Abstract:
A vehicle instrument panel assembly includes a first symbol having a first importance and a second symbol having a second importance that is less than the first importance. A lenticular sheet between an observer and the first and second symbols produces a first stereoscopic symbol that corresponds to the first symbol and a second stereoscopic symbol that corresponds to a second symbol. To an observer, the first stereoscopic symbol appears closer than the second stereoscopic symbol.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]     The application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/623,133, filed on Oct. 28, 2004. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     This invention relates to vehicle instrument panels and, more particularly, to an instrument panel assembly having a lenticular surface for providing a three dimensional appearance.  
         [0003]     Vehicle instrument panels, such as instrument clusters having a speedometer and a tachometer instrument, display vehicle information to vehicle occupants. Conventional instrument panels include a pointer that moves in response to changing vehicle speed, for example. A dial behind the pointer includes a scale having tick marks and numbers, which indicate the speed of the vehicle to the vehicle occupants. Typically, the dial is fabricated by printing the scale, tick marks, and numbers on a relatively flat, thin sheet and mounting the printed sheet within the instrument panel.  
         [0004]     Conventional instrument panels do not convey the importance of selected portions of the scale or tick marks in a desirable manner. The tick marks are often printed in various colors or in various sizes to indicate importance or to distinguish a difference. Primary tick marks that correspond to speed in miles per hour, for example, are often made larger than secondary tick marks that correspond to kilometers per hour. Although differing the color or size of the tick marks is somewhat effective in distinguishing importance, it is often desirable to further distinguish between such tick marks.  
         [0005]     Other conventional instrument panels utilize depth to indicate importance or to distinguish a difference. Conventional instrument panels that utilize depth are assembled such that selected portions are physically located closer to the vehicle occupants to indicate importance or to distinguish over other portions that are located physically farther away from the vehicle occupants. Disadvantageously, these conventional assemblies require a significant amount of space in the vehicle because of the depth added to the instrument panel to accommodate the differences in physical locations relative to the vehicle occupants.  
         [0006]     Accordingly, there is a need for a compact vehicle instrument panel that provides a three dimensional appearance to communicate relative levels of importance.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0007]     A vehicle instrument panel according to the present invention includes a dial having two symbols with differing levels of importance. A lenticular surface between the first and second symbols and an observer produces a stereoscopic three-dimensional effect. To an observer viewing the instrument panel, one of the symbols, which has a higher level of importance than the other symbol, appears closer.  
         [0008]     In another example, the symbols are printed on a dial surface that is attached to the lenticular surface. A housing supports the lenticular surface and the dial, along with a pointer that defines a plane. The lenticular surface generates a stereoscopic three-dimensional effect such that the symbols appear to be in the plane of the pointer. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0009]     The various features and advantages of this invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of the currently preferred embodiment. The drawings that accompany the detailed description can be briefly described as follows.  
         [0010]      FIG. 1  shows an example three-dimensional vehicle instrument panel assembly according to the present invention.  
         [0011]      FIG. 2  shows a schematic cross-section of the example vehicle instrument panel assembly shown in  FIG. 1 .  
         [0012]      FIG. 3  shows an alternate view of the instrument panel dial of  FIG. 2 .  
         [0013]      FIG. 4  shows a perspective view of an example lenticular surface.  
         [0014]      FIG. 5  shows the stereoscopic images produced by a lenticular surface from images on a dial.  
         [0015]      FIG. 6  shows an example concentric pentagon image for generating a three dimensional smooth-sided pentagon emblem.  
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0016]      FIG. 1  illustrates selected portions of a vehicle  10  having an instrument panel  12 , such as a vehicle meter cluster that communicates vehicle information to occupants of the vehicle  10 . In the illustrated example, the instrument panel  12  includes a speedometer  14  that indicates the speed of the vehicle  10 . The speedometer includes a dial surface  16  having numerals  18  that correspond to the vehicle  10  speed, primary tick marks  20  that correspond to miles per hour (m.p.h.), secondary tick marks  22  that correspond to kilometers per hour, and an emblem  23  corresponding to a vehicle maker. Alternatively, the primary tick marks  20  may, for example, correspond to significant speed intervals such as 20, 40, 60 m.p.h., etc. and the secondary tick marks  22  may correspond to speeds between.  
         [0017]     Referring to the selected portion of the instrument panel  12  shown in  FIG. 2 , the dial  16  is supported by a housing  32 . The housing  32  also supports a light source  34  that illuminates the dial  16 . A lens  36  protects the instrument panel  12  from the surroundings, such as dust or debris.  
         [0018]     The dial  16  is bonded to a lenticular surface  38  in a known manner. The housing  32  supports the dial  16  and lenticular surface  38 . A pointer  40  is mounted near the dial  16  and rotates as the speed of the vehicle  10  changes to indicate the vehicle speed. The lenticular surface  38  includes an array of lenticules  42  (e.g., elongated parallel lenses) that operate to generate a three-dimensional effect, as will be described below.  
