Vehicle display device

Abstract

To provide a display device for a vehicle which, while making a driver recognize light emitted from a light-emitting part, can suppress a feeling of annoyance at light emission.SOLUTION: A linear light-emitting part 34 in a light-emitting device 32 is provided at the front side of a vehicle cabin such that direct light emitted can be visually recognized by a driver D. As a result, when the linear light-emitting part 34 emits light, the driver D can be made to recognize the direct light emitted. The light-emitting part 34 is set at a height position at a lower side than a visual field in a case where the driver D drives while looking at the front. Consequently, it is possible to suppress the degree to which the driver D feels annoyance at light emission when the light-emitting part 34 emits the light.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

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

[0002] The following Patent Document 1 discloses a display device for a vehicle. Briefly, the display device for a vehicle includes a light-emitting device having a line-shaped light-emitting portion provided on the upper surface of the instrument panel of the vehicle. In such a device, the line-shaped light-emitting portion emits light to effectively alert the driver. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2013-152554 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, since the line-shaped light-emitting element in the above-mentioned prior art is within the driver's field of vision when driving and looking straight ahead, there is a concern that the driver may find the light emitted by the line-shaped light-emitting element annoying, for example, in cases where there is little need to be alerted.

[0005] In consideration of the above, an object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle display device that allows a driver to recognize light emitted from a light-emitting portion while making the driver less likely to feel annoyed by the light emission. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The vehicle display device of the present invention described in claim 1 includes a linear light-emitting portion provided at the front of the vehicle interior so that the emitted direct light is visible to the driver. The light emitting unit is set at a height position lower than the field of vision of the driver when driving while looking straight ahead. Light-emitting device and a canopy portion extending obliquely upward toward the rear of the vehicle from a portion adjacent to the upper side of the light-emitting portion, and the luminance of the light-emitting portion is 80 cd / m 2 ~200cd / m 2 It is said that.

[0007] According to the above configuration, the linear light-emitting portion of the light-emitting device is provided at the front of the vehicle interior so that the emitted direct light is visible to the driver. Therefore, when the linear light-emitting portion emits light, the emitted direct light can be recognized by the driver. Here, the light-emitting portion is set at a height position lower than the field of vision when the driver is driving while looking straight ahead. Therefore, when the light-emitting portion emits light, the degree to which the driver feels annoyed by the light emission can be reduced. In addition, according to this vehicle display device, even when sunlight enters the vehicle interior through the front windshield of the vehicle, the eaves can block the sunlight from directly shining onto the light-emitting unit. This can prevent or suppress the direct light from the light-emitting unit from being difficult to recognize due to the sunlight. In addition, the luminance of the light-emitting unit is 80 cd / m 2 ~200cd / m 2 This is a preferable luminance for making the driver aware of the light emitted by the light emitting portion while suppressing the driver from feeling annoyed by the light emission.

[0008] The vehicle display device of the present invention described in claim 2 has the configuration described in claim 1, and the light-emitting unit is positioned so that the direction in which the light-emitting unit is viewed from a position assumed to be the driver's eye point is within a depression angle range of 20° to 40° when viewed from the side of the vehicle with respect to the horizontal direction of the vehicle that passes through the position assumed to be the driver's eye point.

[0009] According to the above configuration, when the light emitting unit emits light while the driver is looking down, the light emitted by the light emitting unit can be easily noticed by the driver.

[0010] The vehicle display device of the present invention described in claim 3 has the configuration described in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the light-emitting portion is provided in a portion including a middle region in the vehicle width direction on the front side of the passenger compartment, and emits light with a blinking cycle of 200 ms to 600 ms.

[0011] According to the above configuration, when the light emitting unit emits light while the driver is looking down, the light emission by the light emitting unit can be effectively noticed by the driver. In addition, since the blinking period is 200 ms to 600 ms, the degree to which the driver feels annoyed by the light emission can be effectively suppressed.

