JP2020038181A - Mounting structure of radar device - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a mounting structure of a radar device allowing the radar device to sufficiently exert expected performance.SOLUTION: A mounting structure of a radar device includes: a lamp section 20 which has a lamp body 21 fixed to a vehicle body panel 11 of a vehicle 10, a light transmissive lamp cover 24 covering the lamp body 21, and a light source 22 arranged in a lamp chamber 28 to be a space partitioned by the lamp body 21 and the lamp cover 24; a mounting member 50 which is provided to extend from the lamp body 21 to an outer lower side of the lamp chamber 28 in a direction in which the lamp section 20 is mounted in the vehicle 10; a radar device 30 which is fixed to the mounting member 50; and an opaque radar cover 60 which is provided to cover the radar device 30. By this structure, the radar device is not fixed to the vehicle body panel 11 and is fixed to the lamp body 21 which is more excellent in machining accuracy than the vehicle body panel 11, thereby enabling improvement of mounting accuracy of the radar device.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

  The present invention relates to a mounting structure of a radar device for detecting an object around a vehicle.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a radar device that transmits a high-frequency electromagnetic wave to the vicinity of a vehicle, such as a millimeter-wave radar, and detects an object by receiving a reflected wave from an object around the vehicle has been used as a headlight and a taillight (a so-called combination) of a vehicle. A mounting structure of a radar device mounted near a lamp is known. According to one of such mounting structures (hereinafter, referred to as "conventional structure"), a light source is provided inside a lamp chamber formed between a housing of a combination lamp and a lamp cover, A radar device is installed outside the light room. Further, according to the conventional structure, a shielding portion for covering the radar device from the front is formed on the lamp cover (for example, see Patent Document 1).

JP 2010-135087 A

  By the way, according to the conventional structure, the radar device is fixed to the vehicle body panel (vehicle body) outside the lamp room. Therefore, the accuracy of the mounting position and the mounting angle of the radar device depends on the forming and / or processing accuracy of the vehicle body panel. However, in general, the vehicle body panel is made of a sheet-metal processed steel plate, and the casing of the combination lamp is made of an injection-molded resin. Therefore, the molding and / or processing precision of the vehicle body panel is not as high as the molding precision of the casing of the combination lamp. Therefore, when the radar device is fixed to the vehicle body panel as in the conventional structure, the variation in the detection area of the radar device may increase. Further, the radar devices are installed on the left and right sides of the vehicle, and are configured to cover the respective detection areas complementarily. Therefore, when the detection areas of the left and right radar devices vary, the detection areas of the left and right radar devices may not be able to be complementarily covered. Therefore, according to the conventional structure, there is a problem that the radar device may not be able to sufficiently exhibit the expected performance.

  The present invention has been made to address the above problems. That is, one of the objects of the present invention is to provide a mounting structure of a radar device in which the mounting accuracy of the radar device to a vehicle is increased, whereby the radar device can sufficiently exhibit its intended performance. It is in.

  Therefore, the mounting structure of the radar device of the present invention (hereinafter, also referred to as “the present invention structure”) includes a housing (21) fixed to a vehicle body panel (11) of a vehicle (10) and a housing (21). A lamp section (24) including a light-transmissive lamp cover (24) to cover, and a light source (22) disposed in a lamp chamber (28), which is a space defined by the housing and the lamp cover. 20) a mounting member (50) provided to extend downward from the housing to the outside of the lamp chamber in a direction in which the lamp unit is mounted on the vehicle, and a radar device (30) fixed to the mounting member. And an opaque radar cover (60) provided to cover the radar device.

  According to the structure of the present invention, the radar device is installed outside the housing and below the light source. On the other hand, since the light source is disposed in the lamp room, the radar device is hardly affected by heat generated from the light source. Further, the radar device is covered with a radar cover instead of a bumper. Therefore, for example, even if the bumper is coated, it is possible to prevent electromagnetic waves transmitted and received by the radar device from being absorbed or scattered by the paint used for coating the bumper. In addition, according to the structure of the present invention, the mounting member for fixing the radar device is not fixed to the vehicle body panel, but is fixed to the housing of the lamp unit capable of managing the irradiation direction of the radar. Therefore, since the mounting position and the mounting angle of the radar device do not depend on the processing accuracy of the vehicle body panel, high mounting accuracy of the radar device can be secured.

