JP2010052470A - Wiper blade change alarm device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a wiper blade change alarm device capable of alarming the wiper blade changing timing with high accuracy. <P>SOLUTION: The wiper blade change alarm device comprises vibration sensors 11a-11c mounted at predetermined parts of a wiper to detect any chattering vibration generated when operating a wiper blade, a ROM 16 for storing the waveform of the chattering vibration generated when operating the wiper blade with its wiper rubber being not degraded as the reference waveform, a waveform comparison unit 23 for comparing the waveform of the detected chattering vibration as the stored reference waveform, a chattering vibration intensity calculation unit 24 for calculating the intensity of the chattering vibration based on the difference between the waveform of the chattering vibration and the reference waveform obtained by the comparison, a degradation determination unit 25 for determining that the wiper rubber is degraded when the intensity of the calculated chattering vibration exceeds the reference value for degradation determination, and an alarm generating unit 26 for generating an alarm message that the wiper blade is changed when it is determined that the wiper rubber is degraded. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a wiper blade replacement warning device that generates a warning message for prompting replacement of a wiper blade.

  Patent document 1 is disclosing the apparatus which detects the state of the at least 1 wiper blade of a motor vehicle. In this apparatus, the state of the window glass wiped by the wiper blade is detected by a rain sensor disposed on the window glass, and the deterioration state of the wiper rubber is determined based on the detection result.

Special Table 2000-507902

  However, in the apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1 described above, the wiper rubber deterioration state is determined based on the state of the window glass during the wiper operation, so the state of the wiper blade itself during the wiper operation is checked directly. I can't. As a result, there is a problem that the accuracy of the wiper blade replacement time is lowered.

  Further, in this apparatus, since the deterioration state of the wiper rubber is determined by using the rain sensor disposed on the front window, the wiper of the wiper attached to the window not provided with the rain sensor such as the rear window and other windows is provided. The blade replacement time cannot be determined.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and an object thereof is to provide a wiper blade replacement warning device that can warn the wiper blade replacement timing with high accuracy.

  In order to solve the above problems, a wiper blade replacement warning device according to the present invention is attached to a predetermined portion of a wiper, and a vibration sensor for detecting chatter vibration generated during operation of the wiper blade and a wiper rubber are deteriorated. A waveform storage unit that stores the chatter vibration waveform generated when the wiper blade is not operated as a reference waveform, and a waveform comparison that compares the chatter vibration waveform detected by the vibration sensor with the reference waveform stored in the waveform storage unit The chatter vibration strength calculation unit calculates the chatter vibration strength based on the difference between the chatter vibration waveform obtained by the comparison by the waveform comparison unit and the reference waveform, and the chatter vibration strength calculation unit calculates the chatter vibration strength. A deterioration determination unit that determines that the wiper rubber is deteriorated when the strength exceeds a reference value for determining deterioration; Wiper rubber when it is determined that the degradation, and a warning generator for generating a warning message that should be replaced with a wiper blade by parts.

  According to the wiper blade replacement warning device of the present invention, the chatter vibration waveform detected by the vibration sensor is compared with a pre-stored reference waveform to obtain the chatter vibration intensity, and this strength is judged to be deteriorated. If the wiper rubber has deteriorated and the warning message that the wiper blade should be replaced is generated when the reference value for the It will be checked directly, and the wiper blade replacement time can be warned with high accuracy.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
Embodiment 1 FIG.
1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a wiper blade replacement warning device according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. This wiper blade replacement warning device includes acceleration sensors 11a, 11b and 11c, A / D converters 12a, 12b and 12c, a rainfall sensor 13, a CAN (Car Area Network) interface 14, a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 15, a ROM ( A read only memory (RAM) 16, a random access memory (RAM) 17, a car navigation system 18, a display 19, and a speaker 20 are provided.

  The acceleration sensor 11a corresponds to the vibration sensor of the present invention, and is provided at the tip of the wiper arm 4a of one wiper 3a provided on the front window 1 and on the portion to which the wiper blade 5a is attached. The acceleration sensor 11a detects chatter vibration generated by friction between the wiper blade 5a and the glass surface of the front window 1 when the wiper 3a is operated. As for the mechanism and characteristics of chatter vibration generation, for example, “Ryosuke Suzuki, Hitoshi Yasuda“ Analysis of chatter vibration of automobile wipers ”, Transactions of the Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers (C), Volume 59, No. 159 (19933- 3) ”, etc., so refer to them as necessary. The chatter vibration detected by the acceleration sensor 11a is sent to the A / D converter 12a as a chatter vibration signal of an analog signal.

