Image display device

Abstract

To provide an image display device capable of suppressing a transparent sheet from peeling off from an upper surface portion of a housing.SOLUTION: A housing 2 has an upper surface portion 20 in which an opening 21 through which light for forming a predetermined image is emitted is formed. A transparent sheet is disposed on the upper surface portion 20 so as to cover the opening 21 of the upper surface portion 20. The upper surface portion 20 has a support surface 22 on which the transparent sheet is placed. The support surface 22 includes a curved portion 221 and two straight portions 222. When the side surface of the upper surface portion 20 is viewed from a first direction, the curved portion 221 is curved, and the two straight portions 222 extend from both ends of the curved portion 221 in a tangential direction of an edge portion of the curved portion 221.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to an image display device. [Background technology]

[0002] The document discloses a head-up display (HUD) that projects image light emitted from a picture generation unit (PGU) onto a windshield using an optical system, and reflects the light from the windshield to superimpose a virtual image onto the real space in front of the vehicle. An opening is formed in the top surface of the HUD housing through which the image light exits. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] International Publication No. 2021 / 065820 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] Incidentally, an opening formed on the top surface of the HUD housing is covered with a transparent sheet to prevent liquids such as water from entering the housing. The transparent sheet is arranged on the top surface of the housing so that it is convex downward to facilitate drainage. Therefore, the support surface that supports the transparent sheet on the top surface of the housing is generally arc-shaped when viewed from the side. However, as the transparent sheet deteriorates over time, it becomes more rigid and less flexible, so if the support surface is curved in this way, gaps are likely to form between the edge of the support surface and the transparent sheet.

[0005] An object of the present disclosure is to provide an image display device that prevents a transparent sheet from peeling off from the top surface of a housing. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] An image display device according to one aspect of the present disclosure includes: An image display device configured to display a predetermined image as a virtual image toward an occupant of a vehicle, a housing having an upper surface portion formed with an opening through which light for forming the predetermined image is emitted; a transparent sheet disposed on the upper surface portion so as to cover the opening of the upper surface portion; It is equipped with the upper surface portion has a support surface on which the transparent sheet is placed, the support surface has a curved portion and two straight portions; When the side surface of the upper surface portion is viewed from a first direction, the curved portion is curved, and the two straight portions extend from both ends of the curved portion in a tangential direction to the edge of the curved portion. [Effects of the Invention]

[0007] According to the present disclosure, it is possible to provide an image display device that prevents the transparent sheet from peeling off from the upper surface of the housing. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] 1 is a schematic diagram of a head-up display (HUD) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, viewed from the side of a vehicle. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating the configuration of a housing of a HUD. [Figure 3] FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a housing on which a transparent sheet is disposed. [Figure 4] FIG. 3 is a plan view of the housing of FIG. 2. [Figure 5] 4 is a partial cross-sectional view showing the configuration of a cross section taken along line VV in FIG. 3, viewed from the direction of the arrow. [Figure 6] FIG. 10 is a partial cross-sectional view showing another configuration in which the support surface of the housing is entirely curved. [Figure 7] FIG. [Figure 8]FIG. 10 is a partially enlarged perspective view of a housing on which a transparent sheet is disposed. [Figure 9] FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a part of a holding portion of the housing. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0009] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. In the drawings, arrow U indicates the upward direction of the illustrated structure. Arrow D indicates the downward direction of the illustrated structure. Arrow F indicates the forward direction of the illustrated structure. Arrow B indicates the backward direction of the illustrated structure. Arrow R indicates the rightward direction of the illustrated structure. Arrow L indicates the leftward direction of the illustrated structure. These directions are relative directions set for the HUD 1 shown in FIG. 1.

[0010] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a head-up display (HUD) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, viewed from the side of a vehicle 100. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the HUD 1 is mounted on the vehicle 100. For example, the HUD 1 is disposed in the dashboard of the vehicle 100. The HUD 1 functions as a visual interface between the vehicle 100 and an occupant of the vehicle 100. Specifically, the HUD 1 is configured to display predetermined information as a virtual image toward the occupant of the vehicle 100 so that the information is superimposed on a real space outside the vehicle 100 (for example, the surrounding environment in front of the vehicle 100). The predetermined information is displayed as a still image or a moving image (video). The HUD 1 is an example of an image display device.

