WO2004033290A1

WO2004033290A1 - Digital dashboard for engine

Info

Publication number: WO2004033290A1
Application number: PCT/KR2003/002072
Authority: WO
Inventors: Young Soon Kim
Original assignee: Young Soon Kim
Priority date: 2002-10-10
Filing date: 2003-10-09
Publication date: 2004-04-22
Also published as: KR200301545Y1; AU2003267847A1

Abstract

A digital dashboard for an engine is provided, which includes a sensor portion (100), a controller (200), a warning signal generator (300), and a display unit (400). The digital dashboard displays information regarding a starting state of an engine activating a ship and various operational states of annex devices which sense temperature, pressure and so on, in digital form of 7-segment numerals, visualizes it in a manner of changing colors using light emitting diodes (LEDs), and rings warning sounds at an emergency state. Accordingly, an operator or worker can easily recognize all information regarding the operational states of the ship, to then enable a safety voyage and to thereby integrate the dashboard in digital form to thus greatly reduce the size of the digital dashboard.

Description

DIGITAL DASHBOARD FOR ENGINE

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a digital dashboard for an engine, and more particularly to, a digital dashboard of an engine, which displays information regarding a starting state of an engine activating a ship and various operational states of annex devices which sense temperature, pressure and so on, in digital form of 7-segment numerals, visualizes it in a manner of changing colors using light emitting diodes

(LEDs) , and rings warning sounds at an emergency state, to thereby make an operator or worker easily recognize all information regarding the operational states of the ship, to then enable a safety voyage, and to thereby integrate the dashboard in digital form to thus greatly reduce the size of the digital dashboard.

Background Art

In general, a dashboard, that is, an instrument board displays information regarding an engine starting state such as the number of rotations of an engine, and each amount of oil, cooling water, and temperature and a remaining capacity of batteries, and operations of other vehicle annex devices. Accordingly, an operator or worker can easily make a preliminary inspection and recognize the operational states of the engine, to thereby identify whether the engine is in a normal or abnormal state, to thus induce a safety driving and prevent a small or big accident in advance.

As described above, various types of dashboard are used in automobiles or airplanes which run or navigate at fast speed and cause a big loss of properties and lives once an accident occurs, and also require a maximum practical use of the limited space and thus have been developed continuously in order to make a driver or operator recognize the running or navigating states of the automobiles, ships or airplanes more clearly and to thus control the running or navigating states and prevent an accident in advance.

Meanwhile, a dashboard which is used in a ship is attached around an engine in the form of a variety of analog devices which display information on the driving of the engine or the operations of the other annex devices according to the number of rotations of the engine, since the ship navigates slowly, the navigating room of the ship and the working room of the engine room are separated from each other, and the engine room is somewhat spacious. Thus, in order to check the operational states of the engine and the annex devices, the navigator turns around the engine and reads each of approximate values on analog displays installed along various types of devices installed around the big engine.

However, in order to efficiently control a high-speed ship and efficiently use an engine room and perform a smooth information exchange with various types of up-to-date digital equipment, it is the trend to make all kinds of equipment in digital form. Also, since devices displaying the operational states of the engine are installed around the engine in the prior art, the structure is very complicated. Also, if devices displaying the operational states of the engine increase in volume, a spacious practical use of a narrowing navigating room cannot be enhanced and requires much production cost. Also, since a dashboard which provides only an approximate value in analog form is not compatible with other digital equipment, to accordingly cause an inefficient use of the equipment. Also, since information on a dashboard which is provided to a user is not visualized integrally, it is difficult for a user to generally recognize the operational states of the equipment, and thus the user cannot countermeasure various situations speedily.

Disclosure of the Invention

To solve the above problems, it is an object of the present invention to provide a digital dashboard for an engine which reduces the size and volume of the dashboard with LED displays and segment digital representations so as to be integrated into a small panel, and makes a user generally recognize the states of an engine and all states of annex devices.

To accomplish the above object of the present invention, according to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a digital dashboard for an engine comprising: a sensor portion 100 detecting respective state values in an engine rotational number detection sensor 1, an oil pressure detection sensor 2, a cooling water temperature detection sensor 3, an oil temperature detection sensor 4, and a battery voltage detection sensor 5; a controller 200 which analyzes the detection signals input from the various detection sensors, and processes and controls the analyzed result as output data; a warning signal generator 300 including an engine driving lamp 6, an overspeed lamp 7 indicating the number of rotations of the engine, an alarm lamp 8 and a driving lamp 9 of an oil pressure, an alarm lamp 10 and a driving lamp 11 of a cooling water temperature, an alarm lamp 12 and a driving lamp 13 of an oil temperature, and a buzzer 14 ringing warning sounds, which indicate the state of each annex device according to a set value input to the controller 200; and a display 400 which displays each value of a level meter 15 and a display 16 of the number of rotations of the engine, a level meter 17 and a display 18 of the oil pressure, a level meter 19 and a display 20 of the cooling water temperature, a level meter 21 and a display 22 of the oil temperature, and a battery voltage display 23, which are output from the controller 200. Here, the level meter 15 of the number of rotations of the engine, the level meter 17 of the oil pressure, the level meter 19 of the cooling water temperature, the level meter 21 of the oil temperature in the display 400 are formed of LEDs, and the display 16 of the number of rotations of the engine, the display 18 of the oil pressure, the display 20 of the cooling water temperature, the display 22 of the oil temperature, and the battery voltage display 23 are formed of 7-segment displays.

