VEHICLE DISPLAY DEVICE

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a vehicular display device.BACKGROUND ART

[0002] A vehicle is provided with a vehicular display device that displays an image of a pattern, a character, or the like on a vehicle body of an automobile in order to, for example, perform an advertisement or a promotion using the automobile or ensure traveling safety of the automobile. Patent Literature 1 proposes a technique in which a projector is installed in a side mirror or a rear lamp of an automobile, and an image is projected and displayed on an outer surface of a vehicle body panel of the automobile. Patent Literature 2 proposes a technique in which a display panel made of a transmissive organic EL display is arranged on a vehicle body panel or a window of an automobile, and an image is displayed on the display panel.CITATION LISTPATENT LITERATURE

[0003] Patent Literature 1: JP-A-2015-148678 Patent Literature 2: JP-A-2016-65938

[0004] At least one of both the side faces of a transparent storage is composed of a slide door part constituted by combining two transparent panels so as to be opened / closed while mutually sliding, and an advertisement display part is formed on two transparent panels in mutual sliding relation consisting of this slide door part on a vehicle with the transparent storage according to JP H11 237854 A.

[0005] A mounting assembly selectively disposes a display assembly between operative and stored positions and a viewing assembly including at least one camera disposed to observe exterior areas which are obstructed by the operatively positioned display assembly according to US 9,135,842 B1.

[0006] A motor vehicle door with an integrated electronic display device of US 2013 / 0263512 A1 comprises a door frame comprising a window and a mounting bracket affixed to the door frame over an area of the window via a plurality of bolts, the mounting bracket comprising a plurality of bolt hole passages for the plurality of bolts to pass through and a vibration dampening pad contiguous with the mounting bracket and the electronic display device.

[0007] For displaying personalized information on a vehicle, US 2015 / 0032328 A1 shows detecting an identity of at least one of one or more processors, displaying information based at least in part on the detected identity; configuring the display information for use by one or more display devices associated with the vehicle; and communicating the configured display information to the one or more display devices.

[0008] According to WO 2018 / 056198 A1, a control circuit makes a display unit of a spatial light modulator element display a first pattern and a second pattern that correspond to pieces of display information that have different degrees of definition, and a reflecting mirror has a first reflection area that receives a portion of the reflected light in which the first pattern is displayed and reflects said portion toward a first display area; and a second reflection area that receives a portion of the reflected light in which the second pattern is displayed and reflects said portion toward a second display area.

[0009] A processor counts a number of people passing a digital display and within the view of the display even when people are not looking at the display, processes an image from a camera structure to detect faces to determine the number of people within the field of view of the display at any given time and dynamically changes a resolution on the display based on information supplied by the camera in a system of WO 2017 / 035025 A1.

[0010] US 2017 / 0229053 A1 shows a vehicular display according to the preamble of claim 1.SUMMARY OF INVENTIONTECHNICAL PROBLEM

[0011] Normally, a window or a lighting device is provided on a vehicle body. However, in an automatic driving control automobile (hereinafter, referred to as an automatic driving vehicle) proposed in recent years, a window or a lighting device can be omitted, and a display device, for example, a display panel can be arranged on a vehicle body including a vehicle body panel and a window. Accordingly, it is possible to implement a vehicular display device in which a substantially entire surface of a vehicle body of an automatic driving vehicle is configured as a display surface. Further, the vehicular display device can enhance the display effect on an occupant of the automatic driving vehicle, a viewer present in the vicinity of the outside of the automatic driving vehicle (a person who sees a displayed image), or the like.

[0012] On the other hand, the vehicle body of the automatic driving vehicle is provided with a door for getting on and off. In a case where the display panel is provided on the vehicle body, an image displayed on the display panel cannot be visually recognized due to opening and closing of the door, and the display effect may be reduced. In a case of a sliding door, a part of the display panel is hidden by the door due to a sliding operation of the door, or the door itself is hidden, and an image on these display panels cannot be visually recognized. The same applies to a hinge type door. Even in a case where the vehicle body is provided with a window of an opening-closing type, an image on the display panel cannot be visually recognized due to the opening and closing of the window, and the display effect is reduced.

