JP2016115121A - Vehicle operation apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a vehicle operation apparatus configured to prevent an operation error with a simple configuration that prevents increase of components.SOLUTION: A vehicle operation apparatus includes: a display unit 4 for displaying operation items of a head unit 3 arranged in a vehicle; and a capacitive touch panel 5 arranged in a position in the vehicle different from the display unit 4 and to be touched by an operating finger to select an operation item. The touch panel 5 detects a touch position of the operating finger, and position information of an operating finger close to the touch panel 5 in non-contact state. A display-control controller of the head unit 3 causes the display unit 4 to display a virtual image of the operating finger, on the basis of the position information of the non-contact operating finger detected by the touch panel 5, and to display a point indicating the position of the finger closest to the touch panel 5.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle operation device, and more particularly to a touch-type operation device.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a touch panel type operation device is often used as an operation device for a vehicle navigation system or an audio system.
For example, a navigation system touch panel embedded in an instrument panel of a vehicle uses both a display device and a touch-type operation device, and allows an operator to touch the touch panel while looking at the touch panel and operate with one touch. .

  In recent years, vehicles equipped with a remote touchpad have been developed as operating devices for vehicle navigation systems and the like. For example, in Patent Document 1, a touch pad (matrix switch means) is provided in the vicinity of the shift lever of the center console separately from the display device provided on the instrument panel, and a navigation system or the like can be operated using this touch pad. it can.

  Further, in Patent Document 1, by touching and operating which part of the touchpad, the image of the finger on the touchpad is captured and displayed on the display device so that the user can understand without touching the touchpad. A technique for suppressing erroneous operation is disclosed.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-269012

However, in the above-mentioned patent document 1, it is necessary to provide an imaging means such as a television camera for imaging a finger that operates the touch pad at an appropriate position in the vehicle, which causes an increase in cost due to an increase in parts and an installation space for the imaging means. There is a problem that it is difficult to ensure.
The present invention has been made to solve such problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a touch-type vehicle operating device that can prevent erroneous operation with a simple configuration that suppresses an increase in parts. It is in.

  In order to achieve the above object, an operation device for a vehicle according to the present invention includes a display unit that displays an operation item of a device provided in a vehicle, and a contact point of an operation finger that is provided at a position different from the display unit. An operation device for a vehicle including a capacitance type touchpad for selecting an operation item, wherein the touchpad detects position information where the operation finger comes close to and displays the display based on the position information. And a display control unit for displaying a virtual image of the operating finger and displaying the closest position information in a form different from the virtual image.

Preferably, the display control unit causes the display unit to display a position closest to the touch pad for each of the plurality of operation fingers when the plurality of operation fingers approach the touch pad.
Preferably, the display control unit displays the distance between the operation finger and the touch pad on the display unit in a contour line.

Preferably, the display control unit may change a density of a virtual image of the operation finger displayed on the display unit based on a distance between the operation finger and the touch pad.
Preferably, an armrest is formed in the vicinity of the seat of the vehicle, and the touch pad is disposed close to the armrest.
Preferably, the display unit is arranged on an instrument panel of the vehicle.

  According to the present invention, since the virtual image of the operating finger approaching the touch pad and the position information closest to the touch pad are displayed on the display unit, the operator looks at the display unit and touches the touch pad before touching the touch pad. The position of the finger can be grasped. Thereby, before touching a touchpad and selecting a selection item, the position which an operator contacts can be grasped | ascertained and an erroneous operation can be prevented. Furthermore, since the operation finger approaching the touch pad is detected by the capacitive touch pad that detects the contact position, there is no need to newly provide a part for detecting the position of the operation finger in the non-contact state. In addition, it is possible to prevent an erroneous operation with an operation device having a simple configuration in which the number of components is reduced, and it is not necessary to further secure a component mounting space while suppressing an increase in component costs.

It is a front view of the instrument panel and center console of a vehicle which shows arrangement of a touch pad and a display concerning one embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the operating device of the head unit which concerns on this embodiment. It is a detection image figure of the operation finger in a touchpad. It is a figure which shows an example of the display form in a display. It is a figure which shows the other example of a display form in a display.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a front view of an instrument panel 2 and a center console 6 of a vehicle 1 showing an arrangement of a touch pad 5 and a display 4 (display unit) according to an embodiment of the present invention.
The operation device for the vehicle 1 according to the present embodiment is employed in an in-vehicle device such as a navigation system or an audio system mounted on the instrument panel 2.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a head unit 3 that is a main body of an in-vehicle device such as a navigation system or an audio system is mounted so as to be embedded in an instrument panel 2 of a vehicle 1, and a driver of the vehicle 1 is driving. It arrange | positions at the upper part of the instrument panel 2 so that a visual line movement may decrease. A part of the head unit 3 is exposed from the instrument panel 2 and has a substantially flat surface facing the rear of the vehicle, and the exposed surface is the display 4.

