JP4656407B2 - Contact detection device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a cylindrical portion for inserting and holding the piezoelectric sensor so as to detect contact by bending of a long piezoelectric sensor, and a support portion for supporting the cylindrical portion so that the cylindrical portion can be deformed. The contact detection apparatus provided with these .

  Conventionally, as a contact detection device, a piezoelectric sensor having a circular cross section is inserted into a cylindrical portion having a circular insertion hole in a cross-sectional view orthogonal to the longitudinal direction, and the cylindrical portion is provided in the cylindrical portion. Some of them are fixed at a predetermined place by a supporting portion. (For example, Patent Documents 1 and 2)

This type of contact detection device is attached to an electric slide door of a vehicle, for example, and is used as a vehicle pinching detection device that detects pinching of other objects between the opening of the vehicle body and the door.
When the vehicle pinching detection device sandwiches another object between the opening of the door vehicle body and the door, the other object comes into contact with the cylindrical part, and the cylindrical part deforms to apply an external force to the piezoelectric sensor. In other words, the piezoelectric element of the piezoelectric sensor is bent to detect the pinching of another object.

JP 2001-323726 A (paragraphs 16 to 17 and FIGS. 1 to 3) JP 2004-324105 A (23rd to 34th paragraphs, FIGS. 1 to 4)

  In the pinching detection device described above, if the inner diameter of the cylindrical portion is made larger than the outer diameter of the piezoelectric sensor in order to facilitate insertion of the piezoelectric sensor into the cylindrical portion, a gap is generated between the piezoelectric sensor and the cylindrical portion. . Therefore, the piezoelectric sensor vibrates inside the cylindrical part, and the piezoelectric sensor bends due to the impact, so that the pinch detection device detects the pinching of the other object, or conversely, the cylindrical object. Even if another object comes into contact with the part and the cylindrical part is deformed, the external force is not transmitted to the piezoelectric sensor due to the gap, and there is a possibility that it may be delayed in detecting the pinching of the other object.

On the other hand, when the inner diameter of the cylindrical portion is made smaller than the outer diameter of the piezoelectric sensor in order to eliminate the above-mentioned disadvantages, for example, air is supplied to the cylindrical portion to widen the inner diameter of the cylindrical portion. There is an inconvenience that it is difficult to insert the piezoelectric sensor into the cylindrical portion, for example, it is necessary to insert the piezoelectric sensor afterwards.
Thus, in the conventional contact detection device, it is difficult to achieve both a configuration in which the piezoelectric sensor can be easily inserted into the cylindrical portion and a configuration in which contact with other objects can be reliably detected. It was.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to accurately detect contact with another object while selecting a configuration in which the piezoelectric sensor can be easily inserted into the cylindrical portion. It is providing the contact detection device which can do.

The first characteristic configuration of the present invention includes a cylindrical portion that is inserted through and held by the piezoelectric sensor to detect contact by bending of the long piezoelectric sensor, and the cylindrical portion is deformable. The piezoelectric sensor and the tubular part are intermittently in contact with each other in the circumferential direction in a cross-sectional view orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the piezoelectric sensor. In this configuration , the contact portion is provided in a direction in which the cylindrical portion is expected to come into contact .

As in this configuration, in a cross-sectional view orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the piezoelectric sensor, the piezoelectric sensor and the cylindrical portion are configured to intermittently contact with each other in the circumferential direction so that other objects abut on the cylindrical portion. When the cylindrical portion is deformed, the external force at the time of contact is transmitted to the piezoelectric sensor through the portion where the piezoelectric sensor and the cylindrical portion are in contact with each other, so that contact with other objects can be reliably detected. it can. In addition, since the contacting portion fixes the piezoelectric sensor inside the cylindrical portion, it is possible to prevent the piezoelectric sensor from vibrating, and, as in the prior art, no other object is in contact with the contact detection sensor. Nevertheless, it is possible to prevent the contact from being detected.
Furthermore, since the piezoelectric sensor and the cylindrical portion are not in contact with each other along the circumferential direction in the sectional view, it is difficult to insert the piezoelectric sensor into the cylindrical portion as in the past. It is not accompanied.
As a result, it is possible to provide a contact detection device capable of accurately detecting contact with another object while selecting a configuration in which the piezoelectric sensor can be easily inserted into the cylindrical portion.
Further, by providing the contact portion in a direction in which the cylindrical portion is expected to come into contact, the piezoelectric sensor and the cylindrical portion are arranged in a direction in which the cylindrical member is deformed by receiving an external force from another object that comes into contact. Since there is a contact portion, an external force at the time of contact can be reliably transmitted to the piezoelectric sensor. As a result, contact with other objects can be reliably detected.

