JP2000038115A - Wiper wiping angle control device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve the wiping performance of wipers without degrading windshield visibility. SOLUTION: A control unit 34 controls the wiping region of wiper arms 12 and 14 of a wiper device 10 depending on a wiper wiping speed selected by a wiper control switch 52. When the wiping speed of the wiper arms 12 and 14 is set by the wiper control switch 52 at 'EXT HI', the wiping region of them are narrowed to the driver's seat side. When the wiping speed is other than 'EXT HI', the wiping region of the wiper arms 12 and 14 are not narrowed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a wiper wiping angle control device, and more particularly to a wiper wiping angle control device capable of changing a wiping range on a window shield glass of a vehicle such as an automobile.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as an example of a wiper device for changing a wiping range on a window shield glass of a vehicle such as an automobile under predetermined conditions, a structure as disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 63-202555 is known. Have been.

As shown in FIG. 6, in this wiper device, when the vehicle is running at a normal speed, the wiper arm 10
0 is the driver's seat side 102 of the windshield glass 102
A is reciprocated from A to the passenger side 102B, and this area is wiped by the wiper blade 104. On the other hand, when the vehicle speed sensor 106 detects that the vehicle speed is equal to or higher than the predetermined speed when the vehicle is running at a high speed equal to or higher than the predetermined speed, each of the linear actuators 108
The wiper arm 100 is actuated to reduce the reciprocating motion of the wiper arm 100 by reducing the link length of the link arm 112, and the reciprocating swing range of the wiper arm 100 is reduced by extending or shortening the link length of the link rod 114. And the wiper motor 116
Is operated at a high speed to improve the wiping performance of the windshield glass 102 on the driver side 102A.

[0004]

However, in this wiper device, even when the operation mode of the wiper device is L (low), that is, when the wiping speed of the wiper arm 100 is low, the setting by the vehicle speed sensor 106 is performed. When a vehicle speed higher than the speed is detected, the windshield glass 10
In this configuration, only the driver's seat side 102A is wiped. On the other hand, when the wiping speed of the wiper arm 100 is low, first, it is general to operate the wiper switch from L (low) to H (high) to increase the wiping speed of the wiper arm 100. In this regard, in this regard, in this wiper device, the visibility may be impaired by narrowing the wiping range to the driver's seat side.

In view of the above, an object of the present invention is to provide a wiper wiping angle control device capable of improving wiping performance without impairing visibility.

[0006]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a wiper wiping angle control device according to the present invention, wherein a wiper arm on which a wiper blade is mounted is swung on a windshield glass surface.
A wiper device for wiping the windshield glass surface, a wiping speed selecting means for selecting a wiping speed of the wiper arm, and a wiping range in the wiper device are determined based on the wiper wiping speed selected by the wiping speed selecting device. And control means.

Therefore, the wiping range in the wiper device can be controlled by the wiping speed selecting means which can be selected by the driver. For example, when the amount of rainfall increases while the vehicle is running at a high speed and the driver sets the wiping speed of the wiper arm to the fast mode by the wiping speed selection means, the wiping range of the wiper device is narrowed only to the driver's seat side. This makes it possible to narrow the wiping range in accordance with the driver's view narrowed by increasing the vehicle speed. For this reason, wiping properties can be improved without impairing visibility. Further, if a drive motor of the inversion drive system is used, it is possible to narrow the wiping range in the wiper device and increase the wiping speed of the wiper.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a wiper wiping angle control apparatus for wiping a wiper arm on which a wiper blade is mounted on a windshield glass surface to wipe the windshield glass surface, and a wiper arm of the wiper arm. Wiping speed selecting means for selecting the wiping speed, vehicle speed detecting means for detecting the speed of the vehicle, the wiper wiping speed selected by the wiping speed selecting means, based on the vehicle speed detected by the vehicle speed detecting means, Control means for determining a wiping range in the wiper device.

