JPH051185B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention provides a vehicle header that projects various information necessary for driving a vehicle as an optical virtual image within the front field of view of the windshield for the driver to see. This invention relates to a display device.

[Description of the Prior Art] As a conventional head-up display device for a vehicle, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 182541/1983 is known. These head-up display devices for vehicles provide various information necessary for driving a vehicle such as a car.
This device projects an optical virtual image within the front field of view of the windshield for the driver to see.

However, in such conventional vehicle head-up display devices, the display brightness can only be adjusted by using a so-called lighting switch to switch to the appropriate brightness for daytime and nighttime. When you enter a tunnel etc. and your field of vision suddenly becomes dark, even if you change the lighting switch and set the brightness of the display projected on the windshield to the appropriate level for nighttime,
There was a problem in that it took time for the driver's eyes to adjust to the darkness, making it temporarily difficult to see in front of the driver.

[Purpose of the Invention] In view of the above-mentioned problems, the present invention instantly controls the brightness of the display projected on the windshield when the front field of view suddenly becomes dark during daytime driving. To provide a head-up display device for a vehicle that can avoid obstructing the front field of vision.

[Summary of the invention] In order to achieve the above object, this invention has the following features:
A mechanism that displays and visually recognizes information as an optical virtual image within the field of view of a vehicle's windshield is linked to the operation of a switch mechanism to reduce the brightness of the display below a certain range and after a certain period of time has elapsed, Equipped with a dimming mechanism that raises the light to an appropriate level. Here, the switch mechanism can be activated, for example, by manual operation of a manual switch, by automatically detecting that the vehicle has entered a tunnel, or by automatically sensing that the surroundings of the vehicle have become dark. It is activated.

[Description of Embodiments] Three embodiments of the present invention will be described below for each configuration of the switch mechanism.

(First Embodiment) FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the main parts of a head-up display device for a vehicle. In the figure, 1 is a driving information display device that displays speed and other information, and the driving information display device 1 displays information A such as letters and graphics (in the drawing, ``80'' Km of the vehicle speed) is displayed. Ru. A dimming mechanism 2, which will be described later, is connected to the driving information display device 1, and the display brightness of the information A is controlled by the dimming mechanism 2.

A lens 3 is installed behind the panel for displaying information A of the driving information display device 1. lens 3
is for condensing the information A displayed on the panel of the driving information display device 1 and sending it to the reflecting mirror 4 installed behind the lens 3. reflective mirror 4
has the function of reflecting the information A that has passed through the lens 3 and projecting it onto the combiner 6 of the windshield 5. The mounting position of the reflection mirror 4 and its reflection angle are determined in consideration of the positions of the panel of the driving information display device 1 and the combiner 6. The combiner 6 is provided on the windshield 5 at a position where the information A from the panel of the driving information display device 1 can be easily viewed by the driver.

These devices constitute a vehicle display mechanism, of which the driving information display device 1,
The light reduction mechanism 2, the lens 3, and the reflection mirror 4 are arranged in the dashboard board 7 in front of the driver's seat. Further, a hole 8 is opened in the dart board 7 at a location on the optical path of the information A that is reflected by the reflection mirror 4 and proceeds to the combiner 6, and a transparent plate is attached to this hole 8 as necessary. .

On the other hand, as shown in FIG.
connects one side to the driving information display device 1,
The other side is connected to a switch mechanism 9. The switch mechanism 9 is connected to a power source 10 on one side. The dimming mechanism 2, in conjunction with the operation of the switch mechanism 9, instantly reduces the display brightness of the information A displayed on the panel of the driving information display device 1 to below a certain range including the OFF state for a certain period of time. It consists of a timer circuit 11 that raises the light to a predetermined appropriate level after the elapse of time, and a dimming circuit 12. The time adjusted by the timer circuit 11 is selected in consideration of the time required for the driver's eyes to adapt to darkness.

The dimming circuit 12 adjusts the display brightness when the switch mechanism 9 is activated, and two examples of this adjustment method will be explained.

First, as shown in FIG.
The display brightness of information A is instantly turned OFF, that is, it is not displayed at all (reduced), and then, after maintaining the OFF state for a certain period of time, that is, for the driver's eyes to adjust to the darkness, it is instantly turned off. The display brightness of information A is increased to a predetermined appropriate level, for example, appropriate brightness at night.

Next, as shown in Fig. 8, the dimming circuit includes:
The display brightness is instantly lowered to a predetermined appropriate level, for example, a state lower than the appropriate nighttime brightness, that is, the display brightness of information A is lowered to a brightness that does not feel dazzling even if the front field of view suddenly becomes dark, and from that state the brightness is gradually reduced. After a certain period of time has elapsed for the driver's eyes to adjust to the darkness, the brightness is set to the appropriate level at night. Here, the appropriate nighttime brightness is about 60% of the daytime brightness.

