JPS61295115A - Fog judging device for car automatic defogger system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make even fogging on a windshield alone eliminable, by constituting a fog criterion so as to be corrected to a yet smaller auxiliary reference value at a time when the rider detector installed in a rear seat detects no rider. CONSTITUTION:When a rear window Wr is fogged, a judging device 20 operates, and a microcomputer 25 processes each inputted signal out of rider sensor 22 and a humidity sensor 21 according to the specified program, and if the fog on the rear window Wr goes beyond the specified reference value A, it outputs a dehumidifying signal via an electrical control unit 17, driving a com pressor 12 and switching a selector damper 16, thus it performs dehumidification. And, when no driver exists in a rear seat and a rider sensor 22 detects no rider, the microcomputer 25 sets the reference value A to be lower as much as the specified value DELTAA, setting an auxiliary reference value A'. And with this auxiliary reference value A', a fog judgment takes place. With this constitu tion, even when a windshield alone is fogged, the dehumidification is perform able, thus driving safety is improvable.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an auto defogger system for a vehicle, and in particular, when the window of a vehicle becomes cloudy due to humidity, the present invention relates to an auto defogger system that is necessary for the automatic dehumidifying action of the auto defogger system on the window when the window of the vehicle becomes cloudy due to humidity. The present invention relates to a fog determination device for a vehicle auto defogger system suitable for performing determination.

[Prior art]

Conventionally, in this type of fog determination device, a humidity sensor is attached to the rear window of a vehicle, and the humidity detected by the humidity sensor is used as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 56-90719. There is a system in which fogging of the rear window is determined using the change, and this determination result is used as an output necessary for the automatic dehumidifying action of an auto defogger system on the window.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

However, in such a configuration, when an occupant is seated only in the front seat rather than the rear seat of the vehicle, the front window of the vehicle precedes the rear window due to the occupant's thermal energy, causing fogging due to humidity. If this occurs, at this stage, the above-mentioned output is not yet generated, and the automatic dehumidifying action of the auto defogger system does not work, resulting in a situation where the front window cannot be defogged.

Therefore, in order to deal with this problem, the present invention has been developed for a vehicle that makes the necessary determination to cause the auto defogger system to automatically dehumidify when any one of the windows of the vehicle becomes foggy due to humidity. It is an object of the present invention to provide a suitability determination device for an auto defogger system.

[Means for solving problems]

In solving this problem, the structural features of the present invention are as follows:
As illustrated in FIG. 1, there is a fog detection means 1 which detects when the rear window of a vehicle becomes fogged due to humidity and generates a fog detection signal, and a fog detection means 1 which detects when the rear window of a vehicle becomes fogged due to humidity and generates a fog detection signal, When it is determined that this is the case, the fog determination device is equipped with a determination signal generating means 2 that generates the determination result as a determination signal necessary for the automatic dehumidification effect on the window of the auto defogger system of the vehicle. an occupant detection means 3 which detects when the occupant is seated and generates an occupant detection signal, and corrects the predetermined reference value to an auxiliary reference value representing a smaller degree of fogging when the occupant detection signal is in a state of disappearance. A correcting means 4 is provided so that the judgment signal generating means 2 generates the judgment signal when the value of the cloud detection signal corresponds to a value cloudier than the auxiliary reference value.

[Effect]

By configuring the present invention in this way, when the vehicle is stopped or running without a passenger sitting in the rear seat, the front window of the vehicle does not fog up before the rear window. However, when the occupant detection signal from the occupant detection means 3 disappears, the correction means 4 corrects the predetermined reference value to the auxiliary reference value, and the determination signal generation means 2 determines that the value of the fog detection signal is equal to the predetermined reference value. A determination signal is generated when the auxiliary reference value is reached before the auxiliary reference value is reached.

