JP2023128971A - Outer cover for vehicle and radar unit for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

To improve the design of an outer cover and improve radar performance with a simple configuration.SOLUTION: An outer cover for a vehicle 20 is provided on a path of a radio wave transmitted and received by a radar device 10, and has a cover main body 21 having radio wave transmission properties and visible light transmission properties. The cover main body 21 has a transparent substrate 30 that is transparent to visible light, and a reflecting member 50 that reflects visible light. The transparent substrate 30 has a main body part 31 that is provided on the path, and a side face part 32 that projects from a peripheral part of the main body part 31 toward a side opposite to the side of a design surface of the main body part 31. The reflecting member 50 has at least one of an outside reflecting part 51 that covers an outer surface 32a of the side face part 32, and an inside reflecting part 52 that covers an inner surface 32b of the side face part 32.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

The present invention relates to a vehicle exterior cover and a vehicle radar unit.

Patent Document 1 discloses a garnish as a decorative part for a vehicle. The garnish disclosed in Patent Document 1 is provided on a path of radio waves transmitted and received by a millimeter wave radar device. The garnish has a black base material, a decoration layer provided on the front surface of the black base material, and a transparent base material provided on the front surface of the decoration layer. The garnish has radio wave transparency.

JP2019-168265A

In a vehicle radar unit including such an exterior cover such as a garnish, and an exterior cover and a radar device, it is desired to improve the radar performance and improve the design of the exterior cover.

A vehicle exterior cover for solving the above problems is a vehicle exterior cover that is provided on a path of radio waves transmitted and received by a radar device, and includes a cover main body that has radio wave transparency and visible light transparency. The cover main body has a transparent base material that is transparent to visible light, and a reflective member that reflects visible light, and the transparent base material has a main body section provided on the path and a main body section. a side surface that protrudes from a peripheral edge of the main body toward a side opposite to the design surface side of the main body, and the reflective member includes an outer reflective section that covers an outer surface of the side surface and the side surface. It has at least one inner reflective part that covers the inner surface of the reflector.

According to the same configuration, when the light emitting device is arranged so that the light emitting part that emits visible light (hereinafter referred to as light) faces the protruding end surface of the side surface of the transparent base material, the light emitted by the light emitting part is directed from the protruding end surface to the side surface of the transparent base material. It becomes incident on the part. Since the incident light is reflected by the outer reflecting portion or the inner reflecting portion, the light is less likely to leak to the outside of the side surface portion. This makes it easier for light to reach the main body of the transparent base material, so that the main body can efficiently emit light.

Further, according to the above configuration, there is no light emitting device that becomes an obstacle to the radio waves in front of the radar device in the traveling direction of the radio waves transmitted from the radar device. Thereby, the transmission angle range and the reception angle range of radio waves can be increased, that is, the range in which a target object can be detected by the radar device can be increased.

Therefore, the design of the exterior cover can be improved with a simple configuration, and the radar performance can be improved.
In the vehicle exterior cover described above, it is preferable that the reflective member has both the outer reflective part and the inner reflective part.

According to this configuration, since the incident light is reflected by both the outer reflecting section and the inner reflecting section, it becomes more difficult for light to leak to the outside of the side surface section. This makes it easier for light to reach the main body of the transparent base material, so that the main body can emit light more efficiently.

In the above vehicle exterior cover, the cover main body has a decorative film, and the decorative film includes a film main body joined to a design surface of the main body, and a peripheral edge of the film main body. and an extension part that extends and is joined to the outer surface of the side surface part, the reflection member has the outer reflection part, and the outer reflection part is connected to the extension part. It is preferable that it be provided on at least one of the outer surface and the inner surface of the.

