JPH0527037A - Inter-vehicle distance measuring radar - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To simultaneously save the labor and achieve simple structure by carrying out the optical axis adjustment for a laser radar for the inter-vehicle distance measurement and the optical axis adjustment for a headlight body at the same time. CONSTITUTION:A headlight body 21 and laser radar devices 24 and 26 are arranged in parallel in the first and second movable frames 28 and 30 in the headlight case 31 of a vehicle, and the headlight body 21 and the laser radar devices 24 and 26 are held on an optical axis adjusting mechanism which is constituted of the first and second optical axis adjusting rods 32 and 33 and a ball bearing 29. Accordingly, the adjustment for the optical axis of the headlight body 21 and the adjustment for the optical axes of the laser radar devices 24 and 26 can be carried out at the same time, through the optical axis adjustment by the optical axis adjusting mechanism, and an inter-vehicle distance measuring radar which saves the labor in the optical axis adjustment work and the simplifies the optical axis adjusting mechanism can be obtained.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an inter-vehicle distance measuring radar in which a laser emitting unit and a laser receiving unit for measuring an inter-vehicle distance are installed in a vehicle headlamp case.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art There is a conventional inter-vehicle distance measuring radar provided for measuring a distance between traveling vehicles positioned in front and rear by a following vehicle as shown in FIGS. That is, in this conventional example, an opening window 3 is formed in a front bumper 2 of an automobile 1, a laser radar device 4 for measuring an inter-vehicle distance is provided inside the opening window 3, and a cover lens 5 is provided in the opening window 3. And a wiper device 6 for cleaning the cover lens 5. Since the laser radar device 4 is well known, a detailed description of its structure will be omitted.
Reference numeral 0 is a light receiving lens, 11 is a light receiving element, and the laser radar device 4 is connected via a connection harness 12 to a display unit and a control unit 13 installed near the driver's seat.
The inter-vehicle distance is displayed on the display 13 by the signal from the laser radar device 4.

[0003]

However, since such a conventional laser radar device has a structure which is independently attached to the bumper of the vehicle body or the front part of the vehicle body, the laser radar device having the independent structure is mounted on the vehicle body and the bumper. When it is attached to a laser beam, etc., the orientation must be adjusted so that the optical axis of the laser beam points to a predetermined position, and an optical axis adjustment mechanism as a means for this orientation adjustment must be provided. . Further, if the cover lens 5 becomes dirty, the transmittance of the laser beam is reduced and accurate distance measurement becomes impossible. Therefore, a wiper device for wiping the cover lens 5 is required. There is a problem in that the cost of the laser radar device is inevitably increased due to the addition of a wiper device or the above-mentioned optical axis adjustment mechanism, and further, it takes time to adjust the optical axis.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems of the related art. In a headlight such as a headlamp or fog lamp of a vehicle, for example, a headlamp case, the headlamp main body is provided. Together with the laser radar device, by further holding the headlamp body and the laser radar device in the same optical axis adjusting mechanism, by the optical axis adjustment by the optical axis adjusting mechanism, with the optical axis of the headlamp body The optical axis of the laser radar device can be adjusted at the same time, which enables labor saving of the optical axis adjustment work and simplification of the optical axis adjustment mechanism. Furthermore, by incorporating a laser radar device in the headlamp case,
An object of the present invention is to provide an inter-vehicle distance measuring radar in which a wiper device for cleaning a headlamp lens can also be used for cleaning a front surface of a laser radar device.

[0005]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below in detail based on the embodiments shown in the drawings.

In FIG. 3, reference numeral 21 is a headlamp body having a reflecting mirror 22 of a headlamp, which is an example of a headlamp, and a bulb 23, and 24 is a laser emitting element (not shown) and a laser condenser lens 25. A laser emitter,
26 is a polarization filter 27, a laser receiving element (not shown)
It is a laser receiver including the above. This laser receiver 2
6 and the internal structure of the laser light emitter 24 are the same as those of the conventional example, the detailed structure thereof will be omitted.

The three members of the headlamp body 21, the laser light emitter 24, and the laser light receiver 26 are collectively fixedly held on the first movable frame 28.
Are ball bearings 2 provided at symmetrical positions on the left and right sides.
It is supported by the second movable frame 30 via 9 so as to be vertically tiltable. The second movable frame 30 is
The headlamp case 31 is supported so as to be tiltable in the left-right direction with the one ball bearing 29 as a fulcrum. 32 is a headlamp case 31
The first optical axis adjusting rod 33, whose penetrating tip is connected to the first movable frame 28, is penetratingly held by the headlamp case 31, and the penetrating tip is the second movable frame. A second optical axis adjusting rod that is connected to the frame 30 and is operated by operating the first optical axis adjusting rod 32, so that the optical axes of the headlamp body 21, the laser light emitter 24, and the laser light receiver 26 are adjusted. Can be adjusted together in the vertical direction, and by operating the second optical axis adjusting rod 33, the headlamp body 21, the laser light emitter 24, and the laser light receiver 2 can be adjusted.
The optical axes of 6 can be adjusted together in the left-right direction. 34
Is a transparent headlamp lens attached to the front surface of the headlamp case 31, 35 is a wiper device for cleaning the surface of the headlamp lens 34, and 36 is a lens for detecting the degree of contamination of the headlamp lens 34. It is a dirt detector.

