JPH05105033A - Windshield wiper storage device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a windshield wiper storage device which is able to reduce the secure good sealability, in this device for the vehicle with an almost vertical front panel surface. CONSTITUTION:In a windshield wiper storage device of a vehicle with an almost vertical front panel surface 10, it is provided with a first panel member 21 being formed in the lower part of a windshield surface 11 and forming a part of the front panel, a second panel member 23 being installed in parallel with an inner part of the first panel member via a connecting member 22, and having almost the same curvature surface with the first panel member, a wiper assembly 3 attaching a windshield wiper to a surface side of the second panel member and a wiper driving part 30 to the backside, respectively, and a retractable means 4 constituting a panel unit, consisting of both these first and second panel members, to make each panel member possible to advance or retreat up to a position where they are almost flush with the front panel surface.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a wiper storage device provided for wiping a windshield surface of an automobile, and more particularly to a wiper storage device for a vehicle having a substantially vertical front panel surface.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a retractable wiper in which a storage chamber is provided between a hood and a windshield and a wiper assembly is stored in the storage chamber is well known. For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 62-91341 discloses a retractable wiper having a shutter that closes an opening above the storage chamber.

That is, according to this prior art, the louver 28 shown in FIG. 3 (A) of the same publication slides the opening 29 of the storage chamber 16 along the guide rail 30 by rotating the louver motor 34. Then it can be closed. If the louver 28 is slid into the storage chamber 16 and then the pop-up motor 44 is normally rotated, the wiper assembly 10 will be in a pop-up state as shown in FIG. 3 (B). Therefore, when the wiper assembly 10 is stored, the opening 29 is closed by the louver 28, and the windshield 12 is closed.
The surface of the hood 14 and the surface of the louver 28 are flattened,
The air resistance of the vehicle is reduced. Further, since the wiper assembly 10 does not project to the outer surface of the vehicle, it is possible to eliminate the interference with the vehicle cover, the car wash device, etc., and the application of unreasonable external force to the wiper assembly 10.

[0004]

However, even the above-mentioned conventional techniques still have problems. That is, in the prior art, firstly, the opening / closing means of the lid body and the pop-up means of the wiper assembly must be double provided. Therefore, the structure of the storage room has become complicated, and the mechanism for controlling them has to be complicated.

Further, as a second problem of the above-mentioned prior art, since the lid body is structured to open and close while sliding substantially parallel to the front panel, it tends to be a cantilever support structure. Therefore, in a vehicle with a front panel formed substantially vertically, such as a cab-over truck,
There was a problem with strength due to loss of wind pressure during driving. Moreover,
In the structure that moves in parallel with the front panel, in a vehicle in which the front panel is formed with a slight inclination angle such as a passenger car, it is possible to close the contact surface between the front panel and the cover in a sealable manner. Was difficult. Also,
Both the sealing structure for washing the vehicle in the closed state and the sealing structure for traveling in the rain in the pop-up state must be considered. In particular, in the state where the wiper assembly pops up after the lid 28 is slid and retracted so that the molding 114 to which the wiper assembly is attached and the panel opening 29 are substantially flush with each other, as in the prior art, In order to seal the molding 114 with respect to the opening 29, the retracted lid 28 must be taken into consideration, so that a complete seal is difficult to obtain and a more complicated structure is required.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned drawbacks of the prior art.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a wiper storage device for a vehicle having a substantially vertical front panel surface, which can reduce air resistance of the vehicle, improve the style of the vehicle, and ensure the sealing property.

[0007]

According to the present invention, there is provided a first panel member formed below a windshield surface and forming a part of a front panel, and a first panel member parallel to an inner side of the first panel member via a connecting member. A second panel member having substantially the same curvature surface as that of the first panel member, and a wiper assembly in which a wiper is attached to the front side of the second panel member and a wiper drive unit is attached to the back side thereof. A panel unit including the first and second panel members, and an advancing / retreating means configured to be capable of advancing or retracting to a position where each panel member is substantially flush with the front panel surface. ..

[0008]

According to such technical means, when the wiper is not used, the first panel member forming a part of the front panel is
When the first panel member is retracted by the advancing / retreating means until it becomes substantially flush with the front panel, the first panel member is formed so as to form part of the front panel.
The air resistance of the vehicle can be reduced, and the sealing performance can be easily ensured.

Further, when the wiper is used, when the panel unit is moved forward by the advancing / retreating means so that the second panel member is substantially flush with the front panel, the second panel member has substantially the same curvature as the first panel member. Since they have the surfaces and are arranged substantially parallel to each other, the sealing property with the front panel can be ensured similarly to the above. In addition, since the wiper drive unit is attached to the back side of the second panel member that secures the sealing property as described above, the wiper drive unit can be protected from water leakage due to rainfall.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below as an example with reference to the drawings. However, unless otherwise specified, the dimensions, materials, shapes, relative positions, etc. of the components described in this embodiment are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention thereto, but are merely illustrative examples. Not too much.

FIG. 1 is a sectional side view showing the configuration of a wiper storage device according to the present invention. FIG.
(B) shows a wiper storage device when the wiper is used,
FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an outline of the wiper storage device.
In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a vehicle body, and a storage chamber 17 that bulges rearward under a substantially vertical windshield 11 arranged on the front surface of the vehicle body 1.
The panel unit 2 is fitted through the opening 15 of the storage chamber 17 so as to be able to move back and forth in the storage chamber 17.

The panel unit 2 has a curved surface which continuously connects the lower edge line of the windshield 11 and the upper edge line of the front panel 10, and the outer panel 21 which covers the opening portion 15, and the outer panel 21. An inner panel 23 having a curvature surface parallel to the outer panel 21 and disposed with a predetermined gap from the outer panel 21, and the outer panel 21.
A substantially horizontal cowl base 22 that connects a substantially middle portion of the inner panel 23 to the lower end side of the inner panel 23, and a motor mounting plate that is installed upright on the rearward extending portion of the cowl base 22 substantially parallel to the inner panel 23 with a predetermined gap. And 24 together.

The panel unit 2 is provided with a pair of left and right wiper assemblies 3. That is, an arm shaft case 26, which rotatably houses a wiper drive shaft 32, is fixedly penetrated through the inner panel 23 at a predetermined interval, and the wiper drive shaft 3 protruding toward the front side of the inner panel 23.
2, a wiper 25 composed of a wiper arm 27 and a wiper blade 28 is engaged, and the wiper drive shaft 32 is reciprocally rotated to swing the wiper blade 28 in a substantially arc shape, and the windshield 11 on the front surface of each occupant. Is configured to dispel.

On the back surface of the inner panel 23,
A pair of left and right wiper drive units 30 are provided respectively corresponding to the left and right arm shaft cases 26. The wiper drive unit 30 includes a wiper motor 31 fixedly mounted on the motor mounting plate 24, a wiper drive shaft 32 that is an output shaft of the motor 31 and engages a wiper crank 33 at its shaft end, and the arm shaft case 26. An arm shaft 36 which is rotatably disposed at the center of the armature and has one end engaged with the wiper arm 27 and the other end engaged with the arm crank 35, and the wiper crank 33 and the arm crank 35 are rotated. It is configured with a wiper crank 33 that is freely connected. In addition,
The wiper motor 31 is a pulse motor, and a pulse control device for the wiper motor 31 (not shown) stores the wiper in the retracted state, and the wiper blade 28 is positioned near the lower edge of the windshield 11 from the retracted state. , And the rising state, the wiping range is controlled so as to perform a reciprocating arc motion.

Further, the cross-sectional shape of the storage wall 17 of the storage chamber 16 extends rearward from the upper edge of the panel opening 15 to the extent that the rear end portion of the wiper drive portion 30 is accommodated, and then,
After the cowl base 22 is lowered substantially vertically to a point where it can be stored, the cowl base 22 is extended substantially horizontally to the front side, and further, a substantially vertical advancing / retreating device base 18 is formed with a predetermined gap from the front panel 11. The lower edge of the opening 15 is stretch-bonded. The advancing / retreating device base 18 has a height below the cowl base 22 that can accommodate the advancing / retreating device 4.

The advancing / retreating device 4 includes the motor mounting plate 2
4, a panel advancing / retreating motor 70 having a pinion 71 fixedly provided substantially at the center of the outer panel 2
1 a pair of cam mechanisms 40 engaged with the rear surface, and an upper side that engages with the pair of cam mechanisms 40, respectively, and is driven by the panel advancing / retreating motor 70 in a bilaterally symmetrical direction to advance / retreat the cam mechanism 40 in the front-back direction. It is composed of a wire 72 and a lower wire 73.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing the structure of the cam mechanism according to the embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3A shows the driver side when the wiper storage device is stored in the storage chamber 16. FIG. 3B shows the cam mechanism 40 arranged in FIG. 3, and shows the state when the apparatus is advanced to the front.

Reference numeral 48 is a rail fixed to the advancing / retreating device base 18 which is a vertical portion of the storage wall 17, and is shown as if the vertical front portion was cut and removed on the paper surface.

The cam mechanism 40 includes an outer panel 21.
A stay 41 fixed to the first link 42 and rotatably engaged with the first link 42 via a support shaft 43;
A length of about ⅓ of a second link 45, one end of which is rotatably engaged via a support shaft 44 fixed to the outside, and the other end of the second link 45 and a support shaft 47. Struts 46 which are rotatably engaged with each other and whose base ends are fixedly mounted on the rails 48.
And are included.

Further, in the cam mechanism 40, in addition to the above-mentioned components, a cam shaft 52 fixedly provided on the center side after the length of the first link is approximately ⅓ is penetratingly connected to the cam mechanism 40, and A reciprocating carriage 60 having a plurality of bearings 61 incorporated inside and rolling in a groove (not shown) provided in the rail 48, and a reciprocating carriage 60 incorporated in the reciprocating carriage 60 and parallel to the rail 48. A slide cam surface that has a cam slit 51 on which the cam shaft 52 slides, and further slides on a slide pin 54 that is inclined toward the rail 48 on the inner end surface and fixed to the center end side of the first link 42. And a reciprocating cam 50 that slides left and right on the surface of the rail 48, is incorporated inside the reciprocating cam 50, is engaged with the cam shaft 52, is engaged with the lower wire 73, and , A carriage 6 that slides on the surface of the rail 48 Is constructed from a (see FIG. 1).

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described. First,
With the wiper storage device stored in the storage chamber 16,
When the panel advancing / retreating motor 70 is activated and the pinion 71 rotates, the outer ends of the upper wire 72 and the lower wire 73 are symmetrically driven to extend outward. The driver's seat side carriage 62 engaged with the lower wire 73 starts to move outward along the rail 48 together with the carriage 60 and the first link penetratingly engaged via the cam shaft 52. ..

As a result, the guide pin 55 fixedly provided on the rear side of the center of the first link is guided by the guide groove 56 provided on the outer side of the reciprocating cam 50 so as to be inclined forward in the center, and the stay is maintained. It acts to push 41 forward, and at the same time acts to move the reciprocating cam 50 outward.
Further, the cam shaft 52 slides in the cam slit 51, and the slide pin 54 retracts rearward along the cam slide surface 53. Further, the support shaft 44 of the second link 45 moves the stay 41 forward through the support shaft 43 of the first link while drawing an arc with the support shaft 47 as a center point and a radius of the shaft distance. Support the movement to do.

After the guide pin 55 leaves the guide groove 56 and the cam shaft 52 continues to move outward, the stay 41 is continuously pushed forward through the support shaft 43 with the cam shaft 52 as a fulcrum. The slide pin 54 also moves the reciprocating cam 50 outward through the slide cam surface 53.

Finally, as shown in FIG. 3B, when the cam shaft 52 reaches the end of the cam slit 51 and the slide pin 54 reaches the end of the cam slide surface 53, the lower wire 73 is reached. The open dog 77 fixed at the end of the rail 4
The open limit switch 74 arranged outside 8 is operated to stop the rotation of the panel advancing / retreating motor 70.

In the state in which the panel unit 2 has completed its forward movement as described above, the force acting on the outer panel 21 passes through the stay 41 and the support shaft 43, the cam shaft 52 and the slide pin 54, the support shaft 44, and the second support shaft. It is stably supported by the rail 48 via the support shaft 47 of the link 45. Further, the inner panel 23 is also located on the same plane as the windshield 11.

