Vehicle display device

Abstract

To provide a vehicular display device which can be shared without being affected by a specification (especially, the shape of a windshield) of a vehicle.SOLUTION: A vehicular display device 1 is provided in an instrument panel 102 of a vehicle 100. The vehicular display device includes: a display 3 which emits desired visible information as display light L; and an aspherical mirror 4 which is arranged on an optical path of the display light L from the display 3 to a windshield 101 of the vehicle 100 and a position which can be visually recognized from a viewpoint position EP of a driver D. The aspherical mirror 4 reflects the display light L emitted from the display 3 to the viewpoint position EP and causes the driver D to visually recognize the desired visible information as a virtual image S.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

Technical Field

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

Background Art

[0002] Conventionally, some vehicles such as automobiles are equipped with a vehicle display device such as a head-up display (HUD). A conventional vehicle display device is configured to allow a driver to visually recognize a display image as a virtual image by projecting the display image displayed on a display onto a windshield or a combiner via an optical system such as a reflection mirror (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] As described above, in a vehicle display device that projects a display image onto a windshield, there may be a case where the display image cannot be projected depending on the shape of the windshield. In other words, the above-described vehicle display device needs to be designed according to the shape of the windshield for each vehicle.

[0005] The present invention has been made in view of the above-described situation, and an object thereof is to provide a vehicle display device that can be shared without being affected by vehicle specifications (particularly the shape of the windshield).

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] In order to achieve the above-described object, a vehicle display device according to an embodiment of the present invention is a vehicle display device provided on an instrument panel of a vehicle, A display that emits desired visible information as display light, and an aspherical mirror disposed on the optical path of the display light from the display to the windshield of the vehicle and at a position visible from the driver's viewpoint position. The aspherical mirror, reflects the display light emitted from the display to the viewpoint position, and allows the driver to visually recognize the desired visible information as a virtual image. se The reflecting surface is formed as a concave curved surface, and the visible information represented by the display light after being reflected by the reflecting surface is relatively enlarged compared to the visible information represented by the display light before being reflected by the reflecting surface, and is reflected after being enlarged, At least a part of it is located above the instrument panel and is arranged to be inclined downward with respect to the horizontal direction of the vehicle, The vehicle display device, A housing part that houses the display and the aspherical mirror, A light-shielding part attached to the housing part so as to be located on the optical path from the aspherical mirror to the viewpoint position, and further includes, The light-shielding part, Is configured to be able to transmit the display light from the inside of the housing part to the outside, and is configured to be able to block or attenuate the incidence of external light including sunlight from the outside to the inside, The displayable range of the enlarged visible information after being reflected by the reflecting surface of the aspherical mirror is larger than the frame of the light-shielding part, and the driver visually recognizes only the visible information in a partial area of the displayable range transmitted through the light-shielding part.

Advantages of the Invention

[0008] According to the present invention, the display light emitted from the display can be reflected by the aspherical mirror to the driver's viewpoint position, allowing the driver to visually recognize the desired visible information as a virtual image. As a result, the sharing of vehicle display devices can be achieved without being affected by the vehicle specifications (especially the shape of the windshield).

[0009] The present invention has been briefly described above. Further, the details of the present invention will be further clarified by reading through the embodiments for carrying out the invention described below (hereinafter referred to as "embodiments") with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0010]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

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DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0011] <Embodiment> Hereinafter, with reference to the drawings, the vehicle display device 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described.

[0012] <Schematic Configuration of Vehicle Display Device 1> Hereinafter, the schematic configuration of the vehicle display device 1 will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle display device 1 is a meter device that is arranged on the instrument panel 102 in a vehicle 100 such as an automobile and can display various instruments. The vehicle display device 1 can display information on various instruments as a virtual image S, for example, like a head-up display device. This virtual image S is on the extension line of the optical path and is imaged so as to exist in front of and farther in the vehicle traveling direction than the vehicle display device 1 as viewed from the driver D's viewpoint position EP.

[0013] As shown in FIG. 2, the vehicle display device 1 includes a housing portion 2, a display 3, an aspherical mirror 4, and a light-shielding glass 5 (corresponding to the "light-shielding portion" of the present invention). The housing portion 2 houses and supports the display 3 and the aspherical mirror 4 in the internal space. The housing portion 2 is provided with an opening 2b that communicates the internal space with the outside. The opening 2b is provided at a position facing the driver D in the housing portion 2 and is closed by the light-shielding glass 5.

