JP2017167061A - Ultrasonic sound wave sensor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an ultrasonic sound wave sensor that can suppress performance reduction arising from flowing water.SOLUTION: An ultrasonic sound wave sensor is attached to a bumper 100 of a vehicle. The ultrasonic sound wave sensor comprises: a sensor part that has an oscillator 21 having a transition/reception face 21a transmitting/receiving an ultrasonic sound wave housed; and a flange part 11 that encloses a surrounding of the transition/reception face 21a, and is provided so as to protrude with respect to a front surface of the bumper 100. In the flange part 11, a water reception face 12 is provided that guides flowing water running down the front surface of the bumper 100 sideways the transmission/reception face 21a at a part above the transmission/reception face 21a in a state with the sensor attached to the bumper 100 and, in a front surface view of the flange part 11, at a position on an inner side further than an outer edge.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

  The present invention relates to an ultrasonic sensor.

  Conventionally, an ultrasonic sensor provided in a bumper or the like of a vehicle detects a distance between the vehicle and an object around the vehicle, and controls to avoid a collision between the vehicle and the object.

  As such an ultrasonic sensor, for example, there is an ultrasonic sensor described in Patent Document 1. The ultrasonic sensor described in Patent Document 1 includes a sensor unit in which a vibrating body having an ultrasonic transmission / reception surface is accommodated, and a bezel for fixing the sensor unit to a hole of a vehicle bumper. And has a flange portion having an enlarged diameter at one end of the bezel. When this ultrasonic sensor is attached to a vehicle, one end of the flange portion surrounding the transmission / reception surface of the vibrating body and the surface of the transmission / reception surface protrudes to the front side of the vehicle.

JP2013-124870A

  In the case of a vehicle equipped with the ultrasonic sensor described in Patent Document 1, the rainwater that has flowed to the ultrasonic sensor through the side surface of the vehicle during rainfall is transmitted and received through the outer surface of the flange portion. It is transmitted to. At this time, since rainwater flows on the transmission / reception surface, there is a concern about erroneous detection of objects. Furthermore, malfunction may occur as rainwater flows on the transmission / reception surface of the ultrasonic sensor.

  This invention is made | formed in order to solve the said subject, and it aims at providing the ultrasonic sensor which can suppress the performance fall resulting from flowing water.

  The present invention relates to an ultrasonic sensor attached to an outer surface portion of a vehicle, the sensor portion containing a vibrating body having a transmission / reception surface for transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves, surrounding the transmission / reception surface, and of the outer surface portion. A frame portion that is provided so as to protrude from the surface, and the frame portion is a portion that is above the transmission / reception surface when attached to the outer surface portion, and in a front view of the frame portion A running water guide portion is provided at a position inside the outer edge to guide the running water that is transmitted along the surface of the outer surface portion to the side of the transmission / reception surface.

  In the above configuration, rainwater that has flowed to the ultrasonic sensor along the side surface of the vehicle during rainfall reaches the flange portion, and is then guided to the side of the transmission / reception surface via the flowing water guide portion. In this case, it is suppressed that rainwater passes on the transmission / reception surface. Therefore, it is possible to suppress the performance degradation of the ultrasonic sensor due to flowing water.

The side view of the state which attached the ultrasonic sensor to the bumper. Sectional drawing of the state which attached the ultrasonic sensor to the bumper. (A) The front view of the state which attached the ultrasonic sensor to the bumper, (b) 3b-3b sectional view taken on the line of (a). The front view which shows the motion of the water which flows down the surface of a bumper. (A) The front view of the state which attached the ultrasonic sensor to the bumper, (b) The front view of the state which attached the ultrasonic sensor to the bumper. (A) The expanded sectional view of the state which attached the ultrasonic sensor to the bumper, (b) The expanded sectional view of the state which attached the ultrasonic sensor to the bumper. (A) The front view of the state which attached the ultrasonic sensor to the bumper, (b) The 7b-7b sectional view taken on the line of (a).

