JP2005119581A - In-vehicle device operation device - Google Patents

Abstract

An object of the present invention is to prevent forward gaze time from being reduced due to generation of a hierarchical lost child state.
An input operation panel 5 has three vibration stimulus presentation surfaces 14a to 14c for presenting a vibration stimulus to a driver at an upper end portion. And a central control apparatus produces | generates the vibration stimulus of a different pattern on the vibration stimulus presentation surfaces 14a-14c according to the hierarchy in operation now. As a result, the driver can recognize the layer currently being operated without looking at the display screen by touching the vibration stimulus presentation surfaces 14a to 14c to identify the vibration stimulus pattern.
[Selection] Figure 3

Description

  The present invention relates to an in-vehicle device operating device that displays a plurality of menu items forming a hierarchical structure on a display screen for each layer, and controls the in-vehicle device to execute the selected menu item. The present invention relates to a technique for preventing a forward gaze time from being reduced due to a lost child state.

Conventionally, when a switch corresponding to a menu item (in-vehicle device function name) displayed on the display screen is selected and operated, the in-vehicle device is executed so as to execute the menu item corresponding to the selected switch. A vehicle-mounted device operating device to be controlled is known (for example, see Patent Document 1). In addition, by reducing the number of menu items to be displayed on the display screen in such an in-vehicle device operation apparatus, a plurality of menu items can be realized with a small number of switches, for example, about 5 concentrated in one place on the steering wheel. There is one that makes it possible to perform the selection operation (see, for example, Patent Document 2). According to such an in-vehicle device operation device, it is possible to reduce the viewing time of the display screen necessary for one selection operation, and to easily store the position of a desired menu item in the display screen. Therefore, it is possible to prevent a reduction in the gaze time ahead.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 13-113981 (see paragraph [0024], FIG. 1) JP 2003-68162 A (see FIG. 1)

  However, in the conventional in-vehicle device operating device, each menu item is classified into a plurality of layers, and the driver repeatedly performs an operation of selecting a desired menu item from the menu items displayed on the display screen. By proceeding from a higher level to a level where the target menu item is classified, the target menu item can be finally selected and operated. Therefore, when the number of menu items displayed on the display screen is reduced, in other words, when the number of menu items classified into one layer is reduced and the number of layers is increased, the operation is temporarily stopped and then resumed. When an unexpected duplicate input operation is performed, there is a high possibility that a so-called hierarchical stray state will occur in which it is not possible to know at which level the operation is currently being performed. And according to such a hierarchy lost state, since the visual recognition time of a display screen increases in order to confirm a hierarchical position, the driver | operator's gaze time to the front reduces.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an in-vehicle device operating device capable of preventing a forward gaze time from being reduced due to a hierarchical stray state. There is to do.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the feature of the in-vehicle device operating device according to the present invention includes a tactile stimulus presentation unit that generates a tactile stimulus for the operator indicating the hierarchy to which the menu item displayed on the display screen belongs. There is.

  According to the vehicle-mounted device operation device according to the present invention, the operator can recognize the hierarchy to which the menu item displayed on the display screen belongs by tactile stimulation, so that the occurrence of the hierarchy lost state is prevented, and the gaze time ahead Can be prevented from decreasing.

  Hereinafter, with reference to the drawings, a configuration of an in-vehicle device operating device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail.

[Configuration of in-vehicle device operation device]
First, with reference to FIGS. 1-4, the structure of the vehicle equipment operation apparatus which becomes one Embodiment of this invention is demonstrated.

  As shown in FIG. 1, an in-vehicle device operating device according to an embodiment of the present invention is an operation for controlling display on a display device 2 of a display screen 1 including a plurality (four in this embodiment) of menu items 1 a to 1 d. Control device 3 (provided in detail, this operation control device 3 changes the push switch 5a to 5d included in the input operation panel 5 provided on the steering wheel 4 to the push switch that has been pressed. The in-vehicle devices 6a to 6c are controlled so as to execute the corresponding menu items, In this embodiment, the push switches 5a to 5d are arranged in the same arrangement as the arrangement of the menu items 1a to 1d controlled to be displayed on the display device 2. The driver can select and operate a desired menu item by depressing a push switch at a position corresponding to the desired menu item.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the operation control device 3 includes a central control device 7 that controls the overall operation of the in-vehicle device operation device. The central control device 7 controls the display information control unit 9 to control information. The menu items stored in the storage unit 8 are displayed and output on the display device 2. In addition, the central control device 7 is classified into a lower layer of the menu item that is pressed down in response to a signal indicating the push switch that is pressed down via the external input / output connection unit 10. A process of reading the menu item from the information storage unit 8 and displaying it, or a process of controlling the control target device 11 so as to execute the pressed menu item. Furthermore, the central controller 7 drives the tactile stimulus presentation unit 13 provided on the input operation panel 5 by controlling the drive circuit 12.