When the wiper motor 31 is operated in a state where the panel unit 2 has completed its forward movement, the wiper blade is rised from the retracted state to the vicinity of the lower edge of the windshield 11, and then the reciprocating arc motion is performed. The windshield 11 is repeatedly wiped.

The cam mechanism 40 on the driver side and the wiper assembly 3 have been described above, but the cam mechanism 4 on the passenger side is described.
With respect to 0, the same operation is performed, although it is symmetrical. That is, the carriage 62 that engages with the upper wire 72 is also extended outward, so that the first shaft is moved through the cam shaft 52.
The link 42 is pushed forward, and the panel unit 2 is moved forward via the stay 41 and the outer panel 21.

Next, the operation of housing the panel unit 2 after the wiper assembly 3 is stopped and the wiper blade 28 is put into the retracted state will be described. When the panel advancing / retreating motor 70 is rotated in the opposite direction to the above, the upper wire 72,
The outer ends of the lower wires 73 are both driven inward toward the inner side.

By driving the lower wire 73, the cam shaft 52 also starts to move inward along the rail 48 together with the carriage 60 and the first link 42 via the carriage 62 engaged with the lower wire 73. ..

The first link 42 has a slide pin 54.
Moves along the cam slide surface 53, the cam shaft 52 is also guided and moved by the cam slit 51, and the guide pin 55 engages with the guide groove 56 on the way until it is positioned substantially parallel to the rail 48. It retreats together with the outer panel 21.

Finally, a closed dog 75 fixed to the inner end of the upper wire 72 actuates a closed limit switch 74 arranged at an appropriate position on the rail 48 to stop the rotation of the panel advancing / retreating motor 70. (See FIG. 3A). The cam mechanism 40 on the passenger seat side also operates in the same manner as the cam mechanism 40 on the driver seat side to move the panel unit 2 in parallel with the front panel 10.

As described above, when the storage operation of the panel unit 2 is completed, the stay 41 fixed to the outer panel 21 and the support shaft 43 are further supported via the guide pin 55 and the cam shaft 52. The outer panel 21 is stably and surely fixed to the panel opening 15 via 44 and 47.
Further, since the outer panel 21 corresponds to the outer edge shape of the panel opening 15 and the inner panel 23 also corresponds to the inner shape near the outer edge of the storage wall 18, it is possible to store the wiper storage device in the stored state. Also, the sealing property can be secured even when the wiper is used.

[0033]

As described above, according to the present invention, the panel unit in which the wiper assembly is arranged has the first panel member forming a part of the front panel and the same curvature surface as the first panel member. Since the second panel members are arranged with a predetermined interval, the style of the vehicle is improved in each state by simply operating the advancing / retreating device so that the respective panel members are flush with the front panel. The air resistance can be reduced, and the sealing property can be easily secured. Further, since the wiper drive unit is attached to the rear surface side of the second panel in which the sealing property is secured, the wiper drive unit can be protected from rainfall even when the wiper is in use. And so on.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional side view showing the configuration and operation of a wiper storage device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of a front surface of a vehicle including a wiper storage device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing the detailed configuration and operation of a cam mechanism of the advancing / retreating device of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 vehicle 2 panel unit 3 wiper assembly 4 advancing / retracting means 10 front panel 11 windshield 21 first panel member 22 connecting member 23 second panel member 25 wiper 30 wiper drive unit

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Satoru Igarashi 10 Okuramachi, Nakahara-ku, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa Mitsubishi Motors Engineering Co., Ltd. Tokyo office

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A wiper storage device for a vehicle having a substantially vertical front panel surface, comprising: a first panel member formed below the windshield surface and forming a part of the front panel; and the first panel member via a connecting member. A second panel member that is arranged in parallel inside the panel member and has substantially the same curvature surface as the first panel member; and a wiper on the front surface side of the second panel member and a wiper drive unit on the back surface side. A wiper assembly attached thereto; and an advancing / retreating means configured to advance or retract the panel unit including the first and second panel members to a position where the respective panel members are substantially flush with the front panel surface. Wiper storage device