JP3024510B2 - In-vehicle device for wireless communication and wireless communication system - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an in-vehicle device for wireless communication and a wireless communication system, and more particularly, to a vehicle equipped with a wiper device for wiping a member to be wiped and mounted on a road through a wiping area of a wiper blade. The present invention relates to a wireless communication vehicle-mounted device that performs wireless communication with an installed roadside device, and a wireless communication system including the wireless communication vehicle-mounted device and the roadside device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a system for performing wireless communication between an on-vehicle device mounted on a vehicle and having a function of transmitting and receiving radio waves and a road device installed on the ground and having a function of transmitting and receiving radio waves, a wiper installed on the vehicle is known. Some devices have been devised to prevent wireless communication from becoming unstable due to the operation of the device.

That is, as shown in FIG. 39, when the slot 92 of the slot antenna 91 mounted on the vehicle overlaps with the windshield glass wiper arm 94 in front of the driver's seat (when the wiper arm 94 reaches the position shown by the broken line). ,
A technique of installing the slot antenna 91 by limiting the direction of the slot 92 so that the slot 92 and the wiper arm 94 overlap in substantially the same direction has been proposed.
No. 80 is disclosed. In this technique, the direction of the magnetic field (arrow H) and the direction of the electric field (arrow E) intersect at a substantially right angle during transmission by the slot antenna 91, so that the electric field is hardly affected by the operation of the wiper arm 94. Also, at the time of reception by the slot antenna 91, the direction of the magnetic field (arrow F) and the direction of the electric field (arrow E) are substantially orthogonal to each other.

[0004]

However, in the above technique, there is a problem that the installation direction of the slot of the slot antenna is limited, and the slot antenna cannot be installed in an arbitrary direction.

Accordingly, the present invention provides a method for controlling the wireless communication performed between an in-vehicle device and a road device so as not to be unstable due to the operation of the wiper device. The goal is to eliminate.

[0006]

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a vehicle having a wiper device for wiping a member to be wiped, which is mounted on a vehicle through a wiping area of a wiper blade. A wireless communication in-vehicle device for performing wireless communication with a roadside device installed in the vehicle, a determining means for determining a timing for performing the wireless communication, and the wireless communication when the determining means determines that the wireless communication is to be performed; And limiting means for restricting the operation of the wiper device so as not to affect the operation.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the determining means determines the timing of performing the wireless communication by detecting occurrence of a communication error in the wireless communication. Features.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the determination means determines a timing of performing the wireless communication by detecting a start of communication from the roadside device. Features.

[0009] The invention described in claim 4 is the first invention.
3. The invention according to claim 3, wherein the restricting means restricts the operation of the wiper device such that the wiper arm is temporarily stopped at a position not affecting wireless communication.

[0010] The invention according to claim 5 provides the invention according to claims 1 to 5.
3. The invention according to claim 3, wherein the restricting means restricts the operation of the wiper device such that the wiper blade wipes a part of the wiping area which does not affect wireless communication. And

Further, according to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a roadside machine installed on a road and a wireless communication with the roadside machine via a wiping area of a wiper blade mounted on a vehicle equipped with a wiper device for wiping a member to be wiped. A wireless communication in-vehicle device for performing communication, a wireless communication system configured by, the roadside device, a wireless communication antenna for performing the wireless communication,
Blocking means installed at least above a predetermined area on the road corresponding to the communication area of the wireless communication antenna, and blocking at least rainfall to the predetermined area, the wireless communication vehicle-mounted device includes: Position recognizing means for recognizing the approach of the communication antenna to the communication area, determining means for determining when to perform the wireless communication when the position recognizing means recognizes the approach to the communication area, and the determining means And limiting means for limiting the operation of the wiper device so as not to affect the wireless communication when it is determined that the wireless communication is to be performed.

[0012]

In the vehicle-mounted device for wireless communication according to the first aspect of the present invention, the determining means determines when to perform wireless communication between the roadside device installed on the road and the vehicle-mounted device for wireless communication via the wiping area of the wiper blade. The operation of the wiper device is limited so that the wireless communication is not affected when the limiting unit performs the wireless communication.

Therefore, even if the in-vehicle wireless communication device is installed at any position relative to the wiper device, the influence of the operation of the wiper device on the wireless communication can be eliminated. Further, the installation position of the vehicle-mounted device for wireless communication can be freely selected.

The members to be wiped by the wiper device include a windshield glass and a rear glass.

Further, in the vehicle-mounted device for wireless communication according to the second aspect, the determining means detects the occurrence of a communication error in wireless communication repeatedly performed between the vehicle-mounted device for wireless communication and the roadside device, so that the next time. When the timing of performing the wireless communication is determined, the restricting means limits the operation of the wiper device so as not to affect the wireless communication at the time of performing the next wireless communication.

Therefore, in the next wireless communication, it is possible to avoid occurrence of a communication error due to the influence of the wiper device.

In the vehicle-mounted device for wireless communication according to the third aspect, when the judging unit judges the timing of performing the wireless communication by detecting the start of the communication from the on-road unit, the limiting unit performs the wireless communication. The operation of the wiper device is restricted so as not to affect the wireless communication at the time of performing the operation.

Therefore, the wireless communication is started in a state where the operation of the wiper device is limited so as not to affect the wireless communication, so that the occurrence of a communication error due to the influence of the wiper device can be avoided.

Further, in the vehicle-mounted device for wireless communication according to the fourth aspect, the restricting means operates the wiper device so as to temporarily stop the wiper arm at the position after operating the wiper arm to a position that does not affect the wireless communication. Restrict.

Therefore, the influence of the operation of the wiper device on the wireless communication can be more reliably eliminated.

Further, in the vehicle-mounted device for wireless communication according to the fifth aspect, the restricting means restricts the operation of the wiper device so that the wiper blade wipes a part of the wiping region which does not affect the wireless communication. Accordingly, the wiper blade wipes a part of the wiping area that does not affect the wireless communication without wiping an area that affects the wireless communication. Therefore, the wireless communication can be performed normally while the wiping function of the wiper device is maintained without the wireless communication being hindered by the operation of the wiper device.

In the wireless communication system according to the present invention, when the approach to the communication area is recognized by the position recognition means of the on-vehicle wireless communication device, the determination means determines the timing of performing the wireless communication.

When it is determined by the determining means that it is time to perform wireless communication, the operation of the wiper device is limited so that the limiting means does not affect the wireless communication. Thereby, the wireless communication is not hindered by the operation of the wiper device.

At least above a predetermined area on the road corresponding to the communication area of the wireless communication antenna for performing such wireless communication, a blocking means is provided. By this blocking means, at least rainfall, for example, the arrival of rain or snow, etc., to the vehicle traveling on a predetermined area on the road corresponding to the communication area is blocked.

Therefore, when the restricting means restricts the operation of the wiper device, it is possible to prevent rain, snow and the like from reaching the member to be wiped, so that the operation of the wiper device is restricted during the execution of the wireless communication. Also, a good view of the occupant in front of the vehicle is secured.

[0026]

【Example】

[First Embodiment] Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the first embodiment, the present invention is applied to an automatic toll collection device. The automatic toll collection device of the first embodiment is a radio communication between an on-vehicle device (to be described in detail later) mounted on a vehicle and a road device installed on the ground side such as an entrance gate or an exit gate of a toll road. To determine the traffic section (route) and vehicle type that the vehicle ran,
The toll is automatically collected at the entrance gate and the exit gate without stopping the vehicle.

As shown in FIG. 1, the in-vehicle device 30 mounted on the vehicle 90 includes an IC card read / write device 60 to which an IC card 62 storing information such as remaining balance information can be attached and detached, as described later. (See FIG. 5). This in-vehicle device 3
0 has a storage circuit for storing fixed data such as an ID code including a vehicle number and vehicle type information,
IC mounted by C card read / write device 60
The charge balance information of the card 62 is referred to, and the IC card 6
2 is written with the remaining charge information.

On the other hand, as described above, the on-ground equipment includes an on-board unit 30 at each of an entrance gate 100 of a toll road, an intermediate route 200 immediately before or immediately after a fork, a service area, and an exit gate 300, as will be described later. A road machine for transmitting and receiving various information is installed.

At the entrance gate 100, a road device including an entrance antenna 117 composed of a flat antenna and an entrance antenna control device 132 connected to the entrance antenna 117 is installed. This entrance antenna control device 132
Thus, the entrance gate information of the toll road can be transmitted to the vehicle-mounted device 30 mounted on the vehicle via the entrance antenna 117, and the signal from the vehicle-mounted device 30 can be received. In addition,
At the entrance gate 100, a toll ticket issuing device 123 that issues a toll ticket similar to the conventional one is installed for a vehicle that pays a toll by hand because automatic toll collection cannot be performed. In addition, the entrance antenna control device 132 is connected to the central computer 400, for example, for managing the vehicles entering the toll road in an integrated manner.

The route grasping antenna 217 composed of a flat antenna and the route grasping antenna 2
A road device including a route grasping antenna control device 232 connected to the device 17 is installed. Through the route grasping antenna 217, the route grasping antenna control device 232 provides information indicating which route has been selected from the branch point and traveled, and route passing information indicating what route the vehicle has traveled on the toll road ( The location information of the route control antenna control device, etc.) is transmitted to the vehicle-mounted device 30. Further, the route grasping antenna control device 232 is connected to the central computer 400 in order to comprehensively manage the running state of the vehicle on the toll road.

In order to improve the reliability of information transmission and reception by radio waves, the exit gate 300 includes a notice antenna 317 composed of a flat antenna and a tollgate antenna 341.
Different types of antennas are provided. This notice antenna 3
A toll booth antenna controller 331 is connected to 17 and a toll booth antenna controller 332 is connected to the toll booth antenna 341. These notice antenna control devices 331
And the tollgate antenna controller 332 is connected to a local controller 380 connected to the central computer 400. Although the notice antenna 317, the tollgate antenna 341, the notice antenna control device 331, and the tollgate antenna control device 332 function as the on-road unit of the present invention, the notice antenna 317 and the notice antenna control device 331 can be omitted. .

