CN111717161B

CN111717161B - Moving body

Info

Publication number: CN111717161B
Application number: CN202010135082.6A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 中岛匡贵; 田口龙马
Original assignee: Honda Motor Co Ltd
Current assignee: Honda Motor Co Ltd
Priority date: 2019-03-22
Filing date: 2020-03-02
Publication date: 2023-04-25
Anticipated expiration: 2040-03-02
Also published as: CN111717161A; JP7082079B2; JP2020152324A

Abstract

The invention provides a movable body which can effectively and simply realize defogging/antifogging. The moving body is provided with a monitoring device capable of monitoring the surrounding environment of the moving body through a translucent window member defining the inside and outside of the moving body, a heating device for heating a portion in a monitoring area of the monitoring device in the window member, an air conditioning device for performing air conditioning in the moving body, and a control device for performing drive control of the heating device and the air conditioning device, wherein the heating device includes a first heating portion and a second heating portion which can be independently driven by the control device, the second heating portion is provided at a position on the downstream side of the first heating portion of air-conditioned air from the air conditioning device, and the control device preferentially drives the second heating portion in the first heating portion and the second heating portion when the air conditioning device is in an operating state.

Description

Moving body

Technical Field

The present invention relates generally to a mobile body provided with a monitoring device.

Background

A vehicle is provided with a monitoring device capable of monitoring a surrounding environment in the vehicle (see patent document 1). Such a monitoring device is provided on the inner wall side of the windshield, and can monitor the situation outside the vehicle via the windshield. Patent document 1 describes that a heater composed of a heating wire is provided as a heating device together with a monitoring device to remove fog of a windshield such as dew condensation, frost, ice, and the like.

Prior art literature

Patent literature

Patent document 1: japanese patent application laid-open No. 2018-118617

Disclosure of Invention

Problems to be solved by the invention

Further improvement in control in the above-described structure is required in order to effectively achieve removal of fog (defogging) or difficulty in generation of fog (antifogging). This is not limited to vehicles, and is also true for ships and the like, for example.

An object of an example of the present invention is to enable defogging/antifogging to be achieved efficiently and relatively easily.

Means for solving the problems

An aspect of the present invention relates to a moving body including a monitoring device capable of monitoring a surrounding environment of the moving body through a translucent window member defining an inside and outside of the moving body, a heating device for heating a portion of the window member within a monitoring area of the monitoring device, an air conditioning device for performing air conditioning in the moving body, and a control device for performing drive control of the heating device and the air conditioning device, wherein the heating device includes a first heating portion and a second heating portion which are independently drivable by the control device, the second heating portion is provided at a position on a downstream side of an air-conditioned air from the air conditioning device with respect to the first heating portion, and the control device preferentially drives the second heating portion of the first heating portion and the second heating portion when the air conditioning device is in an operating state.

Effects of the invention

According to the present invention, defogging/antifogging can be effectively and relatively simply achieved.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram for explaining a configuration example of a vehicle according to an embodiment.

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram for explaining a configuration example of the in-vehicle electronic component.

Fig. 3 is a block diagram for explaining an example of a part of the structure in the vehicle.

Fig. 4 is a flowchart for explaining an example of control contents of the control device.

Fig. 5 is a timing chart for explaining an example of control contents of the control device.

Description of the reference numerals

1: a vehicle (moving body); 12F, a window member; 14. an air conditioning device; 151. a monitoring device; 152. a heating device; 1521. an upstream side heating section; 1522. a downstream side heating section; 16: and a control device.

Detailed Description

The embodiments are described in detail below with reference to the drawings. The following embodiments do not limit the invention according to the claims, and the combination of the features described in the embodiments is not necessarily essential to the invention. Two or more of the plurality of features described in the embodiments may be arbitrarily combined. The same or similar structures are denoted by the same reference numerals, and repetitive description thereof will be omitted.

