BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a display screen for a sports car.

In recent years, display screens (often part of a satellite navigation system or in- car entertainment system) have become an increasingly common option on motorcars. Broadly, these screens fall into two categories: those which can be mounted on or around the dashboard (sometimes the windscreen) of a vehicle, and those which are provided as an integral part of the vehicle. Normally display screens of the second category are provided in the dashboard of the car, close to the driver's natural line of sight whilst driving.

In most types of motorcar, the size of the dashboard area is sufficiently large to allow display screens to be positioned according to the whim of the designer, and have been known to be up to 17 inches diagonal size (in the case of the Tesla Model S). More typically, such screens are at least 7 inches in diagonal size so as to provide a viewing area large enough for safe use whilst driving. The actual size of a unit comprising a display screen is generally significantly larger than the screen size since it incorporates additional hardware such as a processor, data store (e.g. for music or maps) and possibly means for cooling itself. Previously, navigational display screens have been provided in the central portion of a dashboard:

i. as a panel in the dashboard, such as in the range of Bentley Continental cars;

ii. within a flared cowling, as in the Tesla Model S or in the BMW Series 5 cars;

iii. recessed behind a cosmetic panel, such as in the Rolls Royce Phantom; iv. as a pop-up screen, such as in the current range of Volvo cars. Designs (i) to (iii) require a significant amount of dashboard real estate, which is available in most motorcars but is at a premium in sports cars. In particular, in low sports cars the height of the dashboard is much reduced over that of more common cars. If a display screen is provided the screen is lower relative to the occupants of the car which imposes a minimum width on the dashboard in the region between the driver and passenger, or at least a flared portion of the dashboard must be of sufficient width to support the screen. This requires the sports car to be designed with a dashboard having a wide central portion which encroaches into the spaces of the driver and passenger. In order to mitigate the effects of the wide central portion of the dashboard, the seats can be placed further apart, but the car must then be made sufficiently wide so as to accommodate the increased spacing of the seats (and this in turn affects the position of the steering wheel, dashboard displays etc.). These problems can have a negative effect on either or both of the driving position and the design of the car. This often leads sports car manufacturers to not provide display screens at all.

Design (iv) is more efficient in terms of the amount of dashboard space it requires, but is unsuitable for use in sports cars because, as a result of the low-slung driving position, the screen would obstruct part of the view of the road ahead.

There is therefore a need for an improved display screen arrangement for a sports car which is efficient in terms of the amount of dashboard space it occupies and which minimises the impact on the position of the driver and passenger.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided an arrangement of a display screen integral with a sports car having a driver seat and a passenger seat arranged side-by-side, the arrangement comprising: a dashboard extending substantially across the interior width of the car; an upwardly-facing centre console projecting in a downwards direction out of the dashboard at a point along the centreline of the car a to a point between the driver and passenger seats, the width of the centre console being less than the perpendicular distance between two lines parallel to the centreline of the sports car and coincident with the medial edges of the driver and passenger seats; and the display screen being portrait-oriented and set within the centre console so as to upwardly present the screen to occupants of the car.

Preferably the centre console extends from the dashboard to the floor of the sports car between the driver and passenger seats.

Preferably the centre console is separated from the floor of the car along at least part of its length by an opening extending laterally between footwells provided for the driver and passenger seats. Preferably the centre console supports one or more vents set within the opening proximal to the underside of the display screen, the vents being operable to passively cool the display screen. Most preferably the centre console is a thin slab supported at one end at the dashboard and at its other end at the floor of the car.

Suitably part of the centre console is integral with the floor of the car between the driver and passenger seats. Suitably the floor of the car between the driver and passenger seats is raised relative to the footwells provided for the driver and passenger seats. Suitably the raised floor between the driver and passenger seats forms a ridge running along the centreline of the car.

Preferably the display screen does not include a storage medium for storing data and a processor for controlling the display screen, and such a storage medium and processor are provided in a separate processing unit connected to the display screen. Preferably the processing unit is located in the car at a lower point than the display screen so as to lower the centre of gravity of the sports car relative to locating the processing unit integral with the display screen. Alternatively the display screen includes a storage medium for storing data and a processor for controlling the display screen.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a schematic drawing of a conventional arrangement of a display screen in a sports car.