[0013] An object of the present disclosure is to provide a vehicular display device in which, even when a movable portion such as a door or a window provided in a vehicle body is operated, an image displayed on a display panel can be visually recognized by a viewer, and a display effect is enhanced.

[0014] In addition, in a case where a display surface is wide, when a viewer sees the display panel, the image may be difficult to see depending on a relative positional relationship between the viewer and the display panel on which the image is displayed. For example, when an image such as a small character or a symbol is displayed on the display panel, a viewer may be able to visually recognize a nearby image with a sufficient size, but a distant image may be too small to see. In addition, when a position and a direction of the display panel with respect to the viewer are changed due to the movement of the automatic driving vehicle, the image that is visually recognizable until then may not be visually recognized due to these changes. For an image with low luminance or contrast, a nearby viewer can visually recognize the image, but a distant viewer may not able to visually recognize the image.

[0015] An object of the present disclosure is to provide a vehicular display device in which, regardless of a change in a relative positional relationship between a vehicle and a viewer, an image displayed on the vehicle can be visually recognized by the viewer, and a display effect is enhanced.

[0016] In addition, the vehicular display device is easy to control a display form of an image to be displayed on the display panel. Therefore, it is conceivable that the vehicular display device controls a size of an image to be displayed according to a difference in distance between the automatic driving vehicle and a viewer (a person who sees the displayed image). An image is displayed with a large size for a viewer at a distant position, and the viewer easily visually recognizes the image. As described above, when an image with a large size is displayed, it is sufficient to use a display panel with a low resolution, and it is preferable from the viewpoint of cost.

[0017] On the other hand, when a viewer in the vicinity of the automatic driving vehicle visually recognizes an image, in particular, a character image, it is necessary to use a display panel with a high resolution in order to reduce the size of the image to an appropriate size for easy viewing and display the image. However, when a display panel with a high resolution is arranged in a wide area of the vehicle body of an automatic driving vehicle, a problem arises in that the cost of the display device is increased.

[0018] An object of the present disclosure is to provide a vehicular display device in which a display for a viewer is performed and a problem in terms of cost is eliminated.SOLUTION TO PROBLEM

[0019] The vehicular display device according to the present disclosure is defined in the claims.

[0020] In the present disclosure, the movable portion is a door or a window provided on the vehicle body, and the image control unit is configured to control a display form of the image based on an opening and closing operation of the door or the window. The vehicular display device includes a plurality of display panels, and the image control unit is configured to, when the door or the window is opened or closed, control a display form of an image on one display panel to be overlapped with the door or the window, and a display form of an image on another display panel arranged on the door or the window.

[0021] A vehicular display device according to the present disclosure includes at least one display panel arranged on a vehicle body of a vehicle and configured to display an image, in which the display panel has a low resolution panel configured to display the image at a low resolution and a high resolution panel configured to display the image at a high resolution, and an image displayed in a display area including at least the low resolution panel is displayed in a display area of the high resolution panel.

[0022] According to the present disclosure, the high resolution panel is arranged in a part of a display area of the display panel, and the low resolution panel is arranged in a display area other than the high resolution panel. Further, an image displayed over both display areas of the low resolution panel and the high resolution panel is reduced and displayed in the display area of the high resolution panel. Alternatively, an image displayed in the display area of the low resolution panel is reduced and displayed in the display area of the high resolution panel.ADVANTAGEOUS EFFECTS OF INVENTION

[0023] According to the vehicular display device of the present disclosure, when a movable portion such as a door or a window provided in a vehicle is operated, an image of one display panel that cannot be visually recognized due to the operation is displayed on another display panel. As a result, it is possible to provide a vehicular display device with high visual recognition effect by which the viewer can visually recognize the image reliably.

