JP4609261B2 - Operating device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention includes an operation unit provided with an operation switch operated by a user and a mirror facing the operation unit with an operation space of a user's hand interposed therebetween, and an image of the operation unit reflected by the mirror is provided. The present invention relates to an operating device including an optical system projected by a user's eyes.

Conventionally, a multi-function switch operation plate that is arranged at a suitable position in the vehicle and is arranged by integrating a plurality of types of switches for operating various on-vehicle devices, and a suitable position in the vehicle in the visual field area that the operator can look forward And a display for displaying an array image of the plurality of types of switches on the screen, and when the operator operates a target of the switch with a fingertip, the detection unit detects the target switch based on the detection signal. A controller that controls the operator to recognize the arrangement position and function of the image of the target switch displayed on the screen on the display, and the operator is displayed on the display in a forward view state. A vehicle characterized in that a target switch on the multi-function switch operation plate can be operated in real time while visually recognizing an image of the target switch. Device switch safe operation system is known (e.g., see Patent Document 1).
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2000-6687

  By the way, in the above-described vehicle operation device, the user's hand operating the operation unit is imaged by the camera, and the image of the hand is superimposed on the operation menu image displayed on the display unit. Blind operation is easy and operability is very good.

  However, since the above-described conventional technology is configured to generate a handprint data image of an abstract hand shape based on the hand image captured by the camera and to display the handprint data image superimposed on the operation menu image, the handprint data An expensive image processing function and camera for generating an image are required, and the display and the operation unit must be configured separately.

  On the other hand, an expensive image processing function for generating a bill data image is omitted, and a configuration in which an image of a user's hand is displayed on an operation menu image as it is, or a user's hand that is operated by omitting a camera, Although the structure shown to a user using a mirror can be considered, in such a structure, there is a possibility that the user may receive a physiological discomfort (disgust or unpleasant feeling) by displaying the image of the user's hand as it is.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an operating device with high operability with a simpler configuration without giving a physiological discomfort to the user.

In order to achieve the above object, an operating device according to a first aspect of the present invention includes an operation unit in which an operation switch operated by a user is disposed, and a mirror facing the operation unit with an operation space of a user's hand interposed therebetween. And an optical device that reflects an image of the operation unit reflected by the mirror to the eyes of the user,
A member with limited transparency is provided on the side closer to the user's eyes than the operation space in the optical path of the optical system.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the operation device according to the first aspect, the optical system reflects the first mirror facing the operation unit with an operation space of a user's hand interposed therebetween, and the first mirror. Including a second mirror that reflects the image of the operation unit to the user's eyes;
The member with limited transparency is provided on the side closer to the user's eyes than the operation space in the optical path from the operation unit to the first mirror.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the operation device according to the first aspect, the optical system reflects the first mirror facing the operation unit with an operation space of a user's hand interposed therebetween, and the first mirror. Including a second mirror that reflects the image of the operation unit to the user's eyes;
The member with limited transparency is provided in an optical path from the second mirror to the user's eyes.

  According to the present invention, a member with limited transparency is provided on the side closer to the user's eyes than the operation space in the optical path of the optical system that projects the image of the operation unit to the user's eyes. An operating device with high operability can be obtained with a simpler configuration without giving a sense of incongruity.

  The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of a vehicle operating device according to the present invention. FIG. 2 shows functional blocks of the in-vehicle system related to the vehicle operating device.

  The display 20 with a touch panel is preferably arranged at a position where the driver can easily operate by reaching out. For example, the display 20 with a touch panel may be disposed on the upper part of the instrument panel as shown in FIG. The display 20 with a touch panel is arranged so that the substantially flat operation surface is substantially horizontal.

  The display 20 with a touch panel may have a normal configuration, and includes a transparent touch panel and a display (for example, a liquid crystal display) behind the transparent touch panel. The transparent touch panel has, for example, a laminated structure in which a thin film transparent electrode is opposed to each other through a dot spacer with a glass substrate provided with a thin film transparent electrode facing down and a film substrate provided with a thin film transparent electrode facing up. An operation signal (operation position signal) on the transparent touch panel is supplied to the display control device 24 (see FIG. 2) via an FPC (flexible printed circuit) bonded to a side portion of the transparent touch panel. The display control device 24 controls the various in-vehicle devices 30 so as to realize a function (including switching of an operation menu image described later) according to an operation signal (operation position signal) on the transparent touch panel.