[0011] The HUD 1 has a housing 2 and a transparent sheet 3. The transparent sheet 3 is arranged to cover an opening formed in the upper surface of the housing 2. The HUD 1 includes an image generation unit (PGU) 4, a concave mirror 5, and a control unit 6. The image generation unit 4, the concave mirror 5, and the control unit 6 are arranged inside the housing 2.

[0012] The image generation unit 4 is configured to generate a predetermined image for forming a virtual image and emit light constituting the image (hereinafter referred to as image light). The image light emitted from the image generation unit 4 is, for example, visible light. Although detailed illustrations are omitted, the image generation unit 4 includes a light source, optical components, and a display device. The light source is, for example, an LED light source or a laser light source. The LED light source is, for example, a white LED light source. The laser light source is, for example, an RGB laser light source configured to emit red laser light, green laser light, and blue laser light, respectively. The optical components include a prism, a lens, a diffuser, a magnifying glass, etc. as appropriate. The optical components transmit the light emitted from the light source and emit it toward the display device. The display device is, for example, a liquid crystal display, a DMD (Digital Mirror Device), etc. The drawing method of the image generation unit 4 may be a raster scan method, a DLP (Digital Light Processing) method, or an LCOS (Liquid Crystal On Silicon) method. When the DLP system or the LCOS system is adopted, the light source of the image generating unit 4 may be an LED light source. When the liquid crystal display system is adopted, the light source of the image generating unit 4 may be a white LED light source.

[0013] The concave mirror 5 is disposed on the optical path of the image light L1 emitted from the image generation unit 4. The concave mirror 5 is configured to reflect the image light L1 emitted from the image generation unit 4 toward the windshield 101. The concave mirror 5 reflects the image light L1 emitted by the image generation unit 4 so that the light image emitted and formed by the image generation unit 4 is formed on the windshield 101 at a predetermined magnification. The concave mirror 5 may be configured to be rotatable about a rotation axis.

[0014] The control unit 6 is configured to control the operation of each part of the HUD 1. The control unit 6 is connected to a vehicle control unit that controls the driving of the vehicle 100. The control unit 6 controls the operation of each part of the HUD 1 based on vehicle driving information, surrounding environment information, and the like transmitted from the vehicle control unit. The control unit 6 can be realized by one or more processors and memories. Examples of the processor include a CPU, an MPU, and a GPU. Examples of the memory include a ROM and a RAM. In this case, the ROM is an example of a non-transitory computer-readable medium that stores a computer program that executes processing related to the operation of each part of the HUD 1. A general-purpose microprocessor specifies at least a portion of the computer program stored in the ROM, expands it on the RAM, and executes the above-mentioned processing in cooperation with the RAM.

[0015] In the HUD 1 configured as described above, as illustrated in FIG. 1 , image light L1 emitted from the image generation unit 4 is reflected by the concave mirror 5 and then emitted from the opening of the housing 2. The image light L1 emitted from the opening is irradiated onto the windshield 101. A portion of the light irradiated onto the windshield 101 is reflected toward the occupant's viewpoint E. As a result, the occupant recognizes the image light L1 emitted from the opening of the housing 2 as a virtual image formed at a predetermined distance in front of the windshield 101. In this way, the image generated by the image generation unit 4 is superimposed on the real space in front of the vehicle 100 through the windshield 101, and as a result, the occupant can visually recognize a virtual image object O formed by a predetermined image as floating above the road located outside the vehicle 100.

[0016] Next, the structure for attaching the transparent sheet 3 to the housing 2 will be described with reference to FIGS.

