JP7584828B2 - A multiple viewing angle monitor system capable of magnified diffraction reflection - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a multiple viewing angle monitor system capable of magnified diffraction reflection, and more specifically, to a multiple viewing angle monitor system capable of magnified diffraction reflection using an in-vehicle monitor and a glass roof.

Traditionally, vehicles were primarily used simply as a means of transportation, but as vehicles began to be equipped with various sound systems and infotainment systems, they also began to play a role in providing various information and entertainment to drivers and passengers while traveling.

Generally, displays are installed on the front (or center fascia) of the vehicle interior for infotainment systems, but when providing entertainment content through such displays, there are legal restrictions in place to prevent accidents while driving, so that the driver cannot see the content.

As a result, separate displays are often installed in the rear or front passenger seats to provide images to passengers in the front or rear seats.

However, in such cases, there is a problem that it is difficult to install displays in the largest possible size within the limited space when installing displays for rear seat passengers individually in the rear seats. Furthermore, there is a problem that the viewing range is limited depending on the position of the rear seat passengers, so there is no choice but to install displays at each seating position in the rear seats.

On the other hand, the roof, which is part of the vehicle structure, has traditionally been fitted with a sunroof to provide a sense of openness, but in recent years, most roofs are made entirely of glass, and glass roofs, which give passengers a greater sense of openness, have become widespread.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention aims to provide a system that generates two multiple viewing angle images on a monitor attached to the front of the vehicle interior, and configures each of the generated multiple viewing angle images to be viewed separately on the monitor and the glass roof, thereby maximizing the usability of the space, and allows passengers in the rear seats to view a wide image by enlarging the multiple viewing angle images projected on the glass roof.

To achieve the above-mentioned object, one aspect of the present invention provides a multiple viewing angle monitor system capable of magnified diffractive reflection.

The system includes a monitor device that is attached to the front of the vehicle interior and displays multiple viewing angle images, and a glass roof that is installed on the roof of the vehicle interior and magnifies and reflects a selected image from the multiple viewing angle images.

The multiple viewing angle images displayed on the monitor device include a first multiple viewing angle image having a first display direction, and a second multiple viewing angle image having a second display direction facing the direction in which the glass roof is installed.

The glass roof refracts and reflects the second multiple viewing angle image from the second display direction to a third display direction, thereby displaying the second multiple viewing angle image in the third display direction.

The third display direction may be a direction corresponding to the direction in which a passenger sitting behind the driver's seat in the vehicle views the glass roof.

The monitor device includes a multiple viewing angle image generating unit that generates the first multiple viewing angle image and the second multiple viewing angle image, a single display panel that receives the first multiple viewing angle image and the second multiple viewing angle image from the multiple viewing angle image generating unit and displays them simultaneously, an image separation optical unit that guides the first multiple viewing angle image and the second multiple viewing angle image so that their traveling paths are separated from each other, a focusing lens unit that focuses the first multiple viewing angle image and the second multiple viewing angle image guided by the image separation optical unit, respectively, and an image reflecting unit that reflects the first multiple viewing angle image and the second multiple viewing angle image transmitted from the force lens unit in the first display direction and the second display direction, respectively.

At least a portion of the glass roof includes a refractive reflector, the refractive reflector including a transparent optical lens that refracts and reflects the second multiple viewing angle image transmitted at an incident angle corresponding to the second display direction in the third display direction, and the transparent optical lens may have an optical pattern based on a HOE (Holographic Optical Element) pre-recorded thereon.

By using the multiple viewing angle monitor system capable of magnified diffraction reflection according to the present invention as described above, two multiple viewing angle images can be generated on a monitor attached to the front of the vehicle interior, and each of the multiple viewing angle images can be viewed separately on the monitor and the glass roof, thereby maximizing the utility of space.

In addition, the multiple viewing angle images displayed on the glass roof are enlarged and provided to passengers in the rear seats, allowing them to view a wide image.

