JP7567754B2 - Vehicle exterior parts - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an exterior vehicle part that is mounted on a vehicle and exposed to the outside of the vehicle cabin.

In recent years, there have been many attempts to install various sensors, such as millimeter wave radar, laser radar, LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging), and image sensors, and sensing systems using these sensors in vehicles.
These sensors are generally covered on the front side with a resin exterior vehicle part so as to make them less visible to users and passersby and to block sunlight, rain, snow, and the like.

Attempts have been made to install sound output devices in vehicles (see, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-233694).
The vehicle sound output device described in Patent Document 1 is a device that includes a sound generating unit such as a horn or a speaker, and allows people around the vehicle to hear the sound generated by the sound generating unit. The sound generating unit is generally covered from the front side by an exterior part for the vehicle such as a front grille or a front bumper.

In the above sound output device, the sound emitted by the sound generating unit is emitted through the opening provided in the vehicle exterior accessory to a further front side than the vehicle exterior accessory.
In particular, if the sound generating unit is disposed directly behind or in the vicinity of the opening, the sound generated by the sound generating unit is more likely to be emitted to the front side of the vehicle exterior part through the opening. Therefore, in this case, even if the output of the sound generating unit is small, the sound is more likely to propagate over a wide area. In other words, if an opening is provided in the vehicle exterior part as described above, the sound generated by the sound generating unit is more likely to reach the ears of people outside the vehicle, such as passengers of vehicles traveling nearby and pedestrians.

JP 2004-330852 A

In recent years, with the advancement of electric vehicles and the demand for improved fuel efficiency, there has been a trend toward smaller openings in vehicle exterior parts. When openings in vehicle exterior parts are reduced or eliminated, the sound emitted by the sound-generating part is more likely to be reflected by the rear surface of the vehicle exterior part compared to when the openings are large, and less sound is transmitted to the front side of the vehicle exterior part. For this reason, in some cases, it may become difficult for the sound emitted by the sound-generating part to reach the ears of people outside the vehicle.

In consideration of the above, the inventors of the present invention have invented a technology that allows sound emitted by a sound-generating unit located on the back side of a vehicle exterior part to be transmitted sufficiently to the front side of the vehicle exterior part without passing through an opening, and have already filed a patent application (Patent Application No. 2021-157154).

Patent Application No. 2021-157154 discloses a vehicle sound output device having a double wall consisting of an outer wall portion and an inner wall portion separated from each other in the front-rear direction, and an intermediate layer formed in the sealed space between the outer wall portion and the inner wall portion and through which sound passes. With this vehicle sound output device, sound emitted by the sound generating portion is resonated or sympathized from the inner wall portion of the double wall through the intermediate layer to the outer wall portion, and propagated further to the front side of the outer wall portion, i.e., outside the vehicle. As a result, with this technology, even in vehicle exterior accessories with small or no openings, the sound emitted by the sound generating portion can be appropriately propagated outside the vehicle, and can be delivered at a sufficient volume to the ears of people outside the vehicle.

As mentioned above, a sensor is also mounted on a vehicle. Since the space available for mounting a vehicle exterior product on a vehicle is limited, in consideration of space saving and appearance, it is considered preferable to integrate the above-mentioned vehicle sound output device into the vehicle exterior product that covers the sensor from the front side and provide a speaker function due to the vehicle sound output device.

However, the above-mentioned vehicle sound output device relies on a resonance mechanism, and the double walls must be vibrated in order to transmit sound. On the other hand, the vehicle exterior parts placed on the front side of the various sensors must transmit various types of information, such as electromagnetic waves such as millimeter waves, infrared rays, and visible light. If the vehicle exterior parts vibrate, in some cases the transmission of information such as electromagnetic waves may be hindered, which may in turn hinder the sensing function of the sensors.

The present invention was made in consideration of the above circumstances, and aims to provide a technology that can provide vehicle exterior accessories with excellent sensing and speaker functions.