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a vehicle 1 of an embodiment. In order to facilitate understanding of the structure, the X-axis, Y-axis, and Z-axis are shown orthogonal to each other in the figure (the same applies to other figures described below). The X direction corresponds to the vehicle body front-rear direction, the Y direction corresponds to the vehicle body left-right direction or the vehicle width direction, and the Z direction corresponds to the vehicle body up-down direction. In the present specification, expressions of front/rear, left/right (lateral), up/down, inside of the vehicle body/outside of the vehicle body (inside and outside of the vehicle), and the like represent relative positional relationships with respect to the vehicle body 10.

The vehicle 1 is a four-wheel vehicle including a pair of left and right front wheels 11F and a pair of left and right rear wheels 11R, but the number of wheels is not limited thereto. The vehicle 1 is an electric vehicle provided with a battery BT, but may be additionally provided with an internal combustion engine. The battery BT uses a secondary battery such as a lithium ion battery, and the battery BT stores electric power for supplying to corresponding elements in the vehicle 1.

The vehicle 1 further includes

window members

12F and 12R defining the vehicle interior and exterior. The

window members

12F and 12R may be made of a light-transmitting material (e.g., glass, resin, etc.). In the figure, the window member 12F is shown as a windshield, a front window, or a front windshield, and the window member 12R is shown as a rear window or a rear glass, but other window members such as a side window or a side glass may be provided. In the vehicle cabin (cabin), the seat SH is shown as a driver seat for easy viewing, but other seats may be provided in the cabin.

An operation unit 19 for performing a predetermined operation input by a user (mainly, a driver) is provided in the cabin front structure 13 including an instrument panel and the like. In the figure, the steering wheel is shown as a typical example of the operation unit 19, but the operation unit 19 includes other various operation pieces, and the concept of the operation input to the operation unit 19 includes, in addition to the driving operation, the association operation directly/indirectly attached thereto. As an example of the association operation, an operation for air conditioning management of the cabin is given.

As shown in fig. 1, the vehicle 1 further includes an air conditioner 14, electronic components 15, and a control device 16. The air conditioner 14 may have a known structure. For example, the air conditioner 14 includes an evaporator, a compressor, a condenser, piping that connects them and forms a flow path for the refrigerant, various valves provided in the flow path, and the like. The air conditioner 14 includes a blower fan that generates a predetermined air flow as air-conditioned air, a fan motor that drives the blower fan, a heater core that heats the air-conditioned air, and the like.

In addition, the air conditioner 14 further includes an air conditioning duct 141 and a defrosting duct 142, and a door mechanism (e.g., a door, a revolving door, etc.) for switching which of them sends out the air-conditioning air. The defrosting duct 142 is an outlet for sending air-conditioning air toward the window member 12F and blowing air-conditioning air toward the window member 12F, and mainly serves the purpose of defogging/antifogging the window member 12F. Here, the air conditioning duct 141 is a blowout port other than the defrosting duct 142, and is mainly used for cabin air conditioning management. Accordingly, the air conditioner 14 may be configured to include a cabin air blower for blowing air from the air conditioning duct 141 and a defogging/antifogging air blower (defrosting) device) for blowing air from the defrosting duct 142. Although a single air conditioning duct 141 is shown in the figure as being provided in the cabin front structure 13, a plurality of air conditioning ducts 141 are generally provided so that air conditioning air can be sent out toward the user and the periphery thereof (for example, rearward or rearward downward).

The user can control the state of the air conditioner 14 by an operation input to the operation unit 19. In the air conditioner 14 in the operating state or the driving state, the user can select from which of the

ducts

141 and 142 the air-conditioned air is sent out by inputting an operation to the operation unit 19. For example, the user can input a predetermined operation to the operation unit 19 so as to send out air-conditioned air from one of the

ducts

141 and 142 or send out air-conditioned air from both of them. The driving force of the air conditioner 14 (the amount of air-conditioned air) can also be adjusted by the user's operation input to the operation unit 19.

Fig. 2 (a) is a front view showing the structure of the electronic component 15. Fig. 2 (B) is a cross-sectional view of the electronic component 15 along the cutting line d1-d1 in fig. 2 (a). Fig. 2 (B) shows a state in which the air-conditioning wind 142W from the defrosting duct 142 flows along the window member 12F toward the electronic component 15. The electronic component 15 includes a monitoring device 151 capable of monitoring the surrounding environment of the vehicle through the window member 12F and a heating device 152 capable of heating the window member 12F, and is disposed in proximity to the inner wall (vehicle inside surface) of the window member 12F.

