Display device for vehicle

Abstract

To provide a display device for a vehicle having high visibility.SOLUTION: A vehicle display device (10) includes a control unit (14), a light source (16) that is controlled by the control unit (14) and can be turned on, a windshield (21) that is colored and provided to prevent wind from hitting an occupant (Dr), a transparent windshield-part light guide (22) that is provided in the windshield (21) and into which light emitted from the light source (16) is guided, and a reflection unit (23) that is provided in the windshield-part light guide (22) and reflects the light guided by the windshield-part light guide (22) toward the occupant (Dr). As shown in FIG.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

[Technical Field]

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

[0002] BACKGROUND ART It is known to provide a vehicle display device to provide information to vehicle occupants. Patent Document 1 discloses a conventional technique relating to a vehicle display device.

[0003] The vehicle display device disclosed in Patent Document 1 includes a light source in a case and a control means for turning on the light source when issuing a warning. A windshield cowl that covers the front of the occupant is provided ahead of the light source, and this cowl is provided with a diffuse reflector that diffuses and reflects light toward the occupant.

[0004] The light emitted from the light source is diffused and reflected by the diffuse reflector and is recognized by the occupant. The occupant can obtain warnings and other information depending on the color of the light and the way it flashes. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 6273772 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] Incidentally, some cowls used in vehicles are colored to prevent glare from the road surface from directly hitting the occupant. When information is displayed on such a colored cowl, visibility may be reduced compared to when the information is displayed on a transparent cowl. This leaves room for improvement.

[0007] An object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle display device with high visibility. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] The vehicle display device in the first aspect includes a control unit, a light source that can be turned on under the control of the control unit, a colored windshield unit that is provided to prevent wind from hitting the occupant, a transparent windshield light guide that is provided in the windshield unit and guides light emitted from the light source inside, and a reflector that is provided in the windshield light guide and reflects the light guided to the windshield light guide toward the occupant.

[0009] In a second aspect of the vehicle display device that can be dependent on the first aspect, a reflection assist layer is formed between the windshield section and the windshield section light guide to prevent light from being reflected within the windshield section light guide toward the windshield section and to reflect the light toward the occupant. [Effects of the Invention]

[0010] According to the present disclosure, a vehicle display device with high visibility can be provided. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0011] [Figure 1] 1 is a side view of a vehicle equipped with a vehicle display device according to a first embodiment. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a front view of the vehicle display device shown in FIG. [Figure 3] FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 3-3 in FIG. 2. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of part 4 of FIG. 3. [Figure 5] FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of a main part of FIG. 4. [Figure 6] FIG. 10 is an enlarged view of a main part of a display device for a vehicle according to a second embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0012] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the description, the terms "left" and "right" refer to the left and right of the vehicle occupants, and the terms "front" and "rear" refer to the front and rear of the vehicle. Example 1

[0013] Please refer to Fig. 1. A vehicle display device 10 (hereinafter abbreviated as "display device 10") is mounted on, for example, a two-wheeled vehicle Ve. A rider Dr can visually recognize the information displayed on the display device 10 and obtain information about the two-wheeled vehicle Ve itself and the surroundings of the two-wheeled vehicle Ve.

[0014] 2 and 3, the display device 10 includes a housing 30 fixed to the upper part of the vehicle body Bo, a harness 13 extending into the housing 30 and electrically connected to sensors and the like provided outside the housing 30, a control unit 14 connected to the harness 13, an information display unit 15 connected to the control unit 14 and displaying information such as text information, a light source 16 supported by the control unit 14 and controlled to be turned on and off, a light-guiding member 17 provided above the light source 16 and guiding light emitted by the light source 16, a windshield unit 21 provided above the light-guiding member 17 and preventing wind from hitting the occupant Dr (see FIG. 1), and a windshield light-guiding body 22 provided on the back surface of the windshield unit 21 and guiding light that has passed through the light-guiding member 17 to the interior.

[0015] Please refer to Fig. 4. Inside the windshield light guide 22, a reflecting portion 23 is provided that reflects the light guided by the windshield light guide 22 toward the occupant Dr.

