Vehicular manipulation apparatus

• US 20110138322A1
• Filed: 12/01/2010
• Published: 06/09/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 12/03/2009
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: DENSO Corporation
• Original Assignee: DENSO Corporation
• Inventors: Aoki, Takashi
• Application Number:
  US12/928,019
• Publication Number:
  US 20110138322A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/786
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2360/11 Instrument graphical user interfaces or menu aspects
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2360/122 Instrument input devices with reconfigurable control functions, e.g. reconfigurable menus
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2360/126 Rotatable input devices for instruments
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2360/135 Joysticks
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2360/145 Instrument input by combination of touch screen and hardware input devices
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2360/195 Blocking or enabling display functions
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 35/00 Instruments specially adapted for vehicles; Arrangement of instruments in or on vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 35/10 Input arrangements, i.e. from user to vehicle, associated with vehicle functions or specially adapted therefor
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 35/29 Instruments characterised by the way in which information is handled, e.g. showing information on plural displays or prioritising information according to driving conditions
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 35/81 for controlling displays

Abstract

In a manipulation apparatus for a vehicle, a display device displays on a screen a manipulation window that is used for illustrating several manipulation manners performed by a composite manipulation device. In the manipulation window, an auxiliary image is displayed to move along a manipulation movement locus in a corresponding manipulation manner of the composite manipulation device for a user to recognize so as to be associated with the manipulation manner. The auxiliary image is displayed, in a selection region within the manipulation window, so as not to contain any superimposition continuation region, where the auxiliary image is superimposed on the manipulation window continuously for a predetermined duration.

Claims

1. A vehicular manipulation apparatus in a vehicle, the apparatus comprising:

a display device;

a main display control section configured to cause the display device to display on a screen a manipulation window that contains a plurality of selection regions;

a selection manipulation device configured to allow a selection manipulation to select one of the selection regions in the displayed manipulation window, the selection manipulation device being a composite manipulation device to enable each of a plurality of manipulation manners to independently achieve the selection manipulation; and

an auxiliary image display control section configured to cause the display device to perform, a dynamic display that displays on the manipulation window an auxiliary image that reflects a manipulation movement locus of the selection manipulation device, in order to indicate the manipulation manner corresponding to the manipulation window being displayed,

wherein the dynamic display performed by the auxiliary image display control section does not provide the selection regions with a superimposition continuation region, in which the auxiliary image is superimposed on the manipulation window continuously for a predetermined duration.

2. The vehicular manipulation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the auxiliary image display control section displays as the auxiliary image an additional image in superimposition on a main image displaying the manipulation window, the additional image having a display content different from a display content of the selection region of the manipulation window.

3. The vehicular manipulation apparatus according to claim 2, wherein:

the auxiliary image display control section displays as the auxiliary image an auxiliary figure group which contains a plurality of auxiliary figures, which are in arrangement in a row; and

a direction of the arrangement of the auxiliary figures indicates a manipulation movement locus of the selection manipulation device in the manipulation manner corresponding to the manipulation window being displayed.

4. The vehicular manipulation apparatus according to claim 3, wherein

the auxiliary image display control section indicates a manipulation direction of the selection manipulation device in the manipulation manner corresponding to the manipulation window being displayed, by using a movement display of moving towards the direction of the arrangement of the auxiliary figures contained in the auxiliary figure group.

5. The vehicular manipulation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the auxiliary image display control section displays the auxiliary image in a semi transmission state.

6. The vehicular manipulation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein:

the selection manipulation device being the composite manipulation device enables at least two manipulation manners including a rotating manipulation manner and a shifting manipulation manner,

the rotating manipulation manner in which a first manipulation knob is rotated around a predetermined rotation axis,

the shifting manipulation manner in which a second manipulation knob is shifted in a direction on a predetermined plane; and

in one or both of a manipulation window responding to the rotating manipulation manner and a manipulation window responding to the shifting manipulation manner, the displayed selection regions are arranged with predetermined intervals along a circumference of a circle centering on a predetermined window reference point in the corresponding manipulation window.

7. The vehicular manipulation apparatus according to claim 6, wherein

the first manipulation knob and the second manipulation knob are integrated as a single manipulation knob.

8. The vehicular manipulation apparatus according to claim 6, wherein:

the selection manipulation device being the composite manipulation device is configured to enable the second manipulation knob, which is responding to the shifting manipulation manner, to shift from a predetermined reference position only to a plurality of predetermined shifting manipulation directions; and

in the manipulation window responding to the shifting manipulation manner, the selection regions are disposed in a circular arrangement centering on the window reference point such that a relation of the predetermined reference position and each of the shifting manipulation directions in the composite manipulation device corresponds to a relation of the predetermined window reference point and each of the directions of the arrangement of the selection regions in the manipulation window.

9. The vehicular manipulation apparatus according to claim 8, wherein

the shifting manipulation manner is a crisscross manipulation manner in with the shifting manipulation, directions are only four directions configuring a crisscross shape centering on the predetermined reference position.

10. The vehicular manipulation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the selection manipulation device being the composite manipulation device is enabled to perform a determination input manipulation to the selected selection region by using a manipulation manner different from the manipulation manner used in the selection manipulation.

11. The vehicular manipulation apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the auxiliary image is provided to correspond to each of the selection regions,

the apparatus further comprising:

a first auxiliary image highlight display section configured to display the auxiliary image corresponding to the selection region selected by the selection manipulation in a highlight manner as compared with a residual auxiliary image which is different from the selection region selected by the selection manipulation.

12. The vehicular manipulation apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

a scene determination section configured to determine whether a predetermined scene occurs in the vehicle;

a recommendation region specification section configured to specify as a recommendation region a selection region to which a selection manipulation is recommended to be applied when the scene is determined to occur; and

a second auxiliary image highlight display section configured to display the auxiliary image, which a manipulation direction for selecting the specified recommendation region, in a highlight manner as compared with a residual selection region other than the selection region serving as the recommendation region.