JP2000211428A - Automatic glare-proof mirror device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To dispense with a wiring for connection to an on-board battery by fitting a solar cell to demonstrate a function as a forward light quantity detection sensor, is directed to a forward side of a vehicle, and is capable of charging a secondary battery to a housing. SOLUTION: A solar cell 11 to generate the power by the light on the forward side is fitted to a housing on a forward side along the longitudinal direction so as to perform the function as a forward light quantity detection sensor to detect the light quantity on the forward side along the longitudinal direction of a vehicle. In fitting the solar cell 11, the solar cell 11 is preferably embedded in the synthetic resin housing so as to be flush with the surface as the housing, or the solar cell 11 is preferably attached to the housing. The voltage applied to an electro-chromic layer 4 built in a mirror is controlled by a drive and control means 12. A secondary battery 13 to supply the power to the drive and control means 12 and the drive and control means 12 are stored in the housing.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for reducing the amount of light on the rear side of a vehicle to prevent the driver from being dazzled by the irradiation of light from headlights of a following vehicle when the vehicle is running at night. The present invention relates to an automatic anti-glare mirror device in which a voltage applied to an electrochromic layer incorporated in a mirror is controlled so that the reflectance of the mirror decreases as the light amount becomes larger than the amount of light.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, such an apparatus is disclosed in
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 136,955 and Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 1-1249, for example.

[0003]

However, in the conventional automatic anti-glare mirror device, the drive / control means for controlling the voltage applied to the electrochromic layer built in the mirror includes a battery mounted on the vehicle. Power is supplied from the battery, and a power cord must be wired from the battery to the auto-dimming mirror, so that the wiring process is troublesome and costly to improve the appearance of the wiring. In addition, when an automatic anti-glare mirror device is optionally added later, the wiring process becomes more difficult.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and provides an automatic anti-glare mirror device which does not require wiring for connection to an on-vehicle battery and can be easily and inexpensively attached to a vehicle. The purpose is to do.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a housing having an opening which is open toward a rear side along the front-rear direction of a vehicle, the housing being attached to a vehicle body, and an electrochromic layer. And a mirror mounted on the housing so as to close the opening, a rear light amount detection sensor for detecting the light amount on the rear side of the vehicle, and a front side for detecting the light amount on the front side along the front-rear direction of the vehicle. A light amount detection sensor, and a voltage applied to the electrochromic layer is controlled so as to reduce the reflectance of the mirror in accordance with the detection light amount of the rear light amount detection sensor being larger than the detection light amount of the front light amount detection sensor. Drive
In the automatic anti-glare mirror device provided with control means, the drive / control means and a secondary battery for supplying electric power to the drive / control means are housed in the housing, and the rear light amount detection facing the rear side of the vehicle is performed. A sensor and a solar cell that functions as the front light amount detection sensor and faces the front side of the vehicle and enables charging of the secondary battery are mounted on the housing.

[0006] According to such a configuration, the drive / control means, which is supplied with power from the secondary battery charged by the solar battery, and the secondary battery are housed in the housing. No wiring is required for
Even if it is retrofitted as an option, the auto-dimming mirror device can be easily and inexpensively attached to the vehicle. In addition, since the solar cell functions as a front light quantity detection sensor, a front light quantity detection sensor becomes unnecessary.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described based on one embodiment of the present invention shown in the attached drawings.

1 to 3 show one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is an overall perspective view of an automatic anti-glare mirror device, and FIG.
FIG. 3 is a partial longitudinal sectional view of a mirror, and FIG. 3 is a circuit diagram showing a configuration of a drive / control means.

First, in FIG. 1, a housing 1 of the automatic anti-glare mirror device is attached to a vehicle body at a front portion in a vehicle interior, and is mounted on the vehicle body and directed rearward along the front-rear direction of the vehicle. An opened opening 2 is provided in the housing 1, and a mirror 3 is attached to the housing 1 so as to close the opening 2.