In addition, the images provided to rear seat passengers through the glass roof cannot be seen by the driver in the driver's seat, and can only be seen from the rear seat passenger's field of vision, which has the advantage of preventing accidents while driving and meeting legal standards.

In addition, the images provided through the in-vehicle front monitor device can be seen by both the driver and passengers in the back seats, so the function of the conventional vehicle front monitor device can be maintained.

FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a multiple viewing angle monitor system capable of magnified diffractive reflection in one embodiment. FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram of the system according to FIG. 1 from the perspective of a rear seat passenger. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a monitor device attached to a front portion of the interior of the vehicle shown in FIG. 1 . FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram for explaining the operation of the monitor device in FIG. 3 . A concept to explain the operation of the glass roof in the system according to FIG. 6 is an exemplary diagram showing the configuration of the refraction/reflection section shown in FIG. 5 .

The present invention is susceptible to various modifications and can have a variety of embodiments, and therefore, a specific embodiment will be illustrated in the drawings and described in detail in the detailed description. However, this is not intended to limit the present invention to the specific embodiment, and it should be understood that the present invention includes all modifications, equivalents, or alternatives that fall within the spirit and technical scope of the present invention. When describing each drawing, similar components are given similar reference numerals.

Terms such as first, second, A, B, etc. may be used to describe various components, but such components should not be limited by such terms. The terms are used merely for the purpose of distinguishing one component from another component, and for example, the first component may be named the second component and the second component may be named the first component, without departing from the scope of the invention. The term "and/or" includes any combination of multiple items described in association with each other, or any of multiple items described in association with each other.

When a component is described as being "connected" or "connected" to another component, this should be understood to include not only direct connection or connection to the other component, but also cases where there are other components between them. Conversely, when a component is described as being "directly connected" or "directly connected" to another component, it should be understood to include cases where there are no other components between them.

The terms used in this application are merely used to describe certain embodiments and are not intended to limit the present invention. Singular expressions include plural expressions unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. In this application, terms such as "include" or "have" specify the presence of features, numbers, steps, operations, components, parts, or combinations thereof described in the specification, and should be understood not to preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, numbers, steps, operations, components, parts, or combinations thereof.

Unless otherwise defined, all terms used herein, including technical or scientific terms, have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention pertains. Terms as defined in commonly used dictionaries should be interpreted to have a meaning consistent with the meaning they have in the context of the relevant art, and should not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly defined in this application.

The preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the attached drawings.

Figure 1 is a conceptual diagram for explaining a multiple viewing angle monitor system capable of magnified diffraction reflection in one embodiment, and Figure 2 is a conceptual diagram showing the system according to Figure 1 from the perspective of a passenger in the rear seat.

Referring to FIG. 1, in one embodiment, a multiple viewing angle monitor system 1000 capable of magnified diffraction reflection may include a monitor device 100 that is attached to the front of the vehicle interior and displays multiple viewing angle images, and a glass roof 200 that magnifies and reflects an image selected from the multiple viewing angle images displayed on the monitor device 100.

The monitor device 100 may display a first multiple viewing angle image (IMG1) having a first display direction and a second multiple viewing angle image (IMG2) having a second display direction facing the direction in which the glass roof is located, using one display panel. The first and second display directions may indicate the directions in which the images are displayed.

Here, the first display direction may be a direction corresponding to (or opposite to) the direction in which a passenger in a front seat inside the vehicle (e.g., the driver's seat or the passenger seat beside the driver's seat) views the monitor device 100. Therefore, when a passenger in a front seat inside the vehicle views the monitor device 100, the first multiple viewing angle image (IMG1) can be viewed.

The second display direction may be a direction pointing toward a glass roof installed on the roof inside the vehicle. Therefore, even if a passenger in the front seat inside the vehicle looks at the monitor device 100, he or she cannot see the second multiple viewing angle image (IMG2).