         [0019]      FIG. 3  shows the dial  16  and lenticular surface  38  according to the view indicated in  FIG. 2 . The dial  16  includes an opening  43  for receiving the pointer  40 . The lenticules  42  extend parallel to each other in a generally horizontal direction. It is to be recognized that, although the lenticules  42  are shown in a particular orientation relative to the dial  16 , alternative orientations may also be used.  
         [0020]      FIG. 4  shows a perspective view of an example lenticular surface  38  having a parallel array of lenticules  42 . In this example, each lenticule  42  has a convex shape that functions as a lens to refract light that passes through the lenticular surface  38  to produce a three-dimensional effect.  
         [0021]      FIG. 5  shows the lenticular surface  38  operating to generate stereoscopic images from the primary tick marks  20 , secondary tick marks  22 , numerals  18 , and emblem  23  on the dial  16 . The illustration shows relative positions (as observed by a vehicle occupant having binocular vision from a viewing point) of stereoscopic primary tick marks  44 , stereoscopic secondary tick marks  46  (e.g.,  46  representing secondary m.p.h. tick marks and  46 ′ representing k.p.h. tick marks), stereoscopic numerals  48 , and a stereoscopic emblem  49 . The term stereoscopic as used in this description refers to the use of binocular vision to generate a three-dimensional perspective.  
         [0022]     In the illustrated example, the lenticular surface  38  utilizes the binocular vision of an observer, such as a vehicle occupant, to give the appearance that the dial  16  is three-dimensional. In simple terms, the eyes of the observer are spaced apart and each eye sees, for example, the numerals  18  at a slightly different angle. A right eye of the observer sees a first image  48 R and a left eye of the observer sees a second image  48 L. Normally (i.e., without the lenticular surface  38 ), the observer&#39;s brain forms a composite of the images such that the observer sees only a single image. However, the lenticules  42  of the lenticular surface  38  accentuate the slight angular difference between the observer&#39;s eyes such that the composite of the first image  48 R and the second image  48 L (i.e., the stereoscopic numeral  48 ) appears to be closer to the observer than the numeral  18 . In this manner, the observer views the stereoscopic primary tick marks  44 , stereoscopic secondary tick marks  46 , and stereoscopic numerals  48  as having a special depth (i.e., having a three-dimensional effect).  
         [0023]     In the illustrated example, the primary tick marks  20  are radially outward of the secondary tick marks  22  in the dial  16  relative to a pivot axis A defined by the pointer  40 . The radial position of the primary tick marks  20  compared to the radial position of the secondary tick marks  22  results in the observer viewing the primary tick marks  20  at a smaller angle (relative to the dial  16 ) than the secondary tick marks  22 . As a result, the stereoscopic primary tick marks  44  appear closer to the observer than the stereoscopic secondary tick marks  46 .  
         [0024]     In another example, the primary tick marks  20 , secondary tick marks  22 , and numerals  18  are printed onto the dial  16 . The background of the dial  16  is multi-colored in a marble effect ( FIG. 3 ). The multi-colored marble effect generates a greater stereoscopic effect and may result in the appearance of a greater depth difference between, for example, the stereoscopic primary tick marks  44  and the stereoscopic secondary tick marks  46 .  
         [0025]     The relative closeness of the stereoscopic primary tick marks  44  communicates to the vehicle occupant a higher level of importance than the secondary tick marks  22 , which appear farther away. This provides a benefit of communicating the difference in importance between the primary tick marks  20  and the secondary tick marks  22  without, or in addition to, other methods of differentiating levels of importance (e.g., with the use of color or size).  
         [0026]     In the illustration, the pointer  40  defines a plane  50 . The stereoscopic primary tick mark  44  and the stereoscopic numerals  48  are within the plane  50  of the pointer  40 . This allows a vehicle occupant viewing the instrument panel  12  to easily associate the stereoscopic numerals  48  with the stereoscopic primary tick marks  44  and provides a desirable appearance.  
         [0027]     The stereoscopic emblem  49  appears with smoothly sloping sides  52 . The smoothly sloping sides result from a concentric pentagon image  54  on the dial  16 , as shown in  FIG. 6  for example.  
         [0028]     The disclosed example provides the benefit of a more compact instrument panel  12  than previously known instrument panels. The dial  16  is attached directly to the lenticular surface  38  in a relatively thin configuration. Further, the generation of the appearance of depth using the lenticular surface  38  allows physical depth in the instrument panel  12  to be eliminated. In one example, this allows the pointer  40  to be moved closer to the dial  16  to save space in the instrument panel  12 .  
         [0029]     Although a preferred embodiment of this invention has been disclosed, a worker of ordinary skill in this art would recognize that certain modifications would come within the scope of this invention. For that reason, the following claims should be studied to determine the true scope and content of this invention.