Vehicle metering system

Abstract

To provide a meter device for a vehicle that is able to properly display a virtual image.SOLUTION: In a meter device for a vehicle, a transparent cover 60 has an external surface portion 61 positioned on an eye point EP side and an internal surface portion 62 positioned on an opposite side to the eye point EP side. Here, display light L guided to an eye point EP includes regular light L1 that is reflected by the external surface portion 61 of the transparent cover 60 and guided to the eye point EP, and irregular light L2 that is emitted in a direction different from the regular light L1, from an element 411 that has emitted the regular light L1, and has brightness equal to or higher than a predetermined reference brightness, the irregular light being reflected by the internal surface portion 62 of the transparent cover 60 and guided to the eye point EP. In the transparent cover 60 described above, the internal surface portion 62 and the external surface portion 61 are formed in such a shape that an optical path of the irregular light L2 reflected by the internal surface portion 62 overlaps an optical path of the regular light L1 reflected by the external surface portion 61.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5

Description

Technical Field

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

Background Art

[0002] Conventionally, as a vehicle meter device, for example, Patent Document 1 describes an in-vehicle meter that displays a virtual image by superimposing it on an illumination object. This in-vehicle meter includes a housing that opens on a predetermined visual position side, an illumination object housed in the housing, a light source that irradiates illumination light toward the illumination object to illuminate the illumination object, a display unit that emits display light representing information related to the vehicle, and a virtual image display member (half mirror) that is housed at a position on the visual position side of the illumination object in the housing, transmits light in the visible light region component from the light source side, and reflects the display light emitted from the display unit toward the visual position side to superimpose and display the virtual image on the illumination object.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] By the way, the in-vehicle meter described in Patent Document 1 above displays a virtual image by superimposing it on an illumination object using a half mirror. However, for example, it is also conceivable to superimpose and display the virtual image on the illumination object by reflecting the display light toward the visual position side by a transparent member such as glass that constitutes a transparent cover or the like. In such a case, it is desired that the in-vehicle meter suppresses a decrease in the visibility of the virtual image. <B

[0005] Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above, and an object thereof is to provide a vehicle meter device capable of appropriately displaying a virtual image.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] To solve the above-mentioned problems and achieve the objective, the vehicle meter device according to the present invention comprises: a housing provided in a vehicle and having an opening that opens toward the driver; a display unit housed inside the housing and displaying information about the vehicle toward the driver; a transparent cover that closes the opening of the housing and transmits light; and a display unit provided outside the housing and having a plurality of elements that form an image, which emits display light including the image from the plurality of elements toward the transparent cover, and reflects the display light toward the eye point side by the transparent cover, thereby superimposing a virtual image on the display unit, wherein the transparent cover is located toward the eye point side The transparent cover has an outer surface and an inner surface located on the opposite side from the eye point, and the display light guided to the eye point includes normal light that is reflected by the outer surface of the transparent cover and guided to the eye point, and non-normal light that is emitted from the element that emitted the normal light in a direction different from the normal light and has a brightness of a predetermined standard brightness or higher, and is reflected by the inner surface of the transparent cover and guided to the eye point, and the transparent cover is characterized in that the inner surface and the outer surface are formed in such a shape that the optical path of the non-normal light reflected by the inner surface overlaps with the optical path of the normal light reflected by the outer surface. [Effects of the Invention]

[0007] The vehicle meter device according to the present invention can superimpose the optical path of non-normalized light onto the optical path of normalized light, thereby suppressing the misalignment of the virtual image caused by non-normalized light from the virtual image caused by normalized light. As a result, the vehicle meter device can suppress double images of virtual images, and consequently, display virtual images correctly. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0008] [Figure 1] Figure 1 is an exploded perspective view showing an example of the configuration of a vehicle meter device according to an embodiment. [Figure 2] Figure 2 shows an example in which display light is emitted radially from an element according to the embodiment. [Figure 3] Figure 3 shows an example of the reflection of display light by a transparent cover in a comparative example. [Figure 4] Figure 4 shows a specific example of the display of a virtual image related to the comparative example. [Figure 5] Figure 5 shows an example of the reflection of display light by the transparent cover according to the embodiment. [Figure 6] Figure 6 shows an example of the reflection of display light and the display of a virtual image by the transparent cover according to the embodiment. [Figure 7] Figure 7 shows a specific example of the virtual image display according to the embodiment. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0009] Embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. The present invention is not limited to the contents described in the following embodiments. Furthermore, the components described below include those that can be easily imagined by those skilled in the art, and those that are substantially the same. Moreover, the components described below can be combined as appropriate. Furthermore, various omissions, substitutions, or modifications of the components can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