  An operation menu image (video) as shown in FIG. 3 is displayed on the display 20 with a touch panel under the control of the display control device 24. The operation menu image represents the arrangement position and the function of the operation switch (touch switch) 22 of the display 20 with a touch panel. The operation menu image serves to notify the user of various functions implemented by operating the operation switch 22 and to inform the user of the position of each operation switch 22 to be operated to realize the various functions. The operation menu image displayed on the display 20 with the touch panel is displayed to the user's eyes through an optical system including a mirror as will be described later.

  In the example illustrated in FIG. 3, the operation menu image includes graphic images F <b> 1 to F <b> 9 representing eight operation switches 22. The user who views the operation menu image can realize that the operation switch 22 is operated by operating each operation switch 22 by knowing that the operation switches 22 are arranged in two rows before and after and by looking at the characters in the graphic images F1 to F9. You can know the function. For example, if the user wants to mail, the user presses the operation switch 22 at the position corresponding to the graphic image F3 including the characters “mail”, that is, the third operation switch 22 from the left in the front row. Can understand good.

  Various operation menu images may be prepared, and may be switched as appropriate according to the user's operation status on the operation switch 22 of the display 20 with the touch panel. In this case, the arrangement position and the function of the operation switch 22 of the display 20 with a touch panel are changed according to the switching of the operation menu image. With this configuration, operation switches for many in-vehicle devices can be realized on the display 20 with the touch panel, and the operation switches 22 can be efficiently integrated. For example, the touch panel-equipped display 20 is not shown in FIG. 3, but is used not only for the operation of information communication type in-vehicle devices such as e-mails, telephones, and peripheral facility guidance, but also for various operations of the air conditioner and the audio device. Various operation switches 22 may be realized.

  FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the vehicle operating device shown in FIG. 1 in a side view, and shows an embodiment (Example 1) of an optical system that forms an image using the smoke plate 80.

  As shown in FIG. 4, an operation space 70 necessary for the user to manually operate the operation switch 22 of the display 20 with a touch panel is formed above the display 20 with a touch panel. The display 20 with a touch panel itself is disposed in a recessed portion (operation space 70) substantially closed except for an opening for a user to operate by hand. Therefore, this display 20 with a touch panel is not suitable for a user to operate while looking directly.

  The first mirror 52 is disposed facing the display 20 with a touch panel across the operation space 70, and the second mirror 54 is disposed at a position where the user can look down. The 1st mirror 52 and the 2nd mirror 54 are arrange | positioned in the recessed part substantially obstruct | occluded except the opening window 72 (refer FIG. 1) which a user can look down. The first mirror 52 and the second mirror 54 may be total reflection type plane mirrors, fine convex mirrors, or micro concave mirrors.

  The image of the display 20 with a touch panel (and the video displayed thereon) reaches the eyes of the user by an optical system including the first mirror 52 and the second mirror 54. More specifically, the first mirror 52 reflects the image of the display 20 with a touch panel (and the user's hand operating the touch panel), and the second mirror 54 reflects the first mirror 52 with the touch panel display 20. The image of (substantially displayed image) is reflected, and as a result, the image of the display 20 with touch panel (substantially displayed image) reaches the user's eyes.

  Therefore, when the user's hand enters the operation space 70 in order to operate the operation switch 22 of the display 20 with a touch panel, as shown in FIG. It will be. In this case, when the user performs the switch operation at the current hand position, the user can know that the function of the switch corresponding to the graphic image F3, that is, the mail function is realized. In this manner, the user can operate a desired operation switch 22 on the opening window 72 while looking at the vicinity of the opening window 72 without directly viewing the display 20 with the touch panel. Therefore, when the user is a driver, it is possible to perform a switch operation (so-called blind touch operation) on the display 20 with the touch panel while looking at the vicinity of the opening window 72 in front of the visual field without greatly changing the driving posture or line of sight. It is possible to realize a safe switch operation that does not hinder driving.

