JP2020183203A - Meter display and vehicle comprising the same - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a meter display comprising a gauge that enables a driver to surely and easily visually-recognize the maximum electric power that a battery can supply or recover, by varying brightness or color of tip parts of the gauge depending on the maximum electric power that the battery can supply or recover, and a vehicle.SOLUTION: A meter display 100, which displays a power state of a battery provided in a vehicle using electric power supplied from the battery as an energy source for driving, comprises: a first display part 14 that displays electric power being currently supplied or recovered by the battery; and a second display part 16 that displays the maximum electric power that the battery can supply or recover. The second display part 16 comprises a gauge 36 that varies depending on the maximum electric power that the battery can supply or recover, and tip parts 46 and 48 of the gauge have structures in which color elements vary in accordance with the maximum electric power that the battery can supply or recover.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

The present invention relates to a meter display and a vehicle including the meter display.

In a hybrid vehicle, Patent Document 1 proposes a meter indicating the electric power currently supplied or recovered by the battery and the maximum electric power currently supplied or recovered by the battery. This meter has a rotation pointer that indicates the power currently being supplied or recovered by the battery, a fixed scale that is arranged in an arc along the tip trajectory of the rotation pointer, and a fixed scale that is outside the fixed scale and is supplied or recovered by the battery. It has a telescopic arc scale that indicates the maximum power that can be produced.

By showing the driver that the maximum power that the battery can supply is sufficiently large, the driver can know that the vehicle can be driven to accelerate. Further, by indicating to the driver that the maximum power that can be recovered by the battery is sufficiently large, the driver can recognize the difference between the maximum power that can be recovered and the remaining battery level at the present time. Therefore, showing the driver the maximum power that can be supplied or recovered by the battery leads to an operation in which the driving force is appropriately generated while suppressing the energy consumption of the vehicle.

Patent No. 4251210

On the other hand, a driver checking a lot of information on the instrument panel may not be able to correctly see the display showing the maximum power that the battery can supply or recover. Therefore, for example, even though the maximum power that can be supplied by the battery is small, the driver may require an acceleration larger than the driving force corresponding to the maximum power that can be supplied by the battery. In this case, the driver feels uncomfortable that the vehicle does not accelerate as required because it cannot accelerate more than the driving force corresponding to the maximum power that the battery can supply.

Therefore, in order to perform an operation in which the driving force is appropriately generated while suppressing the energy consumption of the vehicle, it is preferable that the driver can correctly see the display unit indicating the maximum power that can be supplied or recovered by the battery.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a meter display provided with a gauge that allows a driver to reliably and easily visually recognize the maximum power that can be supplied or recovered by a battery.

In order to achieve this object, the meter display according to claim 1 for displaying the power state of the battery provided in the vehicle using the electric power supplied from the battery as the driving energy source is
A first display unit that displays the power currently supplied or recovered by the battery, and
It is provided with a second display unit that displays the maximum power that can be supplied or recovered by the battery.
The second display includes a gauge that changes according to the maximum power that the battery can supply or recover.
The tip of the gauge is characterized by having a structure in which a color element changes according to the maximum power that the battery can supply or recover.

The meter display according to claim 2 is
The first display unit has a scale arranged along a first arc centered on the center of the meter, and the scale that rotates around the center of the meter and is currently supplied or recovered by the battery. With the guidelines pointed to above,
The gauge of the second display unit is arranged along a second arc centered on the center of the meter.

The meter display according to claim 3 is
The scale of the first display unit is arranged farther from the center of the meter than the gauge of the second display unit.
The pointer of the first display unit is configured to cross the gauge of the second display unit and point to the scale.

The meter display according to claim 4 is
The scale is composed of a first line or a plurality of first line segments extending along the first arc.
The gauge is characterized by being composed of a second line or a plurality of second line segments extending along the second arc.

The vehicle according to claim 5 includes the meter display according to any one of claims 1 to 4.

According to the invention of claim 1 of the present application, the driver can change any of the color elements of the tip, that is, lightness, saturation, and hue, according to the maximum power that the battery can supply or recover. , A meter display can be provided with a gauge that reliably and easily visually recognizes the maximum power that the battery can supply or recover.

According to the second aspect of the present application, the driver can provide a meter display that easily compares the power currently supplied or recovered by the battery with the maximum power supplied or recovered by the battery.

According to claim 3 of the present application, the driver can provide a meter display that easily compares the power currently supplied or recovered by the battery with the maximum power supplied or recovered by the battery.

According to claim 4 of the present application, it is possible to provide a meter display with a gauge that allows the driver to easily see the maximum power that the battery can supply or recover.

According to the invention of claim 5 of the present application, the driver can change any of the color elements of the tip, that is, lightness, saturation, and hue, according to the maximum power that the battery can supply or recover. , A vehicle having a meter display with a gauge that reliably and easily visually recognizes the maximum power that a battery can supply or recover can be provided.

It is the schematic which shows the structure of the electric vehicle which has a meter which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a control block diagram of the meter shown in FIG. It is the schematic which shows the detailed structure of the meter shown in FIG. It is a control flow chart of the meter shown in FIG. In the control flow chart shown in FIG. 4, it is a graph which shows the relationship between the battery temperature and the battery charge amount for obtaining the maximum power that can be supplied.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the meter according to the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an outline of the configuration of the electric vehicle 200 from the viewpoint of its function. The electric vehicle 200 includes a power train 210 that generates and transmits driving force, a motor 212 that is a power source of the power train 210, a battery 214 that supplies electric power to the motor 212, and a control unit 216 that controls the battery 214. ..

As shown in FIG. 2, the electric vehicle 200 also has a charge amount detection unit 218 that detects (estimates) the charge amount of the battery 214, a temperature detection unit 220 that detects the temperature of the battery 214, and an accelerator pedal 222 (see FIG. 1). ) Is provided with an acceleration detection unit 224 for detecting the depression.

Although not shown, the control unit 216 includes a motor control unit, a driving force control unit, and a charge control unit (none of which are shown) for controlling the drive of the motor 212, and includes a charge amount detection unit 218 and a temperature. It is configured to control the output of the battery 214 based on the signals (information) output from the detection unit 220 and the acceleration detection unit 224.

As shown in FIG. 1, an instrument panel 226 is arranged in the driver's seat of the electric vehicle 200. A meter 100 is arranged on the left side of the instrument panel 226.

As shown in FIG. 3, the meter 100 has a power meter that displays changes in the power supplied by the battery 214 to the motor 212 and changes in the power regenerated from the motor 212. In the embodiment, the contour of the power meter 100 is indicated by a circular pattern 12 centered on the center point (meter center) 10.

The power meter 100 is arranged in an arc shape along the power display unit 14 inside the power display unit (first display unit) 14 and the power display unit 14 arranged in an arc shape along the circular pattern 12. It has a maximum power display unit (second display unit) 16. The power display unit 14 indicates the power currently being supplied or recovered by the battery 214. Further, the maximum power display unit 16 indicates the maximum power that can be supplied or recovered by the battery 214.

The power display unit 14 has a center point 10 in a range of about 120 degrees to about 150 degrees from the center of the upper end (12 o'clock direction) of the power meter 100 to the left and right (clockwise and counterclockwise directions), respectively. It has a scale 20 arranged along an arc (first arc) 18 extending in. Further, the power display unit 14 has a power pointer 22 that rotates around the center point 10 and indicates the power currently supplied or recovered by the battery 214 on the scale 20. The power pointer 22 is drive-connected to a power pointer drive unit 24 (see FIG. 2) arranged behind the panel of the power meter 100, and supplies power to the motor 212 based on a signal from the control unit 216. The power pointer 22 is configured to display the status or the power recovery (regeneration) status from the motor 212 according to the deflection angle thereof.

In the embodiment, the scale 20 is divided into eight sectors (plurality of first line segments) 26a to 26h. The eight sectors 26a to 26h may be represented by one line. The central angles of each sector are equal. The five sectors 26a to 26e from the right end of the scale 20 are supply power display areas 28 indicating that the electric vehicle 200 is driven by the power supplied from the battery 214. On the other hand, the three sectors 26f to 26h from the left end of the scale 20 are regenerative power display areas 30 indicating that the kinetic energy transmitted from the power train 210 (see FIG. 1) to the motor 212 is recovered as electric power. .. The boundary between the supply power display area 28 and the regenerative power display area 30 is indicated by the boundary line 32. Therefore, when the tip of the power pointer 22 points to the supply power display area 28, it indicates a state in which power is being supplied from the battery 214 to the motor 212, and the tip of the power pointer 22 points to the regenerative power display area 30. At this time, it indicates a state in which the electric power generated by the motor 212 is regenerated to the battery 214. Further, the amount of movement of the power pointer 22 from the boundary line 32 indicates the amount of power supplied and the amount of regenerated power, respectively.

In the embodiment, the sectors 26a to 26e of the power supply display area 28 and the sectors 26f to 26h of the regenerative power display area 30 have different colors so that the driver can clearly distinguish the power supply display area 28 and the regenerative power display area 30. Is displayed. Further, in order to visually emphasize the amount of power supply and the amount of regeneration, in the power supply display area 28, the three sectors 26a to 26c on the right side away from the boundary line 32 are drawn by thick solid lines, and the boundary line. The two sectors 26d and 26e, which are close to 32, are drawn by arranging short radiations extending in the radial direction in an arc. Similarly, in the regenerative power display area 30, the two sectors 26g and 26h on the left side away from the boundary line 32 are drawn by thick solid lines, and one sector 26f near the boundary line 32 emits short radiation extending in the radiation direction. They are drawn side by side in an arc.

The maximum power display unit 16 is about 120 degrees to about 150 degrees from the center of the upper end (12 o'clock direction) of the power meter 100 to the left and right (clockwise and counterclockwise) with the center point 10 as the center. It has a gauge 36 that extends over a range and is arranged along an arc (second arc) 34 located inside the scale 20.

In the embodiment, the gauge 36 is divided into eight sectors (plurality of second line segments) 38a to 38h. The eight sectors 38a to 38h may be represented by one line. The central angles of each sector are equal. The sectors 38a to 38h each include light emitting units (see FIG. 2) 40a to 40h arranged behind the panel of the power meter 100. Each of the light emitting units 40a to 40h is provided with red, blue, and green LED elements (not shown), and the saturation of the light emitting unit itself is adjusted by adjusting the light emission of the LED element based on the signal from the control unit 216. Alternatively, it is configured to be able to display different hues, for example, red, blue, and white. Further, the gauge 36 is configured to display the maximum power that can be supplied or recovered by the battery 214 by the length of the gauge 36 by lighting the corresponding light emitting units 40a to 40h based on the signal from the control unit 216. Has been done.

The five sectors 38a to 38e from the right end of the gauge 36 are the maximum power supply display area 42 indicating the maximum power that the battery 214 can supply. On the other hand, the three sectors 38f to 38h from the left end of the gauge 36 are the maximum regenerative power display areas 44 indicating the maximum power that the battery 214 can recover. The boundary between the maximum supply power display area 42 and the maximum regenerative power display area 44 is indicated by the boundary line 32 of the scale 20. Therefore, when the sectors 38a to 38e (light emitting units 40a to 40e) of the maximum power supply display area 42 are lit with reference to the boundary line 32, the number of lit sectors 38a to 38e, that is, the maximum power supply display. The length of the gauge 36 on the region 42 side indicates the maximum power that the battery 214 can supply. For example, as shown in FIG. 3, when the sectors 38a (light emitting unit 40a) are turned off and the sectors 38b to 38e (light emitting units 40b to 40e) are lit, the number of lit sectors 38b to 38e, that is, The length of the gauge 36 on the maximum power supply display area 42 side indicates the maximum power that the battery 214 can supply. Further, when the sectors 38f to 38h (light emitting unit 40f to 40h) of the maximum regenerative power display area 44 are lit with reference to the boundary line 32, the number of lit sectors 38f to 38h, that is, the maximum regenerative power display. The length of the gauge 36 on the region 44 side indicates the maximum power that the battery 214 can recover.

