Patent Grant
10417993
The present invention relates to a display control device that is to be mounted on a vehicle to control display on a display unit, and relates to an information display device that is to be mounted thereon.
Among traditional information display devices, there is disclosed a display equipped with multiple state-indication lamps which indicate various states of a vehicle to be checked for driving and operating the vehicle. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1) On the other hand, there is disclosed a display which, in an abnormal state, interrupts a predetermined display operation to insert and display, in a display area, a warning symbol indicating the content of the abnormal state. (For example, refer to Patent Document 2)
In such information display devices, as vehicles become multi-functionalized, a number of images indicating vehicle information are to be displayed in a limited display area. As the result, each image is inevitably reduced in size, and when a vehicle's abnormality is detected, the user has a challenge to recognize the image corresponding to the vehicle's abnormal information.
The present invention is made to solve the problem described above and to provide a display control device and an information display device that, in a case when vehicle's abnormality is detected, help the user readily recognize the image corresponding to the vehicle's abnormal information, and accurately understand the content of the abnormality.
A display control device according to the present invention, which is to be mounted on a vehicle to control display of a display unit, includes a communication unit to acquire multiple vehicle information items, a detection unit to detect an abnormality of the vehicle from at least one of the multiple vehicle information items acquired by the communication unit, and a display control unit to display on the display unit, multiple images each corresponding to one of the multiple vehicle information items, wherein, when an abnormality of the vehicle is detected by the detection unit, the display control unit magnifies, from among the multiple images, an image corresponding to the at least one of the multiple vehicle information items from which the abnormality is detected, to be displayed on the display unit.
An information display device according to the present invention, which is to be mounted on a vehicle, includes a communication unit to acquire multiple vehicle information items, a detection unit to detect an abnormality of the vehicle from at least one of the multiple vehicle information items acquired by the communication unit, a display unit on which multiple images each corresponding to one of the multiple vehicle information items acquired by the communication unit are displayed and a display control unit to magnify, when an abnormality of the vehicle is detected by the detection unit, an image corresponding to the at least one of the multiple vehicle information items from which the abnormality is detected, from among the multiple images displayed on the display unit, and make the display unit display the magnified image.
According to the description about a display control device and an information display device disclosed in the present invention, the display control device and the information display device can be obtained in which, upon detection of vehicle's abnormality, the image corresponding to the vehicle's abnormal information is magnified and displayed, so that the user can readily recognize the image and accurately understand the content of the abnormality.
Embodiment 1
With reference to
The communication unit 3 acquires multiple vehicle information items from a group of ECUs (Electronic Control Units) of the vehicle via, for example, CAN (Controller Area Network) bus. Examples of the multiple vehicle information items are indicator information, headlight information, air pressure information, gasoline information, handbrake information, windshield condensation information, lamp information, ABS information, airbag information, ECO mode information, mileage information, engine information, gear shift information, vehicle speed information, cooling water information, battery information, and power consumption information.
The detection unit 4 detects an abnormality of the vehicle from at least one of the multiple vehicle information items acquired by the communication unit 3. An abnormality of the vehicle is detected, for example, by determining whether the value acquired from the vehicle information item exceeds a predetermined threshold, or whether the response from ECU is not acquired for a predetermined period. The multiple vehicle information items to be acquired by the communication unit 3 may include information about the presence or absence of abnormality. In this case, the detection unit 4 detects an abnormality of the vehicle with reference to the information on the existence of abnormality.
The display unit 6 displays the multiple images each corresponding to one of the multiple vehicle information items acquired by the communication unit 3. As vehicle's functions become more sophisticated, a number of vehicle information images including warning images tend to be displayed on the display unit 6.
The display control unit 5 displays, on the display unit 6, the multiple images each corresponding to one of the multiple vehicle information items. When the detection unit 4 detects an abnormality of the vehicle, the display control unit 5 magnifies and displays, on the display unit 6, the image corresponding to the vehicle information item from which the abnormality is detected, from among those multiple images. Note that the multiple images displayed on the display unit 6 are normally displayed even in a state where no abnormality is detected. To be more specific, the image corresponding to the vehicle information item from which an abnormality was detected has already been displayed on the display unit 6 from before the abnormality was detected, and has already been in a state in which the user can recognize the image from before abnormality was detected.
