JPH0518467Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a sensor for detecting foreign objects in openable objects such as windows and sunroofs in automobiles and the like.

In recent years, regulator devices that automatically open and close objects such as windows and sunroofs using motors have become popular. Since such a regulator device automatically opens and closes a window, etc., there is a risk that a person's hand, neck, etc. may get caught in the window, etc. In order to prevent such accidents, Utility Model No. 47-22624,
As disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Application No. 50-81519, etc., a device has been devised in which a sensor is provided, and when a hand, neck, etc. is detected by the sensor, the closing operation of the window, etc. is stopped or the window is moved to the opening operation. . However, in conventional devices, the sensor operates even when the window is normally closed, so a position sensor is required to distinguish between normal and abnormal conditions, and when the window opens and closes, There were drawbacks such as the fact that the sensor was easily damaged because it was pressed every time the sensor was pressed.

The present invention has been made in view of these points, and provides a sensor for a regulator device that operates only when an abnormality occurs, eliminates the need for a position sensor, and is safe even if a hand, neck, etc. are caught. The purpose is to

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

As shown in FIG. 1, the sensor 1 includes an elongated outer covering part 3 having a hollow part 2, and at least one pair of conductive parts 4 provided along the longitudinal direction inside the hollow part 2. The outer covering part 3 can be formed integrally with the outer covering part 3 by using an elastic body such as insulating silicone rubber, and the conductive part 4 can be made of an elastic body such as conductive silicone rubber. The outer covering part 3 has another hollow part 5 approximately parallel to the hollow part 2 above the hollow part 2, and this hollow part 5
The side wall of the sensor 1 serves as a support member 6 for the sensor 1. This support member 6 is formed integrally with the outer covering part 3 from insulating silicone rubber, but has appropriate flexibility due to its thickness, shape, etc., and when the sensor 1 is pressed from below, it connects a pair of conductive When an external force greater than the contact of the part 4 is applied from below, the hollow part 5 is bent and crushed.
It is designed to absorb external forces. Note that, as can be seen from FIG. 4, the wall thickness forming the hollow portion 2 is thinner than the wall thickness forming the hollow portion 5.

The sensor 1 is mounted, for example, as shown in FIG. Weather strip section 8 fixed to frame section 7
has a recess 8a that comes into contact with the end 9a of the window 9.
and side portions 8b protruding from both sides of the recessed portion 8a. The sensor 1 is attached to at least one side (the indoor side (left side) in the figure) of the side parts 8b. Therefore, the sensor 1 is not pressed by the closing operation of the window 9 (upward movement in the figure).

The end of the sensor 1 is attached to a case 11 that houses the circuit section 10 of the sensor 1, as shown in FIG. 3, for example. The pair of conductive parts 4 are electrically connected to a pair of terminals 13 provided on the seat 12, respectively. Necessary power is supplied to the terminal 13 and the circuit section 10 via the electric wire a. 14
is a retaining spring, which is used to press and fix the end of the sensor 1 to the seat 12 of the case 11. In order to ensure secure fixation, the outer diameter, which is the diameter of the seat 12 plus the thickness of the terminal 13, may be slightly larger than the diameter of the hollow portion 2.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the operation of this embodiment. When the end 9a of the window 9 is downward at point a, the hollow parts 2 and 5 are not subjected to external force, so the sensor 1 does not operate. As shown in FIG.
The pair of conductive parts 4 come into contact with each other, and the sensor 1 operates. If the window 9 further rises due to a delay in the operation of the sensor 1 or a delay in the stopping operation of the window 9, the support member 6 is bent and the hollow portion 5 is also collapsed as shown in FIG. 4c. That is, by providing the hollow portion 5 with an overstroke function,
Sensing objects such as hands, fingers, and neck are protected from damage.

