Reflection display system for a motor vehicle

Abstract

The invention relates to a reflection display system in a vehicle, comprising: a display device with a display surface for displaying a display image; a dashboard with a depression which has a bottom surface on which the display surface of the display device is arranged; wherein the display surface is inclined to the rear with respect to the longitudinal direction of the vehicle.

Description

[0001] Description

[0002] Reflection display system for a motor vehicle

[0003] The invention relates to display systems for motor vehicles for the visual representation of driving and vehicle-related information, navigation, communication, and / or media information. The invention further relates to measures for suppressing glare caused by reflected ambient light incident on the display surface of a display device.

[0004] Motor vehicles are equipped with a variety of display devices, which can be simple illuminated symbols, pointer instruments, or screen displays. The display devices are arranged so that the driver can grasp the information to be transmitted as quickly as possible.

[0005] With projection displays, such as head-up displays, it is also possible to project a symbol or image information into the driver's eye. A combiner surface, particularly in the form of a reflective surface on the windshield, is used to reflect a light beam projected by the projection device, so that the image to be displayed can be perceived by the driver without changing their line of sight. However, projection devices for head-up displays require considerable installation space, and particularly in smaller vehicles, it is difficult to implement a large-area display in the form of a head-up display because the necessary installation space is lacking within the instrument panel, i.e., beneath the top of the instrument panel.

[0006] Panoramic HUD displays are also known, which are formed by arranging display devices on the upper surface of an instrument panel. These display devices generate a luminous image on their display surface, which is reflected via a lower section of the windshield into the eye area of ​​a vehicle occupant. Such a panoramic HUD display thus does not require a complex optical system, and the image reflected there can be seen by all vehicle occupants via the windshield. Such display devices do not offer the option of displaying specific image content only for one or some of the vehicle occupants.

[0007] Such conventional panoramic head-up display systems, which reflect a display image across the transparent area of ​​the windshield, lack the necessary contrast for image perception, making such a display device unapprovable as the sole display for legally required displays in motor vehicles. To increase the display contrast, reflection can be achieved via an opaque lower area of ​​the windshield, also known as the black print area or windshield root area. Since the upper edge of this black print area may, by law, restrict the line of sight vertically by no less than 4° below the horizontal, the height of the black print area is limited.

[0008] The object of the present invention is to provide a substantially optics-free (no means for beam shaping) reflective display system for a motor vehicle, in which a display image from a display device on the upper side of the instrument panel is perceptible to a vehicle occupant by reflection from a black print area of ​​the windshield, wherein the greatest possible height of the display image is to be achieved and, at the same time, the glare of a user due to ambient light incident on the display surface or due to direct viewing of the display surface in the case of bright display information is to be avoided. According to a first aspect, a reflective display system is provided in a vehicle, comprising:

[0009] - a display device with a display surface for displaying a display image;

[0010] - an instrument panel with a recess having a bottom surface on which the display surface of the display device is arranged;

[0011] - the display surface being inclined rearward relative to the horizontal with respect to the longitudinal direction of the vehicle.

[0012] Furthermore, a windscreen can extend rearward at an angle of between 45 and 65° relative to a perpendicular to the vehicle longitudinal direction, wherein a lower section of the windscreen is designed as an opaque reflective surface, wherein a front wall of the recess directly adjoins a lower edge of the windscreen or is offset rearward at a distance of not more than 5 cm from the lower edge of the windscreen relative to a vehicle longitudinal direction.

[0013] When displaying a wide-area image using such an optics-free reflective display system, one challenge is to design it so that information can be visually displayed with sufficient contrast at all possible eye positions within an eye box. Furthermore, the display system's layout should minimize direct or indirect glare to vehicle occupants.

[0014] The eye area indicates possible positions of pairs of eyes of vehicle occupants sitting on regular vehicle seats. In particular, the eye area is defined around an eye pair point according to 77 / 649 / EEC as position V2 of the eye pair in the vehicle interior. The eye area can be oriented accordingly and span an area around the eye pair point V2, which is defined, for example, in the vehicle longitudinal direction V2 - 200 mm to V2 + 2000 mm, in the transverse direction V2 - 100 mm to V2 + 100 mm and in the vertical direction V2 to V2 + 150 mm. The above display system can provide for the arrangement of a display device on a base surface of a recess in the instrument panel, the front wall of which (with respect to a vehicle longitudinal direction) is directly adjacent to the lower edge of the windscreen or is offset rearward by a small distance of no more than 5 cm from the lower edge of the windscreen with respect to a vehicle longitudinal direction.The arrangement of the recess near the lower edge of the front screen enables the best possible use of the entire height of a black print area of ​​the front screen for the reflection of the display image.