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following embodiments, the same or equivalent parts are denoted by the same reference numerals in the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a side view showing a state when the ultrasonic sensor 200 of the present embodiment is attached to a bumper 100 of a vehicle. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of FIG. In FIG. 1, only the bumper 100 is shown in cross section. The ultrasonic sensor 200 is attached to, for example, a bumper 100 that is an outer surface portion of the vehicle, and is used to detect an object around the vehicle.

  The ultrasonic sensor 200 is fixed in a hole 101 provided in the bumper 100. The ultrasonic sensor 200 is configured to include the sensor unit 20 and the bezel 10 and is fixed to the bumper 100 by inserting the sensor unit 20 into the hole 101 from the back side of the bumper 100.

  The sensor unit 20 includes a housing 23 made of synthetic resin, and the housing 23 accommodates a vibrating body 21 and an elastic member 22.

  The vibrating body 21 has a cylindrical structure and includes a piezoelectric element (not shown) inside. One end surface of the vibrating body 21 constitutes a transmission / reception surface 21a. The transmission / reception surface 21a also serves as a transmission surface that transmits ultrasonic waves and a reception surface that receives ultrasonic waves transmitted from the transmission surface as reflected waves reflected by an object. In the present embodiment, the transmission / reception surface 21a is made of a dielectric material (for example, aluminum) and is formed in a circular shape.

  The elastic member 22 is made of a resin having elasticity, such as silicone rubber. The elastic member 22 has a cylindrical shape, and the vibrating body 21 is accommodated in the cylinder. The elastic member 22 covers a part of the side surface of the vibrating body 21 and an end surface (bottom surface) opposite to the transmitting / receiving surface 21 a of the vibrating body 21. The elastic member 22 plays a role of attenuating external vibrations and transmission / reception vibrations on a surface other than the transmission / reception surface 21 a of the vibrating body 21.

  The length from the front end portion of the elastic member 22 to the inner surface of the bottom portion is equal to the length from the transmission / reception surface 21 a to the bottom surface of the vibrating body 21. Therefore, when the vibrating body 21 is accommodated in the elastic member 22, the transmission / reception surface 21 a of the vibrating body 21 and the front end portion of the elastic member 22 are substantially flush.

  One side of the housing 23 is provided with a cylindrical side wall 23 a having one end opened, and the inside of the side wall 23 a functions as a housing for the vibrating body 21 and the elastic member 22. The transmitting / receiving surface 21a of the vibrating body 21 is exposed from the side wall 23a. A circuit board 24 is accommodated in the hollow portion of the housing 23, and the circuit board 24 is electrically connected to an electric circuit on the vehicle side via a connector (not shown).

  The bezel 10 has a flange portion 11 as a frame portion. The flange portion 11 is formed in an annular shape so as to surround the periphery of the surfaces of the transmission / reception surface 21 a and the elastic member 22. When the ultrasonic sensor 200 is attached to the bumper 100, the flange portion 11 is configured to protrude from the surface of the bumper 100 together with the transmission / reception surface 21 a and the front end portion of the elastic member 22. The outer diameter of the flange portion 11 is set to be larger than the inner diameter of the hole 101 of the bumper 100, and when the ultrasonic sensor 200 is fixed to the hole 101 of the bumper 100, the rear side of the flange portion 11 is the bumper 100. It abuts on the surface.

  The flange portion 11 has a front surface portion 11a and a back surface portion 11b. The surface portion 11a is a surface facing the outside of the vehicle when the ultrasonic sensor 200 is attached to the vehicle. In the present embodiment, the surface portion 11a has a tapered surface that approaches the surface of the bumper 100 as the distance from the transmitting / receiving surface 21a increases. On the other hand, the back surface portion 11 b is a surface facing the surface of the bumper 100, and a part of the back surface portion 11 b is in contact with the surface of the bumper 100.

  FIG. 3A shows a front view when the ultrasonic sensor 200 is attached to the bumper 100. The surface portion 11a is configured concentrically with the transmitting / receiving surface 21a and the elastic member 22.

