JPH11229711A - Window opening/closing controller - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a window opening/closing controller which accurately judge the catching of foreign matter by drawing an attention on the close relationship between the light quantity reflected by the window and the raising position of the window. SOLUTION: When a window 12 catches foreign matter, a light path from a light emitting element 501 to a light receiving element 50b is intercepted by the foreign matter. Thereby, the light receiving quantity of the light receiving element 50b is reduced. The difference between the incident light receiving quantity and a reference light receiving quantity becomes a prescribed threshold or more so as to be judged as the catching of the foreign matter. Where, the reference light receiving quantity is set according to the position of the window 12 taking account of the reflection of the light of the light emitting element 50a by the window 12.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a window opening / closing control device suitable for use in vehicles, ships, aircraft, general buildings, and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, for example, as an automobile window opening / closing control device, as shown in FIG. 4 (a), an infrared light having a light emitting element 1 and a light receiving element 2 is used as a sensor for detecting the entrapment of foreign matter by a window. Some use sensors. In this infrared sensor, the light receiving element 2 has a built-in phototransistor.
Is fixed to the inner wall of the center pillar between all the seats and the rear seats of the car. On the other hand, the light emitting element 1 has a built-in infrared light emitting diode. The light emitting element 1 has a phototransistor of the light receiving element 2 receiving light at an appropriate position on an inner wall of a window frame of the window 3 (see FIG. 4B). It is fixