JPH0454020Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a device for displaying information such as the speed of an automobile or various warning displays, and particularly relates to a device for displaying information in the driver's forward field of view.

[Problems to be solved by conventional techniques and ideas]

As a conventional device of this kind, for example,
The one disclosed in No. 48576 is known. Fourth,
5 and 6 show the above-mentioned known display device. In the figures, 1 is a vehicle, 2 is a windshield,
3 is an LCD cell; 4 is an LCD (liquid crystal display) drive circuit for displaying segments according to the speed when vehicle speed information is input; 5 is a convex lens;
6 is a light source. Further, the LCD cell 3, drive circuit 4, convex lens 5, and light source 6 are housed in a case 2b, and the case 2b is attached to the instrument panel 2a of the vehicle 1. Furthermore, 7 is a half mirror that can be rotated at an appropriate angle with respect to the axis Y-Y of the convex lens 5 and has appropriate reflectance and transmittance, and is attached to the instrument panel 2a of the vehicle 1. 8 is the driver, 8a is the eyes of the driver 8, and the line X--X is the line of sight. 9 is a virtual image formed by the image Q displayed on the LCD cell 3 by the convex lens 5; 10 is a virtual image formed from the virtual image 9 in front of the driver 8 by the half mirror 7; and 11 is the steering wheel of the vehicle. It is.

In this device, the display pattern created by the LCD cell 3 passes through a convex lens 5 and is reflected by a half mirror 7 placed in front of the driver, forming a virtual image 10 in front of the driver and superimposing it on the external field of view. The virtual image 10 is displayed on the driver's line of sight
Furthermore, the mounting angle of the half mirror 7 can be appropriately adjusted in order to tie the two.

However, in the conventional device described above, placing the half mirror 7 in front of the windshield 2 in front of the driver naturally obstructs the forward visibility.
Furthermore, if the display range is to be expanded, the required area of the half mirror 7 will inevitably have to be increased. Furthermore, the placement of the half mirror 7 on the dash board causes an adverse effect on the design of the instrument panel, and it is also undesirable to place this item when wiping the windshield 2 on the back side of the half mirror 7.

Furthermore, the mounting angle of the half mirror 7 is such that its end faces toward the driver in order to match the line of sight XX of the driver 8, which can pose an extremely serious problem from a safety standpoint.

Furthermore, in this conventional method, when the driver 8 wants to move the display position vertically or horizontally due to his physique or habits, it is necessary to move the half mirror 7 simultaneously with the movement of the optical axis from the display device main body. Become. If the half mirror 7 were to be fixed, it would require an extremely large area, which would cover most of the driver's forward field of vision, and so on, which would have many drawbacks.

[Means for solving problems]

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and it is an object of the present invention to eliminate the above-mentioned conventional drawbacks and provide a display device for a vehicle that can display a desired display in the field of view in front of the driver without using a half mirror. The configuration to achieve the purpose is to display the positive display by the LCD display cell,
Negative switching is possible freely, and this switching and high brightness light source,
The system is characterized in that it is associated with a low-intensity light source, and the display information is displayed on the windshield, superimposed on the external field of view, regardless of whether it is daytime or nighttime.

〔Example〕

FIG. 1 is an external view showing a display mode in an embodiment of the present invention, and is an external view of an instrument panel 2a of a vehicle 1.
A speedometer display is formed as a virtual image 10 on the windshield 2 located above.

FIG. 2a shows a structure for forming the virtual image 10, in which a convex lens 5, an LCD cell 3, a light source 6, a drive circuit 4, etc. are arranged in the instrument panel 2a. is located within the focal point F of the convex lens 5, and a light source 6 is provided on the opposite side of the LCD cell 3 from the convex lens 5 via a half mirror 12.

The LCD cell 3 includes a display pattern cell 3a,
It is composed of a negative/positive switching cell 3b and a polarizing plate 3c, and is connected to a drive circuit 4 connected to a vehicle speed sensor 13.