Brief Description of the Drawings The above and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent by describing the preferred embodiment thereof in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a digital dashboard according to the present invention; and

FIG. 2 is a front view of the digital dashboard according to the present invention.

Best Mode for Carrying out the Invention Hereinbelow, a digital dashboard for an engine according to the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. The like or same elements are assigned the like or same reference numerals all over the drawings, for convenience of explanation. Referring to FIGs. 1 and 2, a digital dashboard for an engine according to the present invention includes a sensor portion 100, a controller 200, a warning signal generator 300, and a display 400.

The sensor portion 100 detects respective state values in an engine rotational number detection sensor 1, an oil pressure detection sensor 2, a cooling water temperature detection sensor 3, an oil temperature detection sensor 4, and a battery voltage detection sensor 5. The controller 200 analyzes the detection signals input from the various detection sensors, and processes and controls the analyzed result as output data. The warning signal generator 300 includes an engine driving lamp 6, an overspeed lamp 7 indicating the number of rotations of the engine, an alarm lamp 8 and a driving lamp 9 of an oil pressure, an alarm lamp 10 and a driving lamp 11 of a cooling water temperature, an alarm lamp 12 and a driving lamp 13 of an oil temperature, and a buzzer 14 ringing warning sounds, which indicate the state of each annex device according to a set value input to the controller 200. The display 400 displays each value of a level meter 15 and a display 16 of the number of rotations of the engine, a level meter 17 and a display 18 of the oil pressure, a level meter 19 and a display 20 of the cooling water temperature, a level meter 21 and a display 22 of the oil temperature, and a battery voltage display 23, which are output from the controller 200. Here, the level meter 15 of the number of rotations of the engine, the level meter 17 of the oil pressure, the level meter 19 of the cooling water temperature, the level meter 21 of the oil temperature in the display 400 are formed of LEDs, and the display 16 of the number of rotations of the engine, the display 18 of the oil pressure, the display 20 of the cooling water temperature, the display 22 of the oil temperature, and the battery voltage display 23 are formed of 7-segment displays.

In FIG. 2, a reference numeral 24 denotes a RPM/HOUR (Round Per Minute/Hour) shift switch, and a reference numeral 25 denotes an operational state indication lamp.

As shown in FIG. 1, in the digital dashboard according

- to the present invention, the sensor portion 100 including the engine rotational number detection sensor 1, the oil pressure detection sensor 2, the cooling water temperature detection sensor 3, the oil temperature detection sensor 4, and the battery voltage detection sensor 5, is connected to the controller 200 analyzes the detection signals input from the various detection sensors, and processes and controls the analyzed result as output data. The controller 200 is connected to the warning signal generator 300 including the engine driving lamp 6, the overspeed lamp 7 indicating the number of rotations of the engine, the alarm lamp 8 and the driving lamp 9 of an oil pressure, the alarm lamp 10 and the driving lamp 11 of a cooling water temperature, the alarm lamp 12 and the driving lamp 13 of an oil temperature, and the buzzer 14 ringing warning sounds, and the display 400 which displays each value of the level meter 15 and the display 16 of the number of rotations of the engine, the level meter 17 and the display 18 of the oil pressure, the level meter 19 and the display 20 of the cooling water temperature, the level meter 21 and the display 22 of the oil temperature, and the battery voltage display 23. In the present invention, the respective portions forming the dashboard is made in digital form to reduce the size thereof, to thus heighten an efficiency of a spacious practical use and reduce a production cost. A signal of each device detected in the sensor portion 100 is transferred to the controller 200 and then is digitized into a digital signal. The digitized signal is transferred to the display 400 to then be displayed on the level meters and the displays. Accordingly a user can recognize values of the data displayed on the level meters and the displays accurately to thus countermeasure various situations in advance.

In more detail, the engine rotational number detection sensor 1 in the sensor portion 100 is implemented using a tachometer, in which a magnetic sensor attached to a gear of the engine receives an electromotive force according to rotation of the gear as an input signal and converts the input signal into a signal which can be counted by the controller 200. The oil pressure detection sensor 2, the cooling water temperature detection sensor 3, the oil temperature detection sensor 4, and the battery voltage detection sensor 5, are implemented using a non-inverted amplifier to detect the respective signals which are then sent to the controller 200. Also, the controller 200 processes the data input from the sensor portion 100 including various kinds of sensors as output data and also processes the data regarding alarming and driving of the display 400 and the warning signal generator 300.