  In the present embodiment, as described above, the display 20 with the touch panel is disposed in the recess formed in the instrument panel, so that the image of the display 20 with the touch panel is directly incident on the display 20 with the touch panel. It is difficult to be affected by light, and a stable video can be reached by the user's eyes. In other words, since the image of the display 20 with the touch panel can be viewed through the opening window 72, the display 20 with the touch panel can be arranged in a closed space where the incidence of sunlight is small. The quality of the image of the display 20 with the touch panel that can be seen by the user through the opening window 72 can be stabilized.

  Further, in this embodiment, the touch panel and the display are separately provided, in contrast to the configuration in which the user's hand operating the touch panel is imaged by the camera and the image of the hand is superimposed on the operation menu image displayed on the display. Therefore, it is not necessary to use a camera, and it is not necessary to use a camera, and it is possible to realize a vehicular operating device with a relatively inexpensive configuration and high operability.

  Further, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, in order to prevent the physiological discomfort (disgust, unpleasantness) that the user can receive by directly reflecting the image of the user's hand, the image of the user's hand is The user reaches the user's eyes through a member 80 with limited transparency (hereinafter referred to as “smoked plate 80”). The smoke plate 80 is formed by, for example, coating (smoke) an opaque film or an opaque material on a transparent plate (for example, a transparent resin plate, a film plate, or a transparent glass plate). For example, the smoke plate 80 may be colored gray (gray). The smoke plate 80 is flat, but preferably has a non-reflection curve (curved surface).

  In the embodiment shown in FIG. 4, the smoke plate 80 is disposed closer to the user's eyes than the operation space 70 in the optical path from the display 20 with a touch panel to the first mirror 52. That is, the display 20 with a touch panel, the smoke plate 80, and the first mirror 52 are arranged in a laminated structure at a distance from each other. In this case, the image of the display 20 with the touch panel (and the user's hand operating it) is reflected by the first mirror 52 after passing through the smoke plate 80, and further reflected by the second mirror 54, Reach the eyes.

  FIG. 5A shows an image of a hand reflected in the user's eyes without using the smoke board 80, and FIG. 5B shows an image of the hand reflected in the user's eyes via the smoke board 80 as a contrast. Is shown schematically.

  As shown in FIG. 5A, the image of the hand that is visible to the user's eyes without passing through the smoke plate 80 can give the user a physiological discomfort because the details of the hand are directly visible to the user's eyes. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 5B, the details of the hand that are visible to the user's eyes through the smoke plate 80 are difficult to see. Thus, by making it difficult to see the details of the hand, it is possible to reduce the realistic vividness of the hand and to prevent the user from having a physiological discomfort.

  Further, in this embodiment, in contrast to the configuration in which the user's hand operating the touch panel is imaged with a camera, the image of the hand is abstracted by image processing, and superimposed on the operation menu image displayed on the display, It is not necessary to use an expensive image processing apparatus, and a physiologically uncomfortable feeling due to the detailed image of the hand can be prevented with a relatively inexpensive configuration using the smoke plate 80.

  In the present embodiment, since the image itself displayed on the display 20 with a touch panel is also visible to the user through the smoke board 80, the image displayed on the display 20 with the touch panel has an influence on the smoke board 80. In order to compensate, brightness adjustment, color adjustment, and the like may be appropriately performed. In this case, the image of the hand reflected by the user's eyes via the smoke board 80 is reflected in a silhouette with the light emitted from the display 20 with the touch panel as a background, and the realistic vividness of the hand can be reduced.

  FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the vehicle operating device shown in FIG. 1 in a side view, and shows another example (Example 2) of the configuration of the optical system that forms an image using the smoke plate 80.

  In the first embodiment shown in FIG. 4, the smoke plate 80 is disposed closer to the user's eyes than the operation space 70 in the optical path from the display 20 with the touch panel to the first mirror 52. In Example 2 shown in FIG. 6, the smoke plate 80 is disposed in the optical path from the second mirror 54 to the user's eyes. More specifically, the smoke plate 80 is disposed in the vicinity of the opening window 72 so as to face the second mirror 54. In this case, the smoke plate 80 also functions as a cover member for the opening window 72.