Therefore, the control means determines the wiping range in the wiper device based on the wiper wiping speed selected by the wiping speed selecting means and the vehicle speed detected by the vehicle speed detecting means. As a result, the wiping range of the wiper device can be controlled by the wiping speed selection means that can be selected by the driver based on the amount of rainfall and the vehicle speed.

For example, even if the vehicle is running at high speed, if the amount of rainfall is not large and the driver sets the wiping speed of the wiper arm to a low speed by the wiping speed selection means, the wiping range of the wiper device is reduced. You can not. As a result, the driver can use the wiping speed selecting means as necessary.
The wiping performance can be improved by increasing the wiping speed of the wiper arm. For this reason, it is preferable for the visibility rather than inadvertently narrowing the wiping range.

On the other hand, when the vehicle is running at a high speed and the amount of rainfall is large and the driver sets the wiping speed of the wiper arm to the fast mode by the wiping speed selecting means, the wiping range of the wiper device is operated. By narrowing only to the seat side, the wiping range can be narrowed according to the driver's view narrowed by the high vehicle speed, so that the wiping performance can be improved without impairing the visibility. Further, if a drive motor of the inversion drive system is used, it is possible to narrow the wiping range in the wiper device and increase the wiping speed of the wiper.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the wiper wiping angle control device according to the second aspect, the control means determines that the wiper wiping speed selected by the wiping speed selecting means is faster than a predetermined speed and the vehicle speed is detected. When the vehicle speed detected by the means is higher than a predetermined speed, the wiping range of the wiper device is narrowed to a driver-side range.

Therefore, when the wiper wiping speed selected by the wiping speed selecting device is faster than the predetermined speed and the vehicle speed detected by the vehicle speed detecting device is faster than the predetermined speed, the control device changes the wiping range of the wiper device to the driver side. Shall be narrow. As a result, when the vehicle is traveling at high speed and the amount of rainfall is large, and the driver sets the wiping speed of the wiper arm to the fast mode by the wiping speed selection means, the wiping range of the wiper device is limited to only the driver's seat side. In this case, the wiping range can be narrowed in accordance with the driver's view narrowed by increasing the vehicle speed, so that the wiping performance can be improved without impairing the visibility on the driver's seat side.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the wiper wiping angle control device according to the second aspect, the control means includes a wiper wiping speed selected by the wiping speed selecting means and a vehicle speed detected by the vehicle speed detecting means. Based on the above, the wiping range of the wiper device is determined to be one of a plurality of preset wiping ranges.

Therefore, in addition to the contents described in claim 2, the control means sets the wiping range of the wiper device based on the wiper wiping speed selected by the wiping speed selecting means and the vehicle speed detected by the vehicle speed detecting means. It can be determined as one of a plurality of preset wiping ranges. As a result, for example, when the vehicle is traveling at a medium speed, the amount of rainfall is not so large, and the driver does not set the wiping speed of the wiper arm by the wiping speed selecting means so long and short, the wiping by the wiper device is performed. The range can be set to an intermediate wiping range among a plurality of preset wiping ranges. Therefore, the wiping properties can be more effectively improved.

[0016]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A first embodiment of a wiper wiping angle control device according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

As shown in FIG. 1, a wiper device 10 of a vehicle according to the present embodiment is of a two-wiper wiping type. A wiper arm 12 on a driver's seat side and a wiper arm 14 on a passenger's seat side are provided with windshield glass. 16 is reciprocated from a position below (the position indicated by the solid line) to a position above the position (the position indicated by the two-dot chain line) 16 to wipe this range.

The wiper device 10 includes a wiper arm 1
A well-known link mechanism 20 for connecting the worm wheel 18 to the worm wheel 18 is provided. An arm 20A forming one end of the link mechanism 20 is fixed to the worm wheel 18, and is integrally formed with the worm wheel 18 in a counterclockwise rotation direction of FIG. A direction) and clockwise in FIG. 1 (arrow B direction in FIG. 1).