According to this configuration, since the cover body has the decorative film, the design of the exterior cover is improved.
Further, according to the above configuration, when manufacturing the cover body, by forming the outer reflective portion in advance on at least one of the outer surface and the inner surface of the extending portion of the decorative film, the outer reflective portion can be easily formed. can be formed into

In the vehicle exterior cover described above, it is preferable that the reflective member has a backside reflective portion that covers a backside of the main body portion opposite to the design surface.
According to this configuration, the light traveling through the main body is reflected by the backside reflecting section, so that light is less likely to leak to the outside from the backside of the main body. This allows the main body to emit light more efficiently.

Preferably, the vehicle exterior cover further includes a covering member that covers the outer surface of the side surface, and the inner surface of the covering member that faces the outer surface is black.

According to this configuration, since the outer surface of the side surface portion is covered with the covering member, it is possible to prevent the light emitted from the light emitting portion from leaking to the outer peripheral side of the cover body. Thereby, the design of the exterior cover can be further improved.

In the vehicle exterior cover, the side surface portion is provided over the entire circumference of the periphery of the main body portion, and at least one of the outer reflective portion and the inner reflective portion is provided over the entire circumference of the side surface portion. It is preferable that

According to this configuration, leakage of light to the outside of the side surface can be suppressed over the entire circumference of the side surface. This makes it easier for light to reach the main body of the transparent base material, so that the main body can emit light more efficiently.

The vehicle exterior cover preferably includes a light emitting device having a light emitting part that emits visible light that illuminates the cover body, and the light emitting part is preferably opposed to the tip of the side surface.

According to this configuration, the design of the exterior cover can be improved with a simple configuration, and the radar performance can be improved more reliably.
In the vehicle exterior cover, the side surface is provided over the entire circumference of the main body, the light emitting device includes an annular housing extending along the side surface, and the light emitting device is provided with an annular housing extending along the side surface. It is preferable that a plurality of light emitting parts are provided inside the housing at intervals over the entire circumference of the housing.

According to the same configuration, the main body portion of the transparent base material can uniformly emit light.
Further, a vehicle radar unit for solving the above problem includes a radar device having an antenna that transmits and receives radio waves, and an exterior that is provided on the path of the radio waves and has a cover body that is transparent to radio waves and transparent to visible light. A vehicle radar unit comprising: a cover; and a light emitting device having a light emitting part that emits visible light that makes the cover body illuminate; the cover body includes a transparent base material that is transparent to visible light; a reflective member that reflects light, and the transparent base material includes a main body provided on the path and a peripheral edge of the main body that protrudes toward a side opposite to the design surface side of the main body. The reflective member has at least one of an outer reflective part that covers an outer surface of the side surface and an inner reflective part that covers an inner surface of the side surface, and the reflective member has The portion faces the protruding end surface of the side surface portion.

According to this configuration, the light emitted from the light emitting section enters the side surface from the tip surface. Since the incident light is reflected by the outer reflecting portion or the inner reflecting portion, the light is less likely to leak to the outside of the side surface portion. This makes it easier for light to reach the main body of the transparent base material, so that the main body can efficiently emit light.

Further, according to the above configuration, there is no light emitting device that becomes an obstacle to the radio waves in front of the radar device in the traveling direction of the radio waves transmitted from the radar device. Thereby, the transmission angle range and the reception angle range of radio waves can be increased, that is, the range in which a target object can be detected by the radar device can be increased.

Therefore, the design of the exterior cover can be improved with a simple configuration, and the radar performance can be improved.
In the vehicle radar unit described above, it is preferable that the antenna is disposed at a position closer to the main body than the light emitting part in the thickness direction of the cover main body.

According to the same configuration, since the radar device is placed closer to the back surface of the main body of the transparent base material, the transmission angle range and reception angle range of radio waves can be further increased. The detectable range can be further expanded. Therefore, radar performance can be further improved.

According to the present invention, the design of the exterior cover can be improved with a simple configuration, and the radar performance can be improved.

FIG. 1 is a front view of a vehicle radar unit according to an embodiment. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 2-2 in FIG. FIG. 3 is a partially enlarged view of FIG. 2. FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the radar unit of the first modification. FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the radar unit of the second modification. FIG. 6 is a sectional view of a radar unit according to a third modification.

Hereinafter, one embodiment of a vehicle exterior cover and a vehicle radar unit will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3.
Note that hereinafter, the front and rear of the vehicle in the longitudinal direction will be simply referred to as the front and rear, respectively.

As shown in FIG. 2, the vehicle radar unit (hereinafter referred to as radar unit) includes a radar device 10, an exterior cover 20, and a light emitting device 70.
Next, each configuration will be explained.

<Radar device 10>
As shown in FIG. 2, the radar device 10 has an antenna 11 that transmits and receives radio waves. The antenna 11 of this embodiment is configured to transmit and receive millimeter waves.

The radar device 10 is provided, for example, at the front of a vehicle. The antenna 11 is configured to transmit millimeter waves forward and to receive millimeter waves reflected back from the object to be detected.

<Exterior cover 20>
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the exterior cover 20 includes a cover body 21 and a frame 60.

As shown in FIG. 2, the cover body 21 is provided on the path of radio waves transmitted and received by the radar device 10. The cover main body 21 of this embodiment is arranged so as to cover the radar device 10 from the front. The cover main body 21 is, for example, a vehicle emblem that is oblong in shape when viewed from the front (see FIG. 1). The cover main body 21 has radio wave transparency and visible light transparency.

The cover main body 21 has a transparent base material 30, a decorative film 40, and a reflective member 50.
[Transparent base material 30]
The transparent base material 30 is made of a resin material that is transparent to visible light. As this transparent resin material, for example, polycarbonate is preferable.

The transparent base material 30 has a main body part 31 and a side part 32.
The main body portion 31 is provided on the above-mentioned path. The main body portion 31 of this embodiment has a horizontally oblong circular shape when viewed from the front, and extends in the vertical direction and the vehicle width direction. The main body portion 31 is not limited to a horizontally oblong shape when viewed from the front, but may be appropriately changed to a rectangular shape when viewed from the front.

The side surface portion 32 protrudes from the peripheral edge of the main body portion 31 toward the side opposite to the design surface side of the main body portion 31, that is, toward the rear side. The side surface portion 32 is provided over the entire circumference of the peripheral portion of the main body portion 31 .

The side surface portion 32 has an outer surface 32a, an inner surface 32b, and a tip end surface 32c. The protruding end surface 32c faces rearward.
[Decorative film 40]
The decorative film 40 has a film main body part 41 and an extension part 42.

The film main body part 41 is joined to the designed surface 31a of the main body part 31.
The extending portion 42 extends rearward from the periphery of the film main body portion 41 . The extending portion 42 is joined to the outer surface 32a of the side surface portion 32.

The decorative film 40 includes a film base material made of a resin material that is transparent to visible light, and a decorative layer printed on the film base material. As this transparent resin material, for example, polycarbonate is preferable.

In this embodiment, the transparent base material 30 is molded by injecting molten resin into a cavity with the decorative film 40 inserted into a mold (not shown).
[Reflection member 50]
The reflecting member 50 reflects visible light and has an outer reflecting section 51, an inner reflecting section 52, and a back reflecting section 53.

The outer reflecting portion 51 covers the outer surface 32a of the side surface portion 32. The outer reflecting portion 51 is provided over the entire circumference of the side surface portion 32. The outer reflecting portion 51 of this embodiment is provided on the outer surface 42a of the extending portion 42 of the decorative film 40. The outer reflective portion 51 is formed by printing on the outer surface 42a of the base film that constitutes the extended portion 42. The outer reflective section 51 is made of white ink. The white ink preferably contains a coloring material such as titanium oxide or barium sulfate.

The inner reflecting portion 52 covers the inner surface 32b of the side surface portion 32. The inner reflective section 52 is provided over the entire circumference of the side surface section 32. The inner reflective portion 52 is, for example, a coating film.
The back side reflective section 53 covers the back side 31b of the main body section 31 on the opposite side from the designed surface 31a. The back side reflective portion 53 is, for example, a coating film.

The inner reflecting section 52 and the back reflecting section 53 are made of white paint. The white paint preferably contains a coloring material such as titanium oxide or barium sulfate.
[Frame 60]
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the frame 60 covers the outer surface 32a of the side surface portion 32. As shown in FIGS. The frame body 60 of this embodiment has a horizontally long annular shape when viewed from the front, and covers the side surface portion 32 all around. The frame body 60 is in close contact with the outer surface 32a of the side surface portion 32.

The inner surface of the frame 60 that faces the outer surface 32a is black. In this embodiment, the entire frame 60 is made of black resin that has radio wave transparency but does not have visible light transparency.

Note that the frame 60 corresponds to a covering member according to the present invention.
<Light-emitting device 70>
As shown in FIG. 2, the light emitting device 70 includes a housing 71 and a light emitting section 72.

[Housing 71]
The housing 71 is arranged at the rear of the side part 32. The housing 71 of this embodiment has a horizontally long annular shape when viewed from the front and extends along the side surface portion 32 .

The housing 71 includes an annular first housing 71a that opens toward the rear, and a second housing 71b that is joined to the rear surface of the first housing 71a and closes the opening of the first housing 71a.

The first housing 71a is made of a resin material that is transparent to visible light.
[Light emitting section 72]
The light emitting section 72 emits visible light that illuminates the cover body 21, and is opposed to the protruding end surface 32c of the side surface section 32. The light emitting section 72 is, for example, a light emitting diode (LED). In this embodiment, a plurality of light emitting sections 72 are provided on an annular substrate (not shown). That is, a plurality of light emitting parts 72 are provided at intervals over the entire circumference of the housing 71.

Note that the light emitting device 70 of this embodiment is configured to be attached to a vehicle body via a mounting portion (not shown). It is also possible to configure the light emitting device 70 to be directly attached to the cover body 21.

<Positional relationship between antenna 11 and light emitting section 72>
As shown in FIG. 2, the antenna 11 is placed in front of the light emitting section 72. That is, the antenna 11 is arranged at a position closer to the main body part 31 than the light emitting part 72 in the thickness direction of the cover main body 21.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be explained.
As shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG. 3, the light emitted by the light emitting section 72 enters the side surface 32 from the tip surface 32c. Since the incident light is reflected by both the outer reflecting section 51 and the inner reflecting section 52, it becomes difficult for the light to leak to the outside of the side surface section 32. This makes it easier for light to reach the main body 31 of the transparent base material 30, so that the main body 31 can efficiently emit light.

Further, the light emitting device 70 that becomes an obstacle to radio waves does not exist in front of the radar device 10. As a result, as shown in FIG. 2, the transmission angle range R and the reception angle range R of radio waves can be increased, that is, the range in which the radar device 10 can detect objects can be increased.

Next, the effects of this embodiment will be explained.
(1) The reflecting member 50 has both an outer reflecting section 51 that covers the outer surface 32a of the side surface 32 and an inner reflecting section 52 that covers the inner surface 32b of the side surface 32.

According to such a structure, since the above-mentioned effects are achieved, the design of the exterior cover 20 can be improved with a simple structure, and the radar performance can be improved.
(2) The decorative film 40 includes a film main body 41 joined to the design surface 31 a of the main body 31 and an extended film extending from the periphery of the film main body 41 and joined to the outer surface 32 a of the side surface 32 . 42. The outer reflecting portion 51 is provided on the outer surface 42a of the extending portion 42.

According to this configuration, since the cover body 21 has the decorative film 40, the design of the exterior cover 20 is improved.
Further, according to the above configuration, when manufacturing the cover body 21, the outer reflective portion 51 is formed in advance on the outer surface 42a of the extending portion 42 of the decorative film 40, so that the outer reflective portion 51 can be easily formed. can be formed into

(3) The reflective member 50 has a backside reflective portion 53 that covers the backside 31b of the main body portion 31 on the opposite side from the designed surface 31a.
According to such a configuration, the light traveling through the main body 31 is reflected by the backside reflecting portion 53, so that light is less likely to leak to the outside from the backside 31b of the main body 31. This allows the main body portion 31 to emit light more efficiently.

