Vehicle display device

Abstract

To provide a vehicle display device allowing a recognition device to accurately recognize a drawing pattern projected onto a road surface even when the drawing pattern is flashing.SOLUTION: A vehicle display device 20 includes: a visible light source 34 for emitting visible light while being repeatedly turned on and off; an invisible light source 36 for emitting invisible light; and a projection part 22, 24 for projecting, as a drawing pattern, the visible light emitted from the visible light source 34 and the invisible light emitted from the invisible light source 36 onto a road surface.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a display device for a vehicle. [Background technology]

[0002] A display device for a vehicle that uses light to draw a notification display on the road surface in the traveling direction of the vehicle has been conventionally known (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In this display device for a vehicle, the notification display may be flashed. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2023-055108 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, when a drawing pattern projected onto the road surface is recognized by a recognition device that recognizes the environment surrounding the vehicle, if the drawing pattern flashes (repeatedly turns on and off), there are times when it is off, which may prevent the recognition device from accurately recognizing the drawing pattern.

[0005] SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT DISCLOSURE An object of the present invention is to provide a display device for a vehicle that allows a recognition device to accurately recognize a drawing pattern projected onto a road surface even if the drawing pattern is blinking. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] In order to achieve the above object, a first aspect of the vehicle display device of the present invention includes a visible light source that irradiates visible light by repeatedly turning on and off, an invisible light source that irradiates invisible light, and a projection unit that projects the visible light irradiated from the visible light source and the invisible light irradiated from the invisible light source onto a road surface as a drawing pattern.

[0007] According to the first aspect of the invention, the visible light source repeatedly turns on and off. In other words, the visible light source blinks. Therefore, when the light emitted from the visible light source is projected onto the road surface by the projection unit as a drawing pattern, the drawing pattern blinks, but when the visible light source is off, the invisible light source is on. Therefore, there is no moment when the drawing pattern recognized by the recognition device is off, and the drawing pattern can be accurately recognized by the recognition device.

[0008] Furthermore, a second aspect of the vehicle display device according to the present invention is the vehicle display device of the first aspect, wherein the invisible light source is turned on when the visible light source is turned off, and the visible light source is turned on when the invisible light source is turned off.

[0009] According to the second aspect of the invention, the invisible light source is turned on when the visible light source is turned off, and the visible light source is turned on when the invisible light source is turned off. Therefore, there is no moment when the drawing pattern recognized by the recognition device is turned off, and the drawing pattern can be accurately recognized by the recognition device. In addition, excessive heat generation is suppressed compared to when the invisible light source is continuously turned on.

[0010] A vehicle display device according to a third aspect of the present invention is the vehicle display device according to the first aspect, wherein the invisible light source is turned on only when the visible light source is turned off.

[0011] According to the third aspect of the invention, the invisible light source is turned on only when the visible light source is turned off, which prevents excessive heat generation compared to when the invisible light source is turned on continuously.

[0012] Furthermore, a fourth aspect of the vehicle display device according to the present invention is the vehicle display device of the second or third aspect, wherein the invisible light source does not light up even if the visible light source is turned off when the vehicle is traveling at or above a predetermined speed.

[0013] According to the fourth aspect of the invention, when the vehicle is traveling at a predetermined speed or higher, the invisible light source is not turned on even if the visible light source is turned off. In other words, when the vehicle is traveling at a predetermined speed or higher, the drawing pattern is not projected onto the road surface, so there is no need to turn on the invisible light source. This contributes to saving power of the battery in the vehicle.

[0014] A vehicle display device according to a fifth aspect of the present invention is the vehicle display device according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, wherein the visible light source and the invisible light source are attached on a common substrate.

