WO2000066399A1

WO2000066399A1 - Arrangement of equipment for a motor vehicle designed to assist and/or enhance driving

Info

Publication number: WO2000066399A1
Application number: PCT/FR2000/001147
Authority: WO
Inventors: Didier Barat; Andrew Nash
Original assignee: Plastic Omnium Valeo Interiors
Priority date: 1999-04-28
Filing date: 2000-04-28
Publication date: 2000-11-09
Also published as: DE10084540T1; FR2792887B1; GB2363770B; GB0125903D0; AU4410400A; FR2792887A1; GB2363770A

Abstract

The invention relates to an arrangement of equipment for a motor vehicle, which is designed to assist and/or enhance driving and comprises at least the following: a plurality of equipment elements (1) whereby the number and/or nature of part of said elements varies according to the level of equipment inside the motor vehicle as it leaves the factory and according to the choice of the purchaser; means (17) whose composition can be configured according to the level of equipment in the motor vehicle as it leaves the factory and according to the choice of the purchaser, whereby said configurable means comprises at least means (14) which can process the operating instructions of said elements (1); fixed means (16) whereby the composition thereof cannot be varied irrespective of the level of equipment inside said vehicle as it leaves the factory and irrespective of the choice of the purchaser, whereby said fixed means comprises at least interface means (15) for the transmission of operating instructions at least between the user and said elements (1) and said means functions under the control of said processing means (14). The invention also relates to a dashboard fitted with said equipment.

Description

TITLE: Arrangement of switchgear for motor vehicles intended to assist and / or enhance driving.

The invention relates to an arrangement of switchgear for a motor vehicle intended, in particular, to assist and / or enhance driving, as well as a dashboard provided with such an arrangement.

In the field of automobile construction, equipment is now required, the number and nature of which can be adjusted to the wishes of the users. However, in order to limit manufacturing costs, production must remain rationalized by reducing assembly operations and avoiding increasing the number of different components from one version of vehicle to another.

With regard to dashboards, a first rationalization solution is to provide a facade of unique constitution presenting at predetermined locations displays and / or control buttons used or not depending on the level of equipment of the vehicle.

This solution is however not satisfactory. Indeed, for vehicles with a low level of equipment, the purchaser is in the presence of displays or perpetually inactive display areas or blocked buttons which help to highlight the fact that his vehicle is not high range.

In addition, with such a solution, the cost of low-end vehicles is penalized by the fact that the dashboard is predisposed for high-end equipment since this part is identical from one vehicle to another: for example, in the dashboards currently encountered, it is known to provide one or more reservations for receiving optional equipment such as, in particular, a car radio, a cassette or compact disc player, a navigation system or others.

Furthermore, although allowing a certain modularity, such dashboards have redundant components because each of the items of equipment is provided with its own stabilized power supply, with its own control system, and / or with its own display system. The available location is therefore not optimized and the number of devices that can be integrated remains limited due to the space reserved for each of these devices.

Another difficulty encountered in the development of a dashboard comes from the fact that it uses more and more equipment based on electronic components and that, while the design time of a new vehicle is more than two years old, the renewal of electronic technologies is much faster.

Thus, a dashboard designed for a given vehicle incorporates members whose characteristics are already exceeded while the first vehicle equipped with such a dashboard has not yet been built.

The object of the invention is to provide an arrangement of switchgear for a motor vehicle, intended, in particular, to assist or enhance driving, which overcomes the aforementioned drawbacks and allows tailor-made adaptation of the level of equipment of the vehicle while rationalizing its production.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an arrangement of switchgear for a motor vehicle, intended, in particular, to assist and / or enhance driving, the manufacturing costs of which are proportional to the level of range of the vehicle.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an arrangement of switchgear for a motor vehicle, intended, in particular, to assist and / or enhance driving, which makes it possible to avoid the visible presence of the control and display members of the elements of equipment which can possibly be taken into account on another higher-end vehicle, with the same arrangement, but absent on the vehicle in question.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an arrangement of switchgear for a motor vehicle, intended, in particular to assist and / or enhance driving, which makes it possible to increase the number and the nature of the elements of equipment that can be used. Another object of the present invention is to provide an arrangement of switchgear for a motor vehicle, intended, in particular, to assist and / or enhance driving, which is upgradeable including during the period of use after purchase of the vehicle and can therefore integrate newly developed pieces of equipment in order to keep pace with technological developments.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a dashboard for a vehicle whose ergonomics are respected and which does not risk distracting the driver. Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear during the description which follows which is given for information only and which is not intended to limit it.

