JP7619248B2 - Vehicle front grill device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a front grill device for a vehicle.

A conventional vehicle front grill device of this type is, for example, the front grill described in Patent Document 1. This front grill has a radiator grill body made of a transparent resin material that transmits millimeter waves and is formed to extend in the vehicle width direction. A flat plate portion is provided in the center of the radiator grill body in the vehicle width direction.

The flat plate portion of the radiator grill body is disposed on the front side of the vehicle body facing the millimeter wave radar device mounted on the front of the vehicle body. The millimeter wave radar device emits millimeter waves toward the front of the vehicle body to measure the distance and relative speed between the vehicle and the vehicle ahead.

JP 2008-74352 A

In recent years, however, there has been a demand for front grilles such as those described in Patent Document 1 to have the above-mentioned millimeter wave transparency as well as the ability to illuminate. In other words, there is a demand for improved design of front grilles with millimeter wave transparency.

The means for solving the above problems and their effects will be described below.
A vehicle front grill device that solves the above-mentioned problems is a vehicle front grill device that is mounted on the front of a vehicle and is arranged in the path of electromagnetic waves of a radar device that transmits electromagnetic waves toward the front of the vehicle, and comprises a grill body that is arranged in the path of the electromagnetic waves, and an light-emitting module that irradiates visible light onto the grill body from the rear side of the vehicle, the grill body being partially provided with a decorative portion and having a base panel that is transparent to the visible light arranged thereon, and the base panel and the light-emitting module being electromagnetic wave transparent.

According to this configuration, the grill body can be illuminated by irradiating it with visible light from the light-emitting module. This improves the design of the grill body. In addition, the base panel and the light-emitting module are electromagnetically transparent, so they do not impede the radar device from sending and receiving electromagnetic waves. This improves the design while ensuring the detection accuracy of the radar device.

In the vehicle front grill device, the grill body has an upper region that is disposed within the path of the electromagnetic waves and a lower region that is located below the upper region, and it is preferable that the decorative portion is partially provided in the upper region and an opening is disposed in the lower region.

According to this configuration, the upper region can be illuminated by irradiating it with visible light from the light-emitting module. This improves the design of the grill body. In addition, air can be supplied to the radiator inside the vehicle through the opening in the lower region, ensuring cooling of the radiator by air. This improves the design of the grill body in the upper region while ensuring cooling of the radiator in the lower region.

In the vehicle front grill device, the decorative portion is partially disposed in the lower region, the upper region and the lower region are adjacent to each other, and it is preferable that the decorative portion forms the same pattern across both the upper region and the lower region.

With this configuration, the design of the upper region and the design of the lower region can be coordinated, further enhancing the design of the grill body as a whole.
In the above-mentioned vehicle front grill device, it is preferable that the upper region is located between the left and right headlamps of the vehicle and adjacent to the left and right headlamps, and the light-emitting module is arranged so as to irradiate the visible light over the entire upper region.

With this configuration, the grill body is configured so that the entire upper region is illuminated by the visible light from the light-emitting module, creating a design with continuous light from the headlamp light and the upper region.

In the vehicle front grill device, the decorative portion preferably has electromagnetic wave transparency.
According to this configuration, the decorative portion does not interfere with the transmission and reception of electromagnetic waves by the radar device, so that the detection accuracy of the radar device can be further improved.

In the above vehicle front grill device, it is preferable that the base panel is provided with a light blocking portion that blocks the visible light and a light diffusing portion that diffuses the visible light.
According to this configuration, by adjusting the shapes of the light blocking portion and the light diffusing portion, letters, patterns, etc. can be made to appear in visible light in the upper region of the grill body using visible light supplied from the light emitting module.

The present invention has the effect of improving design while ensuring the detection accuracy of the radar device.

1 is a front view of a vehicle equipped with a vehicle front grill device according to an embodiment; FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of a main part of FIG. 1 . 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 3-3 in FIG. 2. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 4-4 in FIG. 2. 13 is a cross-sectional view showing a main part of a modified embodiment of a vehicle front grill device. FIG. FIG. 11 is a front view of a vehicle equipped with a vehicle front grill device according to another modified example.

