JP2019196096A - Tail gate device - Google Patents

Abstract

To prevent a malfunction of a tail gate caused by a malfunction of a capacitance sensor.SOLUTION: A tail gate device includes: a tail gate 2 located at a rear surface part of a vehicle 1; a driving device 4 which opens or closes the tail gate 2; rear detection means 6 to 9 which detect a first object existing behind the vehicle 1; a capacitance sensor 10 which is attached to a lower part of the rear surface part of the vehicle 1 and detects a second object based on change of electrostatic capacitance; and a control device 5 which controls the driving device 4 to open or close the tail gate 2 based on detection results of the rear detection means 6 to 9 and the capacitance sensor 10. The control device 5 causes the driving device 4 to operate if it is determined that a person exists behind the vehicle 1 based on the detection results and does not cause the driving device 4 to operate if it is determined that no person exist at the time when the second object is detected.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a tailgate device that automatically opens and closes a tailgate located on a rear surface portion of a vehicle.

  A vehicle that automatically opens and closes a tailgate (also referred to as a back door) on the rear surface of a hatch bag type or one box type vehicle by an electric motor has been put into practical use. Such a tailgate is called an electric tailgate, and is opened and closed by operating an electric motor in accordance with a user's switch operation. An electric tailgate that is opened and closed by detecting the movement of a user's foot instead of a switch operation is also known (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  This type of electric tailgate is opened and closed by operating an electric motor when a user's foot is detected by a capacitance sensor installed near the bumper. In other words, a user who wants to open and close the tailgate needs to perform a kicking operation such as holding his foot under the bumper. An electric tailgate that automatically opens and closes by detecting such a kick action has an advantage that the tailgate can be operated even when both hands of the user are closed with luggage or the like.

Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2015-21238

  However, the capacitance sensor may react in addition to the user's kick operation. For example, when an animal such as a cat or dog passes under the bumper, or when rainwater flows through the capacitance sensor. In such a case, the tailgate may be opened and closed even though the kick operation is not performed.

  The tailgate device of the present invention has been devised in view of such problems, and an object thereof is to prevent the malfunction of the tailgate due to erroneous detection of the capacitance sensor. In addition to this purpose, other effects of the present invention are also the effects that are derived from the respective configurations shown in the embodiments for carrying out the invention, which will be described later, and that cannot be obtained by conventional techniques. is there.

  (1) A tailgate device disclosed herein includes a tailgate located on a rear surface portion of a vehicle, a drive device that opens and closes the tailgate, and a rear detection unit that detects a first object existing behind the vehicle. , Attached to the lower part of the rear surface portion of the vehicle, and based on the detection results of the capacitance sensor for detecting the second object based on the change in capacitance, the back detection means and the capacitance sensor, A control device that controls the driving device to open or close the tailgate, and the control device is arranged at the rear of the vehicle based on the detection results at the detection time point when the second object is detected. When it is determined that there is a person, the drive device is operated, while when it is determined that there is no person, the drive device is not operated.

The rear detection means includes a distance sensor that detects a distance from the vehicle to the first object, and the control device has the distance detected by the distance sensor equal to or greater than a preset maximum distance. In this case, it is preferable to determine that the person does not exist even if the second object is detected.
(3) It is preferable that the rear detection unit includes a camera that captures the rear of the vehicle, and the control device determines the presence or absence of the person based on an image captured by the camera.

(4) When the control device determines that the person is present at the detection time point, the control device may determine the movement of the person's foot from the image captured by the camera to control the driving device. preferable.
(5) A first back camera that captures the rear of the vehicle with the tailgate fully closed and a second back camera that captures the rear of the vehicle with the tailgate fully open are provided as the camera. It is preferable.

  According to the disclosed tailgate device, malfunction of the tailgate due to erroneous detection of the capacitance sensor can be prevented, and safety and convenience can be improved.

1 is a schematic side view of a vehicle to which a tailgate device according to an embodiment is applied. It is a block diagram which shows the tailgate apparatus of FIG. FIG. 2 is a schematic side view for explaining a distance L and a maximum distance Lmax from the vehicle in FIG. 1. It is a flowchart which illustrates the control content implemented with the tailgate apparatus of FIG.

