JPH055101Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Industrial application field] The present invention relates to outside mirrors such as side mirrors and door mirrors for automobiles, and in particular transmits the vibrations of a piezoelectric vibrator to a mirror support. The present invention relates to an outside mirror with a water droplet removal mechanism that can scatter water droplets adhering to the mirror surface by vibrating the supported mirror to obtain good rearward visibility.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, when water droplets adhere to the outside mirror used in automobiles, a mechanism was developed in which a small wiper blade for the mirror was used to wipe the mirror surface as a means of removing the water droplets and obtaining good rearward visibility. -82954), a mechanism in which an ultrasonic vibrator is attached to the back of the mirror and the vibrator causes the mirror to vibrate ultrasonically to atomize and remove water droplets attached to the mirror surface (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 59-8548); A mechanism in which a piezoelectric vibrator is attached to the back of the mirror, a raindrop sensor is attached to the mirror surface or the mirror housing surface, and this sensor automatically vibrates the piezoelectric vibrator to scatter water droplets on the mirror surface.
82850) etc. have been proposed.

[Problem that the invention attempts to solve]

In the first conventional example above, in order to attach the wiper blade, not only is it necessary to increase the size of the entire mirror, but also the wiper blade reduces the rear visibility area, making it difficult to capture rearward images. .

In the second conventional example, since an ultrasonic vibrator is used, only slight vibrations can be applied to the mirror, and there is a problem that the effect of atomizing and removing water droplets cannot be sufficiently achieved.

In addition, in the third conventional example, since the piezoelectric vibrator is attached directly to the mirror surface, only slight vibrations can be applied to the mirror, and water droplets attached to the mirror surface cannot be sufficiently scattered and removed. In addition, since a raindrop sensor is used, there is a risk that water droplet removal will not be performed due to its ability to detect the amount of rain.

[Summary of the idea]

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention supports a mirror 2 on a mirror support 1 as shown in the figure, and vibrates the mirror support 1 into a mirror housing 3.
The mirror housing 3 is supported by a casing 4, the base of a piezoelectric vibrator 5 is fixed in the casing 4, one end of an elastic member 6 is attached to the tip of the piezoelectric vibrator 5, and the elastic member 6 is Part 6
A striker 8 is fixed to the other end, and a piezoelectric vibrator 5 is attached to a vibration receiver 7 provided on the mirror support 1.
The structure is such that the vibration of the striker 8 of the elastic member 6 can be transmitted.

[Action]

When an alternating current voltage is applied between the electrodes of the piezoelectric vibrator 5, the piezoelectric vibrator 5 vibrates, and the elastic member 6 attached to it and the striker 8 at its tip resonate and vibrate greatly. 8 hits the vibration receiving part 7 of the mirror support 1, the mirror support 1 and the mirror 2 supported by it are greatly vibrated, and the water droplets attached to the surface of the mirror 2 are scattered and removed. .

[Specific explanation of the idea]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below based on the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view showing the configuration of a first embodiment of the mirror of the present invention, in which 1 is a mirror support, and 2 is an outside mirror such as a side mirror or a door mirror supported by the mirror support 1. The mirror support body 1 is supported by a mirror housing 3 by a spring 9, and this mirror housing 3 is supported by a casing 4 by a support member 12 of a pivot 11 that is tiltably fitted into a pivot receiver 10 formed therein. ing.

13 and 14 are springs (elastic members), respectively.
The through hole 9 and the through hole of the pivot receiver 10 serve to enable the mirror support 1 to vibrate and to regulate the amplitude of the vibration. The spring 9 functions to position the mirror support 1 at the center when the vibration stops.

7 is a vibration hole 15 provided in the mirror support 1
A vibration receiving part 5 formed opposite to the piezoelectric vibrator 5 is a piezoelectric vibrator, and the base of the piezoelectric vibrator 5 is supported by the case of the inverter 16. The inverter 16 applies an alternating voltage between the electrodes of the piezoelectric vibrator 5 to vibrate the vibrator 5, and is attached to a support base 17 fixed to the casing 4. 18 is a power cord for applying voltage from a battery installed in the automobile to the input terminal of the inverter 16; 19;
is a base that is attached to the vehicle body or door.

One end of an elastic member (for example, a spring material such as phosphor bronze) 6 is attached to the tip of the piezoelectric vibrator 5, and a striker 8 made of hard rubber or the like is fixed to the other end of this elastic member 6. ing.

In the first embodiment described above, when water droplets adhere to the surface of the mirror 2, when the AC voltage output from the inverter 16 is applied between the electrodes of the piezoelectric vibrator 5, the piezoelectric vibrator 5 vibrates, and the The elastic member 6 and the striker 8 at its tip resonate and vibrate greatly, and the striker 8 strikes the vibration receiving part 7 of the mirror support 1, causing the mirror support 1 and the mirror 2 supported thereto to vibrate greatly. is caused to vibrate greatly, and the water droplets adhering to the surface of the mirror 2 are scattered and removed.

