JP2010018232A - Mirror device for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a mirror device for a vehicle capable of securing side visibility through front door glass even when a mirror body is folded. <P>SOLUTION: A base 22 is fixed in the front door of the vehicle adjacently to the front door glass, and in the upper surface of this base 22, a guide rail 25 curved with its vehicle side protruded is arranged. A slider 26 is arranged in the cover 23a of the mirror body 23 with a mirror 23b, and this slider 26 is movably attached to the guide rail 25. The slider 26 is moved relatively to the guide rail 25, and the mirror body 23 is moved from a stood position adjacent to the end of the front door glass on the vehicle front side and directed to the vehicle rear side to a folded position directed to the vehicle side on the vehicle front side relative to the front door glass. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle mirror device provided on a side portion of a vehicle such as an automobile such as a door mirror mounted on a front door, and in particular, a retractable type capable of lying down on a mirror body toward a vehicle side. About things.

  A vehicle mirror device (side mirror) is provided on a side portion of a vehicle such as an automobile so that the driver can visually recognize the rear from the side of the vehicle. As such a vehicle mirror device, there are a type that is directly attached to the front door and a type that is attached to the front pillar (A-pillar) of the vehicle body. It is provided adjacent to the front side of the front door glass.

  Such a mirror device includes a base that is fixed to the front door or the front pillar adjacent to the front side of the front door glass, and has a structure in which the mirror body is supported by the base. A mirror (mirror) is attached to the mirror main body, and the driver can confirm the state of the rear as reflected by viewing the mirror through the front door glass.

  By the way, in such a mirror device, the mirror main body protrudes from the side of the vehicle to the side of the vehicle due to its structure, so this is an obstacle when the vehicle is parked on another vehicle in a parking lot or the like. There is a case. For this reason, a collapsible mirror device has been developed in which the mirror body can be tilted from the standing position, which is the use position, to the lying position where the mirror body is tilted toward the vehicle.

For example, Patent Document 1 describes a mirror device in which a mirror main body can be tilted toward a front door glass by rotating the mirror main body toward the vehicle rear side with a root portion as a fulcrum.
Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 4-95539

  However, in the mirror device disclosed in Patent Document 1, the mirror main body in the standing position is turned down with the root portion serving as a fulcrum so that the mirror main body is tilted down. The mirror body covers the part. Therefore, after the mirror body is laid down, when a driver or other passenger gets out of the front door, the side view through the front door glass is partially blocked by the mirror body, and the side confirmation There was a risk of being disturbed.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle mirror device that can secure a side field of view through a front door glass even when the mirror body is laid down.

  A vehicle mirror device according to the present invention is a vehicle mirror device including a base provided adjacent to a front door glass of a vehicle and a mirror main body supported by the base, wherein either the base or the mirror main body is provided. A guide rail that is provided on either side and curves with the vehicle side convex, and a slider that is provided on the other side of the base or the mirror body and is mounted on the guide rail so as to be relatively movable, Due to the relative movement of the slider with respect to the guide rail, the mirror main body is located on the vehicle front side of the front door glass from the standing position adjacent to the vehicle front side end of the front door glass and facing the vehicle rear side. It moves to the lodging position which faces the side.

  In the vehicle mirror device of the present invention, the guide rail includes a pair of guide walls opposed to each other with a predetermined interval, and the slider is arranged in a longitudinal direction between the pair of guide walls and is guided to the guide walls. A pair of rotating bodies is provided.

  The vehicle mirror device according to the present invention includes an electric motor that automatically operates the mirror main body between the standing position and the lying position.

  In the vehicle mirror device of the present invention, a gear portion is provided over the entire inner surface of one of the guide walls and the rotating body is a pinion that meshes with the gear portion, and at least one of the pinions is rotated by an electric motor. The mirror body is driven to automatically operate between the standing position and the lying position.

  According to the present invention, since the mirror main body is guided from the standing position to the lying down position by the relative movement of the slider with respect to the guide rail, the mirror main body can be tilted down on the vehicle front side from the front door glass. Thereby, the side field of view through the front door glass when the mirror main body is tilted down can be secured without the fallen mirror main body covering the front door glass.

  Further, according to the present invention, the guide rail is provided with a pair of guide walls facing each other with a certain interval, and the pair of rotating bodies provided on the slider are arranged side by side in the longitudinal direction between the pair of guide walls. Since the guide wall is guided, the structure for guiding the mirror main body to the standing position and the lying position can be simplified.