One embodiment of the vehicle front grill device will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the following description, the forward direction of the vehicle will be referred to as the front, and the backward direction will be referred to as the rear. In addition, the up-down direction will refer to the up-down direction of the vehicle, and the vehicle width direction will refer to the left-right direction of the vehicle.

As shown in Figures 1 to 3, a millimeter wave radar device 12 for forward monitoring is mounted at the front of the vehicle 11 as an example of a radar device that transmits millimeter waves, which are electromagnetic waves, toward the front outside the vehicle. The millimeter wave radar device 12 has the function of transmitting millimeter waves toward the front of the vehicle 11 and receiving millimeter waves reflected by objects outside the vehicle. Millimeter waves are radio waves with a wavelength of 1 mm to 10 mm and a frequency of 30 GHz to 300 GHz. A radiator 13 is disposed behind the millimeter wave radar device 12 on the vehicle 11.

<Vehicle Front Grill Device 14>
1 to 3, a vehicle front grill device 14 is attached to the vehicle body and disposed in front of the millimeter wave radar device 12 in the vehicle 11. That is, the vehicle front grill device 14 is disposed in a path of millimeter waves transmitted from the millimeter wave radar device 12 in the vehicle 11. The vehicle front grill device 14 includes a rectangular plate-shaped grill body 16 disposed between left and right headlamps 15 provided at the front end of the vehicle 11, and a light-emitting module 17 that irradiates visible light onto the grill body 16 from the rear side of the vehicle 11.

<Grill body 16>
1 to 3, the grill body 16 is disposed in an upright position with its front surface (design surface) facing the front of the vehicle 11 and its back surface facing the rear of the vehicle 11. The grill body 16 has an upper region 18 disposed within the path of the millimeter waves of the millimeter wave radar device 12, and a lower region 19 located below the upper region 18. The upper region 18 and the lower region 19 are adjacent to each other with the center of the grill body 16 in the up-down direction as the boundary.

<Upper Region 18>
As shown in Figures 1 to 3, the upper region 18 is supported by an inner grill 27 provided at the front of the vehicle 11. The upper region 18 is located between the left and right headlamps 15 of the vehicle 11 and is adjacent to the left and right headlamps 15. A rectangular base panel 20 is disposed in the upper region 18. The base panel 20 is made of a resin material that transmits both millimeter waves (electromagnetic waves) and visible light. That is, the base panel 20 is made of a transparent resin material, such as polycarbonate, that has millimeter wave transparency (electromagnetic wave transparency) and visible light transparency.

When the base panel 20 is made of polycarbonate, it is necessary to provide a protective hard coat layer (not shown) on the front surface of the base panel 20. Also, when the base panel 20 is made of PMMA (polymethyl methacrylate) or copolymer polycarbonate, it is not necessary to provide a protective hard coat layer (not shown) on the front surface of the base panel 20.

As shown in Figures 2 to 4, the front surface (design surface) of the base panel 20 is partially provided with decorative portions 21. That is, on the front surface of the base panel 20, a plurality of decorative portions 21, each of which is, for example, square in shape, are provided at equal intervals in a grid pattern. The decorative portions 21 are provided over almost the entire front surface of the base panel 20. The decorative portions 21 are provided on the front surface of the base panel 20 by, for example, hot stamping (a technique for thermally transferring metal foil). The decorative portions 21 are made of a metallic material such as indium that is permeable to millimeter waves (permeable to electromagnetic waves). The decorative portions 21 transmit millimeter waves and visible light.

A light diffusion section 22 that diffuses visible light is partially provided in the center of the rear surface of the base panel 20. In this case, the light diffusion section 22 forms a mark 23, which is, as an example, the letters "TG" surrounded by an oval. No decorative section 21 is provided in the portion of the front surface of the base panel 20 that corresponds to the mark 23.

A light blocking section 24 that blocks visible light is provided on the rear surface of the base panel 20 except for the light diffusion section 22. The light diffusion section 22 is provided on the entire rear surface of the light blocking section 24. The light diffusion section 22 provided on the entire rear surface of the light blocking section 24 is formed integrally with the light diffusion section 22 that forms the mark 23. The light diffusion section 22 is made of a resin material in which particles of a white light diffusion material are dispersed, for example.