[0014] Claim 4 The vehicle display device of the present invention described above is as follows:3 In the configuration described in any one of the above, a lens cover is provided on a surface of the light-emitting unit facing the inside of the vehicle cabin, and the lens cover is formed with a light diffusion section that diffuses light from the inside of the vehicle cabin so as to make it difficult to see the inside of the light-emitting unit in a non-light-emitting state.

[0015] According to the above configuration, the light emitting section is provided with a lens cover on a surface facing the inside of the vehicle compartment, and the light diffusion section formed on the lens cover diffuses light from the inside of the vehicle compartment so as to make it difficult to see the inside of the light emitting section in a non-light emitting state. This makes it possible to improve the appearance of the light emitting section in a non-light emitting state.

[0016] Claim 5 The vehicle display device of the present invention described above is as follows: 4 In the configuration described in any one of the above, the light-emitting portion is provided at the boundary between an upper panel that constitutes the upper side of an instrument panel provided at the front of the vehicle compartment, and a lower panel that constitutes the lower side of the instrument panel and is joined to the upper panel.

[0017] According to the above configuration, it is easier to manufacture a structure in which the light emitting portion is provided on the instrument panel than when, for example, a portion for assembling the light emitting portion is provided only on the lower panel of the instrument panel and the light emitting portion is then assembled.

[0018] Claim 6 The vehicle display device of the present invention described above is as follows: 5 In the configuration described in any one of the above, the vehicle has an information acquisition unit that acquires information about the vicinity of the vehicle, and a control unit that controls the light-emitting device to emit light when it is determined that the degree of need to alert the driver is within a predetermined range lower than a preset standard based on the information acquired by the information acquisition unit.

[0019] According to the above configuration, the information acquisition unit acquires information about the surroundings of the vehicle. Then, when the control unit determines, based on the information acquired by the information acquisition unit, that the degree of necessity for the driver to be alerted is within a predetermined range lower than a preset standard, the control unit controls the light-emitting device to emit light from the light-emitting unit. In this way, when the degree of necessity for the driver to be alerted is within a predetermined range lower than a preset standard, the driver can be alerted without feeling too bothered. Effect of the Invention

[0020] As described above, the vehicle display device of the present invention has the excellent effect of making it possible to allow the driver to recognize the light emitted from the light-emitting portion while making the driver less likely to feel annoyed by the light emission. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0021] [Figure 1] 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a vehicle display device according to an embodiment of the present invention and its surroundings, as viewed from the side of the vehicle. [Diagram 2] 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a front passenger compartment of a vehicle equipped with a vehicle display device; [Diagram 3] 1 is a schematic plan view showing an example of an arrangement position of a light emitting portion of a light emitting device as viewed from above a vehicle. FIG. [Figure 4] 1 is a diagram showing a schematic view of the height position of a light-emitting portion of a light-emitting device and an iris when viewed from the side of a vehicle, and also showing an enlarged portion of the light-emitting portion and its surroundings. FIG. [Diagram 5] 2 is a block diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration of an ECU and the like of the vehicle display device; [Figure 6] 11 is a bar graph showing the relationship between the setting position of the light-emitting unit and the notification oversight rate. [Figure 7] 13 is a bar graph showing the relationship between the blinking setting of the light-emitting unit and the noticeability rate. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0022] An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to Figures 1 to 7. In these figures, the arrow FR indicates the front side of the vehicle, the arrow UP indicates the upper side of the vehicle, and the arrow W indicates the vehicle width direction.

[0023] (Configuration of the embodiment) Fig. 1 shows a schematic diagram of a vehicle display device 30 according to this embodiment and its surroundings as viewed from the side of the vehicle. Fig. 2 shows a schematic diagram of a passenger compartment front part 12 of a vehicle 10 equipped with the vehicle display device 30. Note that the vehicle 10 in this embodiment is a so-called left-hand drive vehicle, as an example. In the case of a so-called right-hand drive vehicle, the configuration shown in Fig. 2 is reversed from left to right.

[0024] As shown in Fig. 2, a windshield glass 16 is provided between a pair of left and right front pillars 14 at the front end and upper side of the front compartment 12. An instrument panel 20 that bulges toward the inside of the compartment below the windshield glass 16 is also provided in the front compartment 12. A steering wheel 18 for steering is provided on the driver's seat side of the front compartment 12 (on the left side in Fig. 2) and is fixed to a steering shaft (not shown) that penetrates the instrument panel 20.

[0025] An upper portion of the instrument panel 20 is formed by an upper panel 22. A lower portion of the instrument panel 20 is formed by a lower panel 24. An upper end portion of the lower panel 24 is joined to a lower end portion of the upper panel 22. A center cluster portion 20S is provided in a middle region of the instrument panel 20 in the vehicle width direction.

[0026] On the other hand, as shown in Fig. 1, the vehicle display device 30 has a light-emitting device 32, an ECU (Electronic Control Unit) 40, and a surroundings monitoring device 42 as an information acquisition unit. The vehicle display device 30 of this embodiment can also be understood as a vehicle driving support device. The light-emitting device 32 has a line-shaped light-emitting unit 34 as shown in Fig. 2. The light-emitting unit 34 is provided on the instrument panel 20 at the front side of the vehicle interior so that direct light emitted from the light-emitting unit 34 can be viewed by the driver D (see Fig. 1). In this embodiment, the light-emitting unit 34 is provided at the boundary between the upper panel 22 and the lower panel 24 of the instrument panel 20.

[0027] FIG. 3 shows an example of the arrangement of the light emitting unit 34 of the light emitting device 32 in a schematic plan view seen from above the vehicle. As shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, the light emitting unit 34 is arranged in a total of three units, a left light emitting unit 34L, a center light emitting unit 34S, and a right light emitting unit 34R, as an example. The left light emitting unit 34L, the center light emitting unit 34S, and the right light emitting unit 34R all extend along the vehicle width direction. As shown in FIG. 3, the left light emitting unit 34L is set on the front side of the driver's seat 60L and outside the steering wheel 18 in the vehicle width direction. The center light emitting unit 34S is set in the center cluster unit 20S (see FIG. 2). The right light emitting unit 34R is set on the front side of the passenger seat 60R. The left light emitting unit 34L, the center light emitting unit 34S, and the right light emitting unit 34R are all set so that the entire length can be seen by the driver D (see FIG. 1). In the following description, when the left light-emitting portion 34L, the center light-emitting portion 34S, and the right light-emitting portion 34R are collectively referred to without distinction, they will simply be referred to as the light-emitting portion 34.

[0028] The light emitting unit 34 includes, for example, light sources 34L1, 34S1, and 34R1 that emit light, and linear light guides 34L2, 34S2, and 34R2 whose base ends are connected to the light sources 34L1, 34S1, and 34R1. As an example, LEDs can be used for the light sources 34L1, 34S1, and 34R1. The light guides 34L2, 34S2, and 34R2 are configured to guide the light from the light sources 34L1, 34S1, and 34R1 that is incident from the base end to the tip side. The luminance of the light emitting unit 34 is set to 80 cd / m from the viewpoint of making the driver D aware of the light emission by the light emitting unit 34 and from the viewpoint of preventing the driver D from feeling annoyed by the light emission. 2 ~200cd / m 2 is preferable, and more preferably 160 cd / m 2 ~200cd / m 2 In this embodiment, the brightness is set to 160 cd / m 2 It states that:

[0029] 1, the light-emitting unit 34 is set at a height position lower than the field of view of the driver D when driving while looking straight ahead. The light-emitting unit 34 is arranged so that the direction Sd in which the light-emitting unit 34 is viewed from a position Ep assumed to be the eye point of the driver D is within a depression angle range of 20° to 40° (more preferably 25° to 35°) in a side view of the vehicle with respect to the horizontal direction of the vehicle (see the two-dot chain line Vh) passing through the position Ep assumed to be the eye point.

[0030] 4 shows a schematic diagram of the height position of the light-emitting unit 34 of the vehicle display device 30 and the iris ELP in a side view of the vehicle. The iris ELP is set to an elliptical shape based on an eye range that statistically represents the distribution of the eye positions of drivers with different physiques. In this embodiment, a position Ep that is assumed to be the eye point of the driver D is set in the center of the iris ELP based on the statistics. As an example, a 95th percentile iris can be used for the iris ELP.

[0031] As shown in Fig. 3, the light-emitting device 32 includes light source control units 36L, 36S, and 36R (shown as blocks in the figure) that blink the light sources 34L1, 34S1, and 34R1 at a predetermined time. The light source control units 36L, 36S, and 36R are connected to an ECU 40 shown in Fig. 5, which will be described in detail later. The light source control units 36L, 36S, and 36R shown in Fig. 3 control the light emission of the light sources 34L1, 34S1, and 34R1, so that the light-emitting unit 34 emits light at a predetermined blinking cycle. The blinking cycle of the light-emitting unit 34 is preferably 200 ms to 600 ms, more preferably 400 ms to 600 ms, and is set to 600 ms as an example in this embodiment.

[0032] As shown in the schematic partial enlarged view of FIG. 4, the light emitting unit 34 is provided with a lens cover 34C on a surface facing the inside of the vehicle cabin. The lens cover 34C covers the light emitting unit main body 34H (shown in a simplified manner in the figure) composed of the light sources 34L1, 34S1, 34R1 (see FIG. 3) and the light guides 34L2, 34S2, 34R2 (see FIG. 3) from the inside of the vehicle cabin. As an example, the light emitting unit main body 34H is housed in a case 35 that is open toward the inside of the vehicle cabin, and the lens cover 34C is attached to the opening side of the case 35. The lens cover 34C and the case 35 are not shown in FIG. 3.

[0033] As shown in FIG. 4, the lens cover 34C is formed with a light diffusion portion 34D that diffuses light from the inside of the vehicle interior so as to make the inside of the light emitting portion 34 in a non-light emitting state less visible. As an example, the light diffusion portion 34D is formed on the surface of the lens cover 34C opposite to the surface facing the vehicle interior, but may be formed on the surface facing the vehicle interior of the lens cover 34C, or may be formed on both the surface facing the vehicle interior of the lens cover 34C and the surface facing the vehicle interior. In addition, a visor portion 38 extends obliquely upward toward the rear of the vehicle from a portion adjacent to the upper side of the light emitting portion 34. The visor portion 38 extends along the vehicle width direction so as to correspond to the entire length of the light emitting portion 34 in the vehicle width direction (see FIG. 2). In FIG. 4, an example of the range of light emitted by the light emitting portion 34 is indicated by a two-dot chain line.

[0034] Fig. 5 is a block diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration of an ECU 40 to which the light emitting device 32 is connected and each component connected to the ECU 40. As shown in Fig. 5, in addition to the light emitting device 32, a surroundings monitoring device 42, a speaker 46, an MID (Multi Information Display) 48, and a vehicle state sensor 50 are connected to the ECU 40.

[0035] The periphery monitoring device 42 acquires information about the periphery of the vehicle 10, which is the vehicle itself. The periphery monitoring device 42 includes, for example, a radar that detects a preceding vehicle traveling ahead in the traveling direction of the vehicle 10, and a camera that captures information about the periphery of the vehicle 10. The periphery monitoring devices 42 are disposed at a plurality of locations on the vehicle 10, but FIG. 1 shows only one of them in a simplified manner for the sake of convenience. The ECU 40 shown in FIG. 5 executes various controls based on the information acquired by the periphery monitoring device 42. The ECU 40 will be described later.

[0036] The speaker 46 issues a warning to the driver D by emitting a sound such as a buzzer. The MID 48 is configured to include a liquid crystal display equipped with a touch panel that allows touch operation, and can display a wide variety of information including attention-calling information and warning information. The vehicle state sensor 50 acquires information representing the running state and operation state of the vehicle 10. The vehicle state sensor 50 includes, for example, a steering angle sensor that detects the steering angle of the vehicle 10, and a vehicle speed sensor that detects the running speed of the vehicle 10.

