JPH05147501A - Wiper control device for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a wiper control device for vehicle which ensures satisfactory front visibility without adverse effect given by a light source in front of a vehicle. CONSTITUTION:As a raindrop detecting means 5, light source detecting means 6, 7, an environmental illumination detecting means 8, and a control means 10 are provided, a light source in front of a vehicle can be detected when the vehicle runs under low environmental illumination and less raindrop conditions, and a wiper device can be forcibly operated regardless of operating cycles only when the existence of the light source in front of the vehicle is detected. Therefore, the vehicle can pass the light source in its condition that raindrops on the surface of a window glass is previously wiped out with forcible operation, and so no irregular reflection (dizziness) due to light from the light source occurs and satisfactory front visibility is ensured.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicle wiper control device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional vehicle wiper control device,
For example, there is a vehicle wiper control device having a structure in which the amount of raindrops on the windshield glass surface is detected by a raindrop detection sensor, and the operation cycle of the wiper device is made variable according to the detected amount of raindrops (Actual No. Sho 58-124359). , Actual Kaisho 5
8-1119752). That is, when there is a large amount of raindrops on the windshield glass surface (when there is a large amount of rainfall)
Is to control the wiper device operating period to increase the number of times the wiper arm swings and to continuously wipe off the raindrops on the windshield glass surface. Conversely, when the amount of raindrops is small (when the amount of rainfall is small, ), The operation cycle of the wiper device is lengthened and the wiper arm is oscillated at regular intervals so that raindrops on the windshield glass surface are intermittently wiped off.

[0003]

However, in such a conventional technique, the operation cycle of the wiper device is optimally controlled according to the amount of raindrops, and particularly when the amount of raindrops is small. Since the minimum necessary operation cycle that can wipe the small amount of raindrops to secure the front visibility is selected and unnecessary wiping operation is not performed, the situation as shown in FIG. 10 described below. The problem is how to deal with.

That is, in a low illuminance environment such as at dusk or at night, and when the amount of raindrops is small and the wiper device (not shown) wipes the windshield glass W intermittently, the vehicle C is not yet used. When passing under a light source such as a streetlight G with the wiped raindrop R left on the surface of the windshield glass W, the light from the streetlight G is diffusely reflected by the raindrop R on the windshield glass W. However, there is a possibility that the entire surface of the windshield glass W may be shined white for a moment. And, such a phenomenon is caused especially when the light from the light source enters the windshield glass W from an obliquely upper side at an angle θ of about 45 to 60 °, and the windshield glass W has a water-repellent coating treatment on its surface. Was notable.

The present invention was made by paying attention to such a conventional technique, and even under the above-mentioned circumstances,
(EN) A wiper control device for a vehicle capable of sufficiently ensuring front visibility.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, a vehicle wiper control device according to the present invention includes raindrop detecting means for detecting the amount of raindrops or the amount of rainfall on the windshield glass surface, and a vehicle front A light source detecting means for detecting a certain light source, and an environment illuminance detecting means for detecting an environment illuminance outside the vehicle,
And a control means for controlling the operation of the wiper device according to the input signal from each of the detection means.

[0007]

According to the vehicle wiper control device of the present invention, since the raindrop detecting means, the light source detecting means, the environmental illuminance detecting means, and the controlling means having the above contents are provided, the environmental illuminance is low and the raindrops are few. When the vehicle is traveling under the circumstances,
When the light source in front of the vehicle is detected, the wiper device can be activated in advance. Therefore, the vehicle can pass through the light source in a state where the raindrops on the windshield glass are wiped in advance by this forced operation, so diffuse reflection (dazzle) due to the light from the light source does not occur, and sufficient front visibility is secured. To be done.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.
It will be explained based on. First, the basic configuration of the vehicle wiper control device according to this embodiment is shown in FIG. In FIG. 1, 1 is a wiper control device and 2 is a wiper device. The wiper control device 1 detects a vehicle speed detecting means 3 for detecting a traveling speed of a vehicle C, a wiper switch 4 for turning on / off the wiper device 2, a raindrop detecting means 5 for detecting a rainfall amount, and a light source on the front right side of the vehicle. Light source detection means (R) for
6, a light source detection means (L) 7 for detecting the light source on the left side, an environment illuminance detection means 8 for detecting the environment illuminance Lx outside the vehicle, and an upward angle θ for adjusting the light source detection means 6, 7. It comprises an actuator 9 and a control means 10 for controlling the operation of the wiper device 2 in response to input signals from the detection means and the like. The wiper device 2 includes a wiper motor 11 and a link mechanism 1.
2, the wiper arm 13, and the wiper arm 13. The windshield glass W has a water-repellent coating on its surface.

