JPH08282447A - Wiper device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To reduce the bothering sense with wiper motions and prevent damage of window glass and water repellency by lessening the frequency in the intermittent motions of a wiper in case a window glass has been subjected to a water repelling process. CONSTITUTION: If a water repellency judging part 33 senses that a window glass has been subjected to a water repelling treatment and if the traveling speed sensed by a traveling judging part 25 is over a certain speed value, an intermittent time control part 27 controls so that the period of intermittent motions of a wiper blade 3 for the window glass 1 is longer than in case no water repelling process has been applied.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a wiper device for wiping raindrops on a window glass of a vehicle.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A wiper device shortens a wiper operation interval when the amount of raindrops applied to a window glass increases,
When it operates quickly and the amount of raindrops is small, the wiper operation interval is extended and operated slowly, so that the raindrops that have fallen on the window glass can be wiped off properly and the driver's view is not obstructed. I have to.

By the way, even if it rains in the same way,
The amount of raindrops that fall on the window glass of a vehicle depends on the traveling speed of the vehicle.When the vehicle is stopped or the vehicle is traveling at low speed, the amount of raindrops on the window glass is small, but The higher the speed, the greater the amount of raindrops on the window glass. Therefore, even if it rains the same, when the vehicle speed is high, it is necessary to shorten the wiper operation interval and operate faster than when the vehicle speed is low.

As described above, a vehicle speed sensitive wiper device for controlling the wiper operation according to the vehicle speed has been conventionally developed. This type of vehicle speed-sensitive wiper device detects the traveling speed of the vehicle, and when the traveling speed is high, the wiper operation interval is shortened to control the wiper to operate faster. In a wiper device, the time required for the blade of the wiper to make one reciprocation of the window glass is generally almost constant.
An intermittent operation of controlling the operation of the reciprocating wiper blade is performed intermittently, and the wiper operating speed is controlled by lengthening or shortening this intermittent cycle. That is, if the intermittent cycle is shortened, the wiper blade operates frequently, and if the intermittent cycle is lengthened, the wiper blade operates slowly with a time interval. Therefore, in the vehicle speed-sensitive wiper device described above, when the vehicle is traveling at a low speed, the intermittent cycle is lengthened so that the wiper blade is operated slowly and infrequently, while the vehicle is traveling at a high speed. If so, the intermittent cycle is shortened and the wiper blade is frequently operated.

[0005]

By the way, in recent years, a water repellent treatment is applied to a window glass of a vehicle, for example, by applying a water repellent, and thereby raindrops are also repelled. When this water repellent treatment is performed, the raindrops that have fallen on the window glass are scattered due to the air resistance when the vehicle travels. Therefore, the higher the traveling speed of the vehicle, the more the raindrops can be scattered. As shown in the graph of FIG. 3, the relationship between the vehicle speed, the rainfall amount, and the air resistance is proportional to the vehicle speed. When the rainfall amount hitting the window glass increases as indicated by the straight line (a), the water repellent treatment is performed. Raindrops remaining on the window glass when not present increase almost in proportion to the vehicle speed as shown by the curve (b). However, when water-repellent treatment is applied, the raindrops remaining on the window glass as shown by the curve (C)
The higher the vehicle speed, the lower the speed. Note that, in FIG. 3, a curve (d) shows a change in air resistance that causes water droplets on the window glass to be scattered.

Therefore, when the water repellent treatment as described above is applied, there is no vehicle speed sensitive control in which the wiper blade is operated more frequently by shortening the intermittent cycle of the wiper blade as the traveling speed becomes faster. In addition to being meaningful, there was a problem that the driver was rather annoyed.

Further, as the vehicle speed increases, raindrops are scattered due to the water-repellent effect and there is no raindrop. Therefore, frequent actuation of the wiper blade impairs the water-repellent treatment of the window glass and also causes the window glass to be damaged. There was a problem that it was easy to hurt.

The present invention has been made in view of the above,
The purpose is to reduce the frequency of intermittent operation of the wiper when the window glass is water-repellent, to reduce the troublesome operation of the wiper, and to prevent water-repellent treatment and damage to the window glass. It is to provide a wiper device which can be prevented.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention according to claim 1 shortens the intermittent period of the intermittent operation of the wiper blade as the traveling speed of the vehicle becomes faster, thereby making the window glass of the vehicle. A wiper device for wiping raindrops falling on a vehicle, the vehicle speed detecting means for detecting a traveling speed of a vehicle, a water repellent processing detecting means for detecting whether or not water repellent processing is applied to a window glass, and a window glass. If it is detected that the water-repellent treatment is applied to the vehicle, and the detected traveling speed of the vehicle is equal to or higher than a predetermined speed, the intermittent cycle of the wiper intermittent operation for wiping the window glass is subjected to the water-repellent treatment. The gist of the present invention is to have control means for controlling the period so as to be longer than the intermittent period when there is no such period.

The present invention according to claim 2 is the same as claim 1
In the invention described above, the water repellent treatment detecting means is an acceleration detecting means for detecting an acceleration when the wiper blade wipes the window glass, and detecting that the water repellent treatment is performed based on the change in the acceleration. Having it is the gist.

Furthermore, the present invention according to claim 3 provides the invention according to claim 1.
In the invention described, the water repellent treatment detecting means detects a strain in the wiper arm that drives the wiper blade when the wiper blade wipes the window glass, and the water repellent treatment is performed based on the strain. The gist is to have a strain detecting means for detecting.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the water repellent treatment detecting means detects a sound generated when the wiper blade wipes the window glass, and the water repellent treatment is performed based on the sound. The gist of the present invention is to have sound detecting means for detecting that water treatment has been performed.

The present invention according to claim 5 provides the invention according to claim 1.
In the invention described above, the water repellent treatment detecting means detects an electric signal supplied to a wiper motor that operates a wiper, and detects that the water repellent treatment is performed based on a fluctuation of the electric signal. The gist is to have a signal detection means.

Furthermore, the present invention according to claim 6 is the same as claim 1.
5 to 5, the water repellent treatment detecting means is
The gist of the present invention is that the wiper blade has a detection area limiting means for detecting the water repellent treatment in substantially the middle part of the wiper reciprocating operation for wiping the window glass except for the folded part.

[0015]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, when it is detected that the water repellent treatment is applied to the window glass and the traveling speed is equal to or higher than a predetermined speed, the wiper intermittent cycle is repelled. It is controlled to be longer than the intermittent cycle when no processing is performed.

According to the present invention of claim 2,
The acceleration of the wiper blade is detected, and it is detected that the water repellent treatment is performed based on the change in the acceleration.

Furthermore, in the present invention according to claim 3,
The distortion in the wiper arm that drives the wiper blade is detected, and it is detected that the water repellent treatment is performed based on this distortion.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the sound generated by the wiper blade is detected, and based on this sound, it is detected that the water repellent treatment is performed.

According to the present invention of claim 5,
The electric signal required for the wiper motor is detected, and the water-repellent treatment is detected based on the fluctuation of the electric signal.

Furthermore, in the present invention according to claim 6,
The water repellent treatment is detected in almost the middle part of the wiper reciprocating operation except for the folded part.

[0021]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of a wiper device according to an embodiment of the present invention. The wiper device shown in the same drawing has fallen on the window glass 1 of the vehicle front window. The wiper device shown in the figure has a wiper blade 3 for wiping raindrops falling on the window glass 1 of the vehicle front window. The wiper blade 3 is attached to a wiper arm 5, and a base end portion of the wiper arm 5 is connected to a drive shaft of a wiper motor 7 via a link mechanism, a speed reduction mechanism or the like (not shown). Then, when the wiper motor 7 rotates, the wiper blade 3 operates to wipe off raindrops that have fallen on the window glass 1.

The wiper motor 7 has one end connected to the power supply and the auto stop switch 9 and the other end connected to the wiper relay 11 via the current sensor 13, and the earth is supplied via the wiper relay contact 11b of the wiper relay 11. And thus is driven to rotate. Further, the solenoid coil 11a of the wiper relay 11 is connected to the control unit 2
It is driven by three output transistors 37.