[0015] The arrangement of the display device in the recess prevents a vehicle occupant from directly viewing the display surface of the display device.

[0016] This means that the display surface of the display device is positioned at the bottom of the recess in such a way that a rear edge of the recess, along with the top of the instrument panel, does not allow a direct view of the display surface from the vehicle occupants' eye area. Conversely, this means that the recess has a corresponding depth.

[0017] The black print area represents a blackened, i.e., non-transparent area in the lower part of the windshield. It serves to reflect the display image of the display device so that a vehicle occupant (with a pair of eyes in the eye area) can perceive a display image in the black print area with high contrast without interference from external light. The reflective surface has an upper edge that limits the viewing angle of the vehicle's surroundings to no less than 4° below the horizontal for all eye positions within the defined eye area (eye box). (4° applies only to the driver.)

[0018] The distance between the rear edge of the display surface (relative to the vehicle's longitudinal direction) and the upper edge of the black print area (in a direction perpendicular to the vehicle's transverse direction) can have a shielding angle to the vertical to the rear between 0 and 20°. Thus, ambient light incident on the display surface does not reach the shielding angle at least within an angular range of -90° (from the front) up to the shielding angle.

[0019] The arrangement and design of the black print area, the dimensions of the recess and the display surface of the display device are further coordinated in such a way that incident ambient light from the angular ranges between the screening angle and the angle of inclination of the windscreen to the vertical or vertical to the rear (relative to the vehicle's longitudinal direction from the rear) does not lead to a direct reflection into the eye of a vehicle occupant.

[0020] In particular, the upper edge of the reflection area can be arranged such that a first angle a to the surface normal of the display surface in the longitudinal direction towards the rear satisfies the following relationship: where the first angle α corresponds to an angle between the surface normal of the inclined display surface and the distance between the rear edge of the display surface and the upper edge of the reflection area in the vertical direction, the second angle β corresponds to the angle of incidence of the viewing ray from the eye pair point to the front screen with respect to the surface normal of the front screen and d corresponds to the smallest distance of the front edge of the display surface to the front screen.

[0021] The parameters of the above function can be -0.8 <A<-0,65, vorzugsweise A = - 0,72, 0,3 < B < 0,5, vorzugsweise B = 0,38, und 65° < C < 75°, vorzugsweise C = 71 ° betragen.

[0022] Alternatively, the angles 17° <a<53°, 60°<ß <80°, und 5mm<d<25mm gewählt werden Fällt Umgebungslicht bzw. direktes Sonnenlicht durch die Frontscheibe direkt auf die Anzeigefläche der Anzeigeeinrichtung, so bewirkt die Neigung der Anzeigefläche eine Reflexion des Umgebungslichts auf den Schwarzdruckbereich und von dort auf die Absorptionsfläche bzw. lenkt die Reflexion sicher in eine Richtung außerhalb des Augenbereiches. Auf diese Weise wird auch für schräg auf die Anzeigefläche einfallendes Umgebungslicht eine Blendung von Fahrzeuginsassen durch reflektiertes Umgebungslicht vermieden.

[0023] In addition, a recess can be used to create a rear wall (relative to the vehicle's longitudinal direction) with an optically weakly reflective or light-absorbing absorption surface onto which externally incident ambient light can be reflected. The absorption surface thus serves as a mirror bank to eliminate ambient light from the display system, preventing it from reaching the eye area. The edge formed by the recess and the upper side of the instrument panel thus serves, on the one hand, to prevent a vehicle occupant from directly viewing the display surface of the display device and, on the other hand, as the upper edge for the absorption surface.

[0024] In a further embodiment, such a display system can be configured across the entire width of the windshield. For this purpose, it is sufficient to arrange several display devices, particularly at a distance along the windshield in a corresponding recess. The display devices are arranged at an angle to each other according to the curvature of the windshield, so that a substantially horizontal image is perceived in the reflection area of ​​the windshield.

[0025] The display surfaces can be arranged at an obtuse horizontal angle to each other, corresponding to the curvature of the windscreen. In particular, in the case of substantially rectangular display surfaces, the corners of each of the display surfaces facing the windscreen can be at the same distance from the windscreen.

[0026] Alternatively or additionally, the display surfaces can be inclined inwards to the vertical, i.e. around a vehicle longitudinal axis (x-direction), so that in the case of several display devices, an interior of the display surfaces is arranged parallel to the horizontal and the display surfaces offset from the center in the y-direction (transverse direction) are each inclined with their outer edge upwards or downwards, so that a substantially horizontal image is perceived via the curved reflection surface of the windscreen.