As the monitoring device 151, a camera capable of capturing the surrounding environment is used, and in this embodiment, the monitoring device 151 includes a device body 1510, a detection unit 1511, and a base 1512. The detection unit 1511 uses a known imaging sensor such as a CCD/CMOS image sensor, and the detection unit 1511 can detect or capture the surrounding environment (in the case of the front of the vehicle 1 in the present embodiment). The main body 1510 has a processor for processing the detection result of the detection unit 1511, and the processing result of the processor is output as image data to the control device 16 described later.

The base 1512 is a bracket for fixing the main body 1510 and the detection unit 1511 to the vehicle body 10 and fixing a heating device 152 described later. The substrate 1512 includes an abutment portion 1512a and a recess portion 1512b. The contact portion 1512a contacts the inner wall of the window member 12F, and is fixed to the window member 12F via an adhesive, for example.

The recess 1512b is formed to be recessed from the contact portion 1512a, and has a substantially triangular or trapezoidal shape in a plan view or a front view. An opening is provided in the rear portion of the recess 1512b, thereby exposing the detection surface of the detection portion 1511. That is, the base material 1512 is disposed opposite to the inner wall of the window member 12F in the recess 1512b, and a space SP1 is formed between the base material and the window member 12F, and the detection surface of the detection portion 1511 is located in the space SP1. As is clear from fig. 2 (B), the space SP1 is formed so as to be narrowed from the rear side toward the front side in a side view.

With this configuration, the monitoring device 151 can monitor the surrounding environment (in the case of the front of the vehicle 1 in the present embodiment) through the window member 12F. The surface of the recess 1512b may be provided with a concave-convex shape by performing surface processing for suppressing reflected light, for example, but may be colored in accordance with or instead of a predetermined color.

The portion (and the peripheral portion thereof) of the window member 12F within the monitored area of the monitoring device 151 is referred to as a portion 12F1. In the present embodiment, the portion 12F1 corresponds to a portion located forward and upward of the space SP1. Here, as described above, an opening for exposing the detection surface of the detection portion 1511 is provided in the rear portion of the recess 1512b. As is clear from fig. 2 (B), a gap is formed between the front end portion of the recess 1512B and the window member 12F. Therefore, the space SP1 is not substantially sealed and communicates with the vehicle interior.

However, in such a space SP1, the window member 12F and the base 1512 are surrounded, so that the flow of gas (air) is likely to be stopped, and fog may be likely to occur in the portion 12F1 depending on the environment (mainly, temperature and humidity) of the vehicle 1. As a typical example, this mist may be generated by adhesion of water droplets or the like when the humidity of the cabin is relatively high and the temperature of the window member 12F is relatively low.

The heating device 152 includes an upstream side heating portion 1521, a downstream side heating portion 1522, and a driver 1520 for driving them. The

heating units

1521 and 1522 are disposed in parallel on the upstream side and downstream side of the air-conditioning air 142W, respectively. That is, the heating portion 1521 is disposed at a position upstream of the air-conditioning wind 142W with respect to the heating portion 1522, in other words, the heating portion 1522 is disposed at a position downstream of the air-conditioning wind 142W with respect to the heating portion 1521. The driver 1520 is a heater driver capable of driving one or both of the

heating parts

1521 and 1522.

The

heating portions

1521 and 1522 are provided in the recess 1512b of the base material 1512, and heat the portion 12F1 via gas (air) in the space SP1. Accordingly, when the air conditioner 14 is in the operating state, the gas flowing into the space SP1 from the gap between the front end portion of the recess 1512b and the window member 12F is heated by the heating portions 1521 and/or 1522, thereby heating the portion 12F1. When the air conditioner 14 is in the operation state, the gas in the space SP1 flows out from the opening in the rear portion of the recess 1512b (the opening exposing the detection surface of the detection portion 1511) as the gas flows into the space SP1.

In this way, the heating device 152 removes the mist of the portion 12F1 and/or performs the mist prevention of the portion 12F1 (may be referred to as "mist prevention/fog prevention" in the present specification). The heating device 152 may be configured to generate desired heat in each of the

heating portions

1521 and 1522. In the present embodiment, the

heating portions

1521 and 1522 are configured such that electric heating wires are placed in the concave portions 1512b, and the electric heating wires are energized by the actuator 1520 to generate heat. A current based on the electric power of the battery BT is supplied to the heating wire through the driver 1520. In this way, the

heating portions

1521, 1522 may be disposed within the recess 1512b, or may be disposed on the back (lower) surface of the recess 1512b.

Here, when the driving force of the air conditioner 14 (the amount of air-conditioned air) is increased, the inflow amount of air into the space SP1 increases. Further, when the driving force (heat generation amount) of the heating device 152 is increased, the portion 12F1 of the window member 12F is rapidly heated through the space SP1. Therefore, when summarized from the viewpoint of defogging/antifogging, defogging/antifogging can be more effectively achieved if the driving force of the air conditioning device 14 and/or the heating device 152 is increased.

In the present embodiment, the control device 16 is an ECU (electronic control unit) provided with a CPU (central processing unit), a memory, and an external communication interface, and performs drive control of each element of the vehicle 1 based on a predetermined program. As another embodiment, the control device 16 may be a semiconductor device such as a PLD (programmable logic device) or an ASIC (application specific integrated circuit). That is, the functions of the control device 16 described in this specification can be realized by either hardware or software.

Fig. 3 is a block diagram showing a part of the system structure of the vehicle 1. The control device 16 transmits and receives signals to and from several elements included in the vehicle 1, and performs drive control of the elements based on, for example, an operation input to the operation unit 19 by a user.

For example, the control device 16 performs drive control of the air conditioner 14. The drive control includes, for example, adjustment of the driving force (air volume of the air-conditioning air) of the air-conditioning apparatus 14, and is performed based on an operation input to the operation unit 19 by the user. The driving force of the air conditioner 14 can be adjusted by changing the rotational speed of the blower fan, for example.

The control device 16 receives information (image data in the present embodiment) indicating the surrounding environment from the monitoring device 151, and performs predetermined driving assistance based on the information. The driving assistance referred to herein means so-called automatic driving that includes at least a part of driving operations (typically acceleration, braking, and steering) performed on the control device 16 side rather than the driver side, in addition to providing the driver with information necessary/useful for driving.

The control device 16 also performs drive control of the heating device 152. The heating device 152 is driven by the control device 16 based on satisfaction of a predetermined condition described later, but may be driven in response to an operation input to the operation unit 19 by a user.

For convenience of explanation, the control device 16 is shown as a single unit in fig. 3, but in many cases, the control device 16 is configured such that a plurality of ECUs are provided so as to be communicable with each other, and the plurality of ECUs can be provided at corresponding positions of the vehicle body 10. Each ECU may be configured by mounting one or more electronic components on a mounting board.

Fig. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of the control content of the control device 16. The outline of the present flowchart is to drive the heating device 152 based on the evaluation result of the fogging degree of the window member 12F, and in this case, when the air conditioner 14 is in the operation state, the downstream side heating portion 1522 of the

heating portions

1521, 1522 is preferentially driven. These are performed by the control device 16 mainly by the CPU executing a predetermined program. Here, the air conditioner 14 being in an operating state means that, as an aspect, air blowing by the defrosting duct 142 is performed.

In step S1010 (hereinafter, simply referred to as "S1010". The same applies to the other steps), the fogging degree of the portion 12F1 of the window member 12F is evaluated. The evaluation includes evaluation of the degree of fog in the relatively near future (whether there is a possibility of fog in the relatively near future) in addition to the actual degree of fog (whether there is actual fog) at the time of the evaluation. These evaluations can be performed by a known method, and for example, the actual fogging degree can be evaluated by performing predetermined image analysis on image data, which is the monitoring result of the monitoring device 151. Further, the degree of fogging in the relatively near future can be evaluated based on the temperature outside the vehicle and/or the humidity inside the vehicle.