Figure 2 is a schematic drawing of an arrangement of a display screen in accordance with the present invention.

Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view along the centreline of the sports car of the arrangement shown in figure 2.

Figure 4 is a perpendicular view of the display screen shown in figures 2 and 3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The following description is presented to enable any person skilled in the art to make and use the invention, and is provided in the context of a particular application. Various modifications to the disclosed embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art.

The general principles defined herein may be applied to other embodiments and applications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Thus, the present invention is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and features disclosed herein. The present invention is directed to a display screen arrangement for a sports car. Embodiments of the present invention allow a display screen to be provided in a sports car without compromising the driving position of the driver and increasing the spacing between the driver and passenger seats away from the optimum. Thus the position of the driver can be maintained close to the centreline of the car.

A schematic plan view of the interior of a sports car that includes a display screen

106 having a conventional arrangement is shown in figure 1. Driver seat 101 and passenger seat 102 are spaced apart by central housing 109, which may house a transmission shaft or gearbox. Often central housing 109 will support a gear-stick

107 or other driver controls. A dashboard 104 runs across the front of the interior of the car and supports steering wheel 103. Interior trim panels 1 1 1 mounted on body panels 108 define the lateral limits of the interior of the car.

The conventional arrangement of the display screen 106 shown in figure 1 provides the display screen on the central portion of the dashboard between the driver and passenger. For the display screen to be at a position at which the driver can readily view and operate it, the central portion 1 10 of the dashboard projects into the cabin of the car between the driver and passenger. Furthermore, the central portion of the dashboard 1 10 must be sufficiently wide to accommodate the screen and its associated hardware. Conventional display screens are provided in a landscape orientation, or in the case of the Tesla Model S, as an exceptionally large 17 inch portrait display screen. Such screens impose a minimum separation between the seats indicated by 105 and prevent the driver from being close to the centreline of the car.

An arrangement of a display screen 203 in accordance with the present invention is shown in figure 2, which is a plan view of the interior of a sports car. Instead of being supported at dashboard 201 , screen 203 is upwardly-facing and supported at central console 205 which projects out of the central portion 202 of dashboard 201 towards central housing 206 (or the floor of the car). Preferably, the console connects with the central housing as shown in figure 2. Note that display screen 203 is portrait-oriented (i.e. its height is greater than its width) but this is not apparent from figure 2 because the screen is not viewed face-on - the screen therefore appears foreshortened.

Display screen 203 is upwardly-facing. In other words, the screen does not lie in a vertical plane, but at some angle to the vertical such that a user viewing the screen from directly above, down a vertical axis through the screen, would be able to see the contents of the screen (although the screen would appear to be foreshortened).

The use of central console 205 means that the central portion 202 of the dashboard does not need to be built up so as to support the screen at a suitable position for the driver. This avoids the dashboard encroaching into the space of the driver and passenger and the space between seats 101 and 102 need not be increased so as to accommodate the screen. Importantly, central console 205 allows the driver to be positioned closer to the optimum driving position along the centreline 204 of the car.

Importantly, the width of central console 205 is narrower than the width between the seats illustrated by dimension 207 in figure 2. This ensures that the central console bearing the display screen does not encroach into the space of the driver and passenger. Dimension 207 is defined by the perpendicular distance between the two dotted lines which are parallel to the centreline 204 of the sports car and coincident with the medial (i.e. closest to the centreline) edges of the driver and passenger seats.

A cross-section of central console 205 is shown in figure 3. The console projects out from dashboard 202 part of the way up the height of the dashboard. The upper central portion of the dashboard 202 may support one or more other controls or devices such as a clock, radio, or an air vent 302 as shown in the figure. The console extends in a downward direction towards the central housing 206 so as to present an upwardly-facing display screen 203 to the driver. Additional controls 303 may be provided on the console for the display screen. Central housing need not be present (for example, if the car has no central transmission shaft and the gearbox is located elsewhere), in which case the central console 205 could extend down to the floor of the car.

Most preferably, a cavity 301 is provided beneath centre console 205, separating it from the central housing or floor and the dashboard. This allows the centre console to be a thin slab extending between the dashboard and central housing/floor (or a cantilever slab if the console does not reach the central housing/floor). The cavity 301 allows the display screen to be passively cooled by one or more vents 305 provided on the underside of the centre console, thus negating the need for any active cooling means such as a fan.

