JPH0420686Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Industrial field of application] The present invention relates to a device for anti-glare on vehicle mirrors, and in particular, a device for use in vehicles that makes it possible to automatically perform an anti-glare operation when it rains at night. This invention relates to an anti-glare mirror device.

[Conventional technology]

When it rains at night, light is absorbed by water leaks on the road surface, so forward visibility due to headlights when driving a vehicle is significantly reduced. Furthermore, the headlights of the following vehicle are reflected by the rearview mirror and directly enter the driver's eyes, further reducing forward visibility due to glare.

In order to ensure forward visibility under these conditions, it is necessary to keep the interior of the vehicle sufficiently dark,
Incident external light (especially within the driver's vision)
It is necessary to prevent this.

On the other hand, conventionally used anti-glare mirrors include those that use mechanical actuators such as electromagnetic solenoids, stepping motors, and shape memory alloys to operate the mirror to perform anti-glare operations, and those that use liquid crystal display. There are some that use electrochemical reactions such as ECD and ECD to electrically perform anti-glare operations.

These anti-glare mirrors are generally equipped with a device that detects external light (particularly the headlights of a following vehicle), and are configured to automatically operate based on the detection output. In addition, it has become common for indoor meter lighting to be dimmed by active operation.

[Problem that the invention attempts to solve]

As described above, conventional anti-glare mirror control devices for vehicles operate by detecting external light regardless of the presence or absence of rain. Therefore, there has been a problem in that the anti-glare operation cannot compensate for the reduction in forward visibility, especially when it rains at night.

[Purpose of invention]

The present invention is an attempt to solve the problems of the prior art, and its purpose is to provide an anti-glare mirror control device for a vehicle that can improve forward visibility, especially during nighttime rain. shall be.

[Means for solving problems]

In the present invention, a vehicle is equipped with an output circuit having an anti-glare mirror drive control function that inputs a headlight signal from a light switch and correspondingly sends an anti-glare output for driving the anti-glare mirror to the anti-glare mirror. An input interface circuit for inputting a headlight signal from the light switch and a wiper signal from a separately installed wiper starting switch is provided between the output circuit and the light switch; The device is equipped with a determination circuit that is activated when a headlight signal and a wiper signal are input to the interface circuit to permit output operation of the output circuit. Then, the output circuit has a meter illumination lamp drive control function that controls the lighting of the separately equipped meter illumination lamp as necessary, and operates upon receiving an operation permission signal from the judgment circuit to dim the meter illumination lamp. The system has a meter illumination dimming control function. This is intended to achieve the above-mentioned objective.

[Example of idea]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, numeral 1 is a vehicle battery (BATT), numeral 2 is an ignition switch for engine ignition (ING switch), numeral 3 is a front lighting light switch (LT switch), and numeral 4 is
indicates a daylight switch (DIM switch) for switching the direction of illumination of the headlight. Further, reference numeral 5 indicates a small light (SMALL), reference numeral 6 indicates a wiper starting switch (WP switch) for operating the wiper, and reference numeral 7 indicates a wiper motor (M) for operating the wiper. Further, reference numeral 8 indicates a mirror anti-glare device as an anti-glare mirror control device.

In this mirror anti-glare device 8, numeral ₈₁ is an input interface circuit, numeral ₈₂ is an internal power supply,
Reference numeral 8 ₃ is a determination circuit, and reference numeral 8 ₄ is an output circuit.
Further, reference numeral 9 indicates a meter illumination lamp.

That is, this mirror anti-glare device 8 has an anti-glare mirror drive control function that inputs a headlight signal from the light switch 3 and correspondingly sends an anti-glare output for driving the anti-glare mirror to the anti-glare mirror. The output circuit 84 has an output circuit ₈₄ . Further, between this output circuit ₈₄ and the light switch 3, an input interface circuit 81 inputs a headlight signal from the light switch 3 and a wiper signal from a separately provided wiper start switch ₆ .
and a determination circuit ₈₃ that operates when a headlight signal and a wiper signal are input to the input interface circuit 81 and allows the output operation of the output circuit _{84 .}
It is equipped with.

Furthermore, the output circuit ₈₄ described above has a meter illumination lamp drive control function that controls lighting of a separately installed meter illumination lamp as necessary, and a determination circuit 8.
The meter illumination dimming control function is activated in response to an operation permission signal from the meter illumination lamp ₃ and controls the dimming of a separately installed meter illumination lamp 9.

