JPS6095420A - Rearview mirror device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To adjust automatically and smoothly the angle of a reflecting mirror which is fitted in the mirror body with simple mechanism by slanting the reflecting mirror by the deformation of a thermal deforming member which is provided in the mirror body and has a heating means. CONSTITUTION:When the ambience is light like in the daytime, etc., a nighttime sensor 11 does not operate through a switching sensor 10, so the reflecting mirror 3 does not slant by the deformation of the thermal deforming member 8, holding a rearview mirror at a specific daytime angle. When the ambience becomes dark, the nighttime sensor 11 operates and sends a signal by receiving light from the rear to flow a current to an electric heating coil 9, and the thermal deforming member 8 is heated to deform. Consequently, the reflecting mirror 3 is slanted automatically and smoothly to such an angle that the light from the rear is not reflected directly to a driver's eye.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] The present invention relates to a rear view mirror, such as a rear view mirror, a door mirror, etc. installed in an automobile, etc., and its purpose is to automatically adjust the angle of a reflector using a simple mechanism. To provide a rear endoscope device that can be accurately and smoothly adjusted, eliminates noise during adjustment, significantly reduces manufacturing cost, and can also be made extremely thin in the case of a door mirror or the like.

In the case of rearview mirrors installed inside the car, when driving at night, the lights of the car behind are directly reflected by the reflector and enter the driver's eyes, making it difficult to drive, so the angle of the reflector is changed to a night-time setting. , the lights are adjusted so that they are not directly reflected, but in the past, such adjustments were generally done manually, which was cumbersome, and it was dangerous to do so while driving, and it also caused the driver to lose light from the rear. If the camera is left in the night mode even after it has been adjusted, it becomes difficult to see behind the camera, which causes problems such as the need to change the angle again. For this reason, sensors were installed in rearview mirrors to automatically switch the angle of the reflector using relays, etc., but in this case, the lights could turn on or off due to differences in the illumination angle of the lights from behind. At times, the angle of the reflector had to be changed violently, causing problems such as making it extremely difficult to drive.

In addition, when adjusting the angle of the reflector on door mirrors and side mirrors installed outside the vehicle, it was done manually or by driving a motor, but when adjusting the angle manually, the angle must be adjusted each time by going outside the vehicle. This is very inconvenient, and if the mirror is driven by a motor, the motor and drive device are housed inside the mirror body, which makes it very bulky and gets in the way, and when adjusting the angle, the motor makes a loud noise and causes discomfort. There was a problem.

This invention was made to solve these problems in rearview mirrors, door mirrors, etc., and uses a thermally deformable member such as a bimetal so that the reflecting mirror tilts as the thermally deformable member deforms. This allows the angle of the reflecting mirror to be adjusted.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below based on the drawings.

First, as a first embodiment, we will explain the case of a rearview mirror installed in a car based on FIGS. 1 and 2. In these figures, (1) is a rearview mirror FA+
The mirror body (1) is formed into a front-open box shape with an open front and a hollow interior. The upper surface (1a) of the outer wall of this mirror body (1) has a mounting portion (2) projecting upward for attachment to a car, and the upper surface (1b) of the inner wall has a reflecting mirror (3) in the center. A circular engaging convex portion (4) to be attached is provided vertically. The anti'A=1 mirror (3) is fitted into a mirror housing (5) with an open front, and this mirror housing (
5) Engagement recess (7) of mounting member (6) provided at the upper end
and the engaging protrusion (4) are fitted, whereby the reflecting mirror (3) is freely movably attached within the mirror body (1).

(8) is a thermally deformable member that bends due to heat, such as a bimetal made by bonding two types of metals with different coefficients of thermal expansion.In this example, as shown in Figure fjS2, the thermally deformable member
8) is bent into a single character shape, and its long side (
8a) is attached to the inner wall back (IC) of the mirror body (1), and its folded end (8b) is attached to the back of the mirror housing (5), and its folded end (8C) serves as a heating means. An electric heating coil (9) is wound around it. When a current is applied to this electric heating coil (9) from a power source (not shown) and the electric heating coil (9) generates heat, the thermally deformable member (8) is distorted by this heat, thereby fitting the reflecting mirror (3). The mirror housing (5) is tilted. In addition, in this embodiment, the thermally deformable member (8) is bent in advance into a single character shape to reduce the thickness of the mirror body (1), and the reflecting mirror (3) is quickly tilted due to the distortion of the thermally deformable member (8). However, it is of course possible to arrange the thermally deformable member (8) in a straight line.

00) is a sensor for day/night switching provided on the back side of the mounting part +21, and (111 is a sensor for night/night switching provided on the front side of the mounting part (2). Hino (kawa) senses the surrounding brightness and switches to the night sensor (11), and when the surroundings are bright like daytime, the night sensor (11) is activated.
11) is not activated, while the night sensor (111) is activated when the surroundings become dark such as at night.The night sensor (11) also detects lighting from behind at night. When lighting from the rear is detected, current is passed from the power source through the heating coil (9) to deform the thermally deformable member (8), and the lighting is operated directly from the rear. The angle of the reflector (3) is adjusted so that it does not reflect to the human eye.

In addition, in this example, each sensor (10) Cl1
1 is provided on the mounting part (2), but the sensor (10)
(The position where Ill is provided is not limited to this, and each sensor (10) as described above can be provided at any position as long as it can perform the function of Ill.

