JPH06156196A - Intermittent time control method of wiper - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable the intermittent operation of a wiper at an appropriate intermittent time interval in traveling in a rainy weather in a daytime and night time respectively. CONSTITUTION:The vehicle signal, the intermittent operation signal from a wiper switch 3, and the headlight operation signal from a headlight switch 4 are received by a main control circuit 1, and a wiper motor 6 is selectively driven according to the output of the main control circuit 1. An intermittent time setting map for the daytime and that for the night time which is shorter than that for the daytime are prepared in the main control circuit 1, the day or the night is judged by the ON/OFF of the headlight switch 4, and the map is selected, and the wiper is intermittently operated by obtaining the intermittent time according to the vehicle speed. This constitution shortens the intermittent time preferably without using the manual operation against the interruption of the visibility due to the headlight by the other vehicle at night, and the intermittent operation of the wiper can be executed.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for controlling an intermittent time of a wiper device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in an automobile wiper device, there is an intermittent wiper device capable of intermittently operating the wiper.
Further, an intermittent wiper device that changes the intermittent time in accordance with the change in vehicle speed is, for example, an actual open flat plate 2-210.
No. 74 and Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 2-60658. According to the vehicle speed compatible intermittent wiper device described above,
The wiper can be operated by automatically changing the intermittent operation of the wiper at an appropriate intermittent time according to the vehicle speed, and the annoyance of the manual intermittent time changing operation can be eliminated.

In addition, an intermittent wiper device, such as a raindrop sensor that operates a wiper depending on the amount of rainfall, can be controlled to change the intermittent time according to an external factor. There are various things.

[0004]

On the other hand, since water droplets adhere to the windshield during nighttime driving,
The field of vision is easily obstructed by the reflected light of the headlights and street lights of oncoming vehicles. When such intermittent operation is required during night driving, it is desirable to shorten the intermittent time as compared to daytime driving.However, in the conventional intermittent wiper device, such intermittent operation during night driving is required. The control could not be performed properly.

In view of the above problems of the prior art, a main object of the present invention is to provide an intermittent time control method for a wiper device capable of intermittently operating the wiper at an appropriate intermittent time during traveling in the rainy day and night. To provide.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, an object of the present invention is to provide an intermittent wiper device having intermittent operation control means for controlling the vehicle wiper to intermittently operate in response to an intermittent operation signal from the wiper switch. A time control method, wherein the wiper is intermittently controlled for a first intermittent time when an off signal of a vehicle lighting switch is input to the intermittent operation control means during the intermittent operation, and the intermittent operation control means is provided. When the ON signal of the lighting switch is input together with the intermittent operation signal to the wiper device, the wiper is intermittently controlled at a second intermittent time shorter than the first intermittent time. This is accomplished by providing an intermittent time control method. In particular, it is preferable that the first and second intermittent times are signals that change according to changes in vehicle speed.

[0007]

In this way, it is possible to easily discriminate the difference between daytime and nighttime running depending on the ON / OFF state of the lighting switch. For example, by preparing a wiper intermittent time control map for each day and night, Separately, the wiper intermittent operation control can be performed with an appropriate intermittent time corresponding to each.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT A preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a control circuit of an automobile wiper device to which the present invention is applied. As shown in FIG. 1, a vehicle speed signal from a vehicle speed sensor 2 and an intermittent operation signal from a wiper switch 3 are connected to input terminals I1 to I3 of a main control circuit 1 including a CPU as an intermittent operation control means. The headlight operation signal from the headlight switch 4 as an illumination switch is input. The vehicle speed signal has a pulse waveform that changes the pitch according to the level of the vehicle speed.

The wiper drive unit 5 is provided with a wiper motor 6 connected to a wiper (not shown) capable of performing a swinging motion to wipe the windshield. One end of the wiper motor 6 is connected to a power supply V, and the other. The end is connected to the motor driving relay Ry1. This relay Ry
1 is ON / OFF controlled via a transistor Q1 connected to the output terminal O1 of the main control circuit 1.

Further, the wiper drive unit 5 is provided with an automatic stop switch 7 which is interlocked with the wiper motor 6 and which is turned on / off so as to detect the stop position of the wiper. Note that the wiper motor 6 usually has an automatic stop switch 7 built therein. The ON / OFF signal of the auto stop switch 7 is input to the input terminal I4 of the main control circuit 1.

The operating procedure of the wiper device thus constructed will be described below. First, as shown in the main flow diagram of FIG. 2a, in step ST1, initialization is performed, and in step ST2, when the input of the intermittent operation signal from the wiper switch 3 is accepted, the wiper activation flag and the wiper operating flag are set. To 1. Next step S
At T3, it is determined whether the timer flag is 0. This timer flag is set to 1 when the processing in the timer interrupt routine shown in FIG. 2b is performed, and it creates a predetermined time. For example, in step ST8, the timer flag becomes 1 every 100 ms.

If the timer flag is 0 in step ST3, the process returns to step ST2 and the timer flag is set to 1
In the case of, that is, every 100 ms, the process proceeds to step ST4. In step ST4, the timer flag is set to 0, and the process proceeds to step ST5. In step ST5, the vehicle speed is calculated based on the vehicle speed signal from the vehicle speed sensor 2, and the next step S
At T6, the intermittent time is set, and at step ST7, counting is performed according to the set value of the intermittent timer, and a motor drive signal is output from the output terminal O1 to the wiper motor 6. When this motor drive signal is output, the relay Ry1
When the contact of is grounded and the motor 6 rotates and the wiper makes one reciprocating motion, the stop position detection signal from the auto stop switch 7 is input to the input terminal I4, and the motor is driven according to the input of the stop position detection signal. The signal output stops.

