JPS61146653A - Automatic retractable door mirror - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To automatically avoid collision with an obstacle, by measuring a distance from a side surface of a vehicle body to a rigid obstacle by means of an ultrasonic sensor, and determining whether or not a movable mirror should be retracted according to the measurement result. CONSTITUTION:Front and rear ultrasonic sensors 20a and 20b are provided at left and right sides of front and rear portions of a vehicle body, so as to measure a distance between the vehicle body and a fixed obstacle at front and rear sides from the side surface of the vehicle body. Outputs from the sensors 20a and 20b, forward and reverse detecting switches 27 and 28, and a vehicle speed sensor 26 are fed to a retraction condition determining means 21 and an erection condition determining means 23. When the retraction condition determining means 21 determines that the vehicle approaches forwardly or reversely to the fixed obstacle, and a movable mirror should be retracted, an electric motor 15 is driven to retract the movable mirror. In contrast, when an erection is determined by the erection condition determining means 23, the movable mirror is rapidly erected.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Industrial application field] The present invention relates to an automatically retractable door mirror, and more particularly to an improved door mirror that is automatically folded and retracted when a fixed obstacle is detected on the side of the vehicle body. [Conventional technology]

Door mirrors protrude more toward the sides of the vehicle than fender mirrors, and in order to prevent the large protruding door mirrors from hitting and injuring pedestrians on the side of the vehicle, the rear and rear mirrors should be moved forward and backward in the event of an impact. It is normal for the child to fall down.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

In addition, vehicles equipped with door mirrors have a large amount of protrusion in the vehicle width direction, which effectively occupies a large space in the vehicle width direction. Problems include higher transportation costs and the need for larger garages. As a way to solve these problems, for example, Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. 57-65136 proposes a door mirror having a structure that maintains the folded state. In the case of door mirrors with this type of structure, if the door mirrors are folded and stored, the space occupied in the vehicle width direction is reduced, so it is possible to line up a large number of cars by bringing them closer in the vehicle width direction during transportation, or Advantages such as being able to store a car in a garage with the outer skin of the car body close to the inner wall of the garage are created. However, simply making the door mirrors foldable and keeping them in the folded state requires manually folding or standing up the door mirrors.
Its handling is troublesome. Recently, some automobiles have appeared that are equipped with door mirrors in which the folding and standing rotation of the door mirrors is performed by motors, and the turning on and off of the motors can be remotely controlled from inside the vehicle. However, even with such a remote-controlled foldable door mirror, the operator's will is required to decide whether to fold or raise the door mirror. Therefore, if you forget to fold the door mirror and pull your car close to a fixed obstacle, there is a risk that the door mirror will collide with the fixed obstacle, and if you forget to fold up the door mirror and start the car,
It is also possible that the driver panics when he realizes that it is difficult to check the rear. The present invention was devised under the above circumstances, and takes the remote control type door mirror a step further by automatically folding and retracting when the side of the vehicle body approaches a fixed obstacle. To provide an automatically retractable/return type door mirror that automatically returns to its standing position when it leaves a fixed obstacle, thereby eliminating the problem of forgetting to retract the door mirror or forgetting to return it to its standing position.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the automatic retractable/returnable door mirror of the present invention includes the following means. It is attached to a movable mirror body that can be rotated to fold and stand up relative to the base, a motor built into the base to rotate the movable mirror body, and an ultrasonic sensor installed toward the side of the vehicle body. storage condition determination means for determining a storage condition of the movable mirror body by receiving at least a signal from the storage condition determination means; and a storage control for controlling rotation of the drive motor in the folding direction of the movable mirror body in response to a signal from the storage condition determination means. means for determining a standing condition for the movable mirror body by receiving at least a signal from the ultrasonic sensor; and a standing condition determining means for determining a standing condition for the movable mirror body by receiving at least a signal from the ultrasonic sensor; and an upright control means for controlling the rotation.

[Effect]

The ultrasonic sensor determines the distance from the side of the vehicle body to the hard object based on the time it takes for the sound waves emitted from the sound wave emitter to reflect off the hard object and return to the receiver. This distance information is sent to storage condition determining means. The storage condition determining means determines whether the conditions for folding and storing the movable mirror body are met based on the distance information or other information such as vehicle speed information from a vehicle speed sensor, and it is determined that the storage conditions are met. If so, this information is then sent to the storage control means. The storage control means rotates the motor in a direction to fold the movable mirror body. On the other hand, the standing condition determining means determines whether the condition for standing and rotating the movable mirror body is met based on the distance information from the ultrasonic sensor, and when it is determined that the standing and rotating condition is met. This information is then sent to the stand-up control means. The erecting control means rotates the motor in a direction to erect the movable mirror body.

【effect】

Therefore, the automatically retractable door mirror of the present invention can be automatically folded and retracted without requiring the driver's will or operation when it should be folded and retracted, and can be automatically folded and retracted when the movable body should be in the upright position. Returns to standing from retracted state.

[Explanation of Examples]

Embodiments of the automatic retractable door mirror of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. First, an example of the structure of the door mirror l itself will be explained based on FIGS. 2 to 4. The door mirror 1 includes a base 2 that is attached to a triangular portion of a front door frame, and a movable mirror body 3 that is rotatably supported in the front and rear directions with respect to the base 2. In this example, as shown in FIG. 2, the U-shaped receiving portion 5 is attached by cutting the middle portion of the cylindrical bulge 4 formed on the base 2 for a predetermined length above and below. is provided, and the base protrusion 6 of the movable mirror body 3 is received in the receiving part 5, and the upper and lower parts of the base protrusion 6 are axially aligned with respect to the upper wall 5a and the lower wall 5b of the U-shaped receiving part 5, respectively. I support you. The upper end 7a of the shaft 7 for pivotally supporting the base protrusion 6 of the movable mirror body 3 with respect to the lower wall 5b of the U-shaped receiving part 5 is connected to a boss provided on the base protrusion 6 side of the movable mirror body 30. It is embedded and fixed in the hole 8, and its lower part 7b passes through the shaft support hole 9 provided in the lower wall 5b, and is attached to the lower bulging part 5 of the base 2.
It extends into the inside of a. Inside the lower bulging portion 5a, the lower portion 7b of the shaft 7 is provided with a disk 1) provided with a plurality of slits 10 at equal intervals in the circumferential direction, as clearly shown in FIG. , gear 12 are fixed at a predetermined distance apart from each other in the axial direction. The lowermost end of the shaft 7 is rotatably supported within a support hole 14 formed in a rib-shaped support wall 13. Further, a DC electric motor 15 is incorporated in the inner space of the lower bulging portion 5a, and a pinion 17 attached to its output shaft 16 meshes with the gear 12. Further, a pulse generator 18 is arranged in which a light emitting element and a light receiving element are arranged so as to sandwich the disk 1) above and below. Therefore, when the motor 15 rotates, the shaft 7 starts rotating, the movable mirror body 3 rotates around this shaft 7, and while the movable mirror body 3 rotates, the slit lO... is provided. The pulse generator 18 generates a pulse signal by intermittently blocking the light emitted from the light emitting element by the circular plate 1). Note that the DC electric motor 15 can be reversed by changing its polarity, and therefore the movable mirror body 3 can be rotated both forward and backward. The DC electric motor 15 is swingably supported at its lower portion and is biased by a spring 19 in a direction in which the pinion 17 is pressed against the outer periphery of the gear 12 . As a result, the movable mirror body 3
Even when an external force is applied to rotate the movable mirror body 3 in the front-rear direction, the pinion 17 escapes to the outside, and the movable mirror body 3 is rotated without damaging the electric motor 15, pinion 17 or pawl 12. 4th
In the figure, reference numeral 30 indicates a protrusion 3 on the disk ll when the movable mirror body 3 is folded and stored as shown in FIG.
Mirror body 3 installed so that the detection arm hits 1
This is a storage state detection switch. In the present invention, the storage condition determining means 21 establishes a condition for storing the movable mirror body 3 based on information such as distance information from the ultrasonic sensor 20 installed toward the side of the vehicle body. When it is determined that the storage control means 2