  A second characteristic configuration of the present invention is that any one of the outer circumference of the piezoelectric sensor and the inner circumference of the cylindrical portion is circular in the sectional view.

  As in this configuration, the piezoelectric sensor and the cylindrical shape can be easily obtained by making one of the outer circumference of the piezoelectric sensor and the inner circumference of the cylindrical portion circular in the sectional view, and making the other shape other than circular. Since it can be configured to intermittently contact with the portion along the circumferential direction, a configuration that allows easy insertion of the piezoelectric sensor into the cylindrical portion with a simplified configuration can be selected accurately and A contact detection device capable of detecting contact can be provided.

  A third characteristic configuration of the present invention is that a portion where the piezoelectric sensor and the cylindrical portion are in contact is a protruding portion provided on at least one of the piezoelectric sensor and the cylindrical portion.

  As in this configuration, by providing a protruding line part on at least one of the piezoelectric sensor and the cylindrical part, the protruding line part surely forms the contact portion intermittently in the sectional view. It can prevent that a piezoelectric sensor vibrates inside a cylindrical part. In addition, the external force caused by the contact between the protruding portion and another object can be reliably transmitted to the piezoelectric sensor.

  The 4th characteristic structure of this invention exists in the point which the said protruding item | line part extends along the longitudinal direction of the piezoelectric sensor or cylindrical part which provided the said protruding item | line part.

  As in this configuration, the protruding portion extends in the longitudinal direction of the piezoelectric sensor or the cylindrical portion provided with the protruding portion, so that the portion where the cylindrical portion and the piezoelectric sensor come into contact with each other is the length of the contact detection device. Since it is continuously formed in the direction, the prevention of vibration and the detection of other objects are further ensured.

  A fifth characteristic configuration of the present invention resides in that the protruding line portion is formed in a spiral shape.

  As in the present configuration, by forming the ridge portion in a spiral shape, there is a portion where the piezoelectric sensor and the cylindrical portion are in contact at any location in the longitudinal direction at any location in the circumferential direction. Even if the other object contacts from any direction, the contact can be reliably detected.

(Outline of vehicle pinching detection device)
Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
A contact detection device 2 according to the present invention is provided in a vehicle 1 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, for example, and detects a pinching of another object between an electric slide door 11 and a door frame 12 of the vehicle 1. It can be used as the pinching detection device 21 for use.
For example, the pinch detection device 21 is attached to the front end portion of the door panel 11a of the electric slide door 11 at the entrance of the rear portion of the vehicle 1 in a state along its outline. When the sliding door 11 is closed, for example, when an occupant's clothes, belongings, or a part of the body is pinched, the pinching detection device 21 detects contact with the other object, and the sliding door 11 operates. Stop.
(Piezoelectric sensor)
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the piezoelectric sensor 3 of the present invention.
The piezoelectric sensor 3 sandwiches a piezoelectric element 33 between a first electrode 31 (center electrode) in which a conductor is wound around a conducting wire or an axial core and a tube-like second electrode 32 (outer electrode), and concentrically connects these elements. It is prepared in the form of a coaxial cable by covering with an outer skin portion 34.
The outer skin part 34 has a plurality of ridges 35 along the longitudinal direction. When the piezoelectric sensor 3 is inserted into a cylindrical portion 41 of the holding member 4 to be described later, the ridge portion 35 and the inner peripheral surface of the cylindrical portion 41 come into contact with each other.
In the present embodiment, an example in which the six ridges 35 are provided on the circumference of the piezoelectric sensor 3 is shown, but the number of the ridges 35 is not limited to this embodiment.

  Here, the cylindrical portion 41 and the outer skin portion 34 of the piezoelectric sensor 3 are formed by, for example, pultrusion molding. However, when the protruding line part 41b is provided on the tubular part 41 side, it is necessary to provide the protruding line part 41b on the inner periphery of the cylindrical part 41, and it may be difficult to form the protruding line part 41b. Moreover, although the cylindrical part 41 is comprised by the raw material which deform | transforms easily like below-mentioned soft rubber, foamed urethane, etc., in such a case, formation of the protruding item | line part 41b is difficult especially. However, since the ridges 35 are provided on the outer periphery of the outer skin 34 by providing the ridges 35 on the piezoelectric sensor 3 side as in this configuration, the formation of the ridges 35 is easy. Accordingly, the piezoelectric sensor 3 and the tubular portion 41 are intermittently in contact with each other along the circumferential direction in a simple manufacturing process compared to the case where the protruding portion 35 is provided on the tubular portion 41 side. The contact detection device 2 can be obtained.

