JP5321879B2 - Vehicle door opening and closing device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle door opening / closing device that detects a user's opening / closing instruction for the vehicle door for opening / closing the vehicle door.

  As an example of such a vehicle door opening and closing device, a vehicle door opening and closing device linked with a locking system (smart entry system) that automatically controls unlocking and locking of the vehicle door is known. Such a locking system detects a user approaching or getting off a vehicle through communication with a portable device carried by the user, and recognizes an instruction to unlock or lock the user's vehicle door. Controls locking and unlocking of vehicle doors. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-295064 (Patent Document 1) discloses a vehicle door opening / closing device in such a smart entry system in which a detection electrode is provided on a door handle that allows a user to open and close the vehicle door. Proposed. In this vehicle door opening and closing device, static electricity generated by inserting a user's hand between the detection electrode and the vehicle door using an electrostatic capacitance formed between the detection electrode and the vehicle door. Recognize user's instructions by detecting changes in capacitance. Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2005-98016 (Patent Document 2) describes a vehicle door opening and closing device that collates a password with a vibration rhythm by grasping a door handle and unlocking or tapping.

JP 2002-295064 A (2nd to 9th paragraphs, etc.) JP-A-2005-98016 (paragraphs 90 to 101, FIG. 20, etc.)

  In a conventional vehicle door opening / closing device that detects a change in capacitance between a detection electrode provided on a door handle and a vehicle door, even if it is not a user's hand, the detection electrode and the vehicle door are not connected. If there are air and medium constants different from each other, the capacitance changes. For this reason, a change in capacitance may be detected due to environmental changes such as rain. In a system that automatically performs operations from unlocking to fully opening the door, the door opens due to a malfunction, regardless of the user's will. May end up. Further, when opening the door, it is necessary to insert a hand into the door handle or operate the remote key, but further improvement in operability is required. In this respect, operability can be improved if the door can be opened and closed by rhythmical tapping. However, when the door is closed and when the door is open, the degree of fixation of the door with respect to the vehicle is different, so there is a possibility that a difference in the frequency and amplitude of vibration caused by the hitting may occur. Further, when the door is opened or closed, the direction of stress applied by hitting and the central axis of the sensitivity of the sensor may be shifted, and there may be a difference in the amplitude of vibration detected by the sensor.

  The present invention has been devised in view of the above-described problems, and it is possible to satisfactorily detect an artificial tapping operation by a user when opening and closing a vehicle door regardless of the opening and closing state of the vehicle door. An object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle door opening and closing device.

In order to achieve the above object, the vehicle door opening / closing apparatus according to the present invention has the following characteristic configuration:
A vibration detection sensor that is installed in the vehicle door and detects vibration generated by a user's tapping operation on the vehicle door;
A pre-processing unit that extracts a signal in a predetermined frequency band from the sensor output signal of the vibration detection sensor and amplifies the sensor output signal at a predetermined amplification rate,
A tapping feature determination unit that determines whether or not the sensor output signal is generated by a tapping operation by the user based on whether or not the sensor output signal that has passed through the preprocessing unit has a tapping feature. When,
A pre-processing adjustment unit that changes one or both of the frequency band and the amplification factor according to the open / closed state of the vehicle door;
It is in the point provided with.

  When the vehicle door is closed, the end of the vehicle door is fixed, but when the vehicle door is open, any end of the vehicle door is in an unfixed state. As a result, the frequency of vibration generated in the door differs between when the vehicle door is closed and when it is open. Further, when the vehicle door is not firmly fixed, the stress due to the user's tapping operation escapes, and thus the amplitude of vibration generated in the vehicle door may be reduced. Before it is determined whether or not there is a hit characteristic, the pre-processing unit performs filtering of the corresponding vibration frequency and signal amplification. At this time, the difference in frequency and amplitude as described above is performed. Is preferable. According to this feature configuration, the preprocessing adjustment unit changes one or both of the frequency band and the amplification factor used in the preprocessing unit according to the open / closed state of the vehicle door. Regardless of the difference in amplitude, the hit characteristics are determined well. As a result, according to the present invention, there is provided a vehicle door opening / closing device capable of well detecting an artificial tapping operation by a user at the time of opening / closing a vehicle door regardless of the opening / closing state of the vehicle door. It becomes possible to do.