The rearview mirror (Al) configured in this way does not activate the nighttime sensor (10) due to the switching sensor (101) when the surroundings are bright such as during the day, so the thermally deformable member (8) deforms and reflects light. The mirror (3) does not tilt and the reflector (3) is kept at a constant angle during the day.On the other hand, at night when the surroundings are dark,
When the nighttime sensor (11) is activated and receives illumination from behind, a current is applied to the electric heating coil (9) in response to a signal from the nighttime sensor (11), which causes the thermally deformable member (
8) is heated and deformed, and accordingly the reflector (3) is tilted and the angle of the reflector (3) is automatically adjusted so that the illumination from the rear does not reflect directly into the driver's eyes. It is. When the lights from the rear go out, the electric heating coil (9
), and the reflecting mirror (3) automatically returns to its original state as the thermally deformable member (8) restores its original state. In addition, if the reflector (3) receives illumination from behind again while it is being restored, the reflector (3) will be illuminated again from the middle of the restoration.
) can now be tilted to adjust to the appropriate angle, allowing you to respond to lights turning on and off with small movements.

Next, as a second example, the case of the door mirror FB+ will be explained as a third example.
This will be explained based on FIGS. In these figures,
(101) is the mirror body of the door mirror (B),
This mirror body (101) is tiltably attached to a base (102) attached to the vehicle body. A spherical engagement protrusion (1,04) is provided inwardly protruding from the center of the inner wall surface of the extending end of the mirror body (101) to attach the reflecting mirror (1,03). has been done. In addition, the reflecting mirror (103) has a mirror housing (
The mounting member (105) is fitted into the mirror housing (105) and provided at the extending end of the mirror housing (105).
106) and the above-mentioned engaging convex portion (107).
4) are fitted together, whereby the reflecting mirror (103) is movably attached within the mirror body (101) so as to tilt in each direction.

Also, in the case of the door mirror ('B) according to this embodiment, as in the first embodiment, a thermally deformable member (108) bent and formed into a single character shape is provided in the mirror body (101), Its long side (108a) is the mirror body (10
1) and its folded end (
108b) is attached, and its folded part (108b) is attached.
8C) is wound with an electric heating coil (109). However, in order to adjust the reflector (103) in the door mirror to an appropriate angle, it is necessary to tilt the reflector (103) back and forth in both the vertical and horizontal directions. As shown in the figure, the central part of the base (102) side end of the mirror body (101)
1) Thermal deformable members (108) each having an electric heating coil (109) wound therein are provided at the center of the lower end.

In the door mirror (B1) configured in this way, when adjusting the lateral angle of the reflecting mirror (103), a mirror is provided at the center of the base (102) side end of the mirror body (101,). A current from a power source (not shown) is supplied to an electric heating coil (109) wrapped around a thermally deformable member (108) while being adjusted by a power adjustment means (not shown) such as a variable resistor, This electric heating coil (109) is heated to bend the thermally deformable member (108), and thereby the reflecting mirror (103 ) is tilted back and forth in the lateral direction to adjust the required angle, and the power adjustment means maintains the reflector (103) in this state.Furthermore, when adjusting the vertical angle of the reflector (103), To do this, a current is supplied to the electric heating coil (109) wrapped around the thermally deformable member (108) provided at the center of the lower end of the mirror body (101) in the same way as in the above case, and the reflecting mirror is (103) is tilted back and forth in the vertical direction to adjust the required angle, and the reflecting mirror (103) is maintained in that state.

In this way, the angle of the reflector (103) in the door mirror (Bl) is adjusted in the horizontal and vertical directions, so that the driver can easily check the rear.
). In addition, in the case of this door mirror (B), the reflecting mirror ( Since the mirror body (103) is tilted, there is little movement of the reflecting mirror (103) at the extending end of the mirror body (101), and the mirror body (103) is tilted.
01) can be made thinner. In addition, in this case, since the distance between the position of the thermally deformable member (ios), which is the point of force for tilting the reflector (103), and the fulcrum becomes longer, it is easier to tilt the reflector (103) even when the force due to the deformation of the thermally deformable member (108) is weak. The reflecting mirror (103) is tilted.

In addition, here, the rearview mirror (A+) and door mirror (Bl
Although the case has been described, it is also possible to use it for a side mirror in the same way as the door mirror (B).

As detailed above, the rear endoscope device according to the present invention includes a thermally deformable member equipped with a heating means in the mirror body, and is movably attached to the mirror body by deformation of the thermally deformable member. Because I made the reflector tilt,
When adjusting the motor or degree, the angle can be adjusted quietly without the remoter noise. Furthermore, since the bimetal and the like used as the thermally deformable member are inexpensive, the manufacturing cost can be significantly reduced compared to the case where a motor or the like is used.

In addition, when used with a sensor that closes the rearview mirror installed inside the car, the angle of the odor can be adjusted at night, and when the lights are turned on or off, the reflector can tilt even from an intermediate stage, so relays etc. can be used. This eliminates the possibility of the reflector tilting violently and making it difficult to drive, which is the case with the case where the angle of the reflector is changed.

In addition, when used in door mirrors, there is no need to go outside the vehicle to adjust the angle of the reflector each time, and there is no need to store the motor or drive device inside the mirror body. This makes it possible to significantly reduce the thickness of the mirror body.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The drawings all show embodiments of the present invention, and FIGS. 1 and 2 are examples of rearview mirrors; FIG. 1 is a front view of the rearview mirror, and FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the rearview mirror. , FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 are examples of a door mirror. FIG. 3 is a front view of the door mirror, and FIG. 4 is a partial sectional view showing the main part. fil (101)...mirror body, (31(10
3)... Reflector, +81 (108)... Heat deformable member, +91 (109)... Electric heating coil (heating means)
. Patent applicant Toyo Kogyo Co., Ltd.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A reflecting mirror is movably attached inside the mirror body, and a thermally deformable member such as a bimetal equipped with a heating means is provided inside the mirror body, and this thermally deformable member is connected to the above-mentioned reflector, and the thermally deformable member is A rear endoscope device characterized in that the reflector is configured to tilt as the mirror is deformed.