JP2010197228A - Inclination amount detection sensor - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an inclination amount detection sensor for increasing the width of a detectable inclination angle and of preventing generation of malfunction. <P>SOLUTION: The inclination amount detection sensor 1 includes: a moving body 3 formed into a spherical shape from a magnetic material; a guide body 2 having a guide passage 20 which allows the moving body 3 to be displacable and fixed on an object such as a vehicle; and a plurality of coils 4 wound around the guide body 2. The guide passage 20 includes a flat part 21 provided to be horizontal when an object is not inclined and a plurality of inclined parts 22 (22a, ...., 22d) continuously provided so that an inclination angle to the flat part 21 becomes larger as moving more away from the flat part 21. The moving body 3, upon moving on the guide passage 20, the impedance of the coil 4 changes and an inclination angle of the object is stepwisely detected by a detection circuit 6 electrically connected to the coil 4. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an inclination amount detection sensor mounted on a vehicle or the like.

  Conventionally, in a vehicle such as a motorcycle, the engine is stopped in order to prevent the fuel in the fuel tank from being ignited at the time of a fall, and therefore an inclination amount detection sensor for detecting the fall of the vehicle is used. (For example, Patent Document 1).

  An inclination sensor (inclination amount detection sensor) disclosed in Patent Document 1 includes an inclination sensor body in which a substantially V-shaped guide path is formed, and a columnar shape in which the guide path is movably disposed inside the inclination sensor body. And a moving body detecting element disposed at both ends of the guide path. Here, when the vehicle on which the tilt sensor is mounted is tilted at a predetermined angle or more from the horizontal position, the moving body rotates and moves on the guide path of the tilt sensor body, and the moving body detecting element detects the moving body. Can detect that the vehicle has tilted beyond a predetermined angle.

JP 2006-105763 A

  The tilt sensor as described above is limited in its use only for detecting whether it is greater than or less than a preset angle, and the range of tilt angles that can be detected is expanded using the same structure. Even if it tries, it is difficult to determine the angle, and there is a possibility of malfunction.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above reasons, and an object of the present invention is to provide a tilt amount detection sensor that expands the range of tilt angles that can be detected and prevents malfunction.

  In order to achieve the above object, according to the first aspect of the present invention, a moving body formed in a spherical shape with a magnetic material, and a guide path in which the moving body can be displaced are provided, and fixed to an object whose inclination is to be detected. And a plurality of coils arranged close to the guide path, and the guide path is installed on the flat part so as to be horizontal when the object is not tilted. A plurality of inclined portions inclined with respect to the flat portion, and the inclined portions are continuously provided such that an inclination angle with respect to the flat portion increases as the distance from the flat portion increases, and the coil corresponds to each inclined portion. Are arranged respectively.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, a triangular pyramid-shaped protrusion that restricts the movement of the movable body is provided between the adjacent inclined portions.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect of the present invention, the movable body has a through-hole penetrating the center of the movable body, and attenuates the movement of the movable body in the guide path. The fluid is injected.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, the guide portion is provided with a flat portion and a plurality of inclined portions inclined with respect to the flat portion, and the inclination angle with respect to the flat portion is set to increase as the inclined portions are moved away from the flat portion. Thus, when an object such as a vehicle is inclined, the moving body moves to an inclined portion corresponding to the inclination of the object such as the vehicle. Thereby, the impedance of the coil provided corresponding to each inclination part changes, the inclination angle of a target object can be detected, and the range of the inclination angle which can detect an inclination part can be expanded.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, it is possible to reduce the rolling of the moving body due to the inertial force of the moving body itself or the vibration of the object transmitted by the triangular pyramid-shaped projections provided between the adjacent inclined portions. And detection errors can be reduced.

  According to the invention of claim 3, by injecting the fluid that attenuates the movement of the moving body into the guide path, the moving body reduces malfunctions and detection errors caused by the inertial force of the moving body itself. be able to.

1 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating an inclination amount detection sensor according to a first embodiment. FIG. 6 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing an inclination amount detection sensor according to a second embodiment.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

(Embodiment 1)
An inclination amount detection sensor according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In the following description, the top, bottom, left, and right in FIG.

  The tilt amount detection sensor 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention is fixed to an object such as a vehicle, and as shown in FIG. 1, the mobile body 3 formed in a spherical shape and the mobile body 3 can roll freely. And a guide body 2 having a displaceable guide path 20 formed therein, and a plurality of coils 4 wound around the guide body 2. The guide body 2 has a cylindrical shape whose inner diameter is set to be slightly larger than that of the moving body 3, and is formed in a substantially U shape that expands upward. Further, lids 5 are attached to the openings at both ends of the guide body 2 with an adhesive or screws, and a guide path 20 is formed by the guide body 2 and the lid body 5.

  The guide path 20 is provided with a flat part 21 that is horizontal when the object is not inclined at the center in the left-right direction of the guide path 20, and the inclination angle increases stepwise as the distance from the flat part 21 increases. An inclined portion 22 (22a... 22d) is provided. Here, the inclination angle of each inclination part 22 is set so that the angle difference between the adjacent inclination parts 22 is equal. For example, the inclination angle of each inclination part 22a, 22b, 22c, 22d is the flat part 21, respectively. 15 °, 30 °, 45 °, and 60 °.

  Further, protrusions 23 are provided between the adjacent inclined portions 22 and between the adjacent flat portion 21 and the inclined portion 22a. The protrusion 23 is formed in a substantially triangular shape, and has a predetermined strength so as not to be easily crushed by the weight of the moving body 3. Further, the height of the protrusion 23 is set to be lower than the position of the center of gravity of the moving body 3.

