JPH0723077B2 - Rearview mirror device for vehicle - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicle rearview mirror device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a rear-view mirror device for a vehicle, a mirror housing is rotatably held with respect to a base member fixed to the vehicle body side, and the mirror housing is stored at a retracted position (vehicle body when the vehicle passes by or the like). There is one that makes it easier to drive by reducing the (substantially) vehicle width to a position (close to).

[0003]

By the way, in such a vehicle rearview mirror device, when an external force greater than the holding force is applied to the mirror housing, the mirror housing is forcibly tilted.

In such a case, it is necessary to return the mirror housing to its original position, but in the prior art, the driver manually or operates a switch for rotating the mirror housing arranged in the vehicle compartment. Was to return to the original position.

Therefore, such a conventional rearview mirror device for a vehicle has a problem that the driver's burden is increased and the driver feels inconvenience.

[0006]

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention comprises a base member fixed to the vehicle body side and a mirror housing rotatably held with respect to the base member and accommodating a mirror. In the vehicle rearview mirror device, the detecting means is provided between the mirror housing and the base member, and when the mirror housing is tilted by an external force other than an operation command, the detecting means detects the tilting, and the mirror housing and the The tilting mirror housing is returned to the original position by the operation of the return means provided between the base members, and when the mirror housing returns to the predetermined position, the detection means detects this and stops the operation of the return means. It is characterized by doing so.

[0007]

When the mirror housing is tilted by an external force, the detecting means detects it and then the returning means returns the mirror housing to the original position. Therefore, the driver does not need to return the mirror housing to the original position manually or by switch operation as in the conventional case, and the burden on the driver is reduced.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment in which the present invention is applied to an electric retractable vehicle mirror will be described in detail below.

First, a basic embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. In the drawings, FIG. 1 is a partially sectional front view of a vehicle rearview mirror device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of an assembly portion of a base member and a mirror housing, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a circuit diagram of the electric control system as seen from the direction of the arrow.

First, an overall schematic configuration will be described with reference to FIG. Reference numeral 1 is the side surface of the door of a vehicle such as a four-wheeled vehicle. The base member 3 is fixed to the side surface of the door via the rubber sheet 2. As shown in FIG. 1, the base member 3 has an L-shape as a whole, a body mounting portion 3A is provided in the vertical direction, and a main body that pivotally supports the rotation drive means 4 (see FIG. 2) and the rearview mirror device main body 5 in the horizontal direction. The support portion 3B is provided. The upper surface of the support portion 3B supports the lower portion of the rear-view mirror device body 5 on the vehicle body side. The rear-view mirror device main body 5 includes a mirror housing 6 which is directly supported by the supporting portion 3B and is formed in a case shape having a front opening and a front opening, and a mirror portion which is housed in the housing 6 and includes a motor and a gear mechanism. It comprises a drive unit 7 and a mirror portion 8 which is swingably supported by a swing support portion of the drive unit 7 and which is tilted up and down and left and right to adjust the field of view angle. It is arranged in such a way that it closes.

The rotation driving means 4 is mounted on the vehicle body mounting portion 3.
A motor 9 (see FIG. 3) provided in A, a gear mechanism 10 for decelerating and transmitting the rotation of the motor 9, and a rotation support portion 11 for rotating the rear-view mirror device body 5 by the gear mechanism 10. . The details of the base member 3 and the rearview mirror device body 5 are selected so that, for example, a continuous, integrated shape can be obtained in terms of design.

Therefore, when the motor 9 is rotationally driven and controlled, the rear-view mirror device main body 5 rotates in the front-rear direction of the vehicle body (in a substantially horizontal plane) about the rotation support portion 11.

Next, the rotary drive means 4 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. The base member 3
A support flange portion 13 in the form of a short cylinder is provided on the upper surface portion 12 of the above in a vertically upward direction.

On the other hand, a driven shaft 17 having a relatively long cylinder length and having an insertion hole 16 for a wire harness 15 is fixed to the innermost side of the vehicle body side lower surface portion 14 of the mirror housing 6 of the mirror device body. A ring-shaped space S1 for inserting and shrinking the coil spring 18 is formed between the shaft 17 and the flange portion 13. A thrust ball b is arranged between the upper surface of the support flange 13 and the flange 17a above the driven shaft 17.