2, the movable mirror body 3 is rotated in the folding direction, and on the other hand, based on information such as distance information from the ultrasonic sensor 20, the standing condition determining means 23 determines that the conditions for raising the movable mirror body 3 are satisfied. When the determination is made, the movable mirror body 3 is rotated in the upright direction via the upright control means 24. These storage condition determination means 21 and storage control means 2
2. The standing condition determining means 23 and the standing controlling means 24:
This is realized by the microcomputer 25. In the illustrated example, the ultrasonic sensor 20 is installed at the front (20a) and rear (20b) of the vehicle body, as shown in FIGS.
), and as shown in FIG. A signal from a forward switch 27 that detects that the vehicle is moving forward, and a signal from a reverse switch 28 that displays that the vehicle is moving backward are input. The forward switch 27 is implemented as a switch that closes when the shift lever of the transmission is placed in the forward range, and the reverse switch 28 is implemented as a switch that closes when the shift lever is placed in the reverse range. . In this example, the following conditions are set as the storage condition and the raising condition on the premise that the vehicle speed is less than or equal to a predetermined set speed. Possibility of theft: Either of the following conditions ■ or ■ must be met. (2) The forward switch 27 is turned on, and the front ultrasonic switch 20a detects that the front side of the vehicle body approaches an obstacle. - The reverse switch 28 is turned on, and the rear ultrasonic switch 20b detects that the rear side of the vehicle body approaches an obstacle. If the above condition (■) is satisfied, the vehicle will move as shown in Figure 5 (a).
1, that is, the vehicle is approaching a fixed obstacle while moving forward. Furthermore, if the above condition p is satisfied, the vehicle is in the situation shown in FIG. When the movable mirror body 3 is moving backward, the ultrasonic sensor 20a located in front of the movable mirror body 3 detects the approach of an obstacle. Since the ultrasonic sensor 20b located behind the mirror body 3 detects the approach of an obstacle, there is enough time to fold the movable mirror body 3. Stand-up condition: Either of the following conditions (1) or (2) must be satisfied. ■ The forward switch 27 is on, and the rear ultrasonic switch 20b does not detect any obstacle near the rear side of the vehicle. ■ The reverse switch 28 is on, and the front ultrasonic switch 20b detects no obstacle near the rear side of the vehicle. The switch 20a does not detect any obstacle near the front side of the vehicle body.If the above condition
This shows the situation shown in 1, that is, the vehicle is moving away from a fixed obstacle while moving forward. Furthermore, when the above condition (■) is satisfied, the vehicle is in the situation shown in FIG. Now, when moving forward, the movable mirror body 3
Since the movable mirror body 3 is rotated upright when the ultrasonic sensor 20b located further to the rear no longer detects an obstacle, the movable mirror body 3 is rotated upright after the movable mirror body 3 is sufficiently far away from the obstacle. Also, when moving backward, the movable mirror body 3
Since the movable mirror body 3 is rotated upright when the ultrasonic sensor 20a located further forward no longer detects an obstacle, the movable mirror body 3 is rotated upright after the movable mirror body 3 is sufficiently far away from the obstacle. FIG. 7 schematically shows the relationship between the microcomputer 25 constituting each means of the present invention schematically shown in FIG. 1, and each input device and each output device. The microcomputer 25 includes a central processing unit 32 and a non-volatile RAM 33. It has a program ROM 34 and an input/output port 35, and the human output boat 35 includes front and rear ultrasonic sensors 20a on the left and right sides of the vehicle body. 20b, signals from the forward switch 27 and reverse switch 28, vehicle speed information from the vehicle speed sensor 26, pulse signal from the pulse generator 18 attached to the electric motor 15, and retraction state detection switch for the movable mirror body 3. 3
0 is input, and a control signal is output to the drive circuit 36 for driving the electric motor 15. Next, an example of the flow of control in the present invention achieved by the microcomputer 25 will be described based on the flowchart shown in FIG. Assuming that the vehicle speed is below the set vehicle speed (step 10)
1) It is determined whether the storage condition for the mirror body is satisfied (step 1G2), and if it is determined that the storage condition is satisfied, it is verified whether the storage state detection switch 30 is turned on. After clearing the pulse counter value in the non-volatile RAM 33 to 0 (step 104), the count of the pulse signal sent from the pulse generator 18 is started (step 105), and the stored state is set! The electric motor 15 is rotated until the F3 detection switch 30 is turned on (step 106).
, 107, 108). The rotating direction of the electric motor 15 at this time is the direction in which the movable mirror body 3 is folded. When the electric motor 15 stops rotating (step 108), the pulse count is stopped (step 109), and this pulse count value is stored in the non-volatile RAM (step 1).