[0037] The ECU 40 is capable of executing driving assistance control by issuing a warning. This driving assistance control includes, as an example, control for TMN (preceding vehicle departure notification function). Although a detailed description is omitted, as an example, control for TMN is also executed while ACC (Adaptive Cruise Control) is being executed.

[0038] The ECU 40 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit: processor) 40A, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 40B, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 40C, a storage 40D, a communication interface (abbreviated as "communication I / F" in FIG. 5) 40E, and an input / output interface (abbreviated as "input / output I / F" in FIG. 5) 40F. The CPU 40A, the ROM 40B, the RAM 40C, the storage 40D, the communication interface 40E, and the input / output interface 40F are connected to each other so as to be able to communicate with each other via a bus 40Z.

[0039] The CPU 40A is a central processing unit that executes various programs and controls each part. That is, the CPU 40A reads a program from the ROM 40B or the storage 40D, and executes the program using the RAM 40C as a working area. The CPU 40A controls each of the above components and performs various arithmetic processing according to the program recorded in the ROM 40B or the storage 40D.

[0040] The ROM 40B stores various programs and various data. The RAM 40C temporarily stores programs or data as a working area. The storage 40D is configured with a storage device such as a hard disk drive (HDD) or a solid state drive (SSD), and stores various programs and various data. In this embodiment, the ROM 40B or the storage 40D stores a preceding vehicle departure notification program and the like. The communication interface 40E is an interface for the vehicle display device 30 to communicate with other devices.

[0041] The input / output interface 40F is an interface for communicating with each device mounted on the vehicle 10. To the ECU 40 of the present embodiment, for example, a light emitting device 32, a surroundings monitoring device 42, a speaker 46, an MID 48, and a vehicle state sensor 50 are connected via the input / output interface 40F.

[0042] 1, the ECU 40 has, as a functional configuration, a control unit 400. The CPU 40A shown in FIG 5 reads and executes a program (the preceding vehicle departure notification program described above as an example) stored in the ROM 40B or the storage 40D, whereby the ECU 40 functions as the control unit 400 (see FIG 1).

[0043] The control unit 400 shown in FIG. 1 controls the light-emitting device 32 to emit light from the light-emitting unit 34 when it determines, based on the information acquired by the surroundings monitoring device 42, that the degree of the need to alert the driver is within a predetermined range that is lower than a preset standard.

[0044] (Operation of the embodiment) Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described.

[0045] The CPU 40A shown in FIG. 5 reads out a preceding vehicle departure notification program from the ROM 40B or the storage 40D, develops it in the RAM 40C, and executes it, whereby the ECU 40 performs preceding vehicle departure notification control processing.

[0046] When the preceding vehicle departure notification program is executed, immediately after the preceding vehicle, which is stopped, starts moving while the vehicle 10 is stopped, based on information acquired by the surroundings monitoring device 42, the CPU 40A determines that the degree of necessity for alerting the driver D is within a predetermined range lower than a preset standard, and controls the light-emitting device 32 to emit light from the light-emitting unit 34 (see FIG. 2) and controls the MID 48 to display information on the preceding vehicle departure. This makes it possible to lightly alert the driver D. As an example, the light-emitting unit 34 is caused to blink several times (for example, twice).

[0047] Thereafter, if the preceding vehicle has further advanced a predetermined distance (for example, 4 m) but the vehicle 10 has not yet started moving, the CPU 40A controls the speaker 46 to emit a buzzer sound. The buzzer sound from the speaker 46 is continued until the vehicle 10 starts moving. In addition, the display of the preceding vehicle departure information by the MID 48 described above is also continued, for example, until the vehicle 10 starts moving.

[0048] In this way, in this embodiment, the driver D can be alerted in two stages. The light-emitting unit 34 shown in FIG. 1, which is used for the first light alert, is provided at the front of the vehicle interior so that the direct light emitted from the light-emitting unit 34 is visible to the driver D. Therefore, when the light-emitting unit 34 emits light, the driver D can be made to recognize the emitted direct light. Here, the light-emitting unit 34 is set at a height position lower than the field of vision of the driver D when driving while looking straight ahead. Therefore, when the light-emitting unit 34 emits light, the degree to which the driver D feels annoyed by the light emission can be reduced.