Accordingly, when the worm wheel 18 rotates in the counterclockwise direction in FIG. 1 (the direction of arrow A in FIG. 1) about the shaft 22 as the center of rotation, the wiper arm 1
2 and 14 are the pivot shafts 24 and 26 as the center of rotation.
When the worm wheel 18 rotates in the clockwise direction of FIG. 1 (the direction of arrow B in FIG. 1) while the worm wheel 18 rotates about the shaft 22 as a rotation center,
In conjunction with this, the wiper arms 12, 14 swing about the pivot shafts 24, 26 in the clockwise direction in FIG. 1 (the direction of arrow D in FIG. 1).

The worm wheel 18 meshes with the worm 30, and the worm 30 is fixed to an output shaft 32A of a drive motor 32 as a part of the wiper device 10. Therefore, when the output shaft 32A of the drive motor 32 rotates forward (rotation in the direction of arrow E in FIG. 1), the worm wheel 18
Is rotated counterclockwise in FIG. 1 around the shaft 22 (FIG. 1).
(In the direction of arrow A), the output shaft 32 of the drive motor 32
When A rotates in the reverse direction (rotation in the direction of arrow F in FIG. 1), the worm wheel 18 rotates clockwise in FIG. 1 (direction of arrow B in FIG. 1) about the shaft 22 as the center of rotation.

The drive motor 32 is connected to a control unit 34 as control means, and the control unit 34 has a microcomputer.

A disk 36A of a pulse encoder 36 for detecting the wiping speed and the reversal position of the wiper arms 12, 14 is fixed to the shaft 22. A pulse encoder 36 fixed to a support member (not shown)
Is connected to the control unit 34. Therefore, the control unit 34
Can control the rotation speed of the worm wheel 18, that is, the wiping speed of the wiper arms 12, 14 and the reversal position of the wiper arms 12, 14, based on the pulse signal detected by the pulse encoder 36.

A disk 40A of a position detecting sensor 40 as a reference position detecting means for detecting that the wiper arms 12, 14 are at a reference position (the position indicated by the solid line in FIG. 1) is fixed to the shaft 22. The disk 40A has a notch 42 formed therein. In addition, the detection unit 40B of the position detection sensor 40 fixed to a support member (not shown)
Is constituted by an optical sensor as an example, and detects the notch 42 when the wiper arms 12, 14 are at the reference position.

The control unit 34 is connected to a wiper control switch 52 as wiping speed selecting means.

As shown in FIG. 2, the wiper control switch 52 is turned on when the switch section 52A is tilted downward, and the wiper device 10 is operated. The tilt angle of the switch unit 52A downward (in the direction of arrow G in FIG. 2) is changed, and the position of the switch unit 52A is changed from “OFF” (wiper arm stop position) displayed on the outer periphery of the main body to “EXTH
By moving to any one of "I" (the position where the wiping speed of the wiper arm is the fastest), the wiping speed of the wiper arm, that is, the rotation speed of the drive motor 32 can be selected.

Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described.

In this embodiment, the control unit 3
According to 4, when the position of the switch section 52A of the wiper control switch 52 is not, for example, at the position of "EXT HI", the wiping angles of the wiper arms 12, 14 are not changed. That is, when the amount of rainfall is not large and the driver sets the position of the switch section 52A of the wiper control switch 52 to a position other than the position of “EXT HI”, the wiping range of the wiper device is not narrowed. As a result, the control unit 34
6 based on the signal from the detection unit 36B.
2, the wiper arms 12 and 14 are caused to swing between a reference position (a position indicated by a solid line in FIG. 1) and a first inversion position (a position indicated by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 1).

On the other hand, when the position of the switch section 52A of the wiper control switch 52 is at the position of "EXTHI", the control unit 34 changes the wiping range of the wiper arms 12, 14 to the first reversal position (two points in FIG. 1). The position is narrowed to the range on the driver's seat side between the position of the chain line) and the second inversion position (the position of the chain line in FIG. 1).