Now, the left and right light source detecting means 6 and 7 will be described. The light source detection means 6 and 7 have a structure in which the illuminance sensor 14 is provided with directivity by providing the illuminance sensor 14 that responds to the amount of light in the cylindrical holder 15. Further, in order to correspond to the street lights G on both sides of the road, the left and right light source detection means 6 and 7 respectively face outward by angles α and β in plan view. Further, as shown in FIG. 5, the upward angle θ of the light source detecting means 6 and 7 is 60 ° (θ ₁ ) to 60 ° (θ ₁ ) depending on the vehicle speed by the actuator 9.
It can be adjusted in the range of 45 ° (θ ₂ ).
That is, as the vehicle speed V increases, the light source detection means 6 and 7
The angle θ of the upward direction is reduced so that the light source such as the street light G can be detected earlier when the vehicle is traveling at high speed. Also, when brought close to the upward angle θ horizontally and too small, the light also will be detected from such oncoming headlamps, upward light detecting means 6 and 7 even when the _one or more predetermined vehicle speed V The angle θ is set to θ ₂ so as not to change.

Next, the operation of the vehicle wiper control device will be described. As for the situation setting, when the vehicle C is traveling at night and the wiper device 2 has a long operation cycle (only intermittent operation is necessary), the amount of light rain is such that the vehicle C is now on the street light G. The situation is trying to pass under.
On the surface of the windshield glass W of the vehicle C, there are some raindrops accumulated during the stop time until the next wiping by the wiper device 2, and if it passes under the street light G in this state, it should be The diffused reflection of light from the streetlight G causes the entire windshield glass W to glow white, which may momentarily hinder the front visibility of the driver. However, according to the vehicle wiper control device 1 of this embodiment, even when the vehicle C approaches the street light G even under the above-mentioned situation, the light from the street light G is detected by the light source detection means 6 and 7. Even if the wiper device 2 is in the stop time until the next wiping, the control means 10 forces the wiper device 2 to wipe the windshield glass W at that time.

Therefore, since the vehicle C passes under the streetlight G in a state where the raindrops on the windshield glass W have been wiped in advance, the front visibility of the driver may be impaired as described above. Absent.

Next, a specific control method by the control means 10 will be described. The control by the control means 10 has three types of control routines for each cycle t ₁ , t ₂ , and t ₃ .

A control routine for each cycle t ₁ (see FIGS. 6 and 7)
Reference): This control routine is for calculating the operation cycle Ts of the wiper device 2. The amount of rainfall M is detected by the raindrop detecting means 5 (step S10), and then the ON / OFF state of the wiper switch 4 is detected in step S11. Only when the wiper switch 4 is in the ON state, the wiper device is detected according to the detected rainfall amount M. The operation cycle Ts of 2 is calculated (step S12). This operation cycle Ts is shown in FIG.
As shown in, the greater the amount of rainfall M, the shorter
When the rainfall amount M becomes equal to or more than the constant rainfall amount M ₁ , the operation cycle Ts becomes “0”, and the wiper device 2 is continuously operated.

A control routine for each cycle t ₂ (see FIG. 8)
Reference: This control routine is for outputting an operation command to the wiper device 2 for each calculated operation cycle Ts. First, it is determined that the wiper switch 4 is ON, and this control routine is started (step S20). Then, it is determined whether or not the timer 1 is equal to or longer than the calculated operation cycle Ts (step S21), and if it is equal to or larger than Ts, the timer 1 is cleared and set to "0" (step S22), and then the wiper device. The operation command is output to 2 (block 23). If the timer 1 is less than Ts in step S21, the timer 1 is counted by "+1" in step S24, and the timer 1 is temporarily ended to wait for the next start. When the wiper switch 4 is OFF in step S20, this control routine clears the timer 1 in step S25 and ends as it is.

A control routine for each cycle t ₃ (see FIG. 9)
Illumination : This control routine is for detecting the light source such as the street light G and forcibly operating the wiper device 2 even during the operation stop time. First, in step S30, the ON / OFF state of the wiper switch 4 is determined, and the process proceeds to the next step S31 only when the wiper switch 4 is in the ON state. In block 31, the environment illuminance detecting means 8 determines the environment illuminance Lx outside the vehicle, and when the environment illuminance Lx outside the vehicle is equal to or less than a predetermined value, the process proceeds to the next step S32. That is,
When traveling in the daytime or in a tunnel where lighting is installed, since the illuminance outside the vehicle is high (because it is bright), the control routine for each cycle t ₃ does not work, and the wiper device 2 is controlled only by the control routine described above.