The structure of this embodiment has been described above. Next, the operation will be described. According to this embodiment, the headlamp body 21, the laser emitter 24, and the laser receiver 26 are all headlamps. It is housed in a case 31, and these three members are fixedly held by a first movable frame 28, and the first movable frame 28 is supported by a second movable frame 30. If the first optical axis adjusting rod 32 and / or the second optical axis adjusting rod 33 is operated to adjust the optical axis of the headlamp main body 21, the laser emitter is adjusted at the same time when the optical axis of the headlamp main body 21 is adjusted. The optical axes of 24 and the laser receiver 26 can also be adjusted.

Therefore, the optical axis adjusting mechanism of the headlamp main body 21 can also be used as the optical axis adjusting mechanism of the laser emitter and the laser receiver, the optical axis adjusting mechanism can be simplified, and the adjustment work of these optical axes is simplified. it can. Further, by housing the above three members in the headlamp case 31, the laser light emitter 24 and the laser light receiver 26 are operated by the operation of the wiper device 35 for cleaning the headlamp lens 34 attached to the headlamp case 31. The headlamp lens located in the front part can be wiped off when it is contaminated, and thereby lens transmission loss of laser light can be prevented in advance.

In the above embodiment, only one headlamp case of the pair of two headlamp cases is equipped with the laser emitting device 24 and the laser receiving device 26. However, the present invention is not limited to this. As shown, the respective laser emitters 24 and laser receivers 26 may be incorporated in both headlamp cases. In this case, since the vehicle body is equipped with two pairs of laser distance measuring devices, even if one of the laser light emitting device 24 or the laser light receiving device 26 fails, the distance measurement by the other laser light emitting device 24 or the laser light receiving device 26 is performed. It is possible and the reliability of distance measurement is improved.

Further, as shown in FIG. 5, even if the laser light emitter 24 is installed inside one headlamp case and the laser light receiver 26 is installed inside the other headlamp case, the purpose and effect of the present invention will be improved. can get. Further, although the above headlamps are all examples of headlamps, they may be fog lamps.

[0012]

As described above, the present invention projects a laser light signal toward a target vehicle, receives a reflected light signal of the signal at the target vehicle, and receives the reflected light signal from the time of projection of the signal. In an inter-vehicle distance measuring radar in which the distance to a target vehicle is known by measuring the time to time, a light emitter 24 that projects the laser light signal and a light receiver 26 that receives the reflected light signal are headlighted. It is housed in the headlamp case 31 closed by the lamp lens 34 so that the mounting posture is adjusted by the headlight optical axis adjusting device in conjunction with the headlight main body 21, and the laser light signal is received by the headlight. Since it is an inter-vehicle distance measuring radar in which a part of the lamp lens 34 is transmitted, according to this, the optical axis adjusting mechanism of the headlamp main body 21 can also be used as the optical axis adjusting mechanism of the laser emitter and the laser receiver. ,
The optical axis adjusting mechanism can be simplified, and the effect of adjusting the optical axes can be simplified.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of a conventional example.

FIG. 2 is a structural explanatory view of a conventional inter-vehicle distance measuring radar.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of an inter-vehicle distance measuring radar according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory view showing still another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

21: Headlamp body 22: Reflecting mirror 23: Bulb 24: Laser light emitting device 25: Laser condensing lens 26: Laser light receiving device 27: Polarizing filter 28: First movable frame 29: Ball bearing 30: Second movable frame 31: Headlamp Case 32: First Optical Axis Adjustment Rod 33: Second Optical Axis Adjustment Rod 34: Headlamp Lens 35: Wiper Device 36: Lens Contamination Detector

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A laser light signal is projected to a target vehicle, a reflected light signal of the signal at the target vehicle is received, and the time from the projection of the signal to the reception of the reflected light signal is measured. In a vehicle-to-vehicle distance measuring radar configured to know a distance to a target vehicle, a headlight lens (34) includes a light emitter (24) that projects the laser light signal and a light receiver (26) that receives the reflected light signal. ) Is housed in a headlamp case (31) that is closed by), and the headlamp optical axis adjusting device interlocks with the headlamp main body (21) to adjust the mounting posture, and the laser light signal is stored. Headlight lens (3
An inter-vehicle distance measuring radar characterized in that a part of 4) is transmitted. 2. The inter-vehicle distance measuring radar according to claim 1, further comprising a wiper device (35) for wiping the surface of the headlight lens (22).