The display screen device can be any device configured to provide information or entertainment to the driver, such as: (a) maps and directions; (b) status information about the engine or any other mechanical or environmental aspect of the car; (c) display and control of in-car entertainment systems (providing, for example, a radio, digitally stored music, a CD player, video or images); and (d) display and control of in-car communication systems (e.g. internet access or mobile telephony functions). Preferably the display is a touch-screen so as to allow the user (typically the driver) to interact with the device by applying pressure to the screen so as to select icons, enter characters etc. Alternatively, one or more controls are provided about the display screen so as to allow a user to interact with the systems represented on the display screen. Touch-screen interfaces and the combination of simple display screens with their associated controls are well-known in the art of informational systems for vehicles. A navigational display screen may be GPS-enabled so as to allow navigation by satellite.

The display screen is supported by a processor unit 306, which provides data storage and one or more data processors for handling the in-car systems provided by means of the display screen (such as navigation, communication and entertainment systems). The processor unit receives input from a user by means of one or more controls for the display screen or by direct manipulation of the screen if it is a touch-screen device. It is preferred that the processor unit is provided separately from the display screen. This is advantageous in terms of the weight distribution of the sports car if processor unit 306 is located low down within the dashboard since this lowers the centre of gravity of the car relative to a combined screen and processor unit (and the processor unit is typically heavier than the screen). The processor unit can be connected to the display screen by means of one or more cables which convey data for display to the screen and inputs by the user from the controls and, in some embodiments, the touch-screen. Furthermore, in the case in which the central console is a thin slab extending over cavity 301 , this allows the centre console to be thinner, which lessens its weight and increases the cabin volume available to the occupants.

A perpendicular view along axis 304 of display screen 203 and central console 205 is shown in figure 4. The figure clearly shows a portrait-oriented display screen 203 and optional display screen controls 303 which could augment direct touch-interaction with the display screen.

The present invention relates to sports cars which have a low-slung driving position. A sports car can be characterised by its driving position with reference to a set of standardised parameters defined in EU Directive 77/649/EEC and SAE J1 100, which is a standard developed by SAE International. The EU legislation and SAE standard J1100 are well known to car manufacturers. The present invention preferably relates to sports cars satisfying one or more of the following conditions:

a) a distance along the z axis between points V ₂ and SgRP of less than 250mm and most preferably less than 230mm;

b) a distance along the z axis between points V ₂ and H8 of less than 820mm and most preferably less than 800mm; c) a distance along the z axis between points H1 14 and H8 of less than 625mm and most preferably less than 615mm; and

d) a distance along the z axis between points H1 14 and V ₂ of less than 190mm and most preferably less than 140mm.

Where:

• the z axis is the vertical axis of a car defined in EU Directive 77/649/EEC and SAE J 1 00;

• V ₂ is the location of the eye level of the standardised driver defined in EU Directive 77/649/EEC;

• SgRP is the seat reference point defined in SAE J1 100 and is the location of a standardised driver's hip joint;

• H8 is the accelerator heel point defined in SAE J1 00 and is the location of a standardised driver's heel bone; and

• H1 14 is the cowl point defined in SAE J1 100 and is roughly the point at which the hood of the car meets the windscreen along the centreline of the car.

The driver-side footwell of a sports car can be roughly defined as the volume of the interior of the car which lies forward of the driver seat and below the level of that part of the driver seat configured to support the rear of a driver seated in the driver seat. Similarly, the passenger-side footwell of a sports car can be roughly defined as the volume of the interior of the car which lies forward of the passenger seat and below the level of that part of the passenger seat configured to support the rear of a passenger seated in the passenger seat.

The applicant hereby discloses in isolation each individual feature described herein and any combination of two or more such features, to the extent that such features or combinations are capable of being carried out based on the present specification as a whole in the light of the common general knowledge of a person skilled in the art, irrespective of whether such features or combinations of features solve any problems disclosed herein, and without limitation to the scope of the claims. The applicant indicates that aspects of the present invention may consist of any such individual feature or combination of features. In view of the foregoing description it will be evident to a person skilled in the art that various modifications may be made within the scope of the invention.