  As shown in FIG. 3, a disconnection detector 36 that detects disconnection of the electrode is provided at one end of the piezoelectric sensor 3. The disconnection detection unit 36 is a resistor 36a connected to the first electrode 31 and the second electrode 32, and detects disconnection of the electrode based on a change in the current value flowing through the resistor. The resistor 36a is coated with, for example, a resin.

The piezoelectric element 33 is a sensor that uses electrical polarization due to the piezoelectric effect of a substance, and a substance having a piezoelectric effect such as crystal such as quartz, lead zirconate titanate, and barium titanate can be applied.
The first electrode 31 and the second electrode 32 may be any material as long as it is a conductor such as gold or copper.
The outer skin portion 34 may be made of any material as long as it has insulation and elasticity such as rubber and resin.
Note that the piezoelectric sensor 3 described above is merely an example. For example, an outer skin portion 34 includes a planar piezoelectric element 33 sandwiched between a planar first electrode 31 and a second electrode 32. Various known piezoelectric sensors 3 such as a covered flat cord-shaped piezoelectric sensor 3 can be used.

(Holding member)
As shown in FIG. 4, the holding member 4 supports the cylindrical portion 41 through which the piezoelectric sensor 3 is inserted and the cylindrical portion 41 at a predetermined location such as the door panel 11 a so that the cylindrical portion 41 can be deformed. And a support portion 43.
The cylindrical portion 41 is preferably made of a material that is easily deformed, such as soft rubber or urethane foam, so that the cylindrical portion 41 can be easily deformed by contact with another object and easily transmit an external force to the piezoelectric sensor 3. On the other hand, in consideration of stability after being attached to the door panel 11a, the support portion 43 is preferably made of a material that is less likely to be deformed than the cylindrical portion 41 such as hard rubber.
The cylindrical portion 41 is provided with an insertion hole portion 41a through which the piezoelectric sensor 3 is inserted along the longitudinal direction. The inner periphery thereof is, for example, a circle in a cross-sectional view orthogonal to the longitudinal direction, and the inner peripheral surface of the piezoelectric sensor 3 is It is formed in the size which contacts the protruding line part 35 formed in the outer skin part 34.
The support portion 43 is provided with a pair of leg portions 43c for holding the front end portion of the door panel 11a so as to extend in the longitudinal direction of the holding member 4, and the leg portion 43c is in contact with the door panel 11a. Is provided. Further, an elastic member 42 is embedded in the leg portion 43c along the longitudinal direction so as to bias the leg portion 43c toward the door panel 11a when the leg portion 43c holds the tip of the door panel 11a. It is.

(Contact detection device)
The piezoelectric sensor 3 is held by the holding member 4 by inserting the piezoelectric sensor 3 into the insertion hole 41 a of the cylindrical portion 41. At this time, as shown in FIG. 2, the protrusion 35 provided in the longitudinal direction of the outer skin 34 of the piezoelectric sensor 3 and the inner peripheral surface of the cylindrical portion 41 come into contact with each other, and the piezoelectric sensor 3. And the cylindrical portion 41 alternately repeat contact and non-contact along the circumferential direction. Moreover, the outer diameter of the disconnection detection part 36 is substantially equal to the inner diameter of the insertion hole part 41a, and the disconnection detection part 36 is held by the cylindrical part 41 in a state of being inserted through the insertion hole part 41a.
The above-described contact detection device 2 is attached to, for example, the slide door 11 of the vehicle 1 and used as the vehicle 1 pinching detection device 21. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the contact detection device 2 is attached to the door panel 11 a with the leg portion 43 c of the support portion 43 holding the tip of the door panel 11 a.
A disconnection detection unit 36 is located at the upper end of the pinching detection device 21, and the lower end is connected to a current detection circuit (not shown).