Further, the exit gate 300 is connected to a vehicle type detection system 360 for discriminating the vehicle type by image processing or the like, and a camera 352 for photographing an illegally passing vehicle such as a vehicle passing without paying a fee. ,
A toll payment system 323 for vehicles for which automatic toll collection is not possible is installed. By controlling these systems collectively by the local controller 380, measures are taken against toll collection and the like, and tolls are automatically collected according to the travel section (route) and the type of the vehicle. I have. Also, the central computer 400
And the local controller 380, the information on the revision of the toll table and the information on the illegally passing vehicles are smoothly and quickly exchanged.

Next, an example of each schematic configuration of the entrance gate, the intermediate route, and the exit gate will be further described.

As shown in FIG. 2, the toll road entrance gate 100 of the first embodiment has three lanes 102,
4 and 106. Lane 102 is formed between site 108 and separation zone 110, lane 104 is formed between separation zone 110 and separation zone 112, and lane 106 is formed.
Is formed between the separation zone 112 and the site 114.
An arch 116 is provided from the site 108 to the site 114 so as to straddle these lanes, and entrance antennas 118, 120, 122 are mounted on the arch 116 so as to be located immediately above each lane. Have been. The entrance antenna 118 transmits and receives information to and from the vehicle traveling on the lane 102, and the entrance antenna 120
Information is transmitted and received to and from the vehicle traveling on the lane 104, and the entrance antenna 122 transmits and receives information to and from the vehicle traveling on the lane 106.

The site 114 has an entrance antenna controller 1
An entrance gate control center 130 having an entry antenna 32 is provided, and entrance antennas 118, 120, and 122 are connected to the entrance antenna control device 132.

In FIG. 2, the entrance antenna 117 shown in FIG.
Although the entrance antennas 118, 120, and 122 are used as the above, one or two entrance antennas may be used in one or two lanes, or more entrance antennas may be used.

The entrance gate 100 is provided with toll ticket issuing devices 124, 126, 128 for issuing toll tickets for paying tolls by hand so as to correspond to each lane. The pass ticket issuing device 124 is connected to the lane 102
The pass ticket issuing device 126 is installed so as to correspond to the lane 104, and the pass ticket issuing device 128 is installed so as to correspond to the lane 106. These passport issuing devices 12
4, 126 and 128 are connected to the entrance gate control center 130.

Downstream of the arch 116 in the vehicle traveling direction, traffic lights 134, 136, and 138 for instructing whether or not to enter each lane are provided corresponding to each lane. These traffic lights 134, 136, 138
Is connected to the entrance gate control center 130, and displays either a display (for example, a green light) when a vehicle can enter each lane or a display (for example, a red light) when it is impossible to enter each lane. .

The entrance antenna control device 132 of the entrance gate control center 130 has a central computer 400 (FIG. 1).
See). In addition, without connecting the entrance antenna control device 132 to the central computer 400,
An independent control system using only the entrance gate may be used.

As shown in FIG. 3, an intermediate route 200 immediately before the junction of the toll road has two lanes 202 and 20.
4 is formed between the premises 208 and the premises 214 adjacent to each other. An arch 216 is provided from the site 208 to the site 214 so as to straddle these lanes 202 and 204. On the arch 216, the route grasping antenna 21 is provided.
8, 220, 222 are mounted. The path grasp antenna 218 is located above the lane 202 and
The route grasping antenna 222 transmits and receives information to and from the vehicle traveling on the lane 204 and transmits and receives information to and from the vehicle traveling on the lane 204. Between these route grasping antennas 218 and 222 and above a center line 206 indicating a boundary between the lanes 202 and 204, a route grasping antenna 220 for transmitting and receiving information to and from a vehicle that straddles the lanes 202 and 204 is provided. It is arranged.

On the site 214, a route control center 230 having a route grasping antenna control device 232 is provided, and route grasping antennas 218, 220, 222 are connected to the route grasping antenna control device 232. .

As shown in FIG. 4, the exit gate 300 of the toll road is provided with three lanes 302, 304 and 306. Lane 302 consists of site 308 and divider 31
0, lane 304 is formed between separator 310 and separator 312, and lane 306 is formed as separator 312.
And a site 314.

An arch 316 is arranged from the site 308 to the site 314 so as to straddle the plurality of lanes.
20, 322 are attached. Notice antenna 318
Transmits / receives information to / from a vehicle that is located above the lane 302 and runs on the lane 302, and
Performs transmission and reception of information to and from a vehicle traveling on the lane 304 located above the lane 304. Similarly, the advance notice antenna 322 is located above the lane 306 and
The information is transmitted and received to and from the vehicle traveling on the vehicle.

The site 314 has an exit gate control center 3
The exit gate control center 33 is provided.
At 0, a notice antenna control device 331 and a tollgate antenna control device 332 described below are provided. The notice antenna control device 331 includes notice antennas 318, 320,
322 are connected.

In the vicinity of the arch 316, a vehicle type detection system 360 is provided. This vehicle type detection system 3
Reference numeral 60 includes vehicle type detecting devices 362, 364, and 366 each constituted by a CCD line scanner. The vehicle type detection device 362 is disposed on the site 308 and the separation zone 310 corresponding to the lane 302 in order to identify the type of the vehicle running on the lane 302. Similarly, the vehicle type detection device 364 is disposed in the separation zone 310 and the separation zone 312 corresponding to the lane 304 near the arch 316 in order to identify the type of the vehicle running on the lane 304. In order to identify the type of the vehicle traveling on the lane 306, the vehicle is provided on the separation zone 312 and the site 314 corresponding to the lane 306. A vehicle type detection system 360 including these vehicle type detection devices is connected to the local controller 380, and determines a vehicle type by determining a silhouette of a passing vehicle by image processing based on an image obtained by a CCD line scanner. To the local controller 380.

On the downstream side of the position where the arc 316 is arranged in the vehicle traveling direction, the above-mentioned plurality of lanes are straddled.
An arch 340 is provided from the site 308 to the site 314, and on the arch 340, the tollgate antenna 34
2, 344 and 346 are attached. The tollgate antenna 342 is located above the lane 302 and
2 to and from the vehicle traveling on the lane 304, and the tollgate antenna 344 transmits and receives information to and from the vehicle traveling on the lane 304 above the lane 304. , Lane 30
6. Information is transmitted / received to / from the vehicle running on the lane 306 located above the lane 6. These tollgate antennas 342, 3
The tollgate antenna control device 332 is connected to 44 and 346.

The exit gate 300 is provided with fee payment boxes 324, 326, 328 corresponding to each lane for a manually-paid vehicle that cannot automatically charge a toll.
Is installed. The fee payment box 324 is provided corresponding to the lane 302, and the fee payment box 326 is provided.
Are arranged corresponding to the lane 304, and the fee payment box 328 is arranged corresponding to the lane 306. In each of these fee payment boxes 324, 326, and 328, a microcomputer (not shown) is provided, and by managing each of the microcomputers (not shown) in an integrated manner, a fee payment system for managing information received by hand payment is provided. The system 323 is configured. This fee payment system 323 is connected to the local controller 380 (see FIG. 1).

Further, on the downstream side of the toll payment box in the vehicle traveling direction, an illegally passing vehicle photographing system 350 for photographing illegally passing vehicles is arranged (see FIG. 1). Camera 352,
354, 356 are provided corresponding to the lanes 302, 304, 306. This photographing system 35 for illegally passing vehicles
0 is connected to the local controller 380.

At the downstream side of the arch 340 in the traveling direction of the vehicle, traffic lights 334, 336, 338 for instructing whether or not to enter each lane are arranged corresponding to each lane. These traffic lights 334, 336, 338
Is connected to the exit gate control center 330,
Either a display (for example, a green light) or a display (for example, a red light) in which a vehicle can enter each lane is displayed.

The exit gate control center 330 is connected to the central computer 400 (see FIG. 1). The exit gate control center 330 may not be connected to the central computer 400, but may be an independent control system using only the exit gate.

Next, the configuration of the vehicle-mounted device 30 loaded on the vehicle will be described. As shown in FIG. 5, the in-vehicle device 30 is fixed to the upper surface of the dashboard 84 on the passenger seat side of the vehicle width direction center.

Next, the circuit configuration of the vehicle-mounted device 30 will be described. As shown in FIG. 6, the vehicle-mounted device 30 includes a receiving antenna 32 that receives a signal transmitted from a road device described later. The receiving antenna 32 detects a modulated wave received by the receiving antenna 32 to obtain a data signal.
It is connected to the. The detection circuit 34 is connected via a data signal receiving circuit 44 to a signal processing circuit 46 including a microcomputer.

The signal processing circuit 46 is connected to a storage circuit 48 for storing data such as an ID code and vehicle type information and a transmission circuit 50 for transmitting a data signal including the ID code as a response signal. The circuit 50 modulates the interrogation signal, which is an unmodulated carrier received by the transmitting / receiving antenna 52, with the data signal from the signal processing circuit 46 and returns the modulated signal via the transmitting / receiving antenna 52.

The signal processing circuit 46 is connected to an IC card read / write device 60 to which an IC card 62 can be attached and detached.

The on-vehicle device 30 is always supplied with power from an on-vehicle battery (not shown) when the ignition is turned on.

Next, a road machine communicating with the on-vehicle device 30 will be described using a road device provided at the entrance gate 100 as an example. Note that, for simplicity, the lane 102
A description will be given using the entrance antenna 118 and the entrance antenna control device 132 which are responsible for transmission and reception of radio waves to and from the vehicle traveling on the vehicle.

As shown in FIG. 7, the device on the ground side for the vehicle traveling on the lane 102 is composed of an entrance antenna 118 and an entrance antenna control device 132. The entrance antenna 118 includes a transmission antenna 22 and a transmission / reception antenna 26. Entrance antenna control device 1
Reference numeral 32 includes a signal processing circuit 12 including a microcomputer. This signal processing circuit 12
It can be connected to the central computer 400. The signal processing circuit 12 is connected to a transmission circuit 14 that transmits a data signal (communication request signal) including an instruction. The transmission circuit 14 is connected to a transmission antenna 22 via a mixer 18. The mixer 18 is connected to a carrier generation circuit 20 for generating a carrier having a predetermined frequency. The mixer 18 mixes a signal input from the transmission circuit 14 and a carrier input from the carrier generation circuit 20, and Modulates the carrier wave input from the carrier wave generation circuit 20 with the signal input from. The modulated wave is transmitted from the transmitting antenna 22 as a radio wave.

The transmission / reception circuit 2 for extracting a data signal from the modulated wave which is modulated and returned from the vehicle-mounted device 30 shown in FIG.
4 are connected. This transmission / reception circuit 24 is connected to the signal processing circuit 12.

The configuration of the other entrance antennas at the entrance gate 100 is the same as that described above, and will not be described. In addition, the intermediate route 200 and the exit gate 30
The configurations of the respective antennas and the antenna control device at 0 are also substantially the same as those described above, and thus description thereof will be omitted.

Next, the wiper device 64 mounted on the vehicle
As shown in FIG. 5, a windshield glass 78 is provided with a rubber wiper blade 64A for wiping the windshield glass 78 located in front of the vehicle-mounted device 30, and a wiper arm 64B for supporting the wiper blade 64A.

Further, as shown in FIG.
A wiper motor 68 for driving the wiper arm 64B is connected to 4B. The wiper motor 68 is connected to a wiper drive circuit 66 for controlling the operation of the wiper motor 68.
Is connected to a microprocessing unit (hereinafter, referred to as MPU) 70 for controlling the wiper drive circuit 66.

The MPU 70 includes an on-vehicle unit 30 whose configuration has been described in detail, a wiper switch 74 for instructing start and stop of the operation of the wiper arm 64B, a speaker 76 for emitting an alarm sound or the like to an occupant, and a wiper arm. A reversal position detection sensor 72 for detecting that 64B has reached the upper reversal position and the lower reversal position is connected.

The reversing position detecting sensor 72 has two switches 72A and 72B. These switches 72A and 72B are constituted by a cam plate provided with a plurality of electrodes (not shown) that rotate together with the wiper arm 64B, and a contact. When the wiper arm 64B reaches the upper reversing position or the lower reversing position, each of the contacts becomes contactor. As a result, the ON / OFF state of the switch 72A or 72B is switched to detect the upper inversion position and the lower inversion position.

Further, a rotary encoder 73 for detecting the position of the wiper arm 64B (the rotation angle of the wiper arm 64B) is provided.
Is connected to the vehicle-mounted device 30.

Next, an operation control routine of the wiper arm 64B of the first embodiment by the MPU 70 will be described with reference to a flowchart shown in FIG. This control routine is executed when the ignition switch of the vehicle is turned on.
Be started.

In step 410, the wiper switch 7
It is checked whether or not 4 has been turned on. If it is not on, the check is continued, and if it is on, the process proceeds to step 412. In step 412, the wiper arm 64B is driven in the upward reversal direction, and the flag F1 set when the wiper switch 74 described later is turned off is reset.

In the next step 414, it is checked whether or not the wiper arm 64B has reached the upper turning position.
This check is performed based on a detection signal from the inversion position detection sensor 72. According to this check, if it has not reached, the check is continued, and if it has reached, the process proceeds to step 416. In step 416, the wiper arm 6
4B is inverted in the downward inversion direction, and the flag F4 for recognizing the operation direction of the wiper arm 64B is reset.

In the next step 418, it is checked whether or not the wiper arm 64B has reached the lower turning position.
This check is also performed based on the detection signal from the reversal position detection sensor 72, similarly to the check in step 414 described above. According to this check, if not reached, the check is continued, and if reached, step 420
Proceed to. In step 420, it is checked whether or not the flag F1 is set.

It should be noted that this flag F1 is
This flag is set in step 430 of the interrupt process shown in FIG.

When the flag F1 is not set (when the wiper switch 74 remains ON) as a result of the check in step 420, the wiper arm 64B is inverted in the upside-down direction in step 422, and the flag F4 is set. I do. Then, the process returns to step 414, and the subsequent processing is executed again.

When the flag F1 is set (when the wiper switch 74 is turned off), in step 424, the wiper arm 64B is moved to the stop position slightly lower than the lower reversing position and stopped. Then, the control routine ends.

When the MPU 70 receives an instruction to stop the wiper device 64 from the on-vehicle device 30, the MPU 70 executes an interrupt process shown in FIG. 11 to stop the wiper device 64. Hereinafter, the flow of the interrupt processing will be described.

In step 432, the wiper device 64 is stopped. Thereafter, in step 434, the flow waits for a restart instruction from the vehicle-mounted device 30, and upon receiving the restart instruction, proceeds to step 435.

In step 435, the operation direction of the wiper arm 64B at the time of stop is checked by checking whether the flag F4 is set. If the flag F4 is set by this check, step 43
At 6, the wiper arm 64B is driven in the upper inversion direction, and when the flag F4 is not set, the wiper arm 64B is driven in the lower inversion direction in step 438, and the interrupt processing is terminated.

By the way, in the first embodiment applied to the operation control routine of the wiper arm 64B, the vehicle-mounted device 3
0, when the occurrence of a communication error in the wireless communication between the on-vehicle device 30 and the road device is detected, the operation of the wiper device 64 is limited so that the wiper arm 64B is temporarily stopped at a position that does not hinder the wireless communication. After the end, the operation of the wiper arm 64B is restarted.

Next, the main routine of the on-vehicle unit 30 and the main routine of the road unit will be described with reference to FIGS. 12 and 14, respectively.

The main routine of the on-vehicle device 30 is started when an ignition switch of the vehicle is turned on.

The on-road machine installed at the exit gate is shown in FIG.
As shown in (4), an inquiry signal consisting of a continuous wave is transmitted in step 460, and the transmission of the inquiry signal is continued until it is determined in step 462 that a response signal from the vehicle-mounted device 30 has been received.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 12, the in-vehicle device 30 resets a flag F2 indicating that an error has occurred and a flag F3 indicating that the stop position of the wiper arm 64B has been set, which will be described later, in step 440. And the next step 4
If it is determined at 42 that an inquiry signal from the on-road unit has been received, at step 444, the received inquiry signal is used as a carrier, and a modulated wave obtained by modulating a carrier with an ID code that is an identification code for identifying the vehicle is transmitted as a response signal. I do. Then, in the next step 446, reception of a request signal from the on-road unit is waited.

When the above-mentioned response signal is received by the on-road unit, the on-road unit transmits a request signal for requesting entrance gate information, route information, and vehicle type information required for toll calculation in step 464 in FIG. The transmission of the request signal is continued until it is determined in 466 that the information requested in step 464 is received from the on-vehicle device 30.

When the on-vehicle device 30 receives this request signal,
The vehicle-mounted device 30 determines that the request signal has been received in step 446 of FIG. 12, and proceeds to step 448. In this step 448, it is determined whether or not the request signal can be decoded, so that it is determined whether or not a communication error has occurred. If it is determined that a communication error has occurred, the process proceeds to step 450 where a flag F2 is set. Then, the process is re-executed from step 446. If no communication error has occurred, the subroutine of the wiper device restarting process of step 451 is executed. Incidentally, the step 448 corresponds to the judgment means described in the claims.

The flow of the subroutine of the wiper device resuming process in step 451 will be described with reference to FIG.

In step 452, the on-vehicle device 30
The entrance gate information, the route information, and the vehicle type information requested by the on-road unit are transmitted, and in the next step 454, reception of the toll information from the on-road unit is performed.

When one of the on-road units receives the entrance gate information, the route information, and the vehicle type information from the on-vehicle unit 30, it determines in step 466 that it has received the information and proceeds to step 468. In this step 468, the toll of the vehicle is calculated based on the entrance gate information, the route information, and the vehicle type information received from the on-vehicle device 30 and the above-mentioned fee table. Then, the charge information calculated in the next step 470 is transmitted, and the wireless communication with the vehicle-mounted device 30 is terminated.

When the in-vehicle device 30 receives the fee information from the on-road device, it determines in step 454 that the fee information has been received, and proceeds to step 456. In this step 456,
The received charge information is subtracted from the balance information recorded on the IC card 62, and the result is recorded on the IC card 62 as new balance information. Then, in the next step 458, the MPU 70 is instructed to return the operation of the wiper device 64 to the original state, that is, to restart the operation, and the subroutine of the wiper device restart process ends. After this subroutine ends, the main routine also ends.

Next, an interruption routine of the vehicle-mounted device which is interrupted when the signal from the rotary encoder 73 rises will be described with reference to FIG.

First, at step 480, it is checked whether the flag F2 is set. Here, when the flag F2 is not set (when no error occurs), the process immediately returns to the main routine. When the flag F2 is set, it is determined in step 482 whether or not the wiper device 64 is operating.
If is operating, the process proceeds to step 486, and if the wiper device 64 is not operating, the process proceeds to step 484.

At step 484, a communication error has occurred even though the wiper device 64 is not operating.
An alarm is issued from the speaker 76 and the wiper device 6 is given to the occupant.
The fact that a communication error has occurred due to a cause other than the operation of step 4 is notified, and the process returns to the main routine.

In step 486, the position information N of the wiper arm 64B is sent from the rotary encoder 73, and the value of the flag F4 indicating the operation direction of the wiper arm 64B is sent to the MPU 70.
From, take in each. Then, in the next step 488, it is checked whether or not the stop position set flag F3 is set. Since the flag F3 is reset first, the process proceeds to step 490 for the first time.