Specifically, the control unit 34
Performs the reversal control of the drive motor 32 based on the signal from the detection unit 36B of the pulse encoder 36, and moves the wiper arms 12, 14 to the first reversal position (the position indicated by the two-dot chain line in FIG. (The position shown by the dashed line in FIG. 1). For this reason, even if the rotation speed of the drive motor 32 cannot be increased, the wiping range is narrowed, thereby increasing the number of reciprocations within a certain time within the wiping range, and improving the wiping performance in the wiping range on the driver's seat side. it can.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the wiping range of the wiper arms 12, 14 in the wiper device 10 is determined based on the wiper wiping speed selected by the switch section 52A of the wiper control switch 52. At least, the driver can control the wiper arm 12 by using the switch 52A of the wiper control switch 52.
When the wiping speed of the wiper arm 14 is set to be low, the wiping range of the wiper arms 12 and 14 can be prevented from being narrowed.

When the vehicle is running at high speed, the amount of rainfall is large, and the driver sets the wiping speed of the wiper arms 12, 14 to "EXT HI" by the switch section 52A of the wiper control switch 52, By narrowing the wiping range of the wiper arms 12 and 14 only to the driver's seat side, it becomes possible to narrow the wiping range according to the driver's view narrowed by increasing the vehicle speed. Wiping performance can be improved without impairing the performance.

Next, a second embodiment of the wiper wiping angle control device of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

The same members as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted.

As shown in FIG. 3, in this embodiment, the control unit 34 is connected to a wiper control switch 52 as wiping speed selecting means and a vehicle speed sensor 53 as vehicle speed detecting means.

Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

In this embodiment, the control unit 3
4 performs the following processing. First, in step (hereinafter referred to as S) 200, it is determined whether or not the wiper control switch 52 is turned on and the wiper device 10 is in the operating state.

If it is determined in S200 that the wiper device 10 is in the operating state, it is determined in S202 whether the vehicle speed V detected by the vehicle speed sensor 53 is equal to or higher than the predetermined speed V1 (high speed).

When it is determined in S202 that the vehicle speed V detected by the vehicle speed sensor 53 is not higher than the predetermined speed V1 (low speed), in S204, the wiper arm 1
No change in the wiping angles of 2 and 14 is performed. That is, when the vehicle is traveling at a low speed, the driver's field of view is wide without being affected by the vehicle speed.
In this case, if the wiping angle of the wiper arm 4 is reduced, the visibility may decrease.
The wiping angle of No. 4 is not changed.

As a result, the control unit 34
The rotation of the drive motor 32 is controlled based on signals from the detection units 40B and 48B of the position detection sensors 40 and 48,
The wiper arms 12 and 14 are swung between a reference position (a position indicated by a solid line in FIG. 3) and a first inversion position (a position indicated by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 3).

On the other hand, in S202, the vehicle speed sensor 53
If it is determined that the vehicle speed V detected in step S5 is equal to or higher than the predetermined speed V1, in step S206, the position of the switch unit 52A of the wiper control switch 52 is set to "EXT H".
It is determined whether or not the position is "I".

In step S206, the position of the switch section 52A of the wiper control switch 52 is changed to "EXT H".
When it is determined that the wiper arms 12 and 14 are not at the position "I", the wiping angles of the wiper arms 12 and 14 are not changed (wiping angle θ = θ1). That is, even when the vehicle is running at high speed, for example, the amount of rainfall is not large and the driver sets the position of the switch section 52A of the wiper control switch 52 to “E”.
When the position is set to a position other than the position of “XT HI”, the wiping range of the wiper device can be prevented from being narrowed. As a result, the driver can improve the wiping performance by changing the position of the switch section 52A of the wiper control switch 52 to the “EXT HI” side, if necessary, to increase the wiping speed of the wiper arms 12, 14. For this reason, it is more preferable for visibility than to narrow the wiping range of the wiper arms 12 and 14 unnecessarily.