The vehicle exterior product of the present invention that solves the above problems is as follows:
A panel-shaped resin exterior product for a vehicle,
a sensor cover area disposed on a front side of a sensor mounted on the vehicle;
a resonating panel area disposed on the front side of the sound generating unit that generates sound;
The resonant panel area is
The sound-transmitting intermediate layer is formed in a sealed space between the outer wall portion and the inner wall portion, and the double wall is composed of an outer wall portion and an inner wall portion separated from each other in a front-back direction,
An exterior part for a vehicle is disposed outside the sensor cover area.

The vehicle exterior product of the present invention is capable of combining sensing and speaker functions.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a state in which the vehicle exterior accessory of the first embodiment is mounted on a vehicle. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram illustrating the vehicle exterior accessory of the first embodiment as viewed from the front side. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a schematic view of the vehicle exterior part of the first embodiment cut along the line AA in FIG. 2. 3 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a schematic cross-section of the vehicle exterior part of the first embodiment taken along line BB in FIG. 2. [0023] FIG. FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a vehicle exterior accessory according to a second embodiment, as viewed from the front side. FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a schematic view of the vehicle exterior part of the second embodiment cut along the line AA in FIG. 5 .

The following describes the embodiments of the present invention. Unless otherwise specified, the numerical range "a to b" described in this specification includes the lower limit a and the upper limit b. A numerical range can be formed by arbitrarily combining these upper and lower limit values, as well as the numerical values listed in the examples. Furthermore, numerical values arbitrarily selected from within the numerical range can be used as the upper and lower limit numerical values.

The vehicle exterior product of the present invention is
A panel-shaped resin exterior product for a vehicle,
a sensor cover area disposed on a front side of a sensor mounted on the vehicle;
a resonating panel area disposed on the front side of the sound generating unit that generates sound;
The resonant panel area is
The sound-transmitting intermediate layer is formed in a sealed space between the outer wall portion and the inner wall portion, and the double wall is composed of an outer wall portion and an inner wall portion separated from each other in a front-back direction,
An exterior part for a vehicle is disposed outside the sensor cover area.

Of the vehicle exterior parts of the present invention, the sensor cover area corresponds to the previously described "vehicle exterior part that covers the front side of the sensor." Also, the resonant panel area corresponds to the previously described "vehicle sound output device."

The vehicle exterior product of the present invention comprises the above-mentioned sensor cover area and resonant panel area, but by positioning the resonant panel area outside the sensor cover area, i.e., in a position that does not interfere with the sensing function of the sensor, it is possible to achieve both the sensing function of the sensor and the speaker function provided by the resonant panel area.
The vehicle exterior product of the present invention will now be described in detail.

The vehicle exterior part of the present invention may be any exterior part of a vehicle, and may be suitably embodied as, for example, a front grille, a bumper, an emblem, a cover for a light body, a cover for various sensors, various garnishes, etc., but is not limited thereto. The vehicle exterior part of the present invention may also include, for example, a vehicle door or body.

The vehicle exterior part of the present invention is made of resin and has a panel shape.
The type of resin used in the vehicle exterior part of the present invention is not particularly limited, and may be appropriately selected depending on the wavelength of the sound to be propagated in the resonant panel area, the shape of the resonant panel area, and the type of information detected by the sensor placed behind the sensor cover area, such as the wavelength of the electromagnetic waves.
The shape, thickness, etc. of the vehicle exterior part of the present invention are also not particularly limited.

The sensor to be placed on the back side of the vehicle exterior part of the present invention is not particularly limited, but one or more types of sensors that detect electromagnetic waves or that irradiate and detect electromagnetic waves, such as millimeter wave radar, laser radar, LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging), and image sensors, may be selected and used according to the application. Note that the sensor is not limited to one that uses electromagnetic waves as information, and may be one that uses, for example, sound waves. Hereinafter, in this specification, various types of information represented by electromagnetic waves will be collectively referred to as electromagnetic waves, etc.

The vehicle exterior part of the present invention comprises a sensor cover area and a resonating panel area.
Among these, the sensor cover area is an area of the vehicle exterior product of the present invention that is arranged on the front side of the sensor. The vehicle exterior product of the present invention may have only one sensor cover area, or may have multiple sensor cover areas. For example, when the vehicle exterior product of the present invention is arranged on the front side of only one type of sensor, the vehicle exterior product of the present invention may have only one sensor cover area. Furthermore, when the vehicle exterior product of the present invention is arranged on the front sides of multiple types of sensors, the vehicle exterior product of the present invention may have multiple sensor cover areas.