The display 4 is composed of a liquid crystal or the like, and can display various information in the head unit 3 and operation items such as switches.
The head unit 3 can be operated by the touch pad 5. The touch pad 5 is provided on the center console 6 near the seat of the vehicle 1 so as to be separated from the head unit 3. A shift lever 7 is provided on the center console 6 of the vehicle 1 and an armrest 8 is provided behind the shift lever 7. The touch pad 5 is disposed between the shift lever 7 and the armrest 8, and is disposed at a position where the fingertip touches the armrest 8 while the driver puts his elbow on the armrest 8.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the operating device for the head unit 3 according to the present embodiment. FIG. 3 is a detection image diagram of the operation finger f on the touch pad 5. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a display form on the display 4.
As shown in FIG. 2, the operating device of the head unit 3 according to the present embodiment includes a touch pad 5, a display control controller 10 (display control unit) in the head unit 3, and a display 4.

  The touch pad 5 employs a known capacitive touch pad. The touch pad 5 detects the position of the fingertip based on a change in capacitance between the fingertip and the pad surface. The touch pad 5 of the present embodiment employs a highly sensitive one, and not only the contact position of the finger to be operated (hereinafter referred to as the operation finger f) but also the position of the operation finger f in a close non-contact state. It can be detected. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 3, when the operation finger f approaches the touch pad 5, the projection position and distance of the operation finger f on the touch pad 5 are calculated as the position information of the operation finger f. Measurement is possible at intervals of mm.

The display control controller 10 in the head unit 3 includes an input / output device, a storage device (ROM, RAM, nonvolatile RAM, etc.), a central processing unit (CPU), and the like, and includes a contact detection input operation unit. 11, a proximity detection unit 12, a virtual image calculation unit 13, a virtual image synthesis unit 14, and a display creation unit 15.
The contact detection input operation unit 11 has a function of inputting the contact position of the operation finger f from the touch pad 5 and determining that the operation item displayed on the display 4 is selected at a position corresponding to the contact position. Based on the selection of the operation item, the operation of the head unit 3 is controlled.

The proximity detection unit 12 inputs position information of the operation finger f from the touch pad 5 and determines whether or not the operation finger f has approached the touch pad 5 within a predetermined distance (for example, several centimeters).
The virtual image calculation unit 13 has a function of extracting the contour of the operation finger f based on the position information of the adjacent operation finger f when the operation finger f comes close to the touch pad 5 within a predetermined distance by the proximity detection unit 12. Have

The virtual image combining unit 14 displays the virtual image g of the operation finger f displayed at the position of the display 4 corresponding to the position of the operation finger f on the touch pad 5 based on the contour of the operation finger f extracted by the virtual image calculation unit 13. Has a function to synthesize.
The display creation unit 15 has a function of creating an image to be displayed on the display 4, and includes an operation item to be displayed on the display 4, a contact position of the operation finger f detected by the contact detection input operation unit 11, and a virtual image synthesis unit. 14 has a function of creating an image that is combined with the virtual image g of the operation finger f synthesized by 14 and outputting it to the display 4.

As shown in FIG. 4, the touch switch 20 is displayed on the display 4 as an operation item. The touch switch 20 is displayed in a rectangular shape of several cm × several cm, for example, and a plurality of touch switches 20 are displayed side by side on the display 4. Each touch switch 20 is displayed with characters, symbols and the like so that the touch switch can be identified.
Furthermore, in this embodiment, the virtual image g of the operation finger f synthesized by the virtual image synthesis unit 14 is displayed. The virtual image g of the operation finger f is displayed at a position corresponding to the position on the touch pad 5. The front end portion of the touch pad 5 corresponds to the upper end portion of the display 4, and the rear end portion of the touch pad 5 corresponds to the lower end portion of the display 4. The left-right direction of the touch pad 5 corresponds to the left-right direction of the display 4. For example, if the operating finger f is positioned at the center of the touch pad 5, the virtual image g of the operating finger f is displayed at the center of the display 4. If the operating finger f is positioned at the right front of the touch pad 5, the display A virtual image g of the operation finger f is displayed in the upper right part of FIG. Further, if the operating finger f moves back and forth and right and left on the touch pad 5, the virtual image g of the operating finger f moves up and down and right and left on the display 4.

Further, the display 4 has a different form from the virtual image g, for example, a point, at a position corresponding to the closest position (for example, the position of point a in FIG. 3) among the operation fingers f positioned on the touch pad 5. For example, it is displayed as a in FIG.
On the other hand, when the operation finger f touches the touch pad 5, it is displayed in a form different from the point a at a location corresponding to the contact position. For example, the display may be made so that the point a shown in FIG. 4 blinks or the point a increases momentarily.

  In this embodiment, the touch pad 5 is provided on the center console 6 near the seat of the vehicle 1 as described above, and the touch pad is touched with the finger (operation finger f) while the arm is placed on the arm rest 8 of the center console 6. 5, it is possible to operate the head unit 3 without moving the operation finger f to the display 4 of the head unit 3, and it is possible to suppress fatigue of the arm when operating the head unit 3. it can.