The invention firstly relates to an arrangement of switchgear for a motor vehicle, intended, in particular, to assist and / or enhance driving, comprising at least:

a plurality of pieces of equipment, the number and / or nature of which varies, at least for part of them, on the one hand as a function of the level of equipment of the vehicle and on the other hand as a function of choice of the purchaser, - means the constitution of which is configurable on the one hand as a function of the level of equipment of the vehicle and on the other hand as a function of the choices of the purchaser, known as configurable means, consisting of at least means processing instruction for the operation of said elements,

means of which the constitution is invariable whatever the level of equipment of the vehicle on the one hand and on the other hand whatever the choices of the purchaser, known as fixed means, consisting at least of interface means for the transmission of operating instructions at least between the user and said elements, operating under the control of said processing means. The invention also relates to a dashboard provided with such an arrangement. The invention will be better understood on reading the following description, accompanied by the attached drawings which form an integral part thereof and among which:

FIG. 1 describes the schematic diagram of an exemplary embodiment of the arrangement of vehicle fittings in accordance with the invention,

FIG. 2 illustrates, according to an example, the evolving nature of the arrangement of apparatuses in accordance with the invention,

FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of the dashboard according to the invention,

FIGS. 4a and 4b illustrate two exemplary embodiments of one of the means of the invention,

- Figures 5a and 5b illustrate two alternative embodiments in a median section of the dashboard illustrated in Figure 3. The invention relates to an arrangement of switchgear for motor vehicles, intended, in particular, to assist and / or enhance the conduct.

As shown in FIG. 1, it comprises at least a plurality of pieces of equipment 1, the number and / or nature of which varies at least partly depending on the level of vehicle equipment and on the other hand according to the choice of the purchaser. Said pieces of equipment allow, for example, the communication of the vehicle with the outside, the broadcasting of music or images, piloting assistance or the like. It is thus, in particular, a radio tuner 2, an amplifier 3, a compact disc player 4, a CD-ROM player, or digital video discs 5, a cassette player audio 6 and / or a device 7 for changing the cassette or disc loaded in the corresponding player.

It could also be, among other things, a text-to-speech device 8, a voice recognition device 9, a navigation device 10, and / or additional devices 11, 12, 13 with various functionalities, in particular radio reception, in particular digital radio, telephones or others, satellite positioning, modulation / demodulation for the transmission of digital data, TV wave reception. Said elements 1 thus comprise, for example, electronic components and are intended, in particular, for interior equipment of vehicles.

The arrangement according to the invention also comprises means 14 for processing operating instructions for said elements 1 as well as means 15 for interfacing the transmission of operating instructions at least between the user and said elements

1, operating under the control of said processing means 14.

According to the invention, said interface means 15 at least are means whose constitution is invariable regardless of the level of equipment of the vehicle on the one hand and on the other hand whatever the choices of the purchaser, so-called fixed means 16.

Said processing means 14 at least are means whose constitution is configurable on the one hand as a function of the level of equipment of the vehicle and on the other hand as a function of the choices of the purchaser, known as configurable means 17.

By “constitution of the means”, one understands the whole of the components which define the concerned means, that it is as well of hardware components that, possibly, software components.

By “configurable”, it is meant that said components are, for example, of the same nature but of variable performance such as, for example, a microcontroller or a microprocessor associated with one or more memory units, the microcontroller or the microprocessor being chosen according to its operating frequency and the memory unit (s) according to their storage capacity, according to the number and nature of the items of equipment 1.

Thanks to these configurable processing means associated with fixed interface means, we can thus rationalize the production by limiting the number of components while keeping an open architecture allowing the taking into account of a more or less large number of pieces of equipment 1. We can also make easily evolve the layout with technologies.

