JPH0476817B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] (Industrial Field of Application) The present invention can change the intermittent time depending on the vehicle speed,
The present invention relates to a wiper control device that automatically changes from intermittent operation to continuous operation in "weak" and "strong" states.

(Prior art) Wipers are used when a car is driving in rain or snow.
This removes rain and snow from the windshield in front of the driver's seat to ensure safe driving.
The operating state can be switched to three stages: "strong,""weak," and "intermittent."

FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram showing an example of a conventional wiper control device. In the figure, 1 is a battery, 2 is a main switch, 5 is a wiper motor, 8 is a wiper switch, 10 is a fuse, 13 is an intermittent relay unit, and 14 is an auto-stop circuit.

The operation of this circuit will be explained. When the driver presses the main switch 2 and selects "strong" on the wiper switch 8, the high speed winding of the wiper motor 5 is selected and the wiper is continuously operated at high speed. Similarly, when the wiper switch 8 is set to "weak", the low speed winding of the wiper motor 5 is selected and the wiper is continuously operated at low speed. When "intermittent" is selected for the wiper switch, the wiper operates intermittently at the duty cycle set by the intermittent relay 13. The auto-stop circuit 14 causes the wiper blade to stop at the lowest position of the window no matter where the wiper switch 8 is turned off while the wiper blade is in operation. That is, as shown in FIG. 1, the auto-stop circuit 14 has a fixed contact 14a connected to the positive power supply of the battery 1, a fixed contact 14b connected to the relay contact of the intermittent relay unit, and a wiper motor 5 that is operated at the position shown in FIG. It has a movable piece 14c that rotates together while maintaining a relationship, and a movable piece 14d that is connected to ground. The state shown in FIG. 1 is when the wiper blade is at the lowest position of the window. In this state, when power is supplied to the intermittent relay unit 13 by selecting "intermittent" for the wiper switch 8, for example, the relay 13a in the unit
is switched, and power is supplied to the wiper motor 5. When the wiper motor 5 starts rotating due to this operation, the movable pieces 14c and 14d start rotating accordingly. The movable piece 14c is the fixed contact 1.
When separated from 4a, 14b, the connection between these fixed contacts is also severed. When the wiper motor 5 continues to rotate, the movable piece 14d comes into contact with the fixed contact 14b. Immediately after this, the relay 13a returns to its original state, so power is continuously supplied to the wiper motor 5, and the wiper motor 5 continues to rotate. When the wiper motor 5 rotates approximately once, the movable piece 14d closes the fixed contact 1.
4b, the power supply to the wiper motor 5 is stopped, rotation is stopped, and the auto-stop circuit 14 also returns to the position shown in FIG. Thereafter, when a predetermined time set in the intermittent relay unit 13 has elapsed, the relay 13a is switched again, and the above operation is repeated.

Next, when the wiper switch 8 is selected as "weak" or "strong", the wiper motor 5 is configured as a "weak" or "strong" circuit, regardless of the intermittent relay unit 13 and auto strap circuit 14.
Perform continuous operation. If the wiper switch 8 is turned off while the movable piece 14d is in contact with the fixed contact 14b, the movable pieces 14c and 14d rotate until they reach the position shown in FIG. 1, and then the wiper motor 5 stops. Note that since this wiper circuit is a well-known circuit, further explanation will be omitted.

(Problems with the prior art) As described above, in the conventional wiper control device, the driver selects one of "strong,""weak," and "intermittent" depending on the amount of rainfall and snow. Therefore, when the amount of rain and snow adhering to the windshield changes in response to changes in vehicle speed, you can manually adjust the setting to "strong", "weak" or
I had selected "intermittent" and had to switch frequently while driving. In order to simplify such wiper operation, a technology has been developed that changes the duty of the intermittent operation according to changes in vehicle speed when the wiper is operating intermittently, and operates the wiper continuously when the vehicle speed exceeds a certain level. This was proposed in Publication No. 56-21932. However, in the above-mentioned known example, the strength of the wiper is switched manually, and the wiper operation remains complicated.