In S1020, it is determined whether the evaluation result in S1010 satisfies a predetermined condition. If it is determined based on the evaluation result of S1010 that there is a possibility of actual fogging or a possibility of fogging in a relatively close future, the flow proceeds to S1030. On the other hand, if it is not determined that there is a possibility of actual fogging or a possibility of fogging in a relatively close future, the present flowchart is ended.

In S1030, it is determined whether or not the air conditioner 14 is in an operating state. When the air conditioner 14 is in the inactive state (when the operation is suppressed), the process advances to S1040. On the other hand, when the air conditioner 14 is in the operating state, the process advances to S1050.

In S1040, in response to the determination in S1030 that the air conditioner 14 is in the inactive state, both the

heating units

1521 and 1522 are driven and the process advances to S1080. As described above, when the driving force of the air conditioner 14 and/or the heating device 152 is increased, defogging/antifogging can be more effectively achieved. Therefore, in this case, when the air conditioner 14 is in a rest state, both the

heating units

1521 and 1522 are driven, thereby enhancing the defogging/antifogging action.

In S1050, the downstream heating portion 1522 is driven in response to the determination in S1030 that the air conditioner 14 is in the operating state. Thereby, the air flowing into the space SP1 is heated by the operation of the air conditioner 14, and the portion 12F1 of the window member 12F is heated to perform defogging/antifogging. As will be described in detail later, according to the above-described embodiment, defogging/antifogging is performed by the air-conditioning wind 142W on the upstream side and defogging/antifogging is performed by the heating portion 1522 on the downstream side, whereby it is possible to uniformly realize and prevent wasteful driving of the heating device 152.

In S1060, it is determined whether the fogging degree is sufficiently improved. This determination may be performed by, for example, evaluating the degree of fogging after a predetermined time has elapsed in the same manner as in S1010 described above after S1050. If the predetermined time has elapsed, the process proceeds to S1070, in which the fogging degree is not sufficiently improved, whereas if the predetermined time has elapsed, the process proceeds to S1080, in which the fogging degree is sufficiently improved, or if the predetermined time has not elapsed.

In S1070, the upstream heating portion 1521 is further driven in response to the determination in S1060 that the degree of fogging has not sufficiently improved. That is, in S1050, the downstream side heating portion 1522 is preferentially driven, but if the effect is insufficient, the upstream side heating portion 1521 is further driven. This improves the defogging/antifogging effect insufficient for driving the downstream side heating portion 1522 in S1050.

In S1080, it is determined whether defogging/anti-fogging is completed. This determination may be performed by the same method as S1010 described above, for example, but may be performed based on the elapsed time from the start of the driving of the heating device 152. The elapsed time may be a fixed value or a variable value based on the temperature outside the vehicle and/or the humidity inside the vehicle. If defogging/antifogging is completed, the process proceeds to S1090, otherwise, the process returns to S1030.

In S1090, the heating device 152 is deactivated (the suppressing operation), and the flowchart ends. In general, the window member 12F can include a heat insulating layer as an intermediate layer, and therefore, once the inner wall of the window member 12F becomes hot, the above-described fogging is difficult to generate. Therefore, S1090 (rest of the heating device 152) may also be performed promptly after defogging/antifogging is completed. On the other hand, as another embodiment, S1090 may be omitted after the completion of defogging/antifogging (the heating device 152 may be maintained in an operating state), and in this case, antifogging action by the heating device 152 is continued.

Fig. 5 (a) and 5 (B) are timing charts for explaining examples of control contents of the control device 16 based on the above-described flowcharts. The horizontal axis in the figure is a time axis, and the vertical axis shows the evaluation result of the fogging degree (the evaluation value d.) obtained in S1010, the state of the downstream side heating portion 1522, and the state of the upstream side heating portion 1521.

The evaluation value D is set to a value indicating the haze of the window member 12F. For example, the numerical values that increase in order of the actual fog, the actual non-fog but the possibility of fog in the near future, and the actual non-fog and the possibility of fog in the near future are given as the evaluation values D. That is, it can be said that the larger the evaluation value D is, the higher the necessity of defogging/antifogging is. The evaluation value D is a numerical value here, but may be provided by a predetermined code using letters, symbols, or the like, as long as the relative relationship of the haze easiness can be expressed.

