JP2002087060A - Vehicular glare proof device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To ensure glare proof and a field of vision by shielding a light passing portion in a sun visor. SOLUTION: This vehicular glare proof device comprises a sun visor 12 disposed on an inner side of a wind shield 10 and electrically forming a shading part 14 for interrupting a direct light to eyes to an occupant; means 16 for detecting an amount of solar radiation, arranged in the vicinity of a glass and oriented to an advancing direction of a vehicle; eye position detecting means 28 arranged in the vicinity of the glass and oriented to the occupant side; means 34 for detecting a vehicular inclination angle to a reference horizontal line; means 36 for calculating an incident angle of a sun light based on angle information from the inclination angle detecting means, and a calendar/time information; means for determining whether the direct light is incident to the eye, by receiving the information from the means for detecting an amount of solar radiation, the eye position detecting means and the inclination angle calculating means; means 38 for calculating a portion in the sun visor through which the direct light connected with the eye passes in the case of affirmation of the judgment; and electric control means 40 for forming a shading part in a light passing part in the sun visor by receiving the information from the calculating means.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an anti-glare device for a vehicle, and more particularly, to a sun visor for a vehicle which is always transparent, so that direct sunlight from the sun enters the eyes of an occupant during operation of the vehicle. The present invention relates to an anti-glare device that can achieve both anti-glare and occupant anti-glare by blocking only the portion of the sun visor through which direct light passes when it becomes dazzling.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A sun visor is arranged inside a windshield of a vehicle so that the tilt angle of the sun visor can be freely adjusted. And, for example, when driving the vehicle toward the sunrise or sunset,
To prevent direct sunlight from entering the eyes of occupants such as drivers,
The sun visor is tilted down to the windshield side to achieve anti-glare. Therefore, the sun visor is generally made of a light-impermeable material.

[0003]

The use of a sun visor when driving a vehicle toward the sun as described above can prevent direct light from entering the eyes of an occupant, thereby effectively achieving an anti-glare effect. be able to. However, on the other hand, the sun visor is formed so as to be wide enough to block direct light from all occupants having different heights, and thus has a drawback that the occupant narrows the front view. In particular, in the case of an occupant with a large sitting height, the driver wins in a state in which the driver leans back to widen the field of view, and there is a problem from the viewpoint of ensuring safety. Therefore, the sun visor is made of a translucent material, and there are some that try to secure the anti-glare and the visibility with direct light, but if you give priority to the anti-glare effect, you have to increase the degree of translucency, It is pointed out that there is a difficulty in securing the forward view and lowering.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been proposed in order to solve the above-mentioned problem suitably. When direct sunlight of the sun enters the eyes of an occupant when the vehicle is running, the direct light of the sun visor is provided. By shading only the passage area so that it can be erased freely,
It is an object of the present invention to provide an anti-glare device for a vehicle that achieves both anti-glare and visibility of an occupant.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to overcome the above-mentioned problems and achieve the intended object, an anti-glare device for a vehicle according to the present invention is disposed inside a windshield and is incident on the eyes of an occupant. A sun visor capable of electrically forming a light-shielding portion that blocks a path of direct light, and a solar radiation amount detecting unit that is disposed near the windshield and is directed in the traveling direction of the vehicle and detects an irradiation amount of sunlight. An eye position detecting means disposed near the windshield and pointing toward the occupant, and detecting the position of the occupant's eyes as an image, and disposed at an appropriate place in the vehicle;
Inclination angle detection means for detecting the inclination angle of the vehicle with respect to a reference horizontal line, and incident angle calculation means for calculating the incident angle of sunlight to the vehicle based on the angle information and calendar / time information output from the inclination angle detection means Determining means for receiving information from the insolation detecting means, eye position detecting means, and incident angle calculating means to determine whether or not direct light from the sun enters the eyes of an occupant; When the determination by the means is affirmative, the passing part calculating means for calculating a part through which the direct light connecting the eyes of the occupant passes through the sun visor, and the direct light on the sun visor in response to the information from the passing part calculating means The light shielding portion is formed at a passage portion of the vehicle, and the electric control means performs anti-glare on an occupant against direct light.

[0006]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, a vehicle anti-glare device according to the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings by way of preferred embodiments.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing the entire structure of an antiglare device for a vehicle according to an embodiment. A sun visor 12 is disposed inside an upper portion of a windshield 10 of the vehicle. The sun visor 12 is made of, for example, a known transparent liquid crystal panel, and is always kept in a transparent state, and can be formed to be erasable by electrically controlling the opaque portion. In other words, the sun visor 12 made of a transparent liquid crystal panel is controlled by an electric control unit described later, and as shown in FIG. It is formed and returns to transparent by releasing the control.

The light-shielding portion 14 is generally in the form of a spot that blocks direct light incident on the occupant's eyes through the sun visor, and if it has such a function,
Even if it is two round dots corresponding to both eyes of the occupant,
An ellipse may be formed by connecting two round points. The sun visor 12 is provided on the windshield 1.
It may be affixed to the inside of the vehicle, or may be a type that can be tilted freely like a conventional sun visor and is always raised on the vehicle ceiling.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, in the vicinity of the lower inside of the windshield 10, there is provided a solar radiation detecting means 16 for detecting a radiation amount of sunlight. It is oriented in the traveling direction of the vehicle. The solar radiation detecting means 16 is a kind of optical sensor, which detects the solar radiation from the sun as light intensity (candela) and outputs it to the determining means 30 described later. At the time of specific mounting, as shown in FIG.
A housing 24 having a concave shape is formed on the side facing the second windshield 10, and the solar radiation amount detecting means 16 is housed and arranged at a position deep in the housing 24.

The light receiving section 18 of the solar radiation detecting means 16
Preferably comprises two light receiving portions 18a and 18b facing the traveling direction of the vehicle at a required angle up and down, and when the direct light of the sun does not enter both light receiving portions 18a and 18b, the light directly enters the eyes of the occupant. The angle is set so that light does not enter. It should be noted that such an angle varies depending on the height of the eyes of the occupant sitting on the seat of the vehicle, and generally has a large individual difference. Therefore, the posture control is performed so that the angles of the light receiving portions 18a and 18b can be selected to the optimum values. It is possible. As shown in FIG. 3, the instrument panel 22 has an eave portion 2 extending forward at an upper portion of an entrance of the accommodating portion 24.
6 is provided, and the length and the elevation angle of the eaves 26 are set to appropriate values so that the direct light of the sun
8a, 18b and the occupant's eyes.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, an eye position detecting means 28 for detecting an occupant's eye position as an image is provided near the lower inside of the windshield 10. Is directed toward the occupant. The eye position detecting means 28 is an image pickup device such as a CCD camera, for example, and detects the position of the eyes of the occupant represented by the driver as an image, and outputs the signal to the determining means 30 described later. It has become. That is, by detecting the height of the occupant's eyes (distance from the detection head) as an image, it can be used to determine whether or not direct light from the sun is incident on the occupant's eyes. Note that the conditions under which direct light enters the eyes vary greatly depending on the position of the occupant's eyes.
Can be controlled such that an optimum value is obtained according to the individual difference of the occupants.

As shown in FIG. 1, a tilt angle detecting means 34 for detecting a tilt angle θ _{1 of the} vehicle with respect to a reference horizontal line SH on the ground surface is provided at an appropriate position of the vehicle. As the tilt angle detecting means 34, for example, a known method of electrically detecting an angle at which a pointer provided with a balance weight at the lower end is tilted with respect to a reference horizontal line, or detecting a tilt angle by applying a gyro principle is used. An inclinometer is preferably used, and the angle signal from the means 34 is input to an incident angle calculating means 36 (described later) also shown in FIG. Here, the signal detected by the inclination angle detecting means 34 is the reference horizontal line SH.
Is an inclination angle where the elevation angle is + θ ₁ and the depression angle is −θ ₁ when is set to 0 degree.

The angle-of-incidence calculating means 36 is a microcomputer provided in a control circuit of the anti-glare device. Calendar information such as year / month / day and time information at the present time are input to the means 36 in advance as data. It is remembered. Further, the angle information from the tilt angle detecting means 34 is input to the incident angle calculating means 36 in real time, and the tilt angle θ ₁ (±) of the vehicle (vehicle body) with respect to the reference horizontal line SH and the calendar / time information are used. Is calculated as the incident angle θ ₂ of sunlight to the vehicle. And the calculated incident angle θ ₂
Is input to the determination means 30 described later shown in FIGS.

The vehicle rarely travels in a straight line toward the sun. As shown in FIG. 5, the solar radiation direction has a deviation angle i with respect to the vehicle traveling direction of 0 degree. . In this case, a plurality of light receiving sections 18 of the above-mentioned solar radiation detecting means 16 are provided in the horizontal direction of the plane, and an increased detection signal from the light receiving section 18 which is shifted from the solar radiation direction by an angle i is determined by the judging means 30. (Described later), the correction can be performed. In addition, since the intensity of the direct light changes depending on the altitude of the sun, the intensity difference of the light amount between the two light receiving units 18a and 18b (FIG. 3) arranged at a required angle up and down in the insolation detecting unit 16 is also determined by the determining unit 30. It is preferable to make a correction by inputting to

The determination means 30 shown in FIG. 4 includes information on the amount of insolation from the insolation amount detecting means 16, information on the position of the occupant's eyes from the eye position detecting means 28, and sunlight from the incident angle calculating means 36. in response to input of information relating to the incident angle theta _2, it is to determine whether the direct light from the sun is incident on the eyes of the occupant. That is, the intensity of sunlight
(Candela), occupant eye position and sunlight incident angle θ ₂
Is comprehensively considered to determine whether direct light enters the eyes of the occupant via the sun visor 12, and if the determination result is negative (NO), the sun visor 12 Is not controlled electrically. If the determination result is affirmative (YES), a signal is input to a passing portion calculating means 38, which will be described later, to electrically connect the light blocking portion 14 to the direct light passing portion of the sun visor 12, as shown in FIG. Formed.

Although it has been known by the above-described determination means 30 that direct light enters the occupant's eyes, the next problem is in which part of the sun visor 12 the light shielding portion 14 should be formed. It is. This is determined by the calculation by the passage part calculating means 38 shown in FIG. That is, as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the direct light of the sun passes through the sun visor 12 and reaches the eyes of the occupant. Therefore,
FIG. 4 shows a portion of the sun visor 12 through which direct light passes.
Is calculated by the passing part calculating means 38 of FIG. In particular,
The calculating means 38 is a microcomputer provided in a control circuit constituting the anti-glare device, and calculates, for example, an X coordinate and a Y coordinate on a coordinate plane virtually formed in the sun visor 12, and calculates both X and Y coordinates. The portion where the direct light passes (that is, the portion where the light-shielding portion 14 is formed) is obtained from the vicinity of the intersection.

After the passing portion of the direct light in the sun visor 12 is obtained by the passing portion calculating means 38, data including the position information is input to the electric control means 40 shown in FIG. The control means 40 forms the light-shielding portion 14 at the portion of the sun visor 12 through which the direct light passes according to the position information provided from the passing portion calculation means 38 so as to be erasable. That is, the direct light should have passed through the sun visor 12 and entered the occupant's eyes.
As shown in FIG. 2, by forming the above-described light shielding portion 14 in the light passage portion of the sun visor 12, the glare of the occupant with respect to direct light is effectively achieved. Since the light shielding portion 14 electrically opaques only a portion of the sun visor 12 through which direct light passes (a path connecting the sun and the eyes of the occupant), other portions of the sun visor 12 are still transparent. It is kept as it is. Therefore, when the direct sunlight of the sun enters the eyes of the occupant during driving of the vehicle and is dazzling, only the passing portion of the sun visor 12 through which the direct light passes is shaded to prevent glare for the occupant, and the other portions are Since the light is not blocked, a good field of view is maintained.

Although the running direction of the vehicle often changes every moment, the anti-glare device of the embodiment not only changes the traveling direction of the vehicle but also tilts the vehicle body, the incident angle of sunlight, and the amount of solar radiation. Moving the light-shielding portion 14 of the sun visor 12 to an optimum location in real time, or deleting the light-shielding portion 14 as needed, according to various changes in the strength of the occupant, the position of the occupant's eyes, etc. Can be. However, if the movement and erasure of the light shielding unit 14 are frequently performed in response to slight fluctuations of the above factors, the occupant may be disturbed by the occupant. Therefore, the occupant may arbitrarily set the stabilization constant in the control circuit. It is recommended that you get it.

[0019]

As described above, according to the anti-glare device for a vehicle according to the present invention, when direct sunlight from the sun enters the eyes of the occupant during traveling of the vehicle, the portion of the sun visor through which the direct sunlight passes is provided. By shading only the light so that it can be erased, there is an advantageous effect that the anti-glare and the securing of the field of view for the occupant can be achieved at the same time.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic explanatory view showing an entire configuration of an anti-glare device according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view showing a state where main components constituting the anti-glare device are disposed inside a windshield of a vehicle.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing a state in which solar radiation detecting means is provided in a housing section of the instrument panel.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart schematically showing a signal flow when the anti-glare device according to the embodiment is operated.

FIG. 5 is a plan view illustrating a case where a solar radiation direction deviates from a traveling direction of a vehicle.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Windshield 12 Sun visor 14 Light-shielding part 16 Solar radiation detecting means 18a, 18b Light receiving part 22 Instrument panel 24 Housing part 26 Eave part 28 Eye position detecting means 30 Judging means 34 Inclination angle detecting means 36 Incident angle calculating means 38 Passing Part calculation means 40 Control means

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Hiroki Taguchi 8-1, Tocho, Fujii-cho, Anjo-shi, Aichi F-term in Inoac Corporation Sakurai Office 3D127 AA01 AA06 BB01 CC02 DD02 DD21 FF00 FF12 FF29

Claims (8)

[Claims] Claims: 1. A windshield (10) disposed inside a windshield (10),
A sun visor (12) that can electrically form a light blocking portion (14) that blocks direct light incident on the eyes of the occupant; and a sun visor (12) that is disposed near the windshield (10) and directs in the traveling direction of the vehicle, An insolation detecting means (16) for detecting the amount of sunlight irradiation, an eye disposed near the windshield (10) and directed toward the occupant, and detecting the position of the occupant's eye as an image. Position detection means (28), and inclination angle detection means (34) disposed at an appropriate position of the vehicle and detecting an inclination angle (θ ₁ ) of the vehicle with respect to a reference horizontal line
Incident angle calculating means (36) for calculating an incident angle (θ ₂ ) of sunlight with respect to the vehicle based on the angle information and calendar / time information output from the tilt angle detecting means (34); Upon receiving the information from the detecting means (16), the eye position detecting means (28), and the incident angle calculating means (36), a determination is made as to whether or not direct light from the sun is incident on the occupant's eyes. Means (30), and if the determination by the determining means (30) is affirmative (YES), a passing part calculating means (38) that calculates a part through which the direct light connecting the eyes of the occupant passes through the sun visor (12). ), And receives the information from the passing portion calculation means (38) and places the light shielding portion (1) on the passing portion of the direct light in the sun visor (12).
4. An anti-glare device for a vehicle, comprising: 4) an electric control means (40) for performing anti-glare on an occupant against direct light. 2. The anti-glare device for a vehicle according to claim 1, wherein said sun visor (12) is made of a transparent liquid crystal panel. 3. The insolation detecting means (16) comprises an optical sensor having a light receiving element, and comprises an instrument panel (22).
Housing (2) formed on the side facing the windshield (10)
The anti-glare device for a vehicle according to claim 1, which is stored in (4). 4. The solar radiation detecting means (16) comprises two light receiving portions (18a, 18b) facing the traveling direction of the vehicle, and can adjust the angle according to individual differences of occupants. The anti-glare device for a vehicle according to claim 3. 5. The instrument panel (22) is provided above the entrance of the housing (24) and extends forward.
The anti-glare device for a vehicle according to claim 3, further comprising (6). 6. An anti-glare system for a vehicle according to claim 1, wherein said eye position detecting means comprises an image pickup device such as a CCD camera, and is capable of adjusting an angle in accordance with an individual difference of an occupant. apparatus. 7. The anti-glare device for a vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the inclination angle detecting means is an inclinometer for electrically detecting an inclination angle with respect to a reference horizontal line. 8. The incident angle calculation means (36) is a microcomputer provided in a control circuit, and calendar information such as year, month, day and time information are input in advance. Anti-glare device for vehicles.