JP2001270483A - Direction indicator - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a direction indicator capable of being automatically switched OFF. SOLUTION: This direction indicator is composed of a flickering lamp mounted on a front fender 34 for indicating the direction, a switch 22 mounted on a handlebar for turning ON the flickering lamp, and a posture angle detecting device 4 mounted inside of a shaft part of the handlebar for detecting the posture of the handlebar and indicating the OFF of the switch 22. The posture angle detecting device 4 detects an angle of rotation about two axes (X-axis, Z-axis) perpendicular to each other, and is composed two gyroscopes, one acceleration sensor, and one magnetic direction sensor.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a turn signal, and more particularly to a turn signal suitable for use in a motorcycle (motorcycle, motorbike).

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when driving a motorcycle or the like to change the course by, for example, turning right or left, the switch of the turn signal provided near the grip of the steering wheel is operated with one hand to change the direction. An instruction operation is being performed.

However, after the course change, unlike a car, it was necessary to manually turn off the switch of the direction indicator.

For this reason, the user has forgotten to turn off the switch, the blinking lamp remains on, or the operation is complicated.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to solve the above-mentioned problems and to provide a turn signal which can automatically turn off a switch.

[0006]

A turn signal indicator according to the present invention comprises:
A posture angle detecting device for detecting the posture of the steering wheel and instructing the switch to be turned off is provided.

The present inventors have previously proposed a posture angle detecting device in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H11-212474. This attitude angle detection device is used for attitude control and detection of a moving body,
3 gyroscopes, 2 accelerometers, 2
A motion angle calculation device that detects the motion angle based on the angular velocities output by the three gyroscopes; two acceleration sensors; and accelerations output by the two magnetic direction sensors. A static angle computing device that detects an attitude angle based on geomagnetism, a discriminating device that discriminates whether the result of the static angle detection is correct, And a posture angle calculation device for calculating a posture angle to be output using the control unit.

The attitude angle calculated from the output of the gyroscope causes an integration error because the integration angle is used. The influence of the integration error means that, for example, when the sensor is slightly moved from a certain position and returned to the original position, the calculated attitude angle does not return to the original state. In addition, the attitude angle calculated from the output of the acceleration sensor and the output of the magnetic direction sensor does not show the correct output when linear motion acceleration is applied in addition to the gravitational acceleration, and the influence of electric noise and camera shake For example, there is a problem that it is not stable at rest. Therefore, the above-described posture angle detection device performs a correction process. The correction process interpolates the defects of each sensor to ensure accuracy.

Further, the present inventors have disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Nos.
No. 4422 proposes a posture angle detecting device for detecting a posture angle around two axes. This attitude angle detecting device detects two angular axes about one axis of the horizontal plane and the Z axis among the X axis and the Y axis orthogonal to the horizontal plane and the Z axis orthogonal to each of the X axis and the Y axis. A gyroscope, a dead zone processing device that performs dead zone processing on an output corresponding to the angular velocity of the gyroscope, a motion angle calculation device that calculates a yaw angle and a pitch angle based on the dead zone processing device, and at least a gyroscope are arranged. An acceleration sensor that detects a pitch angle, and that detects a pitch angle, a magnetic azimuth sensor that detects at least two-axis geomagnetism in a horizontal plane, and outputs the magnetic azimuth sensor and the acceleration sensor. A static angle calculating device for calculating a pitch angle and a yaw angle based on the detected angle; When, in accordance with the calculation result of the determination device and it is formed from the movement angle calculating unit and a posture angle calculation unit for outputting the calculation result of the static angle computing unit.

According to the present invention, the attitude angle detecting device around the two axes is provided with a direction indicator for detecting the attitude of a steering wheel.
This is applied to instruct the switch to be turned off.

That is, the present invention detects a rotation angle around two or more axes orthogonal to each other in a direction indicator comprising a blinking lamp for informing a direction and a switch for turning on and off the blinking lamp. A posture angle detection device that is composed of two or more gyroscopes, one or more acceleration sensors, and one or more magnetic direction sensors, detects a posture of the steering wheel, and instructs the switch to be turned off. It is a direction indicator characterized by the following.

