JPH07104201B2 - Directional solar radiation detector - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial field of application] The present invention is used for detecting the amount of solar radiation in a vehicle compartment. The present invention relates to a direction-specific solar radiation amount detector that detects the amount of solar radiation in a vehicle compartment for each direction.

〔Overview〕

The present invention introduces incident light so that the irradiation ratios of a plurality of photoelectric conversion elements differ according to the direction of the incident light, and outputs each of the incident light as an electric signal to detect the amount of solar radiation. In the detector, columnar bodies with different refractive indexes and multiple partial cones are combined to prevent interference of light incident from each part of the polyhedron to collect light, so that one detector receives light from multiple directions, The amount of solar radiation can be detected with high accuracy.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, this type of detector detects light from one direction and sends a single output signal to calculate the amount of solar radiation, as seen in a sensor of a vehicle air conditioner. First
As disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 62-73108, light is received by a cross-shaped shield plate shown in FIGS. 6 (a) and 6 (b), and the light amount of four blocks is detected by the shade area and the shade. Then, the amount of solar radiation was calculated by sending it out as an electric signal.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention]

In the above-mentioned method of detecting light from one direction, since one detector cannot detect the amount of solar radiation in multiple directions in the vehicle compartment, multiple detectors must be provided, and for that purpose, extra installation is required. There was a problem that it required space and increased costs.

Further, in the detector using the cross-shaped shield plate, in order to detect the amount of light depending on the presence or absence of shade of light and the shade of the light, it is different from detecting the amount of light in a region having uniform brightness,
It is difficult to detect with high accuracy the amount of light that changes depending on the length or shade of the subtle shade.

The present invention solves such a problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide a detector capable of detecting light amounts from a plurality of directions with high accuracy.

[Means for Solving the Problems]

According to the present invention, one substrate, a plurality of photoelectric conversion elements mounted on the substrate, and the photoelectric conversion elements which are placed on the substrate and are incident so that the irradiation ratios of the plurality of photoelectric conversion elements differ according to the direction of incident light. Directional solar radiation amount including a light introducing portion having a structure for introducing light, and a plurality of output terminals connected to the electric signal outputs of the plurality of photoelectric conversion elements and provided separately for each position on the substrate. In the detector, the light introducing section is
Of the plurality of photoelectric conversion elements, a columnar body made of a first transparent plastic material, the bottom surface of which faces directly above the element arranged substantially in the center of the substrate, and incident on the elements arranged in the peripheral portion of the substrate. A partial cone made of a second transparent plastic material formed in contact with the side surface of the columnar body so as to introduce light, and the refractive index of the first transparent plastic material is equal to that of the second transparent plastic material. It is characterized by being smaller than the refractive index.

[Action]

Of the plurality of photoelectric conversion elements, a columnar body having a large refractive index formed of a transparent plastic material whose bottom surface faces directly above the element arranged substantially in the center of the substrate, and an element arranged in the peripheral portion of the substrate. The incident light from the oblique direction causes total reflection with the partial cone having a large refractive index formed in contact with the side surface of the columnar body so as to introduce the incident light. This prevents interference of light incident from a plurality of directions, and gives the photoelectric conversion element a correct amount of light close to the current state.

Thereby, it is possible to detect the irradiation doses in a plurality of directions with high accuracy by using one detector. Further, since the components can be aligned by plastic molding, they can be mass-produced at low cost.

〔Example〕

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a plan view showing the structure of the embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing the structure of the embodiment of the present invention.

In the embodiment of the present invention, one substrate 1 and a plurality (three in the case of this embodiment) of photoelectric conversion elements 2a attached to the substrate 1,
2b and 2c, and a light introducing portion of a structure that covers the substrate 1 and introduces the incident light so that the irradiation ratios of the plurality of photoelectric conversion elements 2a, 2b, and 2c differ according to the direction of the incident light. Power supply terminals 3a and 3 which are connected to the electric signal outputs of the photoelectric conversion elements 2a, 2b, 2c and are provided separately for each position on the substrate 1.
Further, as a feature of the present invention, the light introduction part is provided directly above the photoelectric conversion element 2a arranged substantially in the center of the substrate 1 among the plurality of photoelectric conversion elements 2a, 2b, 2c. The bottom surface of the columnar body 4 is made of a first transparent plastic material having an inclination angle θ and the photoelectric conversion elements 2b and 2c arranged in the peripheral portion of the substrate 1 so as to introduce incident light. The partial cones 5a and 5b made of the second transparent plastic material formed in contact with the side surface of the partial cone 4 are provided.
Has an inclination angle θ, and the refractive index of the columnar body 4 made of the first transparent plastic material is smaller than that of the partial cones 5a, 5b made of the second transparent plastic material.

As the material of the plastic material, for example, polymethylpentene (TPX) or methacryl having a low refractive index is used for the columnar body 4 made of the first transparent plastic material, and the partial cones 5a, 5b made of the second transparent plastic material are used. Polycarbonate (PC), polystyrene (PS), or acrylonitrile-styrene resin (AS resin) is used for.

Each of these materials is transparent and has a different refractive index. Therefore, when these are combined, total reflection occurs at the joint surface and blocks light. Alternatively, they can be added.

Further, a thermoplastic resin such as liquid crystal polymer (LCP) or polybutyrene terephthalate (PBT) can be used for the substrate 1 to obtain heat resistance, dimensional accuracy, dimensional stability and high insulation. That is, it is possible to absorb an error in dimensional accuracy with respect to temperature change.

Next, the operation of the embodiment of the present invention thus configured will be described.