  With the above-described configuration, the inner peripheral surface of the cylindrical portion 41 and the outer skin portion 34 of the piezoelectric sensor 3 repeat contact and non-contact along the circumferential direction, so that they do not contact at all locations in the circumferential direction. Therefore, the piezoelectric sensor 3 can be easily inserted through the insertion hole 41 a of the cylindrical portion 41. In addition, since the inner peripheral surface of the tubular portion 41 and the protruding strip portion 35 of the piezoelectric sensor 3 are in intermittent contact, the tubular portion 41 is deformed when the pinching detection device 21 comes into contact with another object. Thus, the external force can be reliably transmitted to the piezoelectric sensor 3 through the portion where the ridge portion 35 and the cylindrical portion 41 are in contact with each other. Furthermore, since the inner peripheral surface of the cylindrical part 41 and the protrusion 35 of the piezoelectric sensor 3 come into contact with each other and the piezoelectric sensor 3 is fixed inside the cylindrical part 41, for example, the sliding door 11 of the conventional example is used. It is possible to prevent the pinching detection device 21 from erroneously detecting pinching of other objects due to vibration during operation or the like.

At this time, as shown in FIG. 2, the ridge 35 is provided in the direction of movement (arrow in FIG. 2) when the sliding door 11 is closed. The direction of movement when the sliding door 11 is closed is, for example, when it is in contact with the tubular portion 41 when a part of the occupant's body or other clothes such as clothes interferes with the movement locus of the sliding door 11. Is the expected direction.
As described above, by providing the ridge 35 in the direction in which contact with another object is expected, the direction of deformation when the pinching detection device 21 contacts the other object and the tubular portion 41 is deformed. The ridge 35 is present on the surface. Since the protrusion 35 can reliably transmit the external force due to the contact to the piezoelectric sensor 3 and bend the piezoelectric element 33, the contact with another object can be reliably detected.
In addition, the above-mentioned effect is the same also when the part which the piezoelectric sensor 3 and the cylindrical part 41 contact is comprised by methods other than the protruding item | line part 35. FIG.

[Another embodiment 1]
In the above-described embodiment, the example in which the ridge portion 35 is provided on the outer skin portion 34 of the piezoelectric sensor 3 has been shown. However, as shown in FIG. 5, the ridge portion 41 b is on the inner peripheral side of the cylindrical portion 41 of the holding member 4. May be provided.
As described above, in order to reliably transmit the external force due to contact with another object to the piezoelectric sensor 3, the protrusion 35 is provided in a direction in which the contact between the other object and the tubular portion 41 is predicted. preferable. However, when the ridge 35 is provided on the piezoelectric sensor 3 side, when the piezoelectric sensor 3 is inserted into the cylindrical section 41 having a circular cross section, the axis of the cylindrical section 41 is used as the rotation axis. The piezoelectric sensor 3 can be inserted into the tubular portion 41 regardless of the relative rotational position of the piezoelectric sensor 3 and the tubular portion 41. For this reason, since the positional relationship between the ridge 35 and the slide door 11 when the contact detection device 2 is attached to the slide door 11 or the like is not constant, the ridge 35 does not contact the cylindrical portion 41 with another object. The contact may not be in the expected direction.
On the other hand, by providing the protrusion 41b on the cylindrical portion 41 side of the holding member 4 as in this configuration, the contact detection device 2 is connected to the protrusion 41b when attached to the slide door 11 or the like, for example. Since the relative position with respect to the slide door 11 is constant, by providing the convex portion 41b in a predetermined portion of the cylindrical portion 41 in advance, the convex portion 41b can be attached regardless of the insertion direction of the piezoelectric sensor 3 to the cylindrical portion 41. It can be positioned in the direction in which contact is expected.
Moreover, the structure provided in both the cylindrical part 41 side and the piezoelectric sensor 3 side may be sufficient as the protruding line parts 35 and 41b.

[Another embodiment 2]
In the above-described embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6, the protrusions 35 and 41 b extend in a spiral shape in the longitudinal direction of the piezoelectric sensor 3 or the tubular part 41 provided with the protrusions 35 and 41 b. There may be.
With this configuration, since there is a portion where the piezoelectric sensor 3 and the tubular portion 41 are in contact with each other in the longitudinal direction at any location in the circumferential direction, the other object and the tubular portion 41 come into contact with each other. Regardless of the direction, there is a portion where the piezoelectric sensor 3 and the cylindrical portion 41 are in contact with each other in the vicinity. For this reason, even if another object contacts in a direction other than the predicted direction, the external force due to the contact can be reliably transmitted to the piezoelectric sensor 3.
Further, the ridges 35 and 41b do not extend along the longitudinal direction, but may be provided intermittently.