FIG. 5 shows a specific control circuit diagram of a regulator device using the sensor 1 of the present invention.
Reference numeral 16 denotes a manually operated switch, the movable contact of which is biased by a spring or the like (not shown) so that it always returns to the neutral contact N even if it is switched to either the fixed contact D or U. Reference numeral 17 denotes an auto-operated switch, whose movable contact is always biased by a biasing means (not shown) so that it is in the neutral position, but when the movable contact is switched to either fixed contact D or U, a latch mechanism (not shown) is activated. The movable contact is held in that position. 18 is contact 18
19 is a relay having a contact 19a, and when the switch 16 or 17 is switched to the contact D side or U side, respectively, the transistor Tr ₁ or Tr ₂ is turned on and excited. It's summery. M is a motor that moves the window 9 up and down, and when the contact 18a of the relay 18 is turned on, the terminals A, B, the contact 19a of the relay 19, and the resistor Ri are turned on.
Also, when the contact 19a of the relay 19 is turned on, the circuit passes through the terminals B and A, the contact 18a, and the resistor Ri.
Each allows current to flow through them. 20 is a current detection circuit, and contacts D,
Diode from U and terminals A and B of motor M
A positive voltage is applied to the terminal V via _D1 to _D4 . In addition, the voltage drop generated across the resistor Ri is applied to the terminal IN, and when the voltage drop exceeds a predetermined value, a logic L signal is output to the terminal OUT. Otherwise, voltage is applied to the terminal V. If voltage is applied, a logic H signal is output to the terminal OUT, and if no voltage is applied, a logic L signal is output to the terminal OUT. The terminal OUT is connected to the transistor Tr ₁ , via the resistors R ₁ , R ₂ .
Each is connected to the base of Tr ₂ . Resistance R ₁ , R ₂
The common connection point of the switch 16 is connected to the ground via the transistor Tr ₃ , and the neutral contact N of the switch 16 is connected to the base of the transistor Tr ₃ .
1.

On the other hand, a predetermined power is supplied to the sensor 1, which has one end of the conductive part 4 grounded, from the electric wire a via the resistor _R3 . The collector of the transistor Tr ₄ , whose base and emitter are connected to both ends of the resistor R ₃ , is connected to one end of the relay 18 and one end of the resistor R ₁ via an electric wire b, and is also connected to the transistor Tr ₅ via the resistor R ₄ . connected to the base of.
The collector of transistor Tr ₅ is connected to the base of transistor Tr ₂ via electric wire c.

Next, its operation will be explained. When the switch 17 is switched to the contact D side, a voltage is applied to the terminal V of the current detection circuit 20 via the diode _D2 , so an H signal is output from the terminal OUT, and the transistor
Tr ₁ turns on, relay 18 is energized, and contact 18
a turns on. Therefore, the motor M rotates forward, for example, and the window 9 is lowered. Even if switch 17 is released, current is maintained in relay 18 from contact 18a via diode _D5 . When the window 9 reaches the lowest point, the voltage drop across the resistor Ri exceeds a predetermined value, so the terminal OUT of the current detection circuit 20 outputs an L signal. As a result, the transistor _Tr1 is turned off, the relay 18 is deenergized, and the motor M stops rotating. At the same time, the switch 17 is also unlatched.

When the movable contact of switch 17 is switched to contact U side, transistor Tr ₂ turns on and relay 1
9 is energized and even if the switch is released, current continues to flow through the diode _D6 to the relay 19, so the motor M reverses and the window 9 rises.
When the highest point is reached, the rotation of the motor M stops. The operation is substantially the same as that for lowering the window 9, so a detailed description will be omitted.

Next, when the switch 16 is switched to the contact D or U side, the window 9 is lowered or raised in the same way as when the switch 17 is switched to the contact D or U side.
However, in the case of the switch 16, when the switch 16 is released, its movable contact comes into contact with the neutral contact N. Therefore, a differential output is output from the differentiating circuit 21, turning on the transistor Tr3, and turning on the transistor _Tr3 .
Since the base of Tr ₁ or Tr ₂ is grounded, the rotation of the motor M stops at that point.

When a hand, neck, etc. comes into contact with the window 9 while it is rising, and the sensor 1 is turned on, the transistors Tr ₄ and Tr ₅ are turned on. As a result, the transistor _Tr2 is turned off, the relay 19 is deenergized, and the motor M stops rotating. On the other hand, since a voltage is applied from the collector of the transistor Tr ₄ to the relay 18 and the base of the transistor Tr ₁ , the transistor Tr ₁ is turned on. As a result, the relay 18 is energized, and the motor M rotates to lower the window 9. Even if the sensor 1 is turned off, the relay 18 is supplied with current from the contact 18a, so it remains on and stops after the window 9 reaches its lower limit.

The time it takes for the motor M to stop rotating and start rotating in the opposite direction is considered to be about 3 msec when a quick cut relay is used. The distance that the window 9 moves during this time is approximately 0.9 mm, assuming a speed of 30 cm/sec. In order to absorb this distance by elastically deforming the weather strip section 8 after the sensor 1 is turned on, the sensor 1 is preferably made of a material that is more elastically deformable than the weather strip section 8.

FIG. 6 represents another embodiment of the control circuit. Switch 23 is for lowering, switch 24 is for raising,
Each is a switch, and is latched when a coil 25 connected to the collector of a transistor Tr ₆ driven by the output of the current detection circuit 20 is excited. The current detection circuit 20 uses a voltage obtained by dividing a predetermined voltage by resistors R ₆ and R ₇ and a resistor Ri.
It is composed of a comparator 26 that compares the voltage drop with the voltage drop. The base of the transistor Tr ₇ is connected to a predetermined power source via the sensor 1, the emitter is grounded, and the collector is connected to the base of the transistor Tr ₆ .

Next, we will discuss its operation. When switch 23 is turned on, terminals A and B of motor M, switch 2
4. When switch 24 is turned on again in the path of resistor Ri, terminals B and A of motor M, switch 23,
Current flows in each path of resistor Ri, and window 9
The motor rotates forward or backward to lower or raise the As long as the window does not reach the top or bottom point, the voltage divided by the resistors R ₆ and R ₇ is larger than the voltage drop across the resistor Ri, so the comparator 26 outputs an H signal and the transistor Tr ₆ is turned on. Then, the coil 25 is energized and the switch 23 or 2 is turned on.
4 is latched.

Resistance occurs when window 9 reaches the top or bottom point
The voltage drop across Ri becomes larger, the output of the comparator 26 becomes an L signal, the transistor Tr ₆ is turned off, the excitation of the coil 25 is released, the latch of the switch 23 or 24 is released, and the rotation of the motor M is stopped. do.

When sensor 1 turns on while motor M is rotating, transistor Tr ₇ turns on, so transistor Tr ₆
is turned off as its base is grounded, and the rotation of the motor M also stops.

As described above, in the present invention, when a pressing force is applied to the thin hollow part from below, the thin hollow part first bends and the pair of conductive parts come into contact with each other, and then a strong pressing force is applied. By bending the thick hollow part, it is possible to reliably provide an overstroke function. Therefore, even if a foreign object is caught when the window closes in a power window, etc., the thick hollow part can be bent. This flexure has the effect of protecting the foreign matter from damage.

Further, in the above embodiment, a case where the present invention is applied to a window/sunroof of an automobile has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and it goes without saying that similar effects can be obtained when applied to automatic doors, elevators, etc.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The figures are all related to the present invention; Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the sensor, Fig. 2 is a sectional view of its installation, Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the end of the sensor, and Fig. 4 shows the operation process of the sensor. is in the non-operating state, b is when the sensor is operating, c
5 is an explanatory diagram showing the state after sensor operation, FIG. 5 is a control circuit diagram, and FIG. 6 is another embodiment of the control circuit diagram. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1...Sensor, 6...Support member, 8...Weather strip section, 9...Window.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] A hollow part 2 formed by a thin part along the longitudinal direction of the outer cover made of a long insulating elastic body, and a pair of hollow parts arranged along the longitudinal direction inside the hollow part and facing each other in a non-contact state at all times. It is formed of a conductive part 4 and another hollow part 5 which is connected to the upper surface of the hollow part via a partition and is made of a thicker part than the hollow part, and when the hollow part 2 is pressed, the A foreign object detection sensor in which a pair of conductive parts 4 are in contact with each other, and when a pressing force is further applied, the hollow part 5 is bent.