7 is shifted. It becomes possible to modify the relationship. As a result, it is possible to prevent the virtual image from being distorted without causing a shift in the position where the virtual image is generated. Therefore, it becomes possible to make a user visually recognize a virtual image appropriately.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various improvements and modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.
For example, in the present embodiment, the virtual image is generated in front of the front window 6 of the vehicle 2 by the HUD 1, but the virtual image may be generated in front of a window other than the front window 6. In addition, the object to be reflected by the HUD 1 may be a visor (combiner) installed around the front window 6 instead of the front window 6 itself.

  In the present embodiment, the HUD 1 is installed on the vehicle 2. However, the HUD 1 may be installed on a moving body other than the vehicle 2. For example, it can be installed on a ship or an aircraft. Moreover, you may install in the ride type attraction installed in an amusement facility. In that case, a virtual image can be generated around the ride so that the rider can visually recognize the virtual image.

  Moreover, although this embodiment demonstrated the example which applied the virtual image production | generation apparatus to HUD1, if it is an apparatus which has a structure which produces | generates a virtual image and makes a user visually recognize, it is applicable besides HUD. For example, you may apply to the display apparatus installed in the instrument panel.

  In the present embodiment, the screen 5 and the mirror 11 are arranged on the turntable 25 to change the angle of the screen 5 and the mirror 11 together. However, the angle of the screen 5 and the angle of the mirror 11 are as follows. It is good also as a structure which can be changed individually, respectively. In that case, the angle of the screen 5 and the angle of the mirror 11 may be changed at the same time, or either one may be changed first.

  In the present embodiment, the angle between the screen 5 and the mirror 11 is changed according to the position of the head of the occupant 7 of the vehicle. However, depending on the position other than the head (for example, the position of the eyes of the occupant 7). The angle between the screen 5 and the mirror 11 may be changed. Further, only the mirror 11 or the screen 5 may be the target of changing the angle. Even in that case, a certain degree of effect can be expected in correcting the displacement of the position of the virtual image 8 and correcting the distortion. In addition to the screen 5 and the mirror 11, the horizontal angle of the reflecting mirror 10 and the projector 4 may be changed.

  In this embodiment, a laser scanning projector that does not require a projection lens is used, but a projector other than the laser scanning projector (for example, a DLP projector, a liquid crystal projector, or an LCOS projector) may be used.

  In this embodiment, the screen is composed of one screen, but the number of screens may be two or more. When two or more screens are used, all the screens may be configured to be movable along the optical path, or only a part of the screens may be configured to be movable along the optical path.

  Moreover, although the embodiment which actualized the virtual image generation device according to the present invention has been described above, the virtual image generation device can also have the following configuration, and in this case, the following effects can be obtained.

For example, the first configuration is as follows.
A virtual image generating means including a screen, a projector that projects an image on the screen, a concave mirror that generates a virtual image of the image by reflecting the image projected on the screen and causing the user to visually recognize the image, and a position of the user Calculated by a user position detecting means for detecting the displacement, a displacement amount calculating means for calculating a displacement amount from the reference position along a horizontal direction when the user position is displaced from a reference position, and the displacement amount calculating means. And a concave mirror angle changing means for changing a horizontal angle of the concave mirror from a reference angle corresponding to the reference position based on the amount of displacement.
According to the virtual image generating device having the above configuration, even if the positional relationship between the concave mirror and the user is shifted, the positional relationship between the concave mirror and the user is corrected by changing the horizontal angle of the concave mirror. It becomes possible. As a result, it is possible to prevent a deviation from occurring at the position where the virtual image is generated. Therefore, it becomes possible to make a user visually recognize a virtual image appropriately.

The second configuration is as follows.
Screen angle changing means for changing the horizontal angle of the screen according to the horizontal angle of the concave mirror after the change when the horizontal angle of the concave mirror is changed by the concave mirror angle changing means; It is characterized by.
According to the virtual image generating apparatus having the above configuration, the angle of the screen is changed in addition to the concave mirror, so that the positional relationship between the concave mirror, the screen, and the user can be appropriately maintained, and the virtual image is distorted. Can be prevented. As a result, it becomes possible for the user to visually recognize the virtual image more appropriately.

The third configuration is as follows.
The screen angle changing means changes the horizontal angle of the screen so that the screen and the concave mirror are parallel to each other.
According to the virtual image generating device having the above-described configuration, even if the angle of the screen or the concave mirror is changed, the generated virtual image is distorted or the like by maintaining an appropriate positional relationship between the screen and the concave mirror. Without making it possible, it is possible to allow the user to visually recognize the virtual image appropriately.

