JP2005349850A - Device and method for controlling vehicular wiper - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reliably return a wiper blade to a predetermined stop position. <P>SOLUTION: A vehicular wiper controlling device determines that a wiper blade is stopped at an intermediate position A between the operational position 2a and the stop position 2b of a blade position detector 2. When it is determined that the wiper blade is stopped at the intermediate position A when the ignition is turned on, the wiper blade is driven for a predetermined time, and stopped. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a control device for a vehicle wiper and a control method therefor.

  There is known a vehicle wiper control device that detects the position of a wiper blade by a stop position detection switch that operates in conjunction with the rotation of the wiper motor, and stops the wiper blade at a predetermined stop position (for example, Non-patent document 1).

Prior art documents related to the invention of this application include the following.
New model vehicle manual V35 June 2001 Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. page F-70

  However, in the above-described vehicle wiper control device, when the wiper blade stops immediately before a predetermined stop position when the ignition switch is turned off while the wiper is operated, the stop position detection switch is the wiper blade. When the ignition switch is turned on next time, the wiper blade cannot be automatically returned to the predetermined stop position.

  If it is determined that the wiper blade is stopped at an intermediate position between the operation position and the stop position of the blade position detector, and it is determined that the wiper blade is stopped at the intermediate position when the ignition is on, it is set in advance. The wiper blade is driven and stopped for the specified time.

  According to the present invention, when the ignition switch is turned off before the wiper operation is stopped by the wiper switch during the wiper operation, even if the wiper blade is stopped immediately before the stop position, the wiper switch is operated to be turned OFF / OFF. When the ignition switch is turned on again after that, the wiper blade can be reliably returned to the predetermined stop position.

  FIG. 1 shows the configuration of an embodiment. The wiper motor 1 is a DC motor that drives a wiper blade (not shown), and rotates at a low speed when power is supplied between the terminals LO and CM, and rotates at a high speed when power is supplied between the terminals HI and CM. The stop position detection switch 2 rotates in conjunction with the wiper motor 1 and detects the stop position of the wiper blade.

  FIG. 2 shows the structure of the stop position detection switch 2. The stop position detection switch 2 includes an operation position electrode 2 a, a stop position electrode 2 b, and a brush 2 c that rotates in conjunction with the wiper motor 1. The driving position electrode 2a and the stop position electrode 2b are arranged on the circumference centered on the brush 2c, and the brush 2c rotates in conjunction with the rotation of the wiper motor 1 to drive the driving position electrode 2a and the stop position electrode. Slide on 2b. There are gaps A and B between the stop position electrode 2b and the operation position electrode 2a. The stop position electrode 2b is connected to the CM terminal of the wiper motor 1 and the battery power source BAT. The driving position electrode 2a is connected to a common terminal COM. Further, the brush 2 c is connected to the terminal 3 d of the control circuit 3 and is connected to the ignition power supply IGN via the resistor 4.

  When the wiper blade is in the stop position, the brush 2c is at the stop position on the stop position electrode 2b, and the brush 2c and the stop position electrode 2b are in a conductive state. At this time, the battery power source BAT is supplied to the terminal 3d of the control circuit 3 via the stop position electrode 2b and the brush 2c, and the terminal 3d becomes high level. As the wiper motor 1 rotates, the brush 2c also rotates in the illustrated rotation direction, and the brush 2c and the operation position electrode 2a become conductive. At this time, the control circuit terminal 3d is connected to the common terminal COM via the brush 2c and the driving position electrode 2a, and the terminal 3d becomes low level. When the brush 2c stops at the position of the gap A or B, the control circuit terminal 3d goes through the resistor 4 to the potential of the ignition power supply IGN, that is, high level when the ignition is on, and low level when the ignition is off. Become.

  Returning to FIG. 1, the operation relay 5 is a relay for supplying and stopping the battery power BAT to the LO terminal or HI terminal of the wiper motor 1, and operates the wiper motor 1 (low speed operation LO, high speed operation HI, intermittent operation INT). ) Is turned on when performing. The speed switching relay 6 supplies the battery power BAT to the LO terminal of the wiper motor 1 when turned off to perform low speed operation, and supplies the battery power BAT to the HI terminal of the wiper motor 1 when turned on to perform high speed operation. The driving relay 5 and the speed switching relay 6 are turned on and off by the control circuit 3.

  The wiper switch 7 is a switch for the driver to set the operation speed of the wiper to one of high speed (HI), low speed (LO), and intermittent (INT) and to stop (OFF) the operation of the wiper. Installed on the left of the steering column. The control circuit 3 includes peripheral components such as a microcomputer, a memory, a timer, and a driver (not shown), and controls the operation of the wiper by executing a control program described later. The battery power source BAT is a power source directly supplied from an in-vehicle battery (not shown). The ignition power IGN is a power supplied from an in-vehicle battery (not shown) via an ignition switch (not shown), and is energized when the ignition switch is in an on state.

  When the driver operates the wiper switch 7 to select the low speed operation LO, the control circuit 3 energizes the exciting coil 5L of the driving relay 5 to turn on the driving relay 5 in order to operate the wiper at a low speed. Then, the battery power source BAT is energized through the path of the wiper motor 1 CM terminal → LO terminal → relay contact 6b → relay contact 6c → relay contact 5c → relay contact 5a → common terminal COM, and the wiper motor 1 rotates at a low speed.

  When the driver operates the wiper switch 7 to select the high speed operation HI, the control circuit 3 energizes the excitation coil 5L of the driving relay 5 and the excitation coil 6L of the speed switching relay 6 in order to operate the wiper at high speed. Then, the driving relay 5 and the speed switching relay 6 are simultaneously turned on. Then, the battery power source BAT is energized through the path of the CM terminal of the wiper motor 1 → HI terminal → relay contact 6a → relay contact 6c → relay contact 5c → relay contact 5a → common terminal COM, and the wiper motor 1 rotates at high speed.

  When the driver operates the wiper switch 7 to select the stop OFF, the control circuit 3 monitors the state of the terminal 3d while the driving relay 5 is turned on, that is, the low-speed operation of the wiper motor 1 is continued. As the wiper motor 1 continues to rotate, when the brush 2c of the stop position detection switch 2 rotates from the position of the operation position electrode 2a to the position of the stop position electrode 2b, the control circuit terminal 3d moves from the low level of the common terminal COM. The battery power supply BAT changes to a high level. When the control circuit terminal 3d changes from the low level to the high level, the control circuit 3 turns off the driving relay 5 and stops the wiper motor 1 after a predetermined time. Thereby, after the wiper switch 7 is turned off, the wiper blade is automatically moved to a predetermined stop position and stopped.

  When the operation circuit 5 and the speed switching relay 6 are both turned off by the control circuit 3 and the wiper motor 1 is stopped, the armature of the wiper motor 1 becomes LO terminal → relay contact 6b → relay contact 6c → relay contact 5c → Short-circuited via the relay contact 5b → CM terminal path. Even if the armature of the wiper motor 1 is short-circuited and stopped, the motor 1 does not stop immediately, but stops after rotating slightly due to inertia.

  Next, when an ignition switch (not shown) is turned off while the wiper is in operation, the supply of the ignition power source IGN is stopped, and both the operation relay 5 and the speed switching relay 6 are turned off. Both ends of the armature 1 are short-circuited, and the wiper motor 1 is stopped. In this case, the automatic stop control for moving the wiper blade to the predetermined stop position and stopping is not performed.

  In this state, if the ignition switch is turned on again after the wiper switch 7 is operated to stop OFF, the control circuit 3 first checks the state of the terminal 3d. When the brush 2c of the stop position detection switch 2 is on the operation position electrode 2a and the terminal 3d is at a low level, the control circuit 3 performs the automatic stop described above to move the wiper blade to a predetermined stop position. Start control. First, the driving relay 5 is turned on to drive the wiper motor 1 at a low speed. When the brush 2c rotates from the position of the operation position electrode 2a to the position of the stop position electrode 2b and the control circuit terminal 3d changes from the low level to the high level, the control circuit 3 turns off the operation relay 5 after a predetermined time. Then, the wiper motor 1 is stopped. As a result, the wiper blade is moved to a predetermined stop position and stopped.

  However, when the ignition switch is turned off, when the brush 2c of the stop position detection switch 2 stops at the position of the gap A between the operation position electrode 2a and the stop position electrode 2b, that is, the wiper blade When stopping just before the stop position, the control circuit terminal 3d is pulled up to the ignition power source IGN via the resistor 4 even if the ignition switch is turned on again after the wiper switch 7 is operated to stop OFF. Therefore, the control circuit 3 recognizes that the wiper blade is stopped at a predetermined stop position. Therefore, the wiper blade remains stopped immediately before the predetermined stop position corresponding to the position of the gap A, and automatic stop control for moving to the predetermined stop position is not performed.

  In order to solve this problem, in this embodiment, it is detected that the wiper blade is stopped immediately before a predetermined stop position corresponding to the position of the gap A, and the wiper blade is immediately before the predetermined stop position. When stopped, the wiper motor 1 is operated at a low speed for a preset time, and the wiper blade is moved to a predetermined stop position to stop.

  Whether or not the wiper blade is stopped immediately before a predetermined stop position corresponding to the gap position is determined as follows. During operation of the wiper motor 1, the state of the control circuit terminal 3d is always monitored, and when the ignition switch is turned off, the state of the control circuit terminal 3d immediately before turning off is stored. After that, when the wiper switch 7 is operated to stop OFF and the ignition switch is turned on again, the state of the control circuit terminal 3d immediately after the ignition is turned on is stored. Then, the state of the control circuit terminal 3d immediately before the ignition is turned off and immediately after the ignition is turned on are compared. When the state of the control circuit terminal 3d is changed from the low level to the high level, the wiper blade corresponds to the gap position. It is determined that the vehicle has stopped just before the predetermined stop position.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a wiper control program according to an embodiment. The operation of the embodiment will be described with reference to this flowchart. In step 1, it is determined whether or not the ignition is on based on the state of the control circuit terminal 3e. When the ignition power supply IGN is turned on and the control circuit terminal 3e changes from the low level to the high level, it is determined that the ignition switch is turned on, and the process proceeds to step 2. In step 2, it is confirmed whether or not the wiper switch 7 is in the stop OFF position. If the wiper switch 7 is not in the stop OFF position, the process proceeds to step 3. In step 3, the driving relay 5 and the speed switching relay 6 are controlled according to the selected position (low speed LO, high speed HI, intermittent INT) of the wiper switch 7 to operate the wiper motor 1.

  If it is determined in step 2 that the wiper switch 7 is in the stop OFF position, the process proceeds to step 4 to determine whether or not the control circuit terminal 3d immediately after the ignition is turned on is at a high level. As described above, when the control circuit terminal 3d is at the low level, the wiper blade is in the operating position, but when the control circuit terminal 3d is at the high level, the wiper blade is at the predetermined stop position or in the gap A. It is in the corresponding position.

  When the control circuit terminal 3d is at the low level and the wiper blade is in the operating position, the process proceeds to step 5 and the automatic stop control is started as described above. First, in step 5, the operation relay 5 is turned on to start the low-speed operation of the wiper motor 1. In the subsequent step 6, it is determined whether or not the control circuit terminal 3d has changed from the low level to the high level. When the wiper blade moves from the operation position to the stop position and the control circuit terminal 3d changes from the low level to the high level, the process proceeds to Step 7. In step 7, the timer waits for a preset time To, and when the set time To elapses, the process proceeds to step 8 where the operation relay 5 is turned off and the wiper motor 1 is stopped. The set time To is the time required for the brush 2c of the stop position detection switch 2 to move away from the operation electrode 2a to move to a predetermined stop position on the stop position electrode 2b when the wiper motor 1 is operated at a low speed. It is.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step 4 that the control circuit terminal 3d is at the high level, that is, the wiper blade is in a predetermined stop position or a position corresponding to the gap A, the process proceeds to step 9. In step 9, the state of the control circuit terminal 3d immediately before the ignition is turned off is read from the memory, and it is confirmed whether or not it is at a low level. When the control circuit terminal 3d is at the high level immediately before the ignition is turned off (step 9) and the control circuit terminal 3d is at the high level immediately after the ignition is turned on (step 4), the wiper blade is stopped at a predetermined stop position. And the process is terminated.

  When the control circuit terminal 3d immediately before the ignition off (step 9) is at a low level and the control circuit terminal 3d immediately after the ignition is on (step 4) is at a high level, the wiper blade is between the operating position and the stop position. It is determined that the vehicle is stopped at the gap position, and the process proceeds to Step 10. In step 10, the operation relay 5 is turned on to start the low-speed operation of the wiper motor 1, and in a subsequent step 11, the elapse of a time T 1 preset by a timer is waited. The set time T1 is a time required for the brush 2c of the stop position detection switch 2 to move from the position of the gap A to a predetermined stop position on the stop position electrode 2b when the wiper motor 1 is operated at a low speed. . When the set time T1 has elapsed, the routine proceeds to step 12, where the operation relay 5 is turned off and the wiper motor 1 is stopped.

  Thus, according to one embodiment, it is determined that the wiper blade is stopped at an intermediate position between the operation position and the stop position, and it is determined that the wiper blade is stopped at the intermediate position when the ignition is on. In this case, since the wiper blade is driven and stopped for a preset time, the wiper blade is turned off when the ignition switch is turned off before the wiper switch 7 is stopped during the wiper operation. If the ignition switch is turned on again after the wiper switch 7 is turned off, the wiper blade can be surely returned to the predetermined stop position even if it is stopped immediately before the stop position.

  According to one embodiment, the wiper blade position detected by the stop position detection switch 2 immediately before the ignition is turned off is stored, and the wiper blade position immediately before the ignition is turned off and the wiper blade position immediately after the ignition is turned off are stored. When the wiper blades are different, the wiper blade is determined to be stopped at the intermediate position, so it is easy and reliable to detect that the wiper blade is stopped at the intermediate position between the operation position and the stop position. can do.

  The correspondence between the constituent elements of the claims and the constituent elements of the embodiment is as follows. That is, the wiper motor 1 constitutes drive means, the stop position detection switch 2 constitutes blade position detection means and blade position detector, and the control circuit 3 constitutes intermediate position determination means and control means. In addition, as long as the characteristic function of this invention is not impaired, each component is not limited to the said structure.

It is a figure which shows the structure of one embodiment. It is a figure which shows the structure of the switch for stop position detection of one Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the wiper control program of one Embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Wiper motor 2 Stop position detection switch 2a Operation position electrode 2b Stop position electrode 2c Brush 3 Control circuit 3a-3e Terminal 4 Resistor 5 Operation relay 6 Speed switching relay 7 Wiper switch BAT Battery power IGN Ignition power A , B gap

Claims (4)

Driving means for driving the wiper blade;
Blade position detection means for detecting the operation position and stop position of the wiper blade;
Intermediate position determination means for determining that the wiper blade is stopped at an intermediate position between the operation position and the stop position of the position detection means;
Control means for driving and stopping the wiper blade by the drive means for a preset time when the intermediate position determination means determines that the wiper blade is stopped at the intermediate position when the ignition is on. A vehicle wiper control device. The wiper control device according to claim 1,
The intermediate position determination means stores the position of the wiper blade detected by the blade position detection means immediately before the ignition is turned off, and when the wiper blade position immediately before the ignition is turned off and the wiper blade position immediately after the ignition is turned off are different. A wiper control device for a vehicle, wherein the wiper blade is determined to be stopped at an intermediate position. The vehicle wiper control device according to claim 2,
In the blade position detecting means, a brush interlocking with the driving means slides between the operation position electrode and the stop position electrode, the operation position electrode is connected to a common line, the stop position electrode is connected to a battery power source, The brushes are each connected to an ignition power source,
The intermediate position determining means determines that the wiper blade is stopped at the intermediate position when the potential of the brush immediately before the ignition is turned off and the potential of the brush immediately after the ignition is turned on. Wiper control device.   If it is determined that the wiper blade is stopped at an intermediate position between the operation position and the stop position of the blade position detector, and it is determined that the wiper blade is stopped at the intermediate position when the ignition is on, it is set in advance. A method for controlling a wiper for a vehicle, wherein the wiper blade is driven and stopped for a predetermined time.

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