The glass roof 200 may display the second multiple viewing angle image (IMG2) in a third display direction by refracting and reflecting the second multiple viewing angle image (IMG2).

Here, the third display direction may be a direction corresponding to (or opposite to) the direction in which a passenger in a rear seat inside the vehicle (for example, the rear seat may be the remaining seats excluding the driver's seat and the passenger seat beside the driver's seat) views the glass roof 200. Therefore, when a passenger in a rear seat inside the vehicle looks at the glass roof 200, the second multiple viewing angle image (IMG2) can be viewed.

At this time, the glass roof 200 may magnify and refract and reflect the second multiple viewing angle image (IMG2). A transparent optical lens 211 may be inserted or attached to the glass roof 200 in order to refract and reflect the second multiple viewing angle image (IMG2) so that it can be viewed in the rear seat, and the second multiple viewing angle image (IMG2) may be refracted and reflected in the third display direction through the transparent optical lens 211. The transparent optical lens 211 may be a thin-film type lens with high transmittance, and may have an optical pattern based on a HOE (Holographic Optical Element) recorded thereon.

The transparent optical lens 211 may also be configured to focus at a set focal length so as to magnify the refracted and reflected second multiple viewing angle image (IMG2) at a preset magnification ratio, thereby magnifying the second multiple viewing angle image (IMG2) and displaying it in a third display direction.

For example, referring to FIG. 2, when a passenger in a rear seat inside the vehicle looks at the glass roof 200, he or she can view an expanded second multiple viewing angle image (IMG2) having a third viewing direction.

On the other hand, if a passenger in the back seat turns their head so that their field of vision faces the front of the vehicle interior, they can also view the first multiple viewing angle image (IMG1) having the first display direction.

On the other hand, in the case of a driver or passenger in the front passenger seat inside the vehicle, due to the position of their seats, it is impossible for them to observe the glass roof 200 in a direction corresponding to the third display direction, and therefore the driver or passenger in the front passenger seat cannot view the second multiple viewing angle image (IMG2).

In conventional head-up display (HUD) methods using a picture generation unit (PGU), the larger the area, the larger the image formed. Therefore, to enlarge and reflect a large screen on glass, a reflection distance is required according to the enlargement ratio, so there is a problem that the PGU must be configured with a large area. In a limited space, the PGU area cannot be enlarged beyond the limit, making it difficult to display a large screen.

However, the glass roof 200 according to the present invention has the advantage that it can provide a second multiple viewing angle image (IMG2) on a sufficiently large screen even if the area of the monitor device 100 is small, because it uses a transparent optical lens 211 for refraction, reflection, and magnification.

Figure 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the monitor device attached to the front of the vehicle interior shown in Figure 1, and Figure 4 is a conceptual diagram for explaining the operation of the monitor device shown in Figure 3.

3 and 4, the monitor device 100 includes a multiple viewing angle image generating unit 110 that generates a two-dimensional (2D) first multiple viewing angle image (IMG1) and a two-dimensional (2D) second multiple viewing angle image (IMG2), a single display panel 120 that receives the first multiple viewing angle image (IMG1) and the second multiple viewing angle image (IMG2) from the multiple viewing angle image generating unit 110 and simultaneously displays the first multiple viewing angle image (IMG1) and the second multiple viewing angle image (IMG2), It may include an image separation optical unit 130 that guides the traveling paths of the multiple viewing angle image (IMG2) to be separated from each other, a focusing lens unit 140 that focuses the first multiple viewing angle image (IMG1) and the second multiple viewing angle image (IMG2) guided by the image separation optical unit 130, respectively, and an image reflecting unit 150 that reflects the first multiple viewing angle image (IMG1) and the second multiple viewing angle image (IMG2) transmitted from the focusing lens unit 140 in different directions (first display direction and second display direction).

