HEAD UP DISPLAY [Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a head-up display, and more specifically relates to a head-up display affording safety and convenience by preventing shaking of a virtual image produced on a windshield.

[Technology Constituting Prior Art of the Invention]

[0002] Various systems are being developed as methods for effectively transmitting, to a driver, matters such as vehicle driving information and surrounding conditions for the purpose of driver safety while the vehicle is being driven, and, of these systems, head-up display devices are attracting major interest. [0003] The term head-up display device refers to a device for supplying information relating to vehicle driving such as vehicle driving information or navigation information in front of the driver, which is to say within a range that does not fall outside a sight line that accords with the driver's eye height, while the vehicle is being driven.

[0004] Head-up display devices form virtual images relating to dashboard information or navigation information or the like at a point displaced by a predetermined distance from the vehicle's windshield or combiner, thereby allowing the driver to easily ascertain information relating to vehicle driving even while maintaining a forward field of view while driving.

[0005] By way of example of related prior art, there is Korean Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2005-0010429 (January 27, 2005; title of the invention: head-up display image po ^¬ sition-ad usting device) . [Details of the Invention]

[Issues to be Resolved]

[0006] The aim of the present invention is to provide a head-up display in which rotation of a reflecting unit is stable, and in which shaking in the direction of the rotation can be prevented such that shaking of a virtual image produced on the windshield can be prevented.

[Means of Resolving the Issues]

[0007] The head-up display according to the present in- vention comprises a case, an image-output unit provided in the case, a reflecting unit for displaying, on a windshield, the image output from the image-output unit, and an angle-ad usting unit for adjusting the angle of the reflecting unit and for mechanically restricting the reflecting unit.

[0008] Also, the reflecting unit is provided with a hinge shaft so as to be hinge-linked to the case; and the an ^¬ gle-adjusting unit comprises an operating shaft provided on the reflecting unit, and a rotational drive unit which is linked to the operating shaft and causes the reflecting unit to rotate centered on the hinge shaft .

[0009] Also, the rotational drive unit comprises a drive motor, a worm gear which is rotated by means of the drive motor, and a skipper which meshes with the worm gear, experiences linear motion in the length direction of the worm gear during rotation of the worm gear, and is linked to the operating shaft.

[0010] Also, the rotational drive unit comprises a guide frame which secures the rotational drive unit to the case, and prevents shaking during movement of the skipper. [0011] Also, the guide frame incorporates a motor-seating section where the drive motor is seated, and a gear-seating section where the worm gear is seated, and the motor-seating section and the gear-seating section are separated by means of a partition wall.

[Advantages of the Invention]

[0012] In the head-up display according to the present invention, because an angle-ad usting structure of the reflecting unit incorporates the worm gear relying on the drive motor, not only can stable rotation of the reflecting unit be achieved but also the reflecting unit can be forcibly me ^¬ chanically restricted such that shaking of the virtual image produced on the windshield can be prevented. In this way, the driver can be supplied with a clean and distinct image which is free from shaking.

[0013] Also, the present invention can improve product guality since drive-motor vibration can be prevented because the rotational drive unit for adjusting the angle of the reflecting unit is secured to the case by means of the guide frame, and the transmission of drive-motor vibration is prevented because the partition wall, which compartmentalizes the drive motor and the worm gear, is provided in the guide frame.

[Brief Explanation of the Figures]

[0014] Figure 1 is a schematic drawing of a head-up display according to one embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 2 is a perspective view of a head-up display according to one embodiment of the present invention. Figure 3 is a view of the operating state of the head-up display according to one embodiment of the present invention. [Specific Details for Embodying the Invention]

[0015] There now follows an explanation of the one em ^¬ bodiment of the head-up display according to the present in- vention, with reference to the accompanying drawings .

[0016] In this process, features such as the thicknesses of lines and the sizes of constituent elements depicted in the drawings may be shown in an exaggerated fashion for reasons of convenience and clarity of explanation. Also, items of vocabulary mentioned below have been defined with reference to functioning in the present invention, and may be different from the user's or the driver's intentions or from convention. Hence, the definitions of such vocabulary items should be construed based on the content across the whole of the present specification.