Then, in the next step S32, it is determined whether or not the light source detection means 6 and 7 have detected a light source in front of and above the vehicle. Here, when the light source is detected, it is determined in step S33 whether the time Tr from the time when the light source is detected last time is larger than a predetermined value. When the time Tr is equal to or less than the predetermined value, it means that the light sources such as the street light G are arranged at short intervals. Therefore, in such a case, the light sources such as the street light G are thinned out and detected. It has become. That is, when the street lights G are continuously arranged at short intervals, the wiper device 2 is prevented from operating more frequently than necessary in response to the continuous street lights G.

Next, in step S34, the cycle t ₁
It is determined whether or not the operation cycle Ts of the wiper device 2 calculated by the control routine for each is equal to or greater than a certain threshold value. This is because when the operation cycle Ts is short, the wiper device 2 is already operating in a substantially continuous state, and it is not necessary to detect the street light G and forcibly operate it. It is necessary to forcibly operate the wiper device 2 for each street light G when the rainfall amount M is small and the operation cycle Ts is relatively long, which is equal to or greater than the threshold value.

Then, in step S35, the timer 1
Is greater than the operating cycle Ts, and it is determined in step S36 whether the timer 1 is equal to or more than the threshold value. That is, in steps S35 and S36, "threshold value ≤ timer 1 <Ts" is comprehensively determined, and even if the wiper device 2 is in the intermittent operation stop time (timer 1 <Ts), the normal intermittent operation is performed. Immediately after the wiping operation (threshold value> timer 1), there is no raindrop on the windshield glass W without forcibly operating the wiper device 2. Therefore, in such a case, it is eliminated, and the wiping by the normal intermittent operation is performed to some extent. The wiper operation command is output in step S37 only when the time of (3) has elapsed (threshold value ≦ timer 1). After the wiper operation command is output, the timer 1 is cleared in step S38, and then this control routine is ended.

As described above, in the control routine for each cycle t ₃ , the windshield glass W of the driving vehicle is used.
Only when the forward visibility through the wiper device can be truly impaired, the wiper device 2 can be forced to operate even during the stoppage time of the intermittent operation.

In the above description, the street light G which emits light from the front and the upper side of the vehicle is taken as an example of the "light source", but the windshield glass W is located at a relatively high position such as a bus or a truck. Since a certain type of vehicle may be dazzled by light from below, such as an oncoming vehicle, the light source is not necessarily limited to the one located above. In short, the present invention is applicable to all light sources that can cause diffused reflection by raindrops on the surface of the windshield glass W.

[0021]

The vehicle wiper control device according to the present invention has the contents described above, and includes the raindrop detecting means, the light source detecting means, the environmental illuminance detecting means, and the controlling means. When the vehicle is traveling under the condition of low environmental illuminance and few raindrops, the light source in front of the vehicle can be detected, and only when the presence of the light source in front of the vehicle is detected, the wiper device temporarily stops the intermittent operation. Even it can be forced to operate. Therefore, the vehicle can pass through the light source in a state where the raindrops on the surface of the windshield glass are wiped in advance, so that diffuse reflection (glare) due to the light from the light source does not occur and sufficient front visibility is secured.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a vehicle wiper control device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a relationship between a vehicle and a street light.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the vehicle.

FIG. 4 is a schematic explanatory view showing a light source detection means.

FIG. 5 is a graph showing the relationship between the upward angle of the light source detection means and the vehicle speed.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a control routine for each cycle t ₁ .

FIG. 7 is a graph showing the relationship between the operating cycle and the amount of rainfall.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a control routine for each cycle t ₂ .

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a control routine for each cycle t ₃ .

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram corresponding to FIG. 2 showing a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 wiper control device 2 wiper device 5 raindrop detection means 6, 7 light source detection means 8 environmental illuminance detection means 10 control means W windshield glass G street light (light source)

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. Raindrop detection means for detecting the amount of raindrops or rainfall on the surface of the windshield glass, light source detection means for detecting a light source in front of the vehicle, and environmental illuminance detection means for detecting the environmental illuminance outside the vehicle. A wiper control device for a vehicle, comprising: a control device that controls the operation of the wiper device according to an input signal from the detection device. 2. The vehicle wiper control device according to claim 1, wherein the windshield glass is a water-repellent windshield glass. 3. The vehicle wiper control device according to claim 1, wherein the light source detection means detects a light source located in front of the vehicle, particularly above the vehicle.