JPH028835Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to an electric mirror device attached to a vehicle, etc., in which the viewing angle of a mirror portion can be changed by an operating rod that protrudes and retracts from a drive unit.

(Prior art) A mirror part is swingably supported by a support part provided on a drive unit, and an operating rod that protrudes and retracts from this drive unit acts on the mirror part to tilt the mirror part and adjust the viewing angle. Electric mirror devices that allow the user to change the image quality are known.

Conventionally, in such an electric mirror device, a ball joint structure as shown in FIG. 6 is usually adopted as a structure for causing an operating rod to act on a mirror portion. That is, a sphere 61 is formed at the tip of the operating rod 60, and this sphere 61 is gripped by a sphere receiving part 63 provided on a mirror part (mirror holder) 62 and coupled so as to be swingable. Note that this ball joint structure includes a pin portion 64 protruding from the sphere 61.
The operating rod 60 is prevented from rotating by a guide groove 65 that guides the pin portion 64 provided on the spherical receiving portion 63.

However, in such a ball joint structure, the operating rod is located at a different location from the support part, which is the center of swing of the mirror part, so the operating locus P of the operating rod is centered around the center of swing, as shown in Figure 6. This will draw a circular arc. On the other hand, the operating direction of the operating rod is a linear movement along the axis of the operating rod, and the operating rod itself must be made of a flexible material or the connecting parts must have the necessary play. .

For this reason, there have been problems such as the anti-vibration function that prevents vibration of the mirror portion being not sufficiently exerted and smooth operation being difficult to perform.

(Purpose of the invention) The purpose of the invention is to improve this type of electric mirror device, especially the joint structure between the operating rod and the mirror part, in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and to provide a sufficient vibration-proofing function of the mirror part. Moreover, it is an object of the present invention to provide an electric mirror device that can perform a smooth tilting movement of a mirror portion.

(Structure of the invention) The present invention is applied to an electric mirror device attached to a vehicle, etc., in which a mirror part is swingably supported and the mirror part can be tilted by an operating rod that protrudes and retracts from a drive unit. The main components are: a shaft portion provided at the tip of the operating rod and perpendicular to the operating rod; a bearing portion that fits into the shaft portion so as to be rotatable and slidable in the axial direction; and this bearing portion. A cross joint consisting of a joint block consisting of an orthogonal shaft rod part perpendicular to the mirror part, and an orthogonal bearing part provided on the mirror part and fitted to the orthogonal shaft part so as to be rotatable and slidable in the axial direction. Therefore, it is characterized in that the operating rod and the mirror part are swingably connected.

(Embodiments) Hereinafter, preferred embodiments that further embody the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

In the drawings, Fig. 1 is a front view of the electric mirror device according to the present invention, Fig. 2 is a partially cutaway front view of the internal structure of the drive unit, and Fig. 3 is a side view of the drive unit (as shown by the arrow in Fig. 2). (View A direction), Fig. 4 is B- in Fig. 2.
It is a sectional view taken along the B line.

First, in order to clarify the present invention, Figures 1 to 4 are shown.
The overall schematic configuration of the electric mirror device will be described with reference to the drawings. The electric mirror device indicated by reference numeral 1 has a base member 2 that is attached and fixed to the side of the door of the automobile.
In contrast, there is a separate mirror device main body 3 which can be tilted back and forth and is elastically supported by a spring or the like. The mirror device main body 3 has a mirror housing 4 formed into a case shape with a front opening,
A drive unit 5 is disposed inside the mirror housing 4 and is fixedly attached to a support plate (not shown).

The drive unit 5 is substantially sealed by a unit case 6, and a support part 7 provided at the upper right corner of the front face of the unit case 6 supports the rear surface of the mirror part 8 so as to be swingable. As shown in FIG. 4, this support portion 7 includes a hemispherical concave portion 20 formed on the outer surface 6a of the unit case 6, and a synthetic resin mirror that holds the back surface of the mirror portion 8, that is, the mirror body, with respect to the hemispherical concave portion 20. It is composed of a combination of holding members 22 for holding a hemispherical plate portion 21 formed on the back surface of the holder 8a under pressure. The holding member 22 has a hemispherical concave surface portion 20
a holder 24 having a hemispherical portion 23 concentric with;
Support shaft portion 2 protruding from the center of this hemispherical surface portion 23
Consists of 5. This support shaft portion 25 is inserted into a bearing hole 26 formed through the front and rear surfaces of the case 6 at the center of the hemispherical concave surface portion 20, and is attached from the rear surface of the case 6 with a spring 27, a washer 28, and a screw 29. Therefore, the hemispherical surface portion 23 of the holding member 22 is urged toward the hemispherical concave portion 20 side, and holds the hemispherical plate portion 21 under pressure in a sandwich-like manner. The mirror section 8 is supported by the support section 7 so as to be able to swing freely due to the spherical surface holding action and the like.

On the other hand, an operating rod 9 that protrudes and retracts from the case 6 is arranged near the lower side of the support portion 7, and this operating rod 9
As shown in FIG. 4, the drive member 41 is formed entirely of a screw rod and inserted into a cylindrical drive member 41 provided with a gear 40 on its outer periphery. The rotation of the operating rod 9 is restricted, and the threaded portion engages with a clutch pin 42 that rotates following the driving member 41. Therefore, forward and reverse rotation of the driving member 41 causes the operating rod 9 to move between the cases. 6 (see the position of the operating rod 100 in Figure 4).

