JP2006298117A - Vehicle door mirror device - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a vehicle door mirror device capable of simplifying the structure of a drive unit.
The vehicle door mirror device 1 includes a shaft 3 fixed to the vehicle side, and a drive unit 4 that changes the attitude of the door mirror relative to the vehicle by rotating around the shaft 3. The drive unit 4 includes a brushless motor 47 with an integrated control circuit, intermediate mechanisms 44 and 45 that transmit the power of the brushless motor 47 to the shaft 3, and a gear case 41 that houses the intermediate mechanisms 44 and 45. And a plate 42 that holds the brushless motor 47 and is attached to the gear case 41. The brushless motor 47 is driven to rotate about the shaft 3.
[Selection] Figure 2

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle door mirror device, and more particularly to a vehicle door mirror device that can simplify the structure of a drive unit.

  The technique described in Patent Document 1 is known for a conventional vehicle door mirror device. In a conventional vehicle door mirror device, a direct current brush motor that requires a separate control switch is employed, and therefore this control switch is disposed in the drive unit (see Patent Document 1).

  However, such a configuration requires a large cover (waterproof cover) that covers the control switch. For this reason, since the shaft penetrates the cover, the structure of the drive unit (particularly the waterproof structure around the shaft) is complicated.

JP 2004-237817 A

  Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above, and an object thereof is to provide a vehicle door mirror device that can simplify the structure of a drive unit.

  To achieve the above object, a vehicle door mirror device according to the present invention is a movable vehicle door mirror device installed on a vehicle door, and rotates around a shaft fixed to the vehicle side and the shaft. A drive unit that changes the attitude of the door mirror with respect to the vehicle, and the drive unit includes a brushless motor in which a control circuit is integrated, and an intermediate mechanism that transmits the power of the brushless motor to the shaft. And a gear case that houses the intermediate mechanism, and a plate that holds the brushless motor and is attached to the gear case, and that rotates around the shaft by driving the brushless motor.

  In this vehicle door mirror device, a brushless motor in which a control circuit is integrated is adopted as a motor of the drive unit. Therefore, a conventional vehicle door mirror device in which a DC brush motor that requires a separate control switch is adopted (Patent Document) Compared with 1), there is an advantage that the structure around the shaft (in particular, the waterproof structure between the shaft and the plate) is simplified.

  Further, in the vehicle door mirror device according to the present invention, the shaft protrudes from the opening of the gear case and is pivotally supported by the plate, and between the edge of the opening of the gear case and the plate, and the shaft By sealing between the periphery and the plate, the opening of the gear case is sealed.

  Further, in this vehicle door mirror device, since the opening of the gear case is sealed by the plate that supports the motor (the plate also serves as a waterproof cover of the gear case), there is an advantage that the structure of the drive unit is further simplified. is there.

  In the vehicle door mirror device according to the present invention, a brushless motor in which a control circuit is integrated is employed as the motor of the drive unit. Therefore, a conventional vehicle door mirror device in which a DC brush motor requiring a separate control switch is employed. Compared to the above, there is an advantage that the structure around the shaft (in particular, the waterproof structure between the shaft and the plate) is simplified.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Note that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments. The constituent elements of this embodiment include those that can be easily replaced by those skilled in the art or those that are substantially the same. In addition, this embodiment can be arbitrarily combined within the scope obvious to those skilled in the art.

  FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing a vehicle door mirror device according to the present invention. 2 and 3 are a sectional view (FIG. 2) and an assembled perspective view (FIG. 3) showing a drive unit of the vehicle door mirror device shown in FIG. 1.

  This vehicle door mirror device 1 is an electrically retractable door mirror (outside mirror), and is configured as a pair of left and right sides, and is installed on a driver side door and a passenger side door, respectively. The The vehicle door mirror device 1 includes a base 2, a shaft 3, a drive unit 4, a housing 5, a bracket (power unit or the like) 6, and a mirror 7 (see FIG. 1).

  The base 2 is fixed to a vehicle door (not shown). The shaft 3 is fixed to the base 2 with its axis up (fixed to the vehicle door via the base 2). The drive unit 4 is rotatably supported with respect to the shaft 3 (supported so that the shaft 3 becomes a rotation axis). The housing 5, the mounting bracket 6, and the mirror 7 constitute a mirror assembly and are rotatably supported with respect to the shaft 3 via the drive unit 4.

  The drive unit 4 includes a gear case 41, a plate 42, a cover 43, a clutch mechanism 44, a speed reduction mechanism 45, and a motor 47 (see FIG. 2). The gear case 41 is a resin case that houses the intermediate mechanism (the clutch mechanism 44 and the speed reduction mechanism 45), and is rotatably supported with respect to the shaft 3. A ball 48 that facilitates the rotation of the gear case 41 is disposed between the gear case 41 and the holder (saddle-shaped portion) of the shaft 3.

  The plate 42 is made of a resin plate-like member, and is attached to the gear case 41 so as to close the opening (to be a lid). Here, a flange 422 is formed on the peripheral edge of the plate 42 so that the cross section thereof is substantially U-shaped. On the other hand, a rib 411 corresponding to the flange 422 on the plate 42 side is formed on the edge of the opening of the gear case 41 over the entire circumference. The gear case 41 is sealed by the plate 42 by fitting the flange 422 of the plate 42 and the rib 411 of the gear case 41. Moreover, butyl rubber and other sealing materials are enclosed in these fitting portions (the fitting portion between the flange 422 and the rib 411). Thereby, these fitting parts are sealed reliably.

