JPH04215539A - Recognizing device for automobile - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve the recognition performance from the rear part in rainfall, etc., by controlling the luminous intensity of the tail lamp of an automobile. CONSTITUTION:A recognizing device for an automobile receives the detection value supplied from a wiper speed detecting device 32 or a moisture sensor 35, and judges the rainfall level or dense fog level on the basis of the detection value. A luminous intensity adjusting device 33 is operated in correspondence with the result of the judgment, and each luminous intensity of the tail lamps TL and TL of the automobile is controlled so that the sufficient recognition performance can be obtained.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicle identification device having a light intensity adjustment function for adjusting the light intensity of a taillight of a vehicle.

0002

[Prior Art] Generally, red tail lights (tail lamps) are installed on the rear left and right sides of the vehicle body of an automobile to allow following vehicles to confirm the rear position of the vehicle when driving at night, thereby preventing rear-end collisions. ing.

[0003] The taillight is required by law to have a luminous intensity of at least a predetermined value and to be visible from a rear position at a distance of at least a certain distance.

[0004] However, during heavy rain or dense fog, for example, visibility is significantly reduced compared to during normal weather.

[0005] As a result, there is a problem in that the possibility of a rear-end collision increases.

[0006] Conventionally, as a device for preventing a rear-end collision itself, there is a rear-end collision prevention system using inter-vehicle distance control as disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 57-155700.

[0007]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, the above collision prevention system using inter-vehicle distance control requires an ultrasonic transmitting/receiving system, a radar system, etc., and the device itself is quite expensive. The reality is that it cannot be adopted. In addition, the rear-end collision prevention system using inter-vehicle distance control is originally intended for situations where the vehicle approaches the vehicle in front by a certain distance or more, and does not necessarily effectively contribute to improving the visibility of the vehicle in front from a distance.

[0008]

[Means for solving the problem] Claims 1 and 2 of the present application
The described inventions have been made for the common purpose of solving the above-mentioned problems, and are each constructed as follows.

(1) Structure of the invention according to claim 1 The automobile verification device according to the invention according to claim 1 includes a wiper speed detection means for detecting the operating speed of the wiper of the automobile, and a wiper speed detection means for detecting the operating speed of the wiper of the automobile. and a light intensity adjustment means for adjusting the light intensity of the taillight of the automobile according to the operating speed of the wiper.

(2) Configuration of the invention according to claim 2 The configuration of the automobile verification device according to the invention according to claim 2 is as follows:
Moisture detection means for detecting the amount of moisture outside the vehicle body;
and a luminous intensity adjusting means for adjusting the luminous intensity of the taillight of the automobile according to the amount of moisture detected by the moisture detecting means.

[0011]

[Function] As a result of each of the inventions recited in Claims 1 and 2 of the present application being configured as described above, the following effects are achieved corresponding to each of the configurations.

(1) Effect of the invention set forth in claim 1 In the automobile verification device of the invention set forth in claim 1, first, the wiper speed detection means detects the operating speed of the wiper, and detects the operating speed of the wiper corresponding to the amount of rainfall. is detected. When the wiper operating speed is detected in this way, the light intensity adjustment means adjusts the luminous intensity of the taillights according to the detected wiper operating speed, that is, the amount of rainfall. Adjust so that it becomes brighter when there is a lot of light.

As a result, in situations where it is difficult to see the taillights of the vehicle in front, such as during heavy rain, the luminous intensity of the taillights themselves increases,
Visibility is improved.

(2) Effect of the invention set forth in claim 2 In the automobile verification device of the invention set forth in claim 2, first, the moisture detection means for detecting the amount of moisture outside the vehicle body detects, for example, a moisture content corresponding to the amount (concentration) of dense fog. The amount of moisture outside the vehicle body is detected. When the amount of moisture outside the car body is detected in this way, the light intensity adjustment means adjusts the brightness of the taillight according to the detected amount of moisture, that is, the degree of density of dense fog. Adjust so that it becomes brighter when there is a large amount of fog and the degree of dense fog is high.

As a result, in situations where it is difficult to see the taillights of the vehicle in front, such as in dense fog, the luminous intensity of the taillights themselves increases,
Visibility is improved.

[0016]

[Object of the Invention] Therefore, according to the vehicle identification device of the invention as set forth in claims 1 and 2 of the present application, the visibility of taillights is improved as much as possible during, for example, heavy rain or dense fog, and this makes it possible to prevent rear-end collisions. The ability to prevent accidents is enhanced.

[0017]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIGS. 1 to 3 show an automobile verification device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

First, FIG. 1 shows the overall structure of the apparatus of this embodiment, and reference numeral 1 denotes a wiper motor for driving a wiper fixed to the cowl panel of the automobile. A rotating shaft 2 of the wiper motor 1 is connected to a link mechanism 4 via a rotation control device 31, which will be described later. Note that the rotary shaft 2 of the wiper motor 1 herein refers to an external drive shaft connected to the rotor shaft of the wiper motor 1 itself via a gear box 17 containing a worm gear and a helical gear. . The link mechanism 4 is constructed around a link rod 7 consisting of two rod members 7a and 7b extending in the vehicle width direction along the cowl panel below the front windshield 5. A pair of left and right wiper arms 10 and 11 are pivotally mounted via swing arms 8 and 9, respectively, so as to be rotatable within a predetermined rotation angle range. Note that reference numerals 15 and 16 indicate support brackets for the shaft attachment portion. Also,
Wiper blades 12 and 13 for sweeping the glass surface are attached to the tips of the wiper arms 10 and 11, respectively, and the range of wiping angles θ1 and θ2 is determined by the rotation angles of the wiper arms 10 and 11 in the left and right directions. The front surface of the front windshield 5 is swept (wiped).

Further, α1 and α2 indicate the storage operating angles when fully concealed.

The wiping angles θ1 and θ2 of the wiper blades 12 and 13 are the same as those of the wiper arms 10 and θ2, as described above.
The rotation mode (■intermitt, ■normal mode) and rotation speed (low speed and high speed in the normal mode of ■) of these wiper arms 10 and 11 are determined by the rotation angle of 11, as described below. It is determined by the operation adjustment operation of the link rod 7 by the rotation control device 31.

That is, the rotation control device 31 operates according to each ON operation of a wiper switch (■intermittence operation selection, ■low speed operation selection, ■high speed operation selection) provided on the steering column of the vehicle, for example. The operating state and operating speed of the link rod 7 are controlled in three stages.

On the other hand, reference numeral 30 denotes a taillight brightness control means, and the taillight brightness control means 30 is configured as shown in FIG. Based on the control state, it is detected that the operating speed of the wiper is in the high-speed operating state (heavy rain state) of (2), and control is performed to increase the lighting intensity of the taillights TL, TL of the vehicle 40. There is.

That is, in the case of this embodiment, the taillight brightness control means 30 is composed of a wiper speed detection device 32 and a brightness adjustment device 33, and the wiper control speed of the wiper control device 31 is in the high speed control state. When the condition is detected, the light intensity adjustment device 33 is activated to control the tail light circuit 34, and the tail light TL,
The luminous intensity of the TL is made even brighter to enable visibility from a greater distance.

[0024] As a result, visibility itself is improved, and the occurrence of rear-end collisions can be suppressed as much as possible even during heavy rain.

[0025] As mentioned above, the visibility of the taillights TL, TL is reduced not only during heavy rain, but also when, for example, dense fog occurs.

However, the degree of dense fog cannot be detected by the wiper operating speed as described above.

In this case, for example, as shown in FIG. 1, a moisture sensor 3 such as a humidity sensor is installed on the outer surface of the front windshield 5 of the automobile 40 to detect the amount of moisture outside the vehicle body.
5 is provided, and when the moisture detection output of the moisture sensor 35 exceeds a predetermined value, the light intensity adjustment device 33 is activated to control the taillight circuit 34, and as in the above case, the lighting intensity of the taillights TL, TL is increased. do it like this. As a result, the visibility of the taillights can be improved even during the dense fog.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a control system diagram of a vehicle verification device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a control circuit diagram of main parts of the automobile verification device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a control circuit diagram of main parts of a vehicle verification device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 is a wiper motor, 4 is a link mechanism, 10 and 11 are wiper arms, 30 is a tail light intensity control means, 31 is a rotation control device, 32 is a wiper speed detection device, 33 is a light intensity adjustment device, 34 is a tail light circuit, and 35 is a Moisture sensor 40 is an automobile.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A wiper operating speed detecting means for detecting the operating speed of the wiper of an automobile; and a light intensity adjusting means for adjusting the luminous intensity of a taillight of the automobile according to the wiper speed detected by the wiper speed detecting means. Verification device for automobiles. 2. A vehicle comprising: a moisture detecting means for detecting the amount of moisture outside the vehicle body; and a luminous intensity adjusting means for adjusting the luminous intensity of the taillight of the automobile according to the amount of moisture detected by the moisture detecting means. Automobile verification device.