Then, from step ST7 to step ST
Return to 2. In this way, the main routine is performed.

The intermittent time setting process in step ST6 is shown in FIG. In this intermittent time setting routine, as shown in FIG. 3, it is determined in step ST11 whether or not the headlight is on. When the headlight is not lit, that is, when it is determined that the vehicle is traveling during the daytime, the process proceeds to step ST12. In step ST12, the intermittent time maps MAP1 and MAP2 set for day and night as shown in FIG. 4 are used to obtain and set the intermittent time corresponding to the vehicle speed at that time.

FIG. 4 shows an example in which the intermittent time is controlled so as to change depending on whether the vehicle speed is high or low. The set value obtained from the MAP 1 for daytime traveling is 0 when the vehicle speed is 0.
The intermittent time is Td when, and the intermittent time is 0 when the vehicle speed is Vd. It is represented by a straight line connecting the two points,
The set value obtained from the MAP2 for night driving is Tn that is smaller than the above Td when the vehicle speed is 0, and 0 when the vehicle speed is Vn smaller than the above Vd. It is represented by a line. In the figure, the straight lines of MAP1 and MAP2 are parallel to each other. By setting in this way, MAP
The straight line of MAP2 can be easily obtained by using the function of 1, and the design can be performed easily.

Each value Td, Vd, Tn in FIG.
-Vn may be an arbitrary value and is not limited to a straight line. Therefore, the line of MAP2 can be shortened more greatly on the low speed side and asymptotic on the high speed side with respect to the line of MAP1.

During the daytime traveling from step ST11 to step ST12, the intermittent time T1 corresponding to, for example, the vehicle speed Vc can be obtained by using MAP1 in FIG. If the headlight is on in step ST11, that is, if it is determined that the vehicle is traveling at night, the process proceeds to step ST13. At the step ST13, FIG.
For example, the intermittent time T2 corresponding to the vehicle speed Vc is obtained by using the MAP2.

FIG. 5 shows the intermittent timer count and motor drive processing in step ST7. In this processing routine, as shown in FIG. 5, it is determined in step ST21 whether or not the wiper activation flag is 1,
If the wiper activation flag is 1, the process proceeds to step ST22, and if the wiper activation flag is 0, the process proceeds to step ST23.
Proceed to. In step ST22, the wiper activation flag is set to 0, the motor output flag is set to 1, and the motor drive signal is output.

At step ST23, it is determined whether or not the motor 6 is at the stop position. If the motor 6 is in the stop position, that is, if the stop state is determined by inputting the operation signal of the auto stop switch 7, step ST24.
And the motor output flag is set to 0 in step ST24.
To After step ST24, or step S
When it is determined that the motor 6 is not at the stop position at T23, the process proceeds to step ST25.

In step ST25, it is determined whether or not the wiper operating flag is 1, and if the wiper operating flag is 0 in step ST25, this processing routine is terminated,
If the wiper operation flag is 1, the process proceeds to step ST26. When the process proceeds from step ST25 to step ST26, 1 is added to the count value t of the intermittent timer up to the previous time in step ST26. This count value 1 corresponds to 100 ms described above.

At the next step ST27, it is determined whether or not the intermittent time set value T obtained at step ST12 or step ST13 of FIG. 3 is exceeded by the count value t rewritten at step ST26. When the count value of the intermittent time set value T is set to, for example, 20, the processing is performed every 100 ms as described above, so that the intermittent timer becomes 2 seconds. If it is determined in step ST27 that the count value t has not exceeded the intermittent time set value T, this processing routine is ended, and if it is determined that it has been exceeded, the process proceeds to step ST28. In step ST28, the wiper activation flag is set to 1, and after step ST28, this processing routine ends.

As described above, the distinction between day and night during rainy weather is discriminated by the ON / OFF signal of the headlight switch 4, and the intermittent time maps MAP1 and MAP corresponding to the respective signals.
By using 2, the intermittent operation of the wiper can be easily performed at an appropriate intermittent time for each day and night.

Although the headlight switch is used as the illumination switch in this embodiment, it may be a small light switch. Further, in the embodiment, the intermittent wiper device corresponding to the vehicle speed is shown, but it is also applicable to the intermittent wiper device that does not change depending on the vehicle speed.

[0025]

As described above, according to the present invention, the driver is able to reduce the intermittent time when he / she travels in the rain at night to obstruct the view due to the reflection of the headlights and street lights of other vehicles. Since the wiper can be intermittently operated in a shortened intermittent time by discriminating nighttime traveling without manual operation, the function of the intermittent wiper device can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic circuit diagram of an intermittent wiper device to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2A is a main flowchart of intermittent control of a wiper according to the present invention, and b is a flowchart showing a timer interrupt routine.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an intermittent time setting process.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for obtaining an intermittent time by day and night.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing intermittent timer count processing and wiper motor drive output processing.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 main control circuit 2 vehicle speed sensor 3 wiper switch 4 headlight switch 5 wiper drive unit 6 wiper motor 7 auto stop switch

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An intermittent time control method for a wiper device having an intermittent operation control means for controlling a vehicle wiper to intermittently operate by an intermittent operation signal from a wiper switch, wherein the intermittent operation control means includes the intermittent operation. When the OFF signal of the vehicle lighting switch is input at the time, the wiper is intermittently controlled for the first intermittent time, and the ON signal of the lighting switch is input to the intermittent operation control means together with the intermittent operation signal. In some cases, the wiper device is intermittently controlled at a second intermittent time which is shorter than the first intermittent time. 2. The intermittent time control method for a wiper device, wherein the first and second intermittent times are signals that change according to changes in vehicle speed.