[0027] Furthermore, curvatures of the windscreen can be compensated by pre-distortion (warping) of the display content, so that a floating, seemingly continuous display image is created for the vehicle occupants.

[0028] The display surfaces can be arranged according to the curvature of the front screen with an obtuse angle to each other with respect to a rotation about the z-direction, so that the average distance from a lower edge of the front screen is the same or as constant as possible.

[0029] In particular, the angle of rotation around the z-direction can be between 0 and 25°.

[0030] The display surfaces can be inclined inwardly around a vehicle's longitudinal axis, corresponding to the curvature of the windshield, so that, in the case of multiple display devices, a central display surface is arranged parallel to the horizontal, and the display surfaces offset from the center in the transverse direction (y-direction) are each inclined upwards or downwards with their outer edges, so that a substantially horizontal image is perceived on the reflective surface of the windshield. The corresponding angle of inclination can be between -22° (downward) and +22° (upward). Embodiments are explained in more detail below with reference to the attached drawings. They show:

[0031] Figures 1 a and 1 b are schematic representations of a display system in a motor vehicle in a cross-sectional view and an interior view;

[0032] Figure 2 is a schematic representation of a line of sight to illustrate the suppression of direct glare;

[0033] Figure 3 is a schematic representation of a viewing beam for displaying the display image of the display device;

[0034] Figure 4 is a schematic representation of the limitation of the angular range of ambient light incident on the display surface; and

[0035] Figure 5 is a schematic representation of a path of a light beam of incident ambient light that is reflected twice onto an absorption surface;

[0036] Figure 6 is a schematic representation of the dimensions and angle designations of the display device; and

[0037] Figures 7a and 7b show a plan view of a motor vehicle and a schematic interior view to illustrate the arrangement of several display devices distributed across the width of the vehicle.

[0038] Figures 1a and 1b show a schematic longitudinal sectional view through a motor vehicle with a reflective display system 1 and a view from the perspective of the driver of the motor vehicle, respectively. The reflective display system 1 has a display device 2 arranged on a substantially horizontally extending upper side of an instrument panel 4. The instrument panel 4 has a substantially horizontal upper surface 41 that extends substantially across the entire width (perpendicular to the direction of view) of the motor vehicle 1.

[0039] The display device 2 comprises an upwardly directed display surface 3 for displaying a display image. The display device 2 is arranged on the upper side of the instrument panel 4 and, in a conventional manner, below a section of a windshield 5 that serves as a reflective surface 8. The windshield 5 is tilted rearward in a conventional manner at an angle of inclination between 40 and 60° to the vertical relative to the vehicle's longitudinal direction.

[0040] The instrument panel 4 has a substantially horizontal upper surface 41 which extends substantially over the entire width (perpendicular to the direction of view) of the motor vehicle 1.

[0041] The reflective surface 8 can extend over a large part of the width of the front pane 5 directly at a lower region of the front pane 5. The reflective surface 8 represents a pane root region, which can be designed as a black print region, i.e. non-transparent, wherein the inside of the front pane 5 can be designed to be reflective in the region of the black print region. An upper edge 81 of the black print region, at which the front pane 5 becomes transparent, generally has a height of between 8 and 25 cm from the lower edge of the front pane 5, depending in particular on the inclination of the front pane 5. The upper edge 81 of the reflective surface 8 forms, with a lowest eye position in the eye region B, a line of sight which is not less than 4° downwards to the horizontal.

[0042] The display device 2 is controlled by a control unit 9 to output a desired display image as a display image, which is to be perceived by the vehicle occupant after reflection via the reflective surface 8. The display device 2 is preferably designed as a light-emitting display device, in particular as an LCD display unit with a high-brightness backlight or as a micro-LED display unit, in order to provide a bright display image.

[0043] The display device 2 adjoins the lower edge 51 of the windscreen 5 or is spaced from it only at a small distance of, for example, up to 5 cm, so that the display device 2 extends rearward into the interior 4 of the motor vehicle 1.

[0044] As shown schematically in cross-section in Figure 2, the display device 2 can be mounted in the recess 6 on the upper side 41 of the instrument panel 4 in such a way that the vehicle occupant cannot have a direct view (visual ray S dashed) of the display surface 3 of the display device 2 and dazzling of the vehicle occupants by direct display light from the display surface 3 into the eye area B is avoided.