[0049] Further, the light-emitting unit 34 is disposed so that the direction Sd in which the light-emitting unit 34 is viewed from a position Ep assumed to be the eye point of the driver D is within a depression angle range of 20° to 40° in a side view of the vehicle with respect to the vehicle horizontal direction (see two-dot chain line Vh) passing through the position Ep assumed to be the eye point. Therefore, when the light-emitting unit 34 emits light while the driver D is lowering his / her line of sight (see the driver D indicated by the two-dot chain line in the drawing), the driver D can be made to notice the light emitted by the light-emitting unit 34 well.

[0050] A supplementary explanation on this point is given. Figure 6 shows the test results showing the relationship between the setting position of the light-emitting unit and the notification oversight rate. In this test, as shown by the two-dot chain line in Figure 1, the driver D was asked to play a game on a smartphone 99 placed on the lower front side of the steering wheel 18, and to look up when he noticed the light emitted by the light-emitting unit (34). The game also involved finding a large circle on the screen and tapping it.

[0051] In the graph of FIG. 6, the vertical axis indicates the location where the light-emitting unit is arranged, and the angle of depression of the driver D's view of the light-emitting unit with respect to the vehicle horizontal direction (see the two-dot chain line Vh in FIG. 1) when the driver D looks at the light-emitting unit. "Steering wheel 10°" corresponds to the upper part of the rim part of the steering wheel, which corresponds to the part marked with the symbol a in FIG. 2, and "meter 20°" corresponds to the part above the meter, which corresponds to the part marked with the symbol b in FIG. 2. "Steering SW 30°" corresponds to the part near the switch operation part on the left and right spoke parts of the steering wheel, which corresponds to the part marked with the symbol c in FIG. 2, and "instrument panel 30°" refers to the part where the light-emitting unit 34 of this embodiment is arranged. Although not shown, the width (dimension in the short side direction) of each light-emitting unit is substantially the same. The horizontal axis of the graph of FIG. 6 indicates the rate at which the notification by the light-emitting unit (i.e., the light emission of the light-emitting unit) was overlooked. From the graph in Figure 6, it can be seen that when the depression angle is 20° or less, the oversight rate decreases, and when the depression angle is 30°, the oversight rate becomes extremely low.

[0052] In this embodiment, as shown in Fig. 2, the light emitting unit 34 is provided in a portion including a vehicle width direction intermediate region (center cluster portion 20S) at the front side of the passenger compartment, and emits light with a blinking cycle of 200 ms to 600 ms. Therefore, when the light emitting unit 34 emits light while the driver D shown in Fig. 1 is looking down (see the driver D indicated by the two-dot chain line in the figure), the light emission by the light emitting unit 34 can be effectively made aware of the driver D. Also, because the blinking cycle is 200 ms to 600 ms, the degree to which the driver D feels annoyed by the light emission can be effectively reduced.

[0053] A supplementary explanation will be given on this point. FIG. 7 shows the test results showing the relationship between the blinking setting of the light-emitting part and the rate of noticing the light emission. This test is substantially the same as the test described in FIG. 6 except for the blinking setting and the arrangement setting of the light-emitting part. The environmental illuminance on the upper surface of the instrument panel during the test is 50,000 lx or more. The horizontal axis of FIG. 7 shows the blinking period of the light-emitting part, and the vertical axis shows the rate of noticing the blinking of the light-emitting part (the rate where 1 is the rate when all of the blinking of the light-emitting part is noticed). In addition, in the bar graph, the hatched ones show the case where the left light-emitting part 34L and the right light-emitting part 34R are illuminated (i.e., the case where the center light-emitting part 34S is not included), and the ones without hatching show the case where the left light-emitting part 34L, the center light-emitting part 34S, and the right light-emitting part 34R are illuminated. From this graph, it can be seen that when the center light-emitting part 34S is illuminated and the blinking period is 600 ms or less, the rate of noticing increases significantly.