The multiple images to be displayed on the display unit 6 in
Next, the operation of the display control device 1 and the information display device 2 in Embodiment 1 of the present invention will be explained with reference to
In Step S101 of
In a case when, in Step S102, the detection unit 4 does not detect any abnormality of the vehicle, Step S103 may be omitted to end the operation flow. In this case, the screen image already displayed on the display unit 6 is unchanged. Note that in a case when the detection unit 4 detects multiple abnormalities of the vehicle, the display control unit 5 magnifies, in Step S104, multiple images each corresponding to one of the vehicle information items from which abnormalities are detected. When doing so, it is not necessarily needed to magnify and display the multiple images at the same time, but they may be magnified and displayed with some time lags. Further, it has been explained that in Step S105, the process proceeds to Step S106 after a predetermined period has elapsed. But the processing sequence is not limited to this. For example, the process may proceed to Step S106 either when the abnormality in the vehicle information item from which the abnormality was detected has been resolved, or when the user has pressed a switch provided in the vehicle, or an icon or the like displayed on the display unit 6.
In Step S104, the display control unit 5 magnifies, on the basis of at least an image magnification ratio, the image corresponding to the vehicle information item from which an abnormality is detected. The display control unit 5 may use a predetermined magnification ratio, or may determine the magnification ratio such that the magnified image and the images adjacent to the magnified image will not overlap with each other. In Embodiment 1, the magnified image has been magnified so as not to overlap the images adjacent to the magnified image.
Explanation will be made on a regular method with which the display control unit 5 magnifies the image corresponding to the vehicle information item from which an abnormality is detected. The display control unit 5 refers to the memory 8 for the identifier of the image, and refers to at least the image parameter indicating the size of the image. In magnifying an image, the display control unit 5 resizes the image corresponding to the vehicle information item from which an abnormality is detected by changing, according to the magnification ratio, the image parameter indicating the image size. In a case where the image parameters are represented with a matrix, the display control unit 5 conducts calculation using a predetermined matrix for image magnification, and magnifies an image according to the calculated matrix. The image parameters may include position or angle information. The display control unit 5 can change the position and the angle as well as the size of an image by changing the image parameters. In a case where the image parameters are represented with a matrix, the display control unit 5 conducts calculation using a predetermined matrix for changes in size, position and angle of an image, and changes the size, position and angle of an image according to the calculated matrix. Note, however, that the magnification method of an image is not limited to this.
As described above, a display control device 1 according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention, which is to be mounted on a vehicle to control display of a display unit 6, includes a communication unit 3 to acquire multiple vehicle information items, a detection unit 4 to detect an abnormality of the vehicle from at least one of the multiple vehicle information items acquired by the communication unit 3, and a display control unit 5 to display on the display unit 6, multiple images each corresponding to one of the multiple vehicle information items, wherein, when an abnormality of the vehicle is detected by the detection unit 4, the display control unit 5 magnifies, from among the multiple images, an image corresponding to the at least one of the multiple vehicle information items from which the abnormality is detected, to be displayed on the display unit 6.
An information display device 2 according to the present invention, which is to be mounted on a vehicle, includes a communication unit 3 to acquire multiple vehicle information items, a detection unit 4 to detect an abnormality of the vehicle from at least one of the multiple vehicle information items acquired by the communication unit 3, a display unit 6 on which multiple images each corresponding to one of the multiple vehicle information items acquired by the communication unit 3 are displayed, and a display control unit 5 to magnify, when an abnormality of the vehicle is detected by the detection unit 4, an image corresponding to the at least one of the multiple vehicle information items from which the abnormality is detected, from among the multiple images displayed on the display unit 6, and make the display unit 6 display the magnified image.
According to this configuration, it is possible to obtain a display control device 1 and an information display device 2 by which, upon detection of vehicle's abnormality, the image corresponding to the vehicle's abnormal information item is magnified and displayed, so that the user can readily recognize the image corresponding to the vehicle's abnormal information item and can accurately understand the content of the abnormality.
Because the multiple images being displayed on the display unit 6 are displayed even in a state when no abnormality is detected about the vehicle, the user can recognize in advance what vehicle information item each of those images indicates. Therefore, it is possible to obtain an effect that the user can readily understand the content of the abnormality of the vehicle if the image corresponding to the vehicle's abnormal information item is magnified and displayed upon the detection of vehicle's abnormality.
Note, however, that the display control unit 5 does not need to display all the time, on the display unit 6, an image which is not to be magnified for display even upon detection of abnormality. Moreover, for the user's easier recognition, on the display unit 6 the display control unit 5 may blink the image to be magnified upon detection of vehicle's abnormality, may display the image with its color changed, may display the image with its luminance changed, or may display the image by a method combined from some or all of these display methods. Furthermore, the images to be magnified by the display control unit 5 upon detection of vehicle' abnormality are not limited to warning images such as the gasoline warning image 15, but may be any image which indicates vehicle information.
Considering the influence that each of vehicle abnormalities gives the vehicle, the magnification ratio for each image to be referred by the display control unit 5 may be determined in advance in accordance with the significance of each vehicle information item. As the result, the display control unit 5 can further magnify the image corresponding to a more significant vehicle information item to improve user's recognition thereof. In addition, the display control unit 5 may display the image corresponding to the vehicle's abnormal information item so as to periodically repeat magnifying and shrinking the image. This can further attract the user's attention.
It is preferable that the image magnification ratios are in the range of two to five times. The image magnification ratio less than two times sometimes may not be big enough to attract the user's attention. On the other hand, the image magnification ratio over five times is too large, sometimes distracting the user's attention. Note, however, that the magnification ratio is not limited to the range of two to five times.
Embodiment 2
With reference to
Here, the display control unit 5 may adjust the transmittance of the magnified image displayed in the foreground of the screen image to make it translucent such that the overlap portions behind the magnified image will be recognizable. The display control unit 5, as shown in
As described above, according to the display control device 1 and the information display device 2 of Embodiment 2 of the present invention, the display control unit 5 is characterized in that the portions of the magnified image overlapping the images each of which corresponds to one of the vehicle information items from which no abnormality is detected are to be displayed in the foreground.
According to this configuration, in a case when the image corresponding to the vehicle information item from which an abnormality is detected is magnified to overlap the adjacent images, the magnified image will not be missing by the adjacent images because the magnified image is displayed in the foreground. Therefore, the user can accurately recognize the magnified image. In addition, because the magnification ratio for the image corresponding to the vehicle information item from which an abnormality is detected can be set larger than in a case as disclosed in Embodiment 1 where the image corresponding to the vehicle information item from which an abnormality is detected is displayed so as not to overlap the adjacent images, it is possible to obtain an effect that the user can readily recognize the image corresponding to the vehicle information item from which an abnormality is detected, and can accurately understand the content of the vehicle's abnormality than in a case where the image corresponding to the vehicle information item from which an abnormality is detected is displayed so as not to overlap the adjacent images.
When the magnified image and the adjacent images overlap each other, the display control unit 5 may further calculate the area sizes of the overlaps to adjust the magnification ratio so that the overlap area will be equal to or less than a predetermined threshold. This adjustment can prevent the magnified image from making the adjacent images completely invisible or almost invisible. Here, the display control unit 5 can calculate the overlap areas between the magnified image and the adjacent images, for example, by assuming a virtual rectangular area surrounding each image to define the number of pixels included in the overlap portion between the rectangular areas as the area size of the overlap portion.
Embodiment 3
With reference to
As described above, according to the display control device 1 and the information display device 2 of Embodiment 3 of the present invention, the display control unit 5 is characterized in that the unit magnifies and displays, on the display unit 6, the image corresponding to the vehicle information item from which an abnormality is detected, and shrinks and displays, on the display unit 6, the image that is adjacent to the image corresponding to the vehicle information item from which the abnormality is detected, and that also corresponds to the vehicle information item from which no abnormality is detected.
According to this configuration, when the image corresponding to the vehicle information item from which an abnormality is detected is to be magnified and displayed on the display unit 6, because the display control unit 5 shrinks and displays the adjacent images on the display unit 6, the magnification ratio of the image corresponding to the vehicle information item from which the abnormality is detected can be set larger than in a case when the adjacent images are to be displayed with the same size as in a normal state. Therefore, it is possible to obtain an effect that the user can understand the content of the abnormality of the vehicle more easily than when the adjacent images are to be displayed with the same size as in a normal state.