The support flange 1 of the mirror housing 6
A cylindrical flange 19 is formed on the outer periphery of the shaft 3 with a space S2, and a ring-shaped driven plate 22 is externally fitted and fixed to the lower end of the driven shaft 17, and a drive plate 23 is mounted on the upper surface of the driven plate 22. Overlap.

The drive plate 23 is rotatably fitted to the driven shaft 17 at the center and has a cylindrical spring force receiving portion 24 at the upper end for receiving the force of the spring 18. Further, as shown in FIG. 3, a gear portion 25 is formed on the outermost peripheral portion of the drive plate 23 over a predetermined range (approximately 70 degrees), and further, at a predetermined interval (approximately 7 degrees).
The cutouts 27 and 28 are formed by placing them at 0 degree.

As shown in FIG. 3, projections 32 and 33 protruding laterally are formed on the upper surface of the drive plate 23, and the driven plate 22 is formed on the lower surface of the drive plate 23 as shown in FIG. A plurality of clutch convex portions 35 having a triangular cross section that engage with the clutch groove portion 34 having a triangular cross section are provided. As a result, when no external force acts on the mirror device body 5, the drive plate 23 and the driven plate 2
2 cooperates with each other, but when a constant external force is applied, it resists the force of the spring 18 and moves from the clutch projection 35 to the groove 3
Since 4 has a function to slip and idle according to the external force,
The rearview mirror device does not come into contact with other objects and break.

On the other hand, a worm gear G1 rotatably supported by a gear is engaged with the gear portion 25, and a worm small gear G3 pivotally supported by a shaft 9a of a motor 9 is engaged with a gear G2 meshed with the worm gear G1. Engage.

The base member 3 has the cutout recesses 27,
28 is provided with a solenoid 37, and this solenoid 37 is provided with an interlock switch 38. The solenoid 3
The tip of the movable core 37a of No. 7 can be engaged with and disengaged from the cutout recesses 27 and 28. When the movable core 37a is engaged with the cutout recess 27 or the cutout recess 28, the drive plate 23 is securely fixed to the base member 3 to prevent vibration of the rear-view mirror device body 5 (prevent rattling) and improve positioning accuracy. In addition, even when an external force acts on the rearview mirror device main body 5, the force for releasing the clutch concave portion 34 and the convex portion 35 for releasing the external force is applied to the movable core 37a of the solenoid 37.
There is no fear that the gear 25 and G1 will be damaged. The notches 27 and 28 are elongated in the vertical direction as shown in FIG. 6 so that the drive plate 23 can move in the axial direction of the driven shaft 17.

The solenoid 37 is a self-return switch S.
When WR is turned on, the movable core 37a is retracted into the solenoid 37, the engagement with the drive plate 23 side is released, and when the switch SWR is turned off, the movable core 37a is elastically restored to engage with the drive plate 23 side.

A cam block 41 is rotatably supported by a shaft 40 on the base member 3, and an arm 41a is provided on the cam block 41 so as to abut against the projections 32 and 33. A polarity changeover switch 43 is provided on the side of the cam block 41, and the polarity changeover switch 43 changes the polarity of the motor 9 by the rotation of the cam block 41.

Above the space S2 formed by the support flange portion 13 and the flange 19, the inner end portion of the shape memory alloy body 50 wound in a spiral shape is fixed to the outer periphery of the support flange portion 13, and the outer end portion is fixed. Supported flange part 1
It adheres to the inner circumference of 9. On the other hand, a ring-shaped heater winding 5 along the lower end of the shape memory alloy body 50 is provided below the space S2.
Store 1. A detection switch 52 for detecting displacement due to external force is provided on the lower surface of the lower portion of the upper surface 12 near the support flange portion 13. The switch knob 52a is projected downward so that the tip of the switch knob 52a of the drive plate 23 is provided. Abut the top surface. In FIG. 4, 37-2 is a solenoid in the left rear-view mirror device, 38-2 is the same interlock switch on the left side, 43-2 is the same changeover switch on the left side, 51-2 is the heater winding on the left side,
52-2 is a detection switch on the left side, 47 and 48 are power source input terminals, and the terminals 47 and 48 are connected to a DC power source such as a vehicle battery. In FIG. 4, the upper part shows the control system of the right rear-view mirror device, and the lower part shows the control system of the left rear-view mirror device.