[0015] According to the fifth aspect of the invention, the visible light source and the invisible light source are mounted on a common substrate, which reduces the number of components and manufacturing costs compared to when the visible light source and the invisible light source are provided on separate substrates. Effect of the Invention

[0016] As described above, according to the present invention, even if a drawing pattern projected onto a road surface is blinking, the drawing pattern can be accurately recognized by the recognition device. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0017] [Figure 1] 1A and 1B are schematic plan views showing a drawing pattern when a vehicle equipped with the vehicle display device according to the present embodiment reverses and turns left while reversely driving, respectively; [Diagram 2] 1 is a schematic perspective view showing a configuration of a vehicle display device according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Diagram 3] 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a driving assistance system including a vehicle display device according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 4] 1 is a schematic perspective view showing a case where a drawing pattern is projected by the vehicle display device according to the present embodiment when the vehicle is moving backward; FIG. [Diagram 5]5 is a graph showing timings for turning on and off a visible light source and an invisible light source of the vehicle display device according to the embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0018] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. For convenience of explanation, the arrow UP shown in each drawing indicates the vehicle upward direction, the arrow FR indicates the vehicle forward direction, the arrow RE indicates the vehicle rearward direction, and the arrow RH indicates the vehicle rightward direction. Therefore, in the following explanation, when the directions of up / down, front / rear, and left / right are described without special mention, they refer to up / down in the vehicle up / down direction, front / rear in the vehicle front / rear direction, and left / right in the vehicle left / right direction (vehicle width direction).

[0019] As shown in FIG. 1, a road surface drawing lamp unit 20 (see FIG. 2) as a vehicle display device according to this embodiment is provided, as an example, in each of the rear lamps 12 on both the left and right sides of an autonomous vehicle (hereinafter simply referred to as "vehicle") 10 equipped with a driving assistance system having at least a collision damage mitigation assistance function and an automatic parking assistance function.

[0020] Therefore, when the vehicle 10 is parking, etc., and the vehicle 10 is moving backwards straight, in order to indicate the direction of travel, a predetermined drawing pattern Bp (for example, roughly U-shaped in a plan view with the opening side facing forward) (see Figure 1 (A)) is projected (drawn) on the road surface around the rear of the vehicle 10 by light emitted from the road surface drawing lamp units 20 on both the left and right sides.

[0021] When the vehicle 10 is parking, for example, and the vehicle 10 is reversing and turning left, in order to indicate the direction of travel, a predetermined drawing pattern Lp (for example, roughly "V" shaped in plan view with the opening side facing toward the front right) (see FIG. 1(B)) is projected (drawn) onto the road surface around the rear left side of the vehicle 10 by light emitted from the left road drawing lamp unit 20.

[0022] 2, the road surface drawing lamp unit 20 has a light irradiation device 30, a shade 22 that blocks a part of the light irradiated from the light irradiation device 30 to form a drawing pattern Bp when reversing as shown in Fig. 1(A) or a drawing pattern Lp when turning left while reversing as shown in Fig. 1(B), and the like, and a projection lens 24 that transmits the light that is not blocked by the shade 22 and projects it onto the road surface. The shade 22 and the projection lens 24 form a "projection unit."

[0023] The light irradiation device 30 has a unit board 32, a visible light source 34 attached approximately in the center of the front surface (one side) of the unit board 32, an invisible light source 36 attached approximately in the center of the front surface (one side) of the unit board 32 adjacent to the visible light source 34 in the left-right direction, and a connector 38 attached to the lower end of the back surface (the other side) of the unit board 32 and to which a power cable (not shown) for supplying power to the visible light source 34 and the invisible light source 36 is connected.

[0024] The connector 38 is not limited to being attached to the lower end of the back surface (other surface) of the unit substrate 32, and may be attached, for example, to a side portion of the back surface (other surface) of the unit substrate 32 or to the lower end of the front surface (one surface) of the unit substrate 32. The visible light source 34 and the invisible light source 36 may be attached in the left-right reverse to that shown in the figure.

[0025] Furthermore, the material of the common unit substrate 32 to which both the visible light source 34 and the invisible light source 36 are attached is not particularly limited, and examples thereof include aluminum, copper, ceramic, etc. Similarly, the visible light source 34 and the invisible light source 36 are also not particularly limited as long as they are high-brightness light sources, and examples thereof include light-emitting diodes (LEDs: Light Emitting Diodes), semiconductor lasers (LDs: Laser Diodes), etc.

[0026] 3, the road surface drawing lamp unit 20 is electrically connected to a road surface drawing control unit 26, which is electrically connected to a vehicle control unit 28 that comprehensively controls the operation of the vehicle 10. The road surface drawing control unit 26 controls the turning on and off of the visible light source 34 and the invisible light source 36 in response to instructions from the vehicle control unit 28, and alternately turns on the visible light source 34 and the invisible light source 36.

