JPH0446850A - Window glass cleaning device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To automatically clean a front glass by irradiating light from one surface side of a window glass, judging the contamination of the window glass by detecting the transmission light on the opposite surface side, and operating a wiper motor, cleaning liquid, and a pump when contamination is detected. CONSTITUTION:When the automatic cleaning switch of an outside instruction device 32 installed on a cabin frame 2 is turned ON, a control unit c/u27 performs automatic cleaning control. Accordingly, when light is irradiated to a window glass 4 from a light source 21, the light which passes through the window glass 4 is detected by a light detector 25. The control unit c/u27 judges the contamination state of the glass 4 from the detection signal 26. When contamination is judged, a wiper relay 28 and a pump relay 29 are closed. Accordingly, a wiper motor 8 and a pump 12 operate, and cleaning liquid is jetted, and then wiped off by a wiper blade 7.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention is suitable for use in cleaning dirt attached to windshields and other window glass installed in the driver's cab of automobiles, construction machinery, etc., for example. The present invention relates to a window glass cleaning device.

[Prior Art] FIGS. 3 and 4 show an example of a case where a conventional window glass cleaning device is used in the operator's cab of a hydraulic excavator as a construction machine.

In the figure, 1 indicates a cabin as a driver's cab provided at the front part of a hydraulic excavator (not shown), 2 indicates a cabin frame as a frame forming the main body of the cabin 1,
The cabin frame 2 is formed as a box-shaped cab box, as shown in FIG. 3, by joining panels made of metal plates or the like. A door 3 is provided on the outside of the cabin frame 2, and a driver's seat, a control lever device (none of which are shown), a wiper switch 18, a washer switch 19, etc., which will be described later, are provided inside the cabin frame 2. ing.

Reference numeral 4 indicates a windshield as a window glass provided on the front side of the cabin frame 2, and the windshield 4 is fixed to the cabin frame 2 by a rubber seal 5. The windshield 4 is a side glass 6.
6 (only one is shown), etc., are made of transparent plate glass, and are designed to provide the driver with a wide field of vision.

Reference numeral 7 indicates a wiper blade provided on the outside of the windshield 4. A blade rubber 7A is attached to the distal end of the wiper blade 7, and the proximal end is rotatably attached to a wiper motor 8, which will be described later. Then, when the wiper switch 18 is closed and the wiper motor 8 is supplied with power from the battery 16 (to be described later), the wiper blade 7 is moved as indicated by the arrow A while the tip side of the blade rubber 7A is in sliding contact with the surface of the windshield 4. The injection nozzle 10, which will be described later, swings in the direction of
The windshield 4 is cleaned by wiping dirt such as mud and dust attached to the surface of the windshield 4 together with a cleaning liquid 15 which will be described later and is sprayed from the windshield 4.

8 indicates a wiper motor consisting of a DC electric motor, and the wiper motor 8 has a wiper cable 9A.

The positive side 16A of the battery 16, which will be described later, via 9B etc.
and connected to ground 17. When the wiper switch 18 is closed, the wiper motor 8 is activated by the battery 16.
The wiper blade 7 is caused to swing in the direction of arrow A by being supplied with power from the wiper blade 7. Reference numeral 10 indicates an injection nozzle attached to the front lower side of the cabin frame 2, and the injection nozzle 10 is connected to a pump 12, which will be described later, via a hose 11.
The spray nozzle 10 directs the cleaning liquid 15 supplied from the pump 12 through the hose 11 to the windshield 4.
It is designed to spray in the direction of arrow B toward the surface of the surface.

Reference numeral 12 denotes a pump, and as shown in FIG. 4, the pump 12 is composed of a pump body 12A and a pump motor 12B consisting of a DC electric motor provided on the pump body 12A, and the pump motor 12B is connected to a pump cable 13A. ,
It is connected to the positive side 16A of the battery 16 and the ground 17 via 13B and the like. When the washer switch 19 is closed and power is supplied from the battery 16 to the pump motor 12B, the pump 12 cleans the cleaning liquid 15 as a washer liquid stored in the cleaning liquid tank 14.
is sucked into the pump body 12A, and is discharged and supplied from the pump body 12A to the injection nozzle 10 via the hose 11.

16 indicates a battery, and the positive side 16 of the battery 16
A is connected to the positive side of the fiber motor 8 and the pump motor 12B via the wiper cable 9A, pump cable 13A, etc., and the negative side 16B is grounded to the earth 17. 18 and 19 are located inside the cabin frame 2, and are connected to the wiper cable 9A and the pump cable 13A.
The wiper switch 18 and the washer switch 19 are shown to be provided in the middle of the wiper blade 7 and the washer switch 19, respectively, so that the wiper blade 7 and the pump 12 can be operated independently by opening and closing them manually. It is now possible to do so.