Next, the electrical control system and the overall operation will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. First, a self-return switch SW that is arranged in the passenger compartment or the like and can be operated by the driver
When R is pressed, the circuit is energized, the movable core 37a of the solenoid 37 is retracted into the solenoid 37, and the movable core 3a
The engagement between 7a and the cutout recess 27 is released. Further, the motor 9 rotates in the normal direction, and the rotation of the motor 9 is accordingly changed by the gear mechanism 10.
The drive plate 23 is rotated in the direction D of FIG. When the movable core 37a is retracted into the solenoid 37, the interlock switch 38 is turned on, and the motor 9 continues to rotate even if the push operation of the switch SWR is released. Since it continues until it matches, there is no need to keep pressing the switch during operation and there is no problem in driving. On the other hand, the rotation of the drive plate 23 integrally rotates the driven plate 22, and the rotation of the driven plate 22 is further transmitted to the driven shaft 17 to rotate the rear-view mirror device body 5.

When the rear-view mirror device body 5 rotates to reach the retracted position from the use position, the protrusion 33 causes the cam switch 4 to move.
The cam switch 40 is rotated by pushing the arm 41a of 0, the polarity changeover switch 43 is changed over, and the motor 9 is set to the opposite polarity. If the switch SWR is pushed again from this state, the motor 9 rotates in the reverse direction, and the drive plate 23 is rotated in the F direction. This rotation continues until it returns to the original state, and when stopped, the changeover switch 43 is changed over by the pushing action of the protrusion 32. As a result, it automatically returns to the normal use position.

The left-side rearview mirror device is also constructed in exactly the same manner, and such right-side and left-side operations may be independently performed or may be interlocked with each other.

Next, the self-recovery function of the above vehicle rearview mirror device will be described. Now, assume that the rear-view mirror device body 5 is in the use position, and an unexpected external force acts on the rear-view mirror device body 5 at this position, and the rear-view mirror device body 5 is forcibly rotated by this external force. To do. In this case, the device body 5 rotates while plastically deforming the shape memory alloy body 50, and the driven plate 2
2 also follows. At the same time, the clutch protrusion 35 of the drive plate 23 ...
Are disengaged from the clutch groove portions 34 and are displaced upward along the shaft portion 17. As a result, the switch knob 52a is pressed and the detection switch 52, which was off, is turned on.
By this ON, the heater winding 51 connected in series with the detection switch 52 is energized and heated, and further the shape memory alloy body 52 is also heated. A shape memory alloy is, for example, an alloy of nickel and titanium, and has a property that a shape deformed at a temperature lower than a specific temperature (martensite transformation temperature) returns to the original shape when heated above the temperature. The plastically deformed shape memory alloy body 50 tries to return to its original shape, and at the same time, it also acts to return the rear-view mirror device body 5 (mirror housing 6) to its original use position. Depending on the properties of the shape memory alloy, it may be possible to directly energize and restore the original shape. And
When the clutch is returned to the original position, the clutch groove portion 34 and the clutch convex portion 35 are engaged, so that the detection switch 52 is OF
It becomes F.

As described above, according to this embodiment, even if the rear-view mirror device body 5 is forcibly rotated by an external force and tilted, the rear-view mirror device body 5 is automatically operated without any operation by the driver. Returns to the original position. Therefore, unlike the prior art, it is not necessary for the driver to return the rearview mirror device body 5 manually or by a switch operation, so that the burden on the driver can be reduced and a convenient vehicle rearview mirror device can be obtained.

[0028]

As described above, according to the present invention, when the mirror housing is tilted by an external force, the detecting means detects this and then the returning means returns the mirror housing to the original position. Therefore, the driver does not need to return the mirror housing to the original position manually or by switch operation as in the conventional case, and the burden on the driver is reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially sectional front view of a vehicle rearview mirror device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of an assembly portion of a base member and a mirror housing.

3 is a sectional view taken along line 3-3 of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a circuit diagram of an electrical control system.

5 is a view taken in the direction of arrow 5 in FIG.

6 is a sectional view taken along line 6-6 of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 3 ... Base member 6 ... Mirror housing 50 ... Returning means 52 ... Detection means

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A rear-view mirror device for a vehicle, comprising: a base member fixed to a vehicle body side; and a mirror housing rotatably held with respect to the base member and accommodating a mirror, wherein the mirror housing and the base are provided. Detecting means is provided between the members, and when the mirror housing is tilted by an external force other than an operation command, the detecting means detects it.
The return means provided between the mirror housing and the base member returns the tilted mirror housing to the original position, and when the mirror housing returns to a predetermined position, the detection means detects it and returns the return. A vehicle rear-view mirror device, characterized in that the operation of the means is stopped.