JP2020138645A - Radar cover - Google Patents

Abstract

To make it possible to create a gradation design for a radar cover without using printing.SOLUTION: A radar cover includes a colored translucent layer 14 that has a transparent member 11 and a base member 13, which is placed on the back of the transparent member 11, layered, has a depth dimension in the layer direction of the transparent member 11 and base member 13 varied toward a direction along the back of the transparent member 11, and can transmit at least part of visible light, and a white reflective layer 15 that is placed on the back of the colored translucent layer 14 and reflects the visible light which has been transmitted by the colored translucent layer 14.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

The present invention relates to a radar cover.

In recent years, a radar unit that detects obstacles and the like around the vehicle by using radio waves such as millimeter waves has been mounted on the vehicle. Such a radar unit is arranged inside the vehicle in a state of being covered from the front by a radar cover on which an identification mark such as an emblem is formed. Since such a radar cover is visible from the outside of the vehicle, it greatly affects the appearance impression of the vehicle and is given various patterns and the like. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a method of forming a gradation design on a radar cover by inkjet printing.

JP-A-2010-274754

However, in reality, when forming a gradation design, a plurality of colored dots having different diameters are formed in an array. As a result, when the radar unit is visually recognized from a distance, the colored dot group is recognized as a gradation design. Therefore, when the radar cover having the gradation design by conventional printing is viewed from a close distance, the colored dots are visually recognized and cannot be visually recognized in a gradation shape. Therefore, it is desired to realize a radar cover that can express a gradation design regardless of the printing method.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to make it possible to form a gradation design in a radar cover without printing.

The present invention adopts the following configuration as a means for solving the above problems.

The first invention is a radar cover in which a transparent member and a support member arranged on the back surface side of the transparent member are laminated, and the transparent member and the transparent member are arranged in a direction along the back surface of the transparent member. A colored translucent layer capable of transmitting at least a part of visible light while changing the depth dimension in the stacking direction with the support member, and a colored translucent layer arranged on the back surface of the colored transmissive layer and transmitted through the colored translucent layer. A configuration is adopted in which a reflective layer that reflects visible light is provided.

The second invention adopts the configuration in which one or both of the colored light-transmitting layer and the reflective layer are provided as a part of the support member in the first embodiment.

The third invention adopts the configuration in which the reflective layer is a white resin layer in the first or second invention.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to third inventions, there is a brilliant film that is arranged between the transparent member and the support member and is visible from the outside through the transparent member. However, a configuration is adopted in which the colored translucent layer is provided along the outer edge of the brilliant film when viewed from the laminating direction.

In the fifth aspect of the invention, in the fourth invention, the support member has a black layer that is separated from the brilliant film and surrounds the brilliant film from the outside when viewed from the stacking direction. A configuration is adopted in which the light layer increases its depth dimension from the bright film toward the black layer.

According to the present invention, a colored translucent layer whose depth dimension changes is provided, and a reflective layer that reflects visible light is provided on the back surface of the colored translucent layer. According to the present invention as described above, in a region where the depth dimension of the colored translucent layer is large, the color visually recognized from the outside becomes darker, and conversely, in a region where the depth dimension of the colored translucent layer is small, the color is visually recognized from the outside. The color to be made becomes lighter. Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to form a gradation design without printing.

(A) is a front view of the radiator grill provided with the radar cover according to the embodiment of the present invention, and (b) is an enlarged front view of the radar cover according to the embodiment of the present invention. It is sectional drawing of the radar cover in one Embodiment of this invention. It is the schematic for demonstrating the manufacturing method of the radar cover in one Embodiment of this invention. It is sectional drawing of the modification of the radar cover in one Embodiment of this invention.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the radar cover according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1A is a front view of the radiator grill 1 provided with the radar cover 10 of the present embodiment. Further, FIG. 1B is an enlarged front view of the radar cover 10 of the present embodiment. Further, FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the radar cover 10 of the present embodiment.

The radiator grill 1 is provided on the front surface of the vehicle so as to close the opening leading to the engine room of the vehicle, ensuring ventilation to the engine room and preventing foreign matter from entering the engine room. A radar cover 10 is provided in the center of the radiator grill 1 so as to face the radar unit R (see FIG. 2) arranged in the engine room. The radar unit R has, for example, a transmitting unit that transmits millimeter waves, a receiving unit that receives reflected waves, an arithmetic unit that performs arithmetic processing, and the like. The radar unit R transmits and receives radio waves transmitted through the radar cover 10, and detects the surrounding conditions of the vehicle based on the received radio waves. For example, the radar unit R calculates and outputs the distance to the obstacle, the relative speed of the obstacle, and the like.

