JP3186366B2 - Automotive radar equipment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention is mounted on an automobile, radiates electromagnetic waves in the traveling direction of the automobile, receives reflected waves of the electromagnetic waves, and measures and displays the distance to an object in front of the automobile. Used for automotive radar equipment. INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention is applied to a radar apparatus that measures an inter-vehicle distance to another vehicle traveling ahead and displays an alarm or other information. The present invention
The present invention relates to adjustment of an antenna mounting angle of an automotive radar device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Since a radar apparatus for an automobile is mainly an apparatus for measuring the distance between the vehicle and a preceding vehicle, its antenna is set to have a sharp directivity so as not to mistake other objects. And to make this radar device work effectively,
The mounting angle of the antenna on the vehicle body must be set so that the electromagnetic wave beam is correctly oriented in the running direction of the vehicle. In the conventional device, the angle at which this antenna is mounted is determined by installing an electric field strength measurement device at a position in front of the car at a distance from the front, and operating the radar device to emit electromagnetic waves. The intensity of the radiated electromagnetic wave was adjusted to be maximum.

[0003]

This conventional method is not suitable for mass production. That is, when an automobile radar device is mounted on a large number of automobiles, the antenna mounting angle of the radar device must be adjusted accurately with a small number of man-hours in an automobile production line.

On the other hand, the receiving circuit of the automotive radar device is configured to accurately measure the time from the transmission timing of the electromagnetic wave to the reception timing of the reflected wave, and measures the received electric field strength. It is not a simple configuration.

The present invention has been made in such a background, and an object of the present invention is to provide a method and an apparatus capable of accurately adjusting an antenna mounting angle of a vehicle radar apparatus with a small number of man-hours. .

[0006]

The first feature of the present invention is as follows.
An adjustment mode that can be set by operation is provided in an automotive radar device, and in this adjustment mode, a receiving circuit displays a received electric field strength of a reflected wave. The second feature is that an electromagnetic wave reflecting object is installed in front of the tunable radar device antenna in order to generate the reflected wave effectively and in a constant state. It is desirable that the electromagnetic wave reflecting object is formed of a metal plate. The reflecting object of the electromagnetic wave is preferably arranged at a distance of about 3 to 50 m in front of the tunable radar device antenna.

A first aspect of the present invention is a radar apparatus for a vehicle, which transmits an electromagnetic wave so as to radiate in front of the vehicle and receives a reflected wave of the electromagnetic wave, and an output is supplied to the antenna. A transmitting circuit, and a receiving circuit having an input coupled to the antenna, wherein the receiving circuit compares the transmitted signal and the received signal of the electromagnetic wave to display an image corresponding to a distance to a reflective object ahead. In the automotive radar device comprising: the receiving circuit,
A machine for setting an adjustment mode by operation, and a machine for adjusting the mounting angle of the antenna with respect to the vehicle body by operation, the adjustment mode including means for displaying the electric field strength of the received reflected wave instead of the distance in the display means. Characteristic means.

The comparison between the transmission signal and the reception signal is performed based on the phase, frequency, and the like of time.

The display of the electric field strength may be any of digital display, other digital display, analog display on a display screen, and sound display. It is also possible to connect another display device such as a display meter only in the adjustment mode.

A second aspect of the present invention is a method for adjusting an antenna mounting angle of a radar device for a vehicle, which comprises installing a reflecting object that reflects the electromagnetic wave in a radiation direction of the electromagnetic wave of the radar device mounted on the vehicle. The receiver circuit of the radar device is set to a mode for displaying the electric field intensity of the reflected wave of the electromagnetic wave transmitted by the transmission circuit, and the mounting angle of the antenna of the radar device is adjusted so that the electric field intensity is maximized. I do.

[0011] Incidentally, an automobile Te assembly line odor, automatically it is possible to establish the reflection object reflecting electromagnetic waves in front of the vehicle when the assembly <br/> freshly vehicle is approaching. Then, a Turkey be excluded automatically from its path the reflection object when the object to be assembled vehicle passes through finishing regulation is desirable.

[0012]

A radar antenna is mounted on the front of a car, an electromagnetic wave reflecting object is arranged in front of the antenna, and the operation angle of the antenna is adjusted by operating the radar device. At this time, the radar apparatus is set to the adjustment mode so that the intensity of the reflected wave electric field of the electromagnetic wave radiated by the receiving circuit can be displayed. Then, the antenna mounting angle is adjusted by operating the mechanical means so that the displayed value indicates the maximum value.

Such adjustment can always be performed under constant conditions. Such adjustments are almost independent of the operator, such adjustments are only required by the reflective object and the tools for the adjustment are a screwdriver and a spanner. This adjustment method is suitable for mass production because it requires a small number of steps and can be performed uniformly.

