JP6948753B2 - Vehicle structure - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a vehicle structure including a safety confirmation device.

From the viewpoint of accident prevention, an increasing number of vehicles are equipped with a safety confirmation device that confirms the safety around the vehicle. However, there are some vehicles such as trucks and deck vans with a loading platform where there are few places where a safety confirmation device can be installed. Therefore, Patent Document 1 proposes to provide a rear confirmation device (safety confirmation device) such as a camera inside the rear combination lamp (lamp portion) of the truck.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2006-232204

If the safety confirmation device is integrated inside the lamp unit, the configuration of the lamp unit becomes complicated, and the productivity of the vehicle including the cost decreases. In addition, since the safety confirmation device is integrated with the lamp unit, even if either the lamp unit or the safety confirmation device fails, the entire lamp unit must be disassembled, and maintenance of the lamp unit and the safety confirmation device must be performed. Both sexes decrease.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and one of the objects thereof is to provide a vehicle structure capable of providing a safety confirmation device on a lamp portion with a simple configuration.

The vehicle structure according to one embodiment of the present invention is
A vehicle structure in which a safety confirmation device is provided in a lamp portion having a lamp housing and a lamp lens covering the outside of the vehicle of the lamp housing.
A device insertion port provided on the lamp lens or a vehicle body exterior portion adjacent to the lamp portion and into which the safety confirmation device is inserted from the outside of the vehicle.
A device locking portion formed on the lamp portion and locking the safety confirmation device is provided.

According to the above configuration, a safety confirmation device can be retrofitted to the lamp portion from outside the vehicle. Therefore, the configuration of the lamp unit is not unnecessarily complicated, and the safety confirmation device can be easily installed in the vehicle at low cost. Further, since the safety confirmation device attached to the lamp portion can be easily removed from the lamp portion, the maintainability of the safety confirmation device can be improved.

It is a rear perspective view of the vehicle which has the vehicle structure which concerns on Embodiment 1. FIG. It is a partially enlarged view of the vehicle structure which concerns on Embodiment 1. FIG. FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line III-III of FIG. It is a partially enlarged view of the vehicle structure which concerns on Embodiment 2. FIG.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the vehicle structure of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to these examples, and is indicated by the scope of claims, and is intended to include all modifications within the meaning and scope equivalent to the scope of claims.

<Embodiment 1>
≪Overall composition≫
In this example, an example in which the vehicle structure 1 having the safety confirmation device is applied to the truck (vehicle 10) will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3. The truck 10 shown in FIG. 1 has a loading platform 2 on the rear side of the vehicle. The loading platform 2 includes a floor portion 20 and three flaps 21, 22, 23 that are rotatably attached to the outer peripheral edge portion of the floor portion 20 and constitute a wall portion of the loading platform 2. The number of tilts in the vehicle structure 1 is not particularly limited, and for example, a configuration may be configured in which only the tilts 21 on the rear side of the vehicle are provided.

The tilt 21 is rotatably attached to the outer peripheral edge of the floor 20 on the rear side of the vehicle via a hinge 24. Further, the tilt 22 (23) is rotatably attached to the outer peripheral edge portion of the floor portion 20 on the vehicle right side (vehicle left side) via a hinge 24. The tilt 21 and the tilt 22, and the tilt 21 and the tilt 23 are fixed by the fastener 25, respectively. By releasing the fixing by the fastener 25, the tilts 21, 22, and 23 rotate toward the outside of the vehicle around the hinge 24.

In the vehicle structure 1 of this example, a pair of rear combination lamps (lamp portions) 3 are provided at the position of the vehicle body exterior portion 4 constituting the exterior of the vehicle 10 below the tilt 21 on the rear side of the vehicle. The rear combination lamp (hereinafter referred to as RC lamp 3) is an integrated lamp such as a tail lamp, a stop lamp, and a turn signal lamp, and has a loading platform 2 in which there is little room for forming a plurality of lamps independently. It is preferably used for the vehicle 10.

As shown in the cross-sectional view of FIG. 3, the RC lamp 3 includes a light source 30, a lamp housing 31 for accommodating the light source 30, and a lamp lens 32 for covering the outside of the vehicle (left side of the paper surface) of the lamp housing 31. Have. Power is supplied to the light source 30 from a wire harness (not shown). The RC lamp 3 of this example is further provided with a device insertion port 6 in the lamp lens 32. The detailed configuration of the device insertion port 6 will be described later.

≪Safety confirmation device≫
The vehicle structure 1 of this example further includes a safety confirmation device 5 provided on the RC lamp 3. Examples of the safety confirmation device 5 include a camera, a sonar, a laser radar, a millimeter wave radar, and the like. These are devices that detect objects / people that exist in positions that are blind spots or difficult to see for the driver. The detection information can be presented to the driver on a display, a lamp, a buzzer, or the like. For example, a camera can present images of objects and people to the driver. In addition, sonar and laser radar can present the presence of objects and people to the driver as an alarm.