Meanwhile, the display 400 including the various kinds of level meters and displays indicates the operational states on the level meters and the displays according to the data transferred from the controller 200. Since the level meter formed of LEDs are lit stepwise according to the operational state of the device, a user can recognize the state of the device immediately through the lit state of the LEDs even in a short time and a long distance from the dashboard. Also, since the display formed of 7-segment displays indicates the operational state of the device in an accurate digital numerical value, to thereby accurately monitor the operational state of the device with the more accurate data. The operation of the digital dashboard according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 2.

When power is applied initially in the digital dashboard according to the present invention, all lamps are lit for a moment, in which case it is checked whether or not each lamp is out of order. Thereafter, when all the lamps are turned off and then on, they indicate the detection values of the respective sensors normally.

In the case that the engine is not driven, the engine rotational number level meter 15 is lit in only the level "0" of the LEDs, and the engine rotational number display 16 also indicates "0." In the case that the engine is driven and run, the engine rotational number level meter 15 is lit in the level of the LEDs in proportion to the engine rotational number, and the engine rotational number display 16 also indicates the engine rotational number on the 7-segment displays accurately in digital numerical representation. Also, the respective devices indicating the oil pressure, the cooling water temperature, and the oil temperature are implemented using level meters and displays, to thereby indicate a current state thereof, and battery power is also indicated in digital numerical representation.

Meanwhile, each device indicating each operational state has an operational range. If each device is beyond the operational range, all LED lamps of the level meters in association with each device flicker and alphabetical characters "Err" are indicated on the display.

Also, the buzzer 14 rings warning sounds in both cases of an alarm state and a trip state which are respectively set, and thus makes a user recognize how the operational state of each device varies.

Also, when an RPM/HOUR shift switch 24 installed below the level meter 15 and the display 16 both which indicate the engine rotational number, is manipulated in the case of a normal run, the RPM of the engine and the driving time thereof can be seen through the engine rotational number display 16. Here, if the RPM/HOUR shift switch 24 is pressed, the output values such as the RPM and the driving time of the engine are indicated in turn. Also, since the driving time is cumulative, a total driving time of the engine can be seen.

Industrial Applicability

As described above, the digital dashboard according to the present invention detects the operational state of each device which is used in activating a ship, with a detection sensor, converts the detected result into digital data, visualizes the digital data with a level meter and indicates an accurate value with 7-segment displays, and makes a user recognizes the operational state immediately and accurately, through a warning signal corresponding to an abnormal state. The digital dashboard according to the present invention also enables a user to countermeasure an emergency situation speedily to thereby prevent an accident in advance. Also, the digital dashboard according to the present invention reduces the size of the dashboard by designing and making the dashboard operated in digital form, to thereby make maintenance and repair simplified and save a production cost. Also, since the digital dashboard according to the present invention is associated with other digital devices, a running efficiency is enhanced. Also, the digital dashboard according to the present invention is installed in a navigating room as well as an engine room. As described above, the present invention has been described with respect to particularly preferred embodiment. However, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and it is possible for one who has an ordinary skill in the art to make various modifications and variations, without departing off the spirit of the present invention.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A digital dashboard for an engine comprising: a sensor portion (100) detecting respective state values in an engine rotational number detection sensor (1) , an oil pressure detection sensor (2) , a cooling water temperature detection sensor (3) , an oil temperature detection sensor (4), and a battery voltage detection sensor (5) ; a controller (200) which analyzes the detection signals input from the various detection sensors, and processes and controls the analyzed result as output data; a warning signal generator (300) including an engine driving lamp (6), an overspeed lamp (7) indicating the number of rotations of the engine, an alarm lamp (8) and a driving lamp (9) of an oil pressure, an alarm lamp (10) and a driving lamp (11) of a cooling water temperature, an alarm lamp (12) and a driving lamp (13) of an oil temperature, and a buzzer (14) ringing warning sounds, which indicate the state of each annex device according to a set value input to the controller (200) ; and a display (400) which displays each value of a level meter (15) and a display (16) of the number of rotations of the engine, a level meter (17) and a display (18) of the oil pressure, a level meter (19) and a display (20) of the cooling water temperature, a level meter (21) and a display (22) of the oil temperature, and a battery voltage display (23), which are output from the controller (200).

2. The digital dashboard of claim 1, wherein the level meter (15) of the number of rotations of the engine, the level meter (17) of the oil pressure, the level meter (19) of the cooling water temperature, the level meter (21) of the oil temperature in the display (400) are implemented using LEDs.

3. The digital dashboard of claim 1, wherein the display (16) of the number of rotations of the engine, the display (18) of the oil pressure, the display (20) of the cooling water temperature, the display (22) of the oil temperature, and the battery voltage display (23) are implemented using 7-segment displays.