The radar cover 10 is arranged so as to cover the radar unit R when viewed from the front side of the vehicle. As shown in FIG. 2, the radar cover 10 provides a bright region 10A representing a figure or a character indicating a recognition mark such as a vehicle manufacturer's emblem and visibility of the bright region 10A when viewed from the front side of the vehicle. It is a component having a black region 10B to be improved and a decorative region 10C bordering a bright region 10A. In the present embodiment, the decorative region 10C is a region in which, for example, a gradation design in which the brightness of blue becomes lower as it goes from the bright region 10A to the black region 10B is formed.

As shown in FIG. 2, such a radar cover 10 includes a transparent member 11, a brilliant film 12, and a base member 13 (support member). The transparent member 11 is a portion formed of a substantially rectangular transparent resin material arranged on the outermost side of the vehicle. The front surface of the transparent member 11 is a smooth surface in order to enhance the visibility of the glitter film 12 from the outside of the vehicle. Further, on the back surface of the transparent member 11, a brilliant film forming recess 11a on which the brilliant film 12 is formed is formed.

The brilliant film 12 is formed on the inner wall surface of the brilliant film forming recess 11a so that the brilliant film 12 can be seen three-dimensionally from the front side of the vehicle. The glitter film forming recess 11a is provided along the shape of a recognition mark such as an emblem of a vehicle manufacturer or a character. The above-mentioned bright region 10A shown in FIG. 2 is formed by forming the bright film 12 on the inner wall surface of such a bright film forming recess 11a. Further, the back surface of the transparent member 11 is directly joined to the base member 13 in a region where the glitter film forming recess 11a is not provided.

Such a transparent member 11 is formed of, for example, a transparent synthetic resin such as colorless PC (polycarbonate) or PMMA (polymethyl methacrylate resin), and has a thickness of about 1.5 mm to 10 mm. Further, the front surface of the transparent member 11 is subjected to a hard coat treatment for preventing scratches or a clear coat treatment of urethane-based paint, if necessary. If it is a transparent synthetic resin having scratch resistance, these scratch prevention treatments are unnecessary.

The brilliant film 12 is a thin film having a metallic luster (metallic color) and having radio wave transmission provided on the inner wall surface of the brilliant film forming recess 11a of the transparent member 11. The brilliant film 12 is a metal thin film made of indium (In) formed by, for example, vacuum deposition or sputtering, and is a discontinuous film having a large number of fine gaps. If necessary, a coat layer may be provided on either or both of the front and back surfaces of the brilliant film 12. These coat layers are formed, for example, by clear coating using a transparent (including colored transparent) synthetic resin. Further, the coat layer may be a transparent ceramic coat layer made of silicon oxide (SiOx). In this case, it has higher heat resistance and higher radio wave transmission than the base coat layer and the top coat layer made of resin formed by clear coating or the like.

The base member 13 is a portion fixed (joined) to the back surface side of the transparent member 11, and supports the transparent member 11 from the back surface side. The base member 13 has an engaging portion 13a that projects toward the engine room side. The tip of the engaging portion 13a is formed in a claw shape, and the tip is locked to, for example, the radiator grill body. Further, the base member 13 has a convex portion 13b embedded in the bright film forming recess 11a of the transparent member 11 on the surface on the transparent member 11 side.

Further, in the present embodiment, the base member 13 has a colored light-transmitting layer 14, a white reflective layer 15, and a black layer 16. The colored translucent layer 14 is a resin layer that transmits a part of visible light incident from the outside through the transparent member 11, and is a portion having a high transmittance with respect to the white reflective layer 15 and the black layer 16. The colored translucent layer 14 is provided along the outer edge of the brilliant film 12 (bright region 10A) when viewed from the direction in which the transparent member 11 and the base member 13 are laminated (hereinafter referred to as the laminating direction). There is. Further, the colored light-transmitting layer 14 is provided so as to be exposed on the front surface of the base member 13. The front surface of the colored translucent layer 14 is joined to the back surface of the transparent member 11. As shown in FIG. 2, such a colored translucent layer 14 has a depth dimension (depth dimension in the stacking direction) as it is separated from the bright film 12 in the direction along the back surface of the transparent member 11. It is continuously increasing at a constant rate.

The white reflective layer 15 is a white resin layer provided on the back surface of the brilliant film 12 and the colored translucent layer 14. That is, the white reflective layer 15 is covered with the brilliant film 12 or the colored translucent layer 14 when viewed from the stacking direction, and is not directly visible through the transparent member 11 (bright region 10A and decorative region 10C). ) Is provided. The convex portion 13b described above is formed by the white reflective layer 15. Such a white reflective layer 15 reflects visible light transmitted through the colored transparent layer 14 and returns it to the colored transparent layer 14 again.