In the embodiment, when the sectors 38a to 38h (light emitting units 40a to 40h) are respectively pointed to by the tip of the displayed gauge 36, the saturation or hue, that is, the color changes according to the control method described later. It is configured to do. Therefore, the gauge 36 indicates to the driver the maximum power that the battery 214 can supply or recover by changing color as well as length. For example, as shown in FIG. 3, when the sector 38a (light emitting unit 40a) is turned off and the sectors 38b to 38e (light emitting unit 40b to 40e) are turned on in the gauge 36 on the maximum supply power display area 42 side, The sectors 38c to 38e (light emitting units 40c to 40e) are displayed in white with respect to the dark panel constituting the surface of the power meter 100, and the sectors 38b (light emitting) located at the tip 46 on the maximum power supply display area 42 side. Part 40b) is displayed in red. As the maximum power that can be supplied by the battery 214 decreases, the emission color of the sector 38b (light emitting unit 40b) changes from red to blue. The change in emission color will be described in detail later.

When the maximum power that can be supplied by the battery 214 further decreases from this state, the sector 38b (light emitting unit 40b) is turned off, the sector 38c (light emitting unit 40c) is located at the tip 46 on the maximum supply power display area 42 side, and the sector. 38c is displayed in red.

Similarly, in the gauge 36 on the maximum regenerative power display area 44 side, when the sectors 38f to 38h (light emitting unit 40f to 40h) are lit, the sectors 38f to 38g (light emitting unit 40f to 40g) are displayed in purple. However, the sector 38h (light emitting unit 40h) located at the tip 48 on the maximum regenerative power display area 44 side is displayed in red. As the maximum recoverable power of the battery 214 decreases, the emission color of the sector 38h (light emitting unit 40h) changes from red to blue. The change in emission color will be described in detail later.

When the maximum recoverable power of the battery 214 is further reduced from this state, the sector 38h (light emitting unit 40h) is turned off, the sector 38g (light emitting unit 40g) is located at the tip 48 on the maximum regenerative power display area 44 side, and the sector. 38g is displayed in red.

As described above, in the embodiment, the sectors 38a to 38h (light emitting units 40a to 40h) located at the tip portions 46 and 48 of the gauge can be reliably and easily visually recognized by the driver so that the maximum power that can be supplied or recovered by the battery 214 can be visually recognized. ) Is displayed in a color different from that of other sectors (light emitting unit), and the color changes according to the maximum power that the battery 214 can supply or recover. Further, the sectors 38a to 38e of the maximum supply power display area 42 and the sectors 38f to 38h of the maximum regenerative power display area 44 are different so that the driver can clearly distinguish the maximum supply power display area 42 and the maximum regenerative power display area 44. Displayed in color. Further, the sectors 38a to 38h are drawn with short radiation extending in the radial direction arranged in an arc so that the power pointer 22 of the power display unit 14 can easily compare with the power currently supplied or recovered by the battery 214. There is.

Returning to FIG. 2, according to the electric vehicle 200 configured as described above, the control unit 216 detects the depression operation and the depression amount of the accelerator pedal 222 based on the output of the acceleration detection unit 224, and detects them. The power state of the battery 214 is switched from the supply state to the regenerative state and vice versa accordingly. Further, the control unit 216 drives the power pointer drive unit 24 according to the power state (for example, supply state or regeneration state) of the battery 214 to move the power pointer 22, and the power state of the battery 214, that is, the battery 214 is supplied. Displays whether it is in a state or a regenerative state.

As shown in FIG. 4, the control unit 216 has a signal about the temperature of the battery 214 output from the temperature detection unit 220 (step S1) and a signal about the charge amount of the battery 214 output from the charge amount detection unit 218. Based on (Step S2), the maximum power that can be supplied or recovered by the battery 214 is obtained according to a predetermined program (Step S3).

In the program of step S3 described above, the maximum power that can be supplied by the battery 214 is determined based on FIG. 5, which shows the relationship between the temperature of the battery 214 and the charge amount of the battery 214. For example, when the temperature of the battery 214 is 0 ° C. and the charge amount of the battery 214 is 50%, the maximum power that the battery 214 can supply is between 35 and 60 kW, which is about 55 kW. At this time, returning to FIG. 2, the control unit 216 outputs a signal for lighting the light emitting units 40b to 40e of the gauge 36. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 3, in the maximum power supply display area 42 of the maximum power display unit 16, the light emitting units 40b to 40e of the gauge 36 are lit. Therefore, the gauge 36 having the lengths of the four sectors 38b to 38e is displayed as the maximum power that the battery 214 can supply to the maximum power supply display area 42 of the maximum power display unit 16.