  A tailgate device as an embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings. The embodiment described below is merely an example, and there is no intention of excluding various modifications and technical applications that are not explicitly described in the following embodiment. Each configuration of the present embodiment can be implemented with various modifications without departing from the spirit thereof. Further, they can be selected as necessary, or can be appropriately combined.

[1. Constitution]
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the tailgate device of the present embodiment is applied to a hatchback type or one box type vehicle 1. The tailgate device is a capacitance sensor 10 attached to a lower portion of the rear surface portion of the vehicle 1 (for example, below the bumper) when the tailgate 2 located on the rear surface portion of the vehicle 1 is in a fully closed state or a fully opened state. The tailgate 2 is automatically opened or closed based on the detection result and the presence / absence of a person behind the vehicle. When the tailgate 2 is opened, the luggage room 3 (loading room) can be accessed from the outside of the vehicle 1.

  The tailgate device includes a drive device 4 that opens and closes the tailgate 2, a rear detection unit that detects an object (hereinafter referred to as “first object”) located behind the vehicle 1, a capacitance sensor 10, and a drive A control device 5 is provided for controlling the device 4 to open or close the tailgate 2. In this embodiment, the case where two cameras 6 and 7 and two types of distance sensors 8 and 9 are used as the rear detection means is illustrated.

  The drive device 4 is disposed in the vicinity of the tailgate 2 (for example, the left side surface portion of the rear portion of the vehicle 1). The drive device 4 of this embodiment includes a drive motor, a reduction mechanism that adjusts the rotation speed of the drive motor, a sensor that detects the rotation speed, an arm member and a rod that connect the reduction mechanism and the tailgate 2 (both are (Not shown). The rotational speed detected by the sensor is transmitted to the control device 5, and on / off of the drive motor and the rotational speed are controlled by the control device 5.

  The cameras 6 and 7 are both video cameras that capture the rear of the vehicle 1 and transmit the captured images to the control device 5. One camera 6 (hereinafter also referred to as “first back camera 6”) is disposed on the outer surface of the tailgate 2 (for example, the side of the license plate), and images the rear of the vehicle 1 with the tailgate 2 fully closed. To do. The other camera 7 (hereinafter also referred to as “second back camera 7”) is disposed on the inner side surface portion of the tailgate 2 (for example, in the vicinity of the pivot axis of the tailgate 2), and the vehicle 1 of the vehicle 1 is fully opened. Take an image of the rear.

  Each of the distance sensors 8 and 9 detects a distance from the rear surface portion of the vehicle 1 to the first object existing behind the vehicle 1, and transmits the detected information to the control device 5. One distance sensor 8 is a pair of corner sensors arranged at the left and right corners behind the vehicle 1. Hereinafter, the distance sensor 8 is also referred to as “corner sensor 8”. The other distance sensor 9 is a radio wave radar disposed in proximity to each of the pair of corner sensors (that is, in the left and right corners behind the vehicle 1). Hereinafter, the distance sensor 9 is also referred to as “radio wave radar 9”.

  The capacitance sensor 10 detects an object (hereinafter referred to as “second object”) based on a change in capacitance, and transmits the detected information to the control device 5. Since the corner sensor 8, the radio wave radar 9, and the capacitance sensor 10 are all well known in the art, description of their configurations is omitted. In addition, the vehicle 1 is provided with a door switch 11 that detects whether the tailgate 2 is fully closed, and a gate sensor 12 that detects the position (opening degree) of the tailgate 2.

  Furthermore, the vehicle 1 of this embodiment is provided with an open / close switch 13 for opening and closing the tailgate 2. The open / close switch 13 is provided on the rear surface portion of the vehicle 1 (for example, the tailgate 2). In the case of the opening / closing operation of the tailgate 2 that involves unlocking and locking the vehicle 1, the opening / closing switch 13 transmits an ON signal to the control device 5 when operated by a user having a remote control key. On the other hand, in the case of opening / closing operation of the tailgate 2 that is not unlocked or locked (not interlocked) with the vehicle 1, the opening / closing switch 13 sends an ON signal to the control device 5 when operated by the user regardless of possession of the remote control key. Send to. That is, the tailgate 2 of the present embodiment can be opened and closed by a user's switch operation.