The fourth configuration is as follows.
A change period of the angle of the screen by the screen angle changing unit overlaps with a change period of the angle of the concave mirror by the concave mirror angle changing unit.
According to the virtual image generating device having the above configuration, the positional relationship between the screen and the concave mirror can be maintained in an appropriate relationship even during the change of the angle of the screen or the concave mirror. Therefore, it is possible to cause the user to appropriately visually recognize the virtual image without causing distortion or the like in the generated virtual image while changing the angle of the screen or the concave mirror.

The fifth configuration is as follows.
Virtual image position changing means for changing a generation distance that is a distance from the user to the virtual image generated by the virtual image generating means by moving the screen along the optical path of the projector by the moving means; The concave mirror angle changing means corrects a horizontal angle change amount from the reference angle of the concave mirror based on the displacement amount and the generation distance calculated by the displacement amount calculating means. .
According to the virtual image generating device having the above configuration, it is possible to determine the angle change amount of the concave mirror according to the importance of the information provided as the virtual image. As a result, for example, when displaying a virtual image with high importance, the angle of the concave mirror is adjusted as much as possible, whereas when displaying a virtual image with low importance, the position where the virtual image is generated is changed from the original position. Even if the image is slightly shifted or the virtual image is distorted, the influence on the user is small. Therefore, by making the amount of displacement of the angle smaller than the originally required amount, the control burden related to the angle change can be reduced.

The sixth configuration is as follows.
The concave mirror angle changing means increases the horizontal angle change amount from the reference angle of the concave mirror as the displacement amount calculated by the displacement amount calculating means increases, and increases the generation distance as the concave mirror angle increases. The amount of angle change in the horizontal direction from the reference angle is reduced.
According to the virtual image generation device having the above configuration, the virtual image generated at a position close to the vehicle is likely to be important information having urgency, and therefore, the angle of the concave mirror can be adjusted as much as possible without considering the control burden. By performing the above, it is possible to generate an accurate virtual image at the correct position. On the other hand, a virtual image generated at a position far from the vehicle is likely to be urgent and low-priority information. Therefore, by making the amount of angle displacement smaller than the originally required amount, It is possible to reduce the control burden and power consumption.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Head up display apparatus 2 Vehicle 3 Dashboard 4 Projector 5 Screen 6 Front window 7 Crew 8 Virtual image 24 Screen rotation drive motor 25 Image | video 31 CPU
32 RAM
33 ROM
34 Flash memory

Claims (6)

Screen,
A projector that projects an image on the screen;
Virtual image generation means including a concave mirror that generates a virtual image of the image by reflecting the image projected on the screen and allowing the user to visually recognize the image;
User position detecting means for detecting the position of the user;
A displacement amount calculating means for calculating a displacement amount from the reference position along a horizontal direction when the position of the user is displaced from the reference position;
A virtual image display, comprising: a concave mirror angle changing unit that changes a horizontal angle of the concave mirror from a reference angle corresponding to the reference position based on the displacement calculated by the displacement calculating unit. apparatus.   Screen angle changing means for changing the horizontal angle of the screen according to the horizontal angle of the concave mirror after the change when the horizontal angle of the concave mirror is changed by the concave mirror angle changing means; The virtual image display device according to claim 1.   The virtual image display device according to claim 2, wherein the screen angle changing unit changes an angle in a horizontal direction of the screen so that the screen and the concave mirror are parallel to each other.   4. The virtual image display device according to claim 2, wherein a period for changing the angle of the screen by the screen angle changing unit overlaps with a period for changing the angle of the concave mirror by the concave mirror angle changing unit. Virtual image position changing means for changing a generation distance that is a distance from the user to the virtual image generated by the virtual image generating means by moving the screen along the optical path of the projector by the moving means;
The concave mirror angle changing means corrects a horizontal angle change amount from the reference angle of the concave mirror based on the displacement amount and the generation distance calculated by the displacement amount calculating means. The virtual image display device according to claim 1. The concave mirror angle changing means includes:
The larger the displacement amount calculated by the displacement amount calculation means, the larger the angle change amount in the horizontal direction from the reference angle of the concave mirror,
The virtual image display device according to claim 5, wherein the longer the generation distance, the smaller the angle change amount in the horizontal direction from the reference angle of the concave mirror.

Images