The black layer 16 is a black resin layer arranged outside the white reflective layer 15 when viewed from the stacking direction. The black layer 16 is provided so as to be exposed on the front surface of the base member 13. The front surface of the colored translucent layer 14 is joined to the back surface of the transparent member 11. The black layer 16 is arranged so as to surround the bright film 12 from the outside so as to be separated from the bright film 12 when viewed from the above-mentioned stacking direction. Such a black layer 16 is provided on the outer edge portion of the base member 13 and is visible through the transparent member 11, and forms the black region 10B described above. Further, the above-mentioned engaging portion 13a is formed by a black layer 16.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the base member 13 is formed by integrating the colored translucent layer 14, the white reflective layer 15, and the black layer 16. In such a base member 13, each layer is ABS (acrylonitrile / butadiene / styrene copolymer synthetic resin), AES (acrylonitrile / ethylene / styrene copolymer synthetic resin), ASA (acrylonitrile / styrene / acrylate), PBT (poly). Butylene terephthalate), colored PC, synthetic resin such as PET, or a composite resin thereof, and has a thickness of about 0.5 mm to 10 mm.

In such a radar cover 10 of the present embodiment, when external light is incident on the transparent member 11, a part of the external light is transmitted through the transparent member 11 and is incident on the colored light transmitting layer 14. The external light incident on the colored transparent layer 14 travels inside the colored transparent layer 14, and when it reaches the back surface of the colored transparent layer 14, it is reflected by the white reflective layer 15. The external light reflected by the white reflective layer 15 is transmitted to the outside through the transparent member 11 after being transmitted through the colored transparent layer 14 again. Here, the depth dimension of the colored light-transmitting layer 14 in the stacking direction becomes larger as the distance from the bright region 10A is viewed from the stacking direction. Therefore, the passing distance of the colored translucent layer 14 of the external light becomes longer as the distance from the bright region 10A increases. As a result, the color becomes darker toward the outside of the decorative region 10C when viewed from the outside of the transparent member 11. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the colored translucent layer 14 and the white reflective layer 15 are laminated to form a gradation-like design in the decorative region 10C.

Subsequently, a method of manufacturing the radar cover 10 of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a schematic view for explaining a method of manufacturing the radar cover 10 of the present embodiment. First, as shown in FIG. 3A, the transparent member 11 is formed. For example, the transparent member 11 is formed by injection molding. Since the transparent member 11 having the glitter film forming recess 11a can be formed by this injection molding, it is not necessary to form the glitter film forming recess 11a in a later step. If necessary, the surface side (the surface facing the outside of the vehicle) or the entire surface of the transparent member 11 may be subjected to a hard coat treatment for improving durability and the like.

Next, as shown in FIG. 3 (b), the glitter film 12 is formed. Here, a mask is arranged to form the glitter film 12 on the inner wall surface of the glitter film forming recess 11a by vacuum deposition or sputtering. Such a step shown in FIG. 3B is a step of forming a bright film on the back surface of the transparent member 11. In the present embodiment, the bright film forming recess 11a is formed on the back surface of the transparent member 11 in the above-mentioned transparent member forming step, and the bright film 12 is formed in the bright film forming recess 11a. Therefore, it is possible to make the glitter film 12 three-dimensionally visible without performing post-processing for forming a recess in the transparent member 11.

Next, as shown in FIG. 3C, the base member 13 is formed. Here, the transparent member 11 provided with the brilliant film 12 is placed inside a mold for injection molding, and insert molding is performed to inject the molten resin onto the back side of the transparent member 11 to perform insert molding. 13 is formed. The injection molding here is so-called three-color molding, and for example, the colored translucent layer 14, the white reflective layer 15, and the black layer 16 are formed in this order. Such a base member 13 is welded to the transparent member 11 by the heat at the time of insert molding, and is formed on the back surface of the transparent member 11 with the glitter film 12 interposed therebetween. Such a step shown in FIG. 3D is a base member (support member) forming step.

In the radar cover 10 of the present embodiment as described above, the transparent member 11 and the base member 13 arranged on the back surface side of the transparent member 11 are laminated, and as the direction is directed along the back surface of the transparent member 11. A colored translucent layer 14 capable of transmitting at least a part of visible light while changing the depth dimension in the stacking direction of the transparent member 11 and the base member 13 and a colored translucent layer arranged on the back surface of the colored translucent layer 14 It includes a white reflective layer 15 that reflects visible light transmitted through the layer 14. According to the radar cover 10 of the present embodiment as described above, in a region where the depth dimension of the colored translucent layer 14 is large, the color visually recognized from the outside becomes darker, and conversely, the depth dimension of the colored translucent layer 14 becomes darker. In a small area, the color visible from the outside becomes lighter. Therefore, according to the radar cover 10 of the present embodiment, it is possible to form a gradation design without printing.