  Therefore, according to the structure of the present invention, it is possible to provide a mounting structure of the radar device in which the radar device can sufficiently exhibit the expected performance.

  In the mounting structure for a radar device according to one aspect of the present invention, the radar cover is provided adjacent to the lamp cover.

  According to this aspect, since the radar cover can be fixed to the ramp portion, the radar device and the radar cover have high mounting accuracy only by mounting the radar device and the ramp portion to which the radar cover is fixed to the vehicle body. You.

  In the mounting structure for a radar device according to one aspect of the present invention, the radar cover is provided adjacent to a bumper (40) of the vehicle.

  According to this aspect, since the radar cover does not necessarily need to be adjacent to the lamp cover, various design elements can be added.

  In the above description, in order to facilitate understanding of the present invention, the names and / or symbols used in the embodiments are attached in parentheses to the configurations of the invention corresponding to the embodiments described later. However, each component of the present invention is not limited to the embodiment defined by the name and / or reference numeral.

FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining a mounting position of a radar device according to an embodiment of the present invention on a vehicle body, where FIG. 1A is a top view and FIG. 1B is a side view. FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view for explaining the mounting structure of the radar device shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is a perspective view for explaining the mounting structure of the left front radar device shown in FIG. FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a state where the left front radar device and the left front combination lamp shown in FIG. 1 are attached to the vehicle. FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a state in which the left rear radar device and the left rear combination lamp shown in FIG. 1 are attached to the vehicle. FIG. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view for explaining a mounting structure of a radar device according to another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a front view for explaining a mounting position of the radar device and the radar cover according to the modified example, and is a diagram when the radar cover is arranged in a portion cut off below the lamp cover. FIG. 8 is a front view for explaining a mounting position of the radar device and the radar cover according to the modified example, and is a diagram when the radar cover is arranged in a cutout portion of a side of the lamp cover. FIG. 9 is a front view for explaining a mounting position of the radar device and the radar cover according to the modified example, and is a diagram when the radar cover is arranged in an opening formed in a part of the bumper.

(Constitution)
The mounting structure of the radar device according to the embodiment of the present invention (hereinafter, also referred to as “first structure”) is applied to the vehicle 10 as shown in FIG. The vehicle 10 includes a combination lamp 20 (20FL, 20FR, 20RL, and 20RR), a radar device 30 (30FL, 30FR, 30RL, and 30RR), and a bumper 40 (a front bumper 40F and a rear bumper 40R).

  As shown in FIG. 1A, the combination lamps 20 are disposed on the front left and right sides and the rear end right and left sides of the vehicle body 11 of the vehicle 10, respectively. The combination lamps 20 arranged on the left and right sides of the front end of the vehicle body 11 are also referred to as front combination lamps 20FL and 20FR. The combination lamps 20 arranged on the left and right ends of the rear end of the vehicle body 11 are also called rear combination lamps 20RL and 20RR.

  The front combination lamps 20FL and 20FR are lamps integrally formed with a headlight, a vehicle width light, a direction indicator light, and the like. The rear combination lamps 20RL and 20RR are lamps in which a tail light, a brake light, a direction indicator light, a backward light, and the like are integrally configured. The front combination lamps 20FL and 20FR are shown in FIG. 1 (B) in order to irradiate the light emitted from the headlights to a distant direction in the forward direction of the vehicle 10 and to secure the visibility of the side lights and the direction indicator lights. As described above, it is installed above the front bumper 40F. On the other hand, the rear combination lamps 20RL and 20RR are installed above the rear bumper 40R in order to ensure the visibility of the tail lamp, the direction indicator lamp, and the like.

  As shown in FIG. 1A, the radar devices 30 (30FL, 30FR, 30RL, and 30RR) are disposed on the front left and right sides and the rear end right and left sides of the vehicle body 11, respectively, similarly to the combination lamp 20. The front radar devices 30FL and 30FR are arranged below the front combination lamps 20FL and 20FR, respectively. The rear radar devices 30RL and 30RR are arranged below the rear combination lamps 20RL and 20RR, respectively.