And the position which contacted the touchpad 5 is displayed on the display 4 of the head unit 3 arrange | positioned in the comparatively upper part of the instrument panel 2, By the safety | security which suppressed the operator, especially the driver | operator's eyes | visual_axis movement. High operation is possible.
Furthermore, in this embodiment, since the outline of the operation finger f that is close to the touch pad 5 is displayed on the display 4, the position of the operation finger f immediately before the operation can be visually recognized on the display 4. Thereby, the position which contacts before touching the touchpad 5 can be confirmed, and an erroneous operation can be prevented. In addition, since the head unit 3 can be operated without a mistake by one touch, a quick operation is possible. In order to prevent an erroneous operation, a special operation such as a double click is not necessary, and the operator can operate immediately and intuitively.

  In the present embodiment, the position detection of the operation finger f approaching the touch pad 5 can also be used for the capacitive touch pad 5 used for contact detection. Therefore, it is not necessary to newly provide a device for detecting the position, and an increase in the number of parts and an increase in cost can be suppressed. Further, it is not necessary to further secure a device mounting space for detecting an operation finger close to the touch pad 5.

  In the present embodiment, for each operation finger f that is close to the touch pad 5, the position closest to the touch pad 5 is displayed as a point. For example, when two operation fingers f are located on the touch pad 5, as shown in FIG. 4, the position closest to the touch pad 5 is displayed as a point on each of the virtual images g of the two operation fingers f (a B). As a result, it is possible to confirm in advance the position of contact with each operation finger f during a pinch operation performed with two fingers. As a result, even in the pinch operation, it is possible to prevent any of the two operation fingers f from contacting the wrong position.

FIG. 5 shows another display mode example on the display 4.
In the embodiment shown in FIG. 4, the point closest to the touch pad 5 is displayed on the display 4, but other display forms may be used. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, the distance between the touch pad 5 and the operation finger f may be displayed as contour lines. By displaying in this way, it is possible to grasp not only the position closest to the touch pad 5 but also how the operation finger f is close to the touch pad 5. For example, in FIG. 5, of the two fingers displayed on the display 4, the right finger displays more contour lines, and therefore the right finger is closer to the touch pad 5 than the left finger. As can be seen, the left finger also has a plurality of contour line displays, and the left finger is close to the touch pad 5. Therefore, when the operator performs an operation with the right finger, an erroneous operation can be further suppressed by performing the operation with care so that the left finger does not touch other operation items.

  Further, the density of the virtual image g of the operation finger f displayed on the display 4 may be changed based on the distance between the touch pad 5 and the operation finger f. For example, the virtual image g of the operation finger f is displayed darker as the distance between the touch pad 5 and the operation finger f becomes shorter. Even if it carries out like this, the distance of the operation finger f and the touchpad 5 can be visually recognized easily. When the virtual image g of the operation finger f is displayed darkly, the distance between the operation finger f and the touch pad 5 is short, so that the operator is urged to move the operation finger f with caution and further suppresses erroneous operations. can do.

  This is the end of the description of the embodiment of the invention, but the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. For example, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 4, the closest points a and b for each operation finger f approaching the touch pad 5 are displayed on the display 4. Of these, the operation finger f closest to the touch pad 5 is displayed. Only the point a may be displayed on the display 4. Further, the points a and b closest to the touch pad 5 as shown in FIG. 4 may be combined with the contour-line display as shown in FIG. In the present invention, it is sufficient that at least the operation item, the virtual image g of the operation finger f, and the closest position are displayed on the display 4.

  In this embodiment, the operating device of the present invention is applied to a navigation system or an audio system. However, the present invention is applied to an on-vehicle device other than the navigation system or the audio system or a device of the vehicle itself. May be.

1 Vehicle 2 Instrument Panel 4 Display (Display Unit)
5 Touchpad 6 Center console 8 Armrest 10 Display controller (display controller)
20 Touch switch (operation items)
f Operation finger g Virtual image

Claims (6)

A vehicle comprising: a display unit that displays operation items of devices provided in the vehicle; and a capacitive touch pad that is provided at a position different from the display unit and that selects the operation items by touching an operation finger. An operating device,
The touch pad detects position information where the operation finger is close,
A vehicle comprising: a display control unit configured to display a virtual image of the operating finger on the display unit based on the position information and to display the closest position information in a form different from the virtual image. Operating device. 2. The display control unit, when a plurality of the operation fingers approach the touch pad, causes the display unit to display a position closest to the touch pad for each of the plurality of operation fingers. The vehicle operating device described in 1.   3. The vehicle operation device according to claim 1, wherein the display control unit causes the display unit to display a distance between the operation finger and the touch pad on a contour line. 4.   4. The display control unit according to claim 1, wherein the virtual image of the operation finger displayed on the display unit is changed based on a distance between the operation finger and the touch pad. 5. The vehicle operation device according to claim 1. An armrest is formed in the vicinity of the vehicle seat,
5. The vehicle operating device according to claim 1, wherein the touch pad is disposed in proximity to the armrest. 6.   The vehicle operating device according to claim 1, wherein the display unit is disposed on an instrument panel of the vehicle.

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