[0014] In this embodiment, the housing portion 2 is formed in a substantially L shape, with the upper part above the bent portion being the upper side portion 21 and the lower part below the bent portion being the lower side portion 22. As shown in FIG. 1, in the vehicle 100, the lower side portion 22 of the housing portion 2 is disposed within the instrument panel 102, and the upper side portion 21 is provided so as to rise from the upper surface 102a of the instrument panel 102.

[0015] The display 3 emits the desired visible information to be visually recognized by the driver D of the vehicle 100 as a virtual image S as display light L. In this embodiment, the display 3 is disposed so as to be inclined with respect to the horizontal direction of the vehicle so as to emit the display light L obliquely upward in the front direction. As the display 3, for example, a display used in a known head-up display device is used.

[0016] As an example, the display 3 includes a light source, a display panel that emits the display light L by the light incident from the light source, a condenser lens that is disposed on the optical path between the light source and the display panel and condenses the light incident from the light source toward the display panel, a light distribution lens that is disposed on the optical path between the light source and the display panel, between the condenser lens and the display panel, and distributes the light condensed by the condenser lens toward the display panel, and a wavelength plate for adjusting the deflection direction of the display panel.

[0017] The light source includes those in which a plurality of light emitting elements are intensively mounted at a position through which the optical axis of the condenser lens passes on the light source substrate as viewed from the optical axis direction of the condenser lens, and the light emitting elements are, for example, LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes). The display panel is a so-called liquid crystal panel and is composed of, for example, a transmissive type or a transflective type TFT liquid crystal (Thin Film Transistor Liquid Crystal Display). The condenser lens is formed of a high refractive index material such as glass or transparent resin, and has a function of refracting the light that tends to go outward inward and condensing it on the light distribution lens. The light distribution lens is formed of a material such as glass or transparent resin, and has a function of refracting light so as to direct it toward the display area of the display panel and perform light distribution.

[0018] The aspherical mirror 4 is a so-called concave mirror in which the reflecting surface is formed as a concave curved surface. The display light L emitted from the display 3 is totally reflected toward the viewpoint position EP through the light-shielding glass 5, and the visible information is visually recognized by the driver D as a virtual image S. For this reason, the aspherical mirror 4 is disposed on the optical path of the display light L from the display 3 to the windshield 101 and at a position visible from the viewpoint position EP of the driver D, and is disposed so as to be inclined with respect to the vehicle horizontal direction such that the reflecting surface faces obliquely downward.

[0019] Further, the aspherical mirror 4 has a function as an enlarged mirror, for example, and enlarges and reflects the visible information such that the visible information represented by the display light L after being reflected by the aspherical mirror 4 is relatively larger than the visible information represented by the display light L before being reflected by the aspherical mirror 4.

[0020] The light-shielding glass 5 is attached to the housing portion 2 in a state of rising from the upper surface 102a of the instrument panel 102 so as to close the opening 2b of the housing portion 2. The light-shielding glass 5 is configured to be able to transmit the display light L from the internal space of the housing portion 2 to the outside, and is configured to be able to block or attenuate the incidence of external light SL including sunlight from the outside to the internal space. As the light-shielding glass 5, so-called smoked glass or the like is used.

[0021] The light-shielding glass 5 has an upper end portion 5a protruding above the upper surface 2a of the housing portion 2 such that the driver D cannot visually recognize the housing portion 2 at the viewpoint position EP (see FIG. 4) (see FIGS. 2 and 3).

[0022] <Virtual image display operation in the vehicle display device 1> The virtual image display operation in the vehicle display device 1 will be described below. First, the display light L emitted from the display 3 travels toward the aspherical mirror 4. The aspherical mirror 4 reflects the display light L incident from the display 3 toward the viewpoint position EP of the driver D of the vehicle 100 through the light-shielding glass 5 by means of its concave reflecting surface. As a result, visible information corresponding to the display light L is displayed as a virtual image S in front of the viewpoint position EP of the driver D. That is, the driver D can visually recognize the virtual image S as visible information corresponding to the display light L in the front and far away in the vehicle traveling direction by visually recognizing the aspherical mirror 4 that has reflected the display light L.

