JP4421449B2 - Display device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a display device that indicates a current position position of an automatic transmission of a vehicle such as an automobile.

  Conventionally, for vehicles such as automobiles, P (parking), R (reverse), N (neutral), D (drive), L (low), etc., corresponding to the travel position of the operating lever for operating the automatic transmission There is a display device that includes a selection indicator lamp that indicates a character indicating the current travel stage and a character corresponding to the current travel stage. This display device is usually arranged on a meter equipped with a speedometer, a tachometer, etc., and characters P, R, N, D, and L are arranged along the vertical direction so as to correspond to the operation lever. Each of the selection indicator lamps pointing to these is arranged.

By the way, with the diversification of needs in recent years, in addition to the above-described automatic transmission, the automatic transmission mode D, which is an automatic transmission mode, in addition to the automatic transmission mode D, the manual transmission that can perform dynamic sports driving that could not be achieved in the traveling stage D. A device provided with a shift mode has been proposed. In this manual shift mode, the operating lever is operated in an H shape. For example, the operating lever is tilted in the vehicle width direction from the state where the driver selects the travel stage D, and further, the operating lever is swung back and forth. By doing so, the gear ratio of the automatic transmission can be shifted up and down to the gear ratio corresponding to the gear stage such as 4, 3, 2, 1, etc. of the manual transmission. In the case of such a manual shift mode, a character corresponding to a shift stage such as 4, 3, 2, 1 and the like and a shift stage display section for indicating the current shift stage are additionally arranged on the display device. Therefore, the characters 4, 3, 2, 1, etc. are arranged in parallel with the characters P, R, N, D, L and the sides of the characters 4, 3, 2, 1, etc. Also, each gear position display section is arranged so as not to give a visually uncomfortable feeling as an H-type arrangement similar to the operation of the operation lever (for example, see Patent Document 1).
Japanese Patent No. 2840860

However, in recent years, there is a switch that is operated in the manual shift mode by a switch provided in the steering unit. When the operation lever does not move to the H type, the display is not necessarily in the H type. Further, as the functions of vehicles advance, the meter requires a display unit such as warning lights of various devices and a display space for various information. For this reason, the display device described above requires a display area used for the manual shift mode, that is, a shift stage display section that is a display area of characters 4, 3, 2, and 1 and a selection indicator corresponding thereto. As a result, the entire display area is widened. As a result, there is a problem that the arrangement of the display units and the display spaces of the various devices is adversely affected and the degree of freedom in arrangement is reduced. In addition, there is a problem that the visibility deteriorates if the display space is reduced while the H-type display is maintained.
Therefore, the present invention provides a display device that improves the degree of freedom of arrangement and allows the occupant to easily recognize the shift position without a sense of incongruity.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the invention described in claim 1 includes a travel stage display unit (for example, the character string 22 and the travel stage display unit 34 in the embodiment) that displays all the travel stages in the automatic transmission mode. , And selectively display a shift speed display section (for example, the character string 23 and the shift speed display section 38 in the embodiment) that displays all the shift speeds in the manual shift mode for forward travel. A display device that indicates a current position by a travel stage display unit or a shift stage display unit, and a travel stage selection indicator lamp corresponding to each travel stage on the travel stage display unit (for example, a travel stage indicator in the embodiment) 33), a shift speed selection indicator lamp (for example, a shift speed indicator 36 in the embodiment) corresponding to each shift speed is provided on the shift speed display section, and the travel speed selection indicator lamp and the shift speed selection indicator lamp are provided. But has a substantially disposed in a row sharing a range of vertical and horizontal, the driving position selection indicator and the shift stage selection indicator are arranged alternately, and each driving position of the running stage display unit The respective shift stages of the shift stage display section are respectively provided on one side and the other side of the width direction of the column formed by the travel stage selection display lamp and the shift stage selection display lamp, and the column direction It is characterized by being alternately arranged .
With this configuration, the width of the area where the travel stage display unit and the shift stage display unit are displayed can be reduced, so that space saving can be achieved.
Further, the traveling speed display section or the gear position display section can be displayed alternately according to the selected automatic transmission mode and manual transmission mode.
Furthermore, the travel stage indicator and the shift stage indicator can be arranged on the line as one indicator line to save space.