The control unit 23 includes a vehicle speed sensor 15 for outputting a vehicle speed pulse proportional to the vehicle speed, a wiper operation switch 17 for operating a wiper device, a wiper operation amount variable resistor 19 for inputting a wiper operation amount, and a window glass. A raindrop sensor 21 for detecting the amount of raindrops applied to 1 is connected. The vehicle speed sensor 15 is the traveling determination unit 2 in the control unit 23.
5, the wiper operation switch 17 and the wiper operation amount variable resistor 19 are connected to the intermittent time control unit 27, and the raindrop sensor 21 is connected to the raindrop amplifier 29.

Here, the traveling determination unit 25 uses the vehicle speed sensor 1
The actual speed signal of the vehicle is calculated based on the vehicle speed pulse supplied from No. 5, and this speed signal is supplied to the intermittent time control unit 27. The raindrop amplifier 29 also amplifies the raindrop amount supplied from the raindrop sensor 21 and supplies it to the intermittent time control unit 27. Then, the intermittent time control unit 27 uses the traveling determination unit 2
The intermittent cycle of the wiper blade 3 is controlled based on the speed signal of the vehicle supplied from No. 5, and when the vehicle is traveling at a low speed, the intermittent cycle is lengthened to slowly move the wiper blade 3 to the time. While operating by opening
When the vehicle is traveling at high speed, the intermittent cycle is shortened and the wiper blade 3 is controlled to be frequently operated. In addition, the intermittent time control unit 27 uses the raindrop amplifier 2
Wiper blade 3 depending on the amount of raindrops supplied from 9
It is configured so that the intermittent cycle can be controlled.

Further, the wiper device of this embodiment is also configured to detect whether or not the window glass 1 is subjected to the water repellent treatment. When the window glass 1 is water-repellent, when the window glass 1 is wiped by the wiper blade 3, the wiper blade 3 vibrates.
r: tremor) occurs. Therefore, if this judder is detected, it can be detected whether or not the water repellent treatment is performed.
The change in the drive current flowing through the wiper blade 3, the distortion in the wiper arm 5 that drives the wiper blade 3, the acceleration of the wiper blade 3 when the wiper blade 3 wipes the window glass 1, the wiper blade 3 can detect the sound generated when the window glass 1 is wiped, but in this embodiment, a current sensor 13 is connected in series to the wiper motor 7, and the current sensor 13 is used to connect the current sensor 13. The drive current flowing through the sensor 7 is detected, and the detected motor drive current signal is supplied to the sensor signal processing unit 31 to analyze the change in the motor drive current. The water repellent determination unit 33 makes a comparison to determine whether or not the water repellent treatment is performed.

More specifically, when the window glass 1 is water-repellent, if the window glass 1 is wiped with the wiper blade 3, the drive current flowing through the wiper motor 7 causes pulsation in accordance with the judder. . Therefore, by detecting this pulsation from the drive current detected by the current sensor 13 and processing it by the sensor signal processing unit 31, it is possible to detect the occurrence of judder. That is, the sensor signal processing unit 31 counts how many times the judder occurs in one reciprocating motion of the wiper blade 3 from the pulsation appearing in the drive current detected by the current sensor 13, and determines the counted value as the water repellent determination. By comparing with the reference value 35 in the section 33, it is possible to accurately detect whether or not the water repellent treatment is performed.

Incidentally, in this way, the wiper blade 1
Instead of the number of judder occurrences, that is, how many times judder occurs in each round trip, it is possible to detect whether or not the water repellent treatment is performed similarly by detecting the judder occurrence cycle and judder frequency. .