[0017] Fig. 2 is a perspective view illustrating the configuration of the housing 2 of the HUD 1. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the housing 2 on which a transparent sheet 3 is arranged. Fig. 4 is a plan view of the housing 2 of Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a partial cross-sectional view showing the configuration of a cross section taken along line VV in Fig. 3 as viewed from the direction of the arrow.

[0018] 2, the housing 2 has an upper surface portion 20. An opening 21 is formed in the upper surface portion 20. The opening 21 is an opening through which the image light L1 reflected by the concave mirror 5 (see FIG. 1) toward the windshield 101 passes.

[0019] The upper surface portion 20 has a support surface 22 surrounding the opening 21. As illustrated in Figure 3, the transparent sheet 3 is placed on the support surface 22 so as to cover the opening 21 of the upper surface portion 20.

[0020] As illustrated in FIG. 2, the support surface 22 has a curved portion 221. When the side surface of the upper surface portion 20 is viewed from the left-right direction, the curved portion 221 is curved so as to be convex downward. The left-right direction is an example of a first direction. In this example, as shown in FIG. 4, the support surface 22 has a right curved portion 221R and a left curved portion 221L. The right curved portion 221R extends in the front-rear direction along the right edge of the opening 21. The left curved portion 221L extends in the front-rear direction along the left edge of the opening 21.

[0021] As illustrated in Fig. 2, the support surface 22 has a linear portion 222. Specifically, as illustrated in Fig. 4, the support surface 22 has a front linear portion 222F and a rear linear portion 222B. Note that in Fig. 4, for ease of understanding, the linear portion 222 of the support surface 22 on the housing 2 is hatched with dots. The front linear portion 222F extends in the left-right direction along the front edge of the opening 21. The rear linear portion 222B extends in the left-right direction along the rear edge of the opening 21.

[0022] The right curved portion 221R is sandwiched between the right end of the front straight portion 222F and the right end of the rear straight portion 222B. As illustrated in Figure 5, when the side surface of the top surface portion 20 is viewed from the left-right direction, the rear straight portion 222B extends from the rear end of the right curved portion 221R in a tangential direction to the rear edge of the right curved portion 221R. Similarly, although not shown, when the side surface of the top surface portion 20 is viewed from the left-right direction, the front straight portion 222F extends from the front end of the right curved portion 221R in a tangential direction to the front edge of the right curved portion 221R.

[0023] 4, the left curved portion 221L is sandwiched between the left end of the front straight portion 222F and the left end of the rear straight portion 222B. Although not shown, when the side surface of the top surface portion 20 is viewed from the left-right direction, the front straight portion 222F extends from the rear end of the left curved portion 221L in a tangential direction to the rear edge of the left curved portion 221L. Similarly, when the side surface of the top surface portion 20 is viewed from the left-right direction, the front straight portion 222F extends from the front end of the left curved portion 221L in a tangential direction to the front edge of the left curved portion 221L.

[0024] Positioning pins 223 and positioning protrusions 224 are provided on the linear portion 222 of the support surface 22. In this example, two positioning pins 223 are aligned in the left-right direction on the rear linear portion 222B. Two positioning protrusions 224 are aligned in the left-right direction on the front linear portion 222F. As illustrated in FIG. 3 , the transparent sheet 3 is formed with positioning holes 31 corresponding to the positioning pins 223 and notches 32 corresponding to the positioning protrusions 224. The transparent sheet 3 is positioned on the support surface 22 by the positioning pins 223 and the positioning protrusions 224.

[0025] In order to arrange the transparent sheet 3 on the upper surface portion 20 of the housing 2 so that it is convex downward, it is conceivable to form the support surface 22 of the upper surface portion 20 in an overall arc shape when the side surface of the upper surface portion 20 is viewed from the left and right. For example, FIG. 6 is a partial cross-sectional view showing a configuration in which the support surface 22 is overall curved when the side surface of the upper surface portion 20 is viewed from the left and right. As illustrated in FIG. 6, the front-rear direction end portion of the transparent sheet 3 is arranged to be curved so as to follow the curved support surface 22. However, as the transparent sheet 3 deteriorates over time, its rigidity increases and it becomes difficult to bend. Therefore, if the support surface 22 is curved in this way, gaps are likely to occur between the edge of the support surface 22 and the transparent sheet 3.