Thus, thanks to the solution according to the invention, it is possible to constitute an arrangement of apparatus comprising at least said plurality of equipment (1), said processing means (14) and said interface means (15). For this, the level of equipment and / or the choices of the purchaser being given, at least said processing means are configured as a function of these criteria, said interface means at least being for their part invariable regardless of be these same criteria.

Therefore, the arrangement can be used in the context of the manufacture of a range of vehicles, that is to say, of the same type of vehicle more or less equipped.

Said fixed means 16 furthermore possibly include means 18 for acquiring operating instructions. Said configurable means 1, further optionally comprise, means 19 for displaying at least the operation of said items of equipment 1, the complexity of which is adapted to the equipment present.

Said display means 19 make it possible, in particular, to indicate by an active indicator or not whether said item of equipment 1 is on or off, to display quantitative values, text, images or the like.

Said processing means, said interface means, said acquisition means and / or said display means are, in particular, provided common for said elements 1 and / or at a distance therefrom. Said processing means 14 are provided capable, if necessary, of identifying each of said pieces of equipment 1 present and / or of managing a menu for controlling their operation, said menu being established as a function of the pieces of equipment 1 identified. It is, for example, a menu organized in a tree-like manner, one item of equipment corresponding to one line of the menu, the possible functionalities of the same item then each corresponding to one line of a sub-menu of said line, and so on.

A passage from line to line in the menu allows intervention on the item of equipment 1 chosen to select a functionality that one wishes to see exploited. Said menu can possibly go as far as allowing the value to be adjusted, step by step.

By way of example, a line of said menu may correspond, in particular, to the operation of the compact disc player 4, a line of an associated submenu corresponding to the settings for choosing the title, said submenu then being itself - even subdivided into as many lines as there are choices of possible ranges. Naturally, such a part of the menu is only generated if the presence of the compact disc player 4 has been detected by said processing means 14. Said acquisition means 18 are constituted, for example, by a control panel 20, able to allow the control of each of the items of equipment 1 identified, by using said menu.

There is thus a single and multifunctional control panel 20 allowing the control of all of the identified items of equipment and this without having to provide unnecessary control buttons in the absence of such or such pieces of equipment. 1.

Said control panel 20 comprises at least, in particular, menu activation means 21 for the selection of the item of equipment 1 whose operation is to be controlled and for the adjustment of said operation. These include, in particular, one or more buttons for selecting a menu line, setting the value and / or confirming of the selected menu line or of the setting made.

As illustrated, said activation means 21 consist, by way of example, at least of a single button 22 for selecting a menu line, of two value adjustment buttons 23, one allowing an incrementation and the other a decrementation, and a button 24 for confirming the selected menu line and / or the adjustment made with the previous buttons 22, 23.

Apart from any pictograms on the selection, incrementation, decrementation, confirmation functions, the activation means 22 are devoid of any indication of the functions commanded, these being identified by the means for displaying the operation on the display means 19.

Shortcut buttons 25 making it possible to operate a given item of equipment 1 in a given mode without having to go through the entire menu, may also be provided.

Said display means 19 consist, for example, of a screen 26, capable of allowing the visualization of the operation of each of the identified items of equipment, by using said menu. It can thus be unique and multifunctional. This is, in particular, a liquid crystal display.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, said screen 26 is possibly subdivided into zones, each of the zones being dedicated to viewing the operation of one or more items of equipment 1, the zone or zones corresponding to unidentified elements being expected to remain inactive. Said zones are, for example, of variable geometry.

Thus, for a vehicle in which a given item of equipment is not present, the absence thereof is not highlighted by an unused display. On the contrary, it corresponds to an inactive screen zone in the middle of the rest of said screen, which remains particularly discreet.

Activation / deactivation of useful or unnecessary screen areas may be obtained, in particular, by using light-emitting diodes located behind the screen, active or not to make visible what is represented in the screen part concerned. When a diode is not activated, the corresponding zone then has a background color merging with the rest of it.

