JP5333385B2 - Fuel level indicator - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a fuel remaining amount display device that is applied to a vehicle such as an automobile and displays a fuel remaining amount.

  Conventionally, there has been proposed a remaining fuel amount display device that detects the remaining fuel amount in a fuel tank provided in a vehicle and displays the remaining fuel amount (for example, Patent Document 1).

  In the conventional fuel remaining amount display device described in Patent Document 1, a first segment display group in which a plurality of first segment display portions are arranged in a row and a display width in the column direction from the first segment display portion are displayed. A bar graph display unit including a second segment display group provided with a plurality of large second segment display units is provided.

JP 2009-174944 A

  However, in the fuel remaining amount display device disclosed in Patent Document 1, the amount of change in display is increased by the second segment display unit in the region where the remaining amount of fuel is large, and the first segment display is displayed in the region where the remaining amount of fuel is small. Although the change amount of the display is finely displayed by the part, since the segment display is performed in all areas, there is a problem that the display area for displaying the remaining amount of fuel becomes large. Further, in the fuel remaining amount display device of Patent Document 1, since the segment display is performed in all regions, for example, when one of the segments disappears in a region where the remaining amount of fuel is large, it is recognized that the remaining fuel has suddenly decreased. For example, when the user does not need to be particularly conscious of the remaining amount of fuel, the user is conscious of the remaining amount of fuel and cannot concentrate on driving.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a fuel remaining amount display device that can be configured to have a small display area and that can be concentrated on driving.

  The present invention achieves such an object, and a fuel remaining amount display unit that displays a fuel remaining amount in a predetermined graph and a fuel remaining amount detection unit that detects a fuel remaining amount in a fuel tank provided in the vehicle are detected. A display control unit that controls display of the fuel remaining amount display unit in accordance with the amount of remaining fuel, wherein the display control unit detects the fuel detected by the fuel remaining amount detection unit. The display is controlled so as to display a graduation line having a predetermined graduation width on the graph only when it is detected that the fuel remaining amount is equal to or less than a predetermined fuel remaining amount according to the remaining amount. To do.

  According to the present invention, the scale line is displayed on the graph only when the fuel remaining amount is equal to or less than the predetermined fuel remaining amount, so that the user is aware of the scale line displayed on the graph only when the fuel remaining amount is low. This makes it possible to know how much the fuel has decreased, and makes it easier to check the remaining amount of fuel. In a region where the remaining amount of fuel is large, the remaining amount of fuel is displayed in a graph as usual, so that the user can be prevented from being strongly aware of the remaining amount of fuel and the user can concentrate on driving. Further, since the scale line is displayed on the graph display, the display area can be made small.

  Further, in the above configuration, the display control unit changes the graph by a first change amount unit when the fuel remaining amount is equal to or greater than the predetermined fuel remaining amount, and displays the graph when the fuel remaining amount is equal to or smaller than the predetermined fuel remaining amount. The display is controlled so as to change in a second change unit different from the first change unit, and the scale width of the scale line corresponds to the second change unit. According to the present invention, since the scale line corresponding to the second change amount is displayed on the graph when the second change amount unit is different from the first change amount unit, the change amount unit has changed. The change in the remaining amount of fuel can be displayed without giving the user a sense of incongruity.

  Further, in the above configuration, the display control unit blinks a scale line on the graph for a predetermined period after the fuel remaining amount detecting unit detects a specific fuel remaining amount less than a predetermined fuel remaining amount. . According to the present invention, when the remaining amount of fuel becomes smaller, the scale line is effectively utilized to blink, and the user can easily understand that the remaining amount of fuel has become less urgent and effectively alert the user. it can.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a fuel remaining amount display device that can configure a display area to be small and display fuel remaining amount information accurately.

It is a figure for demonstrating the structure of the fuel residual amount display apparatus concerning embodiment of this invention. It is a figure explaining a part of liquid crystal type display panel in the meter apparatus concerning embodiment of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the display of a scale line, Comprising: It is the figure which expanded and showed the Z section of FIG. It is a flowchart of fuel residual amount control which concerns on embodiment of this invention.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining a configuration of a remaining fuel amount display device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining a part of a liquid crystal display panel in a meter device according to an embodiment of the present invention, wherein (A) is a diagram showing that the fuel in the fuel tank is full, that is, a full state; (B) is a diagram showing a state where the remaining amount of fuel in the fuel tank is about ¼ of the full tank, and (C) is a state where the remaining amount of fuel in the fuel tank is about タ ン ク. FIG. FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the display of the scale lines, and is an enlarged view of the Z portion of FIG. 2.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the vehicle 1 includes a fuel tank 10, a remaining fuel amount detection unit 20, and a remaining fuel amount display device 30. The remaining fuel amount detection unit 20 detects the remaining fuel amount in the fuel tank 10 provided in the vehicle 1. The fuel remaining amount detection unit 20 can be configured by a sensor that is installed in a fuel tank 10 mounted on a vehicle, for example, and whose resistance value changes according to a float that moves according to the fuel level.
The fuel remaining amount display device 30 includes a control unit (display control unit) 31 and a liquid crystal display panel 32. The control unit 31 is configured by, for example, a microcomputer, and mainly controls display on the liquid crystal display panel 32. The control unit 31 controls display of a remaining fuel amount display unit 33 (described later) according to the remaining fuel amount detected by the remaining fuel amount detection unit 20 during display control of the liquid crystal panel 32.

  The liquid crystal display panel 32 shown in FIG. 2 is disposed in a meter device provided in front of the driver's seat of an automobile instrument panel. The liquid crystal display panel 32 is provided with a remaining fuel amount display portion 33 for displaying the remaining fuel amount in the fuel tank 10 on the right side in the drawing.

  The remaining fuel amount display unit 33 displays the remaining fuel amount as a bar-shaped bar graph 40 having a certain length in the vertical direction. The bar graph 40 is for displaying a level of the remaining amount of fuel according to a detection signal detected by the remaining fuel amount detection unit 20. On the side of the remaining fuel amount display unit 33, a remaining fuel amount scale 34 indicating the amount of remaining fuel is provided in parallel with the longitudinal direction of the remaining fuel amount display unit 33. “F” indicating the full state of the remaining amount of fuel is displayed at the upper end of the remaining fuel amount display portion 33, and “E” indicating the zero state of the remaining amount of fuel is displayed at the lower end portion. On the left side of the remaining fuel amount display unit 33, a fuel alarm display unit 37 that displays an alarm when the remaining fuel amount is low is provided. In addition, the liquid crystal display panel 32 is provided with, for example, a water temperature gauge 35 for liquid crystal display, a range display unit 36 indicating the selected shift range state, and the like.

In order to notify the user of the remaining amount of fuel, the control unit 31 changes and displays the bar graph 40 in the first change amount unit in the region where the remaining fuel amount is large, and the first change in the region where the remaining fuel amount is small. The bar graph 40 is changed and displayed in a second change amount unit smaller than the amount.
Specifically, the control unit 31 determines that the remaining fuel amount detected by the remaining fuel amount detection unit 20 is the remaining fuel amount (1 when full) when the remaining fuel amount is preset as shown in FIG. / 4) When the fuel tank 10 is full and is set to “1” in the larger region, the bar graph 40 is displayed so as to change by 1/8 (first change amount unit) according to the remaining amount of fuel. Further, as shown in FIG. 2 (B), the control unit 31 changes the ¼ to ½ more finely, that is, 1 in a region where the fuel remaining amount is ¼ or less of the full tank. The display of the bar graph 40 is controlled so as to be changed by / 16 (second change amount unit).

  Further, when the control unit 31 detects that the fuel remaining amount in the fuel remaining amount detection unit 20 has decreased and has reached a predetermined fuel remaining amount (1/4 of a full tank) or less, a level display is displayed. Display is controlled so that scale lines (partition lines) 41a to 41d having a predetermined scale width S as shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. The scale width S of the scale lines 41 a to 41 d corresponds to 1/16 that is the second change amount unit, and one scale of the scale lines 41 a to 41 d indicates the change amount of the bar graph 40.

  The control unit 31 blinks and displays the scale line 41 on the bar graph for a predetermined period after the fuel remaining amount detecting unit 20 detects a specific fuel remaining amount less than the predetermined fuel remaining amount. Note that the control unit 31 reduces the fuel remaining amount to a predetermined fuel remaining amount (1/4 of a full tank) or less and a predetermined period after the engine is started and a predetermined amount after the engine is stopped. During the period, the scale line 41 on the bar graph may be blinked for warning.

  Next, the fuel remaining amount control flowchart of the present invention will be described. FIG. 4 is a flowchart of remaining fuel control according to the embodiment of the present invention.

  The control unit 31 detects the remaining amount of fuel in the fuel tank 10 based on the detection signal from the remaining fuel amount detection unit 20 (step S1). In a region where the remaining amount of fuel detected by the remaining fuel amount detection unit 20 is larger than a preset remaining fuel amount (1/4 of a full tank) as shown in FIG. 2A (step S2). In step S3, the bar graph 40 is level-displayed according to the remaining amount of fuel so that the bar graph 40 is changed by 1/8. That is, the control unit 31 changes the bar graph 40 so that “1” → “7/8” → “6/8” → “5/8” → “4/8” → “3/8”. .

  On the other hand, the control unit 31 sets the bar graph 40 to a level so that the bar graph 40 is changed by 1/16 in an area of “¼” or less (“Y” in step S2) when the fuel remaining amount is full. Display (step S4). That is, in the region where the remaining amount of fuel is “1/4” or less when the remaining amount of fuel is full, the control unit 31 “2/8” → “1.5 / 8” → “1/8” → “0.5 / The display of the bar graph 40 is changed so that “8” → “0”.

  Further, when the control unit 31 detects that the fuel remaining amount has decreased and has reached a predetermined fuel remaining amount (1/4 of the full tank) or less, the control unit 31 displays the level on the bar graph 40 displayed as a level. The display is controlled to display a scale line 41 having a predetermined scale width S as shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 (step S5).

  If the controller 31 is within a predetermined period after becoming “1.5 / 8”, “1/8”, or “0.5 / 8” when the tank is full (“Y” in step S6). ), The fuel first warning mode is activated, the fuel warning display section 37 blinks (1 Hz) to display a warning, and the scale line 41 on the bar graph 40 of the fuel remaining amount display section 33 blinks. A warning is displayed. When the remaining amount of fuel is “0”, the control unit 31 activates the fuel second warning mode, blinks (2 Hz) the fuel warning display unit 37, and displays a warning (step S7).

  Note that the control unit 31 reduces the fuel remaining amount to a predetermined fuel remaining amount (1/4 of a full tank) or less and a predetermined period after starting the engine or a predetermined amount after stopping the engine. During the period, the display can be controlled so that the scale line 41 on the bar graph 40 of the fuel remaining amount display section 33 blinks, and a warning of the remaining fuel level can be issued by the scale line 41.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, after reaching the small fuel remaining amount, the scale line is displayed on the bar graph, so that the user can confirm the scale line displayed on the bar graph and It is possible to accurately know the decrease in the amount of fuel and to easily check the remaining amount of fuel. Further, in a region where the remaining amount of fuel is large, the remaining amount of fuel is displayed in a graph without a scale, so that the user can be made unaware of the remaining amount of fuel and the user can concentrate on driving. Further, since the scale line is displayed on the graph display, the display area can be made small.

  Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various changes and modifications can be made based on the technical idea of the present invention. For example, in the above embodiment, the scale line is displayed when the fuel remaining amount is ¼ or less. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and when the fuel remaining amount becomes other reference value or less. A scale line may be displayed. In the above embodiment, 1/8 and 1/16 have been described as examples of the display change amount unit. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and other change amount units may be used. In the above-described embodiment, the change amount unit of two displays has been described as an example. However, more than two change amount units, for example, three change amount units may be used.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Vehicle 10 Fuel tank 20 Fuel remaining amount detection part 30 Fuel remaining amount display apparatus 31 Control part 32 Liquid crystal display panel 33 Fuel remaining amount display part 40 Bar graph (graph)
41 Scale line

Claims (3)

The fuel remaining amount display unit that displays the remaining amount of fuel in a predetermined graph and the remaining fuel amount according to the remaining fuel amount detected by the remaining fuel amount detecting unit that detects the remaining fuel amount in the fuel tank provided in the vehicle A fuel remaining amount display device having a display control unit for controlling display of the display unit,
The display control unit sets a predetermined scale width on the graph only when it is detected that the remaining fuel amount is equal to or less than a predetermined remaining fuel amount according to the remaining fuel amount detected by the remaining fuel amount detecting unit. A fuel remaining amount display device that controls display so as to display a graticule line. The display control unit changes the graph by a first change amount unit when the fuel remaining amount is equal to or greater than the predetermined fuel remaining amount, and displays the graph when the fuel remaining amount is equal to or smaller than the predetermined fuel remaining amount. Control the display to change in the second change unit different from the unit,
2. The fuel remaining amount display device according to claim 1, wherein a scale width of the scale line corresponds to the second change amount unit. The display control unit blinks and displays a scale line on the graph for a predetermined period after the fuel remaining amount detecting unit detects a specific remaining fuel amount less than the predetermined fuel remaining amount. The fuel remaining amount display device according to claim 1 or 2.

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