Indication device

Abstract

To provide a display device that can suppress the reduction in visibility of the scenery ahead. [Solution] The system comprises a reflective section 10 provided on the vehicle's dashboard, and a display unit located within the vehicle's dashboard that emits light representing an image toward the reflective section 10. The reflective section 10 has a driver's seat front section 11 located in front of the driver's seat, and a passenger seat front section 12 located in front of the passenger seat, with the upper end 12t of the passenger seat front section 12 being lower than the highest point M of the driver's seat front section 11. This configuration suppresses a decrease in the visibility of the forward scenery even when the driver moves their gaze from side to side.

Description

Technical Field

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

Background Art

[0002] As a display device, for example, Patent Document 1 describes a device that causes a driver to visually recognize an image by emitting light representing the image toward a ceramic forming portion (a portion where black ceramic is formed) provided in a lower end region of a windshield of a vehicle. On the other hand, for example, Patent Document 2 describes a device that causes a driver to visually recognize the image by emitting the light toward a reflection portion provided in front of the ceramic forming portion.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Patent Document 2

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] In the display device described in Patent Document 2 above, if the reflection portion is widened in the left-right direction of the vehicle without any countermeasures in order to secure the display area of the image, there is a risk of reducing the visibility of the forward scenery that the driver sees through the windshield.

[0005] The present disclosure has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a display device capable of suppressing a decrease in the visibility of the forward scenery.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] To achieve the above objective, the display device according to this disclosure comprises a ceramic forming section provided in the lower edge region of the windshield of a vehicle, and a display unit located in the dashboard of the vehicle and emitting light representing an image toward the ceramic forming section, wherein the ceramic forming section has a driver's seat front section located in front of the driver's seat of the vehicle, and a passenger seat front section located in front of the passenger seat of the vehicle, and the upper end of the passenger seat front section is lower than the highest point of the driver's seat front section. [Effects of the Invention]

[0007] According to this disclosure, it is possible to suppress the reduction in visibility of the scenery ahead. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0008] [Figure 1] A diagram showing the application of a display device according to one embodiment of the present disclosure to a vehicle. [Figure 2] A front view of the windshield illustrating the range of the reflective portion according to the same embodiment. [Figure 3] A side view of the windshield illustrating the range of the reflective portion according to the same embodiment. [Figure 4] A perspective view of the windshield illustrating the range of the reflective portion according to the same embodiment. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0009] One embodiment of this disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0010] As shown in Figure 1, the display device 100 according to this embodiment comprises a reflective section 10 provided on the dashboard 1b of a vehicle 1 (automobile), a display unit 20 that emits light representing an image (hereinafter referred to as display light L) toward the reflective section 10, and a cylindrical body 30.

[0011] In the following explanations, we may use the X, Y, and Z axes indicated in each diagram. The direction indicated by the arrow on each axis is considered the "+" (plus) direction, and the opposite direction is considered the "-" (minus) direction. The X-axis is a horizontal axis extending in the length direction of vehicle 1. The +X direction is the rear direction of vehicle 1, and the -X direction is the front direction of vehicle 1. The Y-axis is a horizontal axis extending in the width direction of vehicle 1 and perpendicular to the X-axis. The +Y direction is the right direction of vehicle 1, and the -Y direction is the left direction of vehicle 1. The Z-axis is an axis perpendicular to the X and Y axes. The +Z direction is the upward direction of vehicle 1, and the -Z direction is the downward direction of vehicle 1.

[0012] The reflective part 10 has a reflective surface on its front surface, which reflects the display light L toward the driver 2 sitting in the vehicle 1. In this case, the reflective part 2 is provided on the upper part of the dashboard 1b such that the reflective surface is exposed from the dashboard 1b. For example, the reflective part 10 is constructed by forming the mirror-like reflective surface on a plate-shaped member molded from black resin by aluminum vapor deposition or the like. The reflective surface may be flat, or at least a part of it may be curved.

[0013] The display light L reflected by the reflective section 10 is directed towards the driver 2. By positioning their viewpoint within the eye box 2a, the driver 2 can see the virtual image represented by the display light L. To the driver 2, this image appears to be displayed on the reflective section 10 (specifically, behind the reflective section 10). This image, for example, displays various information about the vehicle 1 (hereinafter referred to as vehicle information). The vehicle information may include not only information about the vehicle 1 itself, but also external information about the vehicle 1, such as information about the surroundings of the vehicle 1. Details of the reflective section 10 will be described later.

[0014] The display unit 20 consists of an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), an organic EL (Electro-Luminescence) display, etc., and is installed in the dashboard 1b (including the instrument panel) of the vehicle 1. The display unit 20 is capable of displaying an image showing vehicle information in the image display area 21. In other words, the image display area 21 is the pixel formation area in the display unit 20 and is the area where an image can be displayed. Display light L representing the image is emitted from the image display area 21 toward the reflective part 10). The eye box 2a is optically determined by the relative positional relationship between the image display area 21 and the windshield 1a, and the shape of the part of the windshield 1a that receives the display light L (reflective surface). Therefore, the center point O of the eye box 2a corresponds to the center of the image display area 21.