In step 490, a stop position M at which the wiper arm 64B is stopped is set. This stop position M will be briefly described below.

As shown in FIG. 16A, a boundary line 79 shown by a dashed line in a normal wiping area 79 of the windshield glass 78 with the wiper blade 64A.
Area sandwiched between A and 79B (area shaded in the figure)
Is defined as a wireless communication disturbance area 79C. Conversely, when the wiper blade 64A is wiping an area other than the obstruction area 79C, the operation of the wiper arm 64B does not interfere with the wireless communication. The boundary line 79 of this obstruction area 79C
The rotation angle of the wiper arm 64B between A and 79B is K
The information on the angle is stored in the storage circuit 48 in advance. Here, the value of K can be determined by experiment, and 0 or a minute value is adopted. When the value of K is set to 0, the wiper arm 64B is stopped simultaneously with the detection of the communication error.

In such a situation, when the wiper arm 64B is positioned in the obstruction area 79C while operating in the direction of the arrow L, occurrence of a communication error is detected in the above-described step 448.

At this time, as shown in FIG. 16 (B), from the position information N (position 79P) of the wiper arm 64B taken in step 486, the operation angle (direction of arrow L) indicated by the flag F4 is changed by K degrees. The advanced position is set as a stop position M. This stop position M is outside the obstruction area 79C.

Further, when the occurrence of a communication error is detected when the wiper arm 64B is positioned in the obstruction area 79C while operating in the direction opposite to the above description, the operation of the wiper arm 64B at that time is detected. Direction (arrow L
(A direction opposite to the above), a position advanced by K degrees is set as a stop position M. The stop position M is outside the obstruction area 79C as described above.

The stop position M is set at the upper inversion position (position 79E in FIG. 16B) or the lower inversion position (position 79F in FIG. 16B), in addition to the above setting. The same effect can be obtained. That is, the interference area 79
Any position outside the position C may be used.

After setting the stop position M in step 490 in this way, the flag F3 is set in step 492.

In the next step 494, the wiper arm 6
It is determined whether or not 4B has reached the stop position M. If it has not arrived, the process returns to the main routine.
The PU 70 is instructed, and it is considered that the countermeasure against the occurrence of the communication error has been completed, the flag F2 indicating the occurrence of the error is reset, and the process returns to the main routine. Steps 486 to 496 correspond to the limiting means described in the claims. In the first embodiment, the wiper arm 6 is located at a position that does not hinder wireless communication between the on-vehicle device 30 and the road device.
Since the operation of the wiper device 64 is limited so as to temporarily stop the wiper device 4B, the wiper device 6 for wireless communication
4 can be eliminated.

Since the wiper arm 64B only pauses for about several milliseconds during which wireless communication is performed, the wiper blade 64A hardly affects the wiping of the windshield glass 78, and the visibility in front of the vehicle deteriorates. There is nothing.

Further, the installation position of the vehicle-mounted device 30 is not limited in the relative positional relationship with the wiper device 64 as in the related art. Therefore, the in-vehicle device 30 may be installed at another position such as the center portion of the dashboard 84 in the vehicle width direction or slightly to the right of the center portion of the dashboard 84 in the vehicle width direction.

[Second Embodiment] Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

In the second embodiment, when the on-vehicle device 30 detects the occurrence of a communication error in wireless communication, it restricts the operation of the wiper device 64 such that the wiper arm 64B is temporarily stopped at a position that does not hinder the wireless communication. Then, after the vehicle has traveled the predetermined distance, the operation of the wiper arm 64B is restarted. Further, when the local controller 380 detects the occurrence of a communication error in wireless communication, the local controller 380 controls to switch to a spare road device.

The structure of the second embodiment is, in addition to the structure of the first embodiment, as shown in FIG. 17, a distance sensor for detecting the rotational speed of the output shaft of the transmission to determine the traveling distance of the vehicle. 31 is connected to the vehicle-mounted device 30. In addition, a spare roadside machine (not shown) is installed at a predetermined distance L1 downstream from the roadside apparatus that normally performs wireless communication in the vehicle traveling direction. Further, an unillustrated circuit breaker is provided for each lane in the vicinity of the toll payment boxes 324, 326, 328 on the downstream side in the vehicle traveling direction with respect to the spare road plane.

Note that these circuit breakers are used to stop the vehicle when a communication error occurs in the wireless communication by the standby road unit.

Next, the operation of the second embodiment will be described. First, a control routine by the vehicle-mounted device 30 of the second embodiment will be described.

FIG. 18 shows the main routine. This main routine is substantially the same as the main routine (see FIG. 12) in the first embodiment described above, and therefore, the same portions are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof will be omitted. Only different portions will be described.

At step 440, flag F2 and flag F
In addition to the flag 3, the flag F5 indicating that the wiper device 64 is temporarily stopped is also reset.

If a communication error has not occurred in step 448, the restart processing of the wiper device is not executed as in the first embodiment, but the aforementioned step 452 is executed.
Only processing related to toll collection of 〜456 is executed. Since the wiper device restarting process restarts the operation of the wiper device 64 at a timing after the vehicle has traveled a predetermined distance, regardless of the flow of the main routine, it is interrupted when the signal of the rotary encoder shown in FIG. 19 rises. Executed during interrupt processing.

Since the interrupt processing routine shown in FIG. 19 is substantially the same as the interrupt processing routine in the first embodiment (see FIG. 15), the same portions are denoted by the same reference characters and description thereof will be omitted. Only different parts will be described.

In step 496, the stop instruction of the wiper device and the reset of the flag F2 are performed, and the wiper device 64 is reset.
The flag F5 indicating that is temporarily stopped is also set. Then, in the next step 497, the travel distance information L2 of the vehicle at the time of instructing the stop of the wiper device is fetched from the distance sensor 31.

Further, during the temporary stop of the wiper device (flag F
2 is reset and the flag F5 is set), the negative determination in step 480 and the step 48
An affirmative determination is made in step 3, and a subroutine of the wiper device restarting process in step 498 is executed.

In the wiper device restarting process, in FIG. 20 showing the processing routine, at step 594, the traveling distance information L3 of the vehicle is fetched from the distance sensor 31, and at the next step 596, step 497 is performed from this traveling distance information L3. By subtracting the mileage information L2 taken in at step, the mileage L4 after instructing the wiper device to stop is calculated. Then, in the next step 598, it is determined whether or not the traveling distance L4 is equal to or longer than a predetermined distance (L1 + α) slightly larger than the distance L1 between the roadside machine and the spare roadside aircraft. ), The subroutine of the wiper device resuming process is terminated, and if the running distance L4 is equal to or longer than the predetermined distance (L1 + α), step 5 is performed.
At 99, the MPU is set to restart the operation of the wiper device 64.
70, the flag F5 is reset, and the subroutine of the wiper device restart processing is terminated. Here, the value obtained by the distance sensor 31 is taken as the traveling distance of the vehicle, but a vehicle speed signal may be taken in, and the traveling distance of the vehicle may be calculated from the vehicle speed signal.

When the above-described wiper device restart processing (step 498 in FIG. 19) ends, the interrupt routine shown in FIG. 19 also ends.

Next, a control routine by the local controller 380 of the second embodiment shown in FIG. 21 will be described.

In step 540, the road device and the on-vehicle device 3
Communication information such as communication history and communication error information relating to the wireless communication executed with the device 0 is received from the roadside device. Then, in the next step 542, it is checked whether or not a communication error has occurred in the wireless communication between the road device and the on-vehicle device 30.

If a communication error has not occurred, the process is terminated. If a communication error has occurred, in step 544, in order to switch the communication partner with the on-vehicle device 30 to the standby on-road device, the on-vehicle device 30 is transferred to the standby on-road device. To wirelessly communicate with Thus, the spare roadside device sends an inquiry signal and prepares for wireless communication with the vehicle-mounted device 30. Then, when the vehicle approaches the installation position of the spare roadside device and the in-vehicle device 30 receives the inquiry signal from the spare roadside device, the wireless communication between the onboard device 30 and the spare roadside device is started.

Thereafter, in step 546, the communication information such as the communication history and the communication error information regarding the wireless communication executed between the standby road unit and the vehicle-mounted unit 30 is received from the standby road unit. Then, in the next step 548, it is checked whether a communication error has occurred in the wireless communication between the spare roadside device and the onboard device 30.

If a communication error has not occurred, the processing is terminated. If a communication error has occurred, the breaker is lowered in step 549, and the process is terminated. Here, when the barrier comes off, the vehicle is forcibly stopped, and a clerk waiting in a toll payment box corresponding to the lane in which the vehicle is located takes measures to cope with a communication error.

As described above, in the second embodiment, the operation of the wiper device 64 is limited by the vehicle-mounted device 30 so that the wiper arm 64B is temporarily stopped at a position where radio communication is not hindered. In the device on the side, the on-road unit is switched by the local controller, so that if a communication error occurs due to a failure on the on-road unit, recurrence of the communication error can be avoided. In addition, since the communication error avoidance measures are executed in both the ground-side device and the in-vehicle device 30, the reliability of the wireless communication is further improved.

[Third Embodiment] Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

In the third embodiment, when the in-vehicle device 30 receives the inquiry signal from the road device, the in-vehicle device 30
The operation of the wiper device 64 is limited so that the 4B is immediately stopped, and the operation of the wiper arm 64B is resumed after the end of the wireless communication.

The configuration of the third embodiment is the same as the configuration of the first embodiment described above, and the description is omitted.

Next, a control routine by the vehicle-mounted device 30 of the third embodiment will be described. In the third embodiment, only the control routine shown in FIG. 22 is executed.

If it is determined in step 442 that an inquiry signal has been received from the on-road unit, step 44
At 3, an instruction to stop the wiper device 64 is issued. This allows
The wiper arm 64B stops immediately. Since the inquiry signal from the on-road unit has been received in step 442, the stop position of the wiper arm 64B at this time can be considered to be a position that does not affect wireless communication.