[Another embodiment 3]
In the above-described embodiment, the outer circumferential portion and the tubular portion of the piezoelectric sensor 3 are provided by providing the protruding portions 35 and 41b on at least one of the outer skin portion 34 of the piezoelectric sensor 3 and the inner circumference of the tubular portion 41. However, the piezoelectric sensor 3 having a circular cross-sectional shape may be inserted into the triangular insertion hole 41a in a cross-sectional view.
The outer skin portion 34 and the holding member 4 of the piezoelectric sensor 3 are formed by, for example, pultrusion molding or the like, but by providing the outer skin portion 34 or the cylindrical portion 41 with a plurality of ridges 35, 41b, the outer skin portion 34 or the cylindrical shape. Since the surface of the portion 41 is uneven, the pultrusion molding may be difficult.
However, as in the present configuration, for example, by forming the insertion hole 41a of the cylindrical portion 41 in a triangular cross section and the piezoelectric sensor 3 in a circular cross section, the ridges 35 and 41b are provided as in the above-described embodiment. In addition, the contact portion and the non-contact portion can be provided intermittently in the circumferential direction.
In addition, the shape of the cylindrical part 41 and the piezoelectric sensor 3 is not limited to the above-described configuration. For example, the cylindrical part 41 and the piezoelectric sensor 3 are arranged along the circumferential direction such as a combination of polygons other than a circle and a triangle, or a combination of polygons. Any shape may be used as long as it is configured to come into contact with 3 intermittently.

[Another embodiment 4]
Although the example which penetrates the disconnection detection part 36 in the insertion hole part 41a of the holding member 4 in the above-mentioned embodiment was shown, for example, by making the outer diameter of the disconnection detection part 36 larger than the inner diameter of the insertion hole part 41a, the disconnection The detection unit 36 may be configured to be located outside the insertion hole 41a at the upper end portion of the pinching detection device 21. Moreover, the structure which provides the disconnection detection part 36 in the outer side of the insertion hole part 41a by providing the protruding item | line part 41b in the insertion hole part 41a may be sufficient.
With this configuration, the lower surface of the disconnection detection unit 36 and the upper surface of the holding member 4 are in contact with each other, so that the piezoelectric sensor 3 can be more effectively prevented from falling downward.
Further, the positional relationship between the disconnection detection unit 36 and the current detection circuit is not limited to the above-described form.

[Another embodiment 5]
In the above-described embodiment, the example in which the contact detection device 2 of the present invention is used as the pinching detection device 21 of the electric slide door 11 of the vehicle 1 has been described. Can do. Further, the present invention can be applied not only to the vehicle 1 but also to other automatic opening / closing devices such as an automatic door of a building.

The figure which shows one Embodiment of the contact detection apparatus which concerns on this invention Cross section of contact detection device Perspective view of piezoelectric sensor Cross section of holding member Sectional drawing of the contact detection apparatus which concerns on another embodiment A perspective view of a piezoelectric sensor according to another embodiment

Explanation of symbols

2 Contact detection device 3 Piezoelectric sensor 35 Convex section 41 Tubular section 41b Convex section 43 Support section

Claims (5)

In order to detect contact by bending of a long piezoelectric sensor, a cylindrical portion that inserts and holds the piezoelectric sensor and a support portion that supports the cylindrical portion so that the cylindrical portion can be deformed are provided. A contact detection device comprising:
In the cross-sectional view orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the piezoelectric sensor, the piezoelectric sensor and the cylindrical portion are configured to contact intermittently along the circumferential direction ,
A contact detection device in which the contact portion is provided in a direction in which the cylindrical portion is predicted to contact .   The contact detection device according to claim 1, wherein one of an outer periphery of the piezoelectric sensor and an inner periphery of the cylindrical portion is circular in the cross-sectional view.   The contact detection device according to claim 1, wherein a portion where the piezoelectric sensor and the cylindrical portion are in contact is a protruding portion provided on at least one of the piezoelectric sensor and the cylindrical portion.   The contact detection device according to claim 3, wherein the protruding portion extends along a longitudinal direction of the piezoelectric sensor or the cylindrical portion provided with the protruding portion.   The contact detection device according to claim 4, wherein the protruding portion is formed in a spiral shape.

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