)0). In step 103, even if the vehicle body is in a situation where the mirror floor 3 should be folded, if the movable mirror body 3 is already folded and stored, the movable mirror body 3 cannot be further folded. ,
This is to skip step 104 to step 1) 0 above. If it is determined in step 102 that the storage condition is not satisfied, and if the storage state detection switch 30 is turned on in step 103,
The process jumps to step 1) 1, which will be described later. Next, in step 1) 1, it is determined whether the standing conditions for the movable mirror body 3 are satisfied, and if it is determined that the standing conditions are satisfied, it is determined whether the storage state detection switch 30 is turned on or not. is verified (step 1) 2)
, if it is on, the pulse signal starts counting and stands by (step 1) 3), and the electric motor 15 rotates in reverse until the pulse count value reaches the pulse count value stored in the nonvolatile RAM 33. (Step 1) 4, 1) 5, 1) 6). If the standing condition is not satisfied in step 1)1, and if the storage state detection switch 30 is not turned on in step 1)2, the process returns to step 101. Further, when step 1)6 is completed, the process returns to step 101. As can be seen from the above control flow, in this example, when the movable mirror body 3 in the upright state is folded and stored and then raised again, the folding angle is sent from the pulse generator 18 in order to return it to the state before storage. It is measured by counting the number of pulses, and when the robot is raised, it is raised at an angle corresponding to the pulse count value. In this way, it is possible to correspond to the case where the movable mirror body 3 is remotely controlled by a system different from that of the present invention. That is, even if the upright angle of the movable mirror body 3 is variously changed according to the occupant's preference, the upright angle of the mirror body 3 after automatic storage and automatic uprighting is returned to the state before storage. In addition, automatic storage and raising control is performed on the premise that the vehicle speed is below a predetermined vehicle speed.This is because the mirror is automatically retracted and raised when another vehicle approaches the side while the vehicle is traveling at a predetermined speed or higher. This is because if the vehicle's body is retracted, it may actually cause problems in terms of driving safety. As explained above, the automatically retractable door mirror of the present invention has a movable mirror body that is automatically folded and retracted in a situation where folding and retraction is required without requiring any operation or intention from the occupant. will be reinstated. Of course, the scope of the invention is not limited to the embodiments described above. The number of ultrasonic sensors to be provided on the left and right sides of the vehicle body does not have to be two, front and rear as in the embodiment, but may be one or more. Further, as mentioned in the above description, each electric motor can be remotely controlled by a system separate from the present invention.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a partially sectional front view showing an example of the structure of the door mirror according to the present invention.
Figures 3 and 4 are cross-sectional views taken along line m-■ in Figure 2;
5(a) and 5(bl is an explanatory diagram of an example of a storage condition, FIG. 6(a) and FIG. 6(bl is an explanatory diagram of an example of a standing condition), and FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of an example of a circuit configuration of the present invention. The schematic diagram and FIG. 8 are flowcharts showing an example of the flow of control performed by a microcomputer. ■... Door mirror, 2... Mounted on the base, 3...
Movable mirror body, 14... (electric) motor, 2o...
Ultrasonic sensor, 21... Storage condition determining means, 22...
- Storage control means, 23... Standing condition establishment means, 24.
・Standing control means

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) A movable mirror body that can be rotated to fold and stand up relative to the mounting base, a motor built into the mounting base to rotate the movable mirror body, and an ultrasonic wave installed toward the side of the vehicle body. storage condition determining means for receiving at least a signal from a sensor to determine a storage condition for the movable mirror body; and storage for controlling rotation of the drive motor in the folding direction of the movable mirror body in response to a signal from the storage condition determining means. a control means, a standing condition determining means for receiving at least a signal from the ultrasonic sensor and determining a standing condition for the movable mirror body, and a raising condition determining means for receiving the signal from the standing condition determining means and causing the drive motor to raise the movable mirror body. An automatically retractable door mirror, characterized in that it is equipped with an upright control means for controlling rotation in a direction.