In this example, the switch mechanism 9 consists of a light switch 9a, and the dimming mechanism 2 is operated by manually operating the light switch 9a. The light switch 9a is installed within the range where the driver can operate it.

With the above configuration, the driver can turn on the light switch 9a during daytime driving if, for example, the vehicle enters a tunnel or enters a shade and the surroundings of the vehicle become dark and the forward field of view suddenly becomes dark. It can be done.

Then, when the dimming circuit 12 has the dimming characteristic shown in FIG. 7, the various information A necessary for driving the vehicle displayed on the combiner 6 of the windshield 5 disappears instantaneously. Then, after time has passed for the driver's eyes to adjust to the darkness, information A is displayed on the combiner 6 again, but the brightness of the display of information A is the appropriate nighttime brightness corresponding to the darkness of the front field of view. Therefore, the driver does not feel that the display is dazzling. Therefore, the forward field of view is not difficult to see, and after the eyes become dark, it becomes possible to visually recognize various information A necessary for driving the vehicle.

On the other hand, when the light attenuation circuit 12 has the light attenuation characteristics shown in FIG. The brightness is lower than the appropriate nighttime brightness. The display brightness of information A displayed on the combiner 6 is
The brightness gradually becomes brighter over time, and after time has elapsed for the driver's eyes to adjust to the darkness, the brightness reaches an appropriate nighttime brightness that corresponds to the darkness of the forward field of view. For this reason,
The driver receives information A displayed on combiner 6.
I never feel dazzled.

(Second Embodiment) In the second embodiment shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the switch mechanism 9 includes a so-called tunnel sensor 9b that is activated by detecting that the vehicle has entered a tunnel. The tunnel sensor 9b is an ultrasonic transmitter 13
and an ultrasonic receiver 14 that receives the sound waves transmitted from the ultrasonic transmitter 13. The ultrasonic transmitter 13 and the ultrasonic receiver 14 are arranged at the front of the vehicle, and are designed to detect when the front of the vehicle enters a tunnel.

With the above configuration, when the front part of the vehicle enters a tunnel during daytime driving, the ultrasonic waves emitted from the ultrasonic transmitter 13 are reflected by the tunnel wall and received by the ultrasonic receiver 14, and the tunnel sensor 9b detects that the vehicle has entered a tunnel, and as a result, the switch mechanism 9 operates the dimming mechanism 2. The function of the dimming mechanism 2 is the same as in the first embodiment.

(Third Embodiment) In the third embodiment shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the switch mechanism in FIG. It is configured. The photocoupler 9c is installed at the upper end of the windshield 5 of the vehicle.

With the above configuration, when the surroundings of the vehicle become dark,
A photocoupler 9c installed at the upper end of the windshield 5 senses this state, and thereby activates the dimming mechanism 2. The function of the dimming function 2 is the same as in the first embodiment.

[Effects of the Invention] As is clear from the above description, according to the head-up display device for a vehicle according to the present invention, even if the driver's front field of vision suddenly becomes dark, the driver can still see the image within the front field of view of the windshield. You will be able to drive safely without being dazzled by information displays.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The drawings all show embodiments of the invention.
The figure is a schematic diagram of the main parts of a vehicle head-up display device, Figure 2 is a block diagram of the manual switch and dimming mechanism, Figure 3 is an explanatory diagram showing the mounting position of the tunnel sensor, and Figure 4 is the tunnel sensor. and a block diagram of the dimming mechanism, Fig. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing the installation position of the darkness sensor, Fig. 6 is a block diagram of the darkness sensor and the dimming mechanism, and Figs. 7 and 8 show the dimming characteristics. It is an explanatory diagram. 1... Driving information display device, 2... Dimming mechanism, 3
... Lens, 4 ... Reflection mirror, 6 ... Combiner, 9 ... Switch mechanism, 9a ... Light switch, 9b ... Tunnel sensor, 9c ... Photo coupler, 11 ... Timer circuit, 12 ... Dimming Circuit, 13... Ultrasonic transmitter, 14... Ultrasonic receiver, A... Display information.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A mechanism for displaying and visually recognizing information as an optical virtual image within the field of view of a windshield of a vehicle, in conjunction with the operation of a switch mechanism, reducing the brightness of the display to below a certain range. A head-up display device for a vehicle, characterized in that it is equipped with a dimming mechanism that increases the dimming level to a predetermined appropriate level after a certain period of time has elapsed. 2. The head-up display device for a vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the switch mechanism includes a tunnel sensor that detects when the vehicle enters a tunnel. 3. The head-up display device for a vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the switch mechanism comprises a darkness sensor that detects when the surroundings of the vehicle have become dark.