The signal indicating the presence of the water repellent process, which is detected by the water repellent determination unit 33, is supplied to the intermittent time control unit 27, thereby controlling the intermittent cycle of the wiper blade 3. Here, when there is no water repellent treatment, the intermittent time control unit 27, as described above, based on the speed signal supplied from the traveling determination unit 25, when the vehicle speed is high, the intermittent operation of the wiper blade 3 is performed. While the intermittent cycle is shortened and the wiper blade 3 is frequently operated, when the vehicle speed is slow, the intermittent cycle of the wiper blade 3 is lengthened and the wiper blade 3 is operated not frequently but slowly.
On the other hand, when a signal indicating the presence of the water repellent process is supplied from the water repellent determination unit 33 to the intermittent time control unit 27, when the vehicle speed is high,
The intermittent cycle of the wiper blade 3 is lengthened so that the wiper blade 3 is operated infrequently and slowly. On the other hand, when the vehicle speed is slow, the intermittent cycle of the wiper blade 3 is lengthened as in the case without the water repellent treatment. , Wiper blade 3
Is controlled to operate slowly.

The intermittent time control section 27 controls the intermittent cycle of the wiper blade 3 according to the presence / absence of a signal from the water repellent determination section 33 indicating the presence of the water repellent process. For this reason, as shown in FIG. 1, the intermittent time control unit 27 uses the characteristic data indicating the change in the intermittent cycle (the amount of window wiping per unit time) with respect to the vehicle speed as the characteristic data 27a in the case of no water repellent treatment. There are two types of characteristic data 27b in the case of no processing.

These characteristic data 27a and 27b
Are shown in detail in FIGS. 2 (a) and 2 (b), respectively. Both characteristic data 27 shown in FIGS.
In a and 27b, the horizontal axis represents the vehicle speed and the vertical axis represents the intermittent cycle of the wiper blade 3.

Here, the characteristic data 27a shown in FIG. 2A in the case of no water repellent treatment is as the vehicle speed increases.
The intermittent period is shortened and the window wiping amount per unit time is increased. That is, when the vehicle speed is slow, the wiper blade 3 is intermittently operated slowly by increasing the intermittent cycle of the wiper blade 3 to reduce the amount of window wiping per unit time, while when the vehicle speed is fast, By shortening the intermittent cycle of the wiper blade 3, the window wipe amount per unit time is increased and the characteristic data for controlling the wiper blade 3 to operate frequently is configured.

On the other hand, in the characteristic data 27b shown in FIG. 2 (b) with the water repellent treatment, the intermittent cycle changes with respect to the vehicle speed when the vehicle speed is low, as in the case without the water repellent treatment. As described above, the window wiping amount per unit time is changed and controlled.However, when the vehicle speed becomes higher than a predetermined speed, as shown by the solid line, the intermittent cycle is not shortened (that is, It is controlled so as to be almost constant (without increasing the amount of window wiping per unit time). That is, when the vehicle speed is slow, as in the case without the water repellent treatment, the intermittent cycle of the wiper blade 3 is lengthened to reduce the amount of window wiping per unit time, so that the wiper blade 3 is moved less frequently and slowly. While operating, when the vehicle speed increases above a predetermined vehicle speed,
The amount of window wiping per unit time can be kept constant for a relatively long period without shortening the intermittent cycle (that is, without increasing the amount of window wiping per unit time) as in the case without water repellent treatment. Wiper blade 3 with a relatively small
Is operated relatively slowly, ie infrequently.

In the case of the water repellent treatment as described above,
Particularly when the vehicle speed is high, raindrops are scattered on the window glass 1 due to the water-repellent treatment effect, so that it is not necessary to frequently operate the wiper blade 3, so that the wiper blade 3 is operated relatively slowly. This eliminates the annoyance to the driver due to the frequent movements of the wiper blade 3 and further prevents the water repellent treatment due to the frequent movements of the wiper blade 3 from being removed or damage to the window glass 1. It is a thing.

In the characteristic data 27b shown in FIG. 2 (b) with the water repellent treatment, when the vehicle speed exceeds a predetermined vehicle speed, the intermittent cycle of the wiper blade 3 is controlled not to be shortened but to be constant. However, instead of this, as shown by the dotted line in FIG. 2B, the intermittent cycle may be extended so that the wiper blade 3 is operated slowly.