(Objective of the invention) The object of the present invention is to automatically change the intermittent time of wiper operation according to the vehicle speed, change the wiper operation from intermittent to continuous operation of "weak" and "strong", or vice versa, from continuous operation to intermittent operation. The object of the present invention is to improve the operability of wiper operation.

(Summary of the Invention) In order to achieve the object of the invention as described above, the present invention provides a wiper that drives a wiper blade with a wiper motor, a wiper position detection means that detects the position of the wiper blade, and a link between the wiper motor and a power supply circuit. a vehicle speed sensor for detecting the vehicle speed of a vehicle equipped with the wiper; and means for driving and controlling the wiper motor in three modes: strong and weak continuous operation and intermittent operation; Based on the history of the signal output from the wiper position detection means and the drive means that controls the wiper motor in a strong continuous operation mode in a high vehicle speed section, a weak continuous operation mode in a medium vehicle speed section, and an intermittent operation mode in a low vehicle speed section. A wiper control device is provided, comprising a failure diagnosis means for diagnosing a failure of a wiper motor, and a disconnection detection means for detecting disconnection of the fuse by detecting no voltage on the downstream side of the fuse while the wiper motor is stopped.

(Embodiment) FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram showing an example of a wiper control device according to the present invention, in which the same components as in FIG. 1 are given the same numbers. In the figure, 3 is a washer motor, 4 is a washer switch, 6 is a wiper strength changeover switch, 7 is a wiper control relay,
9 is an electronic control device, 11 is a resistor for manually setting the intermittent time, and 12 is a vehicle speed sensor. The electronic control device 9 has a function of controlling a wiper strength changeover switch 6 (consisting of a relay) using a switching signal of the wiper switch 8, and controlling the strength of the wiper motor 5.
Using the built-in intermittent relay unit (corresponding to the circuit of the intermittent relay unit 13) similar to the conventional one, the wiper control relay 7 (same as the relay provided inside the conventional intermittent relay unit 13) is activated by the signal from the wiper switch 8. a function to operate the wiper intermittently by controlling the wiper, a function to operate the wiper control device according to the present invention in conjunction with the washer, and a function to change and control the operating state of the wiper according to the vehicle speed as described later. , which will be described later, has a function of detecting the wiper position from the wiper operating state and the potential of the fixed contact 14b of the auto-stop circuit 14, and a function of setting the intermittent operation time of the wiper based on the value from the intermittent time manual setting resistor 11. It has at least the following. The wiper control device of the present invention has a washer-linked wiper function that automatically moves the wiper several times in succession when the screen washer circuit is operated. The relationship between this and the wiper operation is shown in Figure 3. This will be explained using a wiper control flowchart. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, the same parts as in the conventional device shown in FIG. 1 are given the same reference numerals, and detailed explanation thereof will be omitted.

[A] Wiper control flowchart (1) The electronic control unit 9 determines whether the wiper strength changeover switch 6 is in the strong or weak position, and controls the wiper strength changeover switch 6 when it is in the strong position. to control the wiper strength.
Further, when the wiper is in the weak position, the wiper strength changeover switch 6 is controlled to perform wiper weak control (steps 100 to 104). At this time,
Since the wiper operates continuously, even if the washer switch 4 is turned on, the washer-linked wiper does not operate.

(2) When the wiper is in intermittent operation,
When the washer switch 4 is on, the control device temporarily stops the intermittent operation of the wiper, gives priority to the washer-linked wiper, and drives the washer motor 3 to spray the cleaning liquid onto the windshield. Served in
Operate the wiper several times in succession, then perform intermittent operation of the wiper again (steps 105 to 3).
109). If the wiper is not in any of the strong, weak, and intermittent operating states, a disconnection of the fuse 10, which will be described later, is detected (step 110).

[B] Intermittent control Next, intermittent control of the wiper will be explained with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 4.