[0054] In this embodiment, as shown in the schematic partial enlarged view of Fig. 4, a visor portion 38 is provided that extends obliquely upward and rearward from a portion adjacent to the upper side of the light-emitting portion 34. Therefore, even when sunlight enters the vehicle interior through the front windshield glass 16 of the vehicle 10 shown in Fig. 1, the visor portion 38 can block the sunlight from directly entering the light-emitting portion 34. This can prevent or suppress the direct light from the light-emitting portion 34 from being difficult to recognize due to the sunlight.

[0055] As described above, according to the vehicle display device 30 of the present embodiment, it is possible to allow the driver D to recognize the light emitted from the light-emitting unit 34 while making the driver D less likely to feel annoyed by the light emission.

[0056] In this embodiment, as shown in the schematic partial enlarged view of Fig. 4, the light emitting unit 34 is provided with a lens cover 34C on a surface facing the inside of the vehicle compartment, and the lens cover 34C is formed with a light diffusion unit 34D that diffuses light from the inside of the vehicle compartment so as to make it difficult to see the inside of the light emitting unit 34 in the non-light emitting state. This makes it possible to improve the appearance of the light emitting unit 34 in the non-light emitting state.

[0057] 2, in this embodiment, the light-emitting portion 34 is provided at the boundary between the upper panel 22 and the lower panel 24 of the instrument panel 20. For this reason, it is easier to manufacture a structure in which the light-emitting portion 34 is provided on the instrument panel 20 than when, for example, a portion for assembling the light-emitting portion (34) is provided only on the lower panel (24) of the instrument panel (20) and the light-emitting portion (34) is then assembled.

[0058] (Supplementary explanation of the embodiment) In the above embodiment, the linear light emitting portion 34 is provided at the boundary between the upper panel 22 and the lower panel 24 of the instrument panel 20, but the linear light emitting portion may be provided, for example, at a portion of the lower panel (24) of the instrument panel (20) below the boundary. In another modified example, the linear light emitting portion may be provided at a portion other than the instrument panel 20 at the front of the vehicle interior, such as near switch operating portions (see symbol c) on the left and right spokes of the steering wheel 18 or below the rim of the steering wheel 18.

[0059] As a modification of the above embodiment, the center light emitting portion (34S) and the right light emitting portion (34R) may be integrated and continuous. The number of light sources in each light emitting portion is not limited to the example of the above embodiment. As a modification of the above embodiment, the linear light emitting portion may be set at a height position lower than the field of view of the driver when driving while looking straight ahead, and may extend in the vertical direction of the vehicle.

[0060] In the above embodiment, the light-emitting unit 34 shown in FIG. 1 etc. is positioned so that the direction Sd in which the light-emitting unit 34 is viewed from a position Ep assumed to be the eye point of the driver D is within a depression angle range of 20° to 40° when viewed from the side of the vehicle with respect to the horizontal direction of the vehicle (see dashed double-dashed line Vh) passing through the position Ep assumed to be the eye point. However, for example, the light-emitting unit 34 may be positioned at a height slightly lower than the above-mentioned height.

[0061] In addition, in the above embodiment, the light-emitting unit 34 is provided in a portion including the vehicle widthwise middle region (center cluster portion 20S (see FIG. 2)) at the front side of the passenger compartment and is configured to emit light with a blinking cycle of 200 ms to 600 ms, but the configuration of the light-emitting unit is not limited to this configuration.

[0062] In the above embodiment, the visor portion 38 is provided extending obliquely upward toward the rear of the vehicle from a portion adjacent to the upper side of the light emitting portion 34. As a reference example that is not an embodiment of the present invention, A configuration in which the overhanging portion 38 is not provided is also possible.

[0063] In the above embodiment, as shown in the schematic enlarged partial view of Figure 4, the lens cover 34C provided on the surface of the light-emitting unit 34 facing the inside of the vehicle cabin is formed with a light diffusion portion 34D that diffuses light from the inside of the vehicle cabin so as to make it difficult to see the inside of the light-emitting unit 34 in the non-light-emitting state, but the present invention is not limited to including such a configuration.