  The plate 42 has a motor holding part 421 for holding the motor 47. In addition, the plate 42 has a bearing portion 423, and is rotatably supported with respect to the shaft 3 by the bearing portion 423. In other words, the shaft 3 protrudes from the opening of the gear case 41 and is supported by the bearing portion 423 of the plate 42. Here, the gap between the plate 42 (bearing portion 423) and the shaft 3 is sealed by the seal member 49. The seal member 49 is, for example, a butyl rubber O-ring.

  The cover 43 is a resin cap-like member and is installed so as to cover the rear portion of the motor 47. Here, the motor holding portion 421 of the plate 42 is formed with a locking portion 424 at the edge of the opening. The engaging portion 424 and the peripheral edge portion 431 of the cover 43 are engaged, so that the cover 43 is fitted and fixed to the plate 42. As a result, the opening of the motor holding part 421 is sealed, and the motor 47 is sealed in the motor holding part 421. Note that a hole 432 is formed in the cover 43, and a part of the harness 81 is inserted through the hole 432 and connected to the motor 47.

  The clutch mechanism 44 and the speed reduction mechanism 45 are accommodated in the gear case 41 and have a function of transmitting the power of the motor 47 to the shaft 3.

  The motor 47 is configured by a DC brushless motor in which a control circuit (switching element for driving) is housed and integrated (see FIG. 2). The motor 47 is held by the motor holding portion 421 of the plate 42 and is connected to the clutch mechanism 44 via the speed reduction mechanism 45. The motor 47 is connected to a control unit (not shown) via a harness 81, and is driven and controlled by a drive signal transmitted from the control unit. The control unit is, for example, an ECU (Electronic Control Unit), and is disposed in the vehicle door mirror device 1 (housing 5) or in the vehicle. The harness 81 passes through the shaft 3 in the axial direction from the vehicle side, passes through the plate 42 of the drive unit 4, and is connected to the motor 47.

  In the vehicle door mirror device 1, when a switch operation is performed on the vehicle side, a drive signal is transmitted from the control unit to drive the drive unit 4 (motor 47). Specifically, when the motor 47 rotates, the power is transmitted to the shaft 3 via the speed reduction mechanism 45 and the clutch mechanism 44. Then, the drive unit 4 rotates about the shaft 3 as a rotation axis, and the door mirror is opened and closed.

[effect]
In the vehicle door mirror device 1, as described above, a brushless motor in which a control circuit is integrated is adopted as the motor 47 of the drive unit 4. There is an advantage that the structure (in particular, the waterproof structure between the shaft 3 and the plate 42) is simplified (see FIG. 2). In addition, there is an advantage that the product cost (cost for the waterproof structure) is reduced.

  Further, in this configuration, the cover 43 is reduced in size by the amount that the conventional control circuit is omitted, so that the height of the drive unit 4 around the shaft 3 (dimension with respect to the axial direction of the shaft 3) is reduced. Thereby, there exists an advantage which the design property (design freedom) of a door mirror improves. In addition, the downsizing of the cover 43 has an advantage that the drive unit 4 is reduced in weight.

  In the vehicle door mirror device 1, as described above, the shaft 3 protrudes from the opening of the gear case 41 and is supported (supported) by the bearing portion 423 of the plate 42 (see FIG. 2). The edge of the opening of the gear case 41 and the plate 42 are sealed by the fitting structure and a sealing material (not shown), and the space between the shaft 3 and the plate 42 is sealed by the sealing member 49. Has been. In such a configuration, the opening of the gear case 41 is sealed by the plate 42 that supports the motor 47 (the plate 42 also serves as a waterproof cover of the gear case 41), so that the structure of the drive unit 4 is further simplified. There is.

  In this vehicle door mirror device 1, a brushless motor in which a control circuit is integrated is employed as the motor 47 of the drive unit 4. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a drive motor having a different configuration is employed. (Not shown). In this configuration, the motor control circuit is installed outside the vehicle or the drive unit 4 and is connected to the motor 47 in the drive unit 4 via the harness 81, thereby realizing the above configuration.

  As described above, the vehicle door mirror device according to the present invention is useful in that the structure of the drive unit can be simplified.

It is a lineblock diagram showing the door mirror device for vehicles concerning this invention. It is sectional drawing which shows the drive unit of the vehicle door mirror apparatus described in FIG. It is an assembly perspective view which shows the drive unit of the vehicle door mirror apparatus described in FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Vehicle door mirror apparatus 2 Base 3 Shaft 4 Drive unit 41 Gear case 411 Rib 42 Plate 421 Motor holding part 422 Groove 423 Bearing part 424 Locking part 43 Cover 431 Peripheral part 432 Hole 44 Clutch mechanism 45 Deceleration mechanism 47 Motor 48 Ball 49 Seal member 5 Housing 6 Mounting bracket 7 Mirror 81 Harness

Claims (2)

A movable vehicle door mirror device installed on a vehicle door,
A shaft fixed to the vehicle side, and a drive unit that changes the attitude of the door mirror with respect to the vehicle by rotating around the shaft, and
The drive unit includes a brushless motor integrated with a control circuit, an intermediate mechanism that transmits the power of the brushless motor to the shaft, a gear case that accommodates the intermediate mechanism, and the brushless motor. A vehicle door mirror device comprising: a plate attached to a gear case, and rotating about the shaft by driving of the brushless motor.   The shaft protrudes from the opening of the gear case and is pivotally supported by the plate, and seals between the edge of the opening of the gear case and the plate and between the shaft and the plate. Accordingly, the vehicle door mirror device according to claim 1, wherein the opening of the gear case is sealed.

Images