The reference value D is used in the determination at S1020 _TH1 When D > D _TH1 (D≥D _TH1 ) If it is S1030. Other reference value D is used in the determination of S1080 _TH2 In the case of D < D _TH2 (D≤D _TH2 ) If it is S1090.

In the example of fig. 5 (a), for example, at time T10, the evaluation value D reaches the reference value D _TH1 The downstream heating portion 1522 is driven (S1050). Defogging/antifogging is performed by driving the downstream side heating portion 1522, and the evaluation value D decreases with the passage of time. Thereafter, at time T11, the evaluation value D reaches the reference value D _TH2 And the driving of the downstream side heating portion 1522 is suppressed (S1090).

In the example of fig. 5 (B), after the downstream heating portion 1522 is driven at time T10 (after S1050), the evaluation value D is not sufficiently lowered at time T20 after a predetermined time has elapsed (S1060), and the upstream heating portion 1521 is driven in accordance therewith (S1070). Thereafter, at time T21, the evaluation value D reaches the reference value D _TH2 While the driving of the

heating portions

1521, 1522 is suppressed (S1090).

The flowchart may be partially modified within a range not departing from the gist thereof, and for example, other steps may be added, or the order of the steps may be changed.

For example, in S1030, it is assumed here that either one of S1040 and S1050 is performed depending on whether the air conditioner 14 is in the inactive state or the operating state, but the determination in S1030 may be performed based on whether or not the driving amount of the air conditioner 14 is equal to or less than the reference. For example, the process may proceed to S1040 when the driving force of the air conditioner 14 is equal to or less than the reference, and otherwise proceed to S1050.

For example, when both the

heating units

1521 and 1522 are driven in S1040, the driving of one of them (i.e., the heating unit 1522) on the upper side in the vertical direction may be suppressed without suppressing the driving of both the units in S1090 thereafter. Since the heated gas is generally directed from below to above, according to such a control method, wasteful driving of the heating device 152 can be prevented, and defogging/antifogging can be continuously performed.

For example, in S1050, the downstream heating portion 1522 of the

heating portions

1521, 1522 is driven, but the upstream heating portion 1521 may be driven with a relatively small driving force. In other words, in S1050, the downstream side heating portion 1522 of the

heating portions

1521, 1522 may be driven with priority, and the downstream side heating portion 1522 may be driven with at least a larger driving force than the upstream side heating portion 1521. In this case, the magnitude relation of the driving forces of the

heating portions

1521, 1522 can be typically determined based on the total heat generation amount or the power consumption thereof. Thus, preferential as referred to herein means relatively dominant in terms of time and/or effect.

For example, S1060 and S1080 may be performed in the order of the other embodiments, or may be performed substantially in parallel as the other embodiments. Thus, for example, the evaluation value D quickly reaches the reference value D after S1050 _TH2 In the case of (3), S1080 may be performed instead of S1060.

According to the control method described above, when the air conditioner 14 is in the operation state, the downstream heating portion 1522 of the

heating portions

1521 and 1522 is driven. Thus, the defogging/antifogging of the portion 12F1 of the window member 12F is performed on the upstream side by the air-conditioning air 142W, and the defogging/antifogging of the portion 12F1 of the window member 12F is performed on the downstream side by the downstream side heating portion 1522. Thus, defogging/antifogging can be uniformly achieved. Incidentally, wasteful driving of the heating device 152 can also be prevented by suppressing driving of the upstream side heating portion 1521, and the power consumption of the battery BT can be reduced. In this way, defogging/antifogging of the window member 12F can be achieved effectively and relatively easily.