In addition , since the arrangement in the width direction of all the travel stages and all the shift stages can be shifted and displayed, space saving can be achieved.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, since the width of the area where the travel stage display unit and the shift stage display unit are displayed can be reduced, space can be saved, and therefore the degree of freedom in arrangement can be reduced. There is an effect that can be improved.
In addition, since the travel speed display section or the shift speed display section can be alternately displayed according to the selected automatic shift mode or manual shift mode, the visibility can be improved without giving the passenger a sense of incongruity. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the burden on the passenger.
Furthermore, since the traveling stage selection indicator lamp and the shift stage selection indicator lamp can be arranged on the row as one indicator lamp row, space saving can be achieved, so that the degree of freedom of arrangement of each display portion can be improved. There is an effect that can be done.

Furthermore , since the arrangement in the width direction of the all travel stages and all the shift stages can be displayed in a shifted manner, space can be saved, and therefore the degree of freedom of arrangement of the display units can be improved. In addition, there is an effect that the visibility can be improved.

Hereinafter, reference examples of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 shows a simplified system configuration of an automatic transmission (hereinafter simply referred to as a transmission) of a vehicle such as an automobile in this reference example . In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a control unit (ECU). The control unit 1 controls the entire system as described below, and is connected to a transmission T that is an automatic transmission.

  The transmission T is composed of a torque converter 2 having both a clutch function and a torque conversion function, and a transmission unit 3 having a transmission gear train. Parking in an automatic transmission mode (hereinafter referred to as AT mode), The reverse, neutral, drive, and low travel stages are selectable. When the driving stage (hereinafter referred to as the drive position) is selected, the gear is automatically changed according to the speed of the vehicle and the accelerator pedal, and the engine crankshaft The driving force input to the torque converter 2 is converted by the transmission unit 3 and transmitted to the wheels.

  Further, the transmission T is set with a manual shift mode (hereinafter referred to as a sequential mode) in which gear change is performed manually. This sequential mode is a mode in which the gears 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1, which are the shift range of the drive position in the AT mode, are manually changed, and the gear is changed by the control unit 1 connected to the transmission T. It is controlled. Specifically, when a mode change-over switch 4 (described later) connected to the control unit 1 is operated when the drive position is selected in the AT mode, the mode shifts from the AT mode to the sequential mode, and the shift described later in the sequential mode. When the up switch 5 or the shift down switch 6 is operated, a control command for raising or lowering the gear position one step at a time is output from the control unit 1 to the transmission T. The shift speed is not limited to the fifth, fifth, fourth, third, and first speed, and may be set to the fourth speed, the third speed, or the like.

The control unit 1 is connected to a lever unit 7 for selecting each travel stage. A guide groove 8 is formed in the lever unit 7 along the longitudinal direction of the vehicle, and a select lever 9 that is operated by an occupant is inserted into the guide groove 8. On the side edge of the guide groove 8, a character string corresponding to each travel stage of P (parking), R (reverse), N (neutral), D (drive), and L (low) is provided along the guide groove 8. It is attached. Note that the character string is P, not limited R, N, D, L, and for example, it may be a character corresponding to the driving position, such as D ₃ and 2 in place of L.

  A cable (not shown) is connected to the select lever 9. That is, when the select lever 9 is pushed and pulled in the front-rear direction in order to move right next to the desired travel stage character, the cable is pushed and pulled in the front-rear direction, and the control unit 1 described above pushes the cable. Based on the pull amount, the current travel stage is determined, and a control signal for changing gears is output to the transmission T.

  By the way, the mode changeover switch 4 is disposed on the spoke 11 connecting the outer periphery of the steering wheel 10 and the rotation center. The mode change switch 4 is connected to the control unit 1 so that the mode change switch 4 can be operated while the occupant holds the steering wheel 10. Here, when the mode selector switch 4 is operated when the drive position of the AT mode is selected by the select lever 9, the mode is switched from the AT mode to the sequential mode.

  Further, on the rear surface of the steering wheel 10, a shift up switch 5 is provided on the right side of the vehicle and a shift down switch 6 is provided on the left side of the vehicle. The shift-up switch 5 and the shift-down switch 6 are so-called sequential mode paddle type shift switches that can be operated with the fingertips while the occupant holds the steering wheel 10. These shift-up switch 5 and shift-down switch 6 are connected to the control unit 1. Therefore, when the above-described sequential mode is selected and the shift up switch 5 or the shift down switch 6 is operated, the control unit 1 transmits the transmission T to shift the gear in the shift up or down direction. A control signal is output toward. The arrangement of the upshift switch 5 and the downshift switch 6 may be reversed.