To explain this in more detail, the vehicle battery 1 is
Power is supplied to the ignition device via the ignition switch 2, thereby operating the engine, and power is supplied to each light via the light switch 3. The light switch 3 is capable of three-stage switching operations: OFF, SMALL, and HEAD. In this state, power is supplied to the headlight together with the small light 5 via the daylight switch 4 to turn it on. The daylight switch 4 lights the headlight upward when it is in a high (HIGH) state, and lights the headlight downward when it is in a low (LOW) state. When ignition switch 2 is on, wiper switch 6 is also turned on.
And power is supplied to the wiper motor 7. The wiper switch 6 is set to OFF, LOW,
The wiper motor 7 can be switched between HIGH and LOW.
Rotates at low speed, and rotates at high speed when in HIGH state.

In the mirror anti-glare device 8, when the small light 5 is turned on, the internal power supply ₈₂ operates to supply power to the determination circuit ₈₃ , thereby setting it in a ready state. Furthermore, when the headlight is turned on, the headlight signal is received from the light switch 3, and when the wiper is operated, the wiper switch 6
By receiving the wiper signal from the input interface circuit 81, the input interface circuit ₈₁ generates an output signal.
The determination circuit 8 ₃ determines that it is in a nighttime rainy state based on the power supply from the internal power supply 8 ₂ and the generation of the output signal from the input interface circuit 8 ₁ and generates a determination output signal. When the determination circuit 8 ₃ generates an output, the output circuit 8 ₄ generates an anti-glare output and supplies it to an anti-glare mirror (not shown). As a result, a predetermined anti-glare operation is performed in the anti-glare mirror.

The mirror anti-glare device 8 in this embodiment can be applied to either the mechanical or electrical type anti-glare mirror described above. In addition to room mirrors, the present invention can also be applied to door mirrors as long as they can be operated by their anti-glare output.

Moreover, better results can be obtained by using the mirror anti-glare method in this embodiment in combination with a conventional mirror anti-glare method based on detection of the incidence of external light.

Furthermore, in the embodiment of FIG. 1, the mirror anti-glare device 8 provides a dimming output to the meter illumination lamp 9 from the output circuit ₈₄ during operation. Thereby, the meter illumination lamp in the meter illumination lamp 9 is dimmed. In order to improve forward visibility during nighttime rain, it is desirable that the meter illumination lamp 9 also be dimmed to the necessary minimum. Conventionally, the dimming of the meter illumination lamp 9 was performed exclusively by manual operation using a switch, but according to this embodiment, the number of operations required to ensure forward visibility during nighttime rain can be reduced. It becomes like this. As a dimming method in this case, a conventional voltage drop method or a pulse width modulation (PWM) method using switching can be applied.

FIG. 2 summarizes the operation of the mirror anti-glare device shown in FIG. 1. As shown in the figure, a headlight signal indicating headlight operation and a wiper signal indicating wiper operation are used as input elements, and an output for dimming the rearview mirror (including door mirrors) and an output for dimming the meter illumination are output. As an element, it is shown that anti-glare and dimming operations are performed when the illustrated predetermined conditions are satisfied.

[Effect of idea]

As explained above, according to the present invention, it is possible to automatically perform the anti-glare operation of the mirror when it rains at night, and at the same time, the dimming control of the meter illumination lamp can be operated at the same timing. An unprecedented and practical anti-glare product for vehicles that can effectively improve forward visibility during nighttime rain without any complicated operations, and more effectively reduce driving fatigue during nighttime rain. A mirror control device can be provided.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing the operation of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1... Vehicle battery, 2... Ignition switch, 3... Light switch, 4... Daylight switch, 5... Small light, 6... Wiper switch, 7... Wiper motor, 8... Anti-glare mirror control device. mirror anti-glare device, 8 ₁ ... input interface circuit, 8 ₂ ... internal power supply, 8 ₃ ...
...Judgment circuit, 8 ₄ ...Output circuit.

Claims (1)

[Claims for Utility Model Registration] An output circuit having an anti-glare mirror drive control function that inputs a headlight signal from a light switch and correspondingly sends an anti-glare output for driving the anti-glare mirror to the anti-glare mirror. In the vehicle anti-glare mirror control device comprising: between the output circuit and the light switch;
an input interface circuit for inputting a headlight signal from the light switch and a wiper signal from a separately installed wiper start switch;
The input interface circuit is equipped with a determination circuit that is activated when the headlight signal and the wiper signal are input and allows the output operation of the output circuit, and the output circuit is used for meter lighting that is separately equipped. A meter illumination lamp drive control function that controls lighting of the lamp as necessary, and a meter illumination dimming control function that operates in response to an operation permission signal from the determination circuit and controls dimming of the meter illumination lamp. An anti-glare mirror control device for vehicles, which is characterized by: