JP7470626B2 - Rear Vision Device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a rear visibility device.

Conventionally, rearview devices such as door mirrors that are installed on the sides of vehicles are known. The door mirror disclosed in Patent Document 1 has a housing that houses the mirror and is rotatable relative to a base, and can be switched between a driving position and a stored position by a storage unit.

On the other hand, a camera monitor system (hereafter referred to as CMS) is known that allows the driver to view the rear view using a camera image instead of a mirror. The door mirror for a CMS disclosed in Patent Document 2 comprises a wing-shaped housing that protrudes to the side of the vehicle and a camera installed within the housing. The housing can be made thin by setting the size so that the camera can be stored inside.

JP 2020-019396 A JP 2018-197021 A

In Patent Document 1, the harness connected to the electrical appliance including the storage unit is led to the base through a hole in the shaft of the storage unit. However, when the storage unit is housed in the housing so that the door mirror for the CMS can be stored, the storage unit must also be made thin in order to enjoy the benefits of a thinner door mirror, and the wiring method of the harness as disclosed in Patent Document 1 above cannot be adopted.

As a countermeasure to this, for example, it is possible to provide through holes in the housing and the base and pass the harness through those holes. However, in that case, the harness would come into direct contact with the edge of the through hole, which raises the concern that the harness could be damaged when the housing is rotated.

The present invention was created in light of these points, and its purpose is to provide a rearview device that can reduce damage to the harness.

The rearview device of the present invention comprises a base provided on the side of the vehicle, a wing provided rotatably relative to the base, a number of electrical devices attached to the wing, and a harness connected to the number of electrical devices. The number of electrical devices includes a storage unit that rotates the wing, and a camera that captures images of the outside of the vehicle. The harness is led into the base through a first through hole in the wing and a second through hole in the base.

The rear visibility device includes a sleeve fixed to the harness and a guide fixed to the wing. The sleeve is a cylindrical member through which the harness is inserted and which is inserted into the first and second through holes. The guide has a sliding wall interposed between the sleeve and the inner walls of the first and second through holes. The sleeve is capable of moving in the circumferential direction around the rotation axis of the storage unit within the first and second through holes while sliding against the sliding wall, while holding the harness. This means that the harness does not come into contact with the edges of the first and second through holes, and moves in the circumferential direction while being held by the sleeve, eliminating concerns about the harness getting caught, wearing out, or breaking.

Here, if the degree of freedom of movement of the harness is low, there is a concern that a load will be applied to the harness when the wing rotates. Therefore, it is preferable to configure it as follows. The sliding wall includes an inner sliding wall located radially inside the sleeve centered on the rotation axis, and an outer sliding wall located radially outside the sleeve. If the direction in which the first through hole and the second through hole are opened is defined as the opening direction, the radial opposing distance between the inner sliding wall and the outer sliding wall increases from the center toward both ends in the opening direction of the sliding wall. The sleeve can move in the first through hole and the second through hole in the opening direction while sliding against the sliding wall, and the ends of the sleeve can swing so as to swing in the radial direction. This improves the slidability of the sleeve against the guide, increases the degree of freedom of movement of the harness, and reduces the load on the harness.

Preferably, the sleeve has protrusions on both sides in the axial direction relative to the guide to prevent it from slipping out. This prevents the sleeve from slipping out of the guide.

1 is a perspective view showing an external appearance of a door mirror device according to a first embodiment; 2 is a top view of the door mirror device of FIG. 1 as viewed in the direction of arrow II. 3 is a view of the door mirror device of FIG. 2 as viewed from the rear of the vehicle in the direction of arrow III. 3 is a diagram showing the door mirror device of FIG. 2 with the wing upper cover and the tip cover removed, showing the travel position of the door mirror device; FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the door mirror device of FIG. 2 passing through a rotation axis. FIG. 5 corresponds to FIG. 4 and shows the door mirror device in a stored position. FIG. 5 corresponds to FIG. 4 and shows the door mirror device in a forward folding position. FIG. 8 is an enlarged view of a portion VIII in FIG. 4 . FIG. 6 is an enlarged view of part IX in FIG. 5 . 9 is a cross-sectional view of the sleeve, the guide, and the first through hole of FIG. 8 . FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view showing a sleeve and a guide of a door mirror device according to a second embodiment. FIG. 12 is a perspective view of the sleeve of FIG. FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view showing a main part of a door mirror device according to a comparative example.

The following describes several embodiments of the present invention with reference to the drawings. Components that are substantially the same between the embodiments are given the same reference numerals and descriptions thereof are omitted. The rearview confirmation device in these embodiments is a pair of door mirror devices provided on the outside of the left and right front doors on the sides of the vehicle, and is used in a camera monitor system (hereinafter, CMS) that allows the rearward visibility using camera images.