[0017] Figure 1 is a schematic drawing of a head-up display according to one embodiment of the present invention, figure 2 is a perspective view of a head-up display according to one embodiment of the present invention, and figure 3 is a view of the operating state of the head-up display according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0018] Referring to figure 1 through figure 3, the head-up display (100) according to one embodiment of the present in ^¬ vention comprises a case (110), an image-output unit (120), a reflecting unit (140), and an angle-ad usting unit (150) .

[0019] The case (110) is mounted on a vehicle, while the image-output unit (120), reflecting unit (140) and an ^¬ gle-ad usting unit (150) are mounted inside the case (110) . The case (110) is formed in the shape of an open-topped rectangular parallelepiped . [0020] The image-output unit (120) is provided securely in the case (110), and produces and outputs an image. Additionally, the reflecting unit (140) is constituted in such a way that the image output from the image-output unit (120) is displayed on a windshield .

[0021] The image-output unit (120) may incorporate a projector or a display panel. Although not depicted, when the image-output unit (120) incorporates a projector, a screen for forming and projecting the output image is provided between the image-output unit (120) and the reflecting unit (140) .

[0022] The reflecting unit (140) incorporates an aspherical mirror, and reflects the image from the image-output unit (120) such that a virtual image is displayed on the windshield.

[0023] Here, a flat mirror (130) is provided between the image-output unit (120) and the reflecting unit (140) . The flat mirror (130) reflects the image being output from the im ^¬ age-output unit (120), so as to transmit same to the reflecting unit (140) .

[0024] Also, the angle of the reflecting unit (140) is adjusted by means of the angle-adjusting unit (150) . This makes it possible to adjust the position of the image so as to match the driver's field of view by adjusting the angle of the re ^¬ flecting unit (140) by means of the angle-adjusting unit (150) . In addition, the angle-adjusting unit (150) can mechanically restrict and thereby prevent shaking of the reflecting unit (140) .

[0025] This angle-adjusting unit (150) comprises an op ^¬ erating shaft (152) provided on the reflecting unit (140) as shown in figure 2, and a rotational drive unit (154) which is linked to the operating shaft (152) and causes the reflecting unit (140) to rotate centered on a hinge shaft (145) . The operating shaft (152) is formed projecting on a side surface of the reflecting unit (140) . The hinge shaft (145) is provided on the reflecting unit (140) such that same is hinge-linked to the case (110) . [0026] The hinge shaft (145) is formed projecting in the center of a side surface of the case (110), while the operating shaft (152) is formed below the hinge shaft (145) . It goes without saying that the operating shaft (152) may also be formed above the hinge shaft (145) .

[0027] The rotational drive unit (154) comprises a drive motor (155), a worm gear (156) which is rotated by means of the drive motor (155) , and a skipper (157) which meshes with the worm gear (156) , experiences linear motion in the length direction of the worm gear (156) during rotation of the worm gear (156), and is linked to the operating shaft (152) . The end of the operating shaft (152) is provided with a bearing (153), while the skipper (157) that links with the operating shaft (152) is formed so as to have a linking piece (158) that makes contact with the front and the back of the bearing (153) . Conseguently, as shown in figure 3, during the linear motion of the skipper (157), the reflecting unit (140) is rotated centered on the hinge shaft (145), such that the angle thereof is adjusted.

[0028] The rotational drive unit (154) comprises a guide frame (160) which secures the rotational drive unit (154) to the case (110), and prevents shaking during movement of the skipper (157) . The guide frame (160) incorporates a motor-seating section (162) where the drive motor (155) is seated, and a gear-seating section (164) where the worm gear (156) is seated, and the motor-seating section and the gear-seating section are separated by means of a partition wall (165) . The partition wall (165) can prevent shaking of the reflecting unit (140) by preventing the transmission of vibrations generated in the drive motor (155) .