More specifically, the multiple viewing angle image generating unit 110 may acquire a first image to be provided to passengers in the front seats of the vehicle, and a second image to be provided to passengers in the rear seats of the vehicle. For example, the first image may be a navigation image to be viewed by the driver in the driver's seat or a passenger in the passenger seat, or an image displaying vehicle information. The second image may be an entertainment image to be viewed by passengers in the rear seats of the vehicle.

At this time, the first and second images may be stored in a separate storage device and then read by the multiple viewing angle image generating unit 110, or may be input to the multiple viewing angle image generating unit 110 via a separate input means, but may also be provided to the multiple viewing angle image generating unit 110 in various other implementation methods.

The multiple viewing angle image generating unit 110 may apply a first phase profile, which determines the traveling direction of the first image, to the first image to generate a first multi-viewing angle image (IMG1), and may apply a second phase profile, which determines the traveling direction of the second image, to the second image to generate a second multi-viewing angle image (IMG2).

For example, the multiple viewing angle image generating unit 110 may generate a first multiple viewing angle image (IMG1) by synthesizing and multiplying a first image by a first phase profile, and may generate a second multiple viewing angle image (IMG1) by synthesizing and multiplying a second image by a second phase profile.

The first phase profile or the second phase profile may be data that forms a periodic sinusoidal prism pattern. The prism pattern refracts light in a certain direction, with the angle of refraction determined by the period of the prism pattern.

In other words, the first phase profile and the second phase profile can be said to be data that changes the refraction angle of the first image and the second image, respectively, and instructs them to travel in different directions.

The multiple viewing angle image generating unit 110 may transmit the first multiple viewing angle image (IMG1) and the second multiple viewing angle image (IMG2) to the display panel 120. For example, the multiple viewing angle image generating unit 110 may transmit image data to the display panel 120, in which pixel values constituting the first multiple viewing angle image (IMG1) are summed at positions corresponding to pixel values constituting the second multiple viewing angle image (IMG2).

The display panel 120 is configured with a single array of a large number of pixels, and may simultaneously display a first multiple viewing angle image (IMG1) and a second multiple viewing angle image (IMG2) using the configured single array.

The image separation optical unit 130 may separate the first multiple viewing angle image (IMG1) and the second multiple viewing angle image (IMG2) displayed by the display panel 120 from each other by propagating the first multiple viewing angle image (IMG1) in a first direction and propagating the second multiple viewing angle image (IMG2) in a second direction different from the first direction. For example, the image separation optical unit 130 may be a beam splitter that splits incident light into two beams.

That is, since the first multiple view angle image (IMG1) and the second multiple view angle image (IMG2) travel in the first direction and the second direction, respectively, the first multiple view angle image (IMG1) and the second multiple view angle image (IMG2) passing through the second image separation optical unit 130 reach different positions of the focusing lens unit 140.

For example, the dotted arrow in FIG. 4 may indicate the direction in which the first multiple view angle image (IMG1) is transmitted (or travels), and the solid arrow in FIG. 4 may indicate the direction in which the second multiple view angle image (IMG2) is transmitted (or travels).

Referring to FIG. 4, the first multiple viewing angle image (IMG1) and the second multiple viewing angle image (IMG2) simultaneously displayed on each pixel constituting the array of the display panel 120 may travel in different first and second directions, respectively, to reach the focusing lens 140.

The focusing lens 140 may focus the light that displays the first multiple viewing angle image (IMG1) at a first position and may focus the light that displays the second multiple viewing angle image (IMG2) at a second position. For example, the focusing lens 140 may be a Fourier lens.

The image reflector 150 may include a first reflector 150a installed at a first position and a second reflector 150b installed at a second position.

That is, the first reflector 150a may be a mirror having an inclination angle that reflects the first multiple viewing angle image (IMG1) focused at the first position in a first display direction corresponding to the front part of the monitor device 100, and the second reflector 150b may be a mirror having an inclination angle that reflects the second multiple viewing angle image (IMG2) focused at the second position in a second display direction corresponding to the direction in which the glass roof 200 is located.