Further, in the radar cover 10 of the present embodiment, the colored translucent layer 14 and the white reflective layer 15 are provided as a part of the base member 13. Therefore, it is not necessary to provide the colored translucent layer 14 and the white reflective layer 15 as separate bodies of the base member 13. Further, since the gradation design can be formed only by the two layers of the colored translucent layer 14 and the white reflective layer 15, the colored translucent layer 14 and the white reflective layer can be formed without changing the thickness dimension of the base member 13. 15 can be incorporated into the base member 13.

Further, in the radar cover 10 of the present embodiment, the white reflective layer 15 is made of a white resin layer. Therefore, the white reflective layer 15 can be easily incorporated into a part of the resin base member 13.

Further, the radar cover 10 of the present embodiment has a glitter film 12 that is arranged between the transparent member 11 and the base member 13 and is visible from the outside through the transparent member 11, and is visible from the stacking direction. A colored light-transmitting layer 14 is provided along the outer edge of the brilliant film 12. Therefore, a gradation design can be formed on the radar cover 10 to which the metallic luster is imparted.

Further, in the radar cover 10 of the present embodiment, the base member 13 has a black layer 16 that is separated from the bright film 12 and surrounds the bright film 12 from the outside when viewed from the stacking direction, and is a colored translucent layer. 14 increases the depth dimension from the glitter film 12 toward the black layer 16. Therefore, in the decorative region 10C, the color can be darkened from the bright region 10A to the black region 10B, and the brightness of the color can be smoothly connected from the bright bright region 10A to the dark black region 10B. ..

Although the preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described above with reference to the accompanying drawings, it goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. The various shapes and combinations of the constituent members shown in the above-described embodiment are examples, and can be variously changed based on design requirements and the like without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

For example, in the above embodiment, the configuration in which the convex portion 13b is provided on the base member 13 has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, as shown in FIG. 4, the inner core 17 housed in the glitter film forming recess 11a may be provided separately from the base member 13. In this case, the glitter film 12 can be provided, for example, as a part of the inner core 17.

Further, in the above embodiment, the configuration in which the radar cover 10 includes the brilliant film 12 has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, it is possible to apply the present invention to a radar cover that does not have the glitter film 12.

Further, in the above embodiment, the configuration in which the colored light-transmitting layer 14 and the white reflective layer 15 are provided as a part of the base member 13 has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and it is also possible to provide both or one of the colored light transmitting layer 14 and the white reflecting layer 15 separately from the base member 13.

Further, in the above embodiment, the configuration in which the depth dimension of the colored light-transmitting layer 14 continuously changes at a constant rate has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and for example, it is possible to adopt a configuration in which the depth dimension of the colored light-transmitting layer 14 changes stepwise. It is also possible to arrange a plurality of colored light-transmitting columns having different depth dimensions at intervals, and to use these colored light-transmitting columns as a colored light-transmitting layer.

Further, in the above embodiment, the configuration in which the white reflective layer 15 made of resin is provided as the reflective layer that reflects the light transmitted through the colored transparent layer 14 has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, it is also possible to form a metal film on the back surface of the colored translucent layer 14 and use this metal film as a reflective layer. In this case, it is also possible to extend the brilliant film 12 to the back surface of the colored translucent layer 14 and use the brilliant film 12 as the reflective layer.

Further, in the above embodiment, the configuration in which the depth dimension of the colored light-transmitting layer 14 only increases or decreases as it goes in one direction has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, it is possible to adopt a configuration in which the depth dimension of the colored light-transmitting layer 14 changes so as to increase or decrease in one direction.

1 ... Radiator grill, 10 ... Radar cover, 10A ... Bright area, 10B ... Black area, 10C ... Decorative area, 11 ... Transparent member, 11a ... Bright film forming recess, 12 ... Bright Sex film, 13 ... base member (support member), 14 ... colored translucent layer, 15 ... white reflective layer, 16 ... black layer, 17 ... inner core, R ... radar unit

Claims (5)

A radar cover in which a transparent member and a support member arranged on the back side of the transparent member are laminated.
A colored translucent layer capable of transmitting at least a part of visible light while changing the depth dimension in the stacking direction of the transparent member and the support member toward the direction along the back surface of the transparent member.
A radar cover provided with a reflective layer arranged on the back surface of the colored transparent layer and reflecting visible light transmitted through the colored transparent layer. The radar cover according to claim 1, wherein one or both of the colored light-transmitting layer and the reflective layer is provided as a part of the support member. The radar cover according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the reflective layer is a white resin layer. It is arranged between the transparent member and the support member, and has a brilliant film that can be visually recognized from the outside through the transparent member.
The radar cover according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the colored translucent layer is provided along the outer edge of the bright film when viewed from the stacking direction. The support member has a black layer that is separated from the bright film and surrounds the bright film from the outside when viewed from the stacking direction.
The radar cover according to claim 4, wherein the colored translucent layer increases its depth dimension from the brilliant film toward the black layer.

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