[0024] According to the present disclosure, regardless of the position of a viewer such as a pedestrian or another vehicle with respect to the vehicle, an image displayed on a display panel or a projector provided in the vehicle can be visually recognized, so that a vehicular display device with high display effect can be provided.

[0025] According to the present disclosure, it is possible to provide a vehicular display device that can be configured at a low cost while displaying to a viewer.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0026] Fig. 1 is a schematic external diagram of an automatic driving vehicle according to a first embodiment. Fig. 2 is a block diagram of a display control unit according to the first embodiment. Fig. 3A is a schematic external diagram showing an image display form according to the first embodiment. Fig. 3B is a schematic external diagram showing an image display form according to the first embodiment. Fig. 4 is a schematic external diagram showing a modification of the first embodiment. Fig. 5A is a schematic external diagram showing an automatic driving vehicle and an image display form thereof according to a second embodiment. Fig. 5B is a schematic external diagram showing the automatic driving vehicle and an image display form thereof according to the second embodiment. Fig. 6A is a schematic external diagram showing an automatic driving vehicle and an image display form thereof according to a third embodiment. Fig. 6B is a schematic external diagram showing the automatic driving vehicle and an image display form thereof according to the third embodiment. Fig. 7 is a schematic external diagram showing a modification of the third embodiment. Fig. 8A is a schematic external diagram showing an automatic driving vehicle and an image display form thereof according to a fourth embodiment. Fig. 8B is a schematic external diagram showing the automatic driving vehicle and an image display form thereof according to the fourth embodiment. DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS(First Embodiment)

[0027] Embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. Fig. 1 is a schematic external diagram of an automatic driving vehicle 1 according to a first embodiment to which a vehicular display device according to the present disclosure is applied. The automatic driving vehicle 1 is a four-wheel vehicle having a low floor box-shaped vehicle body (vehicle body) 10, and is automatically driven by automatic driving control. Pillars 11 provided at four corners of the vehicle body 10 are made of a rigid material. Portions of the front and rear, left and right side surfaces of the vehicle body 10 excluding the pillars 11 are made of a transparent material, or are opened so that the inside and the outside communicate with each other. Front, rear, left and right are directions indicated by arrows in Fig. 1 for convenience.

[0028] A pair of sliding doors 12 are arranged as movable portions on the left side surface of the vehicle body 10. When a front door 12F disposed on a front side is slid forward, the front door 12F is moved to a state of covering a left front side surface 13F of the vehicle body 10 adjacent to the front door 12F at the front side. Further, when a rear door 12B disposed on a rear side is slid backward, the rear door 12B is moved to a state of covering a left rear side surface 13B of the vehicle body 10 adjacent to the rear door 12B at the rear side. When the doors 12F and 12B are slid, the inside (vehicle cabin) of the vehicle body 10 is opened to the outside, and an occupant can get on or out of the automatic driving vehicle 1 or take in and out a cargo.

[0029] Display panels 2 (2F, 2B, 2L, 2R) are arranged on the four side surfaces of the vehicle body 10, that is, a front side surface, a rear side surface, the left side surface, and the right side surface, respectively, and each display panel displays a required image. In particular, the display panel 2L arranged on the left side surface includes a plurality of display panels 21, 22, 23, and 24. A front door display panel 21 is arranged on an outer surface of the front door 12F, and a rear door display panel 22 is arranged on an outer surface of the rear door 12B. A left front display panel 23 is arranged on the left front side surface 13F of the vehicle body 10, and a left rear display panel 24 is arranged on the left rear side surface 13B of the vehicle body 10.

[0030] The display panel 2 is implemented by a liquid crystal display (LCD) panel or an organic EL panel, displays an image, and can be visually recognized from the outside of the automatic driving vehicle 1. When no image is displayed on the display panel 2, the display panel 2 is in a transparent state, so that the outside can be visually recognized from the inside of the vehicle cabin of the automatic driving vehicle 1. The display panels 2 are not necessarily transparent.

[0031] A sensor 31 is arranged in an upper portion of the vehicle body 10. The sensor 31 is arranged in an upper portion of a roof 14 of the vehicle body 10. The sensor 31 is implemented by an imaging camera having an imaging element such as a CCD or a MOS, or a light detection and ranging (LiDAR), and can detect a person present around the automatic driving vehicle 1. The sensor 31 may be configured using a sensor for other vehicle detection or road condition detection provided for the automatic driving control.

[0032] Fig. 2 is a block configuration diagram of a display control unit 3 that controls the display panels 2. The display control unit 3 includes a viewer detecting portion 32 in addition to the sensor 31. Based on the output of the sensor 31, the viewer detecting portion 32 detects, in particular, a person who is present on the left side of the automatic driving vehicle 1 and is in a state of visually recognizing the display panel 2L on the left side surface, and detects a position of the detected person, in particular, a position of the person with respect to the automatic driving vehicle 1 at the same time.

[0033] The display control unit 3 includes a door detecting unit 36 that detects an open and closed state of the door 12. The door detecting unit 36 is configured as a movable detection unit that detects the open and closed state of the door 12. This open and closed state includes information on an opening and closing movement position and an opening and closing state of the door 12.

[0034] The display control unit 3 includes an image control unit 33 that controls a display form of an image to be displayed on the display panel 2. A communication device 34 that is wirelessly connected to a base station, another vehicle, the Internet, or the like is connected to the image control unit 33, data related to a display image is input via the communication device 34, and an image corresponding to the input data is displayed on the display panel 2. An input unit 35 is connected to the image control unit 33, and an image corresponding to data input by an occupant of the vehicle to the input unit 35 is displayed on the display panel 2.

[0035] The image to be displayed based on the data is an advertisement image for promotion, a sign image such as a road sign, a character image such as a message for communication, and an image such as a symbol. The image may be either a still image or a moving image. The image may be a monochrome image or a color image.

[0036] The image control unit 33 executes display control of the display panel 2L on the left side surface based on a viewer detected by the viewer detecting portion 32 and the open and closed state of the door detected by the door detecting unit 36. As the display control, the image control unit 33 controls a display form of an image to be displayed on the display panel 2L on the left side surface based on position information of the detected viewer.

[0037] Control of the display form of an image on the display panel 2 in the automatic driving vehicle 1 including the vehicular display device will be described. Figs. 3A and 3B are schematic external views for explaining the control of the display form, and show a state in which the automatic driving vehicle 1 is parked. As shown in Fig. 3A, when the viewer detecting portion 32 detects a viewer (person) M, the viewer detecting portion 32 detects position information of the viewer. The image control unit 33 displays a required image based on the data from the communication device 34 or the input unit 35 on the display panel on a side where the detected viewer M exists. In this example, since the viewer M is detected on the left side of the automatic driving vehicle 1, the image control unit 33 displays an image on the display panel 2L on the left side surface.

[0038] When the door detecting unit 36 detects that the door 12 of the automatic driving vehicle 1 is closed, the image control unit 33 displays the image on the entire surface of the display panel 2L on the left side surface, that is, on the display panels 21 to 24. In Fig. 3A, an image of "ABCD" is displayed on each of the display panels 21 to 24. When there is a margin of the display space on the display panel, the image can be enlarged and displayed, and a distant viewer M can easily confirm the image.

[0039] On the other hand, as shown in Fig. 3B, when the door 12 of the automatic driving vehicle 1 is open, the door detecting unit 36 detects that the door 12 is opened, and the image control unit 33 changes a display form of the display panel 2L on the left side surface according to the detection output of the door detecting unit 36. That is, the front door 12F slides forward and is moved to a position covering the left front side surface 13F, and the rear door 12B slides rearward and is moved to a position covering the left rear side surface 13B. As a result, the left front display panel 23 is covered by the front door 12F, the left rear display panel 24 is covered by the rear door 12B, and images displayed on the left front display panel 23 and the left rear display panel 24 are hidden.