  Further, the preprocessing adjustment unit of the vehicle door opening and closing device according to the present invention increases the frequency band when the vehicle door is in an open state compared to when the vehicle door is in a closed state. It is preferable to perform one or both of the processes of changing to the frequency side and changing the amplification factor to the higher side.

  When the vehicle door is closed, the end of the vehicle door is fixed, but when the vehicle door is open, any end of the vehicle door is in an unfixed state. The resonance frequency generated in the plate-like object is theoretically higher when the end of the substance is not fixed than when the end is fixed. Therefore, the frequency of vibration generated in the vehicle door by the user's beating operation is more when the vehicle door is open (when it is not fixed) than when it is closed (when it is fixed). Get higher. Further, when the vehicle door is open, the vehicle door is not firmly fixed, so that stress due to the user's tapping operation escapes, and the amplitude of vibration generated in the vehicle door may be reduced. Therefore, when the pre-processing adjustment unit changes the frequency band to the high frequency side and changes the amplification factor to the high side when the vehicle door is open and closed, the sensor output signal Regardless of the difference in frequency and amplitude, the hit characteristic is determined satisfactorily.

  In addition, the preprocessing adjustment unit of the vehicle door opening and closing device according to the present invention is configured such that when the vehicle door is in the process of transition from the open state to the closed state or from the closed state to the open state, It is preferable to execute one or both of the processes for changing the frequency band to the high frequency side and changing the amplification factor to the high side compared to the case where is in the stopped state.

  When the vehicle door is moving, that is, when the vehicle door is in the process of transitioning from the open state to the closed state or from the closed state to the open state, There is a possibility that the stress accompanying the operation is deviated from the vertical direction with respect to the vehicle door and dispersed. As a result, the amplitude of vibration generated in the vehicle door may be reduced. In addition, when the vehicle door is moving, it is when the vehicle door is open (when it is in a non-fixed state), and therefore, compared to when the vehicle door is closed (when it is in a fixed state). The frequency of vibration generated in the vehicle door by the hitting operation becomes higher. Therefore, when the preprocessing adjustment unit changes the frequency band to the high frequency side and changes the amplification factor to the high side compared to the case where the vehicle door is in the process of transition and is closed, the sensor output signal Regardless of the difference in frequency and amplitude, the hit characteristics are determined satisfactorily.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a side view of a vehicle 21 on which the vehicle door opening and closing device of the present invention is mounted. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram schematically illustrating a configuration example of the vehicle door opening and closing device. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line III-III in FIG. 2, showing an example of the relationship between the installation modes of the vibration detection sensor 1. In the present embodiment, the slide door (vehicle door) 22 of the vehicle 21 is a door that can be automatically opened and closed by an actuator 40 such as a motor controlled by a door ECU 20 described later. The door ECU 20 receives from the operation determination unit 2 of the vehicle door opening / closing device a determination result as to whether or not there has been an artificial operation for opening / closing instructions, and drives the actuator to open / close the slide door 22. The opening / closing instruction by the user is implemented as an artificial operation on the door panel 23 facing the outside of the slide door 22. The artificial operation is, for example, a tapping operation that knocks the door panel 23. The door panel 23 is provided with a vibration detection sensor 1 that detects vibration caused by a tapping operation on the door panel 23 while being supported by the door panel 23.

  The vibration detection sensor 1 is directly supported by the door panel 23 inside the door panel 23 corresponding to a position where a door handle is generally provided, such as a position 30 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. is set up. Further, in this example, the vibration detection sensor 1 is installed with at least one strip-shaped end C fixedly supported.

