JPH0118432Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] In the present invention, a mirror drive shaft is connected via a universal joint to the back surface of a mirror body provided in a mirror housing so as to be tiltable, and the mirror body is moved by moving the mirror drive shaft forward and backward. The present invention relates to a mirror position detection device in a position control device for an electric remote control mirror that tilts to a predetermined position.

In general, the rear view mirror for a car must be adjusted to the position that is considered best when driving (this is called the eye point), but this eye point varies depending on the physique of the driver, especially differences in sitting height. , it also depends on the driver's preference, so you may want to change it when the driver changes. In addition, when you want to temporarily change the area reflected by the mirror when parking, pulling to the side, or changing direction, or when you want to return the mirror to the original eye point if it has been deviated from the eye point due to external force such as a prank. In some cases. In such a case, if you use an electric remote control mirror, you can change the angle of the rear view mirror from the driver's seat. When changing the field of view using an electric remote control mirror, it is necessary to accurately position the vehicle back to the original eye point, but it is not recommended from a safety standpoint to operate many devices while driving. For this reason, it is desirable to set or memorize the eyepoint in advance, and then automatically return to the original eyepoint with a simple operation, such as pressing a push switch, after the required angle changing operation. It has been considered that the position control device for the control mirror is equipped with an eye point setting device or a storage device.

By the way, such a position control device for an electric remote control mirror compares the set or memorized position of the mirror with the current position, and automatically adjusts the mirror so that the current position matches the set (memory) position. It is what drives it. For this reason, it is necessary to detect the current position of the mirror, but with this type of detection device, due to the need to make the device more compact, etc.
Since it is installed in a narrow space called a mirror housing, it is particularly desirable that the mounting location can be freely selected, that the number of components is small, and that the mirror position can be detected accurately.

The present invention was developed in view of the above-mentioned demands, and allows the mounting location within the mirror housing to be freely selected, has a small number of component parts, and can detect the mirror position extremely accurately. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a mirror position detection device that is capable of detecting mirror positions.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 8.

Fig. 1 is a partially cut-away plan view showing an example of an electric remote control mirror to which the mirror position detection device according to the present invention is applied, Fig. 2 is a front view of the same mirror, and Fig. 3 is a - line in Fig. 2. FIG. 1 to 3, reference numeral 1 denotes a mirror body provided in a mirror housing 3 via a universal joint 2 so as to be tiltable about a center position A of the universal joint 2 as a fulcrum. Reference numeral 4 denotes a mirror drive shaft whose tip end is connected to the back surface of the mirror body 1 via a universal joint 5, and a drive motor 7 attached to a drive unit housing 6 of the mirror body 1 rotates, causing gears 8 to 10 to rotate. By doing so, it advances and retreats in the front and back direction (vertical direction in Figures 1 and 3),
The mirror body 1 is tilted up and down or left and right, here left and right, about the center position A as a fulcrum, as shown by two-dot chain lines a and b in FIG.

Reference numeral 11 denotes a wire, one end of which is attached to the left end of the back surface of the mirror body 1, and the other end thereof to the right end thereof, so that it can be driven in the length direction as the mirror body 1 tilts, in this case in the left-right direction. The pulleys 12 and 12 are respectively disposed on the inner wall portions of the mirror housing 3 corresponding to the latching points, and are stretched inside the mirror housing 3. In this case, the wire 11 is given a predetermined tension by a coil spring 13 or the like.

Reference numeral 14 denotes a rotary variable impedance element such as a variable capacitor, variable resistor, or variable inductance, which constitutes the main component of the mirror position detection device of the present invention. Here, the impedance value refers to a capacitance value when the variable impedance element is a variable capacitor, a resistance value when the variable impedance element is a variable resistor, and an inductance value when the variable impedance element is a variable inductance. Further, the variable impedance element 14 used in this invention is, for example, a rotary variable capacitor whose capacitance value changes by rotating the shaft 14a, as shown in FIG. 11 at a desired position in the mirror housing 3, and the wire 11 is wound around the shaft 14a several times, so that when the mirror body 1 is tilted, the wire 11 is The shaft 14a rotates in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 3, converting the displacement of the mirror body 1 into a change in capacitance value.

That is, in the device of the present invention, when the mirror body 1 is tilted by moving the mirror drive shaft 4 forward and backward,
Along with the tilting, the wire 11 is driven in the length direction to rotate the shaft 14a of the rotary variable impedance element, thereby amplifying the linear movement amount of the wire 11, that is, the displacement of the mirror body 1, and moving the variable impedance element. The mirror position is detected by converting this into a change in the impedance value (capacitance value in the above embodiment) and replacing this with a change in the oscillation frequency of the oscillation circuit as described later.