[0027] 5, the invisible light source 36 is controlled by the road surface drawing control unit 26 so that it automatically turns on when the visible light source 34 is turned off, and the visible light source 34 is automatically turned on when the invisible light source 36 is turned off. In this way, the road surface drawing control unit 26 controls the power supply to the visible light source 34 and the invisible light source 36 so that the invisible light source 36 turns on only when the visible light source 34 is turned off, and the visible light source 34 and the invisible light source 36 are turned on and off alternately at a predetermined timing without delay.

[0028] Therefore, the visible light source 34 and the invisible light source 36 are not both lit. For example, as shown in FIG. 4, when the drawing pattern Bp is projected (drawn) onto the road surface, there are two types of cases: the drawing pattern Bp is projected (drawn) only by visible light irradiated from the visible light source 34, and the drawing pattern Bp is projected (drawn) only by invisible light irradiated from the invisible light source 36.

[0029] Furthermore, when the speed of the vehicle 10 is equal to or higher than a predetermined speed, for example, equal to or higher than 16 km / h at which the automatic parking assistance function is disabled, the road surface drawing control unit 26 controls the invisible light sources 36 not to be turned on even if the visible light sources 34 are turned off. In other words, when the speed of the vehicle 10 is equal to or higher than the predetermined speed, both the visible light sources 34 and the invisible light sources 36 can be turned off.

[0030] 3, the vehicle 10 (see FIG. 1) is provided with a camera 14 as a recognition device (image recognition sensor) that constantly recognizes (monitors) the surrounding environment of the vehicle 10. The camera 14 is electrically connected to a collision damage mitigation support control unit 16 and an automatic parking support control unit 18, and the collision damage mitigation support control unit 16 and the automatic parking support control unit 18 are also electrically connected to a vehicle control unit 28.

[0031] Furthermore, because the camera 14 can recognize both visible light and invisible light, even if the visible light source 34 and the invisible light source 36 are alternately turned on, the drawing pattern Bp or drawing pattern Lp, etc. projected (drawn) on the road surface is recognized as being constantly (continuously) projected. Note that, since the naked eye of an occupant (human) can only see visible light and cannot see invisible light, the drawing pattern Bp or drawing pattern Lp, etc. projected (drawn) on the road surface appears to be flashing.

[0032] Furthermore, the collision damage mitigation support control unit 16 and the automatic parking support control unit 18 are configured to recognize the surrounding environment of the vehicle 10 photographed (detected) by the camera 14, excluding in advance the drawing pattern Bp, drawing pattern Lp, etc. projected (drawn) on the road surface. In other words, if the drawing pattern Bp, drawing pattern Lp, etc. are projected (drawn) on the road surface, the driving support system may not be able to accurately recognize the road surface conditions and the presence or absence of pedestrians, etc., which may cause a decrease in accuracy or malfunction of the driving support system.

[0033] Therefore, in the collision damage mitigation support control unit 16 and the automatic parking support control unit 18, the range in which the drawing pattern Bp or the drawing pattern Lp, etc. is projected (drawn) is set as the recognition exclusion target range on the driving support system side. However, since the projection range of the drawing pattern Bp or the drawing pattern Lp, etc. is wide, if a wide range is set as the recognition exclusion target range, the amount of information acquired by the camera 14 will be insufficient, and a decrease in accuracy on the driving support system side may be unavoidable.

[0034] In particular, when the surrounding environment of the parking space, for example, when there is a wall around the parking space, the drawing pattern Bp or drawing pattern Lp, etc. is projected (drawn) onto the wall, etc., and erroneous recognition may occur in a location outside the recognition exclusion target range. Therefore, in this embodiment, the driving assistance system is made to learn the shape characteristics of the drawing pattern Bp or drawing pattern Lp, etc., so that even if the drawing pattern Bp or drawing pattern Lp, etc. projected (drawn) onto the wall, etc. is photographed (detected) by the camera 14, the drawing pattern Bp or drawing pattern Lp, etc. can be included in the recognition exclusion target range.