  In the present embodiment, the thickness D2 of the door panel 23 at the site where the vibration detection sensor 1 is installed is thinner than the thickness D1 of the other site, and the structure is more easily received by vibration. FIG. 3 shows an example in which a rib 24 that sandwiches or surrounds the vibration detection sensor 1 is provided inside the door panel 23 at a portion where the vibration detection sensor 1 of the door panel 23 is installed. Since the vibration detection sensor 1 is installed on the door panel 23 surrounded by the ribs 24, stress other than the stress applied as an artificial operation to the region 30 where the vibration detection sensor 1 is installed is transmitted to the vibration detection sensor 1. Can be suppressed.

  In addition, the said structure is an example and may be fastened and installed with the volt | bolt using the supporting member which has the boss | hub for attachment, and a flange. In addition, when the vibration detection sensor 1 is installed using a support member, it is preferable that the support member is a door handle. Although the case where the vibration detection sensor 1 was directly provided in the door panel 23 was illustrated in FIGS. 1-3, the vibration detection sensor 1 may be provided in the said door handle in the vehicle which has a door handle. Further, in a vehicle having a door handle, the vibration detection sensor 1 may be provided directly on the door panel 23 as shown in FIGS. A wiring 16 (16a, 16b) extends from the vibration detection sensor 1 and is connected to the operation determination unit 2 provided inside the door panel 23.

  The vehicle door is not limited to the slide door 22 and can be applied to the back door 25 as shown in FIG. In the example shown in FIG. 4, the vibration detection sensor 1 is arranged near the back side of the emblem 26. At this time, the vibration detection sensor 1 may be directly disposed on the door panel of the back door 25 or may be disposed via the support member as described above. Moreover, you may provide in the door handle 27 which opens and closes the back door 25. FIG.

  The vibration detection sensor 1 is constituted by a piezoelectric sensor in the present embodiment. In the present embodiment, the vibration detection sensor 1 is a strip-shaped piezoelectric sensor configured by sandwiching a first electrode 12, a piezoelectric body 13, and a second electrode 14 between a coating 11 and a coating 15. . The piezoelectric body 13 is sandwiched between the first electrode 12 and the second electrode 14. The electric charge generated due to the piezoelectric effect due to the stress applied to the piezoelectric body 13 is detected by the first electrode 12 and the second electrode 14. A first wiring 16 a is connected to the first electrode 12, and a second wiring 16 b is connected to the second electrode 14 and transmitted to the operation determination unit 2. When the door panel 23 is struck in the direction of the arrow, stress is applied to the vibration detection sensor 1. The electric charge generated by the piezoelectric effect in response to the stress is detected by the operation determination unit 2, and the presence or absence of an artificial operation is determined.

  For example, when it is determined that the user has knocked (artificial operation) when the vehicle door (the slide door 22 and the back door 25. The following is represented by the slide door 22 unless otherwise specified) is closed. The slide door 22 is opened. Conversely, if it is determined that the user has knocked when the slide door 22 is open, the slide door 22 is closed. When it is determined that there is a knock when the sliding door 22 is in the process of opening, that is, when the sliding door 22 is shifted from the closed state to the opened state, the transition to the opened state is stopped and stopped or closed. Or returned to the state. The same applies to the transition from the open state to the closed state.

  FIG. 5 is a block diagram schematically showing the configuration of the vehicle door opening and closing device of the present invention. The vehicle door detection device includes a vibration detection sensor 1 and an operation determination unit 2. Receiving the determination result of the operation determination unit 2, the door ECU 20 drives the actuator 40 to open and close the slide door 22. The open / close state of the slide door 22 is detected by the state detection unit 50. When the actuator 40 is a motor, the state detection unit 50 can use rotation detection means of the motor. The rotation detection means may be constituted by a rotation sensor such as a resolver or an encoder, or may calculate the rotation speed from a ripple component included in the motor current. Further, the state detection unit 50 may be configured by a switch or the like that simply detects whether the slide door 22 is open or closed. Since these rotation detecting means and switches are well known, detailed description thereof is omitted here. The operation determination unit 2 receives the detection result of the state detection unit 50 and determines the hit operation according to the state of the slide door 22.