The above-mentioned step 442 corresponds to the judgment means described in the claims, and step 443 corresponds to the restriction means described in the claims.

The resumption processing of the wiper device 64 is executed by instructing the MPU 70 to return the operation of the wiper device 64 to the original state in step 458 after the updating of the balance information in step 456 is completed.

As described above, in the third embodiment, when the vehicle-mounted device 30 receives the inquiry signal from the road device regardless of the occurrence of a communication error, the vehicle-mounted device 30 temporarily moves the wiper arm 64B to a position where it does not hinder the wireless communication. Since the operation of the wiper device 64 is limited so as to stop, the wireless communication
The wiper arm 64B is started in a state where the wiper arm 64B is temporarily stopped so as not to affect the wireless communication.
It is possible to avoid the occurrence of a communication error due to the influence of.

[Fourth Embodiment] Next, a fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

In the fourth embodiment, when the on-vehicle device 30 detects the occurrence of a communication error in the wireless communication between the on-vehicle device 30 and the on-road device, the on-vehicle device 30 determines only the area where the on-vehicle device 30 and the on-road device do not interfere with the wireless communication. The operation of the wiper device 64 is limited so that the wiper blade 64A wipes, and the operation of the wiper device 64 is restored after the end of the wireless communication.

The configuration of the fourth embodiment is the same as the configuration of the above-described first embodiment, and a description thereof will be omitted.

Next, a control routine of the vehicle-mounted device 30 according to the fourth embodiment will be described. However, only the interrupt processing routine executed when the signal from the rotary encoder 73 rises is different from that of the first embodiment, and the flow of this interrupt processing will be described below.

At step 510 shown in FIG. 23, it is checked whether the flag F2 is set. Here, when the flag F2 is not set (when no error occurs), the process immediately returns to the main routine. If the flag F2 has been set, step 51
At 2, it is determined whether the wiper device 64 is in operation. If the wiper device 64 is in operation, the process proceeds to step 516. If the wiper device 64 is not in operation, the process proceeds to step 514.

In step 514, an alarm is issued from the speaker 76 to notify the occupant that a communication error has occurred due to a cause other than the operation of the wiper device 64, and the process returns to the main routine.

In step 516, the position information N of the wiper arm 64B is transmitted from the rotary encoder 73 to the value of the flag F4 indicating the operation direction of the wiper arm 64B by the MPU 70.
From, take in each. Then, in the next step 518, it is checked whether or not the flag F4 is set. If the flag F4 is set (toward the upper inversion position), the process proceeds to step 530, where the flag F4 is set.
If is not set (towards the lower inversion position), the process proceeds to step 520.

First, the case where the flag F4 is not set (toward the lower inversion position) will be described.

At step 520, it is checked whether or not the stop position set flag F3 is set.
Since the flag F3 is reset first, the process proceeds to step 522 for the first time.

In this step 522, the upper reversal position J2 of the wiper arm 64B is set. This setting method will be briefly described below.

As shown in FIG. 24A, of the wiping region 79 of the windshield glass 78 at the normal time by the wiper blade 64A, a boundary line 79 shown by a dashed line.
A region between A and 79B is defined as a wireless communication interference region 7.
9C. Conversely, when the wiper blade 64A is wiping an area other than the obstruction area 79C, the operation of the wiper arm 64B does not interfere with the wireless communication. The rotation angle of the wiper arm 64B between the boundary lines 79A and 79B of the obstruction area 79C is K degrees, and information on this angle is stored in the storage circuit 48 in advance. Here, the value of K can be determined by experiment, and 0 or a minute value is adopted. When the value of K is set to 0, the wiper arm 64B is stopped simultaneously with the detection of the communication error.

In such a situation, when the wiper arm 64B is located in the obstruction area 79C while operating in the direction of the arrow L, step 44 of the main routine shown in FIG.
At 8, the occurrence of a communication error is detected.

At this time, as shown in FIG. 24B, from the position information N (position 79R) of the wiper arm 64B taken in step 516, the operation angle (in the direction of arrow L) indicated by the flag F4 is changed by K degrees. Move the advanced position to the upper inverted position J
Set as 2. The upper reversing position J2 is located at the obstruction area 7
9C.

After the upper reversal position J2 is set in step 522, the flag F3 is set in step 524.
Is set.

In the next step 526, the wiper arm 6
It is determined whether 4B has reached the upper inversion position J2. If it has not arrived, the process returns to the main routine. If it has arrived, at step 528, a pseudo signal indicating the upper inversion position is output to M
Output to PU70. MPU7 which received this pseudo signal
If it is 0, it is determined that the wiper arm 64B has reached the upper reversing position (step 414 in FIG. 9), and the wiper arm 64B is reversed in the lower reversing direction (step 416 in FIG. 9). As a result, in FIG. 24C, the wiper arm 64B moves the region 79U between the upper inversion position J2 and the lower inversion direction 79T.
(The area shaded in the figure).
(Note that immediately after the upper reversing position J2 is set, the wiper arm 6
Only when 4B reaches the upper reversing position J2, the wiper arm 64B is rotating in the lower reversing direction. Therefore, the wiper arm 64B passes through the upper reversing position J2 and continues to rotate in the lower reversing direction. After the above processing is completed, the process returns to the main routine.

In the following, the case where the flag F4 is set (toward the upper inversion position) will be described.

At step 530, it is checked whether or not the stop position set flag F3 is set.
Since the flag F3 is initially reset to zero, the process proceeds to step 532 for the first time.

In this step 532, the lower turning position J1 of the wiper arm 64B is set. This setting method is almost the same as the above-described method of setting the upper inversion position J2, and thus will be briefly described below.

In FIG. 25A, the wiper arm 64
While B is operating in the direction of arrow R, the obstruction area 79C
12, the occurrence of a communication error is detected in step 448 of the main routine shown in FIG.

At this time, as shown in FIG. 25B, based on the position information N (position 79V) of the wiper arm 64B taken in step 516, the operation angle (in the direction of arrow R) indicated by the flag F4 is changed by K degrees. Move the advanced position to the lower inversion position J
Set as 1. The lower inversion position J1 is set to the obstruction area 7
9C.

After the lower inversion position J1 is set in step 532 in this way, the flag F3 is set in step 534.
Is set.

In the next step 536, the wiper arm 6
It is determined whether or not 4B has reached the lower turning position J1. If it has not arrived, the process returns to the main routine. If it has arrived, at step 538, a pseudo signal indicating the lower inversion position is output to M
Output to PU70. MPU7 which received this pseudo signal
0 determines that the wiper arm 64B has reached the lower inversion position (step 418 in FIG. 9), and inverts the wiper arm 64B in the upper inversion direction (step 422 in FIG. 9). As a result, in FIG. 25C, the wiper arm 64B reciprocates between the lower inversion position J1 and the upper inversion direction 79X. (Note that only when the wiper arm 64B reaches the lower turning position J1 immediately after setting the lower turning position J1, the wiper arm 64B rotates in the upper turning direction. The rotation in the reverse direction is continued.) Upon completion of the above processing, the process returns to the main routine. Steps 516-
538 corresponds to the limiting means described in the claims.

The above is the flow of the interrupt processing in the fourth embodiment. In the fourth embodiment, the operation of the wiper device 64 is limited so that the wiper blade 64A wipes only a range that does not hinder the wireless communication between the on-vehicle device 30 and the road device. Of the wiper arm 64B.

Further, since the operation of the wiper device 64 is restricted according to the installation position of the vehicle-mounted device 30, the installation position of the vehicle-mounted device 30 is limited in the relative positional relationship with the wiper device 64 as in the prior art. Never. Therefore, the in-vehicle device 3
0 may be installed at another position such as the center portion of the dashboard 84 in the vehicle width direction or slightly to the right of the center portion of the dashboard 84 in the vehicle width direction.

By the way, in order to execute the wireless communication between the vehicle-mounted device 30 and the roadside device in a good state during the operation of the wiper device 64, the operation of the wiper device 64 is restricted as in the above four embodiments. In addition, for example, an application example in which the radio wave intensity of a radio wave transmitted from the transmission / reception antenna 52 provided in the vehicle-mounted device 30 is increased, or an application example in which switching is performed to execute wireless communication with a plurality of road devices.

Therefore, an application example for increasing the radio wave intensity will be described first. As a configuration of this application example, in addition to the configuration of the first embodiment described above, the in-vehicle device 30 includes a transmitting / receiving antenna 52
And a radio wave intensity changing means for changing the radio wave intensity of the transmission.

The control flow of this application example is different from the control flow of the first embodiment only in the interrupt processing executed when the signal from the rotary encoder 73 rises. Therefore, the flow of this interrupt processing will be described below. I do.

At step 580 shown in FIG. 26, it is checked whether flag F2 is set. Here, when the flag F2 is not set (when no error occurs), the process immediately returns to the main routine. When the flag F2 is set, the step 58
At 2, it is determined whether the wiper device 64 is operating or not.
If the wiper device 64 is in operation, go to step 586; if the wiper device 64 is not in operation, go to step 584.
Go forward respectively.

In step 584, an alarm is issued from the speaker 76 to notify the occupant that a communication error has occurred due to a cause other than the operation of the wiper device 64, and the process returns to the main routine.

In step 586, the radio wave intensity of the transmitting / receiving antenna 52 is increased by the radio wave intensity changing means, and the process returns to the main routine.

In the above application example, the wiper arm 6
4B operation to reduce the effect on wireless communication,
Or you can eliminate it. Further, the installation position of the vehicle-mounted device 30 is not limited.

Next, a description will be given of an application example in which switching is performed to execute wireless communication with a plurality of road units.

As a configuration of this application example, the apparatus on the ground side transmits / receives to / from a plurality of on-road units with rain detecting means such as a rain drop detecting sensor for detecting rain using the piezoelectric effect of a piezoelectric vibrator. And control means for controlling a method of transmitting and receiving radio waves by a roadside device.