The window glass cleaning device according to the prior art has the above-mentioned configuration, and when the surface of the windshield 4 becomes dirty with mud, dust, etc., visibility becomes poor, and the driver presses the washer switch 19.
When the pump motor 12 of the pump 12 is operated and closed, the pump motor 12 of the pump 12
DC power is supplied to B from the battery 16 via pump cables 13A, 13B, etc., so that the cleaning liquid 15 in the cleaning liquid tank 14 is sucked into the pump body 12A,
The water is sprayed from the spray nozzle 10 toward the surface of the windshield 4. Next, when the driver operates the wiper switch 18 to close it, the wiper motor 8 is supplied with power from the battery 16 via the wiper cables 9A, 9B, etc., so that the wiper blade 7 moves the blade rubber 7A to the surface of the windshield 4. It swings in the direction of arrow A while sliding in contact with the cleaning liquid 15, and wipes off dirt such as dust with the cleaning liquid 15 to ensure good visibility.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, in the above-mentioned conventional technology, whenever the surface of the windshield 4 becomes dirty with dust or the like and visibility becomes poor, the driver stops work and switches the wiper switch 18. Operate washer switch 19, wiper blade 7, pump 1
2 has to be activated to remove this dirt, which poses a problem in that cleaning the dirt is troublesome. In particular, since construction machines such as hydraulic excavators are used at work sites where there is a lot of dust, the surface of the windshield 4 is extremely easy to get dirty, and the driver must switch the wiper switch 18. This increases the frequency of operating the washer switch 19, which is very cumbersome and causes great discomfort to the driver, and there are problems in that the working efficiency of the hydraulic excavator is reduced.

Further, if the driver dislikes this troublesome cleaning work and continues the work while leaving the windshield 4 dirty, there is a problem that visibility becomes poor and the safety of the work is reduced.

The present invention was made in view of the problems of the prior art described above, and the present invention can automatically detect dirt on the windshield.
This provides a window glass cleaning device that automatically cleans the windshield and eliminates the need for the driver to operate the wiper switch and washer switch.

[Means to solve the problem]

The features of the configuration adopted by the present invention in order to solve the above-mentioned problems include a light source that irradiates light toward a window glass, and a light source that is provided to face the light source with the window glass in between, and a light source that emits light toward the window glass. a photodetector for detecting dirt on the window glass based on light irradiated through the glass; and an operation control means for operating a wiper motor and a pump when dirt on the window glass is detected by the photodetector. It's about being prepared.

[Effect]

With the above configuration, when the surface of the window glass becomes dirty with dust, etc., the light emitted from the light source is attenuated by this dirt, so the photodetector detects the dirt on the window glass based on this attenuated light. The operation control means can operate the wiper motor and the pump based on the detection signal from the photodetector, and can cause the wiper blade to slide into contact with the windshield while spraying the cleaning liquid from the spray nozzle. This allows this dirt to be automatically cleaned.

[Example] Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described based on FIGS. 1 and 2. In the embodiment, the same components as those of the prior art shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 are given the same reference numerals.
The explanation thereof will be omitted.

In the figure, reference numeral 21 indicates a light source that is provided at a predetermined distance from the surface of the windshield 4 and is attached to the wiper blade 7 via a mounting stay 21A. It consists of a cylindrical lamp box 22, an LED lamp 23 that is installed inside the lamp box 22 and is made up of a plurality of LEDs, and a transparent plate 24 that covers the opening of the lamp box 22, and the light source 21 is not shown in the figure. Control unit 27 (described later) via a lead wire that does not
etc. are connected. When a command is input to the control unit 27 from an external command device 32 (described later), the light source 21 turns on the LED lamp 23 and irradiates the windshield 4 with this light through the transparent plate 24. ing.

Reference numeral 25 denotes a photodetector constituted by an optical sensor such as a CdS sensor.
The light source 21 is located and fixed inside the cabin 1 on the back side of the windshield 4 so as to face the light source 21 with the windshield 4 in between when it is in the standby position shown by the solid line in the figure. The photodetector 25 receives light emitted from the light source 21 through the windshield 4, converts it into an electrical signal, and uses the lead wire as a dirt detection signal to detect dirt on the windshield 4. The signal is output to a control unit 27 via 26.

Reference numeral 27 denotes a control unit that includes a built-in CPU, memory, etc., and constitutes an operation control means together with an external command device 32. A photodetector 25 and an external command device 37 are connected to the input side of the control unit 27, and the output A wiper relay 28 and a pump relay 29 are connected to the lead wire 3 on the side.
Connected via 0.31. Then, the control unit 27 turns on the light source 21 based on the automatic cleaning signal from the external command device 32, reads the detection signal from the photodetector 25 that detected this light, and determines whether or not the windshield 4 is dirty. When it is determined that there is dirt, the wiper relay 28. By closing the pump relay 29 and driving the wiper blade 7 and pump 12, this dirt is automatically cleaned and removed.

Reference numeral 32 indicates an external command device provided within the cabin frame 2, and the external command device 32 is provided with pushbutton switches (all not shown) such as an automatic cleaning switch, a wiper switch, and a washer switch. When the driver selects the automatic cleaning switch of the external command device 32, the automatic cleaning signal is transmitted to the control unit 2.
7, the windshield 4 is automatically washed, and when the automatic washing switch is off, the driver can manually wash the windshield 4 by operating the wiper switch and washer switch. It has become.