  The acceleration sensor 11b corresponds to the vibration sensor of the present invention, and is provided at the tip of the wiper arm 4b of the other wiper 3b provided on the front window 1 and on the portion to which the wiper blade 5b is attached. The acceleration sensor 11b detects chatter vibration generated by friction between the wiper blade 5b and the glass surface of the front window 1 when the wiper 3b is operated. The chatter vibration detected by the acceleration sensor 11b is sent to the A / D converter 12b as a chatter vibration signal of an analog signal.

  The acceleration sensor 11c corresponds to the vibration sensor of the present invention, and is provided at the tip of the wiper arm 4c of the wiper 3c provided in the rear window 2 and at a portion to which the wiper blade 5c is attached. The acceleration sensor 11c detects chatter vibration generated by friction between the wiper blade 5c and the glass surface of the rear window 2 when the wiper 3c is operated. Chatter vibration detected by the acceleration sensor 11c is sent to the A / D converter 12c as a chatter vibration signal of an analog signal.

  The A / D converter 12a converts the chatter vibration signal sent as an analog signal from the acceleration sensor 11a into a digital signal and sends it to the CPU 15.

  The A / D converter 12b converts the chatter vibration signal sent as an analog signal from the acceleration sensor 11b into a digital signal and sends it to the CPU 15.

  The A / D converter 12c converts the chatter vibration signal sent as an analog signal from the acceleration sensor 11c into a digital signal and sends it to the CPU 15.

  The rainfall sensor 13 is provided on the glass surface of the front window 1 and detects the rainfall. This rainfall sensor 13 is used to calculate the coefficient of friction between the wiper blade 5a or 5b and the glass surface of the front window 1. The rainfall detected by the rainfall sensor 13 is sent to the CPU 15 as a rainfall signal.

  When the rain signal output from the rain sensor 13 is an analog signal, the rain signal is converted to a digital signal by the A / D converter and then sent to the CPU 15. The rear window 2 is not provided with a rainfall sensor, and the friction coefficient between the wiper blade 5c and the glass surface of the rear window 2 is calculated using the detection result of the rainfall sensor 13 disposed on the front window 1. The

  The CAN interface 14 receives a wiper signal sent from a vehicle control device (not shown) indicating whether the wipers 3a, 3b and 3c are in operation and sends them to the CPU 15.

  The CPU 15 controls the entire wiper blade replacement warning device. Details of the CPU 15 will be described later.

  The ROM 16 corresponds to the waveform storage unit of the present invention, and stores in advance the waveform of chatter vibration generated during the operation of the wiper blades 5a, 5b and 5c in which the wiper rubber is not deteriorated as reference waveform data. This reference waveform data is used as a reference value when determining the deterioration of the wiper rubber. The reference waveform data stored in the ROM 16 is read by the CPU 15.

  The RAM 17 stores chatter vibration waveforms generated by the CPU 15 that have received chatter vibration signals sent from the acceleration sensors 11a, 11b and 11c via the A / D converters 12a, 12b and 12c, respectively, as chatter vibration waveform data. To do. The RAM 17 stores rain data generated by the CPU 15 that has received the rain signal sent from the rain sensor 13. The chatter vibration waveform data and the rainfall data stored in the RAM 17 are read by the CPU 15.

  A display 19 and a speaker 20 are connected to the car navigation system 18. In response to the warning message signal sent from the CPU 15, the car navigation system 18 displays the warning message on the display device 19 and outputs the warning message from the speaker 20 by voice. At this time, the car navigation system 18 determines the content of the warning message displayed on the display 19 and the warning output from the speaker 20 as shown in FIG. 2 according to the degree of deterioration of the wiper rubber indicated by the warning message signal. The message volume is changed and output.

  For example, if the degree of deterioration of the wiper rubber is small, a weak warning message “Wipe blade replacement time is approaching” is displayed on the display 19 so as not to put a mental burden on the driver. In addition, a warning message is emitted from the speaker 20 at a low volume. When the degree of deterioration of the wiper rubber is moderate, a warning message “It is time to replace the wiper blade” is displayed on the display 19 and the warning message is emitted from the speaker 20 at a medium volume. Is done. When the degree of deterioration of the wiper rubber is large, a strong warning message “Wiper blade has deteriorated. Replace the wiper blade” is displayed to prevent a traffic accident from occurring. 19 and a warning message is emitted from the speaker 20 at a high volume.