[0015] The cylindrical body 30 is formed, for example, from a part of the dashboard 1b and allows the display light L emitted from the display unit 20 and directed toward the reflector 10 to pass through. In other words, the cylindrical body 30 is located between the display unit 20 and the reflector 10. The cylindrical body 30 may also be a component that is combined with the dashboard 1b.

[0016] The display unit 20 is located below the cylindrical body 30 and emits display light L inside the cylindrical body 30. The upper end of the cylindrical body 30 forms an opening 31 from which the display light L is emitted from the dashboard 1b. The cylindrical body 30 is made of a light-absorbing material such as black, or has a surface treatment to reduce reflection. This makes it possible to suppress stray light, such as sunlight that is reflected after entering the inside of the cylindrical body 30, and display light L that is reflected at locations other than the ceramic forming part (not shown) provided in the lower end region of the windshield 1a of the vehicle 1, from reaching the eye box 2a.

[0017] In addition, the display device 100 includes a control unit (not shown) that controls the display operation of the display unit 20. The control unit is composed of, for example, a microcontroller, communicates with various electronic components such as the ECU (Electronic Control Unit) of the vehicle 1, and monitors various states of the vehicle 1. Further, the control unit generates an image to be displayed on the display unit 20 based on various states of the vehicle 1 and the image data for drawing stored in the memory. The control unit is mounted on, for example, a PCB (Printed Circuit Board) disposed in the dashboard 1b.

[0018] FIG. 2 is a front view of the reflection part 10 as viewed from inside the vehicle. As shown in FIG. 2, the reflection part 10 can apply a horizontally long combiner formed generally from the left end to the right end of the vehicle 1 (dashboard 1b). In other words, the reflection part 10 is provided so as to span between the vicinity of the first A pillar installed on the left side of the vehicle 1 and the vicinity of the second A pillar installed on the right side of the vehicle 1. In the same figure, the thick line portion indicates the upper end 10t of the reflection part 10.

[0019] The reflection part 10 has a driver's seat front part 11 located in front of the driver's seat of the vehicle 1 and a passenger seat front part 12 located in front of the passenger seat of the vehicle 1. The driver's seat front part 11 and the passenger seat front part 12 are located on opposite sides of each other with a virtual line S that divides the vehicle 1 approximately equally in the width direction therebetween. For example, the display unit 20 emits display light L not only to the driver's seat front part 11 but also to the passenger seat front part 12, and can display an image represented by the display light L on the passenger seat front part 12 as well. The display unit 20 for realizing this may be composed of a single display, or may be composed of a plurality of displays arranged in the left-right direction of the vehicle 1 (arranged between the vicinity of the first A pillar and the vicinity of the second A pillar).

[0020] As shown in FIG. 2, in the reflection portion 10, the upper end 12t of the front portion 12 of the passenger seat is formed to be lower than the highest point M of the front portion 11 of the driver's seat. The highest point M is the position that is the highest in the +Z direction among the upper ends 11t of the front portion 11 of the driver's seat. Due to such a specific shape of the reflection portion 10, since the upper end 12t of the front portion 12 of the passenger seat is lower than the upper end 11t of the front portion 11 of the driver's seat in the Z direction, even when the driver 2 moves the line of sight to the passenger seat side, it is possible to suppress a decrease in the visibility of the forward scenery visible through the windshield 1a. Subsequently, how the specific shape of the reflection portion 10 is set will be described.

[0021] First, the reference point P, the horizontal axis H, the vertical axis V, the downward viewing angle θ, and the reference line B shown in an appropriate figure will be described.

[0022] The reference point P is predetermined based on the driver's seat of the vehicle 1 and is the position (coordinates) corresponding to the head of the driver 2 sitting in the driver's seat. Specifically, the reference point P in the present embodiment is the "V2 point" indicating the "reference coordinates with respect to the design seat back angle" described in Appendix JA of the Safety Glass Test Method for Automobiles (JIS R3212:2015) in the Japanese Industrial Standards (JIS).

[0023] The horizontal axis H is an axis (axis parallel to the X axis) that extends horizontally through the reference point P. The vertical axis V is an axis (axis parallel to the Z axis) that extends vertically through the reference point P. As shown in FIG. 1, the downward viewing angle θ is the angle formed by the straight line (including the reference line B) passing through the reference point P and the upper end 10t of the reflection portion 10 with respect to the horizontal axis H.

[0024] The reference line B is a straight line passing through the reference point P and having a downward viewing angle θ of 5°. The reference line B passes through a plane parallel to the ZX plane. In the present embodiment, the highest point M of the front portion 11 of the driver's seat is set at the intersection of the reference line B and the windshield 1a. Therefore, the reference line B is a straight line passing through the reference point P and the highest point M and is a straight line inclined downward with respect to the horizontal axis H.

[0025] The display device 100 according to this embodiment satisfies the condition (hereinafter referred to as the setting condition) that the trajectory formed by the intersection of the reference straight line B rotated around the vertical axis V shown in Figures 3 and 4 and the windshield 1a (the set of intersection points of the reference straight line B rotated around the vertical axis V and the windshield 1a) is the upper limit of the reflective part 10. The statement that the trajectory is the upper limit of the reflective part 10 includes not only (i) the trajectory being the upper end 10t of the reflective part 10, but also (ii) the upper end 10t of the reflective part 10 being located at a height of the trajectory or less. For example, if the upper end 10t of the reflective part 10 is set according to the trajectory, the reflective part 10 is visible symmetrically to the left and right in the field of view of the driver 2, while being asymmetrical with respect to the virtual line S shown in Figure 2.

[0026] In the reflective section 10 that satisfies the above setting conditions, the straight line connecting the reference point P and the upper end 12t of the passenger seat front section 12 is inclined downward with respect to the horizontal axis H at a larger angle than the reference line B. In other words, the downward angle θ of the straight line connecting the reference point P and the upper end 12t of the passenger seat front section 12 (specifically, any point on the upper end 12t) is greater than the downward angle θ (=5°) of the reference line B.

[0027] Furthermore, in the display device 100, as shown in Figure 2, it is preferable that the upper end 10t of the reflective portion 10 is formed to become lower as it moves away from the highest point M of the driver's seat front portion 11 in the left-right direction of the vehicle 1. This prevents the upper end 10t of the entire reflective portion 10 from unnecessarily narrowing the light-transmitting portion of the windshield 1a, and thus prevents a decrease in the visibility of the forward scenery even when the driver 2 moves their gaze from side to side.

[0028] The present invention is not limited to the embodiments and drawings described above. Modifications (including the deletion of components) can be made as appropriate without altering the essence of the invention.

[0029] In the above, the reference point P was defined as the "V2 point" as described in JIS, but the reference point P may be set by other methods. If a straight line passing through the highest point M is defined as the reference line B, with an arbitrary downward angle θ set within an acceptable range as the upper limit of the reflective section 10, the intersection point of this reference line B and the horizontal axis H may be set as the reference point P. Alternatively, the coordinates of the optically determined center point O of the eye box 2a may be moved by a predetermined amount in the X and Z axis directions, and these coordinates may be set as the reference point P. The reference point P should be appropriately determined in accordance with the laws and regulations of the country and region in which the vehicle 1 and the display device 100 are used.

[0030] The display device 100 described above can be described from the following viewpoints A1 and A2.

[0031] (A1) A display device relating to aspect A of the present disclosure comprises a reflective portion provided on the dashboard of a vehicle and a display unit located within the dashboard of the vehicle and emitting light representing an image toward the reflective portion, wherein the reflective portion has a driver's seat front portion located in front of the driver's seat of the vehicle and a passenger seat front portion located in front of the passenger seat of the vehicle, and the upper end of the passenger seat front portion is lower than the highest point of the driver's seat front portion.

[0032] (A2) In the display device described in A1, a reference point is set at a position corresponding to the head of the driver seated in the driver's seat, which is predetermined based on the driver's seat, and the axis extending horizontally through the reference point is set as the horizontal axis. A reference straight line is set at a straight line passing through the reference point and the highest point and inclined downward with respect to the horizontal axis. The straight line connecting the reference point and the upper end of the front of the passenger seat is inclined downward with respect to the horizontal axis at a larger angle than the reference straight line.

[0033] In the above explanation, explanations of publicly known technical matters have been omitted where appropriate to facilitate understanding of this disclosure.

[0034] This invention allows for various embodiments and modifications without departing from the broad spirit and scope of the invention. Furthermore, the embodiments described above are for illustrative purposes only and do not limit the scope of the invention. In other words, the scope of this invention is indicated not by the embodiments, but by the claims. Various modifications made within the scope of the claims and the equivalent scope of the meaning of the invention are considered to be within the scope of this invention. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0035] 100…Display device 1...Vehicle, S...Imaginary line 1a...windshield, 1b...dashboard 2...Driver, 2a...Eyebox, O...Center point 10…Reflector, 10t…Top end 11...Front of the driver's seat, 11t...Upper end, M...Highest point 12…Front part of passenger seat, 12t…Top end 20…Display unit, 21…Image display area, L…Display light 30...Cylindrical body, 31...Opening P...Reference point, H...Horizontal axis, V...Vertical axis, θ...Looking down angle, B...Reference straight line

Claims

1. A reflective surface located on the vehicle's dashboard, The vehicle comprises a display unit located in the dashboard that emits light representing an image toward the reflective portion, The reflective portion has a driver's seat front portion located in front of the driver's seat of the vehicle and a passenger seat front portion located in front of the passenger seat of the vehicle. The display device is characterized in that the upper end of the front part of the passenger seat is lower than the highest point of the front part of the driver's seat.

2. Based on the aforementioned driver's seat, the position corresponding to the head of the driver seated in the driver's seat is defined as the reference point, the axis extending horizontally through the reference point is defined as the horizontal axis, and the straight line passing through the reference point and the highest point, which is inclined downward with respect to the horizontal axis, is defined as the reference straight line. The display device according to claim 1, characterized in that the straight line connecting the reference point and the upper end of the front part of the passenger seat is inclined downward with respect to the horizontal axis at a larger angle than the reference straight line.

Images