[0014]

Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a receiving circuit according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The embodiment of the present invention is an antenna duplexer 1 having an antenna 1a for transmitting a pulsed electromagnetic wave so as to radiate in front of an automobile and receiving a reflected wave of the electromagnetic wave, and an output is supplied to the antenna 1a. And a receiving circuit 3 whose input is coupled to the antenna 1a.
The receiving circuit 3 includes a display 5 for displaying a distance corresponding to a distance to a front reflecting object in accordance with a time from transmission of the electromagnetic wave to reception of the reflected wave. Includes a mode change switch 6 for setting an adjustment mode by operation, and a means for displaying the electric field strength of the received reflected wave instead of the distance on the display 5 in the adjustment mode. It has mechanical means for adjusting by operation.

As shown in FIG. 2, the receiving circuit is a receiving and demodulating circuit 3 for demodulating an electromagnetic wave transmitted from the antenna duplexer 1.
a, a timing detection circuit 3b which receives a signal demodulated by the reception demodulation circuit 3a and detects timing based on a timing signal from the transmission circuit 2, and a reception demodulation circuit 3
A signal is input from signal a, and a reception level detection circuit 3c for detecting a reception level, and switching between a reception demodulation circuit 3a and a timing detection circuit 3b or a reception level detection circuit 3c according to a mode change signal from a mode change switch 6. A changeover switch 3 d and a changeover switch 3 e for switching between the display 5 and the timing detection circuit 3 b or the reception level detection circuit 3 c are provided.

Next, the structure of mechanical means for adjusting the mounting angle of the antenna 1a with respect to the vehicle body by operation will be described. 3 is a front view showing the configuration of the mechanical means in the embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 4 is a left side view thereof, FIG. 5 is a right side view thereof, and FIG. 6 is an enlarged sectional view of a portion A (adjustment portion) shown in FIG. It is.

In this mechanical means, adjusting plates 11a, 11b, 11c and 11d are fixed at four places on both sides of an antenna 1a mounted in front of the antenna duplexer 1, and the adjusting plates 11a, 11b and 11c are , Each adjusting screw 1
2a, 12b and 12c are connected with a predetermined play. The adjusting screws 12a, 12b, 12c are screwed into brackets 13a, 13b fixed to the vehicle body, respectively, and the adjusting plate 11d is in a state of being tensioned by a spring 14. The antenna sharing device 1 is fixed to the bumper 15.

Next, the operation of the thus-configured embodiment of the present invention will be described.

When the assembled vehicle to which the radar device 10 is attached is sent out on the adjustment line, the reflector 4 is automatically established in front of the vehicle as shown in FIG. In this embodiment, the example of the rotary type is shown, but a configuration that moves up and down or another configuration can be used.

In such a state, the mode change switch 6 is operated, and the changeover switches 3d and 3e shown in FIG. 2 are set to the adjustment mode side. When a pulsed electromagnetic wave is transmitted from the transmitting circuit 2 to the reflector 4 via the antenna duplexer 1 and the antenna 1a, the electromagnetic wave is reflected from the reflector 4 and enters the antenna 1a. The incident electromagnetic wave is transmitted to the receiving circuit 3 by the antenna sharing device 1.

The receiving circuit 3 converts the electromagnetic wave into a reception demodulation circuit 3
The signal is demodulated by a and output to the reception level detection circuit 3c via the changeover switch 3d. The reception level detection circuit 3c receives this output, detects the electric field strength of the reflected wave, and
e to the display 5 via e. The display by the display 5 is
In order to make adjustment easier, the value "10
It is determined that “0” is the maximum electric field strength and “0” is the minimum.
The numerical value is displayed on the display unit 5a as shown in FIG.

If the displayed numerical value does not reach the predetermined value, there is a difference between the incident angle and the reflection angle as shown in FIG.
Is adjusted so that the displayed value of the electric field strength is maximized.

The adjustment is performed by adjusting screw 12 shown in FIGS.
This can be done by turning a, 12b, 12c left or right. For example, when the adjusting screw 12a is turned clockwise, the upper left side of the antenna 1a shown in FIG. 3 approaches the vehicle body, and when it is turned counterclockwise, the antenna 1a moves away from the vehicle body. When the other adjustment screws 12b and 12c are turned, the same movement is shown. The movement of the mechanical connection between the adjustment plates 11a, 11b and 11c and the adjustment screws 12a, 12b and 12c caused when the antenna 1a is tilted by this movement is shown. The displacement is absorbed by the play provided on each and the spring 14 attached to the adjustment plate 11d.

Since the present invention utilizes the reflection of electromagnetic waves as described above, there is a relation of (incident angle)-(reflection angle) = (error) × 2, and the direction of the antenna 1a can be adjusted with high accuracy. Can be.