The operation of the wiper relay 11 and the auto stop switch 9 when the wiper motor 7 is driven will be briefly described. When the wiper device is stopped, as shown in the figure, both the wiper relay contact 11b of the wiper relay 11 and the auto stop switch 9 are connected to the contact side indicated by a black dot, thereby short-circuiting the armature circuit of the wiper motor 7. ing. In addition,
In this case, the current sensor 13 is composed of, for example, an AC device and has no influence on the drive current of the wiper motor 7 and its peripheral circuits.

When the wiper device operates, the output transistor 37 of the control unit 23 is first turned on to drive the wiper relay 11, and the wiper relay contact 11b is switched to the contact side indicated by a white dot. As a result, ground is supplied through the wiper relay contact 11b of the wiper motor 7, current flows from this power supply to the ground through the wiper motor 7, and the wiper motor 7 starts rotating. When the wiper motor 7 starts rotating, the auto stop switch 9
Is switched from the contact side indicated by the black dots to the contact side indicated by the white dots, and this switching signal is transmitted by the intermittent time control unit 27 of the control unit 23.
And the sensor signal processing unit 31. Once the wiper motor 7 starts rotating once, the wiper motor 7 makes one rotation due to the structure of the auto stop switch 9 composed of a cam having a notch portion (not shown) and continues to rotate until the auto stop switch 9 comes to the contact side indicated by a black dot. In addition, even if the wiper relay contact 11b is switched from the contact side indicated by the white dot to the contact side indicated by the black dot during this rotation, the contact side indicated by the white dot of the auto stop switch 9 is connected to the ground, so that the wiper motor 7 Rotates once. As described above, the wiper motor 7 makes one rotation and automatically stops every time the wiper relay 11 is driven and driven.

Next, the operation of the wiper device constructed as described above will be described.

When the driver operates the wiper actuation switch 17 when it is raining while the vehicle is traveling, the intermittent time control unit 27 is activated and the vehicle speed is sent from the traveling determination unit 25 to the intermittent time control unit 27. Signal is supplied. Next, the intermittent time control unit 27 determines the intermittent cycle of the wiper blade 3 from the characteristics shown in FIG. 2 according to the vehicle speed from the running determination unit 25. It should be noted that, when the water repellent determination unit 33 is initially activated, it is assumed that the signal indicating that the water repellent process is performed is not output. That is, in the first state in which the wiper blade 3 is not yet operated, it is not possible to determine the presence or absence of the water repellent treatment, and the signal indicating the water repellent treatment is not supplied to the intermittent time control unit 27, so the intermittent time control unit. 27 determines the intermittent cycle of the wiper blade 3 from the vehicle speed based on the characteristic data 27a in the case without the water repellent treatment shown in FIG. 2A, and drives the output transistor 37 at this intermittent cycle.

Next, when the output transistor 37 is driven and turned on, the solenoid coil 11a of the wiper relay 11 is driven by this, and this wiper relay contact 11b is turned on and switches to the contact side indicated by the white dot. As a result, the ground passing through the wiper relay contact 11b is supplied to the wiper motor 7 via the current sensor 13, and the wiper motor 7 starts rotating. When the wiper motor 7 starts rotating, the auto stop switch 9 is switched from the contact side indicated by the black dots to the contact side indicated by the white dots, and the earth of the auto stop switch 9 is supplied to the intermittent time control unit 27 and the sensor signal processing unit 31. Notify that the wiper motor 7 has started rotating. Intermittent time control unit 2
When the wiper motor 7 detects that the wiper motor 7 has started to rotate, it turns off the output transistor 37, thereby turning off the wiper relay 11 as well.
1b is switched to the contact side indicated by a black dot.

Once the wiper motor 7 starts rotating, even if the wiper relay contact 11b is switched to the original one,
Continues to rotate once by the action of the auto stop switch 9,
After one rotation, the automatic stop switch 9 automatically stops. In this way, when the wiper motor 7 is driven by the intermittent time control unit 27 via the output transistor 37 and makes one rotation and then stops, the wiper blade 3 also makes one reciprocating movement over the window glass 1 and stops accordingly. .