The above arrangement is advantageous in a structure in which the window member 12F is disposed at a relatively large inclination angle in a side view. The tilt angle here means an angle between the extending direction of (at least the portion 12F1 of) the window member 12F and the X direction in side view. When the inclination angle of the window member 12F is relatively large, the central portion of the monitoring area of the monitoring device 151 may be deviated to the downstream side of the air-conditioning wind 142W of the portion 12F1. Therefore, the driving of the downstream side heating portion 1522 is more effective than the driving of the gas flowing into the space SP1 by the operation of the air conditioner 14 for defogging/anti-fog of the center portion.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the air conditioner 14 is in an operating state, that is, the air blowing by the defrosting duct 142 is performed. However, even when the air-conditioning duct 141 is used for blowing air, the same can be said to be the case as described above, except that the amount of air-blowing (the amount of inflow of air accompanying this into the space SP 1) is relatively small. Therefore, in the determination in S1030, the flow may be advanced to S1050 when the air blowing of at least one of the

ducts

141 and 142 is being executed.

In many cases, the air conditioner 14 may include an internal air circulation mode (a mode in which air in the vehicle is circulated and conditioned) and an external air introduction mode (a mode in which air outside the vehicle is taken into the vehicle and conditioned), as operation modes thereof. The control of the control device 16 in the present embodiment may be performed in either of the internal gas circulation mode and the external gas introduction mode, but in order to achieve the defogging/antifogging more effectively, the external gas introduction mode is more preferable.

In the embodiment, the video camera is shown as the monitoring device 151 as a preferable example, but the content of the embodiment can be applied to other devices having a monitoring function. For example, the fog (water droplets adhering to the inner wall, etc.) of the window member 12F may cause the refractive index to vary, which may cause the monitoring area of the monitoring device 151 to vary. Therefore, the monitoring device 151 may also be a radar (millimeter wave radar) or LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging). The monitoring device 151 may be a device that monitors the rear or side of the vehicle 1, and for example, the content of the embodiment may be applied to defogging/antifogging of the window member 12R.

In the above description, each element is shown by a name related to its functional aspect for easy understanding, but each element is not limited to the content described in the embodiment as a main function, and may be provided with assistance. For example, in the present specification, the vehicle 1 is illustrated as a typical example, but the content of the embodiment can be applied to an object (a ship or the like) without wheels, that is, can be applied to a wide variety of moving bodies.

Several features of the above embodiments are summarized below:

a first aspect relates to a mobile unit (e.g., 1) including a monitoring device (e.g., 151) capable of monitoring a surrounding environment of the mobile unit through a translucent window member (e.g., 12F) defining an inside and an outside of the mobile unit, a heating device (e.g., 2) for heating a portion (e.g., 12F 1) in a monitored area of the monitoring device in the window member, an air conditioning device (e.g., 14) for performing air conditioning in the mobile unit, and a control device (e.g., 16) for performing drive control of the heating device and the air conditioning device, wherein the heating device includes a first heating portion (e.g., 1521) and a second heating portion (e.g., 1522) that are independently drivable by the control device, the second heating portion being provided at a position downstream of air-conditioned air from the air conditioning device relative to the first heating portion, and the control device preferentially driving the first heating portion and the second heating portion (e.g., S1050) in the first heating portion and the second heating portion when the air conditioning device is in an operating state. By defogging/preventing the window member by using the air-conditioning wind from the air-conditioning apparatus on the upstream side and defogging/preventing the window member by using the second heating portion on the downstream side, useless driving of the heating apparatus can be uniformly achieved and prevented. Thus, defogging/antifogging of the window member can be effectively and relatively easily achieved. The above arrangement is advantageous in a structure in which the window member is disposed at a relatively large inclination angle in a side view.

In a second aspect, the monitoring device includes a detection unit (e.g., 1511) that detects the surrounding environment, and a base material (e.g., 1512) that is disposed so as to face the inner surface of the window member and that has a detection surface of the detection unit located in a space between the detection unit and the window member, the space being in communication with the mobile body. Thus, the air-conditioning air can be caused to flow into the space, and the defogging/antifogging can be appropriately performed.

In a third aspect, the substrate includes a portion (for example, 1512 b) that is surface-treated so as to suppress reflected light toward a monitoring region of the monitoring device. This is also advantageous for improving the monitoring performance of the monitoring device.

In a fourth aspect, the heating device is provided in the surface-treated portion of the base material. This is also advantageous in improving the effect of suppressing reflected light.