  Next, details of the CPU 15 will be described. FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the CPU 15. The CPU 15 includes a waveform generation unit 21, a rain amount recording unit 22, a waveform comparison unit 23, a chatter vibration intensity calculation unit 24, a deterioration determination unit 25, and a warning generation unit 26 configured by a processing program.

  If the wiper signal sent via the CAN interface 14 indicates that the wiper 3a, 3b or 3c is operating, the waveform generation unit 21 sends signals from the acceleration sensors 11a, 11b and 11c to the A / D converters 12a and 12b. And 12c, the digital chatter vibration signals sent via the respective 12c are sequentially stored in the RAM 17 as the chatter vibration waveform data for each of the acceleration sensors 11a, 11b and 11c.

  If the wiper signal sent through the CAN interface 14 indicates that the wiper 3a, 3b or 3c is operating, the rainfall recording unit 22 sequentially uses the rainfall signal sent from the rain sensor 13 as rainfall data. Is stored in the RAM 17.

  The waveform comparison unit 23 compares the reference waveform based on the reference waveform data read from the ROM 16 with the chatter vibration waveform based on the chatter vibration waveform data read from the RAM 17, and sends the comparison result to the chatter vibration intensity calculation unit 24. .

  The chatter vibration intensity calculation unit 24 calculates the intensity of chatter vibration based on the comparison result between the reference waveform based on the reference waveform data sent from the waveform comparison unit 23 and the chatter vibration waveform based on the chatter vibration waveform data. In this case, the greater the difference between the reference waveform and the chatter vibration waveform, the greater the intensity of chatter vibration. The chatter vibration strength calculated by the chatter vibration strength calculation unit 24 is sent to the deterioration determination unit 25.

  First, the deterioration determining unit 25 calculates the friction coefficient between the wiper blade 5a or 5b and the glass surface of the front window 1 based on the average value of the rainfall indicated by the rainfall data stored in the RAM 17, and the calculated friction coefficient. Accordingly, the reference value for performing the deterioration judgment stored in advance is corrected. Thereafter, the deterioration determining unit 25 determines that the wiper rubber of the wiper blades 5a, 5b, or 5c has deteriorated when the chatter vibration intensity calculated by the chatter vibration intensity calculating unit 24 exceeds the reference value.

  More specifically, the deterioration determination unit 25 stores therein three types of reference values TH1, TH2 and TH3 (TH1 <TH2 <TH3) having different levels, and the intensity of chatter vibration is the reference value TH1. If the wiper rubber of the wiper blades 5a, 5b or 5c is “no deterioration” when it is less than or equal to the reference value TH2 and exceeds the reference value TH2, the reference value TH3 exceeds the reference value TH2 In the following cases, “deterioration is medium”, and when the reference value TH3 is exceeded, it is determined that “deterioration is large”. The determination result in the deterioration determination unit 25 is sent to the warning generation unit 26 as a warning level signal.

  In calculating the friction coefficient, the deterioration determining unit 25 considers the operation speeds (large, small, intermittent, etc.) of the wipers 3a, 3b and 3c indicated by the wiper signal sent from the CAN interface 14. It can be configured to calculate a coefficient of friction. According to this configuration, the deterioration state of the wiper rubber can be determined more precisely.

  The warning generation unit 26 generates a warning as shown in FIG. 2, for example, according to “deterioration is small”, “deterioration is medium”, or “deterioration is large” indicated by the warning level signal sent from the deterioration determination unit 25. A warning message signal representing the message is generated and sent to the car navigation system 18.

  Next, the operation of the wiper blade replacement warning device according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention configured as described above will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

  When the process is started, first, the start of the wiper operation is detected (step ST11). That is, the waveform generation unit 21 of the CPU 15 refers to the wiper signal sent from the CAN interface 14 and checks whether the operation of the wiper 3a, 3b, or 3c is started. If the start of the wiper operation is detected in step ST11, that is, if the wiper signal indicates that the wiper 3a, 3b or 3c is in operation, the processing in step ST12 and subsequent steps is executed. On the other hand, when the start of the wiper operation is not detected, step ST11 is repeatedly executed to enter a standby state.