The operation of this application example will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 27 showing the flow of control by the device on the ground.

At step 590, it is determined whether or not it is raining based on the rainfall detection information detected by the rainfall detecting means. If it is determined that it is raining, step 5
Go to 92.

At step 592, the control means switches the transmission and reception to and from a plurality of road units, and the control routine ends.

In the above application example, the wiper arm 6
4B operation to reduce the effect on wireless communication,
Or you can eliminate it. Further, the installation position of the vehicle-mounted device 30 is not limited.

By arranging the radio wave intensity changing means for changing the radio wave intensity of the transmission antenna 22 and the transmission / reception antenna 26 of the on-road unit also on the device on the ground side, in step 592 of the application example described above, a plurality of on-road units are provided. Instead of switching to transmit and receive, the radio wave intensity of the transmitting antenna 22 and the transmitting and receiving antenna 26 may be increased.

[Fifth Embodiment] Next, a fifth embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the fifth embodiment, when the in-vehicle device 30 receives the notice signal from the notice antenna 317 of the road device,
The operation of the wiper device 64 is restricted so that the approach to the communication area is recognized and the wiper arm 64B is stopped, and at the same time, rain, snow, dust, and the like are blocked by the tunnel 343 (see FIG. 28) installed at the exit gate 300. Thus, when the operation of the wiper device 64 is limited, a good front view of the occupant is ensured.

As shown in FIGS. 28 and 29, the exit gate 300 is provided with a tunnel 343 that covers the lanes 302, 304, and 306 from above. A tollgate antenna 341 and a plurality of notice antennas 317 are installed at positions above the lanes on the roof 343A of the tunnel 343. Of the plurality of notice antennas 317, the arrow A
The notice antennas 317 are provided at substantially equal intervals on the upstream side in the vehicle running direction, and each notice antenna 317 informs the on-vehicle device 30 mounted on the vehicle 90 that has reached the exit gate 300 of the notice of wireless communication timing. Are transmitted at predetermined time intervals substantially downward.

The tollgate antenna 341 and each of the notice antennas 317 have the same circuit configuration as the circuit configuration of the on-road unit described with reference to FIG. 7 in the first embodiment. Also,
The configuration of the vehicle-mounted device 30 is the same as the configuration described with reference to FIG. 6 in the first embodiment, and the device configuration related to the control of the wiper device 64 is also the same as the configuration described with reference to FIG. 8 in the first embodiment. Therefore, the description is omitted.

Also, in the fifth embodiment, the wiper device 64
The release time of the wiper stop as the maximum value of the time for restricting the operation of the in-vehicle device 30 is previously stored in a memory in the microcomputer of the signal processing circuit 46 of the vehicle-mounted device 30.

Next, the operation of the fifth embodiment will be described. When the wiper switch 74 (see FIG. 8) is turned on, FIG.
The operation control interrupt routine of the wiper device shown in FIG.
0 is executed by the microcomputer of the signal processing circuit 46.
Thereafter, this interrupt routine is executed at predetermined time intervals until the wiper switch 74 is turned off.

At step 602, the notice antenna 317
It is determined whether or not a notice signal from has been received. If the advance notice signal has not been received, this interrupt routine ends.
When the vehicle 90 approaches the exit gate 300 and receives a notice signal from any of the plurality of notice antennas 317, the process proceeds to step 604, and the wiper stop release timer for measuring the duration of the operation restriction of the wiper device 64 is reset. At the same time, it instructs the MPU 70 to stop the wiper device 64. Upon receiving the stop instruction, the MPU 70 sets the wiper device 6
4 (wiper arm 64B and wiper blade 64A)
Outputs a control signal to the wiper device driving circuit 66 so as to move to the normal stop position shown in FIG. As a result, the wiper device 64 moves to the normal stop position shown in FIG.

FIG. 30 (B) shows the reception antenna 32 and the transmission / reception antenna 52 of the vehicle-mounted device 30 by the wiper device 64.
(See FIG. 6) shows a predetermined state in which is shielded. In this state, wireless communication may be interrupted by the wiper blade 64A. On the other hand, at the normal stop position shown in FIG. 30A, the reception antenna 32 and the transmission / reception antenna 52 of the on-vehicle device 30 are not shielded by the wiper device 64, and there is a possibility that wireless communication may be interrupted by the wiper blade 64A. Absent.

Further, in the fifth embodiment, the exit gate 3
Since a tunnel 343 is provided at 00, rain, snow, dust, and the like are blocked in the tunnel 343. Therefore, even if the operation of the wiper device 64 is stopped and the wiping of the windshield glass 78 is stopped as described above, it is possible to secure a good front view for the occupant of the vehicle 90. In addition, by blocking rain, snow, dust, and the like by the tunnel 343, an effect of preventing interference of wireless communication due to rain, snow, dust, and the like can be obtained.

In the next step 606, it is determined whether or not the balance information of the IC card 62 has been updated via the IC card read / write device 60, thereby determining whether or not the automatic charging at the exit gate 300 has been completed. to decide. If the automatic charging has not been completed, the wiper stop release timer is counted in step 608, and in the next step 610, it is determined whether or not the time of the wiper stop release timer has reached the wiper stop release time. If the wiper stop release time has not been reached, the process returns to step 606, and step 6
Repeat steps 06 to 610.

If the automatic charging is completed before the wiper stop release time is reached, the result in step 606 is affirmative, and the flow advances to step 612 to restart the wiper device 64 by the MPU 70.
To Upon receiving this restart instruction, the MPU 70 outputs a predetermined control signal to the wiper device drive circuit 66. Thereby, the operation of the wiper device 64 is resumed, and the wiping of the windshield glass 78 is resumed.

On the other hand, for example, due to a reading error of the balance information recorded on the IC card 62, the wiper stop release without the automatic charging being determined to have been completed is not determined even though the automatic charging is actually completed. If the time has elapsed, it is determined that a time-out has occurred in step 610, and the process proceeds to step 612, where the operation of the wiper device 64 is resumed and the wiping of the windshield glass 78 is resumed as described above. As described above, since the stop state of the wiper device 64 does not continue for a longer time than the wiper stop release time, the wiping of the windshield glass 78 is prevented from being stopped for a long time.

As described above, according to the fifth embodiment, by stopping the operation of the wiper device 64 based on the reception of the advance notice signal, it is possible to prevent the wireless communication from being interrupted by the wiper device 64. it can. Moreover, since the tunnel 343 is provided at the exit gate 300, the wiper device 64
Even when the operation of the vehicle is stopped, a good front view of the occupant is secured.

Further, since a plurality of advance notice antennas 317 are provided, even if the reception of the advance notice signal transmitted from one advance notice antenna 317 fails, there is an opportunity to receive the advance notice signal from another notice antenna 317 again. Therefore, it is possible to more reliably receive the advance notice signal, and to reliably start the wiper device stop processing.

In the fifth embodiment, the example in which the tunnel 343 that covers the upper part of the lane of the exit gate 300 is installed as the blocking means of the present invention, but the blocking means of the present invention covers the upper part of the lane in this way. It is not limited to things. For example, a plurality of small-area roofs with rain gutters may be separated from each other, and may be vertically stacked so that rain, snow, and the like do not reach the road.

In the fifth embodiment, an example is shown in which a plurality of advance notice antennas 317 are installed in a single lane along the traveling direction of the vehicle 90. However, the advance notice antennas 317 installed in a single lane are shown. 317 may be one. In this case, by increasing the radio wave intensity of the notice signal emitted from the notice antenna 317 or increasing the frequency of transmission of the notice signal, the notice signal can be received more reliably, and the above-described wiper device stop processing is reliably executed. You can start.

[Sixth Embodiment] Next, a sixth embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the sixth embodiment, the distance A between the host vehicle and the tollgate antenna 341 is determined based on the position of the host vehicle and the position of the tollgate antenna 341 measured by a global positioning system (hereinafter referred to as GPS). It is determined whether or not the distance A is smaller than the distance B. When the distance A becomes smaller than the wiper stop reference distance B, the wiper device 64 is stopped so that the wiper arm 64B is stopped.
This limits the operation of.

As shown in FIG. 32, the vehicle 90 has a GP
In order to implement S, a GPS antenna 374 that receives radio waves from a plurality of GPS satellites 372, and a GPS receiver 376 that is connected to the GPS antenna 374 and performs predetermined signal processing such as amplification and noise cut on the received radio waves. ,
A navigation device 378 which is connected to the GPS receiver 376, calculates the position of the vehicle based on the received radio waves, and guides the occupant on the route to be driven, etc., via a display for guiding a traveling route (not shown). is set up.

The navigation device 378 has a plurality of GPs.
The radio wave propagation time for each radio wave from the S satellite 372 is obtained, and the own vehicle and each GP are calculated from the radio wave propagation time and the radio wave speed.
The distance to the S satellite 372 is calculated, and a position (position of the own vehicle) that satisfies the condition of the calculated distance is calculated. Note that the navigation device 378 performs the calculation of the position of the host vehicle at predetermined time intervals.

Further, the navigation device 378 is connected to the signal processing circuit 46 of the vehicle-mounted device 30, and the signal processing circuit 46 can take in the position information of the own vehicle calculated by the navigation device 378.

Note that the tollgate antenna 341 is connected to the first
It has a circuit configuration similar to the circuit configuration shown in FIG. 7 described in the embodiment. The configuration of the on-vehicle device 30 is the first embodiment shown in FIG.
And the device configuration related to the control of the wiper device 64 is the same as the configuration described with reference to FIG. 8 in the first embodiment, and a description thereof will be omitted.

In the memory in the microcomputer of the signal processing circuit 46, the position information of the tollgate antenna 341 and the information of the wiper stop reference distance B are stored in advance.