  The operation determination unit 2 includes a preprocessing unit 3, a hit characteristic determination unit 4, and a preprocessing adjustment unit 7. The preprocessing unit 3 includes a filter unit 5 and an amplification unit 6. In the example illustrated in FIG. 5, the configuration in which the amplification unit 6 is provided in the subsequent stage of the filter unit 5 is illustrated, but the filter unit 5 may be provided in the subsequent stage of the amplification unit 6. The filter unit 5 is a functional unit that extracts a signal in a predetermined frequency band from the sensor output signal of the vibration detection sensor 1. The amplifying unit 6 is a functional unit that amplifies the sensor output signal at a predetermined amplification factor. That is, the preprocessing unit 3 is a functional unit that extracts a signal in a predetermined frequency band from the sensor output signal of the vibration detection sensor 1 and amplifies the sensor output signal at a predetermined amplification factor.

  As an example, as illustrated in FIG. 5, the filter unit 5 includes a filter 51 and a frequency setting unit 52. The frequency setting unit 52 is a functional unit that sets a frequency band of a signal that the filter 51 passes. The present invention is not limited to this configuration, and a configuration may be adopted in which a plurality of filters each corresponding to a different frequency band are provided and any one of the filters is selected. The filter 51 may be configured by a filter circuit, or may be configured by a digital filter using a microcomputer, a DSP (digital signal processor), or the like.

  Further, as illustrated in FIG. 5, the amplification unit 6 includes an amplifier 61 and an amplification factor setting unit 62 as an example. The amplification factor setting unit 62 is a functional unit that sets the amplification factor of the amplifier 61. Similarly to the filter unit 5, a configuration may be adopted in which a plurality of amplifiers each having a different amplification factor are provided, and any one of the amplifiers is selected. The amplifier 61 may be configured as an amplifier circuit, or may be configured to be digitally amplified by a microcomputer or DSP.

  By the way, the end of the door is fixed when the vehicle door (the slide door 22 or the back door 25) is closed, but any end of the door is not fixed when the door is open. It becomes. As a result, the frequency of vibration generated in the door, that is, the frequency of the sensor output signal differs between when the vehicle door is closed and when it is opened. The resonance frequency generated in the plate-like object is theoretically higher when the end of the substance is not fixed than when the end is fixed. Therefore, the frequency of vibration generated in the vehicle door by the user's beating operation is more when the vehicle door is open (when it is not fixed) than when it is closed (when it is fixed). Get higher. In addition, when the vehicle door is moving, it is when the vehicle door is open (when it is in a non-fixed state), and therefore, compared to when the vehicle door is closed (when it is in a fixed state). The frequency of vibration generated in the vehicle door by the hitting operation becomes higher.

  Therefore, the preprocessing adjustment unit 7 changes the frequency band of the filter unit 5 of the preprocessing unit 3 in accordance with the open / closed state of the vehicle door (slide door 22 or back door 25). Specifically, the preprocessing adjustment unit 7 changes the frequency band of the filter unit 5 to a higher frequency side when the vehicle door is in an open state than when the vehicle door is in a closed state. In addition, the preprocessing adjustment unit 7 has a frequency band higher than that in the case where the vehicle door is in a stopped state when the vehicle door is in the transition from the open state to the closed state or from the closed state to the open state. To the high frequency side.

  Further, when the vehicle door is not firmly fixed, the stress due to the user's tapping operation escapes, and therefore the amplitude of vibration generated in the door may be reduced. In addition, when the vehicle door is moving, that is, when the vehicle door is being moved from the open state to the closed state, or on the way from the closed state to the open state, the vehicle door is hit. There is a possibility that the stress accompanying the hitting operation is deviated from the vertical direction with respect to the vehicle door and dispersed.