The resin material constituting the light diffusion section 22 is, for example, copolymerized polycarbonate. The material constituting the light diffusion material is, for example, a metal oxide such as titanium oxide or zinc oxide. The material constituting the light blocking section 24 is, for example, a resin material such as polycarbonate that is colored black by containing a black pigment. Therefore, both the light blocking section 24 and the light diffusion section 22 are millimeter wave transparent (electromagnetic wave transparent).

<Light emitting module 17>
2 to 4, the light-emitting module 17 is provided on the rear surface of the light diffusion section 22 in the center of the upper region 18. That is, the light-emitting module 17 is disposed between the upper region 18 and the millimeter-wave radar device 12. That is, the light-emitting module 17 is disposed in the path of the millimeter waves transmitted from the millimeter-wave radar device 12. The light-emitting module 17 includes a housing 25 in the shape of a bottomed rectangular box that is open on the front side and has a bottom wall on the rear side, and a plurality of light sources 26 disposed in the housing 25.

The housing 25 is made of, for example, a resin material that is permeable to millimeter waves (permeable to electromagnetic waves). The light source 26 is made of, for example, an LED (light emitting diode). The light emitting module 17 is arranged so as to irradiate visible light onto the center of the upper region 18 of the grill body 16. In other words, the light emitting module 17 is arranged so that the light from the light source 26 illuminates the center of the upper region 18 where the mark 23 is located.

<Lower Region 19>
1 to 3, a rectangular frame 31 constituting a part of the inner grill 27 is disposed in the lower region 19. The frame 31 has a rectangular opening 28 on the inside. A resin support member 29 extending in a lattice pattern is provided on the inside of the frame 31. A resin block portion 30, which is cubic in shape as an example, is provided at each intersection of the support member 29. Each face of the block portion 30 has the same size and shape as the decorative portion 21 on the front face of the base panel 20.

The multiple block portions 30 are arranged so that the vertical and horizontal pitches are the same as the multiple decorative portions 21 on the front surface of the base panel 20. The same decorative portions 21 as the decorative portions 21 formed on the base panel 20 are formed on the front surface of each block portion 30. In this case, the multiple decorative portions 21 form the same lattice pattern across both the upper region 18 and the lower region 19. In other words, the decorative portions 21 are partially arranged in the upper region 18 and the lower region 19.

<Function of the Vehicle Front Grill Device 14>
Next, the operation of the vehicle front grill device 14 will be described.
3, when millimeter waves are transmitted from the millimeter wave radar device 12, the transmitted millimeter waves pass through the vehicle front grill device 14. The millimeter waves that have passed through the vehicle front grill device 14 are reflected by objects in front of the vehicle 11, including leading vehicles and pedestrians, etc. The reflected millimeter waves pass through the vehicle front grill device 14 again, and are then received by the millimeter wave radar device 12.

The millimeter wave radar device 12 recognizes the object and detects the distance and relative speed between the vehicle 11 and the object based on the transmitted and received millimeter waves. In this case, the light emitting module 17, light diffusion section 22, light blocking section 24, base panel 20, and decorative section 21 in the path of the millimeter waves transmitted and received by the millimeter wave radar device 12 are all millimeter wave transparent (electromagnetic wave transparent). Therefore, the vehicle front grill device 14 does not interfere with the transmission and reception of millimeter waves by the millimeter wave radar device 12. This improves the detection accuracy of the millimeter wave radar device 12.

In addition, the vehicle front grill device 14 has the upper region 18 of the grill body 16 and the light emitting module 17 provided in the upper region 18 facing the millimeter wave radar device 12 to function as a millimeter wave transmitting section that transmits millimeter waves. Therefore, by matching the height of the millimeter wave radar device 12 to the upper region 18 of the grill body 16, it becomes easy to set the installation position of the millimeter wave radar device 12 to a height of 500 mm to 700 mm from the ground. Incidentally, it is generally known that the millimeter wave radar device 12 performs better in detecting objects outside the vehicle when installed at a height of 500 mm to 700 mm from the ground.