(4) The exterior cover 20 includes a frame 60 as a covering member that covers the outer surface 32a of the side surface portion 32. The inner surface of the frame 60 that faces the outer surface 32a is black.
According to this configuration, since the outer surface 32a of the side surface portion 32 is covered by the frame 60, the light emitted by the light emitting portion 72 can be prevented from leaking to the outer peripheral side of the cover body 21. Thereby, the design of the exterior cover 20 can be further improved.

(5) The side surface portion 32 is provided over the entire circumference of the peripheral portion of the main body portion 31. Both the outer reflecting section 51 and the inner reflecting section 52 are provided over the entire circumference of the side surface section 32.
According to such a configuration, leakage of light to the outside of the side surface portion 32 can be suppressed over the entire circumference of the side surface portion 32. This makes it easier for light to reach the main body 31 of the transparent base material 30, so that the main body 31 can emit light more efficiently.

(6) The light emitting section 72 faces the protruding end surface 32c of the side surface section 32.
According to such a configuration, the above effect (1) can be achieved more reliably.
(7) The side surface portion 32 is provided over the entire circumference of the peripheral portion of the main body portion 31. The light emitting device 70 includes an annular housing 71 extending along the side surface 32. A plurality of light emitting parts 72 are provided inside the housing 71 at intervals over the entire circumference of the housing 71.

According to such a configuration, the main body portion 31 of the transparent base material 30 can uniformly emit light.
(8) The antenna 11 is located closer to the main body part 31 than the light emitting part 72 in the thickness direction of the cover main body 21.

According to such a configuration, the radar device 10 is arranged at a position closer to the back surface 31b of the main body portion 31 of the transparent base material 30. Thereby, the transmission angle range and the reception angle range of radio waves can be further increased, that is, the range in which the target object can be detected by the radar device 10 can be further increased. Therefore, radar performance can be further improved.

<Modified example>
This embodiment can be modified and implemented as follows. This embodiment and the following modified examples can be implemented in combination with each other within a technically consistent range.

- The antenna 11 can also be arranged at the same position as the light emitting part 72 or on the rear side of the light emitting part 72 in the front-rear direction. That is, the antenna 11 may be placed at the same position as the light emitting part 72 in the thickness direction of the cover main body 21 or at a position away from the main body part 31.

- The shape of the housing 71 of the light emitting device 70 is not limited to an annular shape, and may be partially provided in the circumferential direction of the annular side surface portion 32, for example.
- The shape of the side surface portion 32 is not limited to an annular shape, and may be provided partially in the circumferential direction of the peripheral edge portion of the main body portion 31, for example.

- In the above embodiment, the entire frame 60 is made of black resin, but only the inner surface of the frame 60 that faces the outer surface 32a may be black.
- The shape of the frame 60 is not limited to an annular shape, and may be partially provided in the circumferential direction of the side surface portion 32.

- For example, the frame 60, that is, the covering member, can be omitted by arranging the light emitting device 70 close to the protruding end surface 32c of the side surface portion 32 and providing a black coating on the outer surface of the outer reflective portion 51. You can also do that.

- In addition to the outer surface 42a of the extending portion 42 of the decorative film 40, the outer reflective portion 51 may be provided on the inner surface 42b (see FIG. 3) of the extending portion 42. Further, as shown in FIG. 4, an outer reflecting portion 51 may be provided on the inner surface 42b of the extending portion 42 of the decorative film 40 instead of on the outer surface 42a of the extending portion 42.

- As shown in FIG. 5, the back side reflective part 53 may be omitted and a textured shape that diffuses visible light may be provided on the back side 31b of the main body part 31 of the transparent base material 30.
- As shown in FIG. 6, the back side reflective section 53 can also be omitted.

