JPS6321480Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a vehicular direction indicating device, and more particularly to a vehicular direction indicating device that indicates the direction in which the vehicle is traveling, such as changing lanes or turning.

2. Description of the Related Art Vehicle direction indicating devices are necessary to ensure traffic safety and smoothness by informing other vehicles or passersby of changes in driving lanes, etc., and it is mandatory for vehicles to be equipped with this device.

Conventional vehicle direction indicator devices have a configuration in which a pair of direction indicator lights installed at the front and rear of the vehicle are operated by sliding a direction indicator switch provided on a steering column to blink the direction indicator lights. I was getting used to it.

However, since the direction indicating switch in this type of device has a sliding portion, it is operated by rubbing against each other with dust etc. attached to the sliding portion, resulting in severe wear of the switch and shortening of its lifespan.

Furthermore, since the conventional device has a sliding portion in the direction indicating switch as described above, its mechanical operation mechanism is complicated, and this has the disadvantage that the steering column portion becomes large.

As a direction indicating device that solves the above-mentioned problems, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 76715/1983 discloses a configuration in which an indicator light is activated by an electric signal and the return movement of the steering wheel is electrically detected without contact. .

According to this, no mechanical device mechanism is required, and no unpleasant noise or friction occurs during operation.

However, with this conventional device, if unnecessary lighting occurs due to a malfunction while driving, it is necessary to momentarily contact the control lever to the non-erroneous lighting side in order to resolve the problem, and this contact time is short. However, if it becomes longer, the indicator light on the non-erroneous lighting side will be turned on unnecessarily, and this operational inconvenience has not been solved.

The present invention was developed in view of the above-mentioned problems, and its purpose is to provide a direction indicator switch that does not have a sliding part, has a small and simple mechanical structure, and has a sufficient margin against erroneous lighting of the direction indicator light. An object of the present invention is to provide a vehicular direction indicating device that can cope with such problems.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention utilizes a pair of direction indicating switches which output a trigger signal to turn on the direction indicating light by touching and separating the contacts by turning the direction indicating operation lever, and a trigger signal of the direction indicating switch. It has a pair of holding circuits that keep the direction indicator lights on, and a pair of reset sensors that detect the amount of return rotation of the steering wheel and output a reset signal to the holding circuit when the steering wheel returns a predetermined amount. In a vehicle direction indicating device in which the direction indicating operation lever returns to a neutral position after outputting a trigger signal of the direction indicating switch, a pair of AND gates lead the trigger signal of each direction indicating switch to a corresponding holding circuit, and one holding circuit is provided. a delay circuit that detects the reset state of the circuit, delays this detection signal, leads it to the AND gate of the other holding circuit, and releases the AND gate for a predetermined period after the holding circuit enters the reset state; The trigger signal of the direction indicator switch is used as a reset input to the other holding circuit, and when erroneous lighting occurs, the erroneous lighting is canceled by operating the other direction indicator.

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below based on the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of a vehicle direction indicating device according to the present invention, in which a pair of direction indicating switches 12a and 12b for turning on and off a pair of direction indicating lights 10a and 10b provided at the front and rear of the vehicle are shown in FIG. It is provided corresponding to the direction indicator lights 10a and 10b,
By touching and releasing the direction indicator switches 12a and 12b, the direction indicator lights 10a,
The desired lighting/extinguishing action of 10b is performed.

The direction indicating switches 12a, 12b are formed of a contact and a contact holder, and as shown in FIG. 13 is provided, and this direction indicating operation lever 13 is provided with contacts 14a, 14b corresponding to the direction indicating lights 10a, 10b. Contact holders 16a, 16b corresponding to the respective contacts 14a, 14b are provided within the rotation locus range of the contacts 14a, 14b.

In this embodiment, the direction indicating operation lever 13 is provided with a biasing means (not shown), which enables the direction indicating operation lever 13 to quickly return to the neutral position.

The contacts 14a, 14b are connected to a battery 20, and by operating the direction indicating operation lever 13, the contacts 14a, 14b are connected to the contact receivers 16a, 16b.
As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, a trigger signal for lighting up the direction indicator lights 10a, 10b is transmitted to the holding circuits 22a, 22 by touching and releasing them.
It is output to b.

On the other hand, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the steering column has a pair of reset sensors 24a that detect the amount of return rotation of the steering wheel and output a reset signal to the holding circuits 22a and 22b when the steering wheel returns a predetermined amount. , 24b are provided. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the reset sensor 24 is formed from a gear-shaped sensor ring 26 provided on the outer periphery of the steering column and a sensor contact member 28. is a contact 3 whose base portion is rotatably provided on, for example, a steering housing, and whose tip portion extends into the gear-shaped groove portion of the sensor ring 26.
2 and contact receivers 34a and 34b arranged oppositely on both sides of the contact 32. When the steering wheel is rotated back, for example, when the steering wheel is rotated clockwise, in FIG. 32 is engaged and pressed by the gear-shaped protrusion 30 of the sensor ring 26 and is deformed, and this contact 32 contacts the contact receiver 34b. As a result, from the sensor contact member 28, in this embodiment, the direction indicator light 10b
A reset signal for the holding circuit 22b is output to the holding circuit 22b. It is also understood that when the steering wheel is rotated counterclockwise, the contact 32 comes into contact with the contact receiver 34a, and a reset signal for the direction indicator light 10a is similarly output to the holding circuit 22a.