[0010] [Embodiment] An embodiment of the vehicle meter device 1 will be described with reference to the drawings. The vehicle meter device 1 is a virtual image type meter that displays a virtual image S1 superimposed on a dial 20. As shown in Figure 1, the vehicle meter device 1 comprises a housing 10, a dial 20 as a display unit, a control board 30 as a display unit, a liquid crystal display device 40 as a display, a control unit 50, and a transparent cover 60.

[0011] The housing 10 is installed on the instrument panel of the vehicle and houses various components that make up the vehicle meter device 1. The housing 10 is composed of, for example, a housing case 11 and a lining 12.

[0012] The housing case 11 houses the dial 20 and the control board 30. The housing case 11 is formed in a dish shape (tray shape) and has a housing space inside, in which the dial 20 and the control board 30 are assembled and housed.

[0013] The inner lining 12 surrounds the dial 20. The inner lining 12 is formed in a cylindrical shape and surrounds the dial 20 when assembled into the opening of the housing case 11. The inner lining 12 exposes the portion of the dial 20 on which the design is drawn towards the eye point EP. The inner lining 12 has an opening 121 that opens towards the eye point EP (driver's side). A transparent cover 60, which will be described later, is provided in this opening 121.

[0014] The dial 20 is a display unit housed inside the housing 10 that displays vehicle-related information to the driver. The dial 20 is a plate-shaped member on which various symbols, characters, scales, decorations, and other patterns corresponding to vehicle-related information are drawn on the display surface 21 (for simplicity, the illustration of these patterns is omitted here). The dial 20 has various patterns, such as a speed scale 211 showing the vehicle's speed, a rotation scale 212 showing the output rotation speed of the power source for driving, and a warning pattern 213 indicating a warning. Furthermore, a virtual image display area 214 for displaying a virtual image S1 is provided. In this example, the speed scale 211 is drawn on one side in the width direction of the dial 20, the rotation scale 212 and the warning pattern 213 are drawn on the other side in the width direction, and the virtual image display area 214 is provided between the speed scale 211 and the rotation scale 212. The virtual image display area 214 may include a design pattern superimposed on the virtual image S1.

[0015] The control board 30 is equipped with various electronic components for realizing various functions in the vehicle meter device 1. For example, the control board 30 is equipped with a motor that rotates the pointer that indicates the scales of the speed scale 211 and rotation scale 212 on the dial 20, and a light source for illuminating the warning symbol 213. The control board 30 is connected to the control unit 50 and rotates the motor based on the control signals output from the control unit 50. The control board 30 also emits light from the light source based on the control signals output from the control unit 50. The speed scale 211, pointer, and motor constitute the speedometer. The rotation scale 212, pointer, and motor constitute the tachometer. The warning symbol 213 and light source constitute the warning light. The speedometer, tachometer, and warning light constitute the display unit.

[0016] The liquid crystal display device 40 is located outside the housing 10 and emits display light L, including an image, toward the transparent cover 60. The liquid crystal display device 40 consists of a liquid crystal panel 41 and a backlight 42. The liquid crystal panel 41 is made of a TFT-LCD (Thin Film Transistor-Liquid Crystal Display) or the like and has a plurality of elements 411 that form an image. Each of the plurality of elements 411 corresponds to each of the pixels that make up the image. The backlight 42 irradiates light onto the back of the liquid crystal panel 41 and is made of, for example, a plurality of LEDs (light-emitting diodes). The liquid crystal display device 40 is connected to a control unit 50 and operates the liquid crystal panel 41 and the backlight 42 based on control signals output from the control unit 50. For example, based on control signals output from the control unit 50, the liquid crystal display device 40 irradiates light onto the liquid crystal panel 41 with the backlight 42, thereby emitting display light L, including an image, from the liquid crystal panel 41 toward the transparent cover 60. At this time, as shown in Figure 2, the liquid crystal display device 40 emits display light L containing the image radially from each element 411 (dot) toward the transparent cover 60.

