JP2016211200A - Vehicle door controller - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a vehicle door controller offering convenience and high operational reliability.SOLUTION: A vehicle door controller includes: a reflective-type photosensor 6 fitted on a door 2 of a vehicle 1 and having a light-emitting elements 3 of an appropriate number that are capable of collecting light at two different locations and a photodetector 5 that receives reflected light from an object of detection near the light-collecting position 4; and a door opening/closing control section 7 that selects the light-collecting position 4 for emitted light from the reflective-type photosensor 6 to suit an open/closed state of the door 2, and drives the door 2 for opening/closing to suit the object of detection detected near the light-collecting position 4.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 9

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle door control device.

  As a door control device that controls opening and closing of a door of a vehicle when a user or the like is detected by a sensor mounted on a vehicle body, the one described in Patent Document 1 is known.

  In this conventional example, a touch sensor is used as a sensor and is fixed to a pillar at the rear of the vehicle. After the user touches the touch sensor and moves it up and down, the touch sensor detects the movement of the hand, and the door opening / closing control unit that receives the detection signal drives the back door up and down.

  However, in this conventional example, it is necessary to touch the touch sensor when operating the back door. When the touch sensor is disposed on the back door, the position of the touch sensor becomes high when the door is open, and the detection operation is difficult. . For this reason, it is necessary to attach the touch sensor to a portion whose position does not differ by opening the door, and there is a problem that there is no degree of freedom in the attachment position.

  In addition, the above-mentioned conventional example also mentions the possibility of using an ultrasonic wave, image recognition, a thermal sensor, etc. as a sensor. It is also possible to solve this problem, but in this case, it is difficult to distinguish when a user approaches the vehicle and when a person, animal, etc. other than the user approaches, and the judgment program becomes complicated. Or the problem that operation reliability falls arises.

JP 2005-307692 A

  The present invention has been made to eliminate the above-described drawbacks, and an object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle door control device that is easy to use and has high operational reliability.

According to the present invention, the object is
An appropriate number of light emitting elements 3 that are attached to the door 2 of the vehicle 1 and can collect light at two different positions, and a light receiving element 5 that receives reflected light from a detection target in the vicinity of the light collecting position 4 are provided. A reflective optical sensor 6;
A door opening / closing control unit 7 that selects the condensing position 4 of the emitted light from the reflective optical sensor 6 according to the open / closed state of the door 2 and opens / closes the door 2 by detecting the detection target in the vicinity of the condensing position 4. This is achieved by providing a vehicle door control device having

  The door control device condenses the light amount of the emitted light from the reflective optical sensor 6 at a predetermined condensing position 4, thereby setting the vicinity of the condensing position 4 as a detection region and satisfying predetermined conditions such as establishment of authentication. If the entry of the detection target into the detection area is detected on the condition that the door 2 is open, the door 2 is opened and closed.

  Since the reflection type optical sensor 6 is used as a detection means and the vicinity of the light condensing position 4 is set as a detection region, the noise removal step for the detection result can be simplified. Therefore, the user can easily use a simple circuit and program configuration. It becomes possible to confirm the intention to open and close.

  Further, by changing the light condensing position 4 depending on whether the door 2 is opened or closed, for example, the reflective optical sensor 6 is fixed to the back door 2, and the back door 2 is opened and the reflective optical sensor 6 is positioned. The detection range automatically moves to the optimum position in the open position even if the position of the sensor moves greatly from the closed position.

As another aspect of the present invention for achieving the above object,
A condensing position 4 of the emitted light from the reflection type optical sensor 6 can be configured as a vehicle door control device in which two positions on the optical axis (A4) of the light receiving element 5 are set.

  The change of the condensing position 4 of the reflection type optical sensor 6, that is, the detectable position can be realized by setting the light emitting element 3 and the light receiving element 5 to each set condensing position 4. If the condensing position 4 is set at two positions on the optical axis (A4) of the element 5, that is, the direction in which the light receiving sensitivity is maximized, the light receiving element 5 can be shared, and the configuration is simplified.

As another aspect of the present invention for achieving the above object,
A plurality of light-emitting elements 3 that are set in close proximity and are arranged close to each other;
The light emitting elements 3 for long and short distances are connected in series and driven by a constant current circuit 8,
When condensing at the short-distance condensing position 4N, both the far-and-far light emitting elements 3 emit light, and during long-distance condensing, only the long-distance light emitting element 3F emits light to supply power to the long-distance light emitting element 3. A vehicle door control device that increases the amount can be configured.

  In the present invention, all the light emitting elements 3 of the reflective photosensor 6 are connected in series and connected to the constant current power supply circuit 8.

  The selection of the condensing position 4 can be realized by selecting the light emitting element 3 that emits light by an appropriate switch circuit 10. However, all the light emitting elements 3 are driven by the constant current circuit 8, and the condensing position 4 (4 F at a long distance) The power supply to the short-distance light-emitting element 3 (3N) is turned OFF only when condensing the light to the short-distance light-emitting element 3). If the distance light-emitting element 3 (3F) is also supplied with power, the circuit configuration can be simplified.

  In the present invention, the light emission performance and the number of the light emitting elements 3F provided for the long distance condensing position 4F are the long distance condensing positions when driven by the current supplied by the predetermined constant current circuit 8. 4F is selected so that a sufficient amount of search light can be supplied, and only the light emitting element 3F specialized for the far-distance condensing position 4F emits light when condensing to the far-distance condensing position 4F. Since a sufficient amount of search light is supplied, predetermined search performance can be maintained.

  On the other hand, when the condensing position 4 is a short distance, the search light amount may be smaller than that when the condensing position is a long distance, and further, the long-distance condensing position on the optical axis (A4) of the light receiving element 5. The search light traveling toward 4F, that is, the light emitted from the light emitting element 3 (3F) for long distance also passes in the vicinity of the short distance condensing position 4N. A sufficient amount of search light can be supplied at the light position 4N, and predetermined search performance can be maintained.

The constant current circuit 8 can be configured to hold a fixed output,
At the time of condensing at the short-distance condensing position 4N, the output current of the constant current circuit 8 is reduced as compared with the case of condensing at the long-distance condensing position 4F, and the amount of light irradiated to the long-distance condensing position 4F. When the vehicle door control device is configured to reduce the amount of reflected light from the detection target at the long distance condensing position 4F to a light amount that is below the detection limit, the long distance is detected during the detection operation at the short distance condensing position 4N. It becomes possible to reliably remove the detection noise component from the light condensing position 4F.

In this case,
The reflection type optical sensor 6 constitutes a vehicle door control device formed by arranging a plurality of light emitting elements 3 having an optical axis (A4) passing through one of the condensing positions 4 around the light receiving element 5. Can
further,
The reflective optical sensor 6 constitutes a vehicle door control device formed by housing a light receiving element 5, a light emitting element 3, and a lens 9 for changing the optical path of light emitted from the light emitting element 3 in a sensor housing 11. Can do.

  According to the present invention, since the opening / closing control signal can be input without taking an unreasonable posture regardless of the opening / closing posture of the vehicle door, the usability can be improved.

It is explanatory drawing which shows this invention. It is a block diagram of a door control device. It is sectional drawing of a reflection type optical sensor. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 4A-4A in FIG. 3. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 5A-5A in FIG. 3. It is a circuit diagram of a reflection type photosensor. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of a control apparatus. It is a figure which shows operation | movement when a back door is a closed state. It is a figure which shows operation | movement when a back door is an open state.

  An embodiment configured as a back door control device that controls opening and closing of a back door 2 of a vehicle 1 is shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the back door control device (C) includes a door opening / closing monitoring unit 7b, a door opening / closing driving unit 7c, an authentication unit 7d, a sensor control signal output unit 7e, which operate under the control of the control unit 7a. The door opening / closing control unit 7 having the sensor signal input unit 7 f and the reflection type optical sensor 6 are configured.

  The vehicle 1 or the back door 2 is provided with a door opening / closing detection unit 12 formed by a micro switch or the like, and the door opening / closing monitoring unit 7b opens and closes the door 2 from the ON / OFF state of the door opening / closing detection unit 12. Determine the state.

  Further, a door actuator 13 such as a damper is disposed on the back door 2, and when the drive signal necessary for the door opening / closing drive unit 7 c is set by the control unit 7 a, the door actuator 13 is activated and the back door 2 Opening and closing operations are performed.

  The authentication unit 7d outputs a request signal outside the vehicle at a predetermined timing, and authenticates an ID signal output as a response signal to the request signal from the portable device 15 possessed by the user 14. When authentication with respect to the ID signal from the portable device 15 is established, the authentication unit 7d notifies the control unit 7a, and the control unit 7a outputs a wake-up signal of the reflective optical sensor 6 from the sensor control signal output unit 7e. The determination unit of the optical sensor 6 and the wake-up from the sleep state of the light receiving element 5 and the power supply to the light emitting element 3 are started.

  The sensor signal input unit 7f receives the output of the detection presence / absence signal from the reflection type optical sensor 6 and notifies the control unit 7a, and the control unit 7a receiving the detection signal drives on condition that a predetermined condition is satisfied. A signal is generated and output to the door opening / closing drive unit 7c.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIGS. 3, 4, and 5, the reflection type optical sensor 6 is formed by housing a mounting substrate 6 a on which the light emitting element 3, the light receiving element 5, and the like are mounted in a sensor housing 11. The light emitted from the light emitting element 3 is fixed to the back door 2 so as to face downward.

  In this example, an infrared LED is used as the light emitting element 3, and four elements having the same performance are arranged around the light receiving element 5. The periphery of the light receiving element 5 is surrounded by a partition wall 11a so that the light emitted from the light emitting element 3 does not directly reach the light receiving element 5.

  A lens 9 for changing the optical path of the emitted light from each light emitting element 3 and a lens 9 for guiding the reflected light from the detection target of the emitted light to the light receiving element 5 are disposed at the output opening of the sensor housing 11. . As shown in FIG. 5, the lens 9 corresponding to the light emitting element 3 applies the light emitted from each light emitting element 3 to any one of the condensing positions 4 on the optical axis (A4) of the light receiving element 5, that is, to the lens 9. The optical path is changed so as to go to either the near short-distance condensing position 4N or the long-distance condensing position 4F far from the lens 9.

  As shown in FIG. 3, in this example using four light emitting elements 3, the light emitting element 3F for long distance passing through the long distance condensing position 4F after the optical path is changed by the lens 9, and the short distance condensing position 4N. The short-distance light-emitting element 3F passing through is disposed at a point-symmetrical position.

  4 and 5 show the case where each lens 9 is formed integrally, but a single lens 9 corresponding to each element can also be installed in the sensor housing 11.

  FIG. 6 shows a circuit configuration of the reflection type photosensor 6. The reflection type optical sensor 6 has an input / output to / from the door opening / closing control unit 7 and an input / output port 6b connected to a power source, a step-down regulator (6c), a CPU (6e), and a DA converter (6f). It has a constant current circuit 8 whose value is managed.

  The light emission control of the light emitting element 3 is performed by switching the power supply to the light emitting elements 3 connected in series by the switching circuit 10 having two stages of transistors, and is connected to the base of the first stage transistor of the CPU (6e). When the “L” signal is output from # 1 (P1), the emitter-collector is cut off, and power is supplied to both the near and far light emitting elements 3N and 3F.

  The amount of current supplied at this time is a control signal output from the port # 2 (P2) to the DA converter (6f), and the DA converter (6f) sets the constant current circuit 8 so that the value of the current flowing through the light emitting element is reduced. To do.

  Since both light emitting elements 3N and 3F emit light by supplying power to both the near and far light emitting elements 3N and 3F, and a sufficient amount of emitted light is supplied to the short distance condensing position 4N, the short distance condensing position 4N It becomes a detection area. In this case, since a sufficient amount of emitted light is not supplied to the long-distance condensing position 4F, the long-distance condensing position 4F is not a detection region.

  On the other hand, when the “H” signal is output from the CPU, the emitter-collector of the second-stage transistor becomes conductive, and only the long-distance light emitting element 3F is excited. The amount of current supplied at this time is such that the DA converter (6f) has a constant current circuit so that the current value flowing through the light emitting element is increased by changing the control signal from the port # 2 (P2) to the DA converter (6f). 8 is set. As a result, a sufficient reference light amount necessary for detection of the detection target is also supplied to the long-distance condensing position 4F, and the long-distance condensing position 4F becomes a detection region.

  On the other hand, the amount of light received by the light receiving element 5 is input to the CPU (6e) after noise removal by the band pass filter 6g. The CPU (6e) compares the input light reception amount with a preset threshold value, and determines the entry of the detection target into the detection area.

  FIG. 7 shows an operation flow of the control device. First, the control unit 7a monitors the output of the authentication establishment signal from the authentication unit 7d, and starts control when receiving the authentication establishment signal (step S1).

  When the control is started, the control unit 7a determines the open / closed state of the door 2 from the output of the door open / close monitoring unit 7b. When the door 2 is in the closed state (step S2), initialization including calibration is performed. After that (step S3), sensing for a short-range detection region is started (step S4). As described above, sensing for a short-range detection region is performed by causing both the near and near light emitting elements 3N and 3F to emit light. As shown in FIG. 8, the user 14 detects the light sensor within a predetermined time. When the optical sensor 6 detects a hand or the like in the area (steps S5 and S6), the authentication unit 7d communicates with the user's portable device 15 for a predetermined time (steps S7 and S8). When 15 is detected, an opening drive signal is set in the door opening / closing drive unit 7c, and the opening operation of the back door 2 is started (step S9).

  When the opening operation of the back door 2 is started, the control unit 7a monitors the output of the door opening / closing monitoring unit 7b, and when the door 2 open state is detected (step S10), the light emitting element 3 is turned off, and the sensor circuit. The sensing state is terminated, such as the transition to the sleep state, and the control is terminated (step S11).

  If the optical sensor does not detect the object within the predetermined time in step S5, or if the portable device 15 cannot be detected in step S7, the sensing moved to step S11 is terminated and the control is terminated. .

  On the other hand, if it is detected in step S2 that the door 2 is in the open state, after performing initialization including calibration (step S20), sensing for a long detection area is started. (Step S21). Sensing for a long-distance detection area is performed by causing the long-distance light emitting element 3f to emit light alone, and as shown in FIG. 9, the user 14 is within the detection area of the photosensor within a predetermined time. When the optical sensor 6 detects the hand or the like (steps S22 and S23), a closing drive signal is set in the door opening / closing drive unit 7c to start the closing operation of the back door 2 (step S24).

  In the control from the opened state of the back door 2, the security problem does not occur even when the back door 2 is shifted to the closed state. Therefore, the re-authentication operation by the portable device 15 performed in the opened state is omitted. The

  When the closing operation of the back door 2 is started, the control unit 7a monitors the output of the door opening / closing monitoring unit 7b, and when the door 2 closed state is detected (step S25), the sensing state is ended and the control is ended. (Step S11).

  If the optical sensor does not detect the object within the predetermined time in step S22, the sensing moved to step S11 is terminated and the control is terminated.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Vehicle 2 Door 3 Light emitting element 4 Condensing position 5 Light receiving element 6 Reflection type optical sensor 7 Door opening / closing control part 8 Constant current circuit 9 Lens 11 Sensor housing

Claims (6)

A reflection-type optical sensor provided with an appropriate number of light-emitting elements that are attached to a vehicle door and can collect light at two different positions, and a light-receiving element that receives reflected light from a detection target in the vicinity of the light-collection position; ,
A vehicle door having a door opening / closing control unit that selects a condensing position of emitted light from the reflective optical sensor in accordance with an open / closed state of the door and opens / closes the door by detecting a detection target in the vicinity of the condensing position Control device.   The vehicle door control device according to claim 1, wherein a condensing position of emitted light from the reflection type photosensor is set at two positions on the optical axis of the light receiving element. It has a plurality of light emitting elements that are set close to each other and are arranged close to each other,
The light emitting elements for long and short distances are connected in series and driven by a constant current circuit,
When condensing at a short-distance condensing position, both the far-and-far light emitting elements emit light, and during long-distance condensing, only the long-distance light emitting elements emit light to increase the amount of power supplied to the long-distance light emitting elements. The vehicle door control device according to claim 2.   When condensing at the short-distance condensing position, the output current of the constant current circuit is reduced compared to when condensing at the long-distance condensing position, and the amount of light irradiated to the long-distance condensing position is reduced. The vehicle door control device according to claim 3, wherein the amount of reflected light from the detection target at the distance condensing position is reduced to a light amount below a detection limit.   5. The vehicle door control device according to claim 2, wherein the reflection type photosensor is formed by arranging a plurality of light emitting elements whose optical axes pass through any of the condensing positions around a light receiving element. .   6. The vehicle door control according to claim 1, wherein the reflection type optical sensor is formed by housing a light receiving element, a light emitting element, and a lens for changing an optical path of light emitted from the light emitting element in a sensor housing. apparatus.

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