[0026] In contrast, in the housing 2 of the present disclosure, the support surface 22 of the top surface portion 20 has straight portions 222 on both ends of the curved portion 221, and therefore, as illustrated in Fig. 5, the front-to-rear end of the transparent sheet 3 is disposed along the straight portions 222 extending tangentially to the edges of the curved portion 221. As a result, even if the rigidity of the transparent sheet 3 increases due to deterioration over time, gaps are unlikely to occur between the edges of the support surface 22 and the transparent sheet 3. This makes it possible to prevent the transparent sheet 3 from peeling off from the top surface portion 20 of the housing 2.

[0027] As illustrated in Fig. 2, the housing 2 may include at least two holding portions 23. The two holding portions 23 are provided on the upper surface portion 20 at positions sandwiching the opening 21 in the left-right direction when viewed from above. As illustrated in Fig. 3, a transparent sheet 3 is inserted between the holding portions 23 and the support surface 22. In this example, three holding portions 23 are arranged in a connected state on the upper surface portion 20 to the right of the opening 21, and three holding portions 23 are arranged in a connected state on the upper surface portion 20 to the left of the opening 21.

[0028] 4, position P1 of the rear end of retaining portion 23 in the front-rear direction is positioned forward of position P2 of positioning pin 223. In other words, when the side surface of top surface portion 20 is viewed from the left-right direction, positioning pin 223 is positioned closer to the end of top surface portion 20 than retaining portion 23.

[0029] Fig. 7 is a partially enlarged perspective view of the housing 2. Fig. 8 is a partially enlarged perspective view of the housing 2 on which a transparent sheet is arranged. Fig. 9 is a perspective view showing a part of the pressing portion 23 of the housing 2.

[0030] As illustrated in Fig. 7, the retaining portion 23 has a wall portion 231, a canopy portion 232, and a plurality of ribs 233. The wall portion 231 extends upward from the upper surface portion 20. In this example, as shown in Fig. 9, the wall portion 231 has an extending portion 231A and a main body portion 231B. The extending portion 231A continues from the support surface 22 of the upper surface portion 20 and extends in a direction away from the opening 21 (in the left-right direction in this example). The main body portion 231B extends upward from the extending portion 231A.

[0031] 7, the overhanging portion 232 extends from the upper end of the wall portion 231 toward the opening 21 so as to cover the upper surface of the transparent sheet 3. As illustrated in FIG. 8, the left-right ends of the transparent sheet 3 are inserted between the overhanging portion 232 and the support surface 22.

[0032] Each of the multiple rib portions 233 extends toward the opening 21 along the lower surface of the eave portion 232. Each of the multiple rib portions 233 protrudes downward from the lower surface of the eave portion 232. The upper surface of the transparent sheet 3 inserted between the pressing portion 23 and the support surface 22 contacts the lower surfaces of the multiple rib portions 233. As illustrated in FIG. 9 , the multiple rib portions 233 are formed so that an imaginary line VL connecting the lower ends of the multiple rib portions 233 is aligned with the support surface 22 of the upper surface portion 20.

[0033] When attaching the transparent sheet 3 to the housing 2, the transparent sheet 3 is placed on the support surface 22 by sliding it on the support surface 22 from the rear to the front of the upper surface portion 20. At this time, the left and right ends of the transparent sheet 3 are inserted between the retaining portions 23 and the support surface 22 and guided by the retaining portions 23. This improves the work of attaching the transparent sheet 3. Furthermore, after the transparent sheet 3 is placed on the support surface 22, the retaining portions 23 can hold the transparent sheet 3, so there is no need to provide a separate clip member or the like to hold the transparent sheet 3.

[0034] Moreover, the transparent sheet 3 can be prevented from coming off from above by the canopy portion 232. Furthermore, by holding the transparent sheet 3 with the plurality of rib portions 233, the transparent sheet 3 can be maintained in a shape that conforms to the support surface 22.