First Embodiment
1 to 4, the door mirror device 10 includes a base 20 provided on the side of the vehicle, a wing 30 rotatably provided with respect to the base 20, and a plurality of electrical devices including a storage unit 40, a camera 41, and a turn signal lamp 42. Hereinafter, when there is no need to distinguish between electronic devices and electrical devices such as the storage unit 40, the camera 41, and the turn signal lamp 42, they will simply be referred to as "electrical devices".

As shown in Figures 4 and 5, the base 20 includes a base body 21 that is attached to the vehicle body and supports the door mirror device 10, and a base cover 22 that covers the base body 21. The base cover 22 includes a base upper cover 23 and a base lower cover 24. A storage unit 40 is attached to the base body 21. The storage unit 40 has a fixed part (not shown) that is fixed to the base body 21, and a rotating part 45 that rotates around a predetermined rotation axis AX relative to the fixed part by the power of a built-in motor (not shown).

The wing 30 includes a wing body 31 fixed to a rotating part 45, and a wing cover 32 that covers the wing body 31. The wing cover 32 includes an upper wing cover 33, a lower wing cover 34, and a tip cover 35. The camera 41 is attached to the wing body 31 within the wing cover 32, and can capture images of the outside of the vehicle through an opening in the tip cover 35. The turn signal lamp 42 is attached to the wing cover 32, and is positioned so that the outer lens is exposed to the outside.

When the storage unit 40 is operated, the wing body 31 and the wing cover 32 and electrical equipment attached thereto rotate together with the rotating part 45 around the rotation axis AX. The wing 30 shown in FIG. 4 is in a traveling position (i.e., the position when the vehicle is traveling). The wing 30 can be rotated from the traveling position to the storage position shown in FIG. 6, which is located on one side of the circumferential direction around the rotation axis AX, by the storage operation of the storage unit 40. The wing 30 can also be rotated, for example manually, from the traveling position to the forward retractable position shown in FIG. 7, which is located on the other side of the circumferential direction around the rotation axis AX.

Hereinafter, the circumferential direction around the rotation axis AX will be referred to simply as the "circumferential direction." Additionally, the radial direction centered on the rotation axis AX will be referred to simply as the "radial direction."

As shown in Figures 4, 5, 8 and 9, the door mirror device 10 further includes a harness 46 as wiring connected to multiple electrical appliances. The harness 46 is composed of multiple electric wires including, for example, a power line and a video signal line. In conventional door mirror devices equipped with a mirror, a relatively large housing capable of accommodating the mirror is provided, so it is not a problem if the height of the storage unit is relatively high. Therefore, it was possible to lead the harness to the base through a hole in the shaft (i.e., the fixed part) of the storage unit. However, in the door mirror device 10 for CMS, in order to enjoy the benefits of a thinner and more compact device by using a camera instead of a mirror, the conventional harness wiring method described above cannot be adopted.

Therefore, in this embodiment, the harness 46 is led into the base 20 through a first through hole 36 formed on the base 20 side of the wing under cover 34 and a second through hole 26 formed in a position facing the first through hole 36 on the base upper cover 23. From here, the harness 46 is led into the vehicle body and connected to the battery, control device, etc. The first through hole 36 and the second through hole 26 are arc-shaped holes extending in the circumferential direction.

In the comparative example in which the harness 46 is simply passed through the through holes 26, 36 as shown in FIG. 13, the harness 46 comes into direct contact with the edges of the through holes 26, 36, and there is concern that the harness 46 may get caught, wear out, or break when the wing 30 rotates.

To solve this problem, in this embodiment, as shown in Figures 4, 5, 8 and 9, a sleeve 50 and a guide 60 are provided. The sleeve 50 is a tubular member through which the harness 46 is inserted and which is inserted into the first through hole 36 and the second through hole 26, and is fixed to the harness 46. In the first embodiment, the sleeve 50 is cylindrical. The guide 60 has a sliding wall 61 interposed between the sleeve 50 and the inner wall of the through hole 26, 36, and is fixed to the wing 30. The sleeve 50 can move in the circumferential direction within the passage 26, 36 while sliding on the sliding wall 61 while holding the harness 46. As a result, the harness 46 does not come into contact with the edge of the through hole 26, 36, and moves in the circumferential direction while being held by the sleeve 50, so there is no concern that the harness 46 will get caught, wear out, or break.

