JPH0288987A - Controller for traffic indicator - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To operate a traffic indicator in a no-contact and non-contacting state by receiving reflected waves of infrared rays projected on an object from an infrared-ray transmitter by means of two infrared-ray receivers and judging the receiving order of the receivers. CONSTITUTION:A detecting section is formed by arranging a transmitter 2 which radiates infrared rays at the center and 1st and 2nd receivers 1 and 3 above and below the transmitter 2 and the detecting section is constituted so that the traffic indicators can be driven in the output order of the receivers detecting an object when the object moves in the vicinity of the detecting section. Therefore, the traffic indicators can be actuated in a no-contact and non- contacting state and, accordingly, bad actuation of the indicators caused by insufficient contact, etc., can be prevented. Moreover, the device can be simplified since only one transmitter 2 is sufficient for radiating the infrared rays.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Field of Application] The present invention relates to a turn signal control device that enables direction indication of an automobile without contact.

(Prior art) Figure 4 is a publication (“Automotive Electrical Components Handbook” published by Natsume Publishing, written by Takahisa Zenki, Figure 6.14 on page 212)
2 is a configuration diagram of the conventional turn signal switch shown in FIG.

In the figure, 41 is a lever, 42 is a spring, and 43 is a terminal. For example, when a car turns right, the above-mentioned turn signal is used as a turn signal lever switch (
When the lever 41) is pressed down, the terminal 43 is connected and drives a device that causes the right direction indicator lamp (not shown) to blink at a constant cycle. When turning the steering wheel to the right and then returning it to its original position in order to make a right turn, the ratchet mechanism is activated, the turn signal lever switch returns to its original position, terminal 43 is released, and the turn signal lamp stops flashing. . The same applies when turning left.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) Since the conventional turn signal switch is configured as described above, there is a possibility that the terminal 43 may cause a contact failure, and the life span of the terminal 43 must be taken into consideration. However, there were issues such as the complexity of its structure.

This invention was made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and it is possible to operate the turn signal without any contact or contact, and there is no need for a complicated latch mechanism that turns off the turn signal when the handle is returned. The object of the present invention is to obtain a direction indicator control device that achieves the following.

[Means to solve the problem]

The turn signal control device according to the present invention includes an infrared transmitter that emits infrared rays, and a first transmitter that is arranged above and below the transmitter and that detects the infrared rays reflected from an object. a second infrared receiver; a drive circuit that drives and blinks the right direction indicator lamp and the left direction indicator lamp at a constant cycle; and the first infrared receiver.
．． Based on the order of detection of infrared rays by the second infrared receiver, it is determined whether the object has moved from the first infrared receiver to the second infrared receiver or in the opposite direction. It is equipped with a control circuit that performs control.

[For production]

In this invention, the infrared transmitter and the two infrared receivers are arranged in the same direction in the order of the first infrared receiver, the infrared transmitter, and the second infrared receiver from above, and the two infrared receivers are used for infrared transmission. The infrared transmitter emits infrared rays toward an object, and the reflected waves from the object are received by two infrared receivers, and the control circuit selects one first. It determines whether a wave has been received and causes the right or left direction indicator lamp to blink at a constant cycle.

〔Example〕

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1st
The figure shows a block diagram of a direction indicator control device according to the present invention, and in the figure, 1 is a first infrared receiver (hereinafter referred to as a first receiver) disposed above, and 2 is an infrared receiver disposed in the center. A transmitter (hereinafter referred to as a transmitter), 3 is a second infrared receiver (hereinafter referred to as a second receiver) disposed below.

The transmitter 2 applies the output of the oscillator 2b to the base of the transistor 2c, the emitter of the transistor 2C is grounded, the collector is connected to the power supply via the light emitting diode 2a, and the output of the oscillator 2b turns on the transistor 2c. , and accordingly, the light emitting diode 2a modulates and emits infrared rays toward an object (not shown).

In addition, the first receiver 1 has a photodiode 1a, so that
After receiving the infrared rays and converting them into electrical signals, the amplifier 1b,
After being detected by a detection circuit 1d through a bandpass filter Ic, it is output to an output waveform shaping circuit 1e.

Since the second receiver 3 is configured in the same manner as the first receiver 1, corresponding parts will be designated by the reference numeral 3 and alphabetical characters, and a description thereof will be omitted.

The output of the output waveform shaping circuit 1e of the first receiver 1 and the output of the output waveform shaping circuit 3e of the second receiver 3 are sent to the control circuit 4.

This @ fl rf! i path 4 is an output waveform shaping circuit re,
3e, the output of the handle return detection switch 88, and the output of the handle return detection switch B9 are input, and by manually inputting these, the drive circuit 5
is designed to be controlled.

- The control circuit 5 blinks the right direction indicator lamp 6 and the left direction indicator lamp 7 at regular intervals.

Note that the above-mentioned handle return detection switch A8 responds when the handle is turned clockwise by a certain angle or more and then the handle is returned to its original position.
reacts when the handle is turned to the left over a certain angle and then tried to return to its original position.