[0040] The image control unit 33 displays the image displayed on the left front display panel 23 on the front door display panel 21. In this example, the image "A" displayed on the left front display panel 23 is combined with the image "B " displayed on the front door display panel 21, and the image "AB" is displayed on the front door display panel 21. Similarly, for the left rear display panel 24, the image "D" displayed on the left rear display panel 24 is combined with the image "C" displayed on the rear door display panel 22, and the image "CD" is displayed on the rear door display panel 22.

[0041] When there is no margin of the display space on the display surfaces of the front and rear door display panels 21 and 22, each image may be reduced and displayed. Scroll display may be performed in which an image is displayed while being moved in a front-rear direction. When only one of the front and rear doors 12F and 12B is opened, the image control may be executed only on one of the display panels 21 and 22 corresponding to the door. For example, when only the front door 12F is opened, an image on the front door display panel 21 of the front door 12F is moved, but a display state of an image on the rear door display panel 22 of the rear door 12B may be maintained.

[0042] In this way, even when the front and rear doors 12 are opened, and the display panels 23 and 24 on the left side surface are covered by the doors 12, the images of the hidden display panels 23 and 24 are moved to the door display panels 21 and 22 and displayed, so that the viewer can visually recognize the images continuously. As a result, the display effect on the display panel 2L can be improved.

[0043] Fig. 4 is a schematic external diagram showing a modification of a display control form of an image. In Fig. 4, when the front door 12F and the rear door 12B are slid and opened, the front door 12F and the rear door 12B are accommodated inside the left front display panel 13F and the left rear display panel 13B, respectively. Therefore, when the doors 12F and 12B are opened, the front door display panel 21 is covered by the left front display panel 23, and the rear door display panel 22 is covered by the left rear display panel 24.

[0044] The image control unit 33 displays the image displayed on the front door display panel 21 on the left front display panel 23. In this example, the image "B" displayed on the front door display panel 21 is combined with the image "A" displayed on the left front display panel 23, and the image "AB" is displayed on the left front display panel 23. Similarly, for the rear door display panel 22, the image "C" displayed on the rear door display panel 22 is combined with the image "D" displayed on the left rear display panel 24, and the image "CD" is displayed on the left rear display panel 24.

[0045] When there is no margin of the display space on the display surfaces of the front and rear display panels 23 and 24 on the left side, each image may be reduced and displayed or may be scrolled and displayed. Further, when only one of the front and rear doors 12F and 12B is opened, the image control may be executed only on one of the display panels corresponding to the door.(Second Embodiment)

[0046] Figs. 5A and 5B are schematic external diagrams of an automatic driving vehicle according to a second embodiment. As shown in Fig. 5A, in the automatic driving vehicle 1, on the left side surface of the vehicle body 10, a pair of double-door hinge-type doors 12 that are rotated around hinges 20 as a fulcrum point are arranged. When the front door 12F disposed on the front side is fully opened forward, the front door 12F is in a state of covering the left front side surface 13F of the vehicle body 10 adjacent to the front door 12F at the front side. When the rear door 12B disposed on the rear side is fully opened rearward, the rear door 12B is in a state of covering the left rear side surface 13B adjacent to the rear door 12B at the rear side.

[0047] On the left side surface, as in the first embodiment, as the display panel 2L on the left side surface, the front door display panel 21 is arranged on the outer surface of the front door 12F, and the rear door display panel 22 is arranged on the outer surface of the rear door 12B. The left front display panel 23 is arranged on the left front side surface 13F, and the left rear display panel 24 is arranged on the left rear side surface 13B. In Figs. 5A and 5B, a front door inner display panel 21a and a rear door inner display panel 22a are arranged on inner surfaces of the front door 12F and the rear door 12B, respectively.