Therefore, the second multiple viewing angle image (IMG2) reflected by the second reflector 150b is transmitted to the glass roof 200, and the first multiple viewing angle image (IMG1) reflected by the first reflector 150a is transmitted to the front portion of the monitor device 100, so that it can be viewed by a passenger (driver or passenger in the front seat) seated in front of the monitor device 100.

Meanwhile, although not shown in the figure, the monitor device 100 may further include a light source unit that causes the coherent illumination light to be incident on the display panel 120. The light source unit may convert the coherent illumination light into parallel light and cause the converted parallel light to be incident on the display panel 120 via the image separation optical unit 130.

The display panel 120 may simultaneously display a first multiple viewing angle image (IMG1) and a second multiple viewing angle image (IMG2) by reflecting and modulating the coherent illumination light incident on the light source unit.

For example, the display panel 120 may be a reflective spatial light modulator that reflects illumination light to display an image, or a transmissive spatial light modulator that transmits illumination light to display an image, or more specifically, a panel based on a semiconductor modulator, LCD (liquid crystal device), DMD (digital micromirror device), LCoS (liquid crystal on silicon), LED (light emitting diode), etc.

Meanwhile, the image separation optical unit 130, focusing lens unit 140, and image reflection unit 150 described with reference to FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 may be modified by ordinary technicians into various types of viewing angle adjustment devices (light fields) or viewing angle adjustment films, and such modifications should be construed as being included in one embodiment.

Figure 5 is a conceptual diagram for explaining the operation of the glass roof in the system of Figure 1, and Figure 6 is an example diagram of the configuration of the refraction/reflection unit of Figure 5.

As described with reference to FIG. 4, the second multiple viewing angle image (IMG2) may be transmitted to the glass roof 200.

To explain in more detail, in FIG. 5, the second multiple viewing angle image (IMG2) may be transmitted to a refraction reflector 210 configured on at least a portion of the glass roof 200.

The refracting/reflecting unit 210 may include a transparent optical lens 211 that refracts and reflects the second multiple viewing angle image (IMG2) transmitted at a specified incident angle in a direction corresponding to the third display direction. The transparent optical lens 211 may record an optical pattern based on a HOE (Holographic Optical Element), or more specifically, an optical pattern based on a reflective HOE (Holographic Optical Element) in which an object beam and a reference beam are incident on a medium in opposite directions.

Specifically, referring to FIG. 6, the transparent optical lens 211 may be inserted between the first glass 212 and the second glass 213 that constitute the glass roof 200.

At this time, the optical pattern recorded on the transparent optical lens 211 may emit diffracted light (DR) obtained by refracting and reflecting at a specified reflection angle the first incident light (IR1) incident at a pre-specified incident angle, and allow the second incident light (IR2) incident at an angle other than the pre-specified incident angle to pass through as is.

Here, the incident angle may be an angle corresponding to the second display direction in which the second multiple viewing angle image (IMG2) is reflected by the second reflector 150b, and the reflection angle may be an angle corresponding to (or the same as) the direction in which a passenger in the rear seat of the vehicle views the refraction reflector 210.

Therefore, the optical pattern may be pre-recorded (or recorded) on the transparent optical lens 211 so that it is reflected at a specified reflection angle only when the incident light is incident at a pre-specified incident angle, as described above. Here, "recorded" means that an interference pattern is generated by the intersection of two laser-based lights on the recording medium (or the transparent optical lens 211), and the diffraction characteristics of the light differ depending on the interference pattern generated here.

The transparent optical lens 211 may be a Fresnel lens that receives the diffracted light (DR) emitted by a prerecorded optical pattern and focuses the diffracted light (DR) at a focal length according to a prespecified magnification ratio.

The Fresnel lens focuses the diffracted light (DR) at a focal length according to a pre-specified magnification ratio, thereby magnifying the second multiple viewing angle image (IMG2) that is refracted and reflected by the optical pattern.

That is, the transparent optical lens 211 refracts and reflects the second multiple viewing angle image (IMG2) displayed on the monitor device 100 in the second display direction in the third display direction using a pre-recorded optical pattern, and the Fresnel lens characteristics allow the focus position of the refracted and reflected second multiple viewing angle image (IMG2) to be moved according to the magnification ratio and imaged, allowing passengers in the rear seats to view the magnified multiple viewing angle image (IMG2).

For example, referring to FIG. 5 and FIG. 6, when a passenger in a rear seat of a vehicle looks at the refraction reflection unit 210, the diffracted light (DR) constituting the second multiple viewing angle image (IMG2) is focused into the air on the outside side of the glass roof 200 by the transparent optical lens 211 of the refraction reflection unit 210, so that the passenger in the rear seat can view the enlarged second multiple viewing angle image (IMG2).

On the other hand, while FIG. 6 shows the transparent optical lens 211 inserted between the first glass 212 and the second glass 213, this is merely an example, and the lens may be realized as part of the first glass 212 or part of the second glass 213 as needed, or may be realized in a form bonded to one side of the single glass that constitutes the glass roof 200.

The methods of the embodiments may be embodied in the form of program instructions executable by various computer means and recorded on a computer readable medium. The computer readable medium may include, alone or in combination, program instructions, data files, data structures, and the like. The program instructions recorded on the medium may be specially designed for the embodiments or may be available to those skilled in the art of computer software.

Examples of computer-readable recording media may include hardware devices specially configured to record and execute program instructions, such as ROM, RAM, flash memory, etc. Examples of program instructions may include high-level language code executed by a computer using an interpreter or the like, as well as machine code, such as that generated by a compiler. The above-mentioned hardware devices may be configured to operate as at least one software module to perform the operations of the present invention, and vice versa.

Furthermore, the above-mentioned methods or devices may be realized with all or part of their configurations or functions combined or separated.

The present invention has been described above with reference to preferred embodiments, but those skilled in the art will understand that the present invention can be modified and changed in various ways without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as set forth in the appended claims.

Claims (5)

A multiple viewing angle monitor system capable of magnified diffractive reflection, comprising:
a monitor device attached to a front part of a vehicle interior to display a plurality of viewing angle images; and a glass roof attached to a roof of the vehicle interior to magnify and reflect a selected image from the plurality of viewing angle images to display the magnified and reflected image,
The plurality of viewing angle images displayed on the monitor device are
a first multiple viewing angle image having a first display direction; and a second multiple viewing angle image having a second display direction facing a direction in which the glass roof is installed.
system. The glass roof is
the second multiple viewing angle image is refracted and reflected from the second display direction to a third display direction, so that the second multiple viewing angle image is displayed in the third display direction.
The system of claim 1 . The third display direction is
The direction corresponds to the direction in which a passenger in a seat behind the driver's seat in the vehicle looks at the glass roof.
The system of claim 2. The monitor device includes:
a multiple viewing angle image generator for generating the first multiple viewing angle image and the second multiple viewing angle image;
a single display panel that receives the first multiple viewing angle image and the second multiple viewing angle image from the multiple viewing angle image generator and simultaneously displays the first multiple viewing angle image and the second multiple viewing angle image;
an image separation optical unit for guiding the first and second multiple viewing angle images so that their traveling paths are separated from each other;
a focusing lens unit for focusing the first and second multiple viewing angle images guided by the image separation optical unit, respectively; and an image reflector for reflecting the first and second multiple viewing angle images transferred from the focusing lens unit in the first and second display directions, respectively.
The system of claim 3. At least a portion of the glass roof includes a refractive reflector,
The refraction/reflection portion is
a transparent optical lens that refracts and reflects the second multiple viewing angle image, which is transmitted at an incident angle corresponding to the second display direction, in the third display direction;
The transparent optical lens has an optical pattern based on a Holographic Optical Element (HOE) recorded thereon in advance.
The system of claim 3.