If the sensor emits and detects electromagnetic waves, etc., it is preferable that the sensor cover area covers the entire irradiation area of the sensor that emits electromagnetic waves, etc. from the front side.

The material and shape of the sensor cover area are not particularly limited, and a material and shape that do not interfere with the electromagnetic waves detected by the sensor and, if necessary, emitted by the sensor, may be appropriately selected according to the type of sensor. For example, the material of the sensor cover area may be the same as that of the resonance panel area, or may be a different material. If the material of the sensor cover area and the material of the resonance panel area are different materials, the sensor cover area and the resonance panel area may be molded integrally by a two-color molding method or an insert molding method, or may be molded separately and then integrated by a method such as gluing, welding, or screwing.

The resonant panel region in the vehicle exterior part of the present invention is a region that is arranged on the front side of the sound-producing part of the vehicle exterior part of the present invention. The vehicle exterior part of the present invention may have only one resonant panel region, or may have multiple resonant panel regions. For example, when the vehicle exterior part of the present invention is arranged on the front side of only one type of sound-producing part, the vehicle exterior part of the present invention may have only one resonant panel region. Also, when the vehicle exterior part of the present invention is arranged on the front side of multiple types of sound-producing parts, the vehicle exterior part of the present invention may have multiple resonant panel regions.

The sound generating unit may be any unit that produces sound, and there is no particular restriction on the frequency or purpose of the sound. For example, the sound generating unit may function as a horn that emits a warning sound to people outside the vehicle, as an approach notification device that notifies people outside the vehicle that the vehicle is approaching, or as a speaker that emits sounds such as human voices or musical instrument sounds. In the present invention, these functions are collectively referred to as speaker functions.

The resonant panel area only needs to be located on the front side of the sound-producing part, and there is no particular restriction on the distance between the sound-producing part and the resonant panel area in the front-rear direction, but examples of suitable ranges for the distance between the sound-producing part and the resonant panel area include 350 mm or less, 300 mm or less, 200 mm or less, 150 mm or less, 100 mm or less, 50 mm or less, 20 mm or less, and 10 mm or less.

The resonant panel area in the vehicle exterior part of the present invention may simply resonate with the sound generated by the sound generating part and transmit the sound to the front side, or may selectively transmit the sound of a specific frequency generated by the sound generating part by the resonance transmission phenomenon. The vehicle exterior part of the present invention preferably does not have the openings described above or has only small openings, and it is particularly preferable that the resonant panel area provided in such a vehicle exterior part of the present invention selectively transmits the sound of a specific frequency generated by the sound generating part by the resonance transmission phenomenon.

The resonant panel area has a double wall, consisting of an outer wall and an inner wall.
There are no particular restrictions on the material or shape of the inner and outer wall portions, but it is preferable that they are thick enough to resonate with the sound emitted by the sound generating portion.

Specifically, the thickness of the inner wall portion and the outer wall portion is preferably thinner than the thickness of the sensor cover area in the vehicle exterior product of the present invention, specifically, the general plate thickness in the sensor cover area. Examples of preferred ranges of the thickness of the inner wall portion and the outer wall portion include 80% or less or 75% or less of the thickness of the sensor cover area. The general plate thickness in the sensor cover area can also be interpreted as the median value of the thickness in the sensor cover area, and the median value can be the median value when the plate thickness is measured at any 10 points in the sensor cover area.

The intermediate layer is formed in the sealed space between the outer wall portion and the inner wall portion that constitute the double wall. In other words, a partition portion is interposed between the back wall surface, which is the back wall surface of the outer wall portion, and the front wall surface, which is the front wall surface of the inner wall portion, to partition and form the sealed space that is the intermediate layer. The partition portion may be formed separately from the outer wall portion and the inner wall portion, or may be formed integrally with the outer wall portion or the inner wall portion.