  The input operation panel 5 has a form as shown in FIG. 3 and has a plurality (three in this example) of vibration stimulus presentation surfaces 14a to 14c for presenting vibration stimuli to the driver at the upper end. A vibration pin 16 is installed on each vibration stimulus presentation surface 14 a to 14 c through a hole 15. Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the vibration pin 16 is configured integrally with a vibrator 17 formed of a piezoelectric vibration generating element corresponding to the tactile stimulus presentation unit 13, and is connected via an electric wiring 18. As the drive circuit 12 is energized, it vibrates at a frequency centered at 250 [Hz], which is the highest human sensitivity.

  In this embodiment, the vibrator 17 is constituted by a piezoelectric vibration generating element. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the vibrator 17 may be constituted by an electromagnetic vibration generating element. In this embodiment, the vibration stimulus presentation surface 14b is provided with a step with respect to the adjacent vibration stimulus presentation surfaces 14a and 14c. Thereby, the driver | operator can distinguish easily the vibration stimulus presentation surface of an edge part and a center part by touching a level | step difference.

  As described above, in the in-vehicle device operation device according to the embodiment of the present invention, the input operation panel 5 has the vibration stimulus presentation surfaces 14 a to 14 c that generate the vibration stimulus according to the control of the central control device 7. And the vehicle equipment operation apparatus which has such a structure operate | moves as shown below, The driver is operating the menu item of the hierarchy which the driver | operator does not look at the display apparatus 2. Make it possible to recognize. Hereinafter, with reference to FIG. 5, the operation of the in-vehicle device operation apparatus will be described.

[Operation of in-vehicle device operation device]
FIG. 5 shows a case where a navigation device that is one of in-vehicle devices executes a function of “select and set a destination from a list” function for selecting a navigation destination from a plurality of destination lists stored in advance. The hierarchy transition, menu item contents, screen display contents, and vibration mode of the vibration stimulus presentation surface are shown.

  As shown in FIG. 5, when this function is executed, the driver first pushes the push switch 5a corresponding to the upper left screen position where the target menu item “NAVI” is displayed in the 0th hierarchy. In response to the pressing operation and the push switch 5a being pressed, the central control device 7 displays the menu items (= first layer) under the menu item “NAVI” that is pressed down (= first layer). "Display setting", "Destination setting", "View information", "Submenu") are displayed on the display device 2, and the tactile stimulus presentation unit 13 on the vibration stimulus presentation surface 14a is driven to present the vibration stimulus. By generating a vibration stimulus on the surface 14a, tactile information indicating that the current layer is the first layer is output. Accordingly, the driver can recognize that the menu item in the first layer is currently operated by touching the vibration stimulus presentation surface 14a.

  Next, the driver depresses the push switch 5b corresponding to the upper right screen position where the target menu item “Destination setting” is displayed, and the push switch 5b is depressed. Accordingly, the central controller 7 selects the menu items (“Search from facility”, “Search phone number”) that are classified in the hierarchy (= second hierarchy) below the menu item “Destination setting” that has been pressed. ”,“ Search from list ”,“ Search from address ”) are displayed on the display device 2, and the tactile stimulus presentation unit 13 of the vibration stimulus presentation surface 14 b is driven to generate a vibration stimulus on the vibration stimulus presentation surface 14 b. Thus, haptic information indicating that the current hierarchy is the second hierarchy is output. Accordingly, the driver can recognize that the menu item in the first layer is currently operated by touching the vibration stimulus presentation surface 14b.

  Next, in the second hierarchy, the driver presses down the push switch 5c corresponding to the lower left screen position where the target menu item “search from list” is displayed, and the push switch 5c is pressed down. In response to the above, the central control device 7 determines that the menu items (“Determination”, “Up”, “ "Return", "Down") is displayed on the display device 2, and the tactile stimulus presentation unit 13 of the vibration stimulus presentation surface 14c is driven to generate the vibration stimulus on the vibration stimulus presentation surface 14c. The tactile information indicating the third hierarchy is output. Accordingly, the driver can recognize that the menu item in the first layer is currently operated by touching the vibration stimulus presentation surface 14c.

  Finally, the driver presses the displayed menu item (“OK”, “Up”, “Back”, “Down”) in the third hierarchy to select a desired item from the list. A destination is selected and operated, and the central controller 7 controls the navigation device so as to perform navigation to the destination selected and operated from the list. This completes a series of operations for executing the function of “select and set a destination from a list”.