(1) The electronic control unit 9 receives the manual setting value of the intermittent time, and detects the vehicle speed using the vehicle speed sensor 12 (steps 200 and 201). Next, it is determined whether vehicle speed data is input, and if there is no vehicle speed data, it is determined whether wiper control relay 7 is on (contact points a and b are in contact). (Steps 202, 204).

(2) When control relay 7 is on, Fig. 7a
It is determined whether the intermittent relay signal applied to the wiper control relay 7 as shown in FIG. 206). That is, it is detected whether the potential of the fixed contact 14b is battery + potential. If the wiper position is normal (+ potential), the wiper control relay 7 is turned off, and if the wiper position is not the normal position, the wiper motor failure is memorized (step 207).
~209).

(3) If it is determined in step 204 that the wiper control relay 7 is not on, the electronic control unit 9 determines that the signal to the intermittent operation relay device 7 has reached the off time, as shown in FIG. 7a. If the off time has elapsed, the control relay 7 is turned on again.

(4) If it is determined in step 202 that the vehicle speed is present, a vehicle speed correction process is performed in step 203. An example of such vehicle speed processing is shown in FIG. In this example, vehicle speed correction is performed as follows.

The manual setting range when there is no vehicle speed can be adjusted from 4 seconds to 12 seconds.

The minimum intermittent time is 3 seconds.

Vehicle speed correction is 20km/h with an interval time of 1 second.

An example of the calculation results for vehicle speed correction is as follows.

(a) When 3 seconds ≧ intermittent time > 2 seconds, the intermittent time shall be 3 seconds.

(b) When 2 seconds ≧ intermittent time > 1 second, continuous control is set to weak.

(c) When the intermittent time is 1 second or more, continuous control is set to strong.

For example, if the manual setting is 6 seconds, when the vehicle speed is 0, the intermittent time will be 6 seconds and up to 60 km, the intermittent time will be 20 km / 6 seconds.
Each time H increases, the intermittent time decreases by 1 second. 60Km/H
Between 80 Km/H and 80 Km/H, the intermittent time is the minimum of 3 seconds, and between 80 Km/H and 100 Km/H, weak continuous control is performed. Also, when the vehicle speed exceeds 100 km/h, continuous control is performed at high power.

In this way, the wiper control device of the present invention shortens the intermittent time interval because as the vehicle speed increases, the amount of rain and snow that adheres to the windshield increases. As the vehicle speed further increases, the system automatically changes from intermittent control to continuous control to "weak" and then to "strong" to ensure safe driving with optimal control depending on the amount of rain and snow. Furthermore, when the vehicle speed decreases, the continuous control is automatically changed from "strong" to "weak" and then to "intermittent".

(5) If it is determined in step 204 that the control relay 7 is not in the ON state, it is determined whether the relay signal in FIG. Turn on relay 7 (steps 210 and 211).

Note that when the vehicle speed is corrected, if the manual set value is changed by the on/off time manual setting resistor 11, this is followed, so the on/off time can be freely changed according to the driver's judgment.

[C] Wiper "strong" and "weak" control FIG. 5 is a flowchart of wiper "strong" and "weak" control.

(1) In steps 300 and 305, it is determined whether wiper control is being performed, and if wiper control is being performed, the process proceeds to step 307. If wiper control is not in progress, is relay 6 in the strong position?
Determine whether it is weak (step 301,
306), and turns on relay 7 to turn on the wiper (step 302). Next, the control device memorizes that wiper control is in progress (step
303), and the wiper position is detected and stored (step 304).