The thickness of the intermediate layer, i.e., the distance between the outer wall portion and the inner wall portion in the front-back direction and the distance between the rear wall surface and the front wall surface in the front-back direction, may be appropriately designed in accordance with the frequency of the sound emitted by the sound generating portion, and is preferably designed, for example, so as to generate a resonance transmission phenomenon in which the sound is transmitted from the inner wall portion to the outer wall portion. The same applies to the volume of the intermediate layer.
Specifically, the intermediate layer may be designed according to the following formula (1):

In the above formula (1), f _rmd is the frequency [Hz] of the sound emitted by the sound generating part, d is the thickness [mm] of the intermediate layer, ρ is the density [kg/m ³ ] of the gas enclosed in the intermediate layer, c is the sonic speed [m/s] of the gas in the intermediate layer, m1 is the surface density [kg/m ² ] of the inner wall part, and m2 is the surface density [kg/m ² ] of the outer wall part. If the intermediate layer is an air layer, ρ is 1.2 [kg/m ³ ] and c is 343.7 [m/s].

In the vehicle exterior product of the present invention, the resonance panel area is disposed outside the sensor cover area. Outside the sensor cover area means outside the sensor cover area. For example, the surface of the resonance panel area and the surface of the sensor cover area may be provided continuously or flush, or may not be. Specifically, the surface of the resonance panel area and the surface of the sensor cover area may be located at different positions in the front-rear direction. Alternatively, the surface of the resonance panel area and the surface of the sensor cover area may be discontinuous, such as by providing a groove between the surface of the resonance panel area and the surface of the sensor cover area.

In either case, by placing the resonant panel area outside the sensor cover area, the effect of vibrations generated by the resonant panel area on the sensor cover area can be suppressed, making it possible to achieve both the sensing function of the sensor and the speaker function provided by the resonant panel area.

Here, the resonant panel area may be adjacent to the sensor cover area, but it is preferable to place it at a certain distance from the sensor cover area. This is to prevent vibrations generated in the resonant panel area from being propagated directly to the sensor cover area without being attenuated.

Specifically, it is preferable that the distance between the resonant panel area and the sensor cover area is 5 mm or more, 10 mm or more, 30 mm or more, or 50 mm or more.

The vehicle exterior product of the present invention may have parts other than the sensor cover area and the resonance panel area. Examples of parts other than the sensor cover area and the resonance panel area in the vehicle exterior product of the present invention include the partition for the intermediate layer already described, a general area connecting the sensor cover area and the resonance panel area, a functional area that is disposed on the front side of the vehicle-mounted equipment other than the sensor and sound-producing part and performs some function, and an attachment structure for attaching the vehicle exterior product of the present invention to the vehicle.

The vehicle exterior part of the present invention may be arranged on the front side of other vehicle-mounted equipment in addition to the sensor and sound-emitting unit. For example, a light source as a vehicle-mounted equipment may be arranged on the back side of the vehicle exterior part of the present invention. In this case, the vehicle exterior part of the present invention is given the function of a lamp.

When a light source is arranged on the back side of the vehicle exterior part of the present invention, the functional area of the vehicle exterior part that is arranged on the front side of the light source may be an area different from the sensor cover area and the resonance panel area, or in some cases may be the sensor cover area or the resonance panel area.
In particular, when reflected light is emitted, rather than direct light from the light source, toward the front side of the vehicle exterior accessory, it is preferable to position the light source on the rear side of the sensor cover area.

That is, in this case, the sensor cover area has a structure having a second double wall composed of a second outer wall portion and a second inner wall portion separated from each other in the front-rear direction, and light from the light source is irradiated onto the second inner wall portion. In this case, the light irradiated from the light source and reflected by the second inner wall portion passes through the second outer wall portion and is emitted to the front side of the vehicle exterior accessory.
The vehicle exterior product of this embodiment of the present invention may or may not include a light source.

As mentioned above, the vehicle exterior part of the present invention may include a mounting structure for mounting the vehicle exterior part to the vehicle. In this case, it is preferable that the mounting structure is located outside the resonant panel area. This is to suppress or avoid the mounting structure vibrating due to the vibration of the resonant panel area being transmitted to the mounting structure, which may cause abnormal noise or loosening of the mounting structure.