In Embodiment 3 of the present invention, it has been explained that the display control unit 5 first shrinks the image that corresponds to the vehicle information item from which no abnormality is detected, and that is also adjacent to the image corresponding to the vehicle information item from which an abnormality is detected, and then the display control unit magnifies the image corresponding to the vehicle information item from which the abnormality is detected. Note, however, that the order of processing is not limited to this. In Embodiment 3 of the present invention, the display control unit 5 shrinks only the adjacent images to the image corresponding to the vehicle information item from which an abnormality is detected. However, the display control unit 5 may shrink multiple images located in a direction in which each adjacent image to the image corresponding to the vehicle information item from which the abnormality is detected exists. For example, when the handbrake warning image 16 illustrated in
Embodiment 4
A display control device 1 and an information display device 2 according to Embodiment 4 of the present invention will be explained with reference to
In Embodiment 4 of the present invention, on the screen of the display unit 6, the display control unit 5 moves and displays the multiple images, which are located in a first lateral direction 30, a left arrow, against the magnified handbrake warning image 16d further toward the first lateral direction 30; and the unit also moves and displays the multiple images, which are located in a second lateral direction 31, a right arrow, against the magnified handbrake warning image 16d, namely the opposite direction to the first lateral direction 30, further toward the second lateral direction 31. The display control unit 5 moves and displays the air pressure warning image 14d1 and the gasoline warning image 15d1 to the left on the screen in accordance with the first lateral direction 30 illustrated
The move directions may be predetermined from the position of the magnified image for the display control unit 5. For example, when the display control unit 5 magnifies the high beam image 12 located in the left on the screen, the display control unit 5 moves upward the indicator image 10 and the headlight range control image 11, downward the low beam image 13 and the air pressure warning image 14 such that the moved images are to be displayed on the screen further away from the high beam image 12. Similarly, when the display control unit 5 magnifies the airbag warning image 21 in the right on the screen, the display control unit 5 moves upward the ECO mode operation image 22, downward the airbag inactive image 20 and the ABS operation image 19 such that the moved images are to be displayed on the screen further away from the airbag warning image 21. In summary, the display control unit 5 moves and displays, on the display unit 6, the images around the image corresponding to the vehicle information item from which an abnormality is detected, in predetermined directions and further away from the image corresponding to the vehicle information item from which the abnormality is detected. The display control unit 5 moves the surrounding images in directions further away from the image corresponding to the vehicle information item from which an abnormality is detected. Note, however, that the directions in which the surrounding images are to be moved are not limited to the specific directions.
The display control unit 5 may move, as the surrounding images to be moved in predetermined directions and further away from the image, only the images adjacent to the image corresponding to the vehicle information item from which an abnormality is detected. Instead, the display control unit 5 may move multiple images including the adjacent images.
As shown in
As described above, according to the display control device 1 and the information display device 2 of Embodiment 4 of the present invention, the display control unit 5 is characterized in that the unit moves and displays on display unit 6 the images around the image corresponding to the vehicle information item from which an abnormality is detected in predetermined directions and further away from the image corresponding to the vehicle information item from which the abnormality is detected.
According to this configuration, when the image corresponding to the vehicle information item from which an abnormality is detected is to be magnified, the surrounding images are moved further away from the image corresponding to the vehicle information item from which the abnormality is detected; therefore, the magnification ratio of the image corresponding to the vehicle information item from which the abnormality is detected can be set larger than the ratio when displayed in the same size as in a normal case. Therefore, it is possible to obtain an effect that the user can readily understand the content of the abnormality of the vehicle.
In Embodiment 4 of the present invention, the display control unit 5 moves the images around the image corresponding to the vehicle information item from which an abnormality is detected, in predetermined directions and further away from the image corresponding to the vehicle information item from which the abnormality is detected, and then magnifies the image corresponding to the vehicle information item from which the abnormality is detected. Note, however, that the order of processing is not limited to this.
Embodiment 5
With reference to
The display control unit 5 moves the gasoline warning image 15 within the move range 32 in a direction (here, to the left on the screen image of the display unit 6) and further away from the magnified handbrake warning image 16e. Similarly, the display control unit 5 moves the windshield condensation prevention image 17e within the move range 32 in a direction (here, to the right on the screen of the display unit 6) and further away from the magnified handbrake warning image 16e. The display control unit 5 may determine the move range 32 in advance on the basis of positional relations between the images. In Embodiment 5 of the present invention, the display control unit 5 moves the gasoline warning image 15e and the windshield condensation prevention image 17e to the left and to the right, respectively. Note, however, that the move directions are not limited to the same, and the images may be moved in whichever direction as long as it is within the move range 32 of the display area on the screen. It is preferable, however, that the image is moved within a range that does not cause overlaps with other images. In
As described above, according to the display control device 1 and the information display device 2 of Embodiment 5 of the present invention, the display control unit 5 is characterized in that the unit moves and displays, on the display unit 6, the images adjacent to the image corresponding to the vehicle information item from which an abnormality is detected, within a predetermined range and further away from the image corresponding to the vehicle information item from which the abnormality is detected.