  Furthermore, according to the present invention, the mirror main body is automatically operated between the standing position and the lying position by the electric motor. The operation of returning to the standing position can be facilitated.

  Further, according to the present invention, a gear portion is provided on the inner surface of the guide wall, the rotating body is a pinion that meshes with the gear portion, and the pinion is rotated by an electric motor to automatically rotate the mirror body between the standing position and the lying position. Therefore, the structure for automatically operating the mirror main body can be simplified.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a part of a vehicle equipped with a door mirror according to an embodiment of the present invention, and a passenger such as a driver is placed on the side of a vehicle body 12 of this vehicle 11 which is a minivan type passenger car. An opening 12a for getting on and off is provided, and a front door 13 is provided on the side of the vehicle body 12 to close the opening 12a. The front door 13 is a so-called slide type, and is guided by a slide rail 14 fixed to the side of the vehicle body 12 so as to be slid toward the front of the vehicle. The front door 13 is a sash door in which a sash 13b is fixed to the upper portion of the door body 13a, and a front door glass 15 is mounted on the sash 13b so as to be opened and closed in the vertical direction. The occupant can visually recognize the exterior of the vehicle side from the vehicle interior via the front door glass 15.

  In the illustrated case, the front door 13 is a sliding type that opens to the front side of the vehicle, but is not limited thereto, and other opening and closing structures such as a sliding type that opens to the rear side of the vehicle and a rear hinge type that opens to the front hinge may be used. May be. The front door 13 is a sash door in which a sash 13b is fixed to the upper portion of the door main body 13a. However, the front door 13 is not limited to this, and is a sashless hard top door or a full door in which the door main body 13a and the sash 13b are integrally formed. It may be.

  The front door 13 is provided with a door mirror 21 as a vehicle mirror device in order to allow the driver to confirm the rear side from the side of the vehicle. As shown in FIG. 1, the door mirrors 21 are provided on the left and right front doors 13, respectively, but these door mirrors 21 have basically the same structure except that they are symmetric. A description will be given based on the side door mirror 21.

  2 is a perspective view showing the structure of the door mirror shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a plan view thereof.

  The door mirror 21 has a structure in which a mirror main body 23 is supported on a base 22, and the base 22 is formed in a plate shape, and as shown in FIG. 1, the door main body 13a has a base portion of a sash 13b on the front side of the vehicle. It is fixed at the top. That is, the base 22 is fixed to the front door 13 adjacent to the front door glass 15 on the vehicle front side. On the other hand, the mirror main body 23 has a structure in which a mirror (mirror) 23b is attached to a resin cover (housing) 23a. When the mirror main body 23 is in the use position shown in FIG. It is adjacent to the front end and is supported by the base 22 in a posture in which the mirror 23b faces the vehicle rear side. And when the mirror main body 23 exists in a standing position, the driver | operator can visually recognize the state of the back reflected on this mirror 23b through the front door glass 15 from the vehicle interior.

  On the other hand, the door mirror 21 is provided with a tilting mechanism (storage mechanism) 24. For example, when there is no need to confirm the rear from the vehicle interior such as when the vehicle is stopped, the mirror main body 23 is moved from the standing position where it is used to the tilting position. (Storing position) That is, the mirror 23b can be moved to the standing position, that is, the front side of the front door glass 15 to the position where the mirror 23b is faced down toward the vehicle 11 side, that is, the vehicle interior side.

  Next, the structure of the overturning mechanism 24 will be described.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the inclining mechanism 24 is provided between the base 22 and the mirror main body 23, and the mirror main body 23 is attached to the base 22 via the inclining mechanism 24 and is attached to the base 22. It is supported. The inclining mechanism 24 includes a guide rail 25 and a slider 26. In the illustrated case, the guide rail 25 is provided on the base 22, and the slider 26 is provided on the mirror body 23.

  The guide rail 25 includes a pair of guide walls 25a and 25b that are opposed to each other at a predetermined interval, and these guide walls 25a and 25b are integrally formed on the upper surface of the base 22 facing the vehicle upper side. As shown in FIG. 3, the guide rail 25 has its longitudinal end on the vehicle front side (longitudinal end on the lying position side) facing the front of the vehicle 11, and its longitudinal end (stand up) on the vehicle rear side. (The longitudinal end on the position side) is directed outward in the width direction of the vehicle 11, and the intermediate portion in the longitudinal direction protrudes toward the vehicle 11 side, that is, the vehicle interior side with respect to a straight line L connecting both end portions in the longitudinal direction. It is formed so as to be curved. That is, the guide rail 25 is smoothly curved with the intermediate portion protruding toward the vehicle 11 so as to gradually move away from the vehicle 11 (front door 13) from the vehicle front side toward the rear side. A gear portion 27 is formed over the entire length in the longitudinal direction on the inner side of the guide rail 25, that is, the inner surface of the guide wall 25 a on the side close to the vehicle body 12 (the surface facing the other guide wall 25 b). A slit 28 extending along the guide rail 25 is formed in a portion of the base 22 sandwiched between the guide walls 25a and 25b.