  Also in the present embodiment, the image of the display 20 with the touch panel (and the image displayed thereon) reaches the eyes of the user by the optical system including the first mirror 52 and the second mirror 54. Similarly, when the user's hand enters the operation space 70 to operate the operation switch 22 of the display 20 with the touch panel, the image of the user's hand reaches the user's eyes via the smoke plate 80. In this case, the image of the display 20 with the touch panel (and the hand of the user who operates the touch panel) is reflected by the first mirror 52, reflected by the second mirror 54, and then passes through the smoke plate 80 before the user. Reach the eyes.

  Also in the present embodiment, the hand image (see FIG. 5B) seen by the user's eyes through the smoke plate 80 is difficult to see the details of the hand, and the realistic vividness of the hand can be reduced. It is possible to prevent a physiological discomfort from being given to the user.

  Also, in this embodiment, in contrast to the configuration in which the user's hand operating the touch panel is imaged with a camera, the image of the hand is abstracted by image processing and superimposed on the operation menu image displayed on the display. Therefore, it is not necessary to use an expensive image processing apparatus, and a relatively inexpensive configuration using the smoke plate 80 can prevent physiological discomfort due to the detailed image of the hand.

  As described above, the smoke plate 80 may be disposed at any position as long as it is closer to the user's eyes than the operation space 70. In both cases of the first embodiment and the second embodiment, the smoke plate 80 is incorporated in the instrument panel together with the first mirror 52 and the second mirror 54 so that the appearance is not impaired. The display 20 with a touch panel, the smoke plate 80, the first mirror 52, and the second mirror 54 may be integrated into an instrument panel as an integrated unit.

  In this embodiment, the video displayed on the display 20 with the touch panel is also visible to the user through the smoke board 80. Therefore, the video displayed on the display 20 with the touch panel has an influence on the smoke board 80. In order to compensate, brightness adjustment, color adjustment, and the like may be appropriately performed. In this case, the image of the hand reflected by the user's eyes via the smoke board 80 is reflected in a silhouette with the light emitted from the display 20 with the touch panel as a background, and the realistic vividness of the hand can be reduced.

  The preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above. However, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications and substitutions can be made to the above-described embodiments without departing from the scope of the present invention. Can be added.

  For example, in the above-described embodiment, the operation unit is configured by the display 20 with a touch panel, and the operation switch 22 is a touch or proximity sensing touch switch of the display 20 with a touch panel. However, the present invention is a push button mechanical switch. The present invention can also be applied to an operation unit provided with.

It is a perspective view which shows one Example of the operating device for vehicles which concerns on this invention. It is a figure which shows the functional block of the vehicle-mounted system relevant to the operating device for vehicles. It is a figure which shows the screen of the display 20 with a touch panel, and shows an example of an operation menu image. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view in side view showing an optical system that forms an image using a smoke plate 80 in the vehicle operating device according to the first embodiment. FIG. 5A shows an image of a hand reflected in the user's eyes without using the smoke board 80, and FIG. 5B shows an image of the hand reflected in the user's eyes via the smoke board 80 as a contrast. FIG. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view in a side view showing an optical system that forms an image using a smoke plate 80 in a vehicle operating device according to a second embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

20 Display with Touch Panel 22 Operation Switch 52 First Mirror 54 Second Mirror 70 Operation Space 72 Open Window 80 Smoke Board

Claims (3)

An operation unit including an operation switch operated by a user and a mirror facing the operation unit with an operation space of the user's hand interposed therebetween, and an image of the operation unit reflected by the mirror is displayed to the user's eyes In an operating device comprising an optical system to project,
An operating device, wherein a member with limited transparency is provided closer to the user's eyes than the operation space in the optical path of the optical system. The optical system includes a first mirror facing the operation unit with an operation space of a user's hand interposed therebetween, and a second mirror that reflects an image of the operation unit reflected by the first mirror to the user's eyes,
The operating device according to claim 1, wherein the member with limited transparency is provided closer to the user's eyes than the operating space in the optical path from the operating unit to the first mirror. The optical system includes a first mirror facing the operation unit with an operation space of a user's hand interposed therebetween, and a second mirror that reflects an image of the operation unit reflected by the first mirror to the user's eyes,
The operating device according to claim 1, wherein the member with limited transparency is provided in an optical path from the second mirror to the user's eyes.

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