According to another embodiment, the information on the operation of the items of equipment 1 may appear on the screen 26 in the form of windows of variable sizes. Depending on the presence or not of a given item of equipment 1, such or such window will be present or absent, the shape and size of the windows present being provided capable of being adapted to occupy substantially the entire surface of said screen 26.

Referring again to FIG. 1, it can be seen that said processing means 14 comprise, for example, a microcontroller and / or a microprocessor 27, and / or one or more memory units 28 of which some of them may be flash memories.

Said interface means 15 consist, in particular, of a data distribution device 29 and / or a data conversion device 30, allowing the circulation of information on the operation of the pieces of equipment 1, from instructions from the microcontroller or microprocessor 27.

In this regard, according to another embodiment, said processing means 14 may not be exclusively constituted by a single microcontroller or microprocessor 27 but all or part of these processing means may be distributed, in particular, at the level said means of equipment items 1.

As already mentioned above, said processing means and / or said display means are configured as a function of the level of equipment of the vehicle. For a basic level of equipment, i.e., for example, for a list of equipment including a radio tuner 2, a amplifier 3 and an audio cassette player 6 as well as a voice synthesis device 8, a 32-bit microcontroller and a memory unit of 2 mega bytes can be used. As for the screen 26, it will, for example, be of the segment liquid crystal type, at least partially. In this case, the screen 26 includes, in addition to the liquid crystal and segment display 26a, indicators which are lit when the operation of the equipment 1 requires it.

These indicators are produced by light sources illuminating by transparency pictograms produced on a translucent support covered with a layer, masking these pictograms in the absence of light, and having an aesthetic appearance, in a manner known per se.

Some of these so-called “function” indicators, associated with functions such as the audio system or the air conditioning, are associated with the display 26a and / or with other “sub-function” indicators.

According to the particular example illustrated in FIGS. 4a and 4b:

- an indicator 57 is lit when one of the audio equipment is in service, indicators 56 (CD), 55 (cassette), 54 (CD changer) indicating the type of equipment used. By default, if these three previous indicators 56, 55, 54 are off, the radio is working,

- an indicator light 51 indicates the adjustment of the sound level. A variable frequency flashing gives an indication of the setting level,

- indicators 52, 53 indicate the bass / treble adjustments, - an indicator 50 indicates the balancing adjustment of the different channels of speaker 37.

In the same way, an indicator 58 indicates that the air conditioning compressor is in operation, indicators 59, 60, 61 indicating the various accesses to the adjustment of the air conditioner. Indicators 65, 64, 63, 62 correspond to different functions of the on-board computer. In each case, the display 26a can relay the indications of these indicators, by digital, alpha-numeric or graphic indications, for example with bar.

Some lights may remain permanently displayed to indicate to the driver the status of certain basic functions, such as air conditioning.

Referring to FIG. 4b, it can be seen that the indicator lights 160 are permanently lit, so as to create a mark for the adjustment indicators of the air conditioner, provided with sub-function 59, 60, themselves left permanently lit.

According to the particular example illustrated in this same figure, the indicator lights 57, 58, 65 also have the same role as in FIG. 4a. An LED 158 further indicates the possible air conditioning adjustment input, an LED 167 indicates access to the telephone and / or an LED 165 indicates the entry of a personalized menu.

For a higher level of equipment, i.e. for a list of equipment items 1 including, among other things, in addition to those already mentioned, a compact disc player 4 or CD-ROM 150, a device for changing said discs 7, a voice recognition device 9, a navigation device 10 and / or different bodies 150-152 allowing communication with the outside, it will be possible to use, in particular, a microprocessor of 50 mega hertz frequency and a 4 mega byte memory unit. As for the screen 26, it will be, in particular of the window matrix type, the different windows being produced graphically. A level of equipment with a micro-processor of 100 mega hertz and a memory unit of 16 mega bytes can still be envisaged. Its screen will then be of the type, for example, with a pixel such as in 26b (FIG. 2). The equipment items 1 concerned may be, in addition to those already mentioned, advanced equipment items 31 such as interfaces for microcomputers, digital video disc players 5 or the like. It will be noted that the different screens 26, 26a, 26b which have display means which are of different technologies:

- 26, dot matrix with monochrome pixels, backlit by zones,

26a, liquid crystal and segmented, associated with the indicators

50-65,

- 26b, TFT type for example, are installed in a housing of identical dimensions, so that the dashboard 33 in which they are mounted can itself be identical.