In this case, the distance between the resonant panel area and the mounting structure is not particularly limited, but examples of preferred ranges include 5 mm or more, 10 mm or more, 20 mm or more, 30 mm or more, and 50 mm or more. There is no upper limit to the distance between the resonant panel area and the mounting structure, but considering the effective use of the limited space in the vehicle exterior part, it is preferable to set it to 200 mm or less.

The following describes the vehicle exterior product of the present invention using specific examples.

Example 1
In the vehicle exterior part of Example 1, a front grille of a vehicle was used as the vehicle exterior part. Fig. 1 is an explanatory diagram that typically explains how the vehicle exterior part of Example 1 is mounted on a vehicle. Fig. 2 is an explanatory diagram that typically explains the vehicle exterior part of Example 1 as viewed from the front side. Fig. 3 is an explanatory diagram that typically explains how the vehicle exterior part of Example 1 is cut at position A-A in Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is an explanatory diagram that typically explains how the vehicle exterior part of Example 1 is cut at position B-B in Fig. 2.

The vehicle exterior accessory 1 of the first embodiment is disposed on the front side of a millimeter wave radar serving as a sensor 80 and a horn serving as a sound generating unit 81 .
The vehicle exterior part 1 is made of polycarbonate and has a panel shape as shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle exterior part 1 of the first embodiment is a front grille of the vehicle 90, and is disposed on the forward side of the vehicle 90 in the traveling direction, hiding the sensor 80 (see FIG. 2) and the sound generating unit 81 (see FIG. 2) from the forward side in the traveling direction of the vehicle. In other words, in the vehicle exterior part 1 of the first embodiment, the forward side in the traveling direction of the vehicle 90 corresponds to the front side, and the rear side in the traveling direction corresponds to the back side.

As shown in FIG. 2, the vehicle exterior part 1 has a sensor cover area 10 and a resonant panel area 15. The sensor cover area 10 is an area provided in the approximate center of the vehicle exterior part 1, and is disposed on the front side of the sensor 80.

The vehicle exterior accessory 1 of the first embodiment further includes an LED light source. The LED light source is disposed above the sensor 80 and is disposed, together with the sensor 80, on the rear side of the sensor cover area 10.
The sensor cover area 10 has a transmission area 11 which is a substantially central portion. The transmission area 11 faces the sensor 80.

The resonance panel area 15 is disposed below the sensor cover area 10. The resonance panel area 15 covers the two sound-producing parts 81 from the front side. The resonance panel area 15 is disposed outside the sensor cover area 10, and a gap is provided between the sensor cover area 10 and the resonance panel area 15.

In the vehicle exterior part 1 of the first embodiment, the minimum length of the gap between the sensor cover area 10 and the resonant panel area 15 is about 5 mm, and the minimum length of the gap between the transmission area 11 and the resonant panel area 15, which will be described later, is also about 5 mm.

As shown in FIG. 4, each of the sensor cover area 10 and the resonant panel area 15 has a double wall. The double wall included in the resonant panel area 15 is simply referred to as the double wall 15d, and the double wall included in the sensor cover area 10 is referred to as the second double wall 10d.

As shown in FIG. 4, the double wall 15d of the resonant panel area 15 is made up of an outer wall portion 15o and an inner wall portion 15i that are generally panel-shaped. The outer wall portion 15o and the inner wall portion 15i are separated in the front-rear direction. The outer peripheries of the outer wall portion 15o and the inner wall portion 15i are surrounded in the circumferential direction by a partition portion 15p that is in the shape of a standing wall. An enclosed space 15c is defined by the back wall surface of the outer wall portion 15o, the front wall surface of the inner wall portion 15i, and the inner peripheral surface of the partition portion 15p. An intermediate layer 15m, which is an air layer, is formed in the enclosed space 15c.

The thickness of the outer wall portion 15o is approximately the same as the thickness of the inner wall portion 15i, and the thicknesses of the outer wall portion 15o and the inner wall portion 15i are thinner than the thicknesses of the second outer wall portion 10o and the second inner wall portion 10i.

The sound-producing section 81 is disposed further back than the inner wall section 15i. The sound produced by the sound-producing section 81 propagates from the back side to the front side through the inner wall section 15i, the intermediate layer 15m, and the outer wall section 15o, in that order, and as these resonate, the sound propagates further to the front side of the outer wall section 15o.