  Here, the rain water that has fallen on the vehicle during the rain flows down the side surface of the vehicle and is transmitted to the surface of the bumper 100 to which the ultrasonic sensor 200 is attached.

  The flange portion 11 is provided with a running water guide portion that guides the rain water (running water) that has traveled along the surface of the bumper 100 to the side of the transmission / reception surface 21a. As shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, the flange portion 11 is a portion that is above the transmission / reception surface 21 a in the attached state to the bumper 100, and a position inside the outer edge in the front view of the flange portion 11. In addition, a water receiving surface 12 is provided as a running water guide.

  The water receiving surface 12 is provided so as to face upward when attached to the bumper 100. That is, the water receiving surface 12 is provided from the upper end part 11c of the flange part 11 diagonally downward to the left and right. In this case, by making the water receiving surface 12 a pair of inclined surfaces extending obliquely downward, rainwater flowing down from above can flow smoothly without accumulating.

  In the present embodiment, the water receiving surface 12 is provided on the back side of the surface portion 11 a (that is, between the back surface portion 11 b and the surface of the bumper 100), so that the running water guide portion constitutes the groove portion 13. When the ultrasonic sensor 200 is viewed from the front side of the bumper 100, the groove portion 13 is hidden by the surface portion 11a, and the groove portion 13 cannot be directly confirmed. Thereby, it can suppress impairing the appearance of the ultrasonic sensor 200.

  The groove portion 13 is configured with the back surface portion 11b and the surface of the bumper 100 as side surfaces and the water receiving surface 12 as a bottom surface. In this case, rainwater that has traveled along the surface of the bumper 100 directly enters the groove 13 and is guided to the side of the transmission / reception surface 21a. Thereby, it is possible to prevent rainwater from jumping to the surface portion 11a side, and to improve the running water guide performance of the running water guide unit.

  FIG. 4 shows the movement of water flowing down the surface of the bumper 100. When it rains, the rainwater flowing down the surface of the bumper 100 and flowing into the ultrasonic sensor 200 reaches the flange portion 11, and along the groove portion 13 extending obliquely downward in the horizontal direction as indicated by arrows in the drawing, the transmission / reception surface 21a. Guided to the sides on both sides.

  With the above configuration, the ultrasonic sensor 200 according to the present embodiment has the following effects.

  In the flange portion 11 of the ultrasonic sensor 200, the water receiving surface 12 is provided at a position above the transmission / reception surface 21 a in the attached state to the bumper 100 and at a position inside the outer edge in the front view of the flange portion 11. It was. In this case, rainwater flowing into the ultrasonic sensor 200 is guided to the side of the transmission / reception surface 21 a through the water receiving surface 12. Thereby, it can prevent that rainwater passes on the surface of the transmission / reception surface 21a, and can suppress the performance fall of the ultrasonic sensor 200 resulting from flowing water.

  The water receiving surface 12 is provided as a running water guide portion so as to face upward when attached to the bumper 100 and to extend in directions opposite to each other. In this case, rainwater is smoothly guided along the inclination of the water receiving surface 12 to the sides on both sides of the transmitting / receiving surface 21a. Thereby, it is suppressed that rainwater passes on the surface of the transmission / reception surface 21a.

  The water receiving surface 12 was provided on the back side of the surface portion 11a (that is, between the back surface portion 11b and the surface of the bumper 100), and the groove portion 13 was provided as a running water guide portion. In this case, when the ultrasonic sensor 200 attached to the bumper 100 is viewed from the front side of the bumper 100, the presence of the groove 13 is hidden by the surface portion 11a. Therefore, desired flowing water guiding performance can be imparted while suppressing the appearance of the ultrasonic sensor 200 from being impaired.

  In addition, by setting the running water guide portion as the groove portion 13, when rainwater flows down along the surface of the bumper 100, the rainwater directly enters the groove portion 13. Therefore, it is possible to suppress the rainwater from jumping to the surface portion 11a side, and it is possible to further improve the flowing water guide performance of the flowing water guide portion.