  The control device 5 is an electronic control device that integrally controls various devices mounted on the vehicle 1. The control device 5 is configured as, for example, an LSI device or an embedded electronic device in which a microprocessor, ROM, RAM, and the like are integrated, and is connected to a communication line of an in-vehicle network provided in the vehicle 1. On the input side of the control device 5, the first back camera 6, the second back camera 7, the corner sensor 8, the radio wave radar 9, the electrostatic capacitance sensor 10, the door switch 11, the gate sensor 12, and the open / close switch 13 are provided. The drive device 4 is connected to the output side of the control device 5.

  The control device 5 controls the opening / closing operation of the tailgate 2 based on the detection results of the rear detection means (cameras 6 and 7 and distance sensors 8 and 9) and the capacitance sensor 10. Specifically, it is determined whether or not there is a person behind the vehicle 1 based on each detection result at the time when the second object is detected by the capacitance sensor 10. When it is determined that “a person is present”, the driving device 4 is operated. When it is determined that “a person is not present”, the driving device 4 is not operated. That is, the control device 5 opens or closes the tailgate 2 only when a person is present behind the vehicle 1 at the time of detection of the second object.

The control device 5 determines the presence or absence of a person based on at least one of images captured by the cameras 6 and 7 (hereinafter referred to as “camera images”) and detection results by the distance sensors 8 and 9 (hereinafter referred to as “distance results”). .
When the control device 5 uses only the camera image, it is determined that “a person exists” if the person is included in the camera image, and “no person exists” if the person is not included in the camera image. Is determined. In this case, if the tailgate 2 is in the fully closed state, the image captured by the first back camera 6 is processed to determine the presence or absence of a person. If the tailgate 2 is in the fully open state, the image is captured by the second back camera 7. The processed image is processed to determine the presence or absence of a person. Further, if the tailgate 2 is in an opening operation or a closing operation, the presence / absence of a person is determined by appropriately processing images captured by the two cameras 6 and 7. Note that determination may be performed by processing images of the past several seconds to several tens of seconds captured by the cameras 6 and 7.

  Further, in this case, when the control device 5 determines that “a person exists” at the time of detection of the second object, the control device 5 determines the movement of the person's foot from the images captured by the cameras 6 and 7 and moves the drive device 4. It is preferable to control. In other words, it is determined whether or not a kicking operation has been performed by holding the foot below the bumper where the capacitance sensor 10 is installed, in addition to the capacitance sensor 10, and using the camera image together. If so, the drive unit 4 is controlled.

  Further, when the control device 5 determines the presence or absence of a person using only the distance result, the distance L to the first object 21 detected by the distance sensors 8 and 9 is set in advance as shown in FIG. If it is equal to or greater than the maximum distance Lmax, it is determined that “no person exists” even if the second object 22 is detected by the capacitance sensor 10. On the other hand, when the second object is detected by the capacitance sensor 10 and the distance L detected by the distance sensors 8 and 9 is less than the maximum distance Lmax, it is determined that “a person exists”.

  Here, the maximum distance Lmax is set to a distance at which the assumed largest person (tall person) cannot kick without being forced below the bumper where the capacitance sensor 10 is installed. In other words, the maximum distance Lmax is set to be longer than the distance between the position at which a user with a general physique normally stands when kicking and the rear surface of the vehicle 1. That is, when the first object is detected by the distance sensors 8 and 9 when the second object is detected by the capacitance sensor 10 and the distance L to the first object is less than the maximum distance Lmax, It is determined that “the second object detected by the capacitance sensor 10 is a human foot as the first object”. On the contrary, if L ≧ Lmax at the time of the detection, it is determined that “no person exists”.