[0064] As a modification of the above embodiment, for example, an inattentive detection device may be provided to detect the driver's inattentiveness, and the light emitting unit (34) may be illuminated when the inattentive detection device detects the driver's inattentiveness. As another modification, the light emitting unit (34) may be illuminated for a specific purpose other than calling attention. The multiple light emitting units (34) may also be understood as illumination.

[0065] In each of the above embodiments, the processes executed by the CPU 40A shown in FIG. 5 after reading the software (program) may be executed by various processors other than the CPU. In this case, examples of the processor include a PLD (Programmable Logic Device) such as an FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array) whose circuit configuration can be changed after manufacture, and a dedicated electric circuit such as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) which is a processor having a circuit configuration designed exclusively for executing a specific process. Each process may be executed by one of these various processors, or may be executed by a combination of two or more processors of the same or different types (for example, a plurality of FPGAs, a combination of a CPU and an FPGA, etc.). The hardware structure of these various processors is, more specifically, an electric circuit that combines circuit elements such as semiconductor elements.

[0066] Furthermore, each of the programs described in the above embodiments may be provided in a form recorded on a recording medium such as a CD-ROM (Compact Disc Read Only Memory), a DVD-ROM (Digital Versatile Disc Read Only Memory), a USB (Universal Serial Bus) memory, etc. Furthermore, the programs may be provided in a form downloaded from an external device via a network.

[0067] The above-described embodiment and the multiple modified examples can be implemented in appropriate combinations.

[0068] While one example of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above, and it goes without saying that the present invention can be implemented in various modified forms without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0069] 10 Vehicles 20. Instrument Panel 20S Center cluster area (middle area in the vehicle width direction at the front of the passenger compartment) 22 Upper Panel 24 Lower Panel 30 Vehicle display device 32 Light emitting device 34 Light emitting part 34C Lens cover 34D Light diffusion section 38 Eaves 42 Periphery monitoring device (information acquisition unit) 400 Control section D. Driver Ep The position assumed to be the driver's eye point Sd Viewing direction of the light-emitting part

Claims

1. A light-emitting device including a linear light-emitting unit provided at the front of the vehicle interior so that the emitted direct light is visible to the driver, the light-emitting unit being set at a height position lower than the field of view of the driver when driving while looking straight ahead; a visor portion extending obliquely upward toward the rear of the vehicle from a portion adjacent to the upper side of the light emitting portion; and the luminance of the light-emitting portion is set to 80 cd / m 2 to 200 cd / m 2 .

2. The vehicle display device according to claim 1, wherein the light-emitting unit is positioned so that the direction in which the light-emitting unit is viewed from a position assumed to be the driver's eye point is within a range of a depression angle of 20° to 40° when viewed from the side of the vehicle with respect to the horizontal direction of the vehicle passing through the position assumed to be the driver's eye point.

3. 3. The vehicle display device according to claim 1, wherein the light emitting portion is provided in a portion including a middle region in a vehicle width direction at a front side of the vehicle interior, and emits light with a blinking cycle of 200 ms to 600 ms.

4. The vehicle display device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the light-emitting section is provided with a lens cover on a surface facing the inside of the vehicle compartment, and the lens cover is formed with a light diffusion section that diffuses light from the inside of the vehicle compartment so as to make it difficult to see the inside of the light-emitting section in a non-light-emitting state.

5. The vehicle display device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the light-emitting portion is provided at the boundary between an upper panel that constitutes the upper side of an instrument panel provided at the front of the vehicle compartment, and a lower panel that constitutes the lower side of the instrument panel and is joined to the upper panel.

6. An information acquisition unit that acquires information about the surroundings of the vehicle; a control unit that controls the light-emitting device to emit light when it is determined that a degree of necessity for alerting a driver is within a predetermined range lower than a preset standard based on the information acquired by the information acquisition unit; and The display device for a vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 5, further comprising:

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