[0048] As the control of the display form of an image on the display panels 2L in the automatic driving vehicle 1 according to the second embodiment, when the door 12 is closed, the image control unit 33 displays an image on the entire surface of the display panels 2L on the left side surface, similarly to the display form described above. That is, images are displayed on the front door display panel 21, the rear door display panel 22, the left front display panel 23, and the left rear display panel 24. In Figs. 5A and 5B, for example, an image "ABCD" is displayed.

[0049] As shown in Fig. 5B, when the door 12 of the automatic driving vehicle 1 is opened, the door detecting unit 36 shown in Fig. 2 detects that the door 12 is opened. Until the door 12 is opened by a predetermined angle or more, the image control unit 33 maintains the display of the image. For example, in Fig. 5B, since an opening angle of the front door 12F is small, the image "B" is displayed on the front door display panel 21. As a result, the viewer can visually recognize the image "A" on the left front display panel 23 and the image "B" on the front door display panel 21.

[0050] On the other hand, when the door is opened by a predetermined angle or more, the control of changing the display of the image is executed. For example, in Fig. 5B, an opening angle of the rear door 12B increases, and an inner surface of the rear door 12B faces outward. When the door detecting unit 36 detects this state, the image control unit 33 displays the image displayed on the rear door display panel 22 on the rear door inner display panel 22a. In this example, the image "C" displayed on the rear door display panel 22 is displayed on the rear door inner display panel 22a. As a result, the viewer can visually recognize the image of the rear door 12B.

[0051] When the rear door 12B is in a state close to a fully opened state, the left rear display panel 24 is covered by the rear door 12B. In this case, the image control unit 33 displays an image displayed on the left rear display panel 24 on the rear door inner display panel 22a. The image control unit 33 combines the image "D" displayed on the left rear display panel 24 and the image "C" displayed on the rear door display panel 22, and displays the image "CD" on the rear door inner display panel 22a.

[0052] In this way, even when the front and rear hinge-type doors 12F and 12B are opened, the display panels 21 and 22 of the doors 12F and 12B face inward and cannot be visually recognized, and the display panels 23 and 24 on the left side surface are covered by the doors 12F and 12B and cannot be visually recognized, according to the present embodiment, images on the display panels 21 and 22 are displayed on the door inner display panels 21a and 22a, and a viewer can visually recognize the image to obtain information. As a result, the display effect on the display panel can be improved.

[0053] In the second embodiment, a door control unit that controls an opening angle of the door 12 (the front door 12F and the rear door 12B) may be provided. When the viewer detecting portion 32 detects a position of a viewer, the door control unit controls an angle of the door 12 so that any one of the door display panels 21 and 22 on the outer surface of the door 12 and the door inner display panels 21a and 22a on the inner surface of the door faces the front of the detected viewer. In the present embodiment, an image is displayed on the display panel in a state where the display panels 21, 21a, 22, and 22a of the door 12 are oriented toward the front of the viewer, so that the viewer can visually recognize the image, and the display effect can be further improved.(Third Embodiment)

[0054] Figs. 6A and 6B are schematic external diagrams of an automatic driving vehicle according to a third embodiment. As shown in Fig. 6A, a sliding door 12 that slides up and down to be opened and closed is arranged on the left side surface of the vehicle body 10 in the automatic driving vehicle 1. That is, the door 12 includes an upper door 12U to be slid with respect to the vehicle body 10, and a lower door 12D to be slid with respect to the upper door 12U. When the doors 12U, 12D are moved to an upper position of the roof 14, the opening of the vehicle body 10 is opened. The lower door 12D is positioned in front of the upper door 12U.

[0055] The door display panels 25 and 26 are arranged on outer surfaces of the doors 12U and 12D, respectively. As in the first and second embodiments, the left front display panel 23 is arranged on the left front side surface of the vehicle body 10 and the left rear display panel 24 is arranged on the left rear side surface of the vehicle body 10, so as to sandwich the doors 12U, 12D in the front-rear direction.

[0056] As the control for the display form of the image of the display panel in the automatic driving vehicle 1 according to the third embodiment, when the door detecting unit 36 detects that the door 12 is closed, the image control unit 33 displays the images "B" and "C" respectively on the door display panels 25 and 26 of the upper door 12U and lower door 12D, and displays the images "A" and "D" on the left front display panel 23 and the left rear display panel 24, respectively. In Figs. 6A and 6B, for example, an image "ABCD" is displayed.

[0057] As shown in Fig. 6B, when the upper door 12U and the lower door 12D are slid upward and moved above the roof 14, the door 12 is opened, and the door detecting unit 36 detects that the door 12 is opened. In response to the detection output of the door detecting unit 36, the image control unit 33 maintains the images "A" and "D" displayed on the left front display panel 23 and the left rear display panel 24 as they are. The images "B" and "C" displayed on the door display panels 25 and 26 are displayed side by side on the door display panel 26 in the front. As a result, the viewer can easily visually recognize the image of the door display panel, and can improve the display effect of the display panel with respect to the viewer.

[0058] As shown in the schematic external diagram of Fig. 7, when the door 12 is opened, the images "B" and "C" of the door display panels 25 and 26 may be respectively displayed on the left front display panel 23 and the left rear display panel 24 together with the images "A" and "D". When such an image display control is performed, another image "EFGH" can be displayed on the door display panel 26 moved upward. The image "EFGH" may display, for example, an image such as a signboard of a service performed by the automatic driving vehicle, an advertisement, or a promotion. Alternatively, the image "EFGH" may display an image of a road sign or other signs. In this way, the door display panel can be effectively used, and the display effect of the display panel with respect to the viewer can be improved.(Fourth Embodiment)

[0059] Figs. 8A and 8B are schematic external diagrams of an automatic driving vehicle 1 according to a fourth embodiment as viewed from a right side surface side. In the automatic driving vehicle 1, four windows 15 are arranged side by side in a horizontal direction on the right side surface of the vehicle body 10. There are fixed windows 15C, 15D arranged on the left and right, and slide windows 15A, 15B to be slid to the left and right respectively. Display panels 21' to 24' configuring a right side surface display panel 2R are arranged on the outer surfaces of the windows 15A to 15D, respectively.

[0060] A required image is displayed on the display panels 21' to 24' by the image control unit 33. In Figs. 8A and 8B, the image "ABCD" is displayed on the display panels 21' to 24' from the left. During stopping or traveling of the automatic driving vehicle 1, when the slide windows 15A and 15B are opened and overlap the front side of the fixed windows 15C and 15D respectively, the images "C" and "D" displayed on the display panels 23' and 24' of the fixed windows 15C and 15D cannot be visually recognized.

[0061] The image control unit 33 displays the images "C" and "D" of the display panels 23' and 24', which are overlapped and cannot be visually recognized, on the display panels 21' and 22' of the slide windows 15A and 15B. As a result, the image "ABCD" is displayed on the display panels 21' and 22', the viewer can visually recognize all the images displayed before the window is opened, and the display effect of the display panel with respect to the viewer can be improved.

[0062] A window detection unit may be provided in the display control unit 3 shown in Fig. 2. An open and closed state of the window 15 is detected by the window detection unit, and an image to be displayed on the display panels 21' to 24' of the windows 15 may be controlled based on a detection output of the window detection unit.

[0063] In the first to fourth embodiments described above, the display form of an image on the display panel arranged on the outer surface of the vehicle body of the automatic driving vehicle is described. The present disclosure can be similarly applied to an automatic driving vehicle in which a display panel is arranged on an inner surface of a vehicle body, that is, an inner side surface of a vehicle cabin, and a viewer visually recognizes an image displayed on the display panel in the vehicle cabin.