[0017] The control unit 50 controls the control board 30 and the liquid crystal display device 40. The control unit 50 outputs a control signal to the control board 30 to control the above-mentioned speedometer, tachometer, warning lamp, etc. The control unit 50 outputs a control signal to the liquid crystal display device 40 to control the liquid crystal panel 41 and the backlight 42.

[0018] The transparent cover 60 is a cover that closes the opening 121 of the back part 12 and transmits light. The transparent cover 60 is formed in a curved plate shape by a transparent resin and closes the opening 121 of the back part 12. The transparent cover 60 is formed in a curved shape toward the side opposite to the eye point EP side, that is, the dial 20 side. The transparent cover 60 has an outer surface part 61 located on the eye point EP side and an inner surface part 62 located on the side opposite to the eye point EP side.

[0019] Here, as described above, the liquid crystal display device 40 radiates display light L including an image radially from each of the elements 411 (dots) toward the transparent cover 60. Therefore, the display light L guided to the eye point EP may include regular light L1 and irregular light L2 different from the regular light L1, as shown in FIG. 3. Here, the regular light L1 is light having a luminance equal to or higher than a visible luminance, which is reflected by the outer surface portion 61 of the transparent cover 60 and guided to the eye point EP, and is visually recognized as a virtual image S1. That is, the regular light L1 is light that is directly reflected by the outer surface portion 61 without being reflected by the inner surface portion 62 of the transparent cover 60 and is guided to the eye point EP. The irregular light L2 is emitted from the element 411 that has emitted the regular light L1 in a direction different from that of the regular light L1, and has a luminance equal to or higher than a predetermined reference luminance (for example, 0.5% of the luminance of the regular light L1). The irregular light L2 is light that is reflected by the inner surface portion 62 of the transparent cover 60 and guided to the eye point EP, and is visually recognized as a virtual image S2. That is, the irregular light L2 is emitted from the same element 411 as the regular light L1 in an optical path different from the optical path of the regular light L1, and has a luminance equal to or higher than a visible luminance. The irregular light L2 is light that is reflected by the inner surface portion 62 of the transparent cover 60 and guided to the eye point EP. Furthermore, the irregular light L2 is visible light that is directly reflected by the inner surface portion 62 without being reflected by the outer surface portion 61 of the transparent cover 60 and is guided to the eye point EP. If the irregular light L2 has a low level of luminance that is not visible, even if it is guided to the eye point EP, it is not visually recognized as a virtual image.

[0020] After defining the positional relationship among the transparent cover 60, the liquid crystal display device 40, and the eye point EP, the inner surface portion 62 and the outer surface portion 61 of the transparent cover 60 are formed in a shape such that the optical path of the irregular light L2 reflected by the inner surface portion 62 overlaps with the optical path of the regular light L1 reflected by the outer surface portion 61. In other words, the transparent cover 60 is formed to have a thickness such that the inner surface portion 62 and the outer surface portion 61 are such that the optical path of the irregular light L2 reflected by the inner surface portion 62 coincides with the optical path of the regular light L1 reflected by the outer surface portion 61.

[0021] As described above, the vehicle meter device 1 according to the embodiment comprises a housing 10, a dial 20, a transparent cover 60, and a liquid crystal display device 40. The housing 10 is installed in the vehicle and has an opening 121 that opens towards the driver. The dial 20 and control board 30 are housed inside the housing 10 and display vehicle-related information toward the driver. The transparent cover 60 closes the opening 121 of the housing 10 and transmits light. The liquid crystal display device 40 is installed outside the housing 10 and has a plurality of elements 411 that form an image. Display light L containing the image is emitted from the plurality of elements 411 toward the transparent cover 60, and the display light L is reflected by the transparent cover 60 toward the eye point EP side, thereby superimposing a virtual image S1 onto the virtual image display area 214 of the dial 20 for display. The transparent cover 60 has an outer surface portion 61 located toward the eye point EP side and an inner surface portion 62 located toward the opposite side of the eye point EP side. Here, the display light L guided to the eye point EP includes normal light L1 that is reflected by the outer surface portion 61 of the transparent cover 60 and guided to the eye point EP, and non-normal light L2 that is emitted from the element 411 that emitted the normal light L1 in a direction different from the normal light L1 and has a brightness equal to or greater than a predetermined reference brightness, and is reflected by the inner surface portion 62 of the transparent cover 60 and guided to the eye point EP. The transparent cover 60 described above is formed such that the inner surface portion 62 and the outer surface portion 61 are shaped so that the optical path of the non-normal light L2 reflected by the inner surface portion 62 overlaps with the optical path of the normal light L1 reflected by the outer surface portion 61.