FIG. 2 illustrates in graphical form the evolution of such a configuration, the level of equipment Ex being illustrated on the abscissa, in ascending order.

Naturally, other configurations, in particular capable of taking into account the evolutions of the technologies, could be envisaged.

Referring again to FIG. 1, it can be seen that said acquisition means 18 are connected, for example, to said interface means 15 and said display means 19 to said processing means 14. With regard to said means display 19, they could also be directly connected to said interface means 15.

Said items of equipment 1 are, in particular, grouped on digital data communication networks 32, 33 connected to said processing means 14 by means of said interface means 15.

Said fixed means 16 further comprise, optionally, means 34 for supplying the arrangement, connected to a source of electrical energy 35, capable of constituting the vehicle battery, said supply means 34 being provided common for said equipment elements 1, said processing means 14 and said interface means 15, at least. The integration of said supply means 34 at the level of the fixed means 16 thus makes it possible to have a common supply for the entire arrangement and, in particular, for all of the various pieces of equipment 1. It will be noted that the elements 1 thus only comprise, for example, only the additional equipment necessary for operation, it being understood that, on the one hand, their supply is ensured by the supply means 36, and on the other hand, their control is carried out by the processing means 14. Taking into account moreover that the instructions and the display are ensured by the means 18 and 19 respectively, it is understood that the equipment 1 can be acquired at minimum cost.

Said supply means 34 consist, for example, of at least one stabilized supply 36. Said interface means 15, said processing means 14, said acquisition means 18, said display means 19 as well as said items of equipment 1 are provided capable of being supplied by said stabilized supply 36, possibly some via others.

In this regard, the link or links 45 between said processing means 14, said interface means 15, said acquisition means 18, said display means 19 and / or said pieces of equipment 1 are made up of two cables power and / or a digital information communication cable, possibly assembled on the same support, in particular flat and / or flexible.

Said fixed means 16 also include, possibly, certain pieces of equipment 1, intended to be common to all equipped vehicles. It could be, for example, the radio tuner 2, the amplifier 3 or others.

Loudspeakers 37 and / or an antenna 38 may also possibly be connected, respectively, to said amplifier 3 and / or to said radio tuner 2.

As illustrated, according to a particular embodiment, it could also be considered to connect an instrumentation box 39 and / or a steering wheel control device 40 to said fixed means 16 to allow data exchange and / or power supply thereof.

As illustrated in FIGS. 3, 5a, 5b, the invention also relates to a dashboard 41 provided with an arrangement as described above.

In said dashboard, said arrangement is provided, at least in part, for example, at a central console 42.

Said central console 42 has, in particular, said processing means 14 and / or interface 15, as well as, possibly, said acquisition means 18 and / or display 19.

Said central console 42 may also be provided with housings 43 to accommodate all or part of said items of equipment 1.

Said housings 43 are optionally provided capable of being capped with a hatch. They can thus be hidden when one does not wish to reveal the presence of said items of equipment 1 or to hide their absence.

In the latter case, they can also be used as storage compartments.

As illustrated, certain pieces of equipment 1 may, for example, be provided at a distance from said central console 42. They are then connected, in particular, by conductors on flexible support such as those described above. They are accessible by a flap (not shown), so as to add, replace or delete elements 1.

Likewise, said acquisition means 18 and, more particularly, said control panel 20 could, alternatively, be provided at the level of the steering wheel control device 40.

Furthermore, said central console 42 may have aerators 44 of an air conditioning circuit.