The light source 6 has a half mirror 12 inside the light source case 14.
It consists of a high-intensity light source 6a and a low-intensity light source 6b which are housed separately by a half mirror 12, and both enter the convex lens 5 side from below the LCD cell 3 by means of a half mirror 12.

A negative/positive changeover switch 15 is provided between the negative/positive changeover cell 3b and the drive circuit 4, and a light source changeover switch 16 is further provided between the high brightness light source 6a and the low brightness light source 6b. These changeover switches 15 and 16 are interposed so that they can be switched in conjunction with a sidemarker light switch 17 of the vehicle.

Note that a heat reflecting transparent filter 18 is interposed between the high-intensity light source 6a and the half mirror 12 in order to prevent heat from affecting the LCD cell 3.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be explained.

First, the operation during the daytime will be explained based on FIG. 2. For example, a signal from a vehicle speed sensor 13 attached to a car is converted into an LCD drive signal by an LCD drive circuit 4, and a display pattern Q is created on the LCD cell 3a. At this time, the display pattern Q is a polarizing plate 3c attached to the back of the display pattern Q so that the pattern displayed in front of the driver becomes a negative display as shown in FIG. 2b.
Select the polarization direction of . Further, the high-intensity light source 6a is turned on at the same time as the pattern is displayed on the LCD, and the light from the light source is reflected on the inner surface of the light source case 14 surrounding the light source, and is condensed and reflected on the half mirror 12. The light reflected by this half mirror 12, which is installed at an angle of 45 degrees, illuminates the display pattern Q of the LCD cell 3, passes through the convex lens 5, and is then reflected on two surfaces of the windshield to display a negative image in front of the driver. An image (virtual image 10) is formed.

At this time, it is desirable that the light source case 14 be made of a heat dissipating material such as an infrared transmitting material in order to dissipate the radiant heat from the light source 6a to the outside of the case. or,
Thermal effects on LCD cell 3 are as follows: LCD cell 3 and light source 6
The light is blocked by a transparent filter 18 for reflecting infrared rays provided between portions a.

Next, at night, the side lamp switch 17 is turned on as shown in FIG.
The display image 10 in front of the driver is then switched to a positive display as shown in FIG. 3b. Note that this switching is made at the discretion of the driver.

[Effect of idea]

The present invention is as described above, and by switching between a high-intensity light source and a low-intensity light source, and switching between negative and positive display modes, it is possible to achieve sufficient visibility regardless of whether it is daytime or nighttime, without having to install a half mirror in front of the windshield. A certain display can be displayed on the windshield within the driver's field of vision.

As a result, since no special parts are installed on the dash board, the driver's forward view is not obstructed, and the vehicle is superior in terms of safety, appearance, and design.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is an external view of an embodiment of the invention, Fig. 2 shows a specific structure of the embodiment of the invention in daytime use, where a is an overall configuration diagram and b is an enlarged view of an image formed on the windshield. , Figure 3 shows the specific structure in nighttime use, a is the overall configuration diagram,
b is an enlarged view of the image formed on the windshield;
FIG. 4 is an external view of the conventional example, FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram of main parts of the conventional example, and FIG. 6 is an overall configuration diagram of the conventional example. 2... Windshield, 3... LCD cell, 3
a...First (for display pattern) LCD cell, 3b
...Second (for negative/positive switching) LCD cell, 5...
...Convex lens, 6...Light source, 6a...High brightness light source,
6b...Low brightness light source, 10...Virtual image.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] A display device in which a first LCD cell for displaying information such as vehicle speed and a second LCD cell for switching the display mode to negative display or positive display is arranged within the focal point of a convex lens, and this display device On the other hand, a high-intensity light source and a low-intensity light source are switchably arranged on the opposite side of the convex lens, and by using the high-intensity light source during the day and the low-intensity light source at night, the information is reflected on the windshield surface. A display device for a vehicle that forms a virtual image of the information in a driver's forward field of vision.