The window glass cleaning device according to this embodiment has the above-described configuration, and its basic operation is not particularly different from that of the prior art.

However, in this embodiment, it is attached to the wiper blade 7,
a light source 21 that irradiates light toward the windshield 4;
A photodetector 25 is fixed to the back side of the windshield 4 so as to face the light source 21 with the windshield 4 in between, and converts the light from the light source 21 into an electrical signal and detects it; Based on the detection signal of the wiper relay 28
and a control unit 27 that opens and closes the pump relay 29, and an external command device 32 that outputs an automatic cleaning signal to the control unit 27, so that when the driver selects the automatic cleaning switch of the external command device 32; In addition, dirt on the windshield 4 can be monitored by the photodetector 25 based on the light from the light source 21, and when the windshield 4 becomes dirty due to dust, etc., the light source 21
Since the light from the
5, and based on this detection signal, the control unit 27 determines whether the windshield 4 is dirty,
This causes the wiper relay 28. By closing the washer relay 29, the wiper blade 7 and pump 12 can be operated, and the windshield 4 can be automatically washed.

Therefore, in this embodiment, when excavating work with a hydraulic excavator is performed at a work site with a lot of dust, etc., the windshield 4 can be automatically cleaned without bothering the driver. In addition to ensuring good visibility at all times and greatly improving work safety, the driver can concentrate on operating the work levers, etc., increasing the work efficiency of the hydraulic excavator. , has various effects.

In the above embodiment, the light source 21 is attached to the wiper blade 7 and the photodetector 25 is fixed to the back side of the windshield 4. However, instead of this, for example, the light source 21 can be attached to the back side of the windshield 4. Mounted on the side, photodetector 2
5 may be attached to the wiper blade 7, or the light source 21 may be positioned outside the wiper blade 7 and attached to the cabin frame 2 via a stay.

Furthermore, in the embodiment described above, the light source 21 is provided with an LED lamp 23 and the photodetector 25 is composed of a CdS sensor. You can also use the lamp (
, the photodetector 25 may be constructed from other photosensors such as a PbS sensor (, ah (even though the light source 21 is connected to the windshield 4).
Based on the light emitted from the light source 21 through the windshield 4, the photodetector 25 detects the
It is only necessary that the presence or absence of dirt on the windshield 4 can be detected.

Furthermore, in the embodiments described above, measures against disturbance light such as sunlight are not particularly described, but for example, a wavelength selection filter may be provided on the photodetector 25 or the light source 21, or a wavelength selection filter may be provided on the photodetector 25 or the light source 21.
It is preferable that the lighting of the light is modulated and the modulated light is detected by the photodetector 25.

Further, in the above embodiment, the case where the present invention is applied to the windshield 4 of a hydraulic excavator was explained as an example, but the present invention is not limited to this, and can also be applied to the side glass 6, rear glass, etc. It can also be applied to other construction machinery such as, or window glass of passenger cars.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As detailed above, according to the present invention, a light source that irradiates light toward a window glass is provided to face the light source with the window glass in between, and the light is irradiated from the light source through the window glass ( The present invention is equipped with a photodetector that detects dirt on the windowpane based on the light generated by the windowpane, and an operation control means that operates the wiper motor and pump when the photodetector detects dirt on the windowpane. etc., the photodetector can detect the dirt on the window glass based on the light from the light source attenuated by this dirt, and the operation control means controls the wiper motor and the pump based on the detection signal from the photodetector. While operating and spraying cleaning liquid from the spray nozzle,
This dirt can be automatically cleaned by sliding the wiper blade against the windshield. Therefore, various effects can be achieved, such as ensuring good visibility at all times and improving safety without bothering the driver.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 and 2 show an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram showing a cabin, wiper blades, etc., FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view in the direction of arrow nn in FIG. 1, 3 and 4 show the prior art, FIG. 3 is an external perspective view showing a cabin of a hydraulic excavator, and FIG. 4 is an overall configuration diagram showing the cabin, wiper blade, etc. 2... Cabin frame (frame body), 4... Windshield (window glass), 7... Wiper blade, 8...
・Wiper motor, 10... Injection nozzle, 12... Pump, 14... Cleaning liquid tank, 15... Cleaning liquid, 2
1... Light source, 25... Photodetector, 27... Control unit (operation control means) Patent applicant Hitachi Construction Machinery Co., Ltd. Figure 3

Claims (1)

[Claims] A frame body provided with a window glass, a wiper blade whose base end is rotatably provided on the frame body and whose distal end side comes into sliding contact with the surface of the window glass, and the wiper blade is powered by an external power supply. A wiper motor that drives a wiper motor, an injection nozzle that is provided on the frame and that sprays cleaning liquid toward the surface of the window glass, and a pump that supplies cleaning liquid in a cleaning liquid tank to the injection nozzle by supplying power from the outside. In the window glass cleaning device, a light source that irradiates light toward the window glass, and a light source that is provided to face the light source with the window glass in between, and based on the light irradiated from the light source through the window glass. A window glass cleaning device comprising: a photodetector for detecting dirt on the window glass; and operation control means for operating the wiper motor and pump when the photodetector detects dirt on the window glass. Device.