As shown in FIG. 2, the vehicle exterior part 1 of the first embodiment has an attachment structure 30 for attachment to a vehicle 90. The attachment structure 30 includes an engagement claw and a screw fastening structure, and is disposed outside the sensor cover area 10 and outside the resonance panel area 15 of the vehicle exterior part 1. In the vehicle exterior part 1 of the first embodiment, the attachment structure 30 and the resonance panel area 15 are spaced apart by 5 mm or more. The sensor cover area 10 and the resonance panel area 15 are also spaced apart by 5 mm or more.

As shown in FIG. 3, the second double wall 10d of the sensor cover area 10 is made up of a second outer wall portion 10o and a second inner wall portion 10i that are generally panel-shaped. The peripheral edge of the second inner wall portion 10i extends to the front side and is joined to the second outer wall portion 10o. Therefore, the second outer wall portion 10o and the second inner wall portion 10i can be said to form a box shape. A second intermediate layer 10m, which is an air layer, is formed between the second inner wall and the second outer wall.

The sensor 80 is disposed on the rear side of the second inner wall portion 10i. As described above, the sensor 80 is a millimeter wave radar that irradiates millimeter waves and detects the millimeter waves reflected by an object. The irradiation area of the sensor 80 is inside the sensor cover area 10, more specifically, inside the transmission area 11.
The millimeter waves irradiated by the sensor 80 travel from the back side to the front side within the sensor coverage area 10 (more specifically, the transmission area 11), through the inner wall portion 15i, the second intermediate layer 10m, and the outer wall portion 15o, and are emitted to the front side of the vehicle exterior accessory 1.

As shown in FIG. 3, the light source 40 is disposed inside the second double wall 10d and irradiates light from outside the transmissive region 11 onto the front wall surface of the second inner wall portion 10i. The front wall surface of the second inner wall portion 10i is referred to as the second front wall surface 10is.

The light emitted by the light source 40 onto the second front wall surface 10is is reflected by the second front wall surface 10is, passes through the second intermediate layer 10m and the second outer wall portion 10o, and is emitted to the front side of the sensor cover area 10 of the vehicle exterior part 1 of Example 1.

In the vehicle exterior part 1 of Example 1, the second inner wall part 10i in the sensor coverage area 10 is black and totally reflects the light irradiated to the second front wall surface 10is. Also, in the vehicle exterior part 1 of Example 1, the second outer wall part 10o in the sensor coverage area 10 is transparent and transmits the light reflected by the second front wall surface 10is with no or little loss. For reference, in the vehicle exterior part 1 of Example 1, the parts in the sensor coverage area 10 other than the second outer wall part 10o are opaque.
Therefore, the sensor cover area 10 in the vehicle exterior accessory 1 of Example 1 appears to be bright and lit up by the reflected light. That is, in the vehicle exterior accessory 1 of Example 1, the light source 40 indirectly illuminates the sensor cover area 10 with reflected light.

In the vehicle exterior part 1 of Example 1, the resonant panel area 15 is disposed outside the sensor cover area 10, thereby avoiding the problem of the sensing function of the sensor 80 being hindered by the vibration of the resonant panel area 15. As a result, even though the vehicle exterior part 1 of Example 1 has both the sensor cover area 10 and the resonant panel area 15, it is possible to achieve both the sensing function of the sensor 80 and the speaker function provided by the resonant panel area 15.

Example 2
The vehicle exterior accessory of Example 2 is significantly different from the vehicle exterior accessory of Example 1 in that it is disposed on the front side of two different sensors and that the light source is disposed outside the sensor cover area. The vehicle exterior accessory of Example 2 will be described below, focusing on the differences from the vehicle exterior accessory of Example 1.
Fig. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a schematic view of the vehicle exterior part of Example 2 as seen from the front side. Fig. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a schematic view of the vehicle exterior part of Example 2 cut at the line A-A in Fig. 5.