[0064] For example, in a case where the display panels are arranged on respective inner wall surfaces of a door and the vehicle cabin, when the door is opened, an image displayed on the display panel overlapping the door cannot be visually recognized by the viewer in the vehicle cabin. The image displayed on the hidden display panel is displayed on another display panel, so that the viewer can visually recognize the image.

[0065] In the fourth embodiment, in a case where the display panels are arranged on the inner surfaces of the windows respectively, when a window is opened, since the windows overlap each other, the display panel of one of the windows is covered with the other window, and the viewer in the vehicle cabin cannot visually recognize the image. The image displayed on the hidden display panel is displayed on another display panel, so that the viewer can visually recognize the image.

[0066] In the second to fourth embodiments, when the image of a hidden display panel is displayed on another display panel, if there is no margin of the display space for displaying these images on the display panel, the image may be reduced and displayed or may be scrolled and displayed in the same manner as in the first embodiment.

[0067] The automatic driving vehicle according to the embodiments can be applied to public transportation, for example, a bus. The display control according to the present disclosure is applied to an image displayed during traveling of the bus when the door is opened and closed since the bus stops at a bus stop and a passenger gets on and off.

[0068] The image control unit 33 according to the present disclosure may control not only a display position of an image, but also a size of an image, and a change in the shape and brightness of an image (including the luminance, the color saturation, and the contrast). An image to be displayed may be a moving image.

[0069] In the embodiments, an example is shown in which as the viewer, a person, in particular, a pedestrian is targeted. The viewer in the present disclosure may be a person in another vehicle. Further, in the first to fourth embodiments, a form in which an image is displayed when a viewer is detected is described. However, it is also possible to perform display control of an image without detecting the presence of a viewer. A configuration may be adopted in which an occupant of an automatic driving vehicle or an external human performs display control of an image by manual control through the input unit without detecting opening and closing of a door or a window. For example, display control may be performed by a portable communication device such as a smart phone.

[0070] The present disclosure is not limited to a display device of an automatic driving vehicle, and may be applied to a vehicle including a display panel in a vehicle body or a window of an automobile which is not an automatic driving vehicle.

Claims

1. A vehicular display device comprising: a plurality of display panels (2) arranged on a vehicle body (10) of a vehicle and configured to display an image; and a display control unit (3) configured to control display of the image, and wherein the display panels (2, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26) include a movable portion provided on the vehicle body (10), wherein the display control unit (3) includes an image control unit (33) configured to control a display form of the image when operating the movable portion, characterised in that the image control unit is further configured to, when an image of one display panel (23, 24, 25) is hidden and covered by another display panel (21, 22, 26) due to the operating of the movable portion, display the image of the one display panel (23, 24, 25) on the other display panel (21, 22, 26).

2. The vehicular display device according to claim 1, wherein the image control unit (33) is configured to, when the movable portion is operated, display an image different from an image displayed on the other display panel (21, 22, 26) before the operation of the movable portion on the other display panel (21, 22, 26).

3. The vehicular display device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the movable portion is a door or a window provided on the vehicle body (10), and wherein the image control unit (33) is configured to control a display form of the image based on an opening and closing operation of the door or the window.

4. The vehicular display device according to claim 3, wherein the image control unit (33) is configured to, when the door or the window is opened or closed, control a display form of an image on the one display panel (23, 24, 25) to be overlapped with the door or the window, and a display form of an image on the other display panel (21, 22, 26) arranged on the door or the window.

5. The vehicular display device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising: a movable detection unit (36) configured to detect an operation of the movable portion, wherein the image control unit (33) is configured to control a display form of the image based on a detection output of the movable detection unit (36).

6. The vehicular display device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the image control unit (33) is configured to control a size, a shape, and brightness of the image.