[0035] In this manner, in this embodiment, even if the drawing pattern Bp, the drawing pattern Lp, etc. are projected (drawn) on the road surface, there is no effect on the driving assistance operation (driving assistance system) controlled by the collision damage mitigation assistance control unit 16 and the automatic parking assistance control unit 18. In other words, a decrease in accuracy or a malfunction on the driving assistance system side is suppressed or prevented.

[0036] Next, the operation of the road surface drawing lamp unit 20 as the vehicle display device according to the present embodiment configured as described above will be described. Note that, although the operation will be described here when the vehicle 10 is automatically parked (when automatic parking assistance is being performed), the operation is not limited to this.

[0037] When the vehicle 10 is automatically parked (when automatic parking assistance is being performed), the camera 14 detects the road surface conditions around the vehicle 10, and the steering wheel, accelerator, and brakes are automatically operated under the control of the automatic parking assistance control unit 18 and the vehicle control unit 28. In addition, when the camera 14 detects a pedestrian in the traveling direction of the vehicle 10 (for example, a pedestrian behind the vehicle 10 when reversing), a warning sound is generated and the brakes are automatically operated under the control of the collision damage mitigation support control unit 16 and the vehicle control unit 28.

[0038] At that time, under the control of the vehicle control unit 28 and the road surface drawing control unit 26, the road surface drawing lamp unit 20 projects (draws) onto the road surface a drawing pattern indicating the traveling direction of the vehicle 10, i.e., a drawing pattern Bp indicating going straight backward as shown in Figures 1(A) and 4, or a drawing pattern Lp indicating turning left while going backward as shown in Figure 1(B).

[0039] Here, the collision damage mitigation support control unit 16 and the automatic parking support control unit 18 set the drawing pattern Bp or the drawing pattern Lp, etc. as the recognition exclusion target range. Therefore, even if the drawing pattern Bp or the drawing pattern Lp, etc. is projected (drawn) on the road surface, a decrease in accuracy or occurrence of a malfunction on the driving support system side is suppressed or prevented, but this is premised on the fact that the drawing pattern Bp or the drawing pattern Lp, etc. is always projected (drawn).

[0040] However, since the drawing pattern Bp or the drawing pattern Lp, etc. are intended to improve safety, particularly at night, they may flash in conjunction with turn lamps, hazard lamps, etc. Specifically, the flashing of the drawing pattern Bp or the drawing pattern Lp, etc. is repeated in a cycle of, for example, about 0.33 seconds, similar to the turn lamps and hazard lamps. Therefore, there is a possibility that the processing on the driving assistance system side including the camera 14 cannot keep up with this cycle.

[0041] Particularly at night, in order to obtain stable camera images, it is necessary to ensure that there is enough time (exposure time) for the image sensor of camera 14 to absorb light. However, if the light is only turned on every 0.33 seconds, the frame rate, which is the number of images that can be obtained per second, decreases, causing a noticeable lack of processing on the part of the driving assistance system including camera 14, and slowing down the speed at which the driving assistance system recognizes the surrounding environment of vehicle 10.

[0042] Therefore, in this embodiment, as described above, the visible light source 34 and the invisible light source 36 are alternately turned on. That is, the road surface drawing control unit 26 controls the power supply to the visible light source 34 and the invisible light source 36 so that the invisible light source 36 is turned on only when the visible light source 34 is turned off, and the visible light source 34 and the invisible light source 36 are alternately turned on and off without delay at a predetermined timing.

[0043] According to this, to the naked eye of the occupant (human), the drawing pattern Bp or drawing pattern Lp, etc. appears to be projected only when the visible light source 34 is turned on, but to the camera 14, even when the visible light source 34 is turned off, the drawing pattern Bp or drawing pattern Lp, etc. appears to be always being projected (as if there is never a moment when it is turned off), because the invisible light source 36 is turned on at that time.

[0044] That is, the camera 14 can always continue to accurately and appropriately recognize the drawing pattern Bp or the drawing pattern Lp, etc., regardless of whether the visible light source 34 is on or off. Therefore, even if the drawing pattern Bp or the drawing pattern Lp, etc., projected on the road surface flashes when viewed by the naked eye of the occupant, it is possible to reliably suppress or prevent a decrease in accuracy or a malfunction on the driving assistance system side.