[0045] The recess 6 forms an edge K with the upper side of the instrument panel 4, which edge has a height relative to the display surface of the display device 2 arranged in the recess 6 such that no direct view of the display surface 3 of the display device 2 is possible from any possible position of the pair of eyes within the eye area B. The eye area can extend around a position V2 according to standard 77 / 649 / EEC. For example, the eye area can be defined starting from the eye pair point of position V2, which can extend in the vehicle's longitudinal direction V2 - 200 mm to V2 + 2000 mm, in the transverse direction V2 - 100 mm to V2 + 100 mm, and in the vertical direction V2 to V2 + 150 mm.

[0046] Furthermore, as schematically shown in Figure 3, the display surface 3 of the display device 2 is arranged such that a display image to be output is reflected on the reflection surface 8 and can be perceived by a vehicle occupant for each eye position in the eye area B. The position of the eye area B, the angle of the windscreen 5 and its distance from the eye area B and the distance of the display surface 3 from the lower edge of the reflection surface 8 are coordinated with one another, so that an output display image can be perceived completely via the reflection surface 8 from both a lowest and a top position of a pair of eyes in the intended predetermined eye area B.

[0047] The recess has a front wall 61 and a rear wall 62, wherein the rear wall 62 can be designed as an absorption surface, i.e., as a weakly reflective surface. Preferably, the wall 62 is oriented such that it is not visible from the eye area B, either directly or via the reflection in the front panel 5 or reflective surface 8.

[0048] As illustrated in Figure 4, the upper edge 81 of the reflective surface 8 can be arranged directly above a rear edge of the display surface 3 with respect to a vertical or can be arranged further rearward, so that first ambient light U1 from a first angular range W1 between -90° (frontward) to the vertical and a shielding angle does not fall directly onto the display surface 3. The upper edge of the black print area can be offset further rearward, so that a shielding angle between 0° and 40° is formed between the rear edge of the display surface 3 and the upper edge 81 of the reflective surface 8 to the vertical.

[0049] Furthermore, directly incident second ambient light U2 can be totally reflected on the inside of the front pane 5 in a second angular range W2 between 40° and 90°.

[0050] Furthermore, the edge K can additionally prevent ambient light from the angular range between the angular ranges W2 and W3 from falling onto the display surface, thus protecting the display surface from overheating and harmful light emissions. Incident third ambient light U3 from directions within a third angular range W3 between the shielding angle and the lower angle of the second angular range W2 can reach the display surface 3.

[0051] As shown in Figure 5 using the ray path for a light beam of the third ambient light U3, the display surface 3 can be tilted backward relative to the horizontal in order to reflect the third ambient light U3, which is not totally reflected, is shielded by the reflection surface 8, or is shielded by the edge K of the recess, onto a lower region of the reflection surface 8, from where it is directed onto the absorption surface of the rear wall 62 of the recess 6. The third ambient light U3, thus twice reflected, is absorbed on the absorption surface and thus cannot lead to dazzling of a vehicle occupant.

[0052] Figure 6 shows the angle designations of the reflection angle ß at the reflection surface 8, the angle α of the distance between the rear edge G of the display surface 3 and the upper edge 81 of the reflection surface and the distance of the front edge D of the display surface 3 from the front panel 5.

[0053] In particular, the upper edge 81 of the reflection area 8 can be arranged such that a first angle a to the surface normal of the display surface 3 in the longitudinal direction towards the rear satisfies the following relationship: where the first angle α corresponds to an angle between the surface normal of the inclined display surface 3 and the distance between the rear edge G of the display surface 3 and the upper edge 81 of the reflection area 8 in the vertical direction, the second angle β corresponds to the angle of incidence of the viewing ray from the eye pair point onto the front screen 5 with respect to the surface normal of the front screen 5, and d corresponds to the smallest distance of the front edge D of the display surface 3 to the front screen 5. The parameters of the above function can be -0.8 <A<-0,65, vorzugsweise A=-0,72, 0,3 < B < 0,5, vorzugsweise B = 0,38, und 65° < C < 75°, vorzugsweise C=71 ° betragen.

[0054] Alternatively, the angles 17° <a<53°, 60°<ß <80° und die Entfernung d mit 5mm<d<25mm gewählt werden

[0055] As shown in the schematic top view of the vehicle in Figure 7a and the interior view in Figure 7b, several separate display devices 2 can be arranged in corresponding recesses in the instrument panel 4, distributed across the width W of the vehicle or the width of the windshield 5. The essentially rectangular display devices 2 can follow the curved contour of the lower edge 51 of the windshield 5.

[0056] The display surfaces 3 can be rotated about the z-direction, i.e., for example, with multiple display devices 2, a middle one of the display devices 2 can be arranged with its surface parallel to the horizontal and with its longitudinal dimensions parallel to the transverse direction (y-direction). The outer display devices 2 (offset from the center in the width direction) can be arranged with respect to their longitudinal directions at a rotation angle θ in the horizontal such that the arrangement adapts to the curvature of the front panel 5. In particular, the rotation angle θ about the z-direction can be between 0° and 25°, where 0° corresponds to the transverse direction.

