Yazaki Corporation

Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha

Ichiro Kataoka

Kunimitsu Aoki

Masayuki Ogawa

Yoshiyuki Furuya

Kazuyuki Sasaki

Yoshihide Takada

Shinji Narama

Naoto Ishikawa

Junichi Matsushita

Takeyuki Amari

Masao Suzuki

Shozo Ashizawa

Toru Kidokoro

Takaaki Itou

Yoshihiko Hyodo

Go Nakamura

Yoshihito Aoki

Takanori Watanabe

Hiroshi Nishiyama

Akira Norizuki

Katsutoshi Nakajima

Koji Ishii

Hiroyuki Ogura

Katsumi Murakami

Kimihiko Ikeda

An instrument for a vehicle, by which an instrument board thereof can be seen as well at night as in the daytime is provided. In the instrument, an illuminating panelincluding a prism sheettransforms light from an LEDinto planar light illumination for the instrument boardthe prism sheeton which prisms arranged in a sawtooth shape to form a prism alley P at a vehicle driver side thereof.

Instrument for vehicle

A display apparatus for vehicle that can use a space in an instrument panel effectively, minimize a display distortion and allow a vehicle driver to adjust a position of a visible range in an eye range comprises a display unit; a frame; a case; a supporting axis; and a retractable connecting member. The display unit includes a display device, an optical member for magnifying the image, a reflecting member for reflecting the image disposed in between the display device and the optical member, and a cover. The cover is attached to a frame fixed to an opening of the instrument panel for covering the opening. The display device, the optical member and the reflecting member are accommodated in the case integrally. The case is supported rotatably by the supporting axis inside the instrument panel. The retractable connecting member connects the case to the frame.

Display apparatus for vehicle

A system switch comprises an operation switch constituted by a mode switch and low-ranking switches of the mode switch; a display unit; and a control unit. The control unit makes the display unit display the operation switch, interprets the function of the operation switch at that time, and outputs a control signal for executing the function of the operation switch at that time when the operation switch is operated.

System switch

The names of a plurality of instruments connected to a bus are displayed on a screen. An operator presses a mode selection switch, so that one of the names of the plurality of electrical instruments displayed on the screen of the monitor can be selected. A controller selectively displays the name on the screen selected by the mode selection switch. The operator can operate the instrument corresponding to the name on the screen selected by the mode selection switch with using a direction key.

Apparatus for operating instruments for vehicle

A display antenna center in which a display device is arranged in a lower portion of a windshield in the front portion of a vehicle and displays data of the vehicle. Further, a mirror is arranged in an upper portion of the display device and makes the vehicle data, which is displayed on the display device, to be recognized by a driver in the form of a virtual image. Furthermore, various antennas are arranged between the back of the mirror and the windshield corresponding to various types of information transmitting devices, and information sent from the corresponding information transmitting device is received by each of the antennas.

Display antenna center

When an operational unit is inclined in an X- or Y-direction, an universal support mechanism and a rotation angle detection mechanism are used to detect the inclined direction and angle. The detection results are supplied to a computer system (not shown). When the operational unit is pushed down at the neutral position, a push detection switch detects it. The detection result is also supplied to the computer system. In addition, a rotation angle detection switch 10 detects rotation of the operational unit about a Z-axis. The detection result is supplied to the computer system.

Joystick type multifunctional controller

Multiple pieces of equipment installed in a vehicle are freely installed and removed to equipment connection slots. A bus line interconnects the multiple pieces of electrical equipment installed in the equipment connection slots. Multiple operating switches arranged in a single unit on an operating section are provided in correspondence to the multiple pieces of electrical equipment for producing control signals to control each of the multiple pieces of electrical equipment. When any one of the operating switches is manipulated, a head unit controls, via the bus line, the electrical equipment corresponding to the manipulated operating switch.

Center cluster module and system, and electrical equipment connector

A video monitor displaying a plurality of menu screens three-dimensionally is provided. Each of the screens corresponds to a particular mode/amenity of the vehicle. Each of the screens is displayed as a collection of switches corresponding to various functions of the corresponding amenity. An input device is provided to enable the driver to select a screen, i.e., an amenity, and then select a particular switch. In the preferred embodiment the input device is formed as two joysticks commonly structured on a single lever, so that selection of a particular screen and a particular switch within that screen can be done in a single operation.