  A meter unit 12 is connected to the control unit 1. The meter unit 12 is provided at a dash upper or the like in front of the steering wheel 10 that is an easily visible position when the occupant is driving forward. An odometer 13 is disposed in the center of the meter unit 12, and so-called analog speedometers 14 and tachometers 15 are disposed on both sides of the odometer 13. Further, a water temperature gauge 16 and a fuel gauge 17 are arranged outside the speedometer 14 and the tachometer 15, respectively. Has been. For convenience of illustration, lamps such as warning lights are omitted in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 2, when the tachometer 15 is divided into four areas by drawing a horizontal line and a vertical line passing through the center, the tachometer 15 has a fourth quadrant area outside the movable range of the pointer 20 of the tachometer 15. A liquid crystal display 21 is provided. This liquid crystal display 21 has P, R, N, D, and L character strings (traveling stage display portions) 22 corresponding to all travel stages and 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1 character strings (corresponding to all shift stages). The gear position display portion) 23 is displayed along the vertical direction, and is formed with a width and height corresponding to the character size of the character strings 22 and 23. In addition to the tachometer 15, the liquid crystal display 21 may be disposed in a place where a space for arrangement can be secured on the meter unit 12, such as on the speedometer 14 or above the odometer 13.

  As shown in FIG. 3, when the AT mode is selected, the liquid crystal display 21 displays character strings 22 of P, R, N, D, and L corresponding to all travel stages in the AT mode. . On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 4, when the sequential mode is selected, the character strings 23 of 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1 corresponding to all the gears are displayed. In each of the character strings 22 and 23 for all the traveling speeds and all the shifting speeds, indicators (traveling speed selection display lamps, shift speed selection display lights) 24 that are lit around characters corresponding to the current position are displayed. The display of the indicator 24 is displaced in accordance with the operation of the select lever 9 described above.

  That is, the character string 22 corresponding to all the travel speeds in the AT mode and the character string 23 corresponding to all the gear speeds in the sequential mode are arranged in the same area on the same liquid crystal display 21 so as to completely overlap in the width direction. Is selectively displayed, and the character corresponding to the currently selected traveling speed or shift speed in each mode is indicated by the indicator 24. The display form of the indicator 24 may be set so that, for example, the characters are simply circled or the color of the characters is changed. It is only necessary to recognize the difference between and other characters.

Therefore, according to the reference example described above, the width of the liquid crystal display 21 that displays the character string 22 corresponding to all the travel stages and the character string 23 corresponding to all the shift speeds is ensured to ensure the visibility of the character strings 22 and 23. However, since it can be reduced, space can be saved, and as a result, the degree of freedom of arrangement of the liquid crystal display 21 can be improved.

  Further, the character string 22 corresponding to all travel stages or the character string 23 corresponding to all shift stages is selectively displayed in accordance with the selected AT mode and sequential mode, without causing the passenger to feel uncomfortable. Since visibility can be improved, the burden on the passenger can be reduced.

Next , embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Since the implementation of the form of this is replaced with a plurality of indicators of the display method using the liquid crystal display 21 corresponding to the strings and these strings of self-light in the reference example described above, the reference example The same parts will be described with the same reference numerals. Incidentally, description will be made as an example the case where also the form of implementation of this arranged on the tachometer 15.

As shown in FIG. 5, the tachometer 15 provided in the meter unit 12 is divided into four areas by drawing a horizontal line and a vertical line passing through the center as in the above-described reference example . P, R, N, D, and L character strings 32 corresponding to all travel stages in the AT mode are arranged in the vertical direction in an area corresponding to the fourth quadrant outside the movable range of the pointer 20. The character string 32 is a so-called self-lighting character string that emits characters by transmitting light from an LED or the like that is a light source disposed inside the meter unit 12. The control unit 1 is controlled. The character strings 32 corresponding to all travel stages are controlled to emit light only when the AT mode is selected. It should be noted that the non-display indicator is not limited to being extinguished, it may be only that the light intensity is lowered, and the brightness may be lowered, for example, by changing from yellow to amber.

  On the right side of the character string 32 corresponding to all the travel stages, a travel stage indicator (running stage selection indicator lamp) 33 indicating each character of the character string 32 is arranged. The travel stage indicator 33 is self-lighting like the character string 32 corresponding to the travel stage, and only the indicator at the position corresponding to the travel stage in the AT mode emits light. It is controlled by. A travel stage display unit (travel stage display unit) 34 is configured by the travel stage indicator 33 corresponding to the travel stage. Here, FIG. 5 shows a case where the AT mode is selected, and a character string 35 and shift stage indicators (shift stage selection display lamps) 36 corresponding to all the shift stages described later are turned off. Each character string 32, 35, each travel stage indicator 33, and shift stage indicator 36 need only be switchable between display and non-display. Various methods can be used, such as disposing the inside of the hole having the shape of the letter and irradiating light from the outside.

  A character string 35 (indicated by a broken line in FIG. 5) corresponding to all the shift speeds is arranged on the right side of the travel speed indicator 33. Specifically, five characters corresponding to the gear shift stage are arranged above and to the side of the character P constituting the character string 32 corresponding to all travel stages, and further, the P character, the R character, Four characters are arranged on the side between the two. In addition, as in the case of the four characters, the character is 3 on the side between R and N, 2 on the side between N and D, and 1 on the side between D and L. Are arranged respectively. A shift speed indicator 36 (shown by a broken line in FIG. 5) is arranged on the left side of each of the characters 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 and between the travel speed indicators 33 for the travel speed. An indicator row 37 along the character strings 32 and 35 is formed by the travel stage indicator 33 and the shift stage indicator 36. A shift speed display section (shift speed display section) 38 is configured by the shift speed indicator 36 corresponding to the shift speed.

  The character string 35 corresponding to all the gears, like the character string 32 corresponding to all the traveling speeds described above, is self-illuminated and the characters themselves emit light only when the above-described sequential mode is selected. ing. The gear stage indicator 36 also emits light in a self-lighting manner, and the gear stage indicator 36 at a position corresponding to the current gear stage is set to emit light. Here, as shown in FIG. 6, when the sequential mode is selected, the character string 32 and the travel stage indicator 33 corresponding to all the travel stages described above are turned off. Each of the indicators 33 and 36 may indicate the travel speed or the shift speed by the intensity of light.

Therefore, according to the form of implementation described above, the driving position display unit 34 and the gear position display section 38 requires less space occupied because of overlap in the width direction, is required for various devices display The degree of freedom of arrangement of parts can be increased.
Furthermore, since the character string 32 corresponding to all the travel stages and the character string 35 corresponding to all the shift stages can be displayed by shifting the vertical arrangement of the characters, the visibility can be improved.

In addition, since the travel stage indicator 33 and the shift stage indicator 36 can be arranged in a line as one indicator row 37 to save space, the character strings 32 and 35 and the indicators 33 and 36 The degree of freedom of arrangement can be improved.
In particular, by alternately arranging the indicators 33 and 36 for different uses, the intervals at which the indicators 33 and 36 for the traveling stage or the shift stage are arranged are widened, and the visibility of the indicators 33 and 36 themselves is improved. This is advantageous.

The present invention is not limited to the form of implementation described above, the driving position between the one and the indicator row of the character string corresponding to the driving position and the character string corresponding to the shift stage The other of the character string corresponding to and the character string corresponding to the gear position may be arranged. Furthermore, a shift-up switch and a shift-down switch may be provided in the lever unit so that the shift speed in the sequential mode can be selected with the select lever.

It is a block diagram in the reference example of this invention. It is the elements on larger scale of the tachometer of FIG. 1 in the reference example of this invention. FIG. 3 is a partially enlarged view of FIG. 2 in an AT mode in a reference example of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a partially enlarged view of FIG. 2 in a sequential mode in a reference example of the present invention. It is a partially enlarged view corresponding to FIG. 3 in the implementation of the embodiment of the present invention. It is a partially enlarged view corresponding to FIG. 4 in the implementation of the embodiment of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols

22 Character string (travel stage display)
23 Character string (shift speed display)
33 Traveling stage indicator (traveling stage selection indicator)
34 Traveling stage display section (traveling stage display section)
36 Shift speed indicator (shift speed selection indicator)
38 Shift speed display section (shift speed display section)

Claims (1)

A travel speed display that selectively displays a travel speed display section that displays all travel speeds in the automatic shift mode and a shift speed display section that displays all shift speeds in the manual shift mode for forward travel. A display device that indicates a current position by a display unit or a gear stage display unit, wherein the travel stage display unit is provided with a travel stage selection indicator lamp corresponding to each travel stage, and the gear stage display unit corresponds to each gear stage. A shift stage selection indicator lamp is provided, and the travel stage selection indicator lamp and the shift stage selection indicator lamp are arranged in a line that substantially shares the upper, lower, left, and right ranges ,
The travel stage selection indicator lamps and the shift stage selection indicator lamps are alternately arranged, and each of the travel stages of the travel stage display unit and each of the shift stages of the shift stage display unit is the travel stage selection unit. A display device, wherein the display device is provided on one side and the other side in the width direction of a row formed by an indicator lamp and the shift speed selection indicator lamp, and is alternately arranged in the row direction .

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