  Next, chatter vibration observed by the acceleration sensor is recorded in the RAM (step ST12). That is, the waveform generation unit 21 detects the acceleration sensor 11a, after a lapse of a predetermined time (for example, 10 seconds) sufficient to remove contaminants accumulated on the window after the start of the wiper operation is detected. Chatter vibration signals sent as digital signals from 11b and 11c via A / D converters 12a, 12b and 12c, respectively, are sequentially stored in the RAM 17 as chatter vibration waveform data for each acceleration sensor 11a, 11b and 11c. To do.

  Next, the rainfall observed by the rainfall sensor is stored in the RAM (step ST13). That is, if the wiper signal sent via the CAN interface 14 indicates that the wiper 3a, 3b or 3c is operating, the rainfall recording unit 22 uses the rainfall signal sent from the rain sensor 13 as rainfall data. Are sequentially stored in the RAM 17.

  Next, it is checked whether or not the wiper operation continues (step ST14). That is, the CPU 15 checks whether the wiper signal sent via the CAN interface 14 indicates that the wiper 3a, 3b or 3c is operating. If it is determined in step ST14 that the wiper operation is not continued, the processing after step ST15 is stopped, and the processing in the wiper blade replacement warning device ends.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step ST14 that the wiper operation continues, it is then checked whether or not data for a period necessary for waveform creation has been accumulated (step ST15). That is, the waveform generation unit 21 checks whether or not the chatter vibration waveform data sequentially stored in the RAM 17 has an amount capable of generating a waveform. If it is determined in step ST15 that data for a period necessary for waveform creation is not accumulated, the sequence returns to step ST12 and the above-described processing is repeated.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step ST15 that data for a period necessary for waveform creation has been accumulated, a waveform is then created based on the accumulated chatter vibration waveform data (step ST16). That is, the waveform generation unit 21 generates a waveform based on chatter vibration waveform data read from the RAM 17 and sends it to the waveform comparison unit 23.

  Next, the generated waveform is compared with the waveform stored in the ROM, and the strength of chatter vibration of the wiper blade is obtained (step ST17). That is, the waveform comparison unit 23 compares the waveform generated in step ST16 with the reference waveform based on the reference waveform data read from the ROM 16, and sends the comparison result to the chatter vibration intensity calculation unit 24. The chatter vibration strength calculation unit 24 calculates the chatter vibration strength based on the comparison result sent from the waveform comparison unit 23 and sends the chatter vibration strength to the deterioration determination unit 25.

  Next, the friction coefficient of the window glass surface is obtained from the average value of the rainfall recorded in the RAM (step ST18). That is, the deterioration determination unit 25 reads rain data from the RAM 17 and calculates the friction coefficient between the wiper blade 5a or 5b and the glass surface of the front window 1 based on the average value of the rain indicated by the rain data.

  Next, the deterioration state of the wiper rubber is determined from the strength of chatter vibration and the friction coefficient of the window glass surface (step ST19). That is, the deterioration determination unit 25 corrects the reference value for performing deterioration determination stored in advance in accordance with the friction coefficient calculated in step ST18, and then the chatter vibration calculated in step ST17. It is determined whether the wiper rubber of the wiper blades 5a, 5b, or 5c has deteriorated.

  More specifically, the deterioration determining unit 25 corrects three types of reference values TH1, TH2 and TH3 (TH1 <TH2 <TH3) stored in the self according to the friction coefficient, and thereafter When the strength of chatter vibration is less than the reference value TH1, the wiper rubber of the wiper blades 5a, 5b or 5c is “no deterioration”, and when the vibration value exceeds the reference value TH1 and is less than the reference value TH2, “deterioration is small”. When the reference value TH2 is exceeded and below the reference value TH3, it is determined that “deterioration is medium”, and when the reference value TH3 is exceeded, “deterioration is large”. The determination result in the deterioration determination unit 25 is sent to the warning generation unit 26 as a warning level signal.

  Next, it is checked whether or not the current deterioration state of the wiper rubber is a state that requires a warning (step ST20). That is, the warning generation unit 26 checks whether or not a warning level signal other than “no deterioration” is sent from the deterioration determination unit 25. If it is determined in step ST20 that the current wiper rubber deterioration state does not require a warning, the sequence returns to step ST12 and the above-described processing is repeated.

