JPH04166441A - Rear-view mirror device for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To relieve the burden of a driver by providing a detecting means to detect down inclination of a mirror housing when the mirror housing is inclined down by means of an external force and a return means to return the mirror housing to an original position. CONSTITUTION:When rear-view mirror device 5 is forcibly rotated by means of an external force, a shape memory alloy 50 is rotated as it is plastically deformed and a follower disc 22 also follows. Simultaneously, clutch groove parts 34... are disengaged from clutch protrusion parts 35... of the drive disc 23, and upward displacement along a shaft part 17 is effected. As a result, a switch knob 52a is pressed and a detecting switch 52 is turned ON. A heater winding 51 connected in series is energized and heated, and the whole 50 of a shape memory alloy is also heated. Since the shape memory alloy has nature wherein a shape deformed at a low temperature is restored to an original shape when the alloy is heated at temperature higher than the temperature, the plastically deformed whole 50 of the shape memory allay is about to restore to an original shape, and the rear-view mirror device body 5, simultaneously, is returned to an original working position.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

[0001]

[Industrial application field]

The present invention relates to a rearview mirror device for a vehicle. [0002]

[Conventional technology]

In a vehicle rearview mirror device, the mirror housing is rotatably held against a base member fixed to the vehicle body, and the mirror housing is moved to a retracted position (position close to the vehicle body) when vehicles pass each other. There are some cars that have a smaller (substantive) width and are easier to drive. [0003]

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

By the way, in such a rearview mirror device for a vehicle, if an external force greater than the holding force is applied to the mirror housing, the mirror housing will be forcibly tilted. [0004] In such a case, it is necessary to return the mirror housing to its original position, but conventionally, the driver manually or by operating a switch for rotating the mirror housing placed inside the vehicle interior, the mirror housing is returned to its original position. I was trying to return it to its original position. [0005] Therefore, such conventional vehicle rearview mirror devices have the disadvantage that the burden on the driver increases and the driver feels inconvenienced. [0006]

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a vehicle rearview mirror device comprising a base member fixed to the vehicle body side and a mirror housing rotatably assembled to the base member and housing the mirror. The present invention is characterized by comprising a detection means for detecting when the mirror housing is tilted by an external force, and a return means for returning the tilted mirror housing to its original position. [0007]

[Effect]

When the mirror housing is tilted due to an external force, the detection means detects this, and then the return means returns the mirror housing to its original position. Therefore, the driver does not have to return the mirror housing to its original position manually or by operating a switch as in the past, reducing the burden on the driver. [0008]