  On the other hand, the slider 26 includes a pair of pinions 31 and 32 as rotating bodies. One pinion 31 is fixed to a drive shaft 33, and the other pinion 32 is fixed to a support shaft 34. The drive shaft 33 and the support shaft 34 are rotatable to a bracket 35 with their axial directions facing the vehicle vertical direction. It is supported. The bracket 35 is fixed to the bottom surface of the cover 23a of the mirror main body 23 so that the pinions 31 and 32 are arranged in a direction substantially parallel to the mirror 23b. Thereby, the pinions 31 and 32 are rotatable on the mirror main body 23. It is in a supported state. The diameters of the pinions 31 and 32 are set to be slightly smaller than the distance between the guide walls 25a and 25b. The pinions 31 and 32 are spaced apart from each other by a predetermined distance in the longitudinal direction between the guide walls 25a and 25b of the guide rail 25. The guide rails 25 are arranged so as to be spaced apart from each other and meshed with the gear portions 27 provided on the guide walls 25a. As a result, the pinions 31 and 32 are held in mesh with the gear portion 27 between the guide walls 25a and 25b, and are rotated between the guide walls 25a and 25b by meshing with the gear portion 27. It is possible to move along the guide rail 25 while being guided by.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the drive shaft 33 that supports the pinion 31 protrudes from the bracket 35 to the opposite side of the pinion 31, that is, the inside of the cover 23a, and a driven gear 36 is fixed to the protruding portion. An electric motor 37 is provided inside the cover 23 a, and a drive gear 38 fixed to the output shaft 37 a of the electric motor 37 is engaged with the driven gear 36. A power supply line 37b of the electric motor 37 is led into the vehicle body 12 through a slit 28 formed in the base 22 through the back surface side of the base 22, and is arranged inside the vehicle body 12 as shown in FIG. It is connected to the control device 41. Although not shown, a known adjusting mechanism for adjusting the angle of the mirror 23b with respect to the cover 23a is provided inside the cover 23a.

  The control device is a microcomputer having a CPU (Central Processing Unit) (not shown), a memory, and the like, a mirror operation switch (not shown) provided in the vehicle compartment, a battery (power supply) (not shown) mounted on the vehicle body 12, and the like. It is connected to the. When the mirror operation switch is operated by the driver, the operation of the electric motor 37 is controlled by the control device 41 according to the operation, and the output shaft 37a is operated so as to rotate in both forward and reverse directions. When the electric motor 37 is operated, the rotation of the output shaft 37 a is decelerated through the drive gear 38 and the driven gear 36 and transmitted to the drive shaft 33, and the pinion 31 is rotationally driven by the electric motor 37. Then, as the pinion 31 rotates, the slider 26, that is, the mirror main body 23 automatically moves along the guide rail 25. Further, the movement direction of the mirror main body 23 is switched by switching the operation direction of the electric motor 37 by the control device 41 in accordance with the operation of the mirror operation switch.

  4A to 4C are plan views showing how the mirror body moves from the standing position to the lying position, and FIGS. 5A to 5C are side views. Next, with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5, the lying down operation of the door mirror 21 will be described.

  When it is necessary to confirm the driver's rear by the door mirror 21 such as when the vehicle 11 is traveling, the mirror main body 23 is in the upright position as shown in FIGS. 4 (a) and 5 (a). When the mirror main body 23 is in the standing position, as shown in FIG. 4A, the slider 26 is at the longitudinal end portion (stroke end on the standing position side) of the guide rail 25 on the vehicle rear side. The mirror 23b is directed to the rear side of the vehicle 11 and is disposed adjacent to the end portion of the front door glass 15 on the vehicle front side. As a result, the driver can confirm the rear view reflected on the mirror 23 b through the front door glass 15.

