JPH0810049Y2 - Water drop removal mirror controller - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial application] The present invention relates to a controller for a water drop removal mirror with a heater.

[Prior Art] When raindrops or frost adheres to the rear-view mirror due to running of the vehicle during rainfall or during the high-humidity season, rearward visibility becomes insufficient.
In order to prevent this, it is known that a heat generating layer is provided on the rear surface of the mirror and electricity is applied to remove water droplets. (U.S.A. 51-68140 and 51-80842). There is also known one in which a piezoelectric vibrator is provided on the back surface of the mirror to resonate to remove water droplets (JP-A-62-238149, JP-A-63-69646).
Issue).

[Problems to be solved by the invention] To remove water droplets only with a heater must maintain the mirror surface temperature at about 50 to 60 ° C, but it takes a long rise time to reach a predetermined temperature. Further, when the oscillator is provided to remove the water droplets, the size of the water droplets affects the size of the water droplets. Therefore, the large and small water droplets cannot be efficiently atomized and scattered only by the sweep vibration of a certain width. Therefore, a piezoelectric element and a heater are mounted on the rear surface of the mirror, and after the heater switch is turned on, the vibrator is driven to remove water droplets. However, if the heater and the vibrator are driven at the same time, a high current will flow at once, so a large-capacity power supply must be prepared.

An object of the present invention is to provide a controller for a water drop removing mirror in which a heater and a vibrator are attached to the rear surface of the mirror so as to suppress an increase in current load.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention temporarily suspends the operation of the heater drive circuit when removing water droplets by ultrasonic vibration, and further, for the left and right door mirrors. It is configured to alternately apply ultrasonic vibrations. That is, in a door mirror in which a vibrator and a heater are provided on the rear surface of the mirror, an ultrasonic manual switch, an ultrasonic drive circuit for driving each vibrator mounted on each of the left and right door mirrors, and the ultrasonic manual switch are turned on. An ultrasonic wave control circuit that alternately outputs a control signal to the ultrasonic wave drive circuit of the left and right door mirrors, a heater switch, a raindrop / condensation sensor that detects raindrops or dew condensation on the mirror surface, It is characterized in that it comprises a heater drive circuit for driving and driving the heater by a signal from the heater switch or the raindrop / condensation sensor, and temporarily stopping energization of the heater when the ultrasonic control circuit is activated.

[Embodiment] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a controller of a water drop removing mirror of the present invention.

In the figure, 10 is an ultrasonic manual switch, 11 is an ultrasonic control circuit,
Reference numerals 12 and 13 are ultrasonic drive circuits for the R and L sides, and 14 and 15 are ultrasonic transducers for the R and L side mirrors.

Reference numeral 16 is a heater switch, 17 is a raindrop / condensation sensor for detecting water droplets or condensation on the mirror surface, and 18 is an amplifier. The heater switch 16 or the amplifier 18 amplifies the signal of the raindrop / condensation sensor 17 and drives the heaters of the R and L side mirrors or the mirror heaters 21 and 22 via the heater drive circuit 19.

The heater switch 16 has an automatic position that drives the heater when the raindrop / condensation sensor operates, and a manual position that outputs the heater drive / non-drive signal to the heater drive circuit regardless of the signal from the raindrop / condensation sensor. are doing.

FIG. 2 is a specific electronic circuit diagram, and FIG. 3 is a timing chart. Next, the operation will be described.

In the above device, when the ultrasonic manual switch 10 is turned on, the mirror heaters 21 and 22 are temporarily cut off. That is, when raindrops, dew condensation or freezing occurs on the mirror surface, if the heater switch 16 is set to auto position with the ignition switch (not shown) turned on, the raindrop / condensation sensor
The output of 17 is input to the heater drive circuit 19 via the amplifier 18. In the heater drive circuit 19, as shown in FIG.
After passing through the output of the OR circuit, the one-shot timer IC1, AND2, the transistor TR1, and the relay switch, the mirror heaters (heating elements) 21 and 22 automatically generate heat to remove water droplets.

After that, when the ultrasonic manual switch 10 is turned on, the ultrasonic wave application time (for example, 7 seconds) elapses, and then the ultrasonic wave control circuit 11
From NOR circuit and line 25 to heater drive circuit 19
A heater stop signal is output to the heater to stop energizing the heater. On the other hand, 1-shot IC2, IC3, transistor TR2, TR3,
Ultrasonic drive circuit 12, 1 on the R side and L side via the relay switch
3 is driven to alternately oscillate the oscillators 14 and 15 to remove water droplets on the mirror surface.

When the energization of the heaters 21 and 22 is stopped when the ultrasonic wave is applied as described above, for example, the ultrasonic wave is turned on at the R side and then turned on at the L side.
When both ends of the ultrasonic wave are finished, the state before the application is restored (see FIG. 3).

In addition, the heater is, for example, 4 A in MAX, and the ultrasonic wave is 10 A or more in MAX.
The current of 28A to 34A flows in total in the heaters and vibrators of the left and right mirrors because of the flow of the current of the above. In the state, it can be suppressed to about 10 and several amperes.

[Advantage of the Invention] As described above, since the present invention prevents the heater and the ultrasonic wave from rotating, the current load of the water drop removing mirror with a heater can be suppressed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a controller for a water drop removing mirror of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an electronic circuit diagram, and FIG. 3 is a timing chart. 10 …… Ultrasonic manual switch, 11 …… Ultrasonic control circuit, 1
2,13 ... R side and L side ultrasonic transducers, 14,15 ... R side and L side ultrasonic transducers, 16 ... Heater switch, 17 ...
… Raindrop / condensation sensor, 18 …… Amplifier, 19 …… Heater drive circuit, 21,22 …… R side and L side heating element (mirror heater).

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A door mirror having a vibrator and a heater provided on the rear surface of the mirror, wherein an ultrasonic manual switch, an ultrasonic drive circuit for driving each vibrator mounted on each of the left and right door mirrors, and the ultrasonic manual switch. An ultrasonic control circuit that alternately outputs a control signal to the ultrasonic drive circuits of the left and right door mirrors when the switch is turned on, a heater switch, and a raindrop / condensation sensor that detects raindrops or dew condensation on the mirror surface. And the heater switch or raindrop /
A controller for a water drop removing mirror, comprising: a heater drive circuit that drives a heater in response to a signal from a dew condensation sensor and that temporarily stops energization of the heater when the ultrasonic control circuit is activated.