When light is irradiated from the A direction, as shown in FIG. 3 (a), the light incident on the light introducing portion 4'of the columnar body 4 is directly transmitted and enters the photoelectric conversion element 2a. On the other hand, since the light incident on the light introducing portion 5'a of the partial cone 5a is provided with the inclination angle θ, most of the light is reflected and the light incident on the photoelectric conversion element 2b is reduced. Similarly, the light introducing portion 5'of the partial cone 5b
Most of the light incident on b is also reflected by the inclination angle θ, and the light incident on the photoelectric conversion element 2c is reduced. Therefore, the light from the A direction is mainly detected by the photoelectric conversion element 2a and is output as the incident light amount.

Also, as shown in FIG. 3 (b), the light emitted from the B direction enters the light introducing portion 5'b of the partial cone 5b and enters the columnar body 4 '.
Although it reaches the side surface 4b, total reflection occurs because the columnar body 4 and the partial cone 5b have different refractive indexes, and the light does not enter the columnar body 4 side but enters the photoelectric conversion element 2c. Similarly, the light from the direction B irradiated to the light introducing portion 4 ′ of the columnar body 4 is also incident at an angle of θ, so that most of it is reflected and the light incident on the photoelectric conversion element 2 a is reduced. The light irradiating the light introducing portion 5'a of the partial cone 5a is also incident at an angle of 2θ, so that it is totally reflected and no light enters the photoelectric conversion element 2b. Therefore, the light from the B direction is mainly detected by the photoelectric conversion element 2c.

When light is irradiated from the C direction, as shown in FIG. 3 (c), the light enters the light introducing portion 5'a of the partial cone 5a and reaches the side surface 4a of the columnar body 4. Also in this case, since the columnar bodies 4 and the partial cones 5a have different refractive indexes, light does not enter the columnar bodies 4 side but is totally reflected and enters the photoelectric conversion element 2b. Further, since the light from the C direction that irradiates the light introducing portion 4 ′ of the columnar body 4 is incident at an angle of θ, most of the light is reflected and reflected by the photoelectric conversion element.
The light incident on 2a is reduced, and the light emitted from the light introducing portion 5'b of the partial cone 5b is also incident at an angle of 2θ, so that the light is totally reflected and the light does not enter the photoelectric conversion element 2c. Therefore, the light from the C direction is mainly detected by the photoelectric conversion element 2b.

In this way, the light detected by each photoelectric conversion element 2a, 2b, 2c is limited to only a certain direction, it is possible to detect the irradiation light with high accuracy because it is possible to reduce the influence of light from other directions. it can.

In the present embodiment, an example in which three photoelectric conversion elements and two partial cones are provided has been described, but the number of photoelectric conversion elements and partial cones used is not limited and may be arbitrarily set according to the application. Can be increased or decreased.

FIG. 4 shows a configuration example of the detection signal processing circuit according to the embodiment of the present invention. In this example, the photoelectric conversion elements 2a, 2b, 2c are shown.
Each power supply terminal 3a is connected to the power supply 11 and output terminal 3b
A transimpedance amplifier 12 is connected to each of the. Further, it comprises two subtractors 13 connected to the outputs of the photoelectric conversion elements 2b (left side) and 2c (right side).
The detection outputs of and 2c are subtracted and output as the amount of incident light.

Further, FIG. 5 shows a configuration example of the temperature adjusting system according to the embodiment of the present invention, in which the detection signals from the photoelectric conversion elements 2a, 2b, 2c are input to the control circuit 20, and the control circuit 20 is input. The heat exchanger 21 and the blower adjusting means 22 according to the detection signal
Is controlled to blow air into the vehicle cabin so that each part is kept in the best condition.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to detect the sunshine state at a plurality of places in the vehicle compartment with high accuracy by using one detector, and thus it is possible to perform the best air conditioning. Further, since the parts constituting the detector can be molded by plastic, there is an effect that they can be mass-produced at low cost.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing the structure of an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing the configuration of the embodiment of the present invention. 3 (a), (b), and (c) are views for explaining a detection state by the incidence of light in the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a circuit diagram showing a configuration example of a detection signal processing circuit according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a configuration of an example of a temperature adjusting system according to the embodiment of the present invention. 6 (a) and 6 (b) are diagrams showing the configuration of a conventional example. 1 ... Substrate, 2a, 2b, 2c ... Photoelectric conversion element, 3a ... Power supply terminal, 3b ... Output terminal, 4 ... Columnar body, 4 ', 5'a,
5'b ... Light introducing part, 4a, 4b ... Side surface, 5a, 5b ... Partial cone, 11 ... Power supply, 12 ... Transimpedance amplifier, 13 ... Subtractor, 20 ... Control circuit, 21 ……Heat exchanger,
22 …… Blower adjustment means.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A substrate, a plurality of photoelectric conversion elements attached to the substrate, and an irradiation ratio of the plurality of photoelectric conversion elements, which is covered on the substrate and varies according to a direction of incident light. Directional solar radiation provided with a light introduction part having a structure for introducing incident light and a plurality of output terminals connected to the electric signal outputs of the plurality of photoelectric conversion elements and provided separately for each position on the substrate. In the quantity detector, the light introducing section is a columnar body made of a first transparent plastic material whose bottom surface faces directly above an element arranged in substantially the center of the substrate among the plurality of photoelectric conversion elements, and A partial cone made of a second transparent plastic material formed in contact with a side surface of the columnar body so as to introduce incident light to an element arranged in a peripheral portion of the substrate, Refractive index is before Directional solar radiation detector characterized by lower refractive index than that of the second transparent plastic material.