Next, the operation of the sixth embodiment will be described. When the wiper switch 74 (see FIG. 8) is turned on, FIG.
The operation control interrupt routine of the wiper device shown in FIG.
0 is executed by the microcomputer of the signal processing circuit 46.
Thereafter, this interrupt routine is executed at predetermined time intervals until the wiper switch 74 is turned off.

At step 622, the position information of the own vehicle is fetched from the navigation device 378, and the position information of the tollgate antenna 341 is fetched from the memory in the microcomputer of the signal processing circuit 46. In the next step 624, the distance A (see FIG. 32) from the host vehicle to the tollgate antenna 341 is calculated from the position information of the host vehicle and the position information of the tollgate antenna 341. Then, in the next step 626, it is determined whether or not the distance A is smaller than the wiper stop reference distance B.

If the vehicle 90 is located farther than the wiper stop reference distance B from the tollgate antenna 341, “distance A ≧ wiper stop reference distance B” is satisfied.
And the interrupt routine is terminated. On the other hand, vehicle 9
When 0 reaches a range shorter than the wiper stop reference distance B from the tollgate antenna 341, “distance A <wiper stop reference distance B” is satisfied, so the result is affirmative in step 626 and the flow proceeds to step 628.

At step 628, it is determined whether or not the balance information of the IC card 62 has been updated via the IC card read / write device 60.
It is determined whether or not the automatic billing at 00 is completed.

At the first point in time when the vehicle 90 reaches a range shorter than the wiper stop reference distance B from the tollgate antenna 341, since automatic charging has not been completed, step 628 is performed.
, And the process proceeds to step 630. In Step 630, the MPU 70 is instructed to stop the wiper device 64. Upon receiving the stop instruction, the MPU 70 controls the wiper arm 64B.
Outputs a control signal to the wiper device drive circuit 66 so that the control signal moves to the normal stop position shown in FIG. As a result, the wiper arm 64B moves to the normal stop position shown in FIG.

On the other hand, when the vehicle 90 reaches the communication area of the tollgate antenna 341 and predetermined automatic charging by wireless communication between the vehicle-mounted device 30 and the on-road device is completed, step 6 is performed.
Affirmative at 28, processing proceeds to step 632. Step 63
In 2, the MPU 70 is instructed to restart the wiper device 64. Upon receiving this restart instruction, the MPU 70 outputs a predetermined control signal to the wiper device drive circuit 66. This allows
The operation of the wiper device 64 resumes, and the wiping of the windshield glass 78 resumes.

As described above, according to the sixth embodiment, G
Position of own vehicle measured by PS and tollgate antenna 3
41 and the tollgate antenna 341 based on the position of
Is calculated, and it is determined that the distance A is smaller than the wiper stop reference distance B, so that the timing of wireless communication can be determined. In addition, by stopping the wiper device 64 at a position that does not affect the wireless communication at the time of the wireless communication, it is possible to prevent the wiper device 64 from interfering with the wireless communication.

[Seventh Embodiment] Next, a seventh embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the seventh embodiment, when the in-vehicle device 30 receives the notice signal from the notice antenna 317 of the road device,
The operation of the wiper device 64 is limited so that the wiper blade 64A wipes a part of the wiping region that does not affect wireless communication. In the seventh embodiment, FIG.
As shown in (A), the in-vehicle device 30 performs wireless communication with the on-road device via a partial area below the wiping area 77B.

First, the wiping area 7 will be described with reference to FIG.
The configuration of the drive mechanism of the wiper arm 64B related to the wiping of 7B will be described.

The wiper arm 64B is integrally fixed to a substantially U-shaped lever 80 via a joining member 98.
The wiper arm 64B and the lever 80 are rotatable about a fulcrum 85 fixed to the vehicle body. A lever 83 is attached to one end 80A of the lever 80.
Are connected via a fulcrum 97 provided at one end of the lever 83, and the lever 83 is rotatable around the fulcrum 97. One end of a coil spring 82 is connected to the end of the other end 83A of the lever 83, and the other end of the coil spring 82 is connected to the other end 8 of the lever 80.
0B.

The lever 83 is connected to one end of a link 89 via a fulcrum 88 provided substantially at the center of the lever 83, and the other end of the link 89 is connected via a fulcrum 96. Connected to the small link 99. The small link 99 is configured to rotate around a fulcrum 86 provided at one end of the small link 99 and fixed to the vehicle body by a torque from the wiper motor 68 (see FIG. 8).

The other wiping area 77A (FIG. 37)
The wiper arm 64C related to the wiping of (A) is
It is connected to the drive mechanism via a fulcrum 87 fixed to the vehicle body.
It is configured independently of the rotation of the lever 80 and the like.

As shown in FIG. 36, a solenoid 49 is connected to the signal processing circuit 46 of the vehicle-mounted device 30. The solenoid 49 is configured to push a cylindrical movable plunger 81 (see FIG. 34B) in a predetermined direction when a predetermined current is supplied.

As shown in FIG. 34B, when the movable plunger 81 is pushed out by the electromagnetic action of the solenoid 49, it protrudes into the rotation area of the end 80B of the lever 80 about the fulcrum 85. is set up.

The tollgate antenna 341 and each notice antenna 317 have the same circuit configuration as that of the on-road unit described in the first embodiment with reference to FIG. Also,
The configuration of the on-vehicle device 30 is the same as the configuration described with reference to FIG. 6 in the first embodiment, and the other device configurations related to the control of the wiper device 64 are the same as those described with reference to FIG. 8 in the first embodiment. The description is omitted because it is the same.

Next, the operation of the seventh embodiment will be described. When the wiper switch 74 (FIG. 8) is turned on, the wiper motor 68 rotates. As shown in FIG.
Rotates on the rotation track 95 by the torque of the wiper motor 68, so that the link 89 reciprocates in the direction of arrow C and in the opposite direction. With the reciprocal movement of this link 89,
Since the fulcrum 88 also reciprocates, the lever 83, the coil spring 82, and the lever 80 rotate substantially integrally about the fulcrum 85 by a predetermined angle in the direction of arrow A and in the direction opposite thereto. Thus, the wiper arm 64 that rotates integrally with the lever 80
B also rotates a predetermined angle about the fulcrum 85, and the wiper blade 64A wipes the wiping area 77B.

Further, from the time when the wiper switch 74 is turned on, the microcomputer of the signal processing circuit 46 of the vehicle-mounted device 30 executes the operation control interrupt routine of the wiper device shown in FIG. Thereafter, this interrupt routine is executed at predetermined time intervals until the wiper switch 74 is turned off.

At step 642, the notice antenna 317
It is determined whether or not a notice signal from has been received. If the advance notice signal has not been received, this interrupt routine ends.
When the vehicle 90 approaches the exit gate 300, the notice antenna 3
When the advance notice signal is received from 17, the process proceeds to step 644, in which a predetermined current is supplied from the signal processing circuit 46 to the solenoid 49 to limit the wiping angle of the wiper device 64.

That is, from the signal processing circuit 46 to the solenoid 4
By supplying a predetermined current to the movable member 9, the movable plunger 81 is pushed out in a predetermined direction, and protrudes into a rotation region in the direction of arrow A of the end portion 80B of the lever 80 as shown in FIG.

In the wiper device 64, the wiper arm 6
In the operation when 4B moves from the upper reversing position to the lower reversing position, the fulcrum 96 moves in a direction away from the wiper arm 64B as the small link 99 rotates. As a result, the link 89 moves in the direction of arrow C, and the fulcrum 88 is pulled in the direction of arrow C. When the fulcrum 88 is pulled in the direction of arrow C, the lever 83, the coil spring 82, and the lever 80 rotate substantially integrally with the fulcrum 85 in the direction of arrow A. When the end portion 80B comes into contact with the movable plunger 81, the rotation of the lever 80 in the direction of arrow A stops.

Even if the rotation of the lever 80 is stopped, the fulcrum 88
Is still pulled in the direction of the arrow C, the lever 83 repels the elastic force of the coil spring 82, and the lever 83
Is rotated in the direction of arrow B around. Then, FIG. 34 (B)
The wiper arm 64B reaches the lower turning position when the wiping angle of the wiper arm 64B is limited as shown in FIG.

Even if the rotation of the lever 80 is stopped in this way, the lever 83 rotates in the direction of arrow B, so that the pulling distance of the fulcrum 88 in the direction of arrow C can be maintained. In other words, the rotation of the wiper motor 68 is continued without any trouble as in the normal case. This does not affect the operation of the wiper arm 64C related to the wiping of the other wiping area 77A.
The wiping of A is performed in the same manner as in the normal case.

In FIG. 35, the state of the wiper arm 64B at the normal inverted position at the normal time is indicated by a solid line, and the state of the wiped arm 64B at the inverted position at the time of limiting the wiping angle is indicated by a two-dot chain line. As is clear from this figure, when the wiping angle is limited, the arrow A
Since the rotation in the direction is prevented by the movable plunger 81, the lower reversal position of the wiper arm 64B when the wiping angle is limited is directed upward by the angle θ from the lower reversal position in normal operation. As a result, as shown in FIG. 37 (B), the wiper blade 64A interlocked with the wiper arm 64B is prevented from wiping a part of the area below the wiping area 77B, and the wiper blade 64A is partially connected to the wiping area 77B. Area 77C is wiped off. The wiping angle θ2 corresponding to the area 77C is smaller than the wiping angle θ1 corresponding to the normal wiping area 77B.

Since the area 77C does not affect the wireless communication of the vehicle-mounted device 30, if the wiping angle is limited in step 644, there is no possibility that the operation of the wiper device 64 will interfere with the wireless communication. In the next step 646, it is determined whether or not the automatic charging at the exit gate 300 has been completed by determining whether or not the balance information of the IC card 62 has been updated via the IC card read / write device 60. If the automatic charging has not been completed, this step 646 is repeated. When the automatic charging is completed, the process proceeds to step 648, in which the supply of the predetermined current to the solenoid 49 is stopped to release the wiping angle restriction.