  The moving body 3 is made of, for example, a conductive material such as a steel material or a magnetic material such as ferrite. Here, since the moving body 3 rolls freely and moves in the guide path 20, it is desirable that the moving body 3 is formed so that the center of gravity and the center of the moving body 3 are the same.

  The coils 4a... 4d are attached to portions corresponding to the inclined portions 22a. Each coil 4 is formed by winding a coil wire such as a copper wire around a bobbin made of a synthetic resin molded product, for example, and is connected to a detection circuit 6 housed inside the inclination amount detection sensor 1 via an electric wire L1. Are electrically connected.

  The detection circuit 6 supplies a high-frequency current to each coil 4 (4a... 4d), and when the moving body 3 enters into any one of the coils 4, the impedance of the coil 4 changes, and the detection circuit 6 changes to the coil 4. The coil 4 in which the moving body 3 exists is detected by detecting a change in impedance of the moving body 3. Thereby, the inclination angle of the object is detected, and a detection signal is output to an external electronic device (not shown) via the signal line L2. Since such a detection circuit 6 is a well-known technique, a detailed description thereof is omitted.

  Next, the operation of the tilt amount detection sensor according to this embodiment will be described.

  First, in a state where the vehicle is kept horizontal, the moving body 3 is stopped at the flat portion 21 of the guide path 20.

  When the vehicle tilts and the guide body 2 tilts by a predetermined angle (for example, 20 °), the moving body 3 rolls over the protrusion 23 and moves to the inclined portion 22a. Here, since the inclined portion 22a is inclined 15 ° with respect to the flat portion 21, and the inclined portion 22b is inclined 30 ° with respect to the flat portion 21, the moving body 3 does not move to the inclined portion 22b. It remains on the inclined portion 22a. When the moving body 3 moves to the inclined portion 22a, the impedance of the coil 4a changes, and the detection circuit 6 detects this impedance change, thereby detecting that the vehicle is inclined in the range of 15 ° to 30 °. it can.

  Next, when the vehicle is further inclined in the same direction and the guide body 2 is inclined at a predetermined angle (for example, 70 °), the moving body 3 rolls and moves to the inclined portion 22d, and the impedance of the coil 4d changes. When the detection circuit 6 detects the change in the impedance of the coil 4d, it is detected that the vehicle is tilted by 60 ° or more.

  Furthermore, when the vehicle returns to a certain amount in the horizontal direction and the guide body 2 returns to a predetermined angle (for example, 20 °), the moving body 3 rolls and moves to the inclined portion 22a. At this time, the moving body 3 tries to move to the flat portion 21 by the inertial force caused by the movement when moving from the inclined portion 22d to the inclined portion 22a, but the movement is restricted by the protrusion 23 and is held by the inclined portion 22a. Thereby, the impedance of the coil 4a changes, and it can be detected by the detection circuit 6 that the vehicle is inclined in the range of 15 ° to 30 °.

  In this way, it is possible to provide a tilt amount detection sensor that can detect the tilt amount of the vehicle in a step-by-step manner and that can reduce detection errors at the time of return.

  In the present embodiment, the inclination amount detection sensor provided with four inclined portions 22 whose inclination angles increase by a certain angle in the left-right direction with the flat portion 21 as the center has been described. The number and the inclination angle are not limited, and the number and angle can be freely set according to the angle to be detected.

(Embodiment 2)
An inclination amount detection sensor according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

  The tilt amount detection sensor of the present embodiment is formed in a liquid-tight state by the guide body 2 and the lid body 5 as shown in FIG. 2, and the inside of the guide path 20 is viscous due to a temperature change such as silicon oil. A fluid 24 that hardly changes and attenuates the movement of the moving body 3 is injected. The moving body 3 is provided with a plurality of through holes 30 that penetrate the center of the moving body 3 from a plurality of directions. Except for this point, the configuration is the same as that of the first embodiment.

  By injecting the fluid 24 into the guide path 20, for example, it is possible to prevent the moving body 3 from getting over the protrusion 23 due to the vibration of the object and moving to the inclined portion 22a, thereby reducing the detection error. be able to.

  In addition, since the moving body 3 is provided with a through hole 30 that penetrates the center of the moving body 3 from a plurality of directions, the fluid 24 flows through the through hole 30 regardless of how the moving body 3 rolls. The mobile body 30 can easily flow in the left-right direction, and the mobile body 30 is not restricted to move more than necessary, and the amount of vehicle inclination can be detected stepwise.

  In addition, when the lid 5 has a screw structure and is attached to the guide body 2, for example, a seal member such as an O-ring is used at a joint portion between the lid body 5 and the guide body 2, thereby further liquid-tightening. You may make it acquire a state.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Inclination amount detection sensor 2 Guide body 20 Guide path 21 Flat part 22 Inclination part 3 Moving body 4 Coil

Claims (3)

A moving body formed in a spherical shape with a magnetic material, a guide path in which the moving body can be displaced is provided, a guide body fixed to an object whose inclination is to be detected, and a plurality of disposed in the vicinity of the guide path Coil and
The guide path has a flat portion that is set to be horizontal when the object is not inclined, and a plurality of inclined portions that are inclined with respect to the flat portion,
Each of the inclined portions is continuously provided so that an inclination angle with respect to the flat portion increases as the distance from the flat portion increases.
An inclination amount detection sensor, wherein the coil is arranged corresponding to each inclination portion.   The inclination amount detection sensor according to claim 1, wherein a triangular pyramid-shaped protrusion that restricts movement of the movable body is provided between the adjacent inclined portions.   3. The moving body according to claim 1, wherein the moving body has a through-hole penetrating the center of the moving body, and a fluid that attenuates the movement of the moving body is injected into the guide path. The tilt amount detection sensor described in 1.

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