(2) If it is determined in steps 300 and 305 that wiper control is in progress, it is determined in step 307 whether a wiper motor failure has been detected. When the wiper is running continuously, such as strong or weak, the time for one cycle is almost constant, so the wiper motor rotates by detecting a change in the wiper position detection contact voltage during a certain period of time. Perform self-diagnosis for wiper motor failure. That is, the wiper position is detected at time intervals longer than one cycle of the wiper (step 308), compared with the previous data, and if there is a change, it is determined to be normal, and the normal operation is stored (steps 309, 310). Comparing with the previous data, if the current data matches the previous data,
After a certain period of time has elapsed, it is determined whether or not the motor has operated normally. If it is not operating normally, it is stored as a motor failure. If it is operating normally, the normal operation memory is cleared and the timer is reset (steps 311 to 314). ). Furthermore, in the case of intermittent operation, since the time of one cycle changes depending on the manual setting value and the vehicle speed, detection is performed in synchronization with the relay signal. That is, the relationship between the intermittent relay signal and the auto-stop contact position is as shown in Figure 7a,
Since the wiper motor is configured as shown in b, it is detected immediately before issuing the off command for the relay 7 (at this time, the wiper motor has sufficiently moved to the rotation circuit of the auto-stop mechanism), and it is determined whether the wiper motor has moved or not.

[D] Fuse breakage detection Figure 6 is a flowchart for fuse breakage detection. A fuse disconnection is detected by checking whether or not the contact point of the auto-stop function is at battery voltage when the wiper switch 8 is in the OFF position.
However, since the auto-stop mechanism is still in operation when the switch is turned off, detection is made after a sufficient period of time has elapsed for it to completely stop. Following the flowchart, it is determined in step 400 whether or not the wiper is in an off-operation, and if it is not in an off-operation, it is subsequently checked in step 401 whether or not the wiper is under control. If wiper control is in progress, clear the memory of wiper control,
The start of the off operation is memorized and the control relay 7 is turned off (steps 402 to 404). If it is determined in step 400 that the wiper off operation is in progress, the memory of the off operation is cleared after a certain period of time has elapsed since the wiper off operation (steps 405 and 406). If it is determined in step 401 that wiper control is not in progress, the wiper position is detected and it is determined whether battery voltage is applied to the auto-stop contact, and if it is not battery voltage, fuse breakage is memorized. (Steps 407-409).

(Effects of the Invention) As explained above, the wiper control device of the present invention automatically corrects the intermittent time according to the vehicle speed when the wiper is operated intermittently, and changes from intermittent operation to weak continuous operation. Since the wiper is controlled to the strong state, the driver does not need to operate a switch to adjust the wiper. It also has a self-diagnosis function, so
The cause of malfunctions such as wiper motor failure or fuse disconnection can be easily determined. Furthermore, conventional wiper switches have a complicated structure because they directly control the motor current, but the wiper control device of the present invention has a simpler structure because it simply detects the position of the switch and performs predetermined control. It gets easier. In addition,
By adding a rain sensor to wiper control according to vehicle speed, it is also possible to control the wiper as a fully automatic wiper.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a conventional wiper control device, FIG. 2 is a wiper control device of the present invention, FIGS. 3 to 6 are flowcharts, and FIGS. 7 and 8 are characteristic diagrams. 1... Battery, 2... Switch, 3... Washer motor, 4... Watcher switch, 5...
...Wiper motor, 6...Strength/weakness selector switch, 7...
...wiper control relay, 8...wiper switch, 9
...Electronic control unit, 10...Fuse, 11...
Intermittent time manual setting resistor, 12...Vehicle speed sensor,
13...Intermittent relay unit, 14...Auto stop circuit.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A wiper that drives a wiper blade with a wiper motor, a wiper position detection means that detects the position of the wiper blade, a fuse between the wiper motor and a power supply circuit, and a vehicle speed of a vehicle equipped with the wiper. It has a vehicle speed sensor that detects the vehicle speed, and a means for driving and controlling the wiper motor in three modes: strong and weak continuous operation and intermittent operation, and receives a signal from the vehicle speed sensor and selects a strong continuous operation mode in high vehicle speed sections and a medium vehicle speed mode. Weak continuous operation mode in sections,
a drive means for driving and controlling the wiper motor in an intermittent operation mode in a low vehicle speed section; a failure diagnosis means for diagnosing a failure of the wiper motor from a history of signals output from the wiper position detection means; A wiper control device comprising: disconnection detection means for detecting disconnection of a fuse by detecting no voltage.