Next, an example of a position control device for an electric remote control mirror as described above will be explained with reference to FIG. In the figure, 1 indicates the mirror body shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, and 14 similarly indicates a rotary variable capacitor. Reference numeral 15 designates an oscillation circuit which receives the rotary variable capacitor 14 as an input and whose oscillation frequency changes as the capacitance value changes. Reference numeral 16 designates a waveform shaping circuit which shapes the output signal waveform of the oscillation circuit 15 into a pulse waveform. 1
7 is a timer, and 18 is a counter, which counts the number of pulses per unit time from the waveform shaping circuit 16 and outputs it as a digital signal. 19 is a memory circuit that stores the output signal of the counter 18, 20 is a comparison circuit that compares the output signal from the counter 18 and the output signal from the memory circuit 19, and 21 is a gate circuit. 22 is a switch, via a switching circuit 23,
It is selected whether to activate the storage circuit 19 to store the output signal of the counter 18, or to take out the signal already stored in the storage circuit 19 and activate the comparison circuit 20 and gate circuit 21. 24 is the mirror drive shaft 4;
A drive unit 25 consisting of a drive motor 7, gears 8 to 10, etc. is a manual switch that manually controls the position of the mirror body 1 regardless of the operation of the switch 22.

Next, the operation of such a position control device will be explained. First, when the output signal of the counter 18, in other words, the mirror position, is not stored in the memory circuit 19, when the manual switch 25 is operated, the drive unit 24 is operated in response to the operation, and the mirror body 1 is moved to the desired position. Drive to. At this time, the position of the mirror body 1 is converted into the capacitance value of the rotary variable capacitor 14, and further converted into the oscillation frequency → the number of pulses, which is output from the counter 18, so that the memory circuit 19 can be activated by the switch 22. The number of pulses (mirror position) at that time is stored.
After the desired mirror position is stored in advance in the storage circuit 19 in this way, the mirror position is manually controlled again by the manual switch 25, and then when it is desired to return the mirror body 1 to its original position (the stored position). To do this, the switch 22 operates the memory circuit 19, the comparison circuit 20, and the gate circuit 21. As a result, the comparison circuit 20 compares the output signal of the counter 18, in other words, the current mirror position, with the signal stored in the storage circuit 19, in other words, the mirror storage position, and outputs the signal to the drive unit 2 via the gate circuit 21.
Operate 4. The drive unit 24 operates so that the output signal of the counter 18 and the memory signal of the memory circuit 19 become equal, thereby displacing the mirror body 1 to the left (or right). When the mirror body 1 is displaced, the shaft 14a rotates accordingly, the capacitance value of the rotary variable capacitor 14 changes, and the oscillation frequency of the oscillation circuit 15 and further the number of pulses output from the counter 18 change. . When the output signal of the counter 18 and the storage signal of the storage circuit 19 become equal, that is, when the mirror current position and the mirror storage position match, the output signal from the comparison circuit 20 becomes 0, and the output signal from the drive unit 24 becomes 0. The operation stops, the mirror body 1 also stops, and the return operation is completed.

In the above embodiment, the mirror drive shaft is
We have described the case where the mirror body is tilted left and right with this arrangement, but if a drive unit similar to the drive unit in this case is provided and used as a drive unit that tilts the mirror body up and down, the mirror body can be tilted both up and down and left and right. becomes possible. The rotary variable capacitor 14, etc. drawn by two-dot chain lines in FIGS. 1 and 2 are exemplified as those used for vertical position detection when a drive unit for vertical tilting is provided as described above. be.

As described above, the present invention connects a mirror body that is tilted by a mirror drive shaft and a variable impedance element that converts the displacement of this mirror body into a change in impedance value through a linear member. Therefore, the attachment location of the variable impedance element can be selected at any location along the length direction of the linear material within the mirror housing. In addition, the device of the present invention is lightweight and inexpensive because it is composed of a small number of parts such as a rotary variable impedance element, a wire material, and a pulley. The mirror position is detected by wrapping the wire at least once and amplifying the linear movement of the wire material as the mirror body tilts by rotating the rotary impedance element, making it possible to detect the mirror position with great accuracy. effective.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a partially cutaway plan view showing an example of an electric remote control mirror to which the mirror position detection device according to the present invention is applied, Fig. 2 is a front view of the same mirror, and Fig. 3 is the book shown in Fig. 1. A sectional view showing the main parts of the devised device, Figure 4 is similar to Figures 1 and 2.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of a position control device for the electric remote control mirror shown in the figure. 1... Mirror body, 2, 5... Universal joint, 3...
Mirror housing, 4...mirror drive shaft,
7... Drive motor, 8-10... Gear, 11...
Wire, 12... Pulley, 13... Coil spring, 14... Rotary variable capacitor, 14a...
shaft.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] A mirror drive shaft is connected via a universal joint to the back surface of a mirror body provided in a mirror housing so as to be tiltable, and an electric remote control tilts the mirror body to a predetermined position by moving the mirror drive shaft forward and backward. In a mirror position control device, both ends of the mirror body are latched to the rear surface of the mirror body, and the mirror body is suspended over pulleys placed at appropriate locations between the two ends so as to be driven in the length direction as the mirror body tilts. and a linear material stretched in the mirror housing with a predetermined tension, and a rotary variable impedance element whose impedance value changes by rotation of the shaft, The linear material is wound at least once, and the linear material is driven as the mirror body tilts to rotate the axis of the rotary variable impedance element, thereby controlling the displacement of the mirror body to the rotary variable impedance element. A mirror position detection device characterized in that the mirror position is detected by converting the impedance value of an element into a change.