  Hereinafter, the back door 25 will be described as an example. FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing the stress due to the hitting operation when the back door 25 is closed, and FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing the stress due to the hitting operation when the back door 25 is open. As shown in FIG. 6, when the back door 25 is closed, the stress F generated by the hitting operation is applied to the vibration detection sensor 1 as a substantially vertical force f <b> 1. Therefore, the vibration detection sensor 1 can detect a large amplitude vibration. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 7, when the back door 25 is open, the stress F generated by the tapping operation is approximately vertical force f3 and horizontal force f2 with respect to the vibration detection sensor 1. Distributed. As a result, the force f3 in the vertical direction is weakened, and the amplitude of vibration detected by the vibration detection sensor 1 is smaller than when the back door 25 is closed.

  Therefore, the preprocessing adjustment unit 7 changes the amplification factor of the amplification unit 6 of the preprocessing unit 3 in accordance with the open / closed state of the vehicle door (slide door 22 or back door 25). Specifically, the pre-processing adjustment unit 7 changes the amplification factor of the amplification unit 6 to a higher side when the vehicle door is in an open state than when the vehicle door is in a closed state. In addition, the preprocessing adjustment unit 7 includes the amplifying unit 6 when the vehicle door is in the transition from the open state to the closed state, or from the closed state to the open state, as compared with the case where the vehicle door is in the stopped state. Change the amplification factor to the higher side.

  As described above, it is preferable that the preprocessing unit 3 takes into account the difference in frequency and the difference in amplitude. In addition, both the change of the frequency band of the filter unit 5 and the change of the amplification factor of the amplification unit 6 described above may be performed, or only one of them may be performed. That is, the preprocessing adjustment unit 7 may be a functional unit that changes one or both of the frequency band of the filter unit 5 of the preprocessing unit 3 and the amplification factor of the amplification unit 6 according to the open / closed state of the vehicle door. . Specifically, the pre-processing adjustment unit 7 changes the frequency band to a higher frequency side when the vehicle door is in an open state, and the amplification factor is higher than when the vehicle door is in a closed state. It is a functional unit that executes one or both of the processes to be changed to the side. In addition, the preprocessing adjustment unit 7 has a frequency band higher than that in the case where the vehicle door is in a stopped state when the vehicle door is in the transition from the open state to the closed state or from the closed state to the open state. Is a functional unit that changes the frequency to the high frequency side and changes the gain to the high side.

  The preprocessing adjustment unit 7 changes one or both of the frequency band and the amplification factor used in the preprocessing unit 3 according to the open / closed state of the vehicle door. Therefore, the hit characteristic determination unit 4 can determine the hit characteristic satisfactorily regardless of the difference in the frequency or the amplitude of the sensor output signal. As a result, it is possible to provide a vehicular door opening / closing device that can detect an artificial hitting operation by a user when opening / closing a vehicular door regardless of the open / closed state of the vehicular door. It becomes.

  Hereinafter, the hit characteristic determination unit 4 will be described in detail. The hit characteristic determination unit 4 is a functional unit that determines whether the sensor output signal of the vibration detection sensor 1 that has passed through the preprocessing unit 3 has a hit characteristic. That is, it is a functional unit that determines whether or not the sensor output signal is generated by a tapping operation by the user based on whether or not the sensor output signal that has passed through the preprocessing unit 3 has a tapping feature. FIG. 8 is a waveform diagram for explaining a method of determining a hit characteristic.

  As shown in FIG. 8, the hitting feature determination unit 4 acquires an envelope W from the sensor output signal that has passed through the preprocessing unit 3, and determines the presence or absence of the hitting feature based on the envelope W. By acquiring the envelope W, noise such as engine vibration due to idling, vibration due to the sound of in-vehicle audio, and vibration due to rain can be removed. Although the envelope W is formed by connecting the peaks of the sensor output signals that have passed through the preprocessing unit 3 in FIG. 8, the envelope may be acquired by connecting the valleys. Alternatively, the sensor output signal that has passed through the preprocessing unit 3 may be full-wave rectified to the positive side or the negative side of the voltage, and an envelope may be obtained by connecting peaks or troughs of the waveform after full-wave rectification. In the waveform after full-wave rectification, the interval between peaks and peaks or valleys and valleys is narrower than the waveform before full-wave rectification, so that the envelope can be acquired with higher accuracy.

