VEHICULAR INSTRUMENT DEVICE, VEHICLE WITH VEHICULAR INSTRUMENT DEVICE, VEHICULAR DISPLAY DEVICE, AND VEHICLE WITH VEHICULAR DISPLAY DEVICE

• US 20090278677A1
• Filed: 08/29/2006
• Published: 11/12/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 08/30/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (Honda Motor Company)
• Original Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (Honda Motor Company)
• Inventors: Koike, Makoto, Arie, Kenichi, Hasunuma, Kazuhiro, Wada, Naoki, Kobayashi, Masahide, Kabayama, Hidetoshi
• Granted Patent: US 7,932,819 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/461
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2360/179 Distances to obstacles or vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2370/179 Distances to obstacles or vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 35/00 Instruments specially adapted for vehicles; Arrangement of instruments in or on vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 35/28 characterised by the type of the output information, e.g. video entertainment or vehicle dynamics information; characterised by the purpose of the output information, e.g. for attracting the attention of the driver
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 35/60 Instruments characterised by their location or relative disposition in or on vehicles arrangements of lighting devices on dashboards B60Q3/10
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 37/02 Arrangement of instruments arrangement of lighting devices for dashboards B60Q3/10

Abstract

A first meter cluster panel and a second meter cluster panel are disposed on an instrument panel of a vehicle such that the first meter cluster panel and the second meter cluster panel have respective centers of display disposed substantially coaxially with each other. The first meter cluster panel is disposed near a boundary line at a position deeper than that of the second meter cluster panel as viewed by a driver who is directing his or her line of sight from an eye range in the forward direction of the vehicle. The first meter cluster panel displays information that is visually recognized outside of a steering wheel. The second meter cluster panel displays information that is visually recognized inside the steering wheel when the driver directs his or her line of sight from the eye range in the forward direction of the vehicle.

Claims

1. A vehicular instrument device comprising:

a first meter cluster panel for displaying information that is visually recognizable within a predetermined angular field of vision outside of a steering wheel of the vehicle, when a driver of the vehicle directs a line of sight in a forward direction of the vehicle from an eye range of the driver; and

a second meter cluster panel for displaying information that is visually recognizable within said predetermined angular field of vision inside said steering wheel;

said first meter cluster panel and said second meter cluster panel being disposed on an instrument panel of said vehicle,

wherein said first meter cluster panel is included in said instrument panel near a boundary line between said instrument panel and a front windshield of said vehicle, at a position deeper than said second meter cluster panel as viewed from a perspective of said driver, and

wherein said first meter cluster panel has a center of display and said second meter cluster panel has a center of display, said center of display of said first meter cluster panel and said center of display of said second meter cluster panel being aligned along a longitudinal direction of said vehicle.

2. A vehicular instrument device according to claim 1, wherein said vehicle has an axis passing through said center of display of said first meter cluster panel and an axis passing through said center of display of said second meter cluster panel, and said steering wheel is steerable by said driver and supported by a steering shaft having a central axis, wherein said axes of the vehicle and said central axis of the steering shaft are substantially parallel to each other when viewed from above.

3. A vehicular instrument device according to claim 2, wherein said vehicle has a seat on which said driver is seated, said seat having a seat center, wherein said seat center, said central axis of said steering shaft, said center of display of said first meter cluster panel, and said center of display of said second meter cluster panel are aligned along a longitudinal direction of said vehicle.

4. A vehicular instrument device according to claim 1, wherein said first meter cluster panel and said second meter cluster panel display information of high and low visually recognized frequencies, which is classified based on the frequency at which said information is visually recognized by said driver while said driver operates said vehicle, said first meter cluster panel displaying information of high visually recognized frequency.

5. A vehicular instrument device according to claim 4, wherein said information of high visually recognized frequency, which is displayed by said first meter cluster panel, comprises at least vehicle speed of said vehicle, wherein said first meter cluster panel displays said vehicle speed digitally.

6. A vehicular instrument device according to claim 1, wherein said first meter cluster panel has a display surface having an upper end, which is shaped along an image of said steering wheel, as projected from the eye range onto said instrument panel.

7. A vehicular instrument device according to claim 1, wherein said first meter cluster panel has a display surface having a vertical height, which is smaller than the vertical height of a display surface of said second meter cluster panel.

8. A vehicle incorporating therein the vehicular instrument device 4 according to claim 1.

9. A vehicular display device comprising:

a transmissive first liquid crystal display unit having a plurality of display elements;

a transmissive second liquid crystal display unit superposed on said first liquid crystal display unit and having a plurality of display elements and

a controller for controlling said display elements of said first liquid crystal display unit and said display elements of said second liquid crystal display unit, so as to display information required by a driver of the vehicle,

wherein the information displayed by said display elements comprises at least first information indicative of a status of said vehicle, second information for confirming an operating setting of a vehicle-mounted device on said vehicle, and third information for indication to said driver, and wherein said controller controls said display elements to selectively display said information by selectively energizing and de-energizing said display elements, and further controls said display elements to simultaneously display the information in a non-overlapping manner.

10. A vehicular display device according to claim 9, wherein the display element of said first liquid crystal display unit and the display element of said second liquid crystal display unit have respective different sizes for displaying said first information,

wherein while said first information is being displayed by the display element of either one of said first liquid crystal display unit and said second liquid crystal display unit, when said second information or said third information is displayed by the display element of the other one of said first liquid crystal display unit and said second liquid crystal display unit, said controller controls said display elements so as to display said first information on the display element of said other liquid crystal display unit, and

wherein the display element of said other liquid crystal display unit for displaying said first information is smaller in size than the display element of said one liquid crystal display unit for displaying said first information.

11. A vehicular display device according to claim 9, wherein when said first information, and said second information or said third information, are simultaneously displayed by said first liquid crystal display unit and said second liquid crystal display unit, said controller controls said display elements to display the information next to each other as viewed from the perspective of said driver.

12. A vehicle incorporating therein the vehicular display device according to claim 9.