[0016] See Figure 3. The housing 30 is tilted downward from the front to the rear. The housing 30 is composed of a base 31 fixed to the vehicle body Bo and a lid 32 placed on top of the base 31. A hole 31a is formed in the center of the base 31 to pass the harness 13 through.

[0017] The base 31 and the lid 32 are fastened together with a screw 33. A seal 34 is provided around the entire periphery between the base 31 and the lid 32 to prevent the intrusion of water and the like. The base 31 and the lid 32 may be made of, for example, black AES resin. The base 31 and the lid 32 are molded, for example, by injection molding.

[0018] The housing 30 may be tilted downward from the rear to the front, or may be provided so that the upper surface is horizontal.

[0019] Furthermore, the base 31 and the lid 32 may be made of a resin other than AES resin, or may be made of different materials. The molding method for the base 31 and the lid 32 is not limited to injection molding.

[0020] The harness 13 is connected to an external power source and sensors. Examples of sensors to which the harness 13 can be connected include a stereo camera that captures images of the scenery around the motorcycle Ve, a distance measurement sensor such as a LIDAR (Laser Imaging Detection And Ranging) that measures the distance from the motorcycle Ve to an object, a sonar, an ultrasonic sensor, a millimeter-wave radar, a vehicle speed sensor, and an acceleration sensor that detect objects located around the motorcycle Ve. The harness 13 may be connected to all or some of these sensors. Furthermore, the information input from the harness 13 to the control unit 14 may also include information other than those listed above.

[0021] The control unit 14 is composed of a microcomputer mounted on a board and having a CPU (Central Processing Unit), RAM (Random Access Memory), ROM (Read Only Memory), etc. Electricity is supplied to the control unit 14 via a harness 13, and information is received from each sensor.

[0022] The control unit 14 acquires various types of information about the vehicle Ve from a vehicle ECU (Electronic Control Unit) mounted on the saddle-ride type vehicle via the harness 13. The control unit 14 determines whether or not a warning is necessary based on the acquired information. If it determines that a warning is necessary, the control unit 14 turns on or flashes the light source 16, changes the lighting color, or changes the lighting interval of the light source 16 according to the content of the warning.

[0023] The information that the control unit 14 obtains from the vehicle ECU may include information such as the presence of an obstacle on the road, the vehicle approaching another vehicle traveling ahead, or another vehicle traveling behind approaching, but may also include any other information that requires a warning to be issued to the occupant Dr.

[0024] The information display unit 15 is configured by, for example, a TFT (Thin Film Transistor), and displays, for example, the vehicle speed, the remaining amount of fuel, and the like.

[0025] The light source 16 may be, for example, an LED (Light Emitting Diode). The light source 16 may be a single light source emitting light of one color tone (lighting color), or there may be multiple light sources emitting light of different color tones (lighting colors). The color tone may also be changed by combining light sources 16 of the three primary colors. Note that light sources other than LEDs may also be used for the light source 16.

[0026] Light guide member 17 is a transparent member, and is formed by injection molding using PMMA (acrylic resin). One end of light guide member 17 extends from above light source 16 to above information display unit 15. The other end of light guide member 17 extends from above light source 16 toward the lower end of windshield light guide 22. Light input from light source 16 to light guide member 17 is guided to windshield light guide 22.

[0027] The windshield 21 is configured by a so-called cowl. The windshield 21 is light-transmitting and colored.

[0028] See Figure 2. The windshield light guides 22, 22 are provided on both the left and right ends of the lower part of the windshield 21. The windshield light guides 22, 22 are fixed to the housing 30 together with the windshield 21. The windshield light guides 22, 22 each have the same configuration. The windshield light guides 22, 22 are made of transparent resin. The windshield light guide 22 is formed integrally with the windshield 21 by insert molding.

[0029] See Figure 5. The reflecting portion 23 is formed by being printed on the windshield light guide 22. Light inside the windshield light guide 22 is reflected by the reflecting portion 23 towards the occupant Dr (see Figure 1). The direction in which the light is reflected is set based on the eye height of the average occupant Dr, etc.