As described above, when the operation of the wiper motor 7 and the wiper blade 3 is performed according to the intermittent cycle by the intermittent control from the intermittent time control section 27, the wiper blade 3 operates in this intermittent cycle.

In the intermittent operation of the wiper blade 3, the running is controlled by the intermittent time control unit 27, especially when the water repellent determination unit 33 does not supply the intermittent time control unit 27 with a signal indicating that the water repellent process is present. When the vehicle speed from the determination unit 25 is slow, the intermittent cycle is lengthened and the wiper blade 3 operates slowly, while when the vehicle speed is fast, the intermittent cycle is shortened and the wiper blade 3 operates frequently. To do.

As described above, when the wiper blade 3 is operated and the window glass 1 is subjected to the water-repellent treatment, judder is generated. Is detected as a pulsation of the drive current of the. That is, the pulsation of the drive current of the wiper motor 7 detected by the current sensor 13 is supplied to the sensor signal processing unit 31, the pulsation number is measured, and the water repellent determination unit 3
In 3 it is compared with the reference value 35 and it is judged that water repellent treatment is present,
The water repellent determination unit 33 outputs a signal indicating that there is a water repellent process to the intermittent time control unit 27.

When the intermittent water control unit 27 is supplied with a signal indicating the presence of the water repellent process from the water repellent determination unit 33, the characteristic data 2 shown in FIG.
7b, and the intermittent period for the vehicle speed is determined according to the characteristic data 27b. As a result, the traveling determination unit 25
When the vehicle speed from is lower than the predetermined vehicle speed, the intermittent cycle of the wiper blade 3 is lengthened to correspond to the vehicle speed,
When the wiper blade 3 is operated slowly, and when the vehicle speed becomes equal to or higher than a predetermined vehicle speed, the intermittent cycle is kept constant without shortening the intermittent cycle as in the case where there is no water repellent treatment. The wiper blade 3 is operated infrequently and relatively slowly, thereby eliminating the annoyance of the driver due to the frequent operation of the wiper blade 3, and the water repellent treatment is removed by the frequent operation of the wiper blade 3. Moreover, the window glass 1 is prevented from being damaged.

In the above embodiment, the current sensor 13 detects from the pulsation of the drive current of the wiper motor 7 whether the window glass 1 is water repellent or not.
The detection of whether or not the water repellent treatment is performed is not limited to this. Instead, the acceleration of the wiper blade 3 when the window glass 1 is wiped by the wiper blade 3 is detected, and the detected acceleration is detected. The acceleration detection method for detecting that the water repellent treatment is performed based on the change of the, or the strain in the wiper arm 5 that drives the wiper blade 3 when the wiper blade 3 wipes the window glass 1, A strain detecting method for detecting that the water repellent treatment is performed based on the detected strain, or the window glass 1
It is also possible to detect a sound generated when the wiper blade 3 wipes and to detect that the water repellent treatment is performed based on the detected sound.

Further, in order to detect whether or not the water repellent treatment is performed, the method using the current sensor 13 in the above-described embodiment, or the acceleration detecting method, the strain detecting method, and the sound detecting method described above are performed. In this case, it is desirable to detect the water-repellent treatment at a substantially intermediate portion of the window glass 1 except the folded-back portions at both ends of the wiper reciprocating operation in which the wiper blade 3 wipes the window glass 1.

[0048]

As described above, according to the present invention as set forth in claim 1, when it is detected that the water repellent treatment is applied to the window glass and the traveling speed is equal to or higher than the predetermined speed, Since the wiper intermittent cycle is controlled to be longer than the intermittent cycle when the water repellent treatment is not applied, the annoyance of frequent wiper blade operations to the driver is eliminated when the water repellent treatment is applied. In addition, the water repellent treatment is prevented from being removed and the window glass is prevented from being damaged by the frequent operation of the wiper blade. Further, by controlling the wiper intermittent period so as not to be short and delaying the wiper operation, it is possible to reduce judder and prevent unpleasant sound.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the acceleration of the wiper blade is detected and it is detected that the water repellent treatment is performed based on the change in the acceleration.
The water-repellent treatment can be accurately detected, the troublesomeness caused by the frequent operation of the wiper blade can be eliminated, and the water-repellent treatment can be removed and the window glass can be prevented from being damaged.

