# US 10,121,285 B2 · Vehicle display device > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 10,121,285 B2 - Document ID: US10121285B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 14/767,007 - Filed: 2013-12-19 - Published: 2015-12-31 - Granted: 2018-11-06 - Earliest claimed: 2013-02-12 - Assignees: Denso Corporation - Applicants: Denso Corporation - Inventors: Hideki Ito - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10121285B2 ## CPC - G06T 19/006: {Mixed reality (object pose determination, tracking or camera calibration for mixed reality G06T7/00)} - B60K 35/211: {producing three-dimensional [3D] effects, e.g. stereoscopic images} - B60K 35/215: characterised by the combination of multiple visual outputs, e.g. combined instruments with analogue meters and additional displays - B60K 35/60: Instruments characterised by their location or relative disposition in or on vehicles (arrangements of lighting devices on dashboards B60Q3/10) - B60K 37/00: Dashboards (as road-vehicle superstructure sub-units B62D25/14) - G01D 7/04: using a separate indicating element for each variable - G02B 27/0101: {characterised by optical features (G02B27/0172 takes precedence)} - G02B 30/52: the three-dimensional [3D] volume being constructed from a stack or sequence of two-dimensional [2D] planes, e.g. depth sampling systems - G09G 5/10: Intensity circuits - B60K 2360/347: Optical elements for superposition of display information - G02B 2027/0118: {comprising devices for improving the contrast of the display / brillance control visibility} - G02B 2027/014: {comprising information/image processing systems} - G09G 2340/12: Overlay of images, i.e. displayed pixel being the result of switching between the corresponding input pixels - G09G 2380/10: Automotive applications - G06T: IMAGE DATA PROCESSING OR GENERATION, IN GENERAL - B60K: ARRANGEMENT OR MOUNTING OF PROPULSION UNITS OR OF TRANSMISSIONS IN VEHICLES; ARRANGEMENT OR MOUNTING OF PLURAL DIVERSE PRIME-MOVERS IN VEHICLES; AUXILIARY DRIVES FOR VEHICLES; INSTRUMENTATION OR DASHBOARDS FOR VEHICLES; ARRANGEMENTS IN CONNECTION WITH COOLING, AIR INTAKE, GAS EXHAUST OR FUEL SUPPLY OF PROPULSION UNITS IN VEHICLES - G01D: MEASURING NOT SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR A SPECIFIC VARIABLE; ARRANGEMENTS FOR MEASURING TWO OR MORE VARIABLES NOT COVERED IN A SINGLE OTHER SUBCLASS; TARIFF METERING APPARATUS; MEASURING OR TESTING NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR - G02B: OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS - G09G: ARRANGEMENTS OR CIRCUITS FOR CONTROL OF INDICATING DEVICES USING STATIC MEANS TO PRESENT VARIABLE INFORMATION (arrangements for transferring data between digital computers and displays G06F3/14; static indicating arrangements comprising an association of a number of separate sources or light control cells G09F9/00; static indicating arrangements comprising integral associations of a number of light sources H01J, H01K, H10H, H05B33/12; scanning, transmission or reproduction of documents or the like, e.g. facsimile transmission, details thereof H04N1/00) ## Abstract A combination meter including a first meter and a second meter, which are visible from a front side, and a half-silvered mirror disposed in front of the combination meter and having semi-transparent property are provided. Also, an image output device displays an image toward the half-silvered mirror is provided. The half-silvered mirror reflects the image displayed by the image output device to display a virtual image in front of the meter. Thus, the virtual image is overlappedly displayed with respect to the combination meter, whereby a use intuitively recognizes high priority information. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A vehicle display device comprising: a combination meter including a display meter visible from a front side along a front-rear direction of the combination meter; a reflecting member disposed in front of the display meter and having semi-transparent property; an image output device configured to display a virtual image in front of the combination meter along the front-rear direction by outputting an image toward the reflecting member, a first light emitting element and a second light emitting element disposed behind the combination meter along the front-rear direction; and a controller programmed to control light emission behavior of the first light emitting element and the second light emitting element, wherein the display meter includes a first meter region which overlaps with the first light emitting element and the virtual image in the front-rear direction, and a second meter region which overlaps with the second light emitting element in the front-rear direction and which does not overlap with the virtual image in the front-rear direction, and the controller is programmed to control the first light emitting element to emit light at a lower brightness level than the second light emitting element when the image output device displays the virtual image. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The vehicle display device according to claim 1, wherein: the image output device is a 3-D display device that displays a 3-D image. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The vehicle display device according to claim 2, wherein the image output device displays the image on a plurality of layers that are positioned different from each other, and the virtual image of each of the plurality of layers, which is reflected by the reflecting member, is displayed to be positioned different from each other in the front-rear direction. ### Claim 4 (depends on 3) The vehicle display device according to claim 3, wherein the image output device displays the image having different contents on each of the plurality of layers. ### Claim 5 (depends on 4) The vehicle display device according to claim 4, wherein the image output device displays an image related to a warning on one of the plurality of layers, which is positioned at a foremost position after being reflected by the reflecting member. ### Claim 6 A vehicle display device comprising: a combination meter including a display meter visible from a front side along a front-rear direction of the combination meter; a reflecting member disposed in front of the display meter and having semi-transparent property; an image output device configured to display a virtual image in front of the combination meter along the front-rear direction by outputting an image toward the reflecting member, a first light emitting element and a second light emitting element disposed behind the combination meter along the front-rear direction; and a controlling programmed to control light emission behavior of the first light emitting element and the second light emitting element, wherein the display meter includes a first meter region which overlaps with the first light emitting element and the virtual image in the front-rear direction, and a second meter region which overlaps with the second light emitting element in the front-rear direction and which does not overlap with the virtual image in the front-rear direction, the controller is programmed to control the first light emitting element to emit light at a lower brightness level than the second light emitting element when the image output device displays the virtual image, and the image output device is a 3-D display device that displays a 3-D image.