  As the radar device 30, for example, a so-called millimeter-wave radar is used. The radar device 30 includes a transmitting / receiving circuit and an antenna (not shown) therein. The radar device 30 is a so-called scan radar including a plurality of transmitting antennas for transmitting a radio wave in a millimeter wave band (or a submillimeter wave band) and a plurality of receiving antennas for receiving a millimeter wave (or a submillimeter wave).

  The horizontal range of the detection area DAFL of the left front radar device 30FL is, as indicated by the broken line in FIG. 1A, the left front and right front radar devices 30FR of the vehicle 10 from the left side of the vehicle 10. The horizontal range of the detection area DAFR is from the right side of the vehicle 10 to the right front of the vehicle 10.

  As shown in FIG. 1A, the horizontal range of the detection area DARL of the left rear radar device 30RL is from the left rear side of the vehicle 10 to the rear center of the vehicle 10, and the right rear radar device. The horizontal range of the detection area DARR of 30RR is from the right rear side of the vehicle 10 to the rear center of the vehicle 10. At the rear center of the vehicle 10, a part of the detection area DARL and a part of the detection area DARR overlap. In this manner, the detection areas and the horizontal mounting angles of the radar devices 30RL and 30RR are set such that a part of the detection area DARL and a part of the detection area DARR overlap. Thereby, the radar devices 30RL and 30RR can cover the detection area at the rear center of the vehicle 10 in a complementary manner.

  The distance that the radar device can detect is determined by the characteristics of the radar device 30FL, and the detection area has a substantially sector shape. The detection area represented by the substantially sector shape can be rephrased as an irradiation area of the electromagnetic wave transmitted (irradiated) from the radar device 30. The electromagnetic wave transmitted from the radar device into the irradiation area is hereinafter also referred to as a “beam”. As shown in FIG. 1A, the horizontal divergence angle of the beam of the radar device 30 is θh, and as shown in FIG. 1B, the vertical divergence angle of the beam of the radar device 30 is θv.

  Next, the mounting structure of the radar device will be described in detail by taking the radar device 30FL mounted on the front left of the vehicle 10 as an example. In the following description, the suffix “FL” representing the left front is omitted for convenience.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the front combination lamp 20 includes a lamp housing 21, a light source 22, a reflector 23, and a lamp cover 24. In FIG. 2, the front of the vehicle 10 is in the left direction on the paper.

  The lamp housing 21 has a bolt 25 inserted into a hole 21 a opened in the lamp housing 21 and a hole 11 a opened in the vehicle body 11 (hereinafter also referred to as “body panel 11”). By fastening the nut 26 to the bolt 25 from the opposite side, it is fixed to the vehicle body panel 11.

  The space defined by the lamp housing 21 and the lamp cover 24 is called a lamp room 28. The light source 22 is provided in the lamp room 28. The light source 22 is an LED, an HID lamp, a halogen lamp, or the like. A reflector 23 is provided around the light source 22. The reflector 23 is configured to reflect light emitted from the light source 22 and deflect the light forward (in a direction from the light source 22 toward the lamp cover 24). Although a plurality of lamps are arranged in the combination lamp 20 as described above, only one light source 22 is shown in the longitudinal sectional view shown in FIG.

  The lamp cover 24 is made of a resin that transmits visible light (transparent resin). The lamp cover 24 is integrally formed with a fixing portion 24a for fixing the lamp cover 24 to the lamp housing 21 and a lens portion 24b for refracting light from the light source 22 and irradiating the light to the outside. ing.

  The mounting member 50 is made of resin, and is a plate-like member extending downward from the lamp housing lower part 21b as shown in FIG. That is, the mounting member 50 is provided below the lamp room 28. In this example, the mounting member 50 is formed by being integrally formed with the lamp housing 21. The front surface 50a of the mounting member 50 has a radar device fixing portion 52. When the lamp housing 21 is mounted on the vehicle body panel 11, the dimensions of the lamp housing 21 and the mounting member 50 are set such that the front surface 50a of the mounting member 50 is substantially parallel to the vertical direction. The lamp housing 21 and the mounting member 50 are formed by integrally molding resin.