Moreover, when the control apparatus 5 determines the presence or absence of a person using both a camera image and a distance result, it implements according to the following <1>-<3>.
<1> If no person is included in the camera image, it is determined that “no person exists” regardless of the distance result.
<2> If L ≧ Lmax, it is determined that “no person exists” regardless of the camera image.
<3> If a person is included in the camera image and L <Lmax, it is determined that “a person exists”.
Even when the determination of <3> is made, it is preferable to control the driving device 4 by determining the movement of the person's foot from the images taken by the cameras 6 and 7.

  After starting the opening operation or closing operation of the tailgate 2, the control device 5 determines that the tailgate 2 is fully opened or fully closed based on information detected by the door switch 11 and the gate sensor 12. The drive device 4 is controlled to end the opening or closing operation of the gate 2.

[2. flowchart]
FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining the procedure of the control performed by the control device 5. This flowchart illustrates a case where the control device 5 determines the presence or absence of a person using both the camera image and the distance result. This flow is performed at a predetermined calculation cycle.

  In step S1, information from the cameras 6 and 7 and the sensors 8 to 13 is acquired. In step S2, it is determined whether or not the tailgate 2 is operating. If the tailgate 2 is stopped in the fully closed state or the fully open state, the process proceeds to step S3. In step S3, it is determined whether or not the second object is detected by the capacitance sensor 10, and if detected, the process proceeds to step S4, and if not detected, this flow is returned.

  In step S4, based on the camera image and the distance result, it is determined whether or not the first object existing behind the vehicle 1 is detected. If detected, the process proceeds to step S5. If not detected, the process returns. To do. In step S5, it is determined whether or not the detected distance L to the first object is less than the maximum distance Lmax. If L <Lmax, the process proceeds to step S6, and if L ≧ Lmax, this flow is returned. . In step S6, it is determined whether or not a person is included in the camera image. If a person is included, the process proceeds to step S7. If no person is included, the flow returns.

  In step S7, based on the camera image, it is determined whether or not the person included in the image has moved the foot. If there is a foot movement, the process proceeds to step S8, and if there is no foot movement, the flow returns. When the process proceeds to step S8, it is determined that the user has an intention to open or close the tailgate 2, and the drive device 4 is operated to open or close the tailgate 4 in the fully closed state or the fully open state. (Step S8), this flow is returned.

  In this case, in the next calculation cycle, the process proceeds from step S2 to step S9, and it is determined whether or not the tailgate 2 is fully opened or fully closed. If the condition of step S9 is not satisfied, the process proceeds to step S8, and the operation of the drive device 4 is continuously performed. On the other hand, if the condition of step S9 is satisfied, the process proceeds to step S10, the drive device 4 is stopped, and this flow is returned. When the flow is returned from steps S3 to S7, the process proceeds from step S2 to step S3 in the next calculation cycle, and the same processing is repeated.

[3. Action, effect]
(1) In the tailgate device described above, the detection result by the rear detection means and the detection result by the capacitance sensor 10 are used in combination as a trigger for automatically opening and closing the tailgate 2 (by the driving device 4). , The user's intention to open and close can be judged correctly. For example, as shown in FIG. 3, even if the capacitance sensor 10 detects an animal such as a cat or a dog as the second object 22, if it is determined that “no person exists”, “the user does not intend to open / close”. Therefore, the tailgate 2 is not opened or closed. For this reason, the malfunction of the tailgate 2 due to erroneous detection of the capacitance sensor 10 can be prevented, and safety and convenience can be improved. Also, with the tailgate device described above, the tailgate 2 can be opened and closed regardless of the possession of the remote control key, so even a passenger who does not possess the key can operate the tailgate without operating the switch. 2 can be opened and closed automatically, and convenience can be improved.

  (2) In the above-described tailgate device, if L ≧ Lmax, it is determined that “no person exists” even if the second object is detected. For example, as shown in FIG. 3, when an animal passes under the capacitance sensor 10 in a state where the vehicle 1 is parked against the wall in the back, the capacitance sensor 10 can move the animal to the second object. Even if detected as 22, if the distance L to the wall (first object 21) is equal to or greater than the maximum distance Lmax, it is determined that there is no person, and the tailgate 2 does not operate. As described above, when it is determined that there is no person at the position where the other sensor (here, the distance sensors 8 and 9) can completely kick the detection result of the capacitance sensor 10, the detection of the capacitance sensor 10 is performed. By invalidating the result, erroneous determination can be prevented and the tailgate 2 can be controlled with high accuracy.