On the other hand, in S206, the position of the switch section 52A of the wiper control switch 52 is changed to "EXT".
If it is determined that the position is “HI”, S208
, The wiping angles of the wiper arms 12 and 14 are narrowed toward the driver's seat side (wiping angles θ = θ2, θ2 <θ1).

That is, when the vehicle is traveling at high speed, for example, when the amount of rainfall is large and the driver sets the position of the switch section 52A of the wiper control switch 52 to the position of "EXT HI", In this wiping range, the wiping speed of the wiper arms cannot be increased any more. Therefore, the wiping range of the wiper arms 12 and 14 is set to the first reversal position (the position indicated by the two-dot chain line in FIG. 3) and the second reversal position (the position indicated by the one-dot chain line in FIG. 3). Position) to the driver's seat side.

Specifically, the control unit 34
Are the detection units 44B, 48B of the position detection sensors 44, 48
And the wiper arms 12 and 14 are moved to the first reversing position (the position indicated by the two-dot chain line in FIG. 3) and the second reversing position (the position indicated by the one-dot chain line in FIG. 3). Swing motion between and. Therefore, the drive motor 3
Even if the rotation speed of 2 cannot be increased, by narrowing the wiping range, the number of reciprocations within a certain time within the wiping range increases,
The wiping performance in the wiping range on the driver's seat side can be improved.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the wiper wiping speed selected by the switch 52A of the wiper control switch 52 and the vehicle speed V detected by the vehicle speed sensor 53 are used.
And the wiper arm 1 in the wiper device 10
In order to determine the wiping ranges 2 and 14, for example, even when the vehicle is running at high speed, the amount of rainfall is small and the driver sets the wiping speed of the wiper arms 12 and 14 to a low speed by the switch 52A of the wiper control switch 52. In this case, the wiping range of the wiper arms 12 and 14 can be prevented from being narrowed. As a result, the driver responds by setting the wiping speed of the wiper arms 12, 14 to the fast mode by the switch section 52A of the wiper control switch 52 as necessary. For this reason, the wiper arm 1
This is preferable in terms of visibility than narrowing the wiping ranges 2 and 14 only to the driver's seat side.

When the vehicle is traveling at high speed and the amount of rainfall is large and the driver sets the wiping speed of the wiper arms 12 and 14 to the fast mode by the switch section 52A of the wiper control switch 52, By narrowing the wiping range of the wiper arms 12 and 14 only on the driver's seat side, according to the driver's view narrowed by increasing the vehicle speed,
Since the wiping range can be narrowed, the wiping performance can be improved without impairing the visibility on the driver's seat side.

In the above, the present invention has been described in detail with respect to a specific embodiment. However, the present invention is not limited to such an embodiment, and various other embodiments are within the scope of the present invention. It is clear to a person skilled in the art that is possible. For example, in each of the above embodiments, the wiping range of the wiper arms 12, 14 is determined to be one of two ranges, a normal range and a narrowed range.
Instead, the wiping range of the wiper arms 12, 14 is set to a plurality of predetermined values based on the wiper wiping speed selected by the switch unit 52A of the wiper control switch 52 and the vehicle speed V detected by the vehicle speed sensor 53. It is good also as a structure determined to one of the wiping ranges.

Specifically, for example, the third embodiment
The reversing position is set, and the control unit 34 performs the processing in S20 of the flowchart of FIG.
The range (wiping angle θ = θ2) between the first reversal position and the second reversal position determined by 0 to S208, the first range to be verified by S200 to S214 in the flowchart of FIG.
The range (wiping angle θ = θ3> θ2) between the reversing position and the third reversing position (the position of the three-dot chain line in FIG. 3), the normal wiping range (wiping verified by S200 to S204 in the flowchart of FIG. 5) Angle θ = θ1).
As a result, for example, the vehicle is running at medium speed (V2 ≦ V <1)
When “HI” is set by the switch unit 52A of the wiper control switch 52, the wiping range of the wiper device is set to one of a plurality of (three in this case) wiping ranges. , A range between the first reversing position and the third reversing position (wiping angle θ = θ2> θ1). Therefore, the wiping performance can be more effectively improved without impairing the visibility.

