JPS606921A - Antiglare device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To control light transmissivity automatically by installing a plate type material which varies in light transmissivity with an applied voltage on the windshield of a vehicle, and coupling it with a illuminance sensor for the face of a vehicle driver which is installed separately. CONSTITUTION:The sensor 2 for measuring the illuminance of the face is installed facing the driver 1 to grasp incident light as face illuminance. The liquid crystal plate 4 is installed on the windshield 3, and connected electrically to the face illuminance sensor 2 through a controller (not shown in a figure). The face illuminance sensor 2 consists of a convex lens 5, photodiode 6, and light shielding housing 7, and the convex lens 5 has its focal point on the photodiode 6 according to the distance to the face.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a device that prevents a vehicle driver from seeing the front of the vehicle due to various types of light rays incident from the outside of the vehicle. This invention relates to an anti-glare device that detects when the illuminance of the windshield becomes abnormally high, outputs a signal to that effect, applies a voltage based on this output signal, and controls the light transmittance of a plate-like material installed on the windshield.

Vehicle drivers generally experience glare when driving other than at night, such as during backlighting when the sun is low in the morning or evening, when driving in snowy areas on clear skies, and when driving during the day in summer.

In such cases, it is not only difficult for the vehicle driver to grasp the situation ahead of the road, but also increases fatigue due to the psychological burden on the driver.As a countermeasure, conventionally, sun visors were installed near the ceiling in front of the driver. Therefore, measures such as tracing the source of the incident or having drivers wear sunglasses were taken.

By the way, all of these methods require the driver to operate them every time he or she feels it is necessary, so even if it is temporary, the driver's attentiveness to driving operations decreases each time, leading to safety problems and there is room for improvement. It was something that was slowing down.

The present invention has been developed through various studies to develop a device that eliminates the shortcomings of the conventional methods as described above and allows the driver to concentrate on safe driving. This fact is detected and a voltage is applied to, for example, a liquid crystal panel installed on the windshield via a separately provided controller to automatically control the light transmittance.

The present invention will be explained below using the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a side view of one embodiment of the present invention.
Reference numeral 2 denotes the driver, and 2 is a face illuminance measurement sensor that is installed around the dash board of the vehicle, facing the driver, and detects the incident light to a specific position determined by the driver's face as the face illuminance.

6 is a windshield, 4 is a /C liquid crystal plate installed on this Freon I glass, and is electrically connected to the face j1ζi1 upper sensor 2 via a controller (not shown). , which shows the face illuminance sensor 2 having an S structure, and is composed of a convex lens 5, a photodiode 6, and a g-optical outer casing 7 that holds these components. The convex lens 5 in this face illuminance sensor 2 can focus on a photodiode 6 depending on the distance from the face.

In most cases, the driver of a vehicle experiences glare due to light rays passing through the windshield, and an incident light sensor should be installed directly in front of the driver's eyes.
It is not practical as it obstructs visibility and becomes an obstacle when getting on and off.

In addition, in the method of measuring the brightness ahead by installing the illuminance sensor in a place far away from the driver's eye level, the output of the sensor and the glare felt by the driver do not match due to parallax. This is not desirable in some cases.

In contrast, in the anti-glare device of the present invention, the illuminance sensor is installed facing the driver's face as described above, so the above-mentioned problem does not occur.

Furthermore, since the anti-glare device of the present invention measures the reflected light toward the face as described above, the output of the sensor may vary depending on the condition or color of the skin, but the steady state is corrected to zero. If a function is provided to detect and operate on reflected light that has a significant difference, in practice, no discrepancy will occur.

When the anti-glare device of the present invention having the above configuration is installed, when a significant amount of light is incident from the front of the vehicle, the photodiode 6 of the sensor 2 generates an electrical output proportional to this amount of light. By processing this with a controller and controlling the voltage applied to the liquid crystal panel installed on the windshield, it is possible to change the light transmittance according to the amount of incident light and keep the amount of light incident on the driver almost constant. Significant effects such as reducing glare, reducing fatigue, and ensuring safe driving can be achieved without the troublesome operations required with conventional devices.

In this example, a liquid crystal plate was used as the plate material whose light transmittance changes, but any material whose light transmittance changes in response to changes in applied voltage can be used. Specifically, for example, the same effect can be obtained when using an electrochromic cell.

Furthermore, the relationship between the output of the sensor and the voltage applied to the liquid crystal does not need to be fixed; it may be adjustable according to the driver's preference.

Furthermore, it goes without saying that this relationship can be freely selected depending on the purpose or use, such as not only making it a linear relationship but also changing it exponentially.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a side view illustrating the operation of the anti-glare device of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a side view illustrating the structure of the sensor. 1... Driver, 2... Facial illuminance sensor, 6... Liquid crystal panel. Agent Masuo Oiwa

Claims (1)

[Claims] A plate-like material whose light transmittance changes depending on the applied voltage is installed on the windshield at the width of the vehicle, and a separately installed driver's face illuminance sensor and a controller that outputs a voltage when the sensor is activated are installed. Anti-glare device that is combined with %