  As is clear from the above description, in the in-vehicle device operating device according to the embodiment of the present invention, the central control device 7 applies different patterns of vibration stimulation to the vibration stimulation presenting surfaces 14a to 14a according to the hierarchy currently being operated. 14c. And according to such a structure, a driver | operator recognizes the hierarchy currently operated even if it does not look at a display screen by touching the vibration stimulus presentation surfaces 14a-14c, and identifying the pattern of a vibration stimulus. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the time for visually recognizing forward from being reduced due to the generation of a hierarchical stray state.

  As mentioned above, although the embodiment to which the invention made by the present inventor is applied has been described, the present invention is not limited by the description and the drawings that form part of the disclosure of the present invention according to this embodiment. For example, in the above embodiment, the vibration stimulus presentation surfaces 14a to 14c are arranged in the lateral direction of the input operation panel 5, but the present invention is not limited to this, and as shown in FIG. The vibration stimulus presentation surfaces 14 a to 14 c may be arranged in the vertical direction of the input operation panel 5. Moreover, in the said embodiment, although the vibration stimulus was produced | generated using the vibrator | oscillator 17 comprised by the piezoelectric type vibration generation element, as shown, for example in FIG. 7, the tactile sense presentation surfaces 19a-19c are moved up and down. It is also possible to generate a concavo-convex sensation. In addition, when producing | generating the sensation of an unevenness | corrugation, as shown in FIG. 8, one end and the other end of the rods 21a-21c by which the lower end part is comprised by the magnetic bodies 20a-20c are each tactile stimulus presentation surfaces 19a-19c. The magnetic members 20a to 20c are respectively penetrated through the springs 24a to 24c, and stoppers 25a to 25c are provided at one ends of the springs 24a to 24c. And when producing | generating the sensation of an unevenness | corrugation, it supplies with electricity to the solenoid connected with the tactile stimulus presentation surface moved up and down via the drive circuit 12 and the printed circuit board 22. FIG. Thereby, since the magnetic body connected to the energized solenoid is pulled into the solenoid against the reaction force of the spring, the unevenness having a predetermined height can be formed on the tactile stimulus presentation surface. As described above, it is a matter of course that all other embodiments, examples, operation techniques, and the like made by those skilled in the art based on the above embodiments are included in the scope of the present invention.

It is a schematic diagram which shows the structure of the vehicle equipment operation apparatus used as one Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the operation control apparatus 3 shown in FIG. It is a schematic diagram which shows the structure of the vibration stimulus presentation surface provided in the input operation panel. It is a schematic diagram which shows the structure of the tactile stimulus presentation unit shown in FIG. It is a figure for demonstrating operation | movement of the vehicle equipment operation apparatus shown in FIG. It is a schematic diagram which shows the application example of the vibration stimulus presentation surface shown in FIG. It is a schematic diagram which shows the structure of the tactile stimulus presentation surface provided in the input operation panel. It is a schematic diagram which shows the drive mechanism of the tactile stimulus presentation surface shown in FIG.

Explanation of symbols

1: Menu item 2: Display device 3: Operation control device 4: Steering 5: Input operation panel 5a to 5d: Push switch 6a to 6c: On-vehicle device 7: Central control device 13: Tactile stimulus presentation unit 14a to 14c: Vibration stimulus Presentation surface 15: Hall 16: Vibration pin

Claims (8)

A plurality of menu items forming a hierarchical structure are displayed on the display screen for each layer, and the menu item selected and operated is executed when the menu item displayed on the display screen is selected and operated by the operator. An in-vehicle device control device for controlling the in-vehicle device,
An in-vehicle device operation device comprising: a tactile stimulus presentation unit that generates, for an operator, a tactile stimulus indicating a hierarchy to which a menu item displayed on a display screen belongs.   The in-vehicle device operation device according to claim 1, wherein the tactile stimulus presentation unit has a plurality of tactile stimulus presentation surfaces capable of individually generating tactile stimuli.   The in-vehicle device operation device according to claim 2, wherein the tactile stimulus presentation unit changes a tactile stimulus presentation surface for generating a tactile stimulus for each layer.   The in-vehicle device operating device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the tactile stimulus is a vibration stimulus.   The in-vehicle device operation device according to claim 4, wherein the tactile stimulus presentation unit generates a vibration stimulus using a piezoelectric vibration generating element.   The in-vehicle device operation device according to claim 4, wherein the tactile stimulus presentation unit generates a vibration stimulus using an electromagnetic vibration generating element.   The in-vehicle device operation device according to claim 2, wherein the tactile stimulus presentation unit generates the tactile stimulus by changing a height of each tactile stimulus presentation surface.   The in-vehicle device operation device according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the tactile stimulus presentation unit is provided on an input operation panel for selecting and operating the menu item.

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