In the present embodiment, the wiper device 10 is a two-wiper wiping type. However, the present invention can be applied to a one-wiper wiping type (single wiper type).

[0050]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a wiper wiping angle control apparatus for wiping a wiper arm on which a wiper blade is mounted on a windshield glass surface to wipe the windshield glass surface, and a wiper arm. Wiping speed selection means for selecting the wiping speed of the wiping speed, and a control means for determining the wiping range in the wiper device based on the wiper wiping speed selected by the wiping speed selection means, wiping performance without impairing visibility Has an excellent effect that can be improved.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a wiper wiping angle control device for wiping a windshield glass surface by swinging a wiper arm having a wiper blade mounted thereon, and a wiper arm for wiping the windshield glass surface. A wiping speed selecting unit for selecting a speed, a vehicle speed detecting unit for detecting a speed of the vehicle, a wiper wiping speed selected by the wiping speed selecting unit, and a vehicle speed detected by the vehicle speed detecting unit. Since it has the control means for determining the wiping range, there is an excellent effect that the wiping performance can be improved without impairing the visibility.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the wiper wiping angle control device according to the second aspect, the control means detects that the wiper wiping speed selected by the wiping speed selecting means is faster than a predetermined speed and is detected by the vehicle speed detecting means. When the vehicle speed is higher than the predetermined speed, the wiping range of the wiper device is narrowed to the driver's side, so that the wiping performance can be improved without impairing the visibility on the driver's seat side.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the wiper wiping angle control device according to the second aspect, the control means is based on the wiper wiping speed selected by the wiping speed selecting means and the vehicle speed detected by the vehicle speed detecting means. In addition, since the wiping range of the wiper device is determined to be one of a plurality of preset wiping ranges, an excellent effect that wiping performance can be more effectively improved in addition to the effect of claim 1. Having.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating a main part of a wiper wiping angle control device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a wiper control switch of the wiper wiping angle control device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating a main part of a wiper wiping angle control device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a control flowchart of a wiper wiping angle control device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a control flowchart of a wiper wiping angle control device according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating a main part of a wiper device according to a conventional embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 10 wiper device 12 driver's seat wiper arm 14 passenger's seat wiper arm 16 windshield glass 18 worm wheel 20 link mechanism 32 drive motor 34 control unit (control means) 40 position detection sensor 52 wiper control switch (wiping speed selection means) 53) Vehicle speed sensor (vehicle speed detecting means)

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A wiper device for wiping a windshield glass surface by swinging a wiper arm on which a wiper blade is mounted on a windshield glass surface; and a wiping speed selecting means for selecting a wiping speed of the wiper arm. Control means for determining a wiping range in the wiper device based on the wiper wiping speed selected by the wiping speed selecting means. 2. A wiper device for wiping a windshield glass surface by swinging a wiper arm on which a wiper blade is mounted on a windshield glass surface; and a wiping speed selection means for selecting a wiping speed of the wiper arm. Vehicle speed detection means for detecting the speed of the vehicle; control means for determining a wiping range in the wiper device based on the wiper wiping speed selected by the wiping speed selection means and the vehicle speed detected by the vehicle speed detection means. A wiper wiping angle control device, comprising: 3. The wiping range of the wiper device when the wiper wiping speed selected by the wiping speed selecting device is faster than a predetermined speed and the vehicle speed detected by the vehicle speed detecting device is faster than a predetermined speed. 3. The wiper wiping angle control device according to claim 2, wherein the width of the wiper is narrowed to a range on the driver side. 4. The wiping device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit sets a plurality of wiping ranges in the wiper device based on a wiper wiping speed selected by the wiping speed selecting unit and a vehicle speed detected by the vehicle speed detecting unit. 3. The wiper wiping angle control device according to claim 2, wherein the wiper wiping angle control device determines one of the wiping ranges.