When visible light is irradiated from the light-emitting module 17 onto the center of the upper region 18 where the mark 23 is located, the light diffusion section 22 diffuses and transmits the visible light, while the light blocking section 24 blocks the visible light. Therefore, when the grill body 16 is viewed from the front side (design surface side), only the mark 23 appears to be glowing. In addition, the multiple decorative sections 21 of the grill body 16 form the same lattice pattern across both the upper region 18 and the lower region 19. This further improves the design of the grill body 16.

Furthermore, when the vehicle 11 is traveling in particular, sufficient air is supplied to the radiator 13 inside the vehicle 11 through the opening 28 in the lower region 19 of the grill body 16, ensuring the cooling of the radiator 13 by air.

In this way, the vehicle front grill device 14 can perform three functions: transmitting millimeter waves, improving the design of the grill body 16, and cooling the radiator 13. This makes it possible to realize a multi-functional vehicle front grill device 14.

According to the embodiment described above in detail, the following effects are achieved.
(1) A vehicle front grill device 14 is mounted on the front of a vehicle 11 and is disposed in a millimeter wave path of a millimeter wave radar device 12 that transmits millimeter waves toward the front of the vehicle 11. The vehicle front grill device 14 includes a grill body 16 having an upper region 18 disposed in the millimeter wave path and a lower region 19 located below the upper region 18, and a light-emitting module 17 that irradiates visible light onto the grill body 16 from the rear side of the vehicle 11. A base panel 20 that is partially provided with a decorative portion 21 and transmits visible light is disposed in the upper region 18. A frame 31 having an opening 28 is disposed in the lower region 19. The base panel 20 and the light-emitting module 17 are millimeter wave transparent.

According to this configuration, the upper region 18 can be illuminated by irradiating the upper region 18 with visible light from the light-emitting module 17. This improves the design of the grill body 16. In addition, air can be supplied to the radiator 13 inside the vehicle 11 through the opening 28 in the lower region 19, ensuring cooling of the radiator 13 by air. Furthermore, the base panel 20 and the light-emitting module 17 are millimeter-wave transparent, so they do not interfere with the transmission and reception of millimeter waves by the millimeter-wave radar device 12. This improves the detection accuracy of the millimeter-wave radar device 12. This improves the design of the grill body 16, ensures cooling of the radiator 13, and improves the detection accuracy of the millimeter-wave radar device 12. In other words, the vehicle front grill device 14 can be made multifunctional.

(2) In the vehicle front grill device 14, the decorative portion 21 is partially disposed in the lower region 19, the upper region 18 and the lower region 19 are adjacent to each other, and the decorative portion 21 forms the same pattern across both the upper region 18 and the lower region 19.

According to this configuration, the design of the upper region 18 and the design of the lower region 19 can be matched, so that the design of the grill body 16 as a whole can be further improved.
(3) In the vehicle front grill device 14, the decorative portion 21 has millimeter wave transparency.

According to this configuration, the decorative portion 21 does not interfere with the transmission and reception of millimeter waves by the millimeter wave radar device 12, so that the detection accuracy of the millimeter wave radar device 12 can be further improved.
(4) In the vehicle front grill device 14, the base panel 20 is provided with the light blocking portion 24 that blocks visible light and the light diffusing portion 22 that diffuses visible light.

According to this configuration, by adjusting the shapes of the light blocking section 24 and the light diffusing section 22, it is possible to make visible light characters, patterns, etc. appear in the upper region 18 of the grill body 16 using visible light supplied from the light emitting module 17. In the above embodiment, the light blocking section 24 forms a black background and the mark 23 is formed in the light diffusing section 22. Therefore, it is possible to make the mark 23, which glows with visible light, appear in the upper region 18 of the grill body 16.

(Example of change)
The above embodiment can be modified as follows: The above embodiment and the following modifications can be combined with each other as long as they are not technically inconsistent.