[0035] Furthermore, since the positioning pins 223 are located behind the retaining portions 23, it is possible to prevent the transparent sheet 3 from coming into contact with the positioning pins 223 when inserting the transparent sheet 3 between the retaining portions 23 and the support surface 22 from the rear to the front of the upper surface portion 20. This makes it possible to easily insert the transparent sheet 3 between the retaining portions 23 and the support surface 22.

[0036] In this example, the housing 2 has the retaining portion 23 as a member for holding the transparent sheet 3, but it is also possible to adopt a structure that does not have the retaining portion 23. In this case, for example, the transparent sheet 3 may be attached to the support surface 22 of the upper surface portion 20 by double-sided tape, adhesive, or the like.

[0037] Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, it goes without saying that the technical scope of the present invention should not be construed as being limited by the description of the present embodiments. The present embodiments are merely examples, and it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various modifications of the embodiments are possible within the scope of the invention described in the claims. The technical scope of the present invention should be determined based on the scope of the invention described in the claims and its equivalents.

[0038] In the above embodiment, an optical member such as a plane mirror may be disposed on the optical path of the image light L1 between the image generator 4 and the concave mirror 5.

[0039] In the above embodiment, the reflecting member that reflects the image light onto the windshield 101 is the concave mirror 5. However, the reflecting member that reflects the image light onto the windshield 101 may be a plane mirror or the like.

[0040] In the above embodiment, the light emitted from the image generation unit 4 is reflected by the concave mirror 5 and irradiated onto the windshield 101. However, for example, the image light L1 reflected by the concave mirror 5 may be irradiated onto a combiner (not shown) provided inside the windshield 101. The combiner is formed, for example, of a transparent plastic disk. A portion of the light irradiated onto the combiner from the image generation unit 4 is reflected toward the viewpoint E of the occupant, similar to when light is irradiated onto the windshield 101.

[0041] In the above embodiment, the HUD 1 is given as an example of an image display device, but the present disclosure is not limited to this. [Explanation of symbols]

[0042] 1 HUD 2. Housing 20 Top part 21 Aperture 22 Support surface 221 Curved section 221L Left curved part 221R Right curved part 222 Straight section 222B Rear straight section 222F Front straight section 223 Locating Pin 224 Positioning protrusion 23 Retaining part 231 Wall section 231A Extension 231B Main body 232 Eaves 233 Rib section 3 transparent sheets 31 Positioning hole 32 Notch 4. Image generation section 5 concave mirror 6 Control Unit 100 vehicles 101 Windshield

Claims

1. An image display device configured to display a predetermined image as a virtual image toward an occupant of a vehicle, a housing having an upper surface portion formed with an opening through which light for forming the predetermined image is emitted; a transparent sheet disposed on the upper surface portion so as to cover the opening of the upper surface portion; It is equipped with the upper surface portion has a support surface on which the transparent sheet is placed, the support surface has a curved portion and two straight portions; An image display device, wherein when the side of the upper surface portion is viewed from a first direction, the curved portion is curved, and the two straight portions extend from both ends of the curved portion in a tangential direction to the edge of the curved portion.

2. the housing includes at least two holding portions provided on the upper surface portion at positions sandwiching the opening in the first direction in a top view, The image display device according to claim 1 , wherein the transparent sheet is inserted between the pressing portion and the support surface.

3. The holding portion is a wall portion extending upward from the upper surface portion; a canopy portion extending from an upper end of the wall portion toward the opening so as to cover an upper surface of the transparent sheet; The image display device according to claim 2 , further comprising:

4. The retaining portion has a plurality of rib portions protruding downward from the lower surface of the eave portion, The image display device according to claim 3 , wherein an imaginary line connecting the lower ends of the plurality of rib portions is aligned with the support surface.

5. the housing includes a positioning pin provided on the top surface; 5. The image display device according to claim 2, wherein when the side surface of the upper surface portion is viewed from the first direction, the positioning pin is located closer to the end of the upper surface portion than the retaining portion.

Images