  On the other hand, when it is determined in step ST20 that the current deterioration state of the wiper rubber requires warning, the warning strength is determined from the degree of deterioration of the wiper rubber (step ST21). That is, the warning generation unit 26 generates a warning message signal in response to “deterioration is low”, “deterioration is medium”, or “deterioration is high” indicated by the warning level signal sent from the deterioration determination unit 25. To the car navigation system 18.

  Next, a warning is given to the driver (step ST22). That is, the car navigation system 18 changes the content of the warning message and the volume of the warning message as shown in FIG. 2 according to the warning message signal received from the warning generation unit 26 of the CPU 15, and displays the warning message on the display 19. And a warning message is output from the speaker 20 by voice. Thereafter, the process in the wiper blade replacement warning device ends.

  As described above, according to the wiper blade replacement warning device according to the first embodiment of the present invention, the vibration waveform detected by the acceleration sensors 11a, 11b and 11c is compared with the reference waveform stored in advance. If the strength of chatter vibration is calculated and the strength exceeds the reference value for determining deterioration, it is determined that the wiper rubber has deteriorated and a warning message indicating that the wiper blade should be replaced is generated. With this configuration, the state of the wiper blade itself during the wiper operation is directly checked, and the wiper blade replacement time can be mechanically warned with high accuracy, that is, a suitable timing.

  The chatter vibration during the wiper operation greatly depends on the friction coefficient between the wiper rubbers of the wiper blades 5a, 5b and 5c and the glass surface of the window. This friction coefficient is calculated using the rainfall obtained from the rainfall sensor 13. Since the correction is made, it is possible to more accurately determine the state of deterioration of the wiper rubber.

  Furthermore, the warning message for the driver is configured to output with different contents and volume depending on the degree of deterioration of the wiper rubber, so it can prevent the driver from feeling uncomfortable at the time of minor deterioration, In addition, the driver can be warned strongly when serious deterioration occurs.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the wiper blade replacement warning apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of the content and volume of a warning message output with the wiper blade replacement warning apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the functional structure of CPU of the wiper blade replacement warning apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the wiper blade replacement warning apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Front window, 2 Rear window, 3a, 3b, 3c Wiper, 4a, 4b, 4c Wiper arm, 5a, 5b, 5c Wiper blade, 11a, 11b, 11c Acceleration sensor (vibration sensor), 12a, 12b, 12c A / D converter, 13 Rain sensor, 14 CAN interface, 15 CPU, 16 ROM, 17 RAM, 18 Car navigation system, 19 Display, 20 Speaker, 21 Waveform generator, 22 Rainfall recorder, 23 Waveform comparator, 24 Chatter Vibration intensity calculation unit, 25 deterioration determination unit, 26 warning generation unit.

Claims (4)

A vibration sensor that is attached to a predetermined portion of the wiper and detects chatter vibration that occurs when the wiper blade operates.
A waveform storage unit that stores, as a reference waveform, a waveform of chatter vibration that occurs during operation of the wiper blade in which the wiper rubber has not deteriorated;
A waveform comparison unit that compares the waveform of chatter vibration detected by the vibration sensor with a reference waveform stored in the waveform storage unit;
A chatter vibration intensity calculating unit for calculating the intensity of chatter vibration based on the difference between the waveform of chatter vibration and a reference waveform obtained by the comparison by the waveform comparison unit;
A deterioration determination unit that determines that the wiper rubber is deteriorated when the chatter vibration strength calculated by the chatter vibration strength calculation unit exceeds a reference value for determining deterioration;
A wiper blade replacement warning device comprising: a warning generation unit that generates a warning message that the wiper blade should be replaced when the wiper rubber is determined to be deteriorated by the deterioration determination unit. It has a rain sensor that detects rainfall,
The wiper blade replacement warning device according to claim 1, wherein the deterioration determination unit corrects a reference value for deterioration determination according to the rainfall detected by the rainfall sensor. The deterioration determination unit determines the degree of deterioration of the wiper rubber according to which of the reference values for determining deterioration the vibration vibration strength calculated by the chatter vibration strength calculation unit exceeds. Judgment
The wiper blade replacement warning according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the warning generation unit generates a warning message with at least one of a volume and a content corresponding to the degree of deterioration determined by the deterioration determination unit. apparatus. The wiper blade replacement warning according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the warning generation unit includes at least one display for displaying a warning message and at least one speaker for outputting the message by voice. apparatus.

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