JP2001206150A - Mirror for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a mirror for a vehicle capable of confirming work of a heater for performing defrost or defog of a substrate glass without touching it. SOLUTION: In an electro chromic glare-proof mirror 10, a heater 22 on the back side of the substrate glass 12 is worked to heat the substrate 12 to defrost or defog the substrate glass. When the heater 22 is worked, a current is supplied to a display part 20 installed in a transparent conductive film 14, and by passing the current, a display portion 16B of an electro chromic film 16 develops color. Work of the heater can be confirmed by only seeing the color development of the display portions 16B without touching the substrate glass 12. Work of the heater 22 can be warned and touch of a person to the substrate glass heated by the heater 22 to high temperature can be prevented.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicle mirror provided with a heater for defrosting or demisting substrate glass.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A vehicle mirror installed on a vehicle is provided with, for example, a substrate glass, and a reflection film is provided on the back surface of the substrate glass. The reflection film is capable of reflecting light transmitted through the substrate glass, so that the rear of the vehicle can be visually recognized.

Further, a heater, for example, is provided on the back surface side of the reflection film, and the heater is operated to heat the substrate glass. Thus, defrosting or demisting of the substrate glass can be performed.

However, in such a vehicle mirror, when the substrate glass is heated by operating the heater, the temperature of the substrate glass becomes high. Here, since there is no way to visually check whether or not the heater is operating, it is considered that there is a case where the user tries to check whether or not the heater is operating by touching the substrate glass with a sense of warmth. Then, there is a possibility that the substrate glass heated by the heater and heated to a high temperature may be touched and felt hot.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above, an object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle mirror capable of confirming whether or not a heater is operated without touching a substrate glass.

[0006]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a vehicle mirror provided on a back side of a substrate glass and provided with a transparent conductive film capable of transmitting light and a back side of the transparent conductive film. A light-reflective reflective conductive film, an electrochromic film sandwiched between the transparent conductive film and the reflective conductive film, and colored by being energized by the transparent conductive film and the reflective conductive film; A heater provided on the back surface side of the conductive film and heating the substrate glass by being supplied with a current from a power source and being operated, at least one of the transparent conductive film and the reflective conductive film. A display unit that is provided electrically independently and is supplied with a current when the heater is operated to partially energize the electrochromic film to develop a color. .

[0007] The vehicle mirror according to claim 1 is a so-called electrochromic anti-glare mirror, wherein the electrochromic film sandwiched between the transparent conductive film and the reflective conductive film on the back side of the substrate glass is formed of a transparent conductive film and a transparent conductive film. By applying electricity through the reflective conductive film, the electrochromic film is colored. Thereby, the brightness of the reflected light is adjusted.

Further, the heater provided on the back side of the reflective conductive film is supplied with current from a power supply and is operated to heat the substrate glass. Thus, defrosting or demisting of the substrate glass is performed.

Here, in the vehicle mirror according to the first aspect, the display unit is provided electrically independent of at least one of the transparent conductive film and the reflective conductive film, and this display is provided when the heater is operated. When a current is supplied to the display unit, the electrochromic film is partially energized to develop color.
That is, when the heater is operated, a portion corresponding to the display portion of the electrochromic film (hereinafter, referred to as a “display portion”) is colored so that the electrochromic film can be electrochromic even without touching the substrate glass. It is possible to confirm whether or not the heater has been operated simply by checking whether or not the display portion of the film is colored. Therefore, it is possible to warn that the heater is operating, and to prevent a person from touching the substrate glass heated by the heater and having a high temperature.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the vehicle mirror according to the first aspect, a current is supplied to the display unit by the power supply that supplies a current to the heater.

In the vehicle mirror according to the present invention, since the current is supplied to the display section by the power supply for supplying the current to the heater, it is not necessary to independently provide a power supply for supplying the current to the display section. The wiring to the display unit can be shortened. Therefore, cost can be reduced.

[0012]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a main part of an electrochromic anti-glare mirror 10 according to an embodiment to which a vehicle mirror according to the present invention is applied. FIG. 2 shows the electrochromic anti-glare mirror 10 in a front view. Further, FIG.
The electrochromic anti-glare mirror 10 installed on a vehicle is shown in a front view.