In this way, without waiting for the rear window to fog up, the auto defogger system automatically adjusts the windshield of the vehicle in response to the judgment signal generated in advance in relation to the auxiliary reference value based on the fact that no passenger is seated in the rear seat. Since the fog removal effect can be achieved in a timely manner, the front window can always be kept in a state where good visibility can be ensured.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be explained with reference to the drawings.
The figure shows an example in which a fog determination device 20 according to the present invention is applied to an auto defogger system 10 for a vehicle. The auto defogger system 10 includes a rear defogger 11,
A compressor 12, an electromagnetic clutch 12a attached to the compressor 12, an electromagnetic valve 13, and a servo motor 14.
, a switching damper 16 provided at the outlet of the air duct 15, a rear defogger 11, an electromagnetic clutch 12a, and an electromagnetic valve 1.
The rear defogger 11 is configured with an electric control device 17 connected to the rear window Wr of the vehicle.
The fog on the rear window Wr is removed under the action of the electric control device 17 as described below.

Compressor 12. Electromagnetic clutch 12a, electromagnetic valve 13.
Servo motor 14. Air duct 15 and switching damper 16
The compressor 12 constitutes a part of the near conditioner of the vehicle, and the compressor 12 is operated under the selective engagement of the electromagnetic clutch 12a under the action of the electric control device 17 as described below. It is driven by power and provides a cooling effect for the evaporator (not shown) in the air duct 15. The servo motor 14 operates in response to negative pressure or atmospheric pressure through the electromagnetic valve 13 under the action of the electric control device 17 as described below, and switches the switching damper 16 to change the outlet mode of the near conditioner to the defroster mode, Set to one of various modes such as heat mode. The electric control device 17 cooperates with a microcomputer 25, which will be described later, to generate a dehumidifying output signal necessary for the dehumidifying action of the rear defogger 11, an engagement output signal necessary for engaging the electromagnetic clutch 12a, and An excitation output signal necessary for excitation of the solenoid of the electromagnetic valve 13 is generated.

The color determination device 20 includes a dehumidification sensor 21 and an occupant sensor 22.
, each A-D converter 23° 24 connected to the humidity sensor 21 and the occupant sensor 22, and these A-D converters 23, 24,
Microcomputer 25 connected to converter 23.24
It is composed of. The humidity sensor 21 is attached to a part of the inner surface of the rear window Wr, and this humidity sensor 21 detects humidity in the vicinity thereof and generates a humidity detection signal. The occupant sensor 22 detects when an occupant is seated on the rear seat of the vehicle and generates an occupant detection signal. In such a case, the occupant sensor 22
is formed by a temperature sensing element such as a thermistor and is disposed near the rear seat.

The AD converter 23 converts the humidity detection signal from the humidity sensor 21 into a digital humidity signal. The AD converter 24 converts the occupant detection signal from the occupant sensor 22 into a digital occupant signal. The microcomputer 25 executes a computer program stored in its read-only memory in advance to both A-D converters 2 according to the flowchart shown in FIG.
3 and 24, and during this execution, the rear defogger 11. Performs various calculation processes necessary for controlling the electromagnetic clutch 12a and the electromagnetic valve 13.

In this embodiment configured as described above, the vehicle is started by starting its engine, and the auto defogger system 10 and color determination device t20 are activated. At this time, it is assumed that a driver and a passenger are seated in the front seat and rear seat of the vehicle, respectively, and the rear window Wr is fogged up to the extent that visibility is obstructed due to humidity. Simultaneously with the start of operation of the color determination device 20 as described above, the microcomputer 25 starts executing a computer program in step 30 according to the flowchart of FIG. Auto defogger system 10
It is determined that it is rYEsJ based on the operation of . In this case, the predetermined reference value A corresponds to the lower limit of allowable fogging of the rear window Wr due to humidity, and is stored in advance in the read-only memory of the microcomputer 25.

When the computer program proceeds to step 33, the microcomputer 25 determines rYEsJ based on the digital occupant signal generated from the A-D converter 24 in cooperation with the occupant sensor 22. 23 to the humidity sensor 21 (hereinafter referred to as digital humidity value H)
is larger than the predetermined reference value A, it is determined to be rYEsJ, and in step 36, the determination result is generated as a determination signal representing the fogged state of the rear window Wr.