- The extending portion 42 of the decorative film 40 can also be omitted. In this case, as shown in FIG. 6, the outer reflective portion 51 may be provided directly on the outer surface 32a of the side surface portion 32 of the transparent base material 30.

- The reflecting member 50 according to the present invention does not require both the outer reflecting section 51 and the inner reflecting section 52, and either one may be omitted.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10... Radar device 11... Antenna 20... Exterior cover 21... Cover body 30... Transparent base material 31... Main body part 31a... Design surface 31b... Back surface 32... Side part 32a... Outer surface 32b... Inner surface 32c... Tip surface 40... Machining Decorative film 41...Film main body part 42...Extending part 42a...Outer surface 42b...Inner surface 50...Reflecting member 51...Outer reflecting part 52...Inner reflecting part 53...Back side reflecting part 60... Frame (covering member)
70... Light emitting device 71... Housing 71a... First housing 71b... Second housing 72... Light emitting part

Claims (10)

An exterior cover for a vehicle that is provided on a path of radio waves transmitted and received by a radar device and includes a cover body that is transparent to radio waves and transparent to visible light,
The cover body has a transparent base material that is transparent to visible light, and a reflective member that reflects visible light,
The transparent base material has a main body provided on the path, and a side surface protruding from a peripheral edge of the main body toward a side opposite to a design surface side of the main body,
The reflective member has at least one of an outer reflective part that covers an outer surface of the side surface and an inner reflective part that covers an inner surface of the side surface.
Vehicle exterior cover. The reflective member has both the outer reflective part and the inner reflective part,
The vehicle exterior cover according to claim 1. The cover body has a decorative film,
The decorative film has a film main body part joined to the design surface of the main body part, and an extension part extending from the peripheral edge of the film main body part and joined to the outer surface of the side part. and
The reflective member has the outer reflective part,
The outer reflecting portion is provided on at least one of an outer surface and an inner surface of the extending portion,
The vehicle exterior cover according to claim 1 or 2. The reflective member has a backside reflective portion that covers the backside of the main body portion opposite to the design surface.
The vehicle exterior cover according to any one of claims 1 to 3. further comprising a covering member that covers the outer surface of the side surface portion,
The inner surface of the covering member opposite to the outer surface is black.
The vehicle exterior cover according to any one of claims 1 to 4. The side surface portion is provided around the entire circumference of the main body portion,
At least one of the outer reflecting portion and the inner reflecting portion is provided over the entire circumference of the side surface portion,
The vehicle exterior cover according to any one of claims 1 to 5. comprising a light emitting device having a light emitting part that emits visible light that illuminates the cover main body,
The light emitting part is opposed to the protruding end surface of the side surface part.
The vehicle exterior cover according to any one of claims 1 to 6. The side surface portion is provided around the entire circumference of the main body portion,
The light emitting device includes an annular housing extending along the side surface,
A plurality of the light emitting parts are provided inside the housing at intervals over the entire circumference of the housing,
The vehicle exterior cover according to claim 7. A radar device having an antenna that transmits and receives radio waves, an exterior cover that is provided on the path of the radio waves and has a cover body that is radio wave transparent and visible light transparent, and a light emitting unit that emits visible light that illuminates the cover body. A vehicle radar unit comprising: a light emitting device;
The cover body has a transparent base material that is transparent to visible light, and a reflective member that reflects visible light,
The transparent base material has a main body provided on the path, and a side surface protruding from a peripheral edge of the main body toward a side opposite to a design surface side of the main body,
The reflective member has at least one of an outer reflective part that covers an outer surface of the side surface and an inner reflective part that covers an inner surface of the side surface,
The light emitting part is opposed to the protruding end surface of the side surface part.
Vehicle radar unit. The antenna is disposed at a position closer to the main body than the light emitting part in the thickness direction of the cover main body.
The vehicle radar unit according to claim 9.

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