Also, in the present invention, the attitude angle detecting device may be arranged such that axes orthogonal to each other in a horizontal plane are an X axis and a Y axis.
When an axis orthogonal to the Y axis is the Z axis, X
A gyroscope that detects angular velocity around the axis, a gyroscope that detects angular velocity around the Z axis, a Y-axis acceleration sensor that detects an inclination angle around the X-axis, and a geomagnetism that detects X-axis and Y-axis directions The above-mentioned direction indicator is characterized in that a magnetic azimuth sensor for calculating an azimuth angle around the Z-axis is arranged.

Therefore, according to the present invention, since the switch of the direction indicator can be automatically turned off, the troublesome operation is eliminated. Also, the user does not forget to turn off the switch.

[0014]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described below using a scooter as an example.

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view of a direction indicator of a scooter according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an arrangement of each sensor in the attitude angle detecting device used for the direction indicator of the scooter of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, the direction indicator of the scooter according to the present invention has a blinking lamp (not shown) for indicating the direction, a switch 22 for turning on the blinking lamp, and turning off the switch 22. And a posture angle detection device 4.

As shown in FIG. 1, an accelerator throttle 26 is formed on the right grip of the steering wheel. A grip 28 is formed on the left side, and a switch 22 and a clutch lever 30 for performing a shift change are provided near the grip 28. The blinking lamp is provided on the front of the front fender 34. At the center of the handle, a meter device 32 such as a speedometer or an oil meter is provided. Further, mirrors 36 are attached to the upper portions on both sides. The attitude angle detecting device 4 is provided inside the shaft.
Is attached. In addition, 38 is a sheet.

As shown in FIG. 2, in the attitude angle detecting device 4, axes orthogonal to each other in a horizontal plane are defined as an X axis and a Y axis.
A gyroscope 6 for detecting an angular velocity around the X-axis on an XY plane when an axis orthogonal to the axis and the Y-axis is set to the Z-axis.
And a gyroscope 7 for detecting angular velocity around the Z axis
An acceleration sensor 8 for detecting an inclination angle around the X axis (that is, acceleration in the Y axis direction); and a magnetic direction sensor 9 for detecting geomagnetism in the X axis and Y axis directions and calculating an azimuth angle around the Z axis.
And are arranged. Piezoelectric vibrating gyroscopes were used for the gyroscopes 6 and 7, a semiconductor acceleration sensor was used for the acceleration sensor 8, and an MR geomagnetic sensor was used for the magnetic direction sensor 9. In FIG. 1, directions parallel to the Y axis and the Z axis are indicated by arrows.

Also, once the switch is turned on,
The switch remains ON until the handle returns to its original position after it changes.If the angle when the handle is returned is within a certain range with respect to the origin and the inclination of the shaft is within a certain range. , By the signal from the attitude angle detection device,
The switch is set to return to the original position and the switch is turned off.

With such a configuration, after the switch is turned on, the blinking lamp blinks, and the course is changed, when the handle is returned, the shaft portion becomes vertical. The attitude is detected, the turn signal switch is turned off, and the blinking lamp goes off.

Since the gyroscope, the acceleration sensor and the magnetic azimuth sensor perform mutual correction, good responsiveness and good reproducibility are obtained.

[0022]

According to the present invention, the switch is automatically turned off.
It was possible to provide a direction indicator capable of performing F.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view of a direction indicator of a scooter according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an arrangement of each sensor in a posture angle detecting device used for a direction indicator of a scooter of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 4 attitude angle detecting device 6, 7 gyroscope 8 acceleration sensor 9 magnetic direction sensor 22 switch 26 accelerator throttle 28 grip 30 clutch lever 32 meter device 34 front fender 36 mirror

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A direction indicator comprising a blinking lamp for informing a direction and a switch for turning on and off the blinking lamp, detects rotation angles about two or more axes orthogonal to each other, and detects two or more rotation angles. It is composed of a gyroscope, one or more acceleration sensors, and one or more magnetic direction sensors.
A direction indicator comprising a posture angle detecting device for indicating F. 2. The attitude angle detecting device according to claim 1, wherein an axis orthogonal to the horizontal plane is an X axis and a Y axis, and an axis orthogonal to the X axis and the Y axis is a Z axis. A gyroscope that detects angular velocity around the axis, a gyroscope that detects angular velocity around the Z axis, a Y-axis acceleration sensor that detects an inclination angle around the X-axis, and a geomagnetism that detects X-axis and Y-axis directions 2. The direction indicator according to claim 1, further comprising a magnetic direction sensor for calculating an azimuth angle around the Z axis.