The vehicle exterior accessory 1 of the second embodiment hides the sound emitting unit 81 and the two sensors 80, 85 from the forward direction of the vehicle. The sensor 80 is a millimeter wave radar, as in the first embodiment, and the sensor 85 is a LiDAR. The sensor 85 is disposed below the sensor 80.

The vehicle exterior part 1 of the second embodiment has two sensor cover areas. One of the two sensor cover areas 10 is referred to as the first sensor cover area 10, and the other is referred to as the second sensor cover area 12.

The second sensor coverage area 12 is disposed below the first sensor coverage area 10. The first sensor coverage area 10 is disposed on the front side of the sensor 80, and the second sensor coverage area 12 is disposed on the front side of the sensor 85. The first sensor coverage area 10 and the second sensor coverage area 12 each have a single-layer structure and are continuous so as to be flush with each other.

The resonance panel area 15 is divided into two parts in the left-right direction perpendicular to the up-down direction, and is disposed on the left and right of the second sensor cover area 12. A sound-emitting unit 81 is disposed on the back side of each resonance panel area 15.

The first sensor cover area 10 and the second sensor cover area 12 in the vehicle exterior part 1 of Example 2 are opaque and transmit the millimeter waves emitted by the sensor 80 and the infrared light emitted by the sensor 85, but do not transmit visible light. Instead, in the vehicle exterior part 1 of Example 2, a transparent area is provided above the first sensor cover area 10. This transparent area is referred to as the visible light transmitting area 13.

As shown in FIG. 6, the light source 40 is disposed on the rear side of the visible light transmission area 13 and irradiates light toward the visible light transmission area 13. Therefore, the visible light transmission area 13 in the vehicle exterior part 1 of Example 2 shines brightly with direct light. In other words, in the vehicle exterior part 1 of Example 2, the light source 40 directly illuminates the visible light transmission area 13 with direct light.

As shown in FIG. 5, the resonant panel area 15 is disposed outside the first sensor cover area 10 and the second sensor cover area 12. Therefore, the vehicle exterior part 1 of Example 2 can also avoid the problem of the sensing function of the sensor 80 and the sensor 85 being hindered by the vibration of the resonant panel area 15. As a result, the vehicle exterior part 1 of Example 2 can also achieve both the sensing function of the sensor 80 and the sensor 85 and the speaker function due to the resonant panel area 15, despite being equipped with the sensor cover area 10, the second sensor cover area 12, and the resonant panel area 15.

The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above and shown in the drawings, and can be modified as appropriate without departing from the spirit of the invention. Furthermore, each of the components shown in this specification, including the embodiments, can be arbitrarily extracted and combined for implementation.

1: Vehicle exterior part 10: Sensor cover area 10o: Second outer wall portion 10i: Second inner wall portion 10d: Second double wall 12: Second sensor cover area (sensor cover area)
15: Resonant panel area 15o: Outer wall portion 15i: Inner wall portion 15d: Double wall 15m: Intermediate layer 30: Mounting structure portion 40: Light source 80: Sensor 81: Sound generating portion 85: Sensor 90: Vehicle

Claims (3)

A panel-shaped resin exterior product for a vehicle,
The vehicle includes a sensor cover area disposed on a front side of a sensor mounted on the vehicle , a resonance panel area disposed on a front side of a sound generating unit that generates a sound , and a light source .
The resonant panel area has a double wall composed of an outer wall portion and an inner wall portion separated from each other in a front-rear direction, and an intermediate layer formed in a sealed space between the outer wall portion and the inner wall portion and through which the sound passes , and is disposed outside the sensor cover area ;
The sensor cover area has a second double wall including a second outer wall portion and a second inner wall portion spaced apart from each other in a front-rear direction,
the light source is disposed inside the second double wall and irradiates light onto the second inner wall portion ;
The light irradiated to the second inner wall portion is reflected by a second front wall surface, which is a front wall surface of the second inner wall portion . Further, a mounting structure for mounting the device to a vehicle is provided,
2. The exterior vehicle accessory of claim 1 , wherein the resonating panel area is at least 5 mm away from the mounting structure. The sensor emits electromagnetic waves,
3. The vehicle exterior part according to claim 1, wherein the resonant panel area is outside an irradiation area of the electromagnetic wave irradiated by the sensor.

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