Returning to FIG. 5, when the maximum power that can be supplied by the battery 214 is 60 kW, the sector 38b (light emitting unit 40b) located at the tip 46 of the gauge 36 (see FIG. 3) is displayed in red. From this state, when the temperature of the battery 214 decreases or the charge amount of the battery 214 decreases, the maximum power that can be supplied by the battery 214 decreases from 60 kW. Then, when the maximum power that can be supplied by the battery 214 drops from 60 kW to 35 kW, the emission color of the sector 38b (light emitting unit 40b) changes from red to blue. On the other hand, when the maximum power that can be supplied by the battery 214 becomes 35 kW, the sector 38b (light emitting unit 40b) is turned off, and the adjacent sector 38c (light emitting unit 40c) is displayed in red.

Similarly, the maximum power that can be recovered by the battery 214 is determined based on the relationship between the temperature of the battery 214 and the charge amount of the battery 214 (not shown).

The maximum power that the battery 214 can supply or recover is the upper limit of the power that the battery 214 is currently supplying or recovering.

As described above, the battery 214 is supplied or has a structure that changes color when the sectors 38a to 38h (light emitting units 40a to 40h) are respectively pointed to by the tip of the displayed gauge 36. The maximum power that can be recovered is indicated to the driver not only by the length of the gauge 36 but also by the change in the emission color of the sectors 38a to 38h (light emitting units 40a to 40h). Therefore, the driver reliably and easily sees the maximum power that the battery 214 can supply or recover.

The power meter described above can be modified in various ways.

For example, unlike the above-described embodiment, the sectors 38a to 38h (light emitting units 40a to 40h) may be configured so that when they are located at the tip portions 46 and 48, the brightness changes instead of the saturation and hue. Good. In this case, the sectors 38a to 38h (light emitting units 40a to 40h) located at the tip portions 46 and 48 emit light with higher brightness as the maximum power that can be supplied or recovered by the battery 214 is larger, and the battery 214 can be supplied or recovered. As the maximum power decreases, the brightness gradually decreases and finally turns off.

In the above embodiment, the first display unit has an arcuate scale and the second display unit has an arcuate gauge, but both the first and second display units are gauged. It may be displayed.

In the above embodiment, the gauge 36 has sectors 38a to 38h (light emitting units 40a to 40h), but may also have a liquid crystal panel. In this case, the color element at the tip of the gauge changes so that the driver can reliably and easily see the maximum power that the battery can supply or recover.

In addition, in the above-described embodiment, an example in which the power meter is arranged in the electric vehicle is shown, but a similar power meter may be provided in another type of vehicle, for example, a hybrid vehicle.

100: Meter 14: First display unit (power display unit)
16: Second display unit (maximum power display unit)
36: Gauges 46, 48: Tip
200: Vehicle (electric vehicle)
214: Battery

Claims (5)

In a meter display that displays the power state of the battery provided in a vehicle that uses electric power supplied from the battery as an energy source for driving.
A first display unit that displays the power currently supplied or recovered by the battery, and
It is provided with a second display unit that displays the maximum power that the battery can supply or recover.
The second display includes a gauge that changes according to the maximum power that the battery can supply or recover.
A meter display, characterized in that the tip of the gauge has a structure in which a color element changes according to the maximum power that the battery can supply or recover. The first display unit has a scale arranged along a first arc centered on the center of the meter, and the scale that rotates around the center of the meter and is currently supplied or recovered by the battery. With the guidelines pointed to above,
The meter display according to claim 1, wherein the gauge of the second display unit is arranged along a second arc centered on the center of the meter. The scale of the first display unit is arranged farther from the center of the meter than the gauge of the second display unit.
The meter display according to claim 2, wherein the pointer of the first display unit is configured to cross the gauge of the second display unit and point to the scale. The scale is composed of a first line or a plurality of first line segments extending along the first arc.
The meter display according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the gauge is composed of a second line or a plurality of second line segments extending along the second arc. A vehicle having the meter display according to any one of claims 1 to 4.

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