That is, from the signal processing circuit 46 to the solenoid 4
9, the movable plunger 81 is retracted to the outside of the rotation area of the end 80B in the direction of arrow A, and the rotation of the end 80B in the direction of arrow A is stopped. It will not be blocked.

Therefore, as in the normal case, the lever 83, the coil spring 82, and the lever 80 are again substantially integrally moved about the fulcrum 85 by a predetermined angle in the direction of the arrow A and in the direction opposite thereto with the reciprocation of the link 89. Rotate. As a result, the wiper arm 64B, which rotates integrally with the lever 80, also rotates by a predetermined angle about the fulcrum 85 in the same manner as usual, and the wiper blade 64A wipes the wiping area 77B.

As described above, according to the seventh embodiment, at the time of wireless communication, the wiper blade 64A wipes a part of the wiping area 77B which does not affect the wireless communication, so that the wiping function of the wiper device 64 is maintained. The wireless communication can be performed normally while the communication is performed.

In the seventh embodiment, the timing of the wireless communication (the timing of restricting the operation of the wiper device) is determined by receiving the advance notice signal.
The determination may be made based on the position of the own vehicle measured by the above. That is, based on the position of the own vehicle and the position of the tollgate antenna 341 measured by GPS, the own vehicle and the tollgate antenna 3
Then, a distance A with respect to 41 is calculated, and it is determined whether or not the distance A is smaller than a wiper stop reference distance B. Where distance A
Is smaller than the wiper stop reference distance B, by supplying a predetermined current to the solenoid 49, the wiper blade 64A wipes a part of the wiping area 77B which does not affect the wireless communication as described above. The operation of the wiper device 64 may be limited so as to perform the operation.

In each of the above embodiments, the case where the in-vehicle device 30 is installed near the windshield glass 78 has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the rear glass on which the wiper device is installed is not limited to this. An in-vehicle device may be installed nearby, or only an antenna may be installed.

[0215]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the operation of the wiper device is limited by the limiting means so as not to affect the wireless communication at the time of performing the wireless communication determined by the determining means. Even if the in-vehicle device is installed at any position relative to the wiper device, the effect of eliminating the influence of the operation of the wiper device on wireless communication can be obtained. Furthermore, the effect that the installation position of the in-vehicle device for wireless communication can be freely selected can be obtained.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the occurrence of a communication error in wireless communication repeatedly executed by the determining means is detected, and the time for performing the next wireless communication is determined. Has an effect that the occurrence of a communication error due to the influence of the wiper device can be avoided.

Further, according to the third aspect of the present invention, the start of communication from the on-road unit is detected by the determination means, and the time for performing wireless communication is determined, so that the wireless communication does not affect the wireless communication. Thus, the operation is started in a state where the operation of the wiper device is restricted, and the effect that the communication error due to the influence of the wiper device can be avoided can be obtained.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the operation of the wiper device is limited by the restricting means so as to temporarily stop the wiper arm at a position that does not affect the wireless communication. The effect of being able to more reliably eliminate the influence of the above is obtained.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, since a part of the wiping area which does not affect the wireless communication is wiped, it is possible to perform the wireless communication normally while maintaining the wiping function of the wiper device. Can be obtained.

Furthermore, according to the invention of claim 6, since the arrival of rain, snow or the like to the vehicle can be blocked by the blocking means, even if the operation of the wiper device is restricted during the execution of the wireless communication, the vehicle of the occupant can be prevented. The advantage is that a good view ahead is ensured.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an automatic toll collection device to which the present invention can be applied.

FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view showing an entrance gate of the automatic toll collection device of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view showing an intermediate route of the automatic toll collection device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a schematic perspective view showing an exit gate of the automatic toll collection device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a schematic perspective view showing an arrangement of the vehicle-mounted device of the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a circuit configuration of the vehicle-mounted device of the present embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a circuit configuration of a road device.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating a device configuration related to control of the wiper device according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a control routine by the MPU for the wiper device.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing an interrupt process when a wiper switch is turned off.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing an interrupt process when an instruction to stop the wiper device is issued.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing a processing routine on the in-vehicle device side when performing wireless communication according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating a subroutine of a restart process of the wiper device according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing a processing routine on the road device at the time of executing wireless communication.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustrating a processing routine for restricting the operation of the wiper device according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 16 is an explanatory diagram showing an outline of operation restriction of the wiper device of the first embodiment.

FIG. 17 is a block diagram illustrating a device configuration related to control of the wiper device according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 18 is a flowchart showing a processing routine on the in-vehicle device side when performing wireless communication according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 19 is a flowchart illustrating a processing routine for restricting the operation of the wiper device according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 20 is a flowchart showing a subroutine of restart processing of the wiper device of the second embodiment.

FIG. 21 is a flowchart showing a road machine switching process routine by the local controller of the second embodiment.

FIG. 22 is a flowchart showing a processing routine on the in-vehicle device side when performing wireless communication according to the third embodiment.

FIG. 23 is a flowchart showing a processing routine for restricting the operation of the wiper device according to the fourth embodiment.

FIG. 24 is an explanatory diagram showing an outline of operation restriction of the wiper device of the fourth embodiment.

FIG. 25 is an explanatory diagram showing an outline of operation restriction of the wiper device of the fourth embodiment.

FIG. 26 is a flowchart showing a processing routine of an application example in which the radio wave intensity of the on-vehicle device is increased.

FIG. 27 is a flowchart illustrating a processing routine of an application example in which switching is performed so that communication is performed by a plurality of on-road units during rainfall.

FIG. 28 is a schematic perspective view of a tunnel installed at an exit gate according to a fifth embodiment.

FIG. 29 is a schematic diagram showing the arrangement of roadside machines installed at the exit gate of the fifth embodiment.

30A is a schematic diagram showing a state where the wiper device is stopped at a normal stop position, and FIG. 30B is a schematic diagram showing a state where the wiper device is blocking the vehicle-mounted device.

FIG. 31 is a flowchart showing an interrupt routine of the wiper device stop processing of the fifth embodiment.

FIG. 32 is a schematic layout diagram of GPS-related devices mounted on a vehicle according to a sixth embodiment.

FIG. 33 is a flowchart showing an interrupt routine of the wiper device stop processing of the sixth embodiment.

FIG. 34A is a schematic diagram showing a drive mechanism of a wiper arm in a normal state, and FIG. 34B is a schematic diagram showing a drive mechanism of a wiper arm when the operation of the wiper device is restricted.

FIG. 35 is a diagram in which the state of the drive mechanism of the wiper arm in a normal state and the state of the drive mechanism of the wiper arm when the operation of the wiper device is restricted are superimposed.

FIG. 36 is a block diagram illustrating a circuit configuration of an in-vehicle device according to a seventh embodiment.

FIG. 37 (A) is a schematic diagram showing a wiping region in a normal state, and FIG. 37 (B) is a schematic diagram showing a wiping region in a case where the operation of the wiper device is restricted.

FIG. 38 is a flowchart showing an interrupt routine of the wiper device stop processing of the seventh embodiment.

FIG. 39 is a schematic view showing an arrangement of a conventional wiper and a slot antenna.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 30 in-vehicle device 64 wiper device 64A wiper blade 64B wiper arm 78 windshield glass (wiping member) 90 vehicle 117 entrance antenna 217 route grasping antenna 317 notice antenna 341 tollgate antenna (radio communication antenna) 343 tunnel (blocking means)

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Hiroshi Inagaki 1 Toyota Town, Toyota City, Aichi Prefecture Inside Toyota Motor Corporation (72) Inventor Akihisa Ikeda 1 Toyota Town, Toyota City, Aichi Prefecture Inside Toyota Motor Corporation ( 72) Inventor Hikaru Okuda 1 Toyota Town, Toyota City, Aichi Prefecture Inside Toyota Motor Corporation (56) References JP-A-7-104047 (JP, A) JP-A-63-43405 (JP, A) Sho Akai 56-121180 (JP, U) (58) Fields studied (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G07B 11/00-17/04 G08G 1/09 H01Q 1/32

Claims (6)

(57) [Claims] 1. A wireless communication vehicle-mounted device mounted on a vehicle provided with a wiper device for wiping a member to be wiped and performing wireless communication with a roadside device installed on the road via a wiping area of a wiper blade, wherein the wireless communication Determining means for determining when to perform wireless communication, and limiting means for limiting the operation of the wiper device so as not to affect the wireless communication when the determining means determines that it is time to perform wireless communication. An in-vehicle device for wireless communication, characterized in that: 2. The in-vehicle device for wireless communication according to claim 1, wherein said determining means determines the time of performing said wireless communication by detecting occurrence of a communication error in said wireless communication. 3. The wireless communication in-vehicle device according to claim 1, wherein said determination means determines the time of performing said wireless communication by detecting the start of communication from said road device. 4. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the restricting unit restricts the operation of the wiper device so as to temporarily stop the wiper arm at a position that does not affect wireless communication. In-vehicle equipment for wireless communication. 5. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the restricting unit restricts an operation of the wiper device such that the wiper blade wipes a part of the wiping area which does not affect wireless communication. The vehicle-mounted device for wireless communication according to any one of claims 1 to 4. 6. A wireless communication vehicle-mounted device which is mounted on a road and which is equipped with a wiper device for wiping a member to be wiped and which communicates with the road-mounted device via a wiping area of a wiper blade. A radio communication antenna configured to perform the radio communication, and at least a predetermined area on the road corresponding to a communication area of the radio communication antenna. Blocking means for blocking at least rainfall to the predetermined area, wherein the in-vehicle wireless communication device recognizes the approach of the wireless communication antenna to a communication area, and the position recognition device. Means for determining when to perform the wireless communication when the approach to the communication area is recognized by the means; and determining when to perform the wireless communication by the determining means. Sometimes, the so as not to affect the wireless communication, a wireless communication system, characterized in that it and a restricting means for restricting the operation of the wiper device.