When the determination signal is generated from the microcomputer 25 in this way, the electric control device 17 of the auto defogger system
are dehumidification output signal and maintenance output signal (or excitation output signal)
occurs. Then, the rear defogger system 11 responds to the dehumidification output signal from the electric control device 17 to remove fog from the rear window Wr. Further, the compressor 12 is brought into a driven state by engagement of the electromagnetic clutch 12a in response to an engagement output signal from the electric control device 17, and under the action of the evaporator, the defogging action of the front window is performed by the air conditioner digitizer. The fogging of the front window may be carried out in conjunction with the blowing mode, or the servo motor 14 may switch the switching damper 16 to the defroster mode under the action of the solenoid valve 13 in response to an excitation output signal from the electric control device 17. remove.

During the repetition of the determination "NO" in step 37, when the fog on the rear window Wr is removed by dehumidification, the value of the digital humidity signal from the A-D converter 23 becomes 11.
is less than the predetermined reference value, and the determination in step 37 is "
NO” to rYEsJ. Then, in step 38, the microcomputer 25 sends the determination signal /l! i
When the dehumidification output signal and the engagement force signal (or excitation output signal) are deactivated, the electric control device LFI7 stops generating the dehumidification output signal and the engagement force signal (or excitation output signal).

As a result, the front window and the rear window l'
Wr is maintained in a condition that allows 1-minute visibility with reliable removal of each cloud condition.

In addition, in the above explanation of the operation, when the vehicle starts with no occupant sitting on the rear window, the front window fogs up in advance of the rear window Wr and obstructs visibility due to humidity. do. In such a case, since the occupant detection signal from the occupant sensor 22, that is, the digital occupant signal from the A-1) converter 24 has disappeared, the microcomputer 25 performs step 33.
In step 34, the predetermined width ΔA is subtracted from the predetermined reference value A, and the subtraction result is used as the correction standard (
1 and cent. However, the predetermined width ΔA is set so that the correction reference value B becomes a value corresponding to the lightly cloudy state of the rear window W in the front window advance amount state as described in I-. 1a is written in advance.

But 1 many, 21 nview tab "] Gura J. Ga Zute Sub 3
Proceeding to step 5, the computer 25 is
A [) From Transformer 23/! Ii! rY[? , sI and 'III
Then, in step 36, the II+ constant signal is issued/L. In such a case, the value I of the digital humidity signal from the A-11 converter 23 is
When (reaches the correction standard value 13 before reaching the predetermined standard (+MA), it is determined in step 35 that it is rYIεS1, and accordingly, the generation timing of the determination signal 41 in step 36 is earlier. When the auto defogger system 10 performs the following operations,
The de-fogging action on the windshield and rear window FWr is started before the rear window t"Wr reaches the same fogged condition as the front window, so the front window precedes the rear window FWr and Even in such cases, the fog on the front window can be removed in a timely manner, and as a result, good forward visibility through the front window can be maintained at all times.

In the above embodiment, an example has been described in which the occupant sensor 22 detects whether or not an occupant is seated in the rear seat, but the correction reference value B in step 34 is not limited to this. By correcting in multiple stages, it is possible to perform even more fine-grained dehumidification control than in the above embodiment.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a diagram corresponding to the structure of the invention described in the claims, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the invention, and FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the microcomputer shown in FIG. 2. . Explanation of the symbols 10... Auto defogger system, 20... Color determination device, 21... Humidity sensor, 22... Occupant sensor, 25... Microcomputer.

Claims (1)

[Claims] A fog detection means detects when a rear window of a vehicle becomes fogged due to humidity and generates a fog detection signal; and a determination signal generation means for generating a determination signal necessary for an automatic dehumidifying action on a window of an auto defogger system of a vehicle, the fog determination device detects when an occupant is seated on a rear seat of a vehicle, and detects an occupant. The determination signal generating means includes: an occupant detection means that generates a signal; and a correction means that corrects the predetermined reference value to an auxiliary reference value representing a smaller degree of cloudiness when the occupant detection signal is in a state of disappearance. ,
A cloud determination device for a vehicle auto defogger system, characterized in that the determination signal is generated when the value of the fog detection signal corresponds to a value cloudier than the auxiliary reference value.