[0023] Regarding the difference in the viewpoint position EP of the driver D, as shown in FIG. 5, it can be handled by the display 3. Examples of this handling method include changing the emission angles (reflection positions) of the display lights L, L1, and L2 from the display 3 to the aspherical mirror 4, or changing the display positions of the display panels included in the display 3.

[0024] By the way, in the present embodiment, as described above, the visible information represented by the display light L after being reflected by the aspherical mirror 4 is enlarged and reflected so that the visible information becomes relatively large. For this reason, the displayable range DL of the visible information is larger than the frame of the light-shielding glass 5 (see FIG. 6). And as the vehicle display device 1, within the range of the frame of the light-shielding glass 5, visible information is displayed using a partial area (display range DI) from within the above displayable range DL (see FIG. 6). For this reason, the driver D only visually recognizes the visible information corresponding to the display range DI and does not visually recognize the display frame of the visible information (in other words, the boundary line between the visible information and the rest). Thereby, the vehicle display device 1 can achieve a so-called seamless appearance.

[0025] In addition to the information of various vehicle instruments, map information, navigation information, etc. may be displayed as desired visible information in the present embodiment.

[0026] <Function and Effect> According to the present embodiment, with respect to a conventional vehicle display device that projects display light onto a windshield, the display light L emitted from the display 3 is reflected by the aspherical mirror 4 to the viewpoint position EP of the driver D, and desired visual information can be visually recognized by the driver D as a virtual image S. Thereby, the sharing of the vehicle display device 1 can be achieved without being affected by the specifications of the vehicle (particularly the shape of the windshield 101).

[0027] Furthermore, according to the present embodiment, since the light shielding glass 5 can block or attenuate the incidence of external light SL into the housing portion 2, it is not necessary to provide a hood portion or the like for removing external light in the housing portion 2. That is, the housing portion 2 can be designed without a hood.

[0028] Furthermore, according to the present embodiment, the light shielding glass 5 is attached to the housing portion 2 in a state of rising from the upper surface of the instrument panel 102, so that the visibility of the driver D can be improved.

[0029] Furthermore, according to the present embodiment, the upper end portion 5a of the light shielding glass 5 protrudes above the upper surface 2a of the housing portion 2, so that the driver D cannot visually recognize the housing portion 2. Thereby, the design property inside the vehicle 100 after mounting the vehicle display device 1 is improved.

[0030] Furthermore, according to the present embodiment, as described above, a hoodless design and a seamless appearance can be realized at low cost.

[0031] <Other forms> Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be appropriately modified, improved, etc. In addition, the material, shape, dimensions, number, arrangement location, etc. of each component in the above-described embodiment are arbitrary as long as the present invention can be achieved, and are not limited.

[0032] In the above embodiment, the upper portion 21 of the housing portion 2 is disposed so as to be exposed on the upper surface 102a of the instrument panel 102. However, as shown in FIG. 7, the upper portion 21 of the housing portion 2 may be covered by the instrument panel upper 103. In this case, it is preferable that the upper end portion 5a of the light-shielding glass 5 protrudes above the upper surface 103a of the instrument panel upper 103 so that the driver D cannot visually recognize the upper surface 103a of the instrument panel upper 103. Thereby, the design property inside the vehicle 100 after mounting the vehicle display device 1 is improved.

[0033] Here, the features of the embodiments of the vehicle display device according to the present invention described above are briefly summarized and listed in [1] to [5] below, respectively.

[0034] [1] A vehicle display device (1) provided on an instrument panel (102) of a vehicle (100), a display (3) that emits desired visible information as display light (L), an aspherical mirror (4) disposed on the optical path of the display light (L) from the display (3) to the windshield (101) of the vehicle (100) and at a position visible from the viewpoint position (EP) of the driver (D), wherein the aspherical mirror (4) reflects the display light (L) emitted from the display (3) to the viewpoint position (EP) to allow the driver (D) to visually recognize the desired visible information as a virtual image (S). A vehicle display device (1).

[0035] According to the configuration of [1] above, compared with a conventional vehicle display device that projects display light onto a windshield, the display light emitted from the display can be reflected by the aspherical mirror to the viewpoint position of the driver, and the desired visible information can be visually recognized by the driver as a virtual image. Thereby, the sharing of the vehicle display device can be achieved without being affected by the specifications of the vehicle (particularly the shape of the windshield).