  In addition, the ultrasonic sensor 200 of the above embodiment is applied to a system that avoids a collision between a vehicle and an object. The collision avoidance system is a system that automatically activates a brake device or activates an alarm device to avoid a collision based on detection of an ultrasonic sensor. According to the above configuration, by preventing rainwater from passing on the surface of the transmission / reception surface 21a, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of malfunction of the ultrasonic sensor 200, and thus the brake device and the alarm device can be operated unnecessarily. Can be suppressed.

<Modification>
In the above embodiment, the water receiving surface 12 constituting the groove portion 13 is provided so as to extend obliquely from the upper end portion 11c of the flange portion 11 to the left and right obliquely downward directions. In this respect, the arrangement of the water receiving surface 12 is not limited to this, and any configuration may be used as long as rainwater flows smoothly from the upper side to the lower side. For example, the water receiving surface 12 as shown in FIGS. As a result, the groove portion 13 may be used.

  In FIG. 5 (a), each of the flange portions 11 extends obliquely downward from the left and right starting from a position that is vertically lower than the upper end portion 11c of the flange portion 11 (for example, the midpoint of the radial thickness of the flange portion 11). The water receiving surface 12 was provided. According to this configuration, when rainwater flows down from above along the center of the transmission / reception surface 21 a in the left-right direction when viewed from the front, the rainwater easily enters the groove portion 13. Thereby, the splashing to the surface part 11a side of rainwater can be prevented, and the flowing water guide performance of the groove part 13 can be improved further.

  In FIG.5 (b), the water receiving surface 12 formed in the upward convex arc shape was provided in the site | part above the transmission / reception surface 21a. According to this configuration, the depth of the groove (the length of the back surface portion 11b in the vertical direction) is the largest in the center portion of the transmission / reception surface 21a in the left-right direction when viewed from the front. As a result, a large amount of water can be received in this part. That is, when a large amount of rainwater flows down to the groove 13 along the center of the transmission / reception surface 21a, it is possible to prevent the rainwater from overflowing to the surface portion 11a because the amount of water received is large. In addition, when rainwater passes near the center of the transmission / reception surface 21a, it is considered that the necessity of guiding rainwater in the horizontal direction is greater than when passing through other than the center, and the above configuration is preferable. Thereby, the running-water guide performance of the groove part 13 can be improved further.

  In this way, by providing the groove 13 also on the center line of the transmission / reception surface 21a in the left-right direction when viewed from the front, it is possible to impart high running water guidance performance to the ultrasonic sensor 200 while suppressing impairing the appearance.

  In the above embodiment, the surface portion 11a is provided so as to be closer to the surface of the bumper 100 as it is farther from the transmission / reception surface 21a. For example, as illustrated in FIG. You may provide in parallel. In this case, for example, the back surface portion 11 b which is the side surface of the groove portion 13 may be parallel to the surface of the bumper 100.

  In the above embodiment, the back surface portion 11b which is the side surface of the groove portion 13 is provided in parallel with the surface of the bumper 100. For example, as shown in FIG. 6B, the back surface portion 11b is along the outer shape of the surface portion 11a. May be provided. That is, the rear surface portion 11b is also provided so as to be closer to the surface of the bumper 100 as it is further away from the water receiving surface 12 as the surface portion 11a is closer to the surface of the bumper 100 as it is farther from the transmission / reception surface 21a.

  According to this configuration, the groove width dimension in the thickness direction of the bumper 100 in the groove portion 13 increases toward the water receiving surface 12, in other words, toward the bottom side of the groove portion 13. That is, since the capacity | capacitance inside the groove part 13 becomes large, it becomes possible to guide a lot of water, suppressing that rainwater overflows to the surface part 11a side. Moreover, since the width dimension of a flow path becomes large, it can prevent that water remains in the inside of the groove part 13, and can improve drainage.