[0045] Furthermore, when the vehicle 10 is traveling at a predetermined speed (e.g., 16 km / h) or higher, the road surface drawing control unit 26 is configured not to turn on the invisible light sources 36 even if the visible light sources 34 are turned off. In other words, when the vehicle 10 is traveling at a predetermined speed or higher, the drawing pattern Bp or the drawing pattern Lp, etc. are not projected onto the road surface, so there is no need to turn on the invisible light sources 36. This makes it possible to conserve battery power in the vehicle 10.

[0046] In the road surface drawing lamp unit 20 according to this embodiment, the visible light source 34 and the invisible light source 36 are mounted on a common unit substrate 32. Therefore, compared to a case in which the visible light source 34 and the invisible light source 36 are mounted on separate unit substrates (not shown), the number of parts can be reduced, and manufacturing costs can be reduced. In addition, since the visible light source 34 and the invisible light source 36 are not turned on at the same time (the invisible light source 36 is not turned on continuously), excessive heat generation in the unit substrate 32 can be suppressed.

[0047] When the automatic parking assistance is performed, when the vehicle 10 is driven forward or backward and turns left or right to park, only the turn lamps on either the left or right side are turned on. In other words, the turn lamps on the other side are turned off. Therefore, the amount of light on either the left or right side is insufficient, which may reduce the frame rate of the camera 14 and the recognition speed of the driving assistance system.

[0048] Therefore, only the invisible light source 36 may be continuously turned on on either the left or the right side, and the invisible light may be utilized as auxiliary light for the camera 14. This allows the recognition speed of the camera 14 to be improved even in darkness, such as at night, when it becomes difficult for the camera 14 to recognize the surrounding environment.

[0049] Although the road surface drawing lamp unit 20 as a vehicle display device according to this embodiment has been described above with reference to the drawings, the road surface drawing lamp unit 20 according to this embodiment is not limited to the one shown in the drawings, and the design can be appropriately changed within the scope of the present invention. For example, the shape of the projection lens 24 is not limited to the approximately hemispherical shape shown in the drawings.

[0050] Furthermore, it is preferable that the invisible light source 36 is turned on when the visible light source 34 is turned off, and the visible light source 34 is turned on when the invisible light source 36 is turned off, but this is not limited thereto. For example, there may be an off timing of about 0.01 seconds between the timing when the visible light source 34 is turned off and the timing when the invisible light source 36 is turned on. Furthermore, the invisible light source 36 may be configured to be continuously turned on as long as the unit substrate 32 is configured to suppress excessive heat generation.

[0051] Furthermore, the road surface drawing lamp unit 20 may be provided with two unit boards, one with a visible light source 34 attached (not shown) and the other with an invisible light source 36 attached (not shown). These may be provided with the same (common) shade 22 and projection lens 24, or two shades (not shown) and two projection lenses (not shown) provided for each unit board, to project the drawing pattern Bp or Lp, etc., onto the road surface. [Explanation of symbols]

[0052] 10 Vehicles 20 Road surface drawing lamp unit (vehicle display device) 22 Shade (projection part) 24 Projection lens (projection part) 32 Unit board (board) 34 Visible light source 36 Invisible light source

Claims

1. a visible light source that irradiates visible light by repeatedly turning on and off; An invisible light source that emits invisible light; a projection unit that projects the visible light emitted from the visible light source and the invisible light emitted from the invisible light source onto a road surface as a drawing pattern; A vehicle display device comprising:

2. The display device for a vehicle according to claim 1 , wherein the invisible light source is turned on at a timing when the visible light source is turned off, and the visible light source is turned on at a timing when the invisible light source is turned off.

3. The display device for a vehicle according to claim 1 , wherein the invisible light source is turned on only when the visible light source is turned off.

4. 4. The vehicle display device according to claim 2, wherein the invisible light source does not light up even if the visible light source is turned off while the vehicle is traveling at a predetermined speed or faster.

5. 4. The display device for a vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the visible light source and the invisible light source are mounted on a common substrate.

Images