In this case, the mirror support 1 is supported by the mirror housing 3 by the spring 9 loosely inserted into the through hole 13, and the mirror housing 3 is supported by the casing with its pivot receiver 10 loosely inserted into the through hole 14. Since the pivot 11 of the pivot support member 12 fixed to the mirror support member 4 is fitted in a tiltable manner, there is no risk of disturbing the vibration of the mirror support member 1.

Once the water droplets are removed, the vibration can be stopped by cutting off the AC voltage output to the electrodes of the piezoelectric vibrator 5. It is sufficient to apply an alternating current voltage to the electrodes of the piezoelectric vibrator 5 only when water droplet removal is required.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view showing the configuration of the second embodiment. In this second embodiment, the mirror support 1 is supported by the mirror housing 3 by an H-shaped connector 24 loosely inserted into the through hole 13, and supported by the mirror housing 3 by a spring 9 loosely inserted into the through hole 13. has been done. The mirror housing 3 is supported by the casing 4 by fitting a pivot 11 provided therein into a pivot receiver 10 of a support member 12 and fixing the support member 12 to the casing 4.

Furthermore, the base of the piezoelectric vibrator 5 is connected to the mirror housing 3.
It is attached to the fixed part 3a of. 25 is a lead wire connecting the output terminal of the inverter 16 and the electrode of the piezoelectric vibrator 5. 22 is mirror housing 3
A piezoelectric body is held in a forwardly curved shape by a holding portion 26 of the piezoelectric body 22, and a snap operation is performed by applying a positive wave or a negative wave of an alternating current voltage between the electrodes of this piezoelectric body 22. Reference numeral 21 denotes an actuator fixed to this piezoelectric body 22, and is loosely fitted into a through hole 20 provided in the mirror housing 3. This actuator 2
1 comes to engage and disengage from a vibration prevention hole 27 provided in the mirror support 1.

In this second embodiment, when removing water droplets attached to the surface of the mirror 2, a positive wave of AC voltage is applied between the electrodes of the piezoelectric body 22, and the piezoelectric body 22 and the actuator 21 are moved backward in a one-shot snap operation. By doing this, the actuator 21 is removed from the vibration prevention hole 27.

Thereafter, when an AC voltage output from the inverter 16 is applied between the electrodes of the piezoelectric vibrator 5, the piezoelectric vibrator 5 vibrates, and the elastic member 6 attached to it and the striker 8 at its tip resonate. This striking element 8 strikes the vibration receiving part 7 of the mirror support 1, causing the mirror support 1 and the mirror 2 supported by it to vibrate greatly, thereby removing water droplets attached to the surface of the mirror 2. It will be scattered and removed.

In this case, since the mirror support 1 is supported by the mirror housing 3 by the connector 24 loosely inserted into the through hole 13 and the spring 9, there is no possibility that the vibration of the mirror support 1 will be affected.

Once the water droplets are removed, the vibration can be stopped by cutting off the AC voltage output to the electrodes of the piezoelectric vibrator 5. An alternating current voltage may be applied to the electrodes of the piezoelectric vibrator 5 only when water droplet removal is required.

There is a risk that the mirror 2 may vibrate due to the road surface conditions during normal driving where water droplet removal is not required. By making a one-shot snap motion of 21 forward,
If the actuator 21 is engaged with the anti-vibration hole 27 and the mirror support 1 is locked, there is no possibility that the mirror support 1 and the mirror 2 supporting it will vibrate.

As described above, according to the present invention, the vibration of the piezoelectric vibrator 5 is increased by the elastic member 6 attached to the piezoelectric vibrator 5 and the striker 8 at the tip of the vibrator, and the vibration is increased to the mirror support 1 and the mirror 2 supported by the elastic member 6. Since the transmission is possible, water droplets adhering to the surface of the mirror 2 can be sufficiently scattered and removed reliably and quickly, and good rearward visibility can be obtained.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view showing the configuration of a first embodiment of the mirror of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view showing the configuration of the second embodiment. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Mirror support body, 2... Mirror, 3... Mirror housing, 4... Casing, 5... Piezoelectric vibrator, 6... Elastic member, 7... Vibration receiver, 8...
...Blower.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] A mirror is supported on a mirror support, the mirror support is supported in a vibrating manner on a mirror housing, the mirror housing is supported on a casing, the base of a piezoelectric vibrator is fixed within the casing, and the piezoelectric vibrator is One end of the elastic member is attached to the tip, and a striker is fixed to the other end of the elastic member, and the vibration of the striker of the elastic member by a piezoelectric vibrator is applied to a vibration receiver provided on the mirror support. An outside mirror with a water droplet removal mechanism configured to allow transmission of water.