[0030] The reflecting portion 23 can be formed by making the windshield light guide 22 uneven, or by combining an uneven shape with printing. In addition, any other means capable of reflecting light toward the occupant Dr can be used. <Example 2>

[0031] Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0032] Please refer to FIG. 6. FIG. 6 shows an enlarged cross section of a main part of the display device 10A of Example 2. FIG. 6 corresponds to FIG. 5. The display device 10A of Example 2 has a reflection assistance layer 41A. The other basic configuration is common to the display device 10 of Example 1 (see FIG. 4). The same reference numerals are used for the parts common to Example 1, and detailed explanations will be omitted.

[0033] The reflection assistance layer 41A is made of, for example, a light-transmitting silicone resin. Alternatively, the reflection assistance layer 41A may be made of an air layer formed by leaving a gap between the windshield 21 and the windshield light guide 22.

[0034] The reflection auxiliary layer 41A is selected taking into consideration the refractive index of light between the windshield section 21 and the reflection auxiliary layer 41A, and the refractive index of light between the windshield section light guide 22 and the reflection auxiliary layer 41A, so as to suppress reflection of light within the windshield section light guide 22 toward the windshield section 21 and to reflect it toward the occupant Dr (see Figure 1).

[0035] The display devices 10 and 10A described above will now be summarized.

[0036] Referring to Fig. 3, the display device 10 has a control unit 14, a light source 16 that can be turned on under the control of the control unit 14, a colored windshield unit 21 that is provided to prevent wind from hitting the occupant Dr, a transparent windshield light guide 22 that is provided in the windshield unit 21 and guides light emitted by the light source 16 into its interior, and a reflector 23 that is provided in the windshield light guide 22 and reflects the light guided by the windshield light guide 22 toward the occupant Dr.

[0037] A transparent windshield light guide 22 is provided separately from the colored windshield 21, and light guided by this windshield light guide 22 is reflected toward the occupant Dr. Although a colored windshield 21 is used, high visibility can be ensured by making the windshield light guide 22 itself transparent, thereby providing a display device 10 with high visibility. The same applies to the display device 10A shown in FIG. 6.

[0038] Referring to Fig. 6, a reflection assisting layer 41 is formed between the windshield 21 and the windshield light guide 22 to prevent the light in the windshield light guide 22 from being reflected back towards the windshield 21 and to reflect the light back towards the occupant Dr. By forming the reflection assisting layer 41, the light in the windshield light guide 22 can be more efficiently reflected back towards the occupant Dr. This makes it possible to provide a display device 10A with higher visibility.

[0039] Although the display devices 10, 10A according to the present invention have been described using examples in which they are used in two-wheeled vehicles, they can also be applied to three-wheeled or four-wheeled vehicles, etc., as long as the vehicle has a windshield portion 21 in front of the occupant.

[0040] Furthermore, the display devices 10 and 10A do not necessarily have to include the information display unit 15 for displaying information such as vehicle speed, etc. Furthermore, the display devices 10 and 10A may be provided integrally with an analog vehicle speedometer.

[0041] As long as the functions and effects of the present invention are exhibited, the present invention is not limited to the examples. [Industrial Applicability]

[0042] The display device of the present invention is suitable for installation in a saddle-ride type vehicle. [Explanation of symbols]

[0043] 10, 10A...Vehicle display device 14...Control unit 16...Light source 21...Windshield 22...Windshield light guide 23…Reflector 41A…Reflection auxiliary layer Ve...Motorcycle (vehicle) Dr...Crew member

Claims

1. A vehicle display device having a control unit, a light source that can be turned on under the control of the control unit, a colored windshield unit provided to prevent wind from hitting an occupant, a transparent windshield light guide provided in the windshield unit and guiding light emitted from the light source inside, and a reflector provided in the windshield light guide and reflecting the light guided to the windshield light guide toward the occupant.

2. 2. The vehicle display device according to claim 1, wherein a reflection assist layer is formed between the windshield portion and the windshield portion light guide to suppress reflection of light within the windshield portion light guide toward the windshield portion and to reflect light toward the occupant.

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