[0057] Furthermore, as shown in Figure 7b, the display surfaces 3 can be inclined relative to the vertical in the longitudinal direction (x-direction). This means, for example, that with multiple display devices 2, a central one of the display devices 2 can be arranged with its surface parallel to the horizontal, and the outer display devices 2 (offset from the center in the width direction) can each be inclined with their outer edge upwards or downwards by an inclination angle £. The inclination angle can be between -22° and +22°. With a curved front panel 5, this enables a substantially unadulterated display of information via the reflective surface 8.

[0058] In order to compensate for the curvature of the window even better, the display image shown on the display device 2 can be transformed using the control unit 9 in order to present the reflected display image to a vehicle occupant with as little distortion as possible.

[0059] List of reference symbols

[0060] 1 reflection display system

[0061] 2 Display device

[0062] 3 Display area

[0063] 4 Instrument panel

[0064] 41 upper surface

[0065] 5 Windscreen

[0066] 8 Reflection surface

[0067] 81 Top edge of the reflection surface

[0068] 9 Control unit

[0069] 6 Deepening

[0070] 61 front wall

[0071] 62 rear wall

[0072] U1 first ambient light

[0073] W1 first angle range

[0074] U2 second ambient light

[0075] W2 second angle range

[0076] U3 third ambient light

[0077] \N3 third angle area

Claims

Claims 1. A reflection display system (1) in a vehicle, comprising: - a display device (2) with a display surface (3) for displaying a display image; - an instrument panel (4) with a recess (6) having a bottom surface on which the display surface of the display device (2) is arranged; - wherein the display surface (3) is inclined rearward with respect to the longitudinal direction of the vehicle.

2. Reflection display system according to claim 1, wherein a windscreen (5) extends rearward at an angle of between 45 and 65° with respect to a perpendicular to the vehicle longitudinal direction, wherein a lower section of the windscreen (5) is designed as a reflective surface (8) which is opaque or has a transmission of less than 30%, wherein a front wall of the recess (6) directly adjoins a lower edge of the windscreen (5) or is offset rearward at a distance of not more than 5 cm from the lower edge of the windscreen (5) with respect to a vehicle longitudinal direction.

3. Reflection display system (1) according to claim 2, wherein a rear wall of the recess (6) has a height which does not allow a direct view of the display surface (3) when a pair of eyes is positioned in a conventional eye area of a vehicle occupant sitting on a vehicle seat.

4. Reflection display system (1) according to claim 3, wherein the rear wall of the recess (6) is provided with an optically weakly reflecting or light-absorbing absorption surface.

5. Reflection display system (1) according to one of claims 2 to 4, wherein a distance between a rear edge (G) of the display surface (3) and the upper edge of the reflection surface (8) has a first angle a to the surface normal of the display surface (3) between 17° and 53°.

6. Reflection display system (1) according to one of claims 2 to 5, wherein a distance between a rear edge (G) of the display surface (3) and the upper edge (81) of the reflection surface (8) has a first angle α to the surface normal of the display surface (3) in the vertical rearward direction, which angle satisfies the following relationship: wherein the second angle ß corresponds to the angle of incidence of the viewing ray from the eye pair point onto the front screen (5) with respect to the surface normal of the front screen (5) and d corresponds to the smallest distance between the front edge of the display surface (3) and the front screen (5) and A, B and C are predetermined parameters.

7. Reflection display system (1) according to claim 6, wherein for the parameter A -0.8 <a<-0,65, vorzugsweise a="-0,72," und oder für den parameter b="0,38," 0,3 < 0,5, c="71" 65° 75°, ° gilt.

8. Reflection display system (1) according to one of claims 1 to 7, wherein a plurality of display devices (2) are arranged over an entire width of the front panel (5), in particular at a distance from one another, each in a corresponding recess (6).

9. Reflective display system (1) according to claim 8, wherein the display surfaces (3) are arranged at an obtuse angle to one another in the horizontal direction corresponding to a curvature of the windscreen (5) and / or the display surfaces (3) are inclined inwards to the vertical, ie around a vehicle longitudinal axis, so that in the case of a plurality of display devices (2), a central one of the display surfaces (3) is arranged parallel to the horizontal and the display surfaces (3) offset from the center in the transverse direction (y-direction) are each inclined with their outer edge upwards or downwards, so that a substantially horizontal image is perceived on the reflective surface (8) of the windscreen (5).

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