The guide 60 has a flange portion 64 at the end on the wing 30 side. The flange portion 64 is fixed to the wing under cover 34. This allows the guide 60 to be securely fixed to the wing 30.

As shown in Figures 8, 9 and 10, the sliding wall 61 is formed in a cylindrical shape so as to go around the inner wall of the through holes 26, 36, and has an inner sliding wall 62 and an outer sliding wall 63. The inner sliding wall 62 is located radially inside the harness 46. The outer sliding wall 63 is located radially outside the harness 46. As a result, when the wing 30 rotates, the radially inner part of the sleeve 50 slides against the inner sliding wall 62, and the radially outer part of the sleeve 50 slides against the outer sliding wall 63, thereby reliably preventing contact between the harness 46 and the radial edges of the through holes 26, 36.

As shown in FIG. 9, if the direction in which the through holes 26, 36 open (i.e., the direction in which the guide 60 is inserted into the through holes 26, 36) is defined as the opening direction, the radial opposing distance between the inner sliding wall 62 and the outer sliding wall 63 increases from the center in the opening direction of the sliding wall 61 toward both ends. The sleeve 50 can move in the opening direction within the through holes 26, 36 while sliding against the sliding walls 62, 63, and the ends of the sleeve 50 can swing so as to swing in the radial direction. This improves the sliding properties of the sleeve 50 relative to the guide 60, increases the degree of freedom of movement of the harness 46, and reduces the load on the harness 46.

Second Embodiment
In the second embodiment, as shown in Figures 11 and 12, protrusions 56, 57 for preventing the sleeve 55 from slipping out of the guide 60 are formed on both axial sides of the sleeve 55. The protrusion 56 formed on the wing 30 side is flange-shaped. The size of the protrusion 56 is larger than the radial opposing distance between the inner sliding wall 62 and the outer sliding wall 63. This prevents the sleeve 55 from slipping out towards the base 20.

The protrusions 57 on the base 20 side are provided at intervals in the circumferential direction of the sleeve 55. The diameter of an imaginary circle circumscribing each protrusion 57 is larger than the radial opposing distance between the inner sliding wall 62 and the outer sliding wall 63. An inclined surface 58 is formed on the base 20 side of the protrusions 57. The axial portion of the sleeve 55 opposing the protrusions 57 has openings 59 between the protrusions 57, and is designed to be reduced in diameter when an inward external force is applied to the protrusions 57. This allows the sleeve 55 to be easily assembled by inserting it into the guide 60 from the base 20 side, while the protrusions 57 are caught in the guide 60 to prevent the sleeve 55 from slipping out toward the wing 30 side.

Other Embodiments
In another embodiment, the radial opposing distance between the inner sliding wall and the outer sliding wall may be constant in the opening direction.

The present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment, and can be implemented in various forms without departing from the spirit of the invention.

20 base, 26 second through hole, 30 wing, 36 first through hole,
40 Storage unit, 41 Camera, 46 Harness,
50, 55 Sleeve, 60 Guide, 61 Sliding wall,
AX Rotation axis.

Claims (3)

A base (20) provided on the side of the vehicle;
A wing (30) rotatably provided with respect to the base;
A storage unit (40) for rotating the wing, and a camera (41) for photographing the outside of the vehicle, and a plurality of electrical devices attached to the wing;
a harness (46) connected to the plurality of electrical devices and led into the base through the first through-hole (36) of the wing and the second through-hole (26) of the base;
a sleeve (50, 55) which is a cylindrical member through which the harness is inserted and which is inserted into the first through hole and the second through hole and which is fixed to the harness;
a guide (60) fixed to the wing and having a sliding wall (61) interposed between the sleeve and an inner wall of the first through hole and an inner wall of the second through hole;
Equipped with
A rear visibility device, wherein the sleeve is movable circumferentially around the rotation axis (AX) of the storage unit within the first through hole and the second through hole while sliding against the sliding wall and holding the harness. The sliding wall includes an inner sliding wall (62) located on the inside in the radial direction centered on the rotation axis with respect to the sleeve, and an outer sliding wall (63) located on the outside in the radial direction with respect to the sleeve,
When the direction in which the first through hole and the second through hole are opened is defined as an opening direction,
A radial distance between the inner sliding wall and the outer sliding wall increases from a center portion toward both ends in an opening direction of the sliding wall,
2. The rearward visibility device according to claim 1, wherein the sleeve is movable in an opening direction within the first through hole and the second through hole while sliding against the sliding wall, and an end of the sleeve is swingable so as to swing radially. The rearward visibility device according to claim 1 or 2, in which protrusions (56, 57) are formed on both axial sides of the sleeve (55) to prevent it from coming off the guide.

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