【Example】

Below, an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to an electrically foldable vehicle mirror will be described in detail. [0009] First, a basic embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4. In the drawings, FIG. 1 is a partially sectional front view of a vehicle rearview mirror device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of the assembled portion of the base member and mirror housing, and FIG. 3 is FIG.
FIG. 4 is a circuit diagram of the electrical control system. [0010] First, the overall schematic configuration will be described with reference to FIG. Reference numeral 1 indicates the side surface of a door of a vehicle such as a four-wheeled vehicle. A base member 3 is fixed to the side surface of the door via a rubber sheet 2. This base member 3 has an L-shape as a whole as shown in FIG.
) and a rearview mirror device main body 5 are provided. The upper surface portion of this support portion 3B supports the lower portion of the rearview mirror device main body 5 on the vehicle body side. The rearview mirror device main body 5 includes a mirror housing 6 which is directly supported by the support portion 3B and has a substantially rectangular front opening and a case shape, and a mirror part that is housed inside the housing 6 and includes a motor and a gear mechanism. is supported in a swingable manner by a drive unit 7 and a swing support portion of the drive unit 7,
It also consists of a mirror part 8 that can be tilted up and down and left and right to adjust the viewing angle, and this mirror part 8 is attached to the housing 6.
It is placed in such a way that it blocks the opening of the [0011] Further, the rotational drive means 4 is rotated by a motor 9 (see FIG. 3) provided in the vehicle body mounting portion 3A, a gear mechanism 10 that decelerates and transmits the rotation of this motor 9, and this gear mechanism 10,
It consists of a rotation support part 11 that rotates the rearview mirror device main body 5. Note that the detailed shapes of the base member 3 and the rearview mirror device main body 5 are selected so that a continuous integral shape can be obtained in terms of design, for example. [0012] Therefore, when the motor 9 is controlled to rotate, the rearview mirror device main body 5 rotates in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body (in a substantially horizontal plane) around the rotation support portion 11. [0013] Next, the rotation driving means 4 will be specifically explained with reference to FIGS. 2 to 4. Upper surface portion 12 of the base member 3
A short cylindrical support flange portion 13 is provided upwardly perpendicular to the plane. [0014] On the other hand, a driven shaft 17 having a comparatively long cylinder length and an insertion hole 16 for the wire harness 15 is fixedly installed on the innermost side of the lower surface portion 14 of the mirror housing 6 on the vehicle body side of the mirror device main body. A ring-shaped space S1 for inserting and compressing the coil spring 18 between the shaft 17 and the flange portion 13
form. Moreover, the upper surface of the support flange 13 and the driven shaft 1
A thrust ball b is arranged between the support flange 13 of the mirror housing 6 and the upper flange 17a. A ring-shaped driven plate 22 is externally fitted and fixed to the
A driving plate 23 is superimposed on the upper surface of this driven plate 22. [0016] The drive plate 23 is rotatably fitted to the driven shaft 17 at the center, and has a cylindrical spring force receiving part 24 at the upper end that receives the force of the spring 18. In addition, as shown in FIG.
A gear part 2 is provided on the outermost periphery over a predetermined range (approximately 70 degrees).
5 is formed, and notches 27 and 28 are further formed at a predetermined interval (approximately 70 degrees). [0017] On the upper surface of the drive plate 23, as shown in FIG. 3, protrusions 32 and 33 that protrude laterally are formed, and on the lower surface of the drive plate 23, protrusions 32 and 33 are formed on the driven plate 22 as shown in FIG. A clutch convex portion 3 having a triangular cross section that engages with a clutch groove portion 34 having a triangular cross section
As a result, when no external force acts on the mirror device main body 5, the drive plate 23 and the driven plate 22 move together, but when a certain external force acts, the clutch resists the force of the spring 18. Since the groove part 34 comes off the convex part 35 and has the function of idling according to the external force, the rearview mirror device will not come into contact with other objects and be damaged. [0018] On the other hand, a worm gear G1 that is rotatably supported is engaged with the gear portion 25, and a worm pinion G3 that is pivotally supported on the shaft 9a of the motor 9 is engaged with a gear G2 that is engaged with the worm gear G1. Close the mesh. [0019] The base member 3 is provided with a solenoid 37 corresponding to the notched recesses 27 and 28, and this solenoid 37 is provided with an interlock switch 38. The tip of the movable core 37a of the solenoid 37 can be engaged with and disengaged from the notched recesses 27 and 28. The movable core 37a is in the notch recess 27 or the notch recess 28
When the drive plate 23 is engaged with the base member 3, the drive plate 23 is securely fixed to the base member 3, vibration of the rearview mirror device main body 5 is prevented, positioning accuracy is improved, and in addition, external force is applied to the rearview mirror device main body 5. Even in such a case, the movable core 37a of the solenoid 37 receives the force that causes the clutch concave portion 34 and convex portion 35 to release the external force, and the gear 2
There is no risk of damaging 5 and G1. Note that the cutout recesses 27 and 28 are made longer in the vertical direction as shown in FIG. 6, so that the drive plate 23 can move in the axial direction of the driven shaft 17. [00201 The movable core 37a of the solenoid 37 sinks into the solenoid 37 when the self-return switch SWR is turned on, and the drive plate 2
The lock with the 3 side is released and the switch SWR is set to O.
It bounces back with FF and locks with the drive plate 23 side. [0021] A cam block 41 is rotatably supported on the base member 3 by a shaft 40, and the cam block 41 has the protrusion 32.
．． 33 is provided with an arm 41a that can freely come into contact with it. A polarity changeover switch 43 is provided on the side of the cam block 41, and this polarity changeover switch 43 changes the polarity of the motor 9 by rotation of the cam block 41. [0022] Above the space S2 formed by the support flange part 13 and the flange 19, the inner end part of the shape memory alloy body 50 wound in a spiral shape is fixed to the outer periphery of the support flange part 13, and the outer end is fixed to the inner periphery of the supported flange portion 19. On the other hand, the shape memory alloy body 5 is placed below the space S2.