[0029] Also, formed on the edge of the guide frame (160) there is a securing bracket (167) for coupling with the case (110) . The securing bracket (167) is bent so as to make intimate contact against the floor surface of the case (110) , to which said securing bracket is coupled by means of a fastening member. [0030] The movement spacing of the skipper (157) is limited by means of a limiting section (170) . The limiting section (170) comprises a limiting recess (172) formed in the skipper (157), and a contacting member (174) provided on the guide frame (160) . The limiting recess (172) is formed so as to be wider than the width of the contacting member (174), and is able to limit the movement spacing during movement of the skipper (157), by having the inside surface of the limiting recess (172) make contact against the contacting member (174) .

[0031] There now follows a description of the operation and advantageous effects of the head-up display according to the one embodiment of the present invention, having the construction described above.

[0032] The case (110) is mounted on the dashboard of a vehicle, and has the image-output unit (120) and the reflecting unit (140) provided on the inside thereof; and the driver is supplied with an image relating to vehicle driving information being output from the image-output unit (120) .

[0033] The image being output from the image-output unit (120) is reflected by means of the flat mirror (130) before then being reflected by means of the reflecting unit (140) incor- porating the aspherical mirror and then being transmitted to the windshield. In this way, the driver can receive a supply of driving information via the main field of view area of the windshield . [0034] Also, the position of the virtual image produced on the windshield can be changed by means of the angle-adjusting unit (150) . To consider this further, as shown in figure 3, when the worm gear (156) rotates due to the operation of the drive motor (155), the skipper (157) experiences linear motion in the length direction of the worm gear (156) as the worm gear (156) rotates, and the operating shaft (152) moves due to the linear motion of the skipper (157) and thus the reflecting unit (140) is able to rotate centered on the hinge shaft (145) .

[0035] The driver can change the position of the virtual image produced on the windshield by means of this operation.

[0036] The angle of the reflecting unit (140) can be adjusted and relatively accurate angle adjustment becomes possible by means of the rotation of the worm gear (156) in this way, and, because the meshed state of the worm gear (156) and the skipper (157) is maintained even when the reflecting unit (140) is secured, free-movement of the reflecting unit (140) can be forcibly mechanically restricted such that shaking of the virtual image produced on the windshield can be prevented.

[0037] Also, not only can shaking of the drive motor (155) and the worm gear (156) be prevented by robustly securing same to the case (110) by means of the guide frame (160), but also shaking of the reflecting unit (140) can be prevented because the guide frame (160) is compartmentalized into the motor-seating section (162) where the drive motor (155) is seated and the gear-seating section (164) where the worm gear (156) is seated, and the partition wall (165) is formed in between same such that vibration of the drive motor (155) is not transmitted.

[0038] As described hereinabove, when the head-up display according to one embodiment of the present invention is used, because an angle-adjusting structure of the reflecting unit incorporates the worm gear relying on the drive motor, not only can stable rotation of the reflecting unit be achieved but also the reflecting unit can be forcibly mechanically restricted such that shaking of the virtual image produced on the windshield can be prevented. In this way, the driver can be supplied with a clean and distinct image which is free from shaking.

[0039] The present invention has been explained with reference to the embodiment depicted in the drawings, but it will be appreciated that this is no more than an illustrative example and that a person skilled in the field of art to which the technology belongs would be capable of various other modified and eguivalent embodiments based thereon.

[0040] Conseguently, the designated scope of technical protection of the present invention should be defined using the scope of patent claims.

[Explanation of the Reference Numbers]

[0041]

100 : Head-up display 110 : Case

120 : Image-output unit 130 : Flat mirror

140 : Reflecting unit 145 : Hinge shaft

150 : Angle-ad usting unit 152 : Operating shaft

153 : Bearing 154 : Rotational drive unit

155 : Drive motor 156: Worm gear

157 : Skipper 158 : Linking piece

160 : Guide frame 162 : Motor-seating section

164 : Gear-seating section 165 : Partition wall

167 : Securing bracket 170 : Limiting section

172 : Limiting recess 174 : Contacting member