Tapping feature judging unit 4, the envelope W is increased as the time T _1, the predetermined tooth from the peak value P envelope W is up to the peak value P from the predetermined threshold value V _t as shown in FIG. 8 Based on the decay time T ₂ that decays to the threshold value V _t , the presence / absence of a hit feature is determined. That is, when the slope of the envelope is a specific slope, it is determined that there is a hit characteristic.

In the present embodiment, the threshold voltage (threshold value V _t ) is 1/10 of the peak voltage (peak value P) of the envelope W. Threshold V _t can be arbitrarily set. Further, the standard threshold value V _t may be set from a standard peak value P such as an average value without setting the threshold value V _t for each envelope W. The rise time (increase time T ₁ ) from when the envelope W exceeds the threshold value V _t to the peak value P is preferably within a few ms (eg, within 3 to 5 ms). Further, it is preferable that the decay time T ₂ that attenuates from the peak value P to the predetermined threshold value V _t is within 150 ms. Decay time T ₂ are the size of the sliding door 22 vary with the mounting position, the material of the door panel 23 and the like.

  Due to the functions of the preprocessing unit 3 and the preprocessing adjustment unit 7, the amplitude (wave height) of the sensor output signal received by the hitting characteristic determination unit 4 falls within a predetermined range. Therefore, the presence or absence of the hit feature can be determined satisfactorily by applying the conditions as described above.

  As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to satisfactorily detect an artificial tapping operation by a user when opening and closing a vehicle door regardless of the opening and closing state of the vehicle door. An apparatus can be provided.

Side view of a vehicle in which a vehicle door opening and closing device is mounted on a sliding door Explanatory drawing which shows typically the structural example of 1st Embodiment vehicle door opening and closing apparatus. III-III sectional view of Drawing 2 showing an example of an installation form of a vibration detection sensor Rear view of a vehicle in which a vehicle door opening and closing device is mounted on the back door Block diagram schematically showing the configuration of a vehicle door opening and closing device Explanatory drawing which shows the stress by hitting operation when the back door is closed Explanatory drawing showing the stress due to the tapping operation when the back door is open Waveform diagram for explaining how to determine the hit characteristics

Explanation of symbols

1: Vibration detection sensor 3: Pre-processing unit 4: Strike feature determination unit 7: Pre-processing adjustment unit 22: Slide door (vehicle door)
25: Back door (vehicle door)

Claims (3)

A vibration detection sensor that is installed in the vehicle door and detects vibration generated by a user's tapping operation on the vehicle door;
A pre-processing unit that extracts a signal in a predetermined frequency band from the sensor output signal of the vibration detection sensor and amplifies the sensor output signal at a predetermined amplification rate,
A tapping feature determination unit that determines whether or not the sensor output signal is generated by a tapping operation by the user based on whether or not the sensor output signal that has passed through the preprocessing unit has a tapping feature. When,
A pre-processing adjustment unit that changes one or both of the frequency band and the amplification factor according to the open / closed state of the vehicle door;
A vehicle door opening and closing device.   The pre-processing adjustment unit changes the frequency band to a high frequency side when the vehicle door is in an open state, compared with a case where the vehicle door is in a closed state, and increases the amplification factor. The vehicle door opening and closing device according to claim 1, wherein one or both of the processes to be changed are executed.   When the vehicle door is in the process of shifting from the open state to the closed state or from the closed state to the open state, the preprocessing adjustment unit is configured to reduce the frequency compared to the case where the vehicle door is in the stopped state. The vehicle door opening and closing device according to claim 1, wherein one or both of a process of changing a band to a high frequency side and changing the amplification factor to a high side is executed.

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