Vehicle display unit with three-dimensional menu controlled by an input

A liquid tank includes a tank body forming a reservoir for gasoline G, a flexible partition film 1 arranged in the tank body 1 to divide a space in the tank body into two vertical spaces, a float positioned on the gasoline G, an arm 3 for converting a high and low position of the float 3 into a rotational position of the arm 5, and a potentiometer 5 for detecting a position of the flexible partition film. Since the gasoline G is covered with the partition film, the gasoline G does not vaporize into the air in the tank body an. Even if the gasoline surface is slanted to the tank body an by an acceleration of the vehicle, the flexible partition film serves to restrict the inclination of the surface. Therefore, it is possible to precisely a residual amounts of the gasoline G irrespective of the inclination.

Liquid tank

In a remaining fuel amount measuring apparatus for a fuel tank which is suited to the fuel tank designed to suppress generation of fuel vapor, a CPU actuates a piston to supply a prescribed amount of air into a pressure adjusting chamber, thereby increasing the pressure within the pressure adjusting chamber. From the Boyle's law, the increasing rate of air before air supply is inversely proportional to the volume V of the pressure adjusting chamber. Therefore, the CPU, referring to the pressure within the pressure adjusting chamber before and after the air supply, acquires the volume V of the pressure adjusting chamber, and subtracts the volume V of the pressure adjusting chamber from the internal volume of a tank body to acquire the volume of a fuel chamber, i.e. remaining fuel amount.

Remaining fuel amount measuring apparatus for a fuel tank

In a remaining fuel amount measuring apparatus, a CPU captures remaining fuel amount data detected by a fuel sender unit at prescribed periods through a voltage conversion circuit and A/D conversion circuit, compiles the captured remaining fuel amount data into blocks each composed of a prescribed number of data samples to be successively stored in a RAM. The CPU reads the block data as necessary and subjects the read data to data processing such as simple averaging, weighted averaging or removal of abnormal values. The CPU displays the remaining fuel amount after the data processing on a fuel meter.

An object of this invention is to provide a system switch device having a board switch and a display unit separated from the latter, with which terminals units can be operated in a blind touch mode. The system switch device comprises: a board switch having switches and touch-operated mechanisms which give a sense of contact to the finger of the operator in response to the key operations of the switches, an electronic control unit operating to control terminal units according to switch signals from the board switch; and a display unit for displaying a selected content according to a switch signal from the board switch with the aid of the electronic control unit. In the device, with respect to an optional switch position in a key operation of the board switch, the center of the screen of the display unit is displayed in a predetermined display color, and the switch position in the following key operation is displayed on the display unit by causing the electronic control unit to calculate its amount of movement with the switch position inputted before as a reference, so that the key operation is performed according to the content displayed on the display unit.

System switch device

To eliminate an ambient temperature correcting sensor and further to improve the sensor response speed in a heat radiating type liquid level sensing system, a constant current pulse is periodically passed through a level sensor to heat it; level sensor voltages sampled at predetermined time intervals when the level sensor is being heated are divided by each initial sensor voltage to obtain sensor voltage ratios with respect to time; an approximate voltage is calculated on the basis of the the obtained ratios in accordance with an approximation equation; a liquid level is calculated and displayed on the basis of the calculated approximate sensor voltage. Further, it is preferable that the system is provided with an additional inclination correcting sensor or an acceleration sensor, in order to correct the inclined liquid level.

Heat radiating type liquid level sensing system and the method therefor

A heat radiating type level sensor measurement of liquid level capable of preventing the errors in a case of sudden environmental temperature change, and accounting for the agitated motion of the liquid surface. The measured liquid level can be obtained as the steady state output voltage plus a difference between the initial output voltage for a present measurement and the initial output voltage for an immediately preceding measurement, with the difference multiplied by a predetermined constant. The measured liquid level for a present measurement can also be obtained as an arithmetic average of the steady state output voltage and a predetermined number of previous steady state output voltages within a prescribed range obtained by previous measurements, in a case the steady state output voltage derived at the deriving step is within the prescribed range, and as the measured liquid level obtained for an immediately preceding measurement, in a case the steady state output voltage derived at the deriving step is outside of the prescribed range.

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Shizuoka, Japan

Ichiro Kataoka