(3) In the above-described tailgate device, since the presence / absence of a person is determined based on the camera image, the determination accuracy can be further improved, and the user's intention to open / close can be determined more accurately.
(4) In particular, when it is determined that there is a person at the time of detection of the second object, the movement of the person's foot is determined from the camera image and the drive device 4 is controlled, so that the user's intention to open / close is more accurate. Can be judged. As shown in the flowchart of FIG. 4, the determination accuracy can be further improved by using both the camera image and the distance result to determine the presence / absence of a person. 2 can be opened and closed.

  (5) In addition, since the first back camera 6 and the second back camera 7 are provided in the tailgate device described above, the cameras 6 and 7 The back can be imaged. For this reason, both the opening operation and the closing operation of the tailgate 2 can be accurately controlled, and convenience can be improved.

[4. Modified example]
In the tailgate device described above, the case where the two cameras 6 and 7 and the two types of distance sensors 8 and 9 are provided as the rear detection unit is illustrated, but not all of them may be provided. Moreover, you may detect the back of the vehicle 1 with apparatuses other than these. For example, a human sensor may be provided instead of or in addition to the cameras 6 and 7 and the distance sensors 8 and 9. If it is a human sensor, a person existing behind the vehicle 1 can be detected as the first object.

  The above-described conditions for determining the presence / absence of a person are merely examples, and are not limited to those described above. For example, the process of determining the movement of a person's foot may be omitted, or a condition such as “a person has a baggage” may be added to the above determination condition, It may be determined whether or not the user has an intention to open and close the tailgate 2 by tracking the movement of an existing person. In addition, it is good also as a structure which raises safety | security by sounding the alarm sound and audio | voice which notify a user that the tailgate 2 moves at the timing which starts operation | movement of the tailgate 2. FIG. In the flowchart of FIG. 4, the drive device 4 is stopped when the tailgate 2 is fully opened or fully closed. However, in order to prevent an erroneous stop, the drive device 4 may be stopped when all the conditions of Steps S3 to S7 are satisfied. Good.

1 Vehicle 2 Tailgate 3 Luggage room (loading room)
4 drive device 5 control device 6 first back camera (rear detection means, camera)
7 Second back camera (rear detection means, camera)
8 Corner sensor (rear detection means, distance sensor)
9 Radio wave radar (rear detection means, distance sensor)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Capacitance sensor 11 Door switch 12 Gate sensor 13 Open / close switch 21 Wall (an example of a 1st object)
22 animals (example of second object)
L Distance from vehicle to first object
Lmax maximum distance

Claims (5)

A tailgate located at the rear of the vehicle,
A driving device for opening and closing the tailgate;
A rear detection means for detecting a first object existing behind the vehicle;
A capacitance sensor that is attached to a lower portion of the rear surface portion of the vehicle and detects a second object based on a change in capacitance;
A control device for controlling the driving device to open or close the tailgate based on the detection results of the rear detection means and the capacitance sensor,
When the control device determines that a person is present behind the vehicle based on the detection results at the detection time point when the second object is detected, the control device operates the drive device while the person does not exist. The tailgate device is characterized in that the drive device is not operated when it is determined that The rear detection means includes a distance sensor that detects a distance from the vehicle to the first object,
When the distance detected by the distance sensor is equal to or greater than a preset maximum distance, the control device determines that the person does not exist even if the second object is detected. The tailgate device according to claim 1. The rear detection means includes a camera that images the rear of the vehicle,
The tailgate device according to claim 1, wherein the control device determines the presence or absence of the person based on an image captured by the camera. When it is determined that the person is present at the time of detection, the control device determines movement of the person's foot from the image captured by the camera and controls the driving device. The tailgate device according to claim 3. The camera is provided with a first back camera that captures the rear of the vehicle with the tailgate fully closed, and a second back camera that captures the rear of the vehicle with the tailgate fully open. The tailgate device according to claim 3 or 4.

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