The holding circuits 22a and 22b perform a desired flip-flop function in response to the trigger signal and reset signal. The holding circuits 22a and 22b are provided corresponding to the direction indicator lights 10a and 10b, respectively, and signal processing is performed as follows. For example, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, when a trigger signal is input by operating the direction indicating operation lever 13, a lighting signal is output and held to keep the predetermined direction indicating lamp lit. When a reset signal is input due to the return rotation of the steering wheel, the output action of the lighting signal is canceled and the direction indicator lamp is turned off.

Therefore, according to this embodiment, the direction indicating switch 1 can be moved without any need for sliding the switch.
2a, 12b and the bending contact/separation of the sensor contact member 28 generate respective signals, and these signals are subjected to flip-flop signal processing by the holding circuits 22a, 22b to control the direction indicator lights 10a, 10b. It is possible to turn on and off the light as desired.

As described above, the device of this embodiment is capable of turning on and off the direction indicator lights by signal processing of the trigger signal and the reset signal.
It is preferable to provide a circuit for eliminating erroneous lighting of the light source 10b. For this reason, in this embodiment, the trigger signal from one direction indicating switch 12a, 12b is used as a reset input to the other holding circuit 22a, 22b. Furthermore, each direction indicating switch 12
A pair of AND gates 36a and 36b lead the trigger signals of the terminals a and 12b to the corresponding holding circuits, detect the reset state of one holding circuit, for example, the holding circuit 22a, and delay this detection signal to transmit the reset state of the holding circuit 22a to the corresponding holding circuit. A pair of delay circuits 38a and 38b are provided to release the AND gate 36b for a predetermined period of time after the holding circuit 22a enters the reset state.

Therefore, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 7, if the direction indicating operation lever 13 is erroneously operated counterclockwise on a straight road, the contact 14a shown in FIG. 2 will touch and separate from the contact receiver 16a. As a result, the trigger signal is input to the holding circuit 22a, and the direction indicator light 10a is turned on by the action of the lighting signal. To eliminate this erroneous operation, the direction indicating operation lever 13 is rotated clockwise to touch and separate the contact 14b and the contact receiver 16b, thereby outputting a trigger signal to the other holding circuit 22b.
This trigger signal is input as a reset signal to the holding circuit 22a, and the erroneous lighting of the direction indicator lamp 10a is eliminated. On the other hand, the trigger signal emitted from the direction indicator switch 12b is input to the other holding circuit 22b, and the lighting action of the direction indicator lamp 10b is performed. A reset signal is outputted via delay circuit 38b, and this delay time AND gate 36b is released.

As a result, the input of the trigger signal from the direction indicator switch 12b to the holding circuit 22b is blocked, and the lighting of the direction indicator lamp 10b is prevented, making it possible to reliably eliminate lighting caused by erroneous operation of the direction indicator operating lever 13. .

As explained above, according to the present invention, it is possible to turn on and off the direction indicator light extremely easily by touching and releasing the direction indicator switch in conjunction with the operation of the direction indicator operation lever, and this switch Since there is no sliding part on the switch, it is extremely easy to operate, and the mechanical structure of the switch is also simplified, making it possible to reduce the weight of parts, and furthermore, it is possible to avoid increasing the size of the steering column part. be. Further, as described above, the direction indicating switch according to the present invention does not have a sliding portion, so there is no friction and wear, and the life of the direction indicating switch can be extended.

Furthermore, according to the present invention, even if the operation to eliminate the erroneous lighting is performed slowly, the non-erroneously lit side indicator light will not turn on as a result, and the driver can remain calm even if the erroneous lighting occurs. We can respond reliably.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 is a schematic configuration circuit diagram showing a direction indicating device for a vehicle according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram showing the mechanical configuration of a direction indicating switch of the device shown in FIG. 1, and FIG.
1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing the mechanical configuration of the reset sensor of the device, FIG. 4 is an enlarged configuration diagram showing details of the reset sensor of FIG. 3, and FIG. 5 is a vehicle direction indicating device according to the present invention. FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing the operational relationship between a direction indicator light, a trigger signal, and a reset signal. FIG. 7 is a circuit diagram showing an embodiment of the vehicle indicating device according to the present invention. 10a, 10b... direction indicator light, 12a, 12
b...Direction indicator switch, 13...Direction indicator operation lever, 22a, 22b...Holding circuit, 24...
Reset sensor, 36...and gate, 38...
...Delay circuit.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claim for Utility Model Registration] A pair of direction indicator switches that touch and release contacts by turning the direction indicator operating lever and output a trigger signal to turn on the direction indicator light; It has a pair of holding circuits that keep the lights on, and a pair of reset sensors that detect the amount of return rotation of the steering wheel and output a reset signal to the holding circuit when the steering wheel returns a predetermined amount. In a vehicular direction indicating device in which the lever returns to a neutral position after the trigger signal of the direction indicating switch is output, a pair of AND gates are used to guide the trigger signal of each direction indicating switch to a corresponding holding circuit, and a reset state of one of the holding circuits is provided. a delay circuit that detects the detection signal, delays this detection signal, leads it to the AND gate of the other holding circuit, and releases the AND gate for a predetermined period after the holding circuit enters the reset state. A vehicle direction indicator device, characterized in that the trigger signal is used as a reset input to the other holding circuit, and when the other direction indicator lights up incorrectly, the erroneous lighting is canceled by operating the other direction indicator light.