[0022] Here, the transparent cover 90 in the comparative example differs from the transparent cover 60 in the embodiment in that the inner surface 92 and outer surface 91 are not formed in such a way that the optical path of the non-normalized light L2 reflected by the inner surface 92 overlaps with the optical path of the normalized light L1 reflected by the outer surface 91. Therefore, as shown in Figure 3, the optical path of the non-normalized light L2 reflected by the inner surface 92 of the transparent cover 90 in the comparative example does not overlap with the optical path of the normalized light L1 reflected by the outer surface 91. Consequently, as shown in Figure 4, the virtual image S1 due to the normalized light L1 and the virtual image S2 due to the non-normalized light L2 are displayed with a misalignment, resulting in the problem of double images.

[0023] In contrast, the transparent cover 60 according to the embodiment is formed such that the inner surface 62 and outer surface 61 are shaped so that the optical path of the non-normalized light L2 reflected by the inner surface 62 overlaps with the optical path of the normalized light L1 reflected by the outer surface 61. As a result, as shown in Figures 5 and 6, the transparent cover 60 according to the embodiment has the optical path of the non-normalized light L2 reflected by the inner surface 62 overlapping with the optical path of the normalized light L1 reflected by the outer surface 61. As a result, as shown in Figures 6 and 7, the transparent cover 60 according to the embodiment can suppress the display of a virtual image S2 due to non-normalized light L2 that is misaligned with the virtual image S1 due to normalized light L1, thereby suppressing the occurrence of double images and thus suppressing a decrease in visibility. As a result, the vehicle meter device 1 can properly display the virtual image S1.

[0024] In the above explanation, the display device was described as a liquid crystal display device 40, but it is not limited to this, and may be an organic EL display device, for example.

[0025] The vehicle meter device 1 has been described as comprising an example including a speedometer consisting of a speed scale 211 and an analog pointer, a tachometer consisting of a rotation scale 212 and an analog pointer, a warning light consisting of a warning symbol 213 and a light source, and a virtual image display area 214 on which a virtual image S1 is displayed, but is not limited to this. The vehicle meter device 1 may, for example, be configured so that the pointer is made of a virtual image and the virtual image pointer points to the analog speed scale 211, or both the speed scale 211 and the pointer may be displayed as virtual images. Similarly, the vehicle meter device 1 may be configured so that the pointer is made of a virtual image and the virtual image pointer points to the analog rotation scale 212, or both the rotation scale 212 and the pointer may be displayed as virtual images. The vehicle meter device 1 may also illuminate the warning symbol 213 using a virtual image. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0026] 10 cabinets 121 Opening 20 Dial board (display part) 30 Control board (display unit) 40. Liquid crystal display device (display unit) 411 elements 60 Transparent Covers 61 External part 62 Inner surface L display light L1 regular light L2 irregular light EP Eye Point S1 Illusion

Claims

[Claim 1] A housing provided in the vehicle and having an opening on the driver's side, A display unit housed inside the aforementioned housing and displaying information about the vehicle to the driver, A transparent cover that closes the opening of the housing and allows light to pass through, The display unit comprises a display unit provided on the outside of the housing, having a plurality of elements that form an image, which emits display light including the image from the plurality of elements toward a transparent cover, and which reflects the display light toward the eye point side by the transparent cover, thereby superimposing a virtual image onto the display unit and displaying it, The transparent cover has an outer surface located on the eye point side and an inner surface located on the opposite side from the eye point side. The display light guided to the eye point includes normal light that is reflected by the outer surface of the transparent cover and guided to the eye point, and non-normal light that is emitted from the element that emitted the normal light in a direction different from the normal light and has a brightness equal to or greater than a predetermined reference brightness, and is reflected by the inner surface of the transparent cover and guided to the eye point. The vehicle meter device is characterized in that the transparent cover is formed such that the inner surface and the outer surface are shaped so that the optical path of the non-normal light reflected by the inner surface overlaps with the optical path of the normal light reflected by the outer surface.

Images