The tip of the operating rod 9 is swingably connected to the back surface of the mirror section 8 by a cross joint 11, which is a main part of the present invention, and this cross joint will be described in detail later. Further, a reduction gear 46 is meshed with the gear 40 of the drive member 41, and
A worm gear 48 fixed to the shaft of a motor 47 is engaged with this reduction gear 46, so that the operating rod 9 moves in and out as the motor 47 rotates forward and backward.
The mirror part 8 is tilted around the support part 7 to change the viewing angle in the vertical direction. In addition, the mirror part 8
An example of the tilt angle is shown by θ in FIG.

On the other hand, an operating rod 10 that protrudes and retracts from the case 6 is arranged near the front left side of the support portion 7, and this operating rod 10 is formed exactly the same as the aforementioned operating rod 9, and is driven by a similar drive mechanism. It is something that can be done,
50 is a gear, 51 is a reduction gear, 52 is a worm gear, 53 is a motor, and 12 is an operating rod 10.
This is a cross joint that swingably connects the tip of the mirror part 8 to the mirror part 8. As a result, the operating rod 10 moves in and out of the case 6 as the motor 53 rotates forward and backward, tilting the mirror section 8 about the support section 7 and changing the viewing angle in the left and right directions.

Next, the cross joints 11 and 12, which are the essential parts of the present invention, will be specifically explained with reference to FIG. This figure is an exploded perspective view showing the cross joint.

First, the configuration of the cross joint 11 (also 12) will be explained. At the tip of the operating rod 9, there is a shaft rod portion 4 having a circular cross section orthogonal to the axis of the operating rod 9.
3 will be provided. Further, it has a bearing portion 44a that is rotatably and slidably fitted in the shaft rod portion 43, and both side wall portions 44 forming this bearing portion 44a are provided.
An orthogonal shaft rod portion 44d having a circular cross section extends from the approximate center of the bearing portion 44c in a direction perpendicular to the axis of the bearing portion 44a.
Joint block 4 formed by protruding 44e respectively
4 is prepared, and this joint block 44 is integrally molded of synthetic resin or the like to fit the bearing portion 44a onto the shaft rod portion 43. Further, on the mirror portion 8 side, orthogonal bearing portions 45, 46 are provided on the back surface of the mirror holder 8a, which are rotatably and slidably fitted in the orthogonal shaft rod portions 44d, 44e. Therefore, the necessary clearance to enable sliding is between the orthogonal bearing portions 45, 46 and the above-mentioned both side wall portions 44.
Each orthogonal bearing portion 45, 4 is placed between
A separation width of 6 is selected. Therefore, the orthogonal bearing portions, 45, 46 are connected to the orthogonal shaft rod portions 44d, 4.
4e, a cross joint 11 can be formed. In addition, joint block 44
In this case, the bearing part 44a forms a cutout space 44f at the lower part of the intermediate part, and controls the position of the shaft part 43 in the sliding direction so that the upper end narrow diameter part 9a of the operating rod 9 can move within this range. The upper surface portion 44g forming the bearing portion 44a is formed into a pair of outwardly downwardly sloped surfaces whose ridge lines are lines parallel to the axis of the bearing portion 44a to provide relief when the mirror portion 8 is tilted. Further, an opening 47 is formed in the mirror holder 8a to accommodate the bearing portion 44a.

Next, the function of the cross joint 11 will be explained. Each shaft portion and each bearing portion are rotatable, and the operating rod 10 is swingable relative to a pair of mirror holders 8a, that is, the mirror portions 8, in which the rotation axes are perpendicular to each other. Further, since each shaft rod portion can be displaced by a predetermined width in the axial direction with respect to each bearing portion, the operating rod 9 can be displaced in the direction of the surface of the rear surface of the mirror holder 8a. In this case, no displacement is possible in any direction other than the plane direction, for example, in a direction perpendicular to the plane direction, in other words, no play occurs at all.

Therefore, when the operating rod 9 moves in and out,
Although the mirror part 8 tilts around the support part 7,
Due to the oscillation and displacement action of the cross joint 11, the actuating rod 9 only needs to move linearly in the axial direction of the actuating rod 9, and no unnecessary stress is applied to the actuating rod 9 due to the arc trajectory of the mirror portion 8. do not have.

(Effect of the invention) As described above, according to the electric mirror device according to the invention, since the mirror part and the operating rod that act on it are connected by the swingable cross joint, it is possible to Since there is no rattling with the operating rod, and the operating rod itself is not particularly required to be flexible, the mirror portion can have a sufficient vibration-proofing function.

Further, since unnecessary stress is not applied to the operating rod, various effects such as smooth tilting movement of the mirror portion can be obtained.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a front view of the electric mirror device according to the present invention, Fig. 2 is a partially cutaway front view of the internal structure of the drive unit, Fig. 3 is a side view of the drive unit (direction of arrow A in Fig. 2), Figure 4 is a sectional view taken along line B-B in Figure 2;
FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view showing a cross joint, and FIG. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view of a ball joint structure according to the prior art. In the drawing, 5 is a drive unit, 8 is a mirror part,
9 and 10 are operating rods, 11 and 12 are cross joints, 43 is a shaft portion, 44 is a joint block,
44a is a bearing part, 44d and 44e are orthogonal shaft rod parts,
45 and 46 are orthogonal bearing parts.

Claims (1)

[Claims for Utility Model Registration] An electric mirror device in which a mirror part is swingably supported and the mirror part can be tilted by an operating rod extending and retracting from a drive unit, wherein the operating rod and the mirror part are connected together. An electric mirror device characterized by being swingably connected by a cross joint having the following configuration. (b) A shaft portion provided at the tip of the operating rod and perpendicular to the operating rod; (b) A bearing portion that fits into the shaft portion rotatably and slidably in the axial direction; and for this bearing portion. (c) a joint block consisting of orthogonal shaft rods that are orthogonal;