JP2006044318A - Driving device and method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To perform intermittent drive of a wiper in compliance with the change with time of raindrops. <P>SOLUTION: A wiper driving device for an intermittently driven wiper to wipe off intermittently the raindrops attached to the surface of a transparent plate is equipped with a microphone to pick up the collision sound generated when raindrops collide with the surface of the transparent plate, a measuring part to measure the rain quantity colliding with the surface of the transparent plate, a signal producing part to produce a prescribed signal on the basis of the water quantity measured by the measuring part, and a drive part to drive the wiper intermittently on the basis of the signal produced by a signal generation part. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a driving apparatus and method for driving an intermittent wiper that wipes raindrops and dust adhering to a windshield of an automobile, for example.

  The windshield wiper of the car can be adjusted manually so that it can be driven intermittently according to the rainfall. Further, as a means for automating this, a device that detects the vehicle speed and can vary the intermittent amount of the wiper is generally used.

  In addition, a technique has been proposed in which the state of raindrops that collide with the windshield is detected by a detector (vibration element), converted into a signal, and the wiper is driven (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 61-42367

  However, even if the wiper's intermittent amount can be automatically changed according to the vehicle speed, it is not necessary to drive the wiper at high speed if there are few raindrops attached to the windshield during high-speed driving. If there are many raindrops adhering to the glass, it is necessary to drive the wiper at a high speed in order to wipe off the adhering raindrops. Therefore, there is a problem that the method in which the intermittent driving of the wiper can be varied according to the vehicle speed cannot follow the rainfall that changes with time.

  In addition, there is a method of using a moisture sensor that detects the amount of moisture adhering to the windshield, but it is difficult to easily install after delivery.

  Therefore, the present invention detects raindrops adhering to the windshield with a simple configuration, intermittently drives the intermittent wiper based on the detected value, wipes the raindrops adhering to the windshield, and Provided is a drive device and method that can be improved and can be easily installed even after delivery.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, the drive device according to the present invention drives a intermittent wiper that wipes raindrops adhering to the surface of the transparent plate. A microphone that picks up the sound, a measuring unit that measures the amount of rainfall that collides with the surface of the transparent plate based on the collision sound collected by the microphone, and a predetermined signal that is generated based on the amount of rainfall measured by the measuring unit A signal generating means and a driving means for intermittently driving the intermittent wiper based on the signal generated by the signal generating means are provided.

  Further, the microphone may be configured to be affixed to a transparent plate.

  In addition, noise removing means for removing noise from the first collision sound collected by the microphone is provided, and the measuring means is a transparent plate based on the second collision sound after the noise is removed by the noise removing means. Measure the rainfall that hits the surface.

  In addition, in order to solve the above-described problem, the driving method according to the present invention collects a collision sound generated when raindrops collide with the surface of the transparent plate with a microphone, and a microphone through the sound collection process. Based on the collected impact sound, a measurement process for measuring the amount of rainfall that collides with the transparent plate surface, a signal generation process for generating a predetermined signal based on the rainfall measured in the measurement process, and a signal generation process A driving process is provided for intermittently driving an intermittent wiper that wipes raindrops adhering to the surface of the transparent plate based on the generated signal.

  The sound collecting step collects a collision sound that is emitted when the microphone is attached to the transparent plate and collides with the surface of the transparent plate.

  In addition, a noise removing step of removing noise from the first collision sound picked up by the microphone is provided, and the measuring step is based on the second collision sound after the noise is removed by the noise removing step. Measure the rainfall that hits the surface.

  In the present invention, the raindrops adhering to the windshield are detected by the microphone, the rainfall is measured from the detected value, and the intermittent wiper is intermittently driven based on the measured value, so that it collides with the windshield that changes over time. Raindrops can be appropriately wiped off with an intermittent wiper, and the driver's field of view can be maintained well.

  Hereinafter, as an embodiment of the present invention, a driving device and a method for driving and controlling an intermittent wiper for wiping raindrops adhering to a transparent plate (for example, a windshield A of an automobile) will be described.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the driving device 1 drives the wiper based on the microphone 10 that collects the collision sound S1 of the raindrop that collides with the windshield A, and the raindrop collision sound S1 that is collected by the microphone 10. A drive signal generation unit 11 that generates a signal and a drive unit 12 that drives the intermittent wiper based on the drive signal generated by the drive signal generation unit 11 are provided.

  The microphone 10 is affixed to the windshield A, and is arranged so as to efficiently collect the impact sound S1 of raindrops that collide with the windshield A. Note that the microphone 10 may not be attached to the windshield A as long as it can efficiently collect the impact sound S1 of raindrops that collide with the windshield A.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the drive signal generation unit 11 includes a rain sound detection unit 13 that detects a rain sound based on the collision sound S <b> 1 collected by the microphone 10, and a rain sound that is detected by the rain sound detection unit 13. And a rainfall measuring unit 14 for measuring the rainfall.

  The rain sound detection unit 13 compares the output signal of the BPF (Band Pass Filter) 15 that removes noise from the raindrop collision sound S1 collected by the microphone 10 with a predetermined threshold value and a predetermined pulse signal. And a comparator 16 for generating.

  The microphone 10 collects not only the raindrop collision sound S1 that collides with the windshield A but also engine sound, passenger conversation, and sound output from the car audio device. Therefore, the BPF 15 removes sound (noise) other than the collision sound S1 generated by the collision of raindrops from the sound collected by the microphone 10. For example, the BPF 15 measures the frequency of the collision sound S2 of raindrops that collide with the windshield A in advance, and removes noise using the frequency as a reference.

  The comparator 16 compares the signal S2 supplied from the BPF 15 with a predetermined threshold value, and generates a predetermined pulse signal S3. Further, the comparator 16 detects only a signal having a predetermined threshold value or more from the signal S2 supplied from the BPF 15, performs waveform shaping, and generates a predetermined pulse signal S3. The driving device 1 has a configuration in which the threshold value can be changed from the outside because the sound pressure level of the signal S2 supplied from the BPF 15 is not constant depending on the distance, thickness, and the like of the windshield A.

  The rain measurement unit 14 includes a P / A converter 17 that converts the pulse signal S3 supplied from the comparator 16 of the rain sound detection unit 13 into an analog signal S4.

  The P / A converter 17 generates an analog signal S4 corresponding to the number of pulses of the pulse signal S3 supplied from the comparator 16, and supplies the analog signal S4 to the drive unit 12 as a drive signal for the intermittent wiper.

  The drive unit 12 controls the intermittent drive of the intermittent wiper based on the drive signal supplied from the P / A converter 17.

  Here, the operation of driving the wiper by the driving device 1 will be described according to the flowchart shown in FIG.

  In step ST1, the microphone 10 picks up a collision sound S1 of raindrops that collide with the windshield A.

  In step ST <b> 2, the BPF 15 removes noise from the raindrop collision sound S <b> 1 collected by the microphone 10. The BPF 15 removes noise included in the collision sound 10 and generates a signal S2 after noise removal.

  In step ST3, the comparator 16 generates a pulse signal S3 based on the signal S2 supplied from the BPF 15.

  In step ST4, the P / A converter 17 generates a predetermined analog signal S4 from the pulse signal S3 supplied from the comparator 16.

  In step ST5, the drive unit 12 drives the intermittent wiper based on the signal S4 supplied from the P / A converter 17.

  In this way, the driving device 1 according to the present invention is attached to the windshield A and generates noise from the microphone 10 that collects the collision sound S1 of the raindrops that collide and the collision sound S1 that is collected by the microphone 10. A rain sound detection unit 13 that generates a predetermined pulse signal S3 based on the signal S2 after removal, and a rain amount that collides with the windshield A based on the pulse signal S3 generated by the rain sound detection unit 13 Since the rain measurement unit 17 that generates the reflected predetermined analog signal S4 and the drive unit 12 that drives the intermittent wiper according to the analog signal S4 generated by the rainfall measurement unit 17 are provided, the simple configuration can be used over time. A signal that follows the changing rainfall can be obtained, and the intermittent wiper is driven in accordance with the signal, so that the raindrops adhering to the windshield A can be suitably wiped off. It can be.

  The driving device 1 according to the present invention is not limited to wiping raindrops attached to the windshield of an automobile, but may be used when wiping raindrops on a rear window, or for moving bodies such as aircraft and ships. It may be used when wiping raindrops adhering to glass or the like.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments described with reference to the drawings, and various modifications, substitutions or equivalents thereof can be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the appended claims. Of course, it can be done.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the drive device which concerns on this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the drive signal production | generation part of the drive device shown in FIG. It is a flowchart with which it uses for description of operation | movement of the drive device which concerns on this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Drive apparatus, 10 Microphone, 11 Drive signal production | generation part, 12 Drive part, 13 Rain sound detection part, 14 Rainfall measurement part, 15 BPF (Band Pass Filter), 16 Comparator, 17 P / A converter, A Windshield

Claims (6)

In a driving device that drives an intermittent wiper that wipes raindrops adhering to the transparent plate surface,
A microphone that collects a collision sound emitted when raindrops collide with the transparent plate surface;
Measuring means for measuring the amount of rainfall that collides with the surface of the transparent plate, based on the collision sound collected by the microphone;
Signal generating means for generating a signal based on the rainfall measured by the measuring means;
A drive device comprising drive means for intermittently driving the intermittent wiper based on the signal generated by the signal generation means.   The drive device according to claim 1, wherein the microphone is attached to the transparent plate. Noise removing means for removing noise from the first collision sound collected by the microphone;
2. The driving apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the measuring means measures the amount of rain that collides with the surface of the transparent plate, based on the second collision sound after the noise is removed by the noise removing means. A sound collecting process for picking up a collision sound generated when raindrops collide with the surface of the transparent plate with a microphone;
Based on the collision sound collected by the microphone in the sound collection step, a measurement step for measuring the amount of rain that collides with the transparent plate surface;
A signal generation step for generating a predetermined signal based on the rainfall measured in the measurement step;
A driving method comprising: a driving step of intermittently driving an intermittent wiper that wipes raindrops adhering to the surface of the transparent plate based on the signal generated by the signal generating step.   5. The driving method according to claim 4, wherein the sound collecting step picks up a collision sound that is emitted when the microphone is attached to the transparent plate and collides with the surface of the transparent plate. A noise removing step of removing noise from the first collision sound collected by the microphone;
5. The driving method according to claim 4, wherein the measuring step measures the amount of rain that collides with the surface of the transparent plate based on the second collision sound after the noise is removed by the noise removing step.

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