The information from the safety confirmation device 5 is input to the ECU (electric control unit) by a wired transmission device such as a wire harness or a wireless transmission device such as Bluetooth (registered trademark). The input information is processed by the ECU and presented to the driver.

In the vehicle structure 1 of this example, the safety confirmation device 5 is provided at the position of the device insertion port 6 on the RC lamp 3. The detailed arrangement state of the safety confirmation device 5 will be described below with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3. Here, in FIG. 3, the right side of the paper is the front side of the vehicle 10, and the safety confirmation device 5 in FIGS. 2 and 3 is a camera.

As shown in FIG. 2, the RC lamp 3 of this example is provided with a device insertion port 6 for inserting the camera 5 into the lamp lens 32. As shown in the cross-sectional view of FIG. 3, the device insertion port 6 is a part of the device locking portion 7, which is a storage space for the camera 5 formed by the lamp lens 32 being fitted inward, more specifically. Is formed by an opening on the lamp lens 32 side of the device locking portion 7. The device locking portion 7 of this example is a mortar-shaped recess whose inner diameter gradually decreases from the outer surface of the lamp lens 32 toward the inside of the vehicle (right side of the paper surface), and is deep enough to accommodate the entire camera 5 inside. Have a mortar.

The camera 5 of this example includes an image pickup lens portion 50, a main body portion 51, and an engaging claw 52. The main body 51 is a portion in which an image sensor and an image processor that photograph the surroundings of the vehicle via the image lens 50 are built in, and is cylindrical in this example. A plurality of engaging claws 52 are provided at the end of the main body 51 (the end opposite to the image pickup lens 50). Each engaging claw 52 is an arc-shaped piece along a virtual circle centered on the axis of the main body 51, and has a claw that protrudes outward in the radial direction of the axis at the tip thereof.

As shown in FIG. 3, when the camera 5 is inserted into the device locking portion 7 via the device insertion port 6, the rear end portion (the portion on the engaging claw 52 side) of the main body portion 51 of the camera 5 becomes the device locking portion. 7 is engaged with the inner peripheral surface, and the engaging claw 52 is engaged with the back surface (the surface on the inner side of the vehicle) of the lamp housing 31. As a result, the position of the camera 5 in the device locking portion 7 is determined, and the rattling of the camera 5 is suppressed. Since the device locking portion 7 has a mortar shape, the camera 5 can be smoothly inserted into the device locking portion 7.

It is preferable that the end surface of the image pickup lens unit 50 of the camera 5 housed inside the device locking unit 7 is arranged flush with the outer surface of the lamp lens 32 or on the inner side of the outer surface of the lamp lens 32. .. When the image pickup lens unit 50 is arranged on the inner side, the angle of view of the camera 5 is not covered by the opening edge of the device locking unit 7. This is because the image pickup lens unit 50 does not protrude from the outer surface of the lamp lens 32, so that damage to the image pickup lens unit 50 due to an external force can be suppressed.

≪Effect≫
With the configuration described above, the camera 5 can be easily installed on the RC lamp 3 at low cost. This is because the installation of the camera 5 is completed only by inserting the camera 5 into the device insertion port 6 formed in the lamp lens 32 and configuring the ECU to transmit the shooting information by the camera 5 wirelessly or by wire. In addition, the camera 5 can be easily removed from the RC lamp 3. In the case of this example, the camera 5 is removed from the RC lamp 3 without disassembling the RC lamp 3 simply by bending the engaging claw 52 shown in FIG. 3 inward in the radial direction and pulling out the camera 5 from the device insertion port 6. be able to. Therefore, when the camera 5 breaks down, it becomes easy to remove the camera 5 for repair or replace it with a new camera 5.

≪Others≫
The vehicle to which the vehicle structure 1 of this example is applied is not limited to the vehicle 10 having a loading platform such as a truck or a deck van. Further, the lamp unit 3 provided with the safety confirmation device 5 is not limited to the RC lamp, and may be a head lamp, a fog lamp, or the like.

Here, if the camera 5 is not inserted into the device insertion port 6, the sealing member 59 may be inserted into the device locking portion 7 instead of the camera 5, as shown by the alternate long and short dash arrow in FIG. By providing the sealing member 59, it is possible to prevent water or the like from entering the RC lamp 3. The sealing member 59 is a disk-shaped elastic body (rubber or the like) having an outer diameter substantially matching the inner diameter of the device locking portion 7, and is preferably shaped to have a claw portion to prevent it from coming off.

<Embodiment 2>
In the second embodiment, the vehicle structure 1 in which the device insertion port 8 is provided in the vehicle body exterior portion 4 adjacent to the lamp portion 3 and the device locking portion 9 is formed on the side surface of the lamp housing 31 of the lamp portion 3 will be described with reference to FIG. do.