According to this configuration, when the image corresponding to the vehicle information item from which an abnormality is detected is to be magnified, the adjacent images are moved within a predetermined range and further away from the image corresponding to the vehicle information item from which the abnormality is detected; therefore, the image corresponding to the vehicle information item from which the abnormality is detected can be magnified more than in a normal case. As the result, it is possible to obtain an effect that the user can readily understand the content of the abnormality of the vehicle.
In Embodiment 5 of the present invention, the display control unit 5 moves the images adjacent to the image corresponding to the vehicle information item from which an abnormality is detected, within a predetermined range and further away from the image corresponding to the vehicle information item from which the abnormality is detected, and then, magnifies the image corresponding to the vehicle information item from which the abnormality is detected. Note, however, that the order of processing is not limited to this.
Embodiment 6
With reference to
According to this configuration, when there are multiple vehicle information items from which abnormalities are detected, the user can readily understand the contents of the vehicle's abnormalities each corresponding to one of the images because the images each corresponding to one of the vehicle information items from which the abnormalities are detected are magnified and displayed on the display unit 6.
In Embodiment 6 of the present invention, when two vehicle information items indicating abnormalities are detected, the display control unit 5 magnifies and displays, on display unit 6 at the same time, the images corresponding to the vehicle information items from which the abnormalities are detected. Note, however, that the timing of displaying the images is not limited to this. For example, the images each corresponding to one of the vehicle information items from which the abnormalities are detected may be displayed on display unit 6 with a certain time lag. Similarly, when three or more vehicle information items indicating abnormalities are detected, the display control unit 5 may magnify and display the images each corresponding to one of the vehicle information items from which the abnormalities are detected on the display unit 6 either at the same time, or with certain time lags. Further, in accordance with the significance levels of the vehicle information items from which abnormalities are detected, the display control unit 5 may determine the order of magnifying and displaying the images on the display unit 6, as well as the magnification ratios.
Embodiment 7
With reference to
As described above, according to the display control device 1 and the information display device 2 of Embodiment 7 of the present invention, the display control unit 5 is characterized in that, after magnifying and displaying, on the display unit 6, the image corresponding to the vehicle information item from which an abnormality is detected, the unit resizes the image to its original size and displays it on the display unit 6.
According to this configuration, when another abnormality is newly detected, because the image corresponding to the vehicle information item from which the abnormality is newly detected can be magnified and displayed on the display unit 6 in a timely manner, the vehicle's abnormality content can quickly be informed of to the user.
Note here that, when another abnormality is newly detected, the display control unit 5 may magnify and display, on the display unit 6, the image corresponding to the vehicle information item from which the abnormality is newly detected, without resizing, to an original size, the magnified image which has been already displayed on the display unit 6. In this case, because the multiple images each corresponding to one of the multiple vehicle information items from which abnormalities are currently detected are magnified and displayed all together on the display unit 6, the user can understand the contents of the abnormalities at a glance.
Embodiment 8
With reference to
As described above, according to the display control device 1 and the information display device 2 of Embodiment 8 of the present invention, the display control unit 5 is characterized in that, when an abnormality of the vehicle is detected, the image magnified and displayed in a stopped state is larger than the image magnified and displayed in a running state.
According to this configuration, because the display control unit 5 changes the magnification ratio in accordance with the vehicle's state, the image magnified and displayed on the display unit 6 in a stopped state can be made larger than the image magnified and displayed thereon in a running state. When the vehicle is stopped, the risk of accident is lower than when the vehicle is running because the vehicle is not moving. Therefore, the user's attention can be attracted more to the magnified image by setting the image's magnification ratio larger than that for a running state. On the other hand, the image's magnification ratio for a running state is to be set smaller than that for a stopped state. As the result, it will be possible to make the user, or the driver recognize the abnormality of the vehicle, preventing the driver's attention from being overly attracted to the magnified image in a running state so as not to cause distraction.
Note that in this invention, any combination of, modification to, or omission of the embodiments within the scope of the invention is possible.
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/JP2014/079954 | 11/12/2014 | WO | 00 |
| Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| WO2016/075774 | 5/19/2016 | WO | A |
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| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20170309248 A1 | Oct 2017 | US |