After the antenna direction is adjusted in this manner, the mode changeover switch 6 is operated to switch the changeover switches 3d and 3e of the receiving circuit 3 shown in FIG. 4 rotates in the exclusion direction shown in FIG. 7, and the vehicle moves to the next step.

The operation in the normal mode is as follows. Similarly, the transmission circuit 2 transmits a pulsed electromagnetic wave to the front of the vehicle via the antenna duplexer 1 and the antenna 1a. 1a, and transmitted from the antenna duplexer 1 to the receiving circuit 3. The reception circuit 3 demodulates the reflected wave received by the reception demodulation circuit 3a and sends it out to the timing detection circuit 3b via the changeover switch 3d. Based on the demodulated signal and the timing signal from the transmission circuit 2, the timing detection circuit 3b displays a numerical value corresponding to the distance from the front reflecting object on the display 5 according to the time from transmission of the electromagnetic wave to reception of the reflected wave. It is displayed on the section 5a.

The display on the display 5 is not limited to the numerical value indicating the electric field strength as described above, but may be "O" if the adjustment angle of the antenna is within the allowable range as shown in FIG.
"K" may be displayed, and "NG" may be displayed if it is outside the allowable range. Also, as shown in FIG.
“Yellow” and “Green” lamps are used, “Blue” is lit if it is within the permissible range, “Red” is lit if it is outside the permissible range. A display method of lighting “yellow” may be used. In the case of such a display method, the adjustment operation can be performed without being conscious of the reference value in the case of the numerical display.

[0029]

As described above, according to the present invention, the mounting angle of the antenna of the radar device can be accurately adjusted with a small number of man-hours without causing a difference between operators when manufacturing or repairing an automobile. effective.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a receiving circuit according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a front view showing a configuration of mechanical means in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a left side view showing the configuration of the mechanical means in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a right side view showing a configuration of mechanical means in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged sectional view of a portion A (adjustment portion) shown in FIG. 4 of the mechanical means in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of establishment of a reflecting object on an adjustment line according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a view showing a display example of a display device in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a view for explaining an incident state and a reflected state of an electromagnetic wave on a reflecting object in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 10A and 10B are diagrams showing other display examples of the display device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 antenna duplexer 1 a antenna 2 transmission circuit 3 reception circuit 3 a reception demodulation circuit 3 b timing detection circuit 3 c reception level detection circuit 3 d, 3 e switch 4 reflector 5 display 5 a display unit 6 mode conversion switch 10 radar device 11 a to 11 d adjustment Plates 12a to 12c Adjustment screws 13a, 13b Bracket 14 Spring 15 Bumper

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B60R 11/02 B23P 21/00 303 B62D 65/14 G01S 7/02 G01S 13/60

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. An antenna for transmitting an electromagnetic wave so as to radiate in front of a vehicle and receiving a reflected wave of the electromagnetic wave, a transmitting circuit for supplying an output to the antenna, and a receiving circuit having an input coupled to the antenna. Wherein the receiving circuit comprises means for performing a display corresponding to the distance to the front reflecting object by comparing the transmission signal and the reception signal of the electromagnetic wave, wherein the reception circuit includes , Measuring the distance to a reflective object
Adjustment mode to adjust the antenna mounting angle in place of
A mode change switch for setting the mode, and in the adjustment mode, the display means includes means for displaying the electric field strength of the reflected wave received from the reflecting object instead of the distance, and the electric field strength displayed on the display means. To maximize
Automotive radar apparatus characterized by comprising mechanical means for adjusting the operation of the mounting angle relative to the vehicle body of the antenna. 2. A radar device mounted on an automobile is provided with a reflecting object that reflects the electromagnetic wave in the radiation direction of the electromagnetic wave, and a mode change switch is operated to reduce the distance of the receiving circuit of the radar device to the reflecting object. Common use to measure
Instead of the mode to set the adjustment mode in which the transmitting circuit to display the reflected wave field strength of the electromagnetic wave transmitted, such that the radiation is displayed reflected wave field strength electromagnetic waves to the reflective object in the adjustment mode is maximum A method for adjusting an antenna mounting angle of an automotive radar device, comprising adjusting an mounting angle of an antenna of the radar device. Wherein the assembled vehicle on an assembly line is automatically established so by adjust the antenna mounting angle the reflection object, which is installed in front of the vehicle when approaching claim 2
The method for adjusting an antenna mounting angle of a vehicle radar device according to the above description. 4. When the vehicle to be assembled passes after adjusting.
Antenna mounting angle adjustment direction of the automotive radar system automatically 請 Motomeko 3 wherein you exclude from the passage in front Symbol reflective object
Law .