  When a mirror operation switch (not shown) is operated to the lying side when the mirror body 23 is in the standing position, the mirror body 23 in the standing position is driven by the electric motor 37 and automatically moves to the lying position. That is, when the mirror operation switch is operated to the downside by a driver or the like, the electric motor 37 is activated, the pinion 31 that meshes with the gear portion 27 is rotationally driven by the electric motor 37 in a predetermined direction, and the slider 26 is moved to the guide rail. The vehicle 25 moves from the longitudinal end on the vehicle rear side toward the longitudinal end on the vehicle front side (stroke end on the fall position side). At this time, as shown in FIGS. 4 (b) and 5 (b), the pair of pinions 31 and 32 provided on the slider 26 are arranged side by side in the longitudinal direction. As the slider 26 moves along the guide rail 25, the mirror main body 23 moves to the vehicle front side while rotating the mirror 23b toward the vehicle 11, that is, the vehicle interior side. . Then, as shown in FIGS. 4C and 5C, when the slider 26 reaches the longitudinal end of the guide rail 25 on the vehicle front side, that is, when the mirror body 23 reaches the lying position, each pinion 31 and 32 are arranged in the vehicle front-rear direction along the guide rail 25, whereby the mirror main body 23 is in a state where the mirror 23b is tilted toward the vehicle 11 side.

  When the slider 26 moves along the guide rail 25, the power supply line 37b of the electric motor 37 also moves along the slit 28 in accordance with the movement of the slider 26 so that the operation of the slider 26 is not hindered. ing.

  Here, since the mirror main body 23 that has reached the fall position moves to the vehicle front side with respect to the standing position along the guide rail 25, as shown in FIGS. 4 (c) and 5 (c). Further, the front door glass 15 is laid on the side of the vehicle 11 so as to cover the base portion of the sash 13b further on the vehicle front side than the end portion on the vehicle front side. That is, the mirror main body 23 in the lying position does not cover the front door glass 15, but falls toward the vehicle 11 at a position further shifted to the front side of the vehicle than the end portion of the front door glass 15 on the front side of the vehicle. . Thereby, even if the mirror main body 23 is brought down to the lying position, the side view of the vehicle 11 from the vehicle interior through the front door glass 15 is not blocked by the mirror main body 23. As a result, even when the vehicle is dismounted from the vehicle 11 with the mirror main body 23 lying down, the side view of the vehicle 11 through the front door glass 15 can be secured.

  In order to move the mirror body 23 in the lying position to the standing position, a mirror operation switch (not shown) is operated to the standing side. That is, when the mirror operation switch is operated to the upright side by a driver or the like, the electric motor 37 is activated, and the pinion 31 that meshes with the gear portion 27 is rotationally driven by the electric motor 37 in the opposite direction to the above. Moves from the longitudinal end portion of the guide rail 25 on the vehicle front side toward the longitudinal end portion on the vehicle rear side (stroke end on the standing position side). Whether or not the slider 26 has reached each stroke end in the longitudinal direction of the guide rail 25 can be detected by monitoring a motor lock current, detecting the rotation of the motor, a limit switch, or the like.

  Thus, in this door mirror 21, the mirror main body 23 is guided by the relative movement of the slider 26 with respect to the guide rail 25, and the mirror main body 23 is laid down on the front side of the vehicle from the front door glass 15. A side view of the vehicle 11 through the front door glass 15 when 23 is laid down can be secured.

  In the door mirror 21, a pair of guide walls 25 a and 25 b that are opposed to the guide rail 25 that guides the mirror main body 23 with a predetermined interval are provided, and a pair of pinions 31 and 32 that are rotatably supported by the slider 26. Is arranged between the pair of guide walls 25a and 25b and is guided by the guide walls 25a and 25b. Therefore, the structure of the lowering mechanism 24 for guiding the mirror main body 23 to the standing position and the falling position is simplified. Can be

  Further, in the door mirror 21, a gear portion 27 is provided on the inner surfaces of the guide walls 25a and 25b, and the pinions 31 and 32 are meshed with the gear portion 27, and one of the pinions 31 is rotationally driven by an electric motor 37 to be a mirror main body. 23 is automatically operated between the standing position and the lying position, so that the mirror body 23 can be easily lowered from the standing position or the mirror body 23 in the lying position can be returned to the standing position. be able to. Further, the structure for automatically operating the mirror body 23 by the electric motor 37 can be simplified.

  FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a part of a vehicle provided with a vehicle mirror device according to another embodiment of the present invention.