A ring-shaped heater winding 51 is housed along the lower end of the coil. Further, a detection switch 52 is disposed on the lower surface of the upper surface portion 12 in the vicinity of the support flange portion 13 to detect displacement due to application of an external force. Touches the top surface. In addition, in FIG. 4, 37-2 is a solenoid in the left rearview mirror device, 38-2 is an interlocking switch on the left side, 43-2 is a changeover switch on the left side,
51-2 is a heater winding on the left side, 52-2 is a detection switch on the left side, and 47.48 is a power input terminal, which is connected to a DC power source such as an on-board battery. In FIG. 4, the upper row shows the control system for the right rearview mirror device, and the lower row shows the control system for the left rearview mirror device. [0023] Next, the electrical control system and the overall operation will be specifically described with reference to FIGS. 2 to 4. First, when the driver presses and operates a self-return switch SWR disposed inside the vehicle interior or the like, the circuit is energized and the movable core 37a of the solenoid 37 is immersed into the solenoid 37.
The engagement between the movable core 37a and the cutout recess 27 is released. Further, the motor 9 rotates normally, and the rotation of the motor 9 thereby rotates the drive plate 23 in the direction D in FIG. 3 via the gear mechanism 10. When the movable core 37a is inserted into the solenoid 37, the interlocking switch 38 is turned on, and the switch S
Even if the push operation of WR is released, the motor 9 continues to rotate, and this rotation continues until the movable core 37a engages with the notch recess 28, so there is no need to keep pressing the switch during operation, and there is no problem in operation. On the other hand, the rotation of the driving plate 23 is caused by the rotation of the driven plate 22.
The rotation of the driven plate 22 is further transmitted to the driven shaft 17 to rotate the rearview mirror device main body 5. [0024] When the rearview mirror device body 5 rotates and reaches the storage position from the use position, the protrusion 33 engages the arm 4 of the cam switch 40.
1a is pressed to rotate the cam switch 40, change the polarity changeover switch 43, and set the motor 9 to the opposite polarity. If the switch SWR is pressed again from this state, the motor 9 rotates in the reverse direction, causing the drive plate 23 to rotate in the F direction. This rotation continues until the original state is restored, and when it stops, the changeover switch 43 is switched by pushing the protrusion 32. Therefore, it automatically returns to the normal use position. [0025] Note that the left rearview mirror device is configured in exactly the same manner, and the operations on the right and left sides may be performed independently or may be performed in conjunction with each other. [0026] Next, the self-return function of the vehicle rearview mirror device described above will be explained. Assume that the rearview mirror device main body 5 is currently in the use position, an unexpected external force acts on the rearview mirror device main body 5 in this position, and the rearview mirror device main body 5 is forcibly rotated by this external force. . In this case, the device main body 5 rotates while plastically deforming the shape memory alloy body 50, and the driven plate 22 also follows. At the same time, the clutch grooves 34 are removed from the clutch protrusions 35 of the drive plate 23 and are displaced upward along the shaft 17. As a result, the switch knob 52a is pressed and ○FF
Detection switch 52 is turned on. This O
With the N, the heater winding 51 connected in series with the detection switch 52 is energized and heated, and the shape memory alloy body 52 is also heated. Shape memory alloys are, for example, alloys of nickel and titanium that have the property of deforming at a temperature lower than a specific temperature (martensitic transformation temperature) and returning to their original shape when heated above that temperature. The plastically deformed shape memory alloy body 50 tries to return to its original shape, and at the same time, it also works to return the rearview mirror device main body 5 (mirror housing 6) to its original use position. Note that depending on the properties of the shape memory alloy, it is also possible to return it to its original shape by directly applying electricity. Then, when it returns to its original position, the clutch groove portion 34.
... are engaged with the clutch convex portion 35, and the detection switch 52 is thereby turned OFF. [0027] As described above, according to this embodiment, even if the rearview mirror device main body 5 is forcibly rotated and tilted by an external force, the rearview mirror device main body 5 is automatically rotated without any operation by the driver. returns to its original position. Therefore, unlike in the past, the driver manually or by operating a switch controls the rearview mirror device body 5.
There is no need to return the rearview mirror, reducing the burden on the driver and providing a convenient vehicle rearview mirror device. [0028]

【Effect of the invention】

As described above, according to the present invention, when the mirror housing is tilted due to an external force, the detection means detects this, and then the return means returns the mirror housing to its original position. Therefore, the driver does not have to return the mirror housing to its original position manually or by operating a switch as in the past, reducing the burden on the driver.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

[Fig. 1] Partially sectional front view of a vehicle rearview mirror device according to the present invention.

[Figure 2] Enlarged cross-sectional view of the assembled portion of the base member and mirror housing

[Figure 3] Cross-sectional view taken along line 3-3 in Figure 2

[Figure 4] Electrical control system circuit diagram

[Figure 5] View from arrow 5 in Figure 2

[Figure 6] 6-6 line sectional view in Figure 3

[Explanation of symbols]

3...Base member 6...Mirror housing 50...Return means 52...Detection means

[Document core]

[Figure 1] drawing

[Figure 2]

[Figure 3]

[Figure 4]

[Figure 5]

[Figure 6]

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A vehicle rearview mirror device comprising a base member fixed to a vehicle body side and a mirror housing rotatably held relative to the base member and housing the mirror, wherein the mirror housing is moved by an external force. A rearview mirror device for a vehicle, comprising: a detection means for detecting tilted mirror housing; and a return means for returning the tilted mirror housing to its original position.