The electrochromic antiglare mirror 10 according to the present embodiment has a substrate glass 12. A transparent conductive film 14 is provided on the back surface side of the substrate glass 12, and the transparent conductive film 14 is capable of transmitting light. An electrochromic film 16 is provided on the back surface of the transparent conductive film 14, and the electrochromic film 16 develops color when energized. On the back side of the electrochromic film 16, a reflective conductive film 18 is provided.
Numeral 8 indicates that light can be reflected. Here, the transparent conductive film 14
Is connected to the wiring 14A, the wiring 18A is connected to the reflective conductive film 18, and the electrochromic film 16 is sandwiched between the transparent conductive film 14 and the reflective conductive film 18. Therefore, when the electrochromic film 16 is energized by the transparent conductive film 14 and the reflective conductive film 18 via the wiring 14A and the wiring 18A, the electrochromic film 16 is colored, thereby adjusting the brightness of the reflected light. It has a configuration. The portion of the electrochromic film 16 that is colored by the transparent conductive film 14 and the reflective conductive film 18 is hereinafter referred to as “anti-glare portion 16A”.

A display portion 20 having a character shape is provided at a peripheral portion of the transparent conductive film 14. The display unit 20 is provided with a routing unit 20 </ b> A, and the routing unit 20 </ b> A extends the display unit 20 to the edge of the electrochromic anti-glare mirror 10. The display unit 20 (including the routing unit 20A) is electrically independent of the transparent conductive film 14, and is independent of the transparent conductive film 14, as described later in detail.
When a current is supplied between the electrochromic film 16 and the reflective conductive film 18, the electrochromic film 16 is partially energized to develop a color. Note that a portion of the electrochromic film 16 that is colored by the display unit 20 (a portion corresponding to the display unit 20) is hereinafter referred to as a “display portion 16B”.

A heater 22 is provided on the back side of the reflective conductive film 18.
Is provided. As will be described in detail later, the heater 2
2 is configured to be operated by supplying a current from a power supply (not shown).
Is heated to defrost or demist the substrate glass 12.

As shown in FIG. 4, a heater switch 24 is connected to the heater 22 in series.
When the switch 4 is turned on, a current is supplied from a power supply (not shown) and the heater 22 is operated. Further, a constant voltage circuit 26 is connected to the heater 22 in parallel, and the constant voltage circuit 26 is connected to the display unit 20 via a wiring 28 and a routing unit 20A. A wiring 30 is connected to the reflective conductive film 18 corresponding to the wiring 28, and the reflective conductive film 18 is grounded via the wiring 30. For this reason,
When the heater switch 24 is turned on and the heater 22 is operated, the power supply (not shown) for supplying a current to the heater 22 causes the display unit 20 to reflect the electric current through the constant voltage circuit 26, the wiring 28, and the wiring 30. A current is supplied between the film 18 and the display portion 16B of the electrochromic film 16 to develop color. Thus, it is possible to confirm whether or not the heater 22 is operated only by checking whether or not the display portion 16B is colored. The constant voltage circuit 26 changes the voltage of the power supply (not shown) (the voltage for the heater 22, for example, 12 V) to the voltage for the electrochromic film 16 (for example, 1.3 V).
It has the function of converting to.

The back surface of the electrochromic anti-glare mirror 10 is covered with a mirror holder 32. The mirror holder 32 also covers the peripheral portion of the surface of the electrochromic anti-glare mirror 10 (the surface on the side of the substrate glass 12), and thereby, as shown in FIG. And the routing portion 20A is invisible from the outside.

The electrochromic anti-glare mirror 1
0 is held by a door mirror visor 34, and the door mirror visor 34 is connected to a door mirror stay 36. The door mirror stay 36 is fixed to a vehicle door (not shown), so that the electrochromic anti-glare mirror 10 is installed in the vehicle.

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

In the electrochromic anti-glare mirror 10 having the above structure, the transparent conductive film 1 on the back side of the substrate glass 12 is provided.
When the electrochromic film 16 sandwiched between the conductive film 4 and the reflective conductive film 18 is energized by the transparent conductive film 14 and the reflective conductive film 18 via the wiring 14A and the wiring 18A, the anti-glare portion 16A of the electrochromic film 16 is formed. Color. Thereby, the brightness of the reflected light is adjusted.

When the heater switch 24 is turned on, the heater 22 provided on the back side of the reflective conductive film 18 is turned on.
Is heated by supplying a current from a power supply (not shown), and heats the substrate glass 12. Thereby, defrosting or demisting of the substrate glass 12 is performed.

Here, a display section 20 is provided electrically independent of the transparent conductive film 14, and when the heater 22 is operated, a current is supplied to the display section 20 via the constant voltage circuit 26. As a result, the electrochromic film 16 is partially energized to develop color. That is, the heater 22
Is activated, the display portion 16B (the portion corresponding to the display portion 20) of the electrochromic film 16 is colored, so that the electrochromic film 16 can be formed without touching the substrate glass 12. Whether or not the heater 22 is operated can be confirmed only by checking whether or not the display portion 16B is colored. Therefore, it is possible to warn that the heater 22 is operating, and to prevent a person from touching the substrate glass 12 heated by the heater 22 and having a high temperature.

Further, since a current is supplied to the display section 20 by a power supply (not shown) for supplying a current to the heater 22, it is not necessary to provide a power supply for supplying a current to the display section 20 independently. The wiring 28 to the part 20 and the wiring 30 to the reflective conductive film 18 can be shortened. Therefore, cost can be reduced.

The transparent conductive film 14 and the reflective conductive film 18
Anti-glare portion 16A of electrochromic film 16
When the display portion 16B of the electrochromic film 16 is colored by the display portion 20 at the same time as the color, the anti-glare portion 16A and the display portion 16B have the same color, and the display portion 16B is colored (that is, the heater 22). Is in operation). However, while it is normal for the vehicle to travel to adjust the brightness of the reflected light by coloring the anti-glare portion 16A, it is difficult to touch the substrate glass 12 while the vehicle is traveling. There is no need to warn that the heater 22 is in operation. Therefore, even if the anti-glare portion 16A and the display portion 16B are both colored and become the same color as described above, the warning function of the display section 20 is not adversely affected.

In this embodiment, the heater switch 24 is provided for operating the heater 22 (see FIG. 4). However, a control circuit for automatically operating the heater instead of the heater switch 24 is provided. May be provided.

Further, in the present embodiment, the display section 20 has a character shape (see FIGS. 2 and 3).
For example, as in a display unit 40 shown in FIG. 5, the display unit may have a mark shape.

In the present embodiment, the display section 20 is provided on the transparent conductive film 14, but the present invention is not limited to this. The display section is provided on at least one of the transparent conductive film and the reflective conductive film. I just need.

[0028]

In the vehicle mirror according to the first aspect, when the heater is operated, the current is supplied to the display unit, so that the electrochromic film is partially energized and develops a color. It is possible to prevent a person from touching the heated substrate glass.

In the vehicle mirror according to the present invention, since the current is supplied to the display unit by the power supply for supplying the current to the heater, it is not necessary to provide a power supply for supplying the current to the display unit independently. The wiring to the display unit can be shortened. Therefore, cost can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a main part of an electrochromic anti-glare mirror according to an embodiment configured by applying a vehicle mirror of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the electrochromic anti-glare mirror according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a front view of a state where the electrochromic anti-glare mirror according to the present embodiment is installed in a vehicle.

FIG. 4 is a circuit diagram of an electrochromic anti-glare mirror according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a front view showing another example of the display unit.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Electrochromic anti-glare mirror (vehicle mirror) 12 Substrate glass 14 Transparent conductive film 16 Electrochromic film 18 Reflective conductive film 20 Display part 22 Heater

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Masao Ayabe 3-260 Toyota, Oguchi-cho, Niwa-gun, Aichi Prefecture F-term in Tokai Rika Electric Works, Ltd. (Reference) 3D053 FF21 HH47 JJ11 JJ20

Claims (2)

[Claims] A transparent conductive film provided on the back side of the substrate glass and capable of transmitting light; a reflective conductive film provided on the back side of the transparent conductive film and capable of reflecting light; An electrochromic film that is sandwiched between the film and the reflective conductive film and that develops a color when energized by the transparent conductive film and the reflective conductive film; A heater for heating the substrate glass by being actuated; and a mirror for a vehicle comprising: a heater electrically operated on at least one of the transparent conductive film and the reflective conductive film; A mirror for a vehicle, comprising: a display section for supplying a current when the electrochromic film is partially energized to develop a color. 2. The vehicle mirror according to claim 1, wherein a current is supplied to the display unit by the power supply that supplies a current to the heater.