In FIG. 2, the mirror 3 has an electrochromic layer 4 made of an organic polymer film having transparent conductive films 5 and 6 on both surfaces, a back surface of glass 7 and a reflection film 9 formed on the back surface. It is sandwiched between the glass 8 and
With the front side of the glass 7 facing the rear of the vehicle,
It is attached to the housing 1.

At a position below the glass 3 in the housing 1, a photodiode 1 as a rear light amount detecting sensor for detecting the light amount on the rear side along the front-rear direction of the vehicle.
0 is attached so as to face the rear side. In addition, the solar cell 11 that generates electric power by the light on the front side has a housing 1 on the front side along the front-rear direction of the vehicle so as to function as a front light amount detection sensor that detects the light amount on the front side along the front-rear direction of the vehicle. Attached to In mounting the solar cell 11, it is preferable that the solar cell 11 is embedded in the synthetic resin housing 1 so as to be flush with the surface of the housing 1 or that the solar cell 11 is attached to the housing 1. .

Referring also to FIG. 3, the voltage applied to the electrochromic layer 4 incorporated in the mirror 3 is controlled by the drive / control means 12, and power is supplied to the drive / control means 12. The rechargeable battery 13 and the drive / control means 12 are housed in the housing 1.

The drive / control means 12 has a power supply circuit 14 connected to the secondary battery 13, a switch circuit 15 for outputting a signal for controlling the start / stop of the power supply circuit 14, and a function as a front light quantity detection sensor. A first amplifying circuit 16 for amplifying the output of the solar cell 11 and a second amplifying circuit 1 for amplifying the output of the photodiode 10 serving as a rear light amount detection sensor
7, a third amplifying circuit 18 for amplifying the difference between the amount of light on the front side detected by the solar cell 11 and the amount of light on the rear side detected by the photodiode 10, and the amount of light on the front side detected by the solar cell 11 A comparison circuit 19 that outputs a high-level signal when the difference in the amount of light on the rear side detected by the photodiode 10 becomes equal to or less than a predetermined value, and outputs of the switch circuit 15, the third amplification circuit 18, and the comparison circuit 19 A driver circuit 20 for applying a voltage to the electrochromic layer 4 in response to each of the amplifier circuits 16, 17, 18,
The power supply circuit 14 is connected to the comparison circuit 19 and the driver circuit 20.
Is connected.

The solar cell 11 is connected to the positive side of the secondary battery 13 via a diode 21.
3 can be charged.

An ON / OFF signal of the automatic anti-glare switch 22 is input to the switch circuit 15, and a signal for activating the power supply circuit 14 in response to the ON operation of the automatic anti-glare switch 22 is output from the switch circuit 15. A signal for stopping the power supply circuit 14 in response to the OFF operation of the automatic anti-glare switch 22 is output from the switch circuit 15. The switch circuit 15 includes an on / off switch of the manual switch 23.
An OFF signal is input, and a signal for activating the power supply circuit 14 and a driver circuit 2 are supplied to the electrochromic layer 4 in response to the ON operation of the manual switch 23.
A signal for applying a constant voltage from 0 is output from the switch circuit 15. Further, the output of the solar cell 11 is input to the switch circuit 15, and the switch circuit 15 stops its operation during the daytime when the output of the solar cell 11 is equal to or more than a predetermined value.

As shown in FIG. 1, the automatic anti-glare switch 22 and the manual switch 23 are provided on the surface of the housing 1 on both sides of the photodiode 10, as shown in FIG. The housing 1 is provided with a light emitting diode 24 that is turned on in response to an on operation of the automatic anti-glare switch 22 and a light emitting diode 25 that is turned on in response to an on operation of the manual switch 23.

Referring again to FIG. 3, resistors 26 and 27 are connected to the output terminals of the first and second amplifier circuits 16 and 17, and a connection point 28 between the resistors 16 and 17 is connected to the third amplifier circuit 18. And the input terminal of the comparison circuit 19.

The potential of the connection point 28 is determined based on the amount of light on the rear side detected by the photodiode 10.
1 corresponds to a value obtained by subtracting the amount of light on the front side detected at step 1, and a voltage corresponding to the difference between the amounts of light is the third amplifier circuit 1
The signal is amplified at 8 and input to the driver circuit 20. A voltage corresponding to the light amount difference is also input to the comparison circuit 19, and the comparison circuit 19 sets the high level when the input voltage is equal to or less than a predetermined voltage, that is, when the light amount difference is equal to or less than a predetermined value. To the driver circuit 20.

When the manual switch 23 is in the off state and the automatic anti-glare switch 22 is in the on state, the driver circuit 20 responds to the output of the third amplifying circuit 18, that is, the difference in the amount of light before and after the vehicle becomes large. Then, a voltage is applied to the electrochromic layer 4 so as to increase the voltage applied to the electrochromic layer 4. On the other hand, the electrochromic layer 4 is colored, for example, blue by the application of a voltage to reduce the reflectance of the mirror 3, but the electrochromic layer 4 becomes darker as the voltage applied from the driver circuit 20 increases, so that the mirror 3 becomes darker. The reflectivity will be further reduced.

When the manual switch 23 is on and the automatic anti-glare switch 22 is off, the driver circuit 20 is turned on by the electrochromic layer in response to a signal input from the switch circuit 15 to the driver circuit 20. 4, a constant voltage is applied, and the reflectance of the mirror 3 decreases to a constant value.

Further, when a high-level signal is input from the comparison circuit 19 to the driver circuit 20, the driver circuit 20 forcibly short-circuits the electrochromic layer 4, thereby reducing the decoloring speed of the electrochromic layer 4. Can be expedited.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described. The driving / control means 12 to which electric power is supplied from the secondary battery 13 charged by the solar cell 11 and the secondary battery 13
Are stored in the housing 1 of the automatic anti-glare device,
Wiring for connecting the drive / control means 12 to a vehicle-mounted battery is not required, and even if the automatic anti-glare mirror device is an optional retrofit, the automatic anti-glare mirror device can be easily and inexpensively attached to the vehicle. Becomes possible.

Moreover, since the solar cell 11 is mounted on the housing 1 while functioning as a front light amount detection sensor, it is not necessary to mount a front light amount detection sensor in addition to the solar cell 11 on the housing 1.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various design changes can be made without departing from the present invention described in the appended claims. It is possible to do.

For example, in the above embodiment, the photodiode 10 is used as the rear light amount detection sensor, but a CdS cell may be used.

[0026]

As described above, according to the present invention, the automatic anti-glare mirror device can be easily and inexpensively mounted on a vehicle, and the solar cell functions as a forward light amount detection sensor. The need for a front light quantity detection sensor is eliminated.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall perspective view of an automatic anti-glare mirror device.

FIG. 2 is a partial longitudinal sectional view of a mirror.

FIG. 3 is a circuit diagram showing a configuration of a drive / control unit.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Housing 2 ... Opening 3 ... Mirror 4 ... Electrochromic layer 10 ... Photodiode as a back light amount detection sensor 11 ... Solar cell 12 ... Drive / control means 13 ... Secondary batteries

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A housing (1) having an opening (2) opened toward a rear side along a front-rear direction of a vehicle and attached to a vehicle body, and an electrochromic layer (4) is incorporated therein and said opening is provided. A mirror (3) attached to the housing (1) so as to close the portion (2); and a rear light amount detection sensor (10) for detecting the light amount on the rear side of the vehicle.
A front light quantity detection sensor (11) for detecting the front light quantity along the front-rear direction of the vehicle, and a rear light quantity detection sensor (10) that is greater than the light quantity detected by the front light quantity detection sensor (11).
Drive / control means (12) for controlling a voltage applied to the electrochromic layer (4) so as to reduce the reflectance of the mirror (3) as the detected light amount of the mirror (3) increases.
In the automatic anti-glare mirror device comprising: the drive / control means (12) and a secondary battery (13) for supplying power to the drive / control means (12) are housed in the housing (1); The rear light amount detection sensor (10) facing the rear side of the vehicle, and the secondary battery (1) that functions as the front light amount detection sensor and faces the front side of the vehicle.
3) An automatic anti-glare mirror device, wherein a solar cell (11) capable of being charged is attached to the housing (1).