Steering Wheel Display for Vehicle Operability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing vehicle display devices face challenges in operability and ease of visual recognition, as they often require drivers to move their line of sight between a display unit and an operating unit, leading to reduced safety and difficulty in viewing information, especially when the units are separate and of small size.
Innovation Solution
A display device for vehicles is designed with an operating unit and a display unit positioned to minimize the need for drivers to move their line of sight, where the operating unit is situated between the eyes and the display unit, allowing for intuitive operation and improved visual recognition by overlaying the display unit in the driver's line of sight.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the operating unit and display unit are disposed separately in the instrument panel, then operability is improved by allowing operation without reaching forward, but ease of visual recognition deteriorates as the user must continuously move the line of sight between the display unit and operating unit
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies dimensionality change by moving the operating unit from the horizontal plane (instrument panel) to the vertical plane (steering wheel), allowing the driver to operate controls while maintaining forward视线. This spatial reconfiguration resolves the contradiction by enabling both separate unit disposal for operability and continuous display viewing for visual recognition.
2Device complexity
If the display screen is made small due to dimensional restrictions within the cabin, then device complexity is reduced, but ease of visual recognition deteriorates as displaying a great amount of information results in small display size making it difficult to view
Solution Approach 1:
The patent resolves this contradiction by utilizing the vertical dimension of the steering wheel to accommodate a larger display area without increasing horizontal cabin space requirements. The curved surface of the steering wheel provides additional display real estate while maintaining compact cabin footprint.
Solution Approach 2:
The display unit is nested within the steering wheel structure, integrating the display function into the existing steering wheel component. This nesting approach allows the display to be part of the steering wheel assembly, effectively utilizing the available space without adding separate bulky components.
Data Source
AI summary
A display device for a vehicle includes an operating unit which a passenger can operate, and a display unit which displays various types of images based on an operation input at the operating unit. The operating unit and display unit are disposed separated from each other. The operating unit is situated between the eyes of a driver performing the operation input and the display unit, and overlays the display unit on the line-of-sight direction of the driver performing the operation input.