Display device for use in vehicle

• US 6,532,113 B2
• Filed: 11/19/2001
• Issued: 03/11/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 01/10/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Yazaki Corporation
• Original Assignee: Yazaki Corporation
• Inventors: Takashima, Makoto, Watanabe, Takanori, Aoki, Kunimitsu, Kinoshita, Kousuke
• Primary Examiner(s): Epps, Georgia
• Assistant Examiner(s): SEYRAFI, SAEED HMT
• Application Number:
  US09/988,243
• Publication Number:
  US 20020089756A1
• Time in Patent Office: 477 Days
• Field of Search: 359/630, 359/631, 359/632, 359/633, 359/636, 359/637, 359/638, 359/639, 359/815, 345/7, 345/8, 345/9
• US Class Current: 359/630
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 2027/011 comprising device for correcting geometrical aberrations, distortion
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 2027/014 comprising information/image processing systems
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 27/01 Head-up displays

Abstract

A display device for use in a vehicle is provided, by which an image for superposition displayed on a display source is projected on a windshield of a vehicle so that the foreground of the vehicle and a virtual image of the image for superposition are accurately seen together even when a seat position and a physique of a driver change and when a shape of the windshield changes. A light of inverse image for superposition displayed on a display surface 5a of a display unit 5 in a dashboard 1 in a vehicle is projected on a windshield 3 so that the driver sees the foreground visible through the windshield 3 together with a virtual image of the inverse image for superposition reflected on the windshield 3 in front of an eye point I, that is, a virtual image of the original image for superposition. In order to cancel out distortion arisen when the light of the inverse image for superposition is reflected on the windshield 3, the inverse image for superposition displayed on the display unit 5 is distorted in advance in response to the contents stored in an external ROM provided in a control unit 7, which is replaceable with another ROM storing the different contents.

Claims

1. A display device for use in a vehicle, by which an image for superposition displayed on a display source is projected on a windshield of the vehicle so that the foreground of the vehicle visible from an eye point of the vehicle through the windshield and a virtual image of the image for superposition projected on the windshield, which is superposed upon the foreground, are seen together, comprising:

image distortion generating means for distorting the image for superposition in advance and displaying the distorted image for superposition on the display source so that distortion arisen in the virtual image of the image for superposition to be seen from the eye point due to non-flatness of the windshield is canceled out; and

distortion pattern adjusting means for adjusting the amount of the distortion of the image for superposition displayed on the display source generated by the image distortion generating means with respect to upper and lower directions and right and left directions of the vehicle in the virtual image of the image for superposition,

wherein the distortion pattern adjusting means adjusts a distortion pattern of the image for superposition displayed on the display source generated by the image distortion generating means to a distortion pattern in response to the non-flatness of the windshield and a positional relationship between the windshield and the eye point.

2. The display device for use in a vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the image distortion generating means displays a distorted lattice image for adjustment, in which a lattice image consisting of straight lines is distorted, on the display source as the image for superposition when the distortion pattern adjusting means adjusts a distortion pattern of the image for superposition displayed on the display source generated by the image distortion generating means.

3. The display device for use in a vehicle according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the image distortion generating means comprises:

holding means for holding a coordinate conversion table indicating a correspondence between each pixel of an image signal of the image for superposition and each pixel of an image signal of the distorted image for superposition, in which the image for superposition being distorted in advance and displayed on the display source; and

signal generating means for generating an image signal of the distorted image for superposition, by assigning data for each pixel of an image signal of the image for superposition as data for corresponding each pixel in the image signal of the distorted image for superposition, on the basis of the coordinate conversion table,

wherein the distortion pattern adjusting means adjusts a distortion pattern of the image for superposition displayed on the display source generated by the image distortion generating means at least in response to a change in contents of the coordinate conversion table.

4. The display device for use in a vehicle according to claim 3, wherein the holding means consists of a replaceable storage medium, which constitutes the distortion pattern adjusting means.