- As shown in FIG. 5, in the vehicle front grill device 14, the base panel 20 may be changed to a base panel 40 made of a resin film. In this case, the light diffusion section 22 that forms the mark 23, the light blocking section 24 that forms the background of the mark 23, and the multiple decorative sections 21 are included in the base panel 40. The base panel 40 functions as a protective hard coat. The base panel 40 is attached, for example, to the front surface of the light diffusion section 22 that is formed in a rectangular plate shape and has the light emitting module 17 provided on its rear surface. In this way, the vehicle front grill device 14 can be manufactured more easily.

As shown in FIG. 6, when the vehicle front grill device 14 is mounted on an electric vehicle, the lower region 19 may be omitted.
The light-emitting module 17 may be disposed so as to irradiate visible light over the entire upper region 18. In this way, by configuring the grill body 16 so that the entire upper region 18 is illuminated by the visible light of the light-emitting module 17, a design using continuous light from the light of the left and right headlamps 15 and the light of the upper region 18 can be expressed.

The upper region 18 of the grill body 16 does not necessarily have to be adjacent to the left and right headlamps 15 .
The light diffusing portion 22 and the light blocking portion 24 may be omitted.

The decorative portion 21 does not necessarily have to be transparent to millimeter waves (electromagnetic waves).
The decorative portion 21 does not necessarily have to be disposed in the lower region 19 .
The upper region 18 and the lower region 19 of the grill body 16 do not necessarily have to be adjacent to each other. That is, for example, a middle region (not shown) may be provided between the upper region 18 and the lower region 19 of the grill body 16.

The ratio of the upper region 18 to the lower region 19 in the grill body 16 may be changed as appropriate.
The decorative portion 21 does not necessarily have to form the same pattern across both the upper region 18 and the lower region 19. In other words, the decorative portion 21 may form different patterns in the upper region 18 and the lower region 19.

The decorative portion 21 may be provided on the rear surface of the base panel 20 .
The shape of the decorative portion 21 may be changed arbitrarily, for example, to a circular or star-shaped shape.
The number and arrangement of the decorative portions 21 formed on the grill body 16 may be changed as appropriate.

- The electromagnetic waves transmitted and received by the radar device may include electromagnetic waves such as infrared waves in addition to millimeter waves.

Reference Signs List 11: Vehicle 12: Millimeter wave radar device as an example of a radar device 13: Radiator 14: Vehicle front grill device 15: Headlamp 16: Grill body 17: Light-emitting module 18: Upper region 19: Lower region 20, 40: Base panel 21: Decorative portion 22: Light diffusion portion 23: Mark 24: Light blocking portion 25: Housing 26: Light source 27: Inner grill 28: Opening 29: Support member 30: Block portion 31: Frame

Claims (5)

A front grill device for a vehicle is mounted in front of a radar device that is mounted in a front portion of the vehicle and transmits electromagnetic waves toward the front of the vehicle,
a grill body; and a light-emitting module that irradiates visible light onto the grill body from a rear side of the vehicle,
A base panel through which the visible light is transmitted is disposed on the grill body,
the base panel and the light emitting module are electromagnetically transparent;
A decorative portion is partially provided on the front surface of the base panel,
a light diffusion section that diffuses and transmits visible light from the light- emitting module is partially provided on a rear surface of the base panel, and a light blocking section that blocks visible light from the light -emitting module is provided on a portion other than the light diffusion section ;
A vehicle front grill device, characterized in that the portion of the front surface of the base panel in which the decorative portion is provided is a portion different from the portion of the rear surface of the base panel in which the light diffusion portion is provided . The grill body has an upper region and a lower region located below the upper region,
The decorative portion is partially provided in the upper region,
2. The vehicle front grill device according to claim 1, wherein an opening is provided in the lower region. The decorative portion is partially disposed in the lower region,
the upper region and the lower region are adjacent to one another;
3. The vehicle front grill device according to claim 2, wherein the decorative portion has the same pattern over both the upper region and the lower region. the upper region is located between left and right headlamps of the vehicle and adjacent to the left and right headlamps,
4. The vehicle front grill device according to claim 2, wherein the light emitting module is disposed so as to irradiate the visible light over the entire upper region. The vehicle front grill device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the decorative portion is electromagnetically transparent.

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