  Thereby, high flowing water guide performance can be imparted to the ultrasonic sensor 200 while suppressing deterioration in appearance.

  In the above embodiment, the water receiving surface 12 is provided on the back side of the surface portion 11a. However, for example, as shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B, the water receiving surface 12 is on the front side of the surface portion 11a. It may be provided. In this case, the water receiving surface 12 is provided so as to face upward as in the above embodiment. That is, the water receiving surface 12 was provided from the upper end part 11c of the flange part 11 in the attachment state toward the left and right diagonally downward. In the present embodiment, the back surface portion 11 b is in contact with the surface of the bumper 100.

  In the above embodiment, the water receiving surface 12 is provided as a surface perpendicular to the surface of the bumper 100 in the thickness direction of the bumper 100. For example, the water receiving surface 12 is directed to the outside of the bumper 100 or toward the surface of the bumper 100. You may tilt.

  The water receiving surface 12 does not necessarily have to be a flat surface, and may have a shape recessed downward, for example, as long as it can smoothly guide rainwater or the like.

  -In the said embodiment, you may give a water-repellent | hydrophobic process or a hydrophilic process to the site | parts (for example, water receiving surface 12 etc.) which comprise a flowing water guide part. Thereby, the flow of water is improved, and the running water guiding performance of the running water guiding unit can be further enhanced.

  The shapes of the transmission / reception surface 21a and the flange portion 11 are not limited to a circle, and may be other shapes, for example, a polygon such as a quadrangle or a hexagon.

  The bezel 10 and the sensor unit 20 may be integrated and attached to the bumper 100, or the bezel 10 and the sensor unit 20 may be attached to the bumper 100 separately. When separately attached, the bezel 10 may be attached to the bumper 100 from the front side, and the sensor unit 20 may be attached from the back side.

  In the above embodiment, the ultrasonic sensor 200 is attached to the bumper 100 of the vehicle, but the attachment target of the ultrasonic sensor 200 is not limited to the bumper 100 and is attached to the vehicle body or body exterior product. It may be a thing.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 ... Flange part, 12 ... Water receiving surface (flowing water guide part), 13 ... Groove part (flowing water guide part), 20 ... Sensor part, 21 ... Vibrating body, 21a ... Transmission / reception surface, 100 ... Bumper.

Claims (6)

An ultrasonic sensor (200) attached to an outer surface (100) of a vehicle,
A sensor unit (20) in which a vibrating body (21) having a transmission / reception surface (21a) for transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves is housed;
A frame (11) that surrounds the transmission / reception surface and is provided so as to protrude from the surface of the outer surface;
With
In the frame portion, the flowing water that is transmitted through the surface of the outer surface portion is located above the transmission / reception surface in an attached state to the outer surface portion, and at a position inside the outer edge in a front view of the frame portion. The ultrasonic sensor provided with the flowing water guide part (12, 13) which guides to the side of a transmission / reception surface.   2. The ultrasonic sensor according to claim 1, wherein the flowing water guide portion has an inclined surface (12) that faces upward in an attached state to the outer surface portion and extends in opposite inclination directions.   The frame portion is provided to surround the transmission / reception surface and has a surface portion (11a) extending along the surface of the outer surface portion, and the inclined surface is provided on the back side of the surface portion. The ultrasonic sensor according to claim 2.   The said running water guide part is provided as a groove part (13) formed between the back surface (11b) of the said frame part, and the surface of the said outer surface part in the attachment state to the said outer surface part. Ultrasonic sensor.   5. The ultrasonic sensor according to claim 4, wherein the groove has a water receiving capacity larger than that of other portions in a central portion of the transmission / reception surface in the left-right direction when viewed from the front.   The surface portion is formed so as to approach the outer surface portion as the distance from the transmission / reception surface increases. In the groove portion, the groove width dimension in the thickness direction of the frame portion increases as the inclination surface approaches. The ultrasonic sensor according to claim 4 or 5.

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