The device insertion port 8 of this example is formed at a position adjacent to the vehicle center side (the center side of the vehicle 10 in the vehicle width direction) of the lamp portion 3 in the vehicle body exterior portion 4 into which the lamp portion 3 is fitted. The device insertion port 8 is a semicircular opening, and the arcuate portion of the device insertion port 8 is arranged on the vehicle center side, and the linear portion faces the side wall of the lamp portion 3. That is, the device insertion port 8 is formed by cutting out the center of the short side on the vehicle center side in a semicircular shape among the substantially rectangular insertion ports of the lamp portion 3 formed in the vehicle body exterior portion 4.

The device locking portion 9 of this example is a rail-shaped member formed on the side surface of the lamp housing 31. More specifically, the device locking portion 9 is composed of a pair of L-shaped rails 90 and 91. The tip of one L-shaped rail 90 is bent toward the upper side of the vehicle, and the tip of the other L-shaped rail 91 is bent toward the lower side of the vehicle.

The camera 5 of this example includes a camera-side locking portion 53 at the position of the main body portion 51. The camera-side locking portion 53 is a member that engages with the device locking portion 9 and determines the position of the camera 5 with respect to the lamp housing 31 of the lamp portion 3. Specifically, the device locking portion 9 is composed of a pair of J-shaped rails. By sliding the camera 5 toward the back side of the device insertion port 8 so that the L-shaped rails 90 and 91 of the device locking portion 9 are sandwiched between the J-shaped rails, the camera 5 is engaged with the device locking portion 9. It can be stopped.

A connector extending from the wire harness is installed on the back side of the L-shaped rails 90 and 91, and the camera-side connector that fits into the connector and exchanges electric signals with the wire harness is the main body of the camera 5. It can also be installed at the end of 51. In this case, the camera 5 can be inserted through the device insertion slot 8 and slid along the L-shaped rails 90 and 91 so that the connector of the camera 5 and the connector of the wire harness are connected. With such a configuration, a transmission path for shooting information can be formed at the same time as the camera 5 is inserted into the device insertion port 8. Further, since the connector of the wire harness serves as a contact for the camera 5 in the slide direction, it is easy to fix the position of the camera 5 in the slide direction.

In the configuration of this example, a lid 55 is further provided to fill the gap between the camera 5 and the device insertion port 8 when the camera 5 is fitted into the device insertion port 8. The lid 55 includes a lid main body 55p formed in a semicircular shape, and a plurality of claw members 55c protruding from one surface side of the lid main body 55p. The contour line of the lid body 55p coincides with the contour line of the device insertion port 8. A through window 55w that exposes the image pickup lens portion 50 to the outside of the vehicle is formed at the center of the lid body 55p. Therefore, the lid 55 can fill the gap between the camera 5 and the device insertion port 8 and suppress the intrusion of water or the like through the gap. A transparent protective plate may be provided on the through window 55w to protect the image pickup lens unit 50 from water, mud, impact, and the like.

The lid 55 is preferably made of an elastic body such as rubber. By making the lid 55 an elastic body, the lid 55 can be deformed when the lid 55 is placed in the gap between the camera 5 and the device insertion port 8, so that the lid 55 can be easily installed. Further, if the lid 55 can be deformed, the lid 55 can be easily removed when the camera 5 is removed, and as a result, the camera 5 can be easily removed.

When the camera 5 is not installed in the lamp portion 3, instead of the lid 55 shown in FIG. 4, a sealing member (not shown) having the same configuration as the lid 55 except that there is no through window 55w is used as the device insertion port 8. It is good to fit it in.

10 trucks (vehicles)
1 Vehicle structure 2 Loading platform 20 Floor part 21, 22, 23 Aori 24 Hinge 25 Fastener 3 Rear combination lamp (lamp part)
30 Light source 31 Lamp housing 32 Lamp lens 4 Body exterior 5 Camera (safety confirmation device)
50 Imaging lens part 51 Body part 52 Engagement claw 53 Camera side locking part 55 Lid 55c Claw member 55p Lid body 55w Through window 59 Sealing member 6,8 Device insertion port 7,9 Device locking part 90,91 L type rail

Claims (1)

A vehicle structure in which a safety confirmation device is provided in a lamp portion having a lamp housing and a lamp lens covering the outside of the vehicle of the lamp housing.
A device insertion port provided on the lamp lens or a vehicle body exterior portion adjacent to the lamp portion and into which the safety confirmation device is inserted from the outside of the vehicle.
A device locking portion formed on the lamp portion and locking the safety confirmation device is provided .
Of the safety confirmation devices inserted from the device insertion port, the end surface facing the vehicle outer side is arranged flush with the outer surface of the lamp lens, or is arranged on the inner side of the outer surface. structure.

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