  The radar device 30 includes a case 31 having a built-in transmission / reception circuit and a lid 32 that covers the antenna unit. The case 31 of the radar device 30 is mounted on the front surface 50a of the mounting member 50, and is fixed by, for example, engaging a flange portion 31a provided on the case 31 with the radar device fixing portion 52. Thus, when the lamp housing 21 is mounted on the vehicle body panel 11 (vehicle 10), the radar device 30FL shown in FIG. The radar device is fixed to the radar device fixing portion 52 so as to face diagonally forward left.

  The radar cover 60 is made of an opaque resin. Therefore, the radar cover 60 transmits a millimeter wave (or a submillimeter wave) but does not transmit a visible light. The radar cover 60 is fixed adjacent to the lamp cover 24. Therefore, when the bumper 40 is attached to the vehicle body 11, the radar cover 60 is provided above the bumper 40 and adjacent to the lamp cover 24.

  The beam emitted from the front surface 33 of the radar device 30 has a predetermined spread angle as described above. As shown in FIG. 2, the spread angle of the irradiation beam in the vertical direction is θv. As described above, since the front surface 50a of the mounting member 50 is parallel to the vertical direction, the central axis C1 of the beam emitted from the radar device 30 is parallel to the horizontal plane. Therefore, the irradiation beam spreads symmetrically with respect to the central axis C1. The range in which this beam passes through the radar cover 60 is called a “beam transmission area 61”.

  The bumpers 40 (the front bumper 40F and the rear bumper 40R) are made of resin or the like. The bumper 40 is usually painted with a paint of the same color as the vehicle body 11. This paint may contain a metal material. Therefore, when the electromagnetic wave passes through the bumper 40, it is absorbed or scattered, and its intensity is attenuated. On the other hand, since the radar cover 60FL is not coated, the electromagnetic wave is not absorbed or scattered by the radar cover 60FL, and the intensity thereof is not greatly attenuated. That is, according to the first structure, even when the radar device 30 is mounted below the combination lamp 20, the intensity of the beam emitted from the radar device is not greatly attenuated by the bumper 40.

  Similarly, the right front radar device 30FR, the left rear radar device 30RL, and the right rear radar device 30RR are similarly attached below the combination lamps 20FR, 20RL, and 20RR, respectively, and furthermore, have the radar covers 60FR, 60RL, respectively. Covered by 60RR. Therefore, the intensity of the beam emitted from the radar devices 30RL, 30RL, and 30RR is not greatly attenuated by the bumper 40.

  Next, the first structure will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 3 shows a front left combination lamp 20FL, a left front radar device 30FL, and a left front mounting member 50FL. When the combination lamp 20FL and the radar device 30FL are mounted on the vehicle 10, the direction toward the lower left of the paper is the front of the vehicle 10, and the direction toward the lower right of the paper is the left of the vehicle 10 as indicated by an arrow in FIG. Is better.

  As described above, the attachment member 50FL is attached to a lower portion (not shown) of the combination lamp 20FL at the front left. Furthermore, the radar device 30FL is attached to the attachment member 50FL such that the front surface (irradiation surface) 33FL of the radar device 30FL faces obliquely forward and to the left of the vehicle 10. Therefore, the beam from the radar device 30FL is irradiated diagonally forward left (see the detection area DAFL shown in FIG. 1). In this example, the radar device 30FL is attached below the light source 22FL that can be seen through the lamp cover 24FL.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the radar cover 60FL is provided below the combination lamp 20FL at the front left and at a position covering the radar device 30FL. The front bumper 40F is provided below the combination lamp 20FL and around the radar cover 60FL. This configuration is realized by attaching the front lamp 40F to the vehicle 10 after the combination lamp 20FL in which the radar device 30FL and the radar cover 60FL are assembled is attached to the vehicle body panel 11.

  By the way, the beam emitted from the radar device 30FL passes through the beam transmission area 61FL of the radar cover 60FL. As described above, the horizontal divergence angle of the irradiation beam is θh, and the vertical divergence angle is θv. Thus, the radar cover 60FL is arranged so as to completely cover the beam transmission area 61FL.

