JPH0665554B2 - Air spoiler for vehicle - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an air spoiler which is provided on the outer surface of a vehicle body of a vehicle and regulates the flow of air flow generated when the vehicle is running.

[Prior Art] Since the air resistance is proportional to the square of the speed, when the vehicle travels at high speed, the ratio of the air resistance received by the vehicle becomes very large. Therefore, in recent years, a front spoiler, a rear spoiler, and the like that adjust the air resistance coefficient (Cd) and the lift coefficient (CL) of the vehicle to stabilize the maneuverability are mounted before and after the vehicle.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, since the conventional air spoiler is intended to adjust the air resistance coefficient and the lift coefficient as described above, it is hardly effective in reducing the yawing moment (My). There wasn't. Therefore, when the point of action of pressure on the vehicle generated by the air flow (crosswind) from the side of the vehicle is in front of the center of gravity of the vehicle, when the crosswind is received, the head of the vehicle is rotated in the leeward direction. It As a result, the lateral force (S) and yawing moment increase more and more, resulting in aerodynamic instability. For this reason, when the vehicle is traveling at a high speed, if a constant side wind or gust is applied to the vehicle, yawing moment and lateral force act on the vehicle, which significantly impairs traveling stability. It was

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide an air spoiler for a vehicle that does not impair running stability of the vehicle even when the vehicle receives a side wind.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a plurality of vertical fins formed so as to resist the flow of air from the side of a vehicle, and the plurality of vertical fins. Holds the fins retractable,
A technical means including a rear spoiler mounted on a rear portion of the vehicle and a driving means that drives the plurality of vertical fins and projects the plurality of vertical fins to the outside of the rear spoiler is adopted.

[Operation] According to the present invention having the above-described configuration, since a plurality of vertical fins are projected from the rear spoiler provided at the rear portion of the vehicle, the plurality of vertical fins receive resistance due to cross wind.
The point of action of the pressure on the vehicle due to the side wind moves rearward, and acts so that the head of the vehicle faces the windward. As a result, the yawing moment is reduced, and it becomes aerodynamically stable.

[Advantages of the Invention] In the vehicle air spoiler of the present invention configured as described above, even when the vehicle receives a cross wind, the vertical fins are projected from the rear spoiler so that the point of action of pressure on the vehicle by the cross wind moves rearward. , The yawing moment can be reduced.

[Embodiment] Next, a vehicle air spoiler of the present invention will be described based on an embodiment shown in the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of an automobile to which the present invention is applied.
A rear spoiler 3 made of fiber reinforced plastic, polyurethane or the like is mounted on the upper surface of the rear end of the trunk hatch 2 of the automobile 1. The rear spoiler 3 has an outer shape so as to adjust the air resistance coefficient and the lift coefficient of the automobile 1. Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the rear spoiler 3 has a hollow interior. At the front end inside the cavity of the rear spoiler 3, a link shaft 4 is horizontally installed. Both ends of the link shaft 4 are rotatably supported by bearings 5 supported at both ends of the rear spoiler 3. Six vertical fins 6 extending in the vehicle traveling direction and standing upright are fixed to the link shaft 4 at equal intervals. The vertical fins 6 have a triangular shape slightly smaller than the cross-sectional shape of the rear spoiler 3 so as to be completely housed in the rear spoiler 3, and the apex angle portion thereof is fixed to the link shaft 4. Grooves 7 corresponding to the vertical fins 6 are formed on the upper surface of the rear spoiler 3 so that the vertical fins 6 can project from the upper surface of the rear spoiler 3. The first reduction gear 8 is fixed to the link shaft 4. The first reduction gear 8 is provided so as to mesh with the pinion gear 10 of the output shaft of the drive motor 9 mounted in the cavity of the rear spoiler 3 via the second reduction gear 11. these,
The link shaft 4, the first reduction gear 8, the drive motor 9, the pinion gear 10, the second reduction gear 11 and the like constitute the drive means 12 of the present invention.

A wind sensor 14 for wind direction detection is mounted on the upper surface of the ceiling portion 13 of the automobile 1. This wind sensor 14
As shown in FIG. 3, FIG. 4 and FIG.
The right side of the figure has a curved box shape. The wind sensor 14 includes a wind direction measuring unit 15 for observing the wind direction and an electric signal converting unit 16 for converting the wind direction measured by the wind direction measuring unit 15 into an electric signal.

The wind direction observation unit 15 is provided between the upper case 17 and the lower case 18, and is supported by three columns 19 between the upper case 17 and the lower case 18. Upper case 17 and lower case 18
A shaft 20 partially protruding from the lower surface of the lower case 18 is rotatably supported by a bearing 21 between and. Further, an arrow blade 23 whose tip 22 faces in the wind direction is attached to the outer periphery of the shaft 20. The outer circumference between the upper case 17 and the lower case 18 is surrounded by a wire mesh 24 so that the wind direction can be observed between the upper case 17 and the lower case 18.

The electric signal converter 16 is provided between the lower case 18 and the bottom plate 25. Shaft protruding from the lower surface of the lower case 18
A cup 26, which is opened downward, is fixed to the end of 20. A light emitting diode 27 is arranged inside the cup 26, and the light emitting diode 27 is attached to a bottom plate 25. In addition, a part of the side surface of the cup 26 (the tip 22 of the arrow blade 23)
A slit 28 that allows the light of the light emitting diode 27 to pass therethrough is provided on the opposite side). Further, an arc-shaped light observing section 29 for observing the light passing through the slit 28 is arranged at the outer peripheral position of the cup 26, and the observing section 29 is the lower case 18
It is attached to the bottom of. The light observation section 29 is provided with a plurality of ports 30 penetrating from the inner circumference to the outer circumference. Photodiodes 31 for light detection are attached to the respective outer peripheral positions of the port 30. When light arrives from the port 30, a current applied to the photodiode 31 flows through the photodiode 31, so that the tip 22 of the arrow blade 23 is moved from the position of the photodiode 31 through which the current flows.
It is possible to detect the direction in which It should be noted that a total of nine ports 30 of this embodiment are arranged at intervals of 10 degrees, and can detect wind directions up to 40 degrees on the left and right sides.

FIG. 6 shows a block diagram of the control device of this embodiment.

The electronic control unit 32 controls the drive motor 9 in the rear spoiler 3 by using the vehicle speed sensor 33 that detects the vehicle speed from a vehicle speed meter and the window sensor 14 as inputs.

The control of the drive motor 9 by the electronic control unit 32 is
A description will be given based on the flowchart shown in the figure.

First, in step S1, the vehicle speed U is read from the vehicle speed sensor 33. Next, in step S2, it is determined whether or not the vehicle speed U read in step S1 is 60 km / h or more. If the determination result is NO, in step S3, the vertical fins 6 are inside the rear spoiler 3. It is determined whether or not it is stored in. The result is YES
If NO, the process returns, and in step S4, the drive motor 9 is energized so that the vertical fins 6 are housed in the rear spoiler 3, and then the process returns.

If the decision result in the step S2 is YES, a step S5
At, the wind sensor 14 reads the wind direction. Then, in step S6, the wind sensor 14
Determines whether or not a side wind is detected. If the determination result is NO, in step S7, the vertical fin 6
It is determined whether or not is stored in the rear spoiler 3. If the determination result is YES, the process returns. If the determination result is NO, the drive motor 9 is energized so that the vertical fins 6 are housed in the rear spoiler 3 in step S8, and then the process returns.

If the decision result in the step S6 is YES, a step S9 decides whether or not the vertical fins 6 are housed in the rear spoiler 3. If the determination result is NO, the process returns, and if the determination result is YES, the step S1
At 0, the drive motor 9 is energized so that the vertical fin 6 projects from the rear spoiler 3, and then the process returns.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

While vehicle 1 is traveling at vehicle speed U, cross wind V is applied from the side of vehicle 1.
When the vehicle is blown, the relative wind W, which is composed of the vehicle speed U and the side wind V, acts on the automobile 1. At this time, the vehicle speed U of the automobile 1 is the vehicle speed at which the air resistance increases (60 km / h in this embodiment).
When the yaw angle θ (the wind direction detected by the wind sensor 14) of the relative wind W received by the automobile 1 is equal to or more than the predetermined value, the vertical fins 6 project from the rear spoiler 3. As a result, the vertical fins 6 receive the relative wind W, so that the vertical fins 6 press the rear portion of the automobile 1 in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 8 and turn the head of the automobile 1 in the direction of arrow B in FIG. Acts like. As a result, the yaw angle θ between the automobile 1 and the relative wind W
Becomes smaller, and the yaw moment count of the vehicle equipped with the vertical fins shown by the solid line D in FIG. 9 is reduced compared to the yaw moment count of the vehicle without the vertical fins 6 shown in the broken line C in FIG.

In the above embodiment, the example in which the number of the plurality of vertical fins is 6 is shown, but the present invention is not limited to this.

In the above embodiment, the example in which a plurality of vertical fins are integrally projected from the rear spoiler when a predetermined condition is satisfied has been described, but the number of the vertical fins to be projected can be changed according to the condition, or the protruding amount can be changed. May be changed.

Further, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the example in which the motor is used as the means for driving the plurality of vertical fins has been shown, but it may be driven by hydraulic pressure, pneumatic pressure or the like.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, an example in which a plurality of vertical fins are automatically operated according to the vehicle speed and crosswind is shown, but a plurality of vertical fins may be arbitrarily operated by a vehicle occupant using a manual switch.

[Brief description of drawings]

1 is a perspective view of an automobile to which the present invention is applied, FIG. 2 is a partial sectional view of a rear spoiler, FIG. 3 is a side sectional view of a wind sensor, and FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line I-I shown in FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line II-II shown in FIG.
FIG. 7 is a block diagram of the control device, FIG. 7 is a flowchart of the electronic control device, FIG. 8 is a top view of the automobile, and FIG. 9 is a graph showing changes due to mounting of vertical fins. 3 in the figure: rear spoiler, 6: vertical fins, 12: drive means

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A vehicle comprising: (a) a plurality of vertical fins formed so as to receive resistance to air flow from the side of the vehicle; An air spoiler for a vehicle, comprising a rear spoiler mounted on a rear portion, and (c) a driving unit that drives the plurality of vertical fins and projects the plurality of vertical fins to the outside of the rear spoiler. 2. The drive means includes a crosswind detection sensor for detecting crosswind to the vehicle, and when the vehicle speed of the vehicle is a set value or more and the crosswind detection sensor detects crosswind, the plurality of vertical fins are connected to each other. The air spoiler for a vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the air spoiler is projected from the rear spoiler. 3. The driving means integrally drives the plurality of vertical fins.
Item 2. An air spoiler for a vehicle according to item 2 or item 3.