FIG. 2(A) shows the transmitter 2, the first . FIG. 2(B) is a perspective view showing an example of the arrangement of the second receiver 1°3, 10 in the figure is a detection section, 1a to 3a indicate the same parts as in FIG. 1;
are a light emitting diode 2a and a photodiode la,
3a is a cross-sectional view of the detection unit 10 showing the positional relationship of 12
is a light shielding plate, and 13 is an infrared filter. Here, its structure will be explained. photodiode la,
The photodiode 3a is placed, for example, 5 to 10 days behind (rear) the light emitting diode 2a, and the distance between the photodiode la, 3a and the light emitting diode 2a is, for example, 7 to 15 m. In addition, photodiodes Ia, 3a and light emitting diode 2a
A light shielding plate 12 is provided between them.

Next, the operation will be explained using the flowchart shown in FIG. 3. FIG. 3 shows the flow of the operation of the control circuit 4, starting at step 5200, and at step 5202, the left direction indicator lamp 7 is turned off.

In this state, when the car turns right, for example, the driver moves the hand 11 from top to bottom near the detection unit IO, as shown in FIG. That is, when moving in the direction of arrow A1, first, for example, 40k emitted from the light emitting diode 2a of the transmitter 2
The infrared rays modulated by llz are reflected by the hand 11,
The wave is received by the photodiode 1a in the first receiver l placed above (step 5203), and the output signal is amplified by the amplifier 1b, passed through the bandpass filter 1c that passes the 40kHz signal, and then sent to the detection circuit 1d. The output waveform is detected by the output waveform shaping circuit 1e, and is input to the 011'8 circuit 4.

Next, the infrared rays emitted from the transmitter 2 are received by the photodiode 3a of the second receiver 3 disposed below in the same way as the first receiver 1 (step 520).
4) is output to the control circuit 4.

The basic operation of the control circuit 4 is to
The receiver output (when the first receiver 1 detects the hand 11 is "1", otherwise it is "o"; the same applies to the second receiver 3) according to the movement of the hand 11. second receiver 3
It becomes "1" in the stem 5205 before the output of .

In this figure, "a" indicates the output of the first receiver 1, "b" indicates the output of the second receiver 3, and "switch A" is the detection switch for returning the handle. A8
, and "r switch B" indicates the handle return detection switch B9.

When the output of the first receiver l is "rl", the output of the second receiver 3 is "0" (step 5206),
After a certain period of time TI (step S207), the output of the second receiver 3 is determined again (step 320B).

At this point, the output of the second receiver 3 is "l", so the control circuit 4 gives a signal to the drive circuit 5 to blink the right direction indicator lamp 7 at, for example, 90 cpm (step 5209). , the operation returns to step 5203.

Further, if the first and second receiver outputs are both "0", the calculation proceeds to steps 5205-3206-3221, where a right turn is made and when the driver returns the steering wheel,
Since the handle return detection switch A8 is turned on, the control circuit 4 gives a signal to the drive circuit 5, and the right direction indicator lamp 6 is turned on.
stops blinking (step 5223), and the calculation returns to step 5203.

When turning left, the driver performs the same action as when turning right by moving the hand 11 from bottom to top near the detection unit 10, that is, in the opposite direction to arrow A1, and then performs the same action as when turning right.
212-5213-5214 and this step 52
At step 14, the control circuit 4 drives the drive circuit 5 to cause the left direction indicator lamp 7 to blink.

In the embodiment of the present invention, by providing the light shielding plate 12 around the light emitting diode 2a, the infrared rays emitted from the light emitting diode 2a are directly transmitted to the photodiodes la and 3a.
Malfunctions such as receiving waves can be prevented. Further, by arranging the photodiodes la and 3a behind the light emitting diode 2a, the object detection range can be narrowed (ie, the directivity can be improved).

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, according to the present invention, the transmitter that emits infrared rays is placed in the center, and the first... A second receiver is placed above and below the transmitter to form a detection section, and when an object is moved near this detection section, the direction indicator lamps are driven in the order of the output of the receiver that detected the object. With this configuration, the direction indicator can be operated without any contact or contact, thereby preventing malfunctions due to poor contact or the like. Also,
Since only one transmitter that emits infrared rays is required, the device can be simplified. Furthermore, the turn signal switch OFF mechanism when the handle is returned can simply detect the return of the handle, resulting in a simple and durable control device.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a direction indicator control device according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2(A) is a perspective view showing an example of arrangement of transmitters and receivers in the same embodiment, and FIG. 2(B) 3 is a sectional view of the detection unit showing the positional relationship between the light emitting diode and the photodiode in the above embodiment, FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation flow of the control circuit in the above embodiment, and FIG. 4 is a front view of the conventional direction indicator. It is a diagram. 1... First receiver, 2... Transmitter, 3... Second
receiver, 4... control circuit, 5... drive circuit, 6.
...Right direction indicator lamp, 7...Left direction indicator lamp. Note that the same reference numerals in the figures indicate the same or equivalent parts.

Claims (1)

[Claims] An infrared transmitter that emits infrared rays, first and second infrared receivers that are arranged above and below this transmitter and detect infrared rays reflected from an object, a right direction indicator lamp and a left direction indicator lamp. Based on the drive circuit that blinks at a constant cycle and the order in which infrared rays are detected by the first and second infrared receivers, it is possible to determine whether the object has moved from the first infrared receiver to the second infrared receiver or not. A turn indicator control device comprising: a control circuit that controls the drive circuit by determining whether the indicator has moved in the opposite direction.