In a fifth aspect, the heating device is provided on the back surface of the surface-treated portion of the base material. This is also advantageous in improving the effect of suppressing reflected light.

In a sixth aspect, when the operation of the air conditioner is suppressed, the control device drives both the first heating unit and the second heating unit (S1040, for example). Thus, even when the operation of the air conditioner is suppressed, defogging/antifogging of the window member can be appropriately achieved.

In a seventh aspect, the control device suppresses driving of one of the first heating unit and the second heating unit on the upper side in the vertical direction when a predetermined condition is satisfied after driving both of them. Since the heated gas generally goes from the lower side to the upper side, according to the seventh aspect, useless driving of the heating device can be prevented, and defogging/antifogging can be continuously performed.

In an eighth aspect, the control device further drives the first heating unit when a predetermined condition is satisfied after driving the second heating unit when the air conditioning device is in an operation state (e.g., S1070). In the case where defogging/antifogging is insufficient by driving the second heating portion, defogging/antifogging can be achieved by driving the first heating portion as well.

In a ninth aspect, the control device drives the second heating portion with a larger driving force than the first heating portion when the air conditioning device is in an operating state. This makes it possible to desirably realize the first aspect.

In a tenth aspect, the monitoring device is a camera (e.g., 1511) for monitoring a front of the moving body, and the window member is a windshield (e.g., 12F). That is, the above embodiments can be preferably applied to a mobile body (typically, a vehicle) having a driving support function.

In an eleventh aspect, the moving body is an electric vehicle (for example, 1). This can prevent wasteful driving of the heating device, and can reduce the power consumption of the battery.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications and changes can be made within the scope of the gist of the present invention.

Claims

1. A movable body, characterized in that,

the moving body is provided with:

a monitoring device capable of monitoring the surrounding environment of a moving body through a translucent window member defining the inside and outside of the moving body;

a heating device for heating a portion of the window member within a monitoring area of the monitoring device;

an air conditioner that performs air conditioning in the moving body; and

a control device for controlling the driving of the heating device and the air conditioner,

the heating device includes a first heating portion and a second heating portion that can be independently driven by the control device, the second heating portion being provided at a position on a downstream side of air-conditioning wind from the air-conditioning device with respect to the first heating portion,

the control means evaluates the degree of fogging of the window member based on the monitoring result of the monitoring means,

when the fogging degree reaches a reference value and the air conditioner is in an operating state, the control device preferentially drives the second heating unit in the first heating unit and the second heating unit.

2. The movable body according to claim 1, wherein,

the monitoring device includes:

a detection unit that detects the surrounding environment; and

a base material disposed so as to face the inner surface of the window member and so that the detection surface of the detection portion is located in a space between the base material and the window member,

the space is in communication with the mobile body.

3. The movable body according to claim 2, wherein,

the substrate includes a portion that is surface-treated to suppress reflected light to a monitoring area of the monitoring device.

4. The movable body according to claim 3, wherein,

the heating device is disposed at the surface-processed portion of the base material.

5. The movable body according to claim 3, wherein,

the heating device is disposed on the back surface of the surface-processed portion of the base material.

6. The movable body according to claim 1, wherein,

when the operation of the air conditioner is suppressed, the control device drives both the first heating unit and the second heating unit.

7. The movable body according to claim 6, wherein,

the control device suppresses driving of one of the first heating unit and the second heating unit on the upper side in the vertical direction when a predetermined condition is satisfied after driving both of them.

8. The movable body according to claim 1, wherein,

the control device further drives the first heating unit when a predetermined condition is satisfied after driving the second heating unit when the air conditioning device is in an operation state.

9. The movable body according to claim 1, wherein,

the control device drives the second heating portion with a larger driving force than the first heating portion when the air conditioning device is in an operating state.

10. The movable body according to claim 1, wherein,

the monitoring means is a camera for monitoring the front of the moving body,

the window member is a windshield.

11. The movable body according to claim 1, wherein,

the control device also evaluates the fogging degree based on a temperature outside the mobile body and/or a humidity inside the mobile body.

12. The mobile unit according to any one of claims 1 to 11,

the moving body is an electric vehicle.