Further, according to the present invention, the distortion in the wiper arm for driving the wiper blade is detected, and the water-repellent treatment is detected based on this distortion. The treatment can be detected accurately, the troublesomeness caused by the frequent operation of the wiper blade can be eliminated, and the removal of the water repellent treatment and the damage to the window glass can be prevented.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the sound generated from the wiper blade is detected, and the fact that the water repellent treatment is applied is detected based on this sound. It is possible to detect, eliminate the troublesomeness caused by the frequent operation of the wiper blade, and prevent the removal of the water repellent treatment and the damage to the window glass.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the electric signal supplied to the wiper motor is detected, and it is detected that the water repellent treatment is performed based on the fluctuation of the electric signal. Water-repellent treatment can be detected accurately, eliminating the hassle of frequent wiper blade movements,
It is possible to prevent the removal of the water repellent treatment and prevent damage to the window glass.

Further, according to the present invention as defined in claim 6, the water repellent treatment is detected substantially in the middle of the wiper reciprocating operation except for the folding back portion, so that the wiper blade is not smooth and unnatural in the folding back portion. It is possible to accurately detect the water-repellent treatment by removing the influence of the water-repellent treatment and the like, eliminate the annoyance caused by the frequent operation of the wiper blade, and prevent the removal of the water-repellent treatment and the damage to the window glass.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a wiper device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a graph showing characteristic data showing a change in an intermittent cycle with respect to a vehicle speed in an intermittent time control unit used in the wiper device shown in FIG. 1 for a case without water repellent treatment and a case without water repellent treatment.

FIG. 3 is a graph showing the relationship between vehicle speed, rainfall and air resistance.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Window Glass 3 Wiper Blade 5 Wiper Arm 7 Wiper Motor 11 Wiper Relay 13 Current Sensor 15 Vehicle Speed Sensor 17 Wiper Operation Switch 25 Running Judgment Section 27 Intermittent Time Control Section 31 Sensor Signal Processing Section 33 Water Repellent Judgment Section

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A wiper device for wiping off raindrops sprinkled on a window glass of a vehicle by shortening an intermittent cycle of a wiper blade as the traveling speed of the vehicle increases, the traveling speed of the vehicle being detected. The vehicle speed detection means, the water repellent treatment detecting means for detecting whether or not the window glass is water repellent, and the water repellent treatment for the window glass are detected. Control means for controlling the intermittent cycle of the wiper for wiping the window glass to be longer than the intermittent cycle when the water repellent treatment is not performed when the traveling speed of the vehicle is equal to or higher than a predetermined speed. Wiper device characterized by. 2. The water repellent treatment detecting means detects an acceleration when the wiper blade wipes the window glass, and an acceleration detecting means for detecting that the water repellent treatment is performed based on a change in the acceleration. The wiper device according to claim 1, further comprising: 3. The water repellent treatment detecting means detects a strain in a wiper arm that drives the wiper blade when the wiper blade wipes the window glass, and the water repellent treatment is performed based on the strain. The wiper device according to claim 1, further comprising a strain detecting unit that detects the strain. 4. The water repellent treatment detecting means detects a sound generated when the wiper blade wipes the window glass, and a sound detecting means for detecting that the water repellent treatment is performed based on the sound. The wiper device according to claim 1, further comprising: 5. The water-repellent treatment detecting means detects an electric signal supplied to a wiper motor for operating a wiper, and detects that the water-repellent treatment is performed based on a fluctuation of the electric signal. The wiper device according to claim 1, further comprising signal detection means. 6. The water-repellent treatment detecting means has a detection zone limiting means for detecting the water-repellent treatment at a substantially middle portion of the wiper blade except for a folded-back portion of a wiper reciprocating motion for wiping a window glass. The wiper device according to any one of claims 1 to 5.