Figures 5a and 5b show two variants of the dashboard of Figure 3 in section. We see (Figure 5a) that the control panel

20, the interface means 15, the display 26 and the processing means 14 are mounted in the same housing 46, the connection between the interface means 14 and the control means 15 being produced by a set of conductors 45, for example a flexible printed circuit. In FIG. 5b, this box 46 is split into two parts 46a, 46b so as to satisfy a requirement of style and / or ergonomics. The link 45 constitutes, in particular, an adapter element between the fixed means and the configurable means, for example between the processing means 14 and display 19, on the one hand, and on the other hand, the interface means 15 and control 20.

Naturally, other modes of implementation, within the reach of those skilled in the art, could have been envisaged without departing from the scope of the invention.

Claims

1. Arrangement of switchgear for a motor vehicle, intended in particular to assist and / or enhance driving, comprising at least: - a plurality of pieces of equipment (1) including, at least for part of them , the number and / or the nature varies on the one hand according to the level of equipment of the vehicle and on the other hand according to the choices of the purchaser,

- Means (17) whose constitution is configurable on the one hand according to the level of equipment of the vehicle and on the other hand according to the choices of the purchaser, called configurable means, consisting of at least means (14) processing instruction for the operation of said elements (1),

- means (16), the constitution of which is invariable whatever the level of equipment of the vehicle on the one hand and on the other hand whatever the choices of the purchaser, known as fixed means, consisting at least of means of interface (15) for the transmission of operating instructions at least between the user and said elements (1), operating under the control of said processing means (14).

2. Arrangement according to claim 1, wherein said fixed means (16) further comprises means (18) for acquiring operating instructions.

3. Arrangement according to claim 1, wherein said configurable means (17) further comprises display means (19) at least of the operation of said equipment items (1).

4. Arrangement according to claim 2, in which said processing means (14) are provided capable of identifying each of said pieces of equipment (1) present and / or of managing a menu for controlling their operation, said menu being established by according to the identified items of equipment.

5. An arrangement according to claim 4, wherein said acquisition means (18) consist of a control panel (20), capable of allowing the control of each of the items of equipment identified, by using said menu.

6. Arrangement according to claim 5, wherein said control panel (20) comprises at least activation means (21) of said menu for the selection of the item of equipment whose operation is to be controlled and for the adjustment of said operation.

7. Arrangement according to claim 6, in which said activation means (21) consist of at least one selection button (22) unique from a menu line, two value adjustment buttons (23) and a confirmation button (24) for the selected menu line and / or the adjustment made with the preceding button or buttons.

8. Arrangement according to claim 4, wherein said display means (19) consist of a screen (26), capable of allowing the visualization of the operation of each of the identified items of equipment, by using said menu.

9. Arrangement according to claim 8, wherein said screen (26) consists of a liquid crystal display (26a) with segments and indicators (50-65)

10. Arrangement according to claim 8, in which said screen (26) is subdivided into zones, each of the zones being dedicated to visualizing the operation of one or more pieces of equipment, the zone or zones corresponding to unidentified elements. being provided capable of remaining inactive.

11. Arrangement according to claim 10, in which said areas of the screen (26) are provided with variable geometry.

12. Arrangement according to claim 1, wherein said fixed means (16) further comprise supply means (34) of the arrangement, connected to a source of electrical energy (35), capable of constituting the battery of the vehicle, said supply means (34) being provided common for said pieces of equipment (1), said means for processing (14) and said interface means (15), at least.

13. Arrangement according to claim 10, wherein said supply means (34) consist of at least one stabilized supply (36).

14. Arrangement according to claim 1, wherein said fixed means (16) further comprise certain pieces of equipment (1), intended to be common to all equipped vehicles.

15. Dashboard provided with an arrangement according to any one of the preceding claims.

16. A dashboard according to claim 15, wherein said arrangement is provided, at least in part, at a central console (42) of said dashboard.

17. Dashboard according to claim 16, in which said console (42) presents said processing and interface means, said display means and said acquisition means as well as housings (43) to accommodate all or part said pieces of equipment (1), capable of being capped with a hatch.

18. dashboard according to claim 16, wherein the console (42) comprises an electrical connection element (45) between on the one hand the processing means (14) and display (19) and the control means (20) and interface (15) on the other hand.

19. A dashboard according to claim 17, comprising a housing of the same dimension whatever the technology of the display means.