  In the case shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle mirror device of the present invention is a door mirror 21 attached to the front door 13. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and as shown in FIG. The vehicle mirror device 51 may be configured such that the base 22 is fixed to the base portion of the front pillar 12b of the vehicle 11 so as to be adjacent to the vehicle front side of the front door glass 15. In this case, the mirror main body 23 is guided by the fall mechanism 24 and falls to the vehicle 11 side in front of the front door 13 in the fully closed position, that is, the opening 12a, and the front door 13 is opened and closed when the front door 13 is opened and closed. 13 is prevented from interfering with the mirror body 23.

  It goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the base 22 is fixed to the front door 13 or the front pillar 12b. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the mirror body 23 in the standing position is located on the front side of the front door glass 15 in the vehicle. If it is an adjacent part, it may be attached to another part.

  In the embodiment, the guide rail 25 is provided on the base 22 and the slider 26 is provided on the mirror main body 23. However, the guide rail 25 is provided on the mirror main body 23 and the slider 26 is not limited thereto. It may be provided on the base 22.

  Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the guide rail 25 has a longitudinal end on the vehicle rear side facing the outside in the vehicle width direction, a longitudinal end on the vehicle front side facing the front of the vehicle 11, and an intermediate portion. It is formed to be curved so as to be convex toward the vehicle 11 with respect to the straight line L connecting both ends in the longitudinal direction. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and the intermediate portion is convex toward the vehicle 11 with respect to the straight line L. The direction in which both end portions in the longitudinal direction face can be arbitrarily set.

  Further, in the above embodiment, the mirror main body 23 is automatically operated by rotating the pinion 31 engaged with the gear portion 27 provided on the guide walls 25a and 25b by the electric motor 37. For example, the mirror body 23 is automatically operated by another structure using the electric motor 37 such as a cable type in which a cable is connected to the slider 26 and the cable is driven along the guide rail 25 by the electric motor 37. You may do it.

  Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the mirror main body 23 is automatically operated by the electric motor 37 between the standing position and the lying position. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the electric motor 37 is not provided. The mirror main body 23 may be manually operated between the standing position and the lying position.

It is a perspective view which shows a part of vehicle provided with the door mirror which is one embodiment of this invention. It is a perspective view which shows the structure of the door mirror shown in FIG. It is a top view which shows the structure of the door mirror shown in FIG. (A)-(c) is a top view which shows a mode that a mirror main body moves from a standing position to a lying position, respectively. (A)-(c) is a side view which shows a mode that a mirror main body moves from a standing position to a lying position, respectively. It is a perspective view which shows a part of vehicle provided with the mirror apparatus for vehicles which is other embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Vehicle 12 Car body 12a Opening part 12b Front pillar 13 Front door 13a Door main body 13b Sash 14 Slide rail 15 Front door glass 21 Door mirror (mirror apparatus for vehicles)
22 Base 23 Mirror body 23a Cover 23b Mirror 24 Lodging mechanism 25 Guide rail 25a, 25b Guide wall 26 Slider 27 Gear part 28 Slit 31, 32 Pinion (Rotating body)
33 Drive shaft 34 Support shaft 35 Bracket 36 Driven gear 37 Electric motor 37a Output shaft 37b Feed line 38 Drive gear 41 Controller 51 Vehicle mirror device L Straight line

Claims (4)

A vehicle mirror device comprising a base provided adjacent to a vehicle front door glass and a mirror body supported by the base,
A guide rail that is provided on either the base or the mirror body and curves with the vehicle side convex;
A slider provided on either the base or the mirror body and mounted on the guide rail so as to be relatively movable;
By the relative movement of the slider with respect to the guide rail, the mirror main body is located on the vehicle front side of the front door glass from the standing position adjacent to the vehicle front end of the front door glass and facing the vehicle rear side. A vehicle mirror device, wherein the mirror device moves to a lying position facing the vehicle.   2. The vehicle mirror device according to claim 1, wherein the guide rail includes a pair of guide walls facing each other at a predetermined interval, and the slider is arranged in a longitudinal direction between the pair of guide walls. A vehicle mirror device comprising a pair of rotating bodies guided by the vehicle.   3. The vehicle mirror device according to claim 1, further comprising an electric motor that automatically operates the mirror main body between the standing position and the lying position.   3. The vehicle mirror device according to claim 2, wherein a gear portion is provided over the entire inner surface of one of the guide walls and the rotating body is a pinion that meshes with the gear portion, and at least one of the pinions is an electric motor. The vehicle mirror device is characterized in that the mirror main body is automatically operated between the standing position and the lying position by being rotationally driven by.

Images