  Next, the mounting structure of the radar device 30 behind the vehicle 10 will be described. As shown in FIG. 5, the radar cover 60RL is provided below the combination lamp 20RL at the rear left of the vehicle 10 and at a position covering the radar device 30RL. As indicated by the arrow in FIG. 5, the direction toward the lower right of the paper is the rear of the vehicle 10, and the direction toward the upper right of the paper is the right of the vehicle 10. The rear bumper 40R is provided below the left rear combination lamp 20RL and around the radar cover 60RL. This configuration is realized by mounting the combination lamp 20RL on which the radar device 30RL and the radar cover 60RL are mounted to the vehicle body panel 11, and then mounting the rear bumper 40R to the vehicle 10.

  With such a configuration, even if the bumper 40 is coated with a material that affects the beam intensity, the intensity of the millimeter wave (or sub-millimeter wave) transmitted from the radar device 30 or received by the radar device 30 can be reduced by the bumper 40. There is no significant attenuation. Therefore, the performance of the radar device 30 for detecting an obstacle is not reduced.

  Furthermore, since the radar device 30 is covered with the radar cover 60, it is not visually recognized from the outside. Therefore, the radar device 30 is mounted below the combination lamp 20 without deteriorating the appearance. The shape of the radar cover 60 may be designed in a design shape. Furthermore, by making the color of the radar cover 60 different from the color of the bumper 40, a new design element can be added.

  Since the radar device 30 is fixed to the mounting member 50 fixed to the lamp housing 21, the mounting position accuracy is higher than when the radar device 30 is mounted on the vehicle body panel 11. Therefore, the beam emitted from the radar device 30 is applied to an accurate position. In other words, the deviation (error) of the actual detection area of the radar device 30 from the design center of the detection area is small.

  The mounting structure of the left front radar device 30FL and the left rear radar device 30RL among the radar devices according to the embodiment of the present invention has been described above. The mounting structure of the right front radar device 30FR and the right rear radar device 30RR is described. Are the same as the mounting structures of the left front radar device 30FL and the left rear radar device 30RL, respectively, and the description is omitted.

  As described above, the first structure includes the ramp section 20, the mounting member 50, the radar device 30, and the radar cover 60. The lamp unit 20 is defined by a lamp housing 21 fixed to the vehicle body panel 11 of the vehicle 10, a light-transmitting lamp cover 24 covering the lamp housing 21, and the lamp housing 21 and the lamp cover 24. A light source 22 disposed in a lamp room 28 which is a space. The mounting member 50 is provided to extend downward from the lamp housing 21 to the outside of the lamp chamber 28 in a direction in which the lamp unit 20 is mounted on the vehicle 10. The radar device 30 is fixed to the mounting member 50. The radar cover 60 is provided to cover the radar device 30. Further, the radar cover 60 is provided adjacent to the lamp cover 24.

  Therefore, according to the first structure, the radar device 30 is not fixed to the vehicle body panel 11 but to the attachment member 50 extending downward from the lamp housing 21 of the combination lamp 20. By mounting the radar device 30 to the lamp housing 21 and the mounting member 50 having processing accuracy higher than the processing accuracy of the body panel 11 to be subjected to sheet metal processing, the position of the beam emitted from the radar device 30 (with respect to the vehicle 10) Direction). Therefore, according to the first structure, the mounting accuracy of the radar device 30 to the vehicle 10 is improved, so that the radar device can sufficiently exhibit the expected performance. Furthermore, since the lamp cover 24 is fitted into the lamp housing 21, the accuracy of assembling the relative relationship between the radar device 30 and the lamp cover 24 is improved, and the angle and inclination of the lamp cover 24 affect the beam intensity. This problem is also solved.

<Other embodiments>
Next, a mounting structure of a radar device according to another embodiment (hereinafter, also referred to as a “second structure”) will be described. In the first structure, the mounting member 50 is formed integrally with the lamp housing 21, whereas in the second structure, the mounting member is mounted separately from the lamp housing. ing. Hereinafter, the difference will be mainly described.

  As shown in FIG. 6, a mounting member 50A separate from the lamp housing 21A is mounted on the lamp housing lower portion 21b. For example, the mounting member 50A is mounted to the lamp housing lower part 21b using bolts 53 and nuts 54. The mounting member 50A is the same resin as the lamp housing 21A. In FIG. 6, the same elements as those shown in FIG. 2 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description will be omitted.

  Although the mounting member 50A is made of the same resin material as the lamp housing 21A, the mounting member 50A may be made of a different resin material. Further, the mounting member 50A is not limited to a resin material, but may be a metal material. In FIG. 6, each dimension of the lamp housing 21A and the mounting member 50A is set such that when the lamp housing 21A is mounted on the vehicle body 11, the front surface 50a of the mounting member 50A is substantially parallel to the vertical direction. .

  The case 31 is placed on the front surface 50a of the mounting member 50A, and is fixed to the mounting member 50A. That is, the radar device 30 is not attached to the vehicle body panel 11 like the first structure, but is attached outside the lamp room 28 and below the lamp housing 21A. Thereby, the mounting accuracy of the radar device 30 to the vehicle 10 is improved.

<Modification>
The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications can be adopted within the scope of the present invention as described below.

  In the above embodiment, the radar cover 60 is disposed below the lamp cover 24 so as to be in contact with the lamp cover 24. In contrast to this, as shown in FIG. 7, for example, the radar cover 60A is fitted into a cutout portion below the lamp cover 24A of the combination lamp 20A and at the side end (right side in FIG. 7) of the vehicle 10. It is arranged to be. In other words, the radar cover 60A is provided adjacent to the lamp cover 24A. A part of the radar device 30 is covered by the radar cover 60A, and the beam transmission area 61 of the radar device 30 is completely covered by the radar cover 60A. Although FIG. 7 is a front view of the front left portion of the vehicle 10, the suffix FL representing the front left is omitted for convenience. Hereinafter, the suffix FL is omitted in FIGS. 8 and 9 as well.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 8, for example, the radar cover 60 </ b> B is slightly downward from the upper and lower center of the lamp cover 24 </ b> B from the side end (the right side in FIG. 8) of the lamp cover 24 </ b> B of the combination lamp 20 </ b> B. It is arranged so as to be fitted into a portion cut out in a substantially U-shape. In other words, the radar cover 60B is provided adjacent to the lamp cover 24B. The radar device 30 and the beam transmission area 61 of the radar device 30 are completely covered by the radar cover 60B.

  In addition, as shown in FIG. 9, for example, the radar cover 60 </ b> C is arranged so as to be fitted into an opening formed in the bumper 40. In other words, the radar cover 60C is provided adjacent to the bumper 40. The radar cover 60C is not adjacent to the lamp cover 24C of the combination lamp 20C. A part of the radar device 30 is covered by the radar cover 60C, and the beam transmission area 61 of the radar device 30 is completely covered by the radar cover 60C. Thus, according to the mounting structure of the radar device according to the modified example, various design elements can be added.

  In the above embodiment, the light source 22 employs an LED, an HID lamp, a halogen lamp, or the like. However, a bulb such as a xenon lamp may be used as the light source.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Vehicle, 11 ... Body (body panel), 20 ... Combination lamp, 21 ... Lamp housing, 22 ... Light source, 24 ... Lamp cover, 28 ... Light room, 30 ... Radar device, 40 ... Bumper, 50 ... Mounting member , 60 ... Radar cover.

Claims (3)

A housing fixed to a vehicle body panel of the vehicle, a light-transmissive lamp cover covering the housing, a light source disposed in a lamp room, which is a space defined by the housing and the lamp cover; And a lamp unit having
In a direction in which the lamp portion is mounted on the vehicle, a mounting member provided to extend downward from the housing to the outside of the lamp chamber,
A radar device fixed to the mounting member, and an opaque radar cover provided to cover the radar device;
Characterized by having
Mounting structure of radar equipment. The mounting structure of a radar device according to claim 1,
The radar cover is provided adjacent to the lamp cover,
Mounting structure of radar equipment. The mounting structure of a radar device according to claim 1,
The radar cover is provided adjacent to a bumper of the vehicle,
Mounting structure of radar equipment.

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