[0036] [2] The vehicle display device (1) described in [1] above, wherein the aspherical mirror (4) is at least partially located above the instrument panel (102) and is disposed to be inclined downward with respect to the horizontal direction of the vehicle (100). Vehicle display device (1).

[0037] According to the configuration of [2] above, similarly to [1], the display light emitted from the display can be reflected by the aspherical mirror to the driver's viewpoint position, and the desired visible information can be visually recognized by the driver as a virtual image.

[0038] [3] The vehicle display device (1) described in [2] above, a housing part (2) that houses the display (3) and the aspherical mirror (4), and a light shielding part (light shielding glass 5) attached to the housing part (2) so as to be located on the optical path from the aspherical mirror (4) to the viewpoint position (EP). The light shielding part (light shielding glass 5) is configured to be able to transmit the display light (L) from the inside of the housing part (2) to the outside, and is configured to be able to block or attenuate the incidence of external light including sunlight from the outside to the inside. Vehicle display device (1).

[0039] According to the configuration of [3] above, since the light shielding part can block or attenuate the incidence of external light into the housing part, it is not necessary to provide a hood part or the like for removing external light on the housing part. That is, the housing part can be designed without a hood.

[0040] [4] The vehicle display device (1) described in [3] above, wherein the light shielding part (light shielding glass 5) is attached to the housing part (2) in a state of rising from the upper surface (102a) of the instrument panel (102). Vehicle display device (1).

[0041] According to the configuration of [4] above, the light-shielding part is attached to the housing part in a state of rising from the upper surface of the instrument panel, so that the visibility of the driver can be improved.

[0042] [5] The vehicle display device (1) described in [4] above, The upper end part (5a) of the light-shielding part (light-shielding glass 5) projects above the upper surface (2a) of the housing part so that the driver (D) cannot visually recognize the housing part. Vehicle display device (1).

[0043] According to the configuration of [5] above, since the upper end part of the light-shielding part projects above the upper surface of the housing part, the driver cannot visually recognize the housing part. As a result, the design property inside the vehicle after mounting the vehicle display device is improved.

Explanation of Signs

[0044] 1 Vehicle display device 2 Housing part 2a Upper surface 2b Opening 3 Display 4 Aspherical mirror 5 Light-shielding glass 5a Upper end part 21 Upper part 22 Lower part 100 Vehicle 101 Windshield 102 Instrument panel 102a Upper surface 103 Instrument panel upper 103a Upper surface D Driver EP Viewpoint position L, L1, L2 Display light S Virtual image SL External light

Claims

1. A vehicle display device provided on an instrument panel of a vehicle, comprising: a display that emits desired visible information as display light; an aspherical mirror disposed on an optical path of the display light from the display to a windshield of the vehicle and at a position visible from a driver's viewpoint position; The aspherical mirror: reflects the display light emitted from the display to the viewpoint position, allowing the driver to visually recognize the desired visible information as a virtual image; has a reflecting surface formed as a concave curved surface, and reflects the visible information after expanding it so that the visible information represented by the display light after reflection by the reflecting surface is relatively larger than the visible information represented by the display light before reflection by the reflecting surface; at least a part of it is located above the instrument panel and is disposed inclined downward with respect to the horizontal direction of the vehicle; The vehicle display device further comprises: a housing portion that houses the display and the aspherical mirror; a light-shielding portion attached to the housing portion so as to be located on an optical path from the aspherical mirror to the viewpoint position; The light-shielding portion: is configured to allow the display light to pass through from the inside of the housing portion to the outside, and is configured to block or attenuate the incidence of external light including sunlight from the outside to the inside; a displayable range of the enlarged visible information after reflection by the reflecting surface of the aspherical mirror is larger than a frame of the light-shielding portion, and the driver visually recognizes only a part of the visible information within the displayable range that has passed through the light-shielding portion. A vehicle display device.

2. The vehicle display device according to Claim 1, wherein: The light-shielding portion: is attached to the housing portion in a state rising from an upper surface of the instrument panel. A vehicle display device.

3. The vehicle display device according to Claim 2, wherein: an upper end portion of the light-shielding portion: protrudes above an upper surface of the housing portion so that the driver cannot visually recognize the housing portion. A vehicle display device.

Images