Detailed Description
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following description, the same reference numerals in different drawings denote parts having the same function, and overlapping description in each drawing is appropriately omitted.
Fig. 1 to 2 show an in-vehicle device operation system a including an example of an in-vehicle device operation apparatus 1 according to the present invention.
The in-vehicle device operation system a is configured to include an in-vehicle device operation apparatus 1 and a plurality of types of in-vehicle devices B controlled by the in-vehicle device operation apparatus 1.
The in-vehicle device operation apparatus 1 includes: a touch operation unit 10 that senses a plurality of types of touch operations including flick operations in a plurality of directions and outputs a touch operation sensing signal; a control unit 20 that issues a control command for the in-vehicle device B based on the touch operation sensing signal; and a display unit 30 that displays an operation guidance screen 30a in accordance with a signal from the control unit 20, wherein the in-vehicle device operation apparatus 1 is mounted at an appropriate position in the vehicle.
In the example shown in the figure, the in-vehicle device B is an HVAC (Heating, ventilating, and Air Conditioning) device B1 for performing Air Conditioning, Ventilation, and defrosting in a vehicle, an AV (audio visual) device B2 for producing music or video, a navigation device B3 for guiding a road, and the like, and may be an electric device such as a door or a ceiling.
The touch operation unit 10 is, for example, a capacitive touch panel device of a known structure, and senses a contact or a contact position of a finger of a driver of the vehicle and outputs a sensing signal thereof.
In the example shown in the figure, the touch operation unit 10 uses a member having no display function, but a touch display panel device having a display function may be used.
The touch operation unit 10 is attached to a position where a driver of the vehicle can easily operate the touch operation unit with fingers, and is exposed from a center console a1 provided between front seats, for example, as shown in fig. 1.
The control unit 20 is an electronic circuit having a CPU (central processing unit), a storage device 21 such as a ROM and a RAM, various input/output devices, a timer, and the like, and may be configured as a small computer having a single chip microcomputer or the like, for example.
The control unit 20 stores image data, a control program, and the like for display on the display unit 30 in advance, and executes the control program to output the image data, the control program, and the like to the display unit 30 and various in-vehicle devices B.
The control program allocates (associates) a plurality of types of operation guidance screens and a plurality of types of control commands displayed on the display unit 30 in advance for each operation mode of the touch operation unit 10.
The control unit 20 may be integrally configured with the touch operation unit 10 or the display unit 30, or may be separately configured.
The display unit 30 is a liquid crystal display device, and displays a plurality of operation guide screens 30a including the operation guide screen 30a shown in fig. 3 in response to a signal from the control unit 20. According to an example shown in fig. 1, the display unit 30 is exposed and attached to an instrument panel in the vehicle.
The operation guidance screen 30a shown in fig. 3 is allocated to the HVAC equipment b1 and is stored in the storage device 21 of the control unit 20 in advance. The storage device 21 stores an operation guidance screen (not shown) assigned to the AV device b2, an operation screen (not shown) assigned to the navigation device b3, and the like.
The operation guide screen 30a is configured such that a plurality of types of video images 31 to 38 corresponding to a plurality of types of control commands are arranged in a ring shape so as to correspond to each flicking direction of the flicking operation with respect to the touch operation unit 10, and arrows 30b indicating the direction of the flicking operation (hereinafter referred to as the flicking direction) are radially arranged inside the video images 31 to 38 so as to correspond to each video image.
For example, the video image 31 is an image in which the on/off control of the front defogger is reflected. An arrow 30b adjacent to the inside of the video image 31 is formed so as to face the video image 31.
The plurality of types of video images 31 to 38 are associated with the plurality of types of in-vehicle devices B, respectively, and are stored in the storage device 21 of the control unit 20.
Next, an example of characteristic processing performed by the control unit in the in-vehicle device operation apparatus 1 and the in-vehicle device B having the above-described configuration will be described in detail with reference to flowcharts shown in fig. 6 to 8.
First, when power is supplied by an operation such as a key, the control unit 20 calls an initial screen image from the storage device 21 and displays the initial screen image on the display unit 30 (step S1).
The initial screen may be, for example, the operation guidance screen 30a shown in fig. 3, or may be another operation guidance screen or a screen other than the operation guidance screen.
Next, the control section 20 determines whether or not the touch operation to the touch operation section 10 is performed based on the touch operation sensing signal input from the touch operation section 10 (step S2), and if the touch operation is performed, the process proceeds to the next step S3, otherwise, the process returns to step S1.
The touch operation sensing signal may be a touch operation sensing signal in various operation modes such as a sensing signal in the case of performing a touch operation with one finger, a sensing signal in the case of performing a touch operation with two fingers, and a sensing signal in the case of performing a touch operation with three fingers.
Next, the control unit 20 recognizes the type of touch operation from the touch operation sensing signal of the touch operation unit 10, and selects and displays an operation guidance screen corresponding to the type of touch operation on the display unit 30 (step S3). According to a preferred example of the present embodiment, the type of the touch operation is associated with the number of fingers that have performed the touch operation (see fig. 4).
Specifically, the control unit 20 recognizes the number of fingers subjected to the touch operation based on the number, coordinates, and the like of the touch operation sensing signals of the touch operation unit 10, calls up an operation guide screen corresponding to the number from the storage device 21, and displays the operation guide screen on the display unit 30.
In the control example shown in the flowchart of fig. 6, the operation guidance screen 30a for the HVAC equipment b1 (see fig. 3) is displayed when the number of fingers that have been touch-operated is one, the operation guidance screen (not shown) for the AV equipment b2 is displayed when the number of fingers is two, and the operation guidance screen (not shown) for the navigation device b3 is displayed when the number of fingers is three (see steps S4 to S6).
After the operation guide screen is displayed as described above, the control unit 20 recognizes the flick direction from the touch operation sensing signal input next, and outputs a control command assigned to the flick direction (see fig. 7 to 8).
Specifically, the control unit 20 starts counting of a timer set to a predetermined time (step S11), determines whether or not there is a flick operation to the touch operation unit 10 within the time (steps S12 to S13), returns the process to the step S1 when the time is out without the flick operation, stops the counting of the timer when the flick operation is performed (step S14), and advances the process to the next step S15.
Here, the flick operation is an operation of touching the screen of the display unit 30 with one finger and moving the finger in a flicking manner in any one of circumferential directions equally divided into a plurality of parts (equally divided by 8 parts according to the example of the drawing).
The control unit 20 recognizes the presence or absence of the flick operation and the flick direction based on a continuous change of the touch operation sensing signal accompanying the movement of the finger on the touch operation unit 10.
Next, the control unit 20 calls out the control command assigned for each of the flick directions from the storage device 21, and outputs the control command to the corresponding in-vehicle device B.
Specifically, the control unit 20 determines which of the upper, upper right, lower left, upper left, and lower right, the flick direction recognized as described above is, and starts the processes a to h corresponding to the flick direction.
For example, when the flick direction is right upward, the process b is started.
In the process b, the control unit 20 starts counting of the timer set to a predetermined time (step S21), determines whether or not there is a flick operation to the touch operation unit 10 within the time (steps S22 to S23), returns the process to the step S1 when the time is out without the flick operation, stops the counting of the timer when the flick operation is performed (step S24), and advances the process to the next step S25.
In step S25, the control unit 20 calls a control command associated with the top right video image 31 on the display unit 30 and outputs the control command to the HVAC equipment b 1.
In the illustrated example, the control command is a signal for turning on the front defogger when it is off and turning off the front defogger when it is on.
In the next steps S26 to S27, the timer set to a predetermined time is started to count (step S26), the elapse of the time is waited for (step S27), and the process returns to the above step S1.
In the illustrated example, the case where the front defogger is controlled by the flick operation execution process b for the video image 31 has been described, but when the flick operations for the other video images 32 to 38 are performed, the other processes a and c to h selected in accordance with the flick directions are also executed. The flowcharts relating to these other processes a, c to h are omitted.
Therefore, according to the in-vehicle device operation apparatus 1 and the in-vehicle device operation system a configured as described above, it is possible to select a plurality of types of operation guidance screens by changing the number of fingers that are tapped, and further, it is possible to select a plurality of types of operations for each in-vehicle device B according to a change in the direction of the tap (swipe) operation. Therefore, it is possible to perform a plurality of operations on a plurality of types of in-vehicle devices B without looking at the fingertip or storing the button position, and operability thereof is good.
In addition, according to the above embodiment, various control commands are selected only in accordance with the flick direction accompanying the flick operation, but as another example, in a case where the control unit 20 recognizes the flick direction and then recognizes the annular swipe operation (see fig. 9), a control command corresponding to the rotation direction of the swipe operation may be output.
In detail, in another example, the controller 20 selects the processing for adjusting the sound volume of the AV device b2 in accordance with the direction of the flick operation after the operation guidance screen for the AV device b2 is selected by the tap operation, and outputs a control command for increasing the sound volume of the AV device b2 when the ring-shaped clockwise swipe operation (see fig. 9) to the touch operation unit 10 is recognized.
In this other example, the operation of the in-vehicle device B can be performed without paying attention to the fingertip or the memory button position, and the operability is good.
In the above embodiment, the touch operation unit 10 and the display unit 30 are provided separately, but as another example, a touch display panel device 40 having a touch operation function and a display function integrally may be used as the configuration of the touch operation unit 10 and the display unit 30 as in the in-vehicle device operation apparatus 2 shown in fig. 10.
The touch display panel device 40 is configured by a known structure in which a capacitive touch panel device and a liquid crystal display are stacked, senses a contact or a contact position of a finger of a driver, outputs a sensing signal to the control unit 20, and displays various operation guide screens including the operation guide screen 30a according to a signal from the control unit 20.
The touch display panel device 40 is attached to an appropriate portion such as the instrument panel a1 or the center console a 2.
In this other example, when the first tapping operation is sensed on the display unit 30, the control unit 20 displays an operation guide screen (operation guide screen 30a in the example of fig. 10) corresponding to the number of fingers tapped substantially at the center of the tapping position. The subsequent processing is substantially the same as in the above embodiment.
According to this other example, it is needless to say that substantially the same operational effects as those of the above-described embodiment can be obtained, the touch operation unit and the display unit can be configured in a space-saving manner, and the operation guide screen is displayed at the position where the tap operation is first performed, which is excellent in operability.
In addition, although the display unit 30 is provided in the above embodiment, as another example, only the touch operation unit 10 may be provided without the display unit 30 from the in-vehicle device operation apparatus 1.
While the embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail, the specific configurations are not limited to these embodiments, and design changes and the like within a range not departing from the gist of the present invention are also included in the present invention. In addition, the above embodiments can be combined by using different techniques as long as the objects, structures, and the like are not particularly contradictory or problematic.
Description of the reference symbols
1: an in-vehicle device operation apparatus; 10: a touch operation unit; 20: a control unit; 30: a display unit; 30 a: operating a guidance screen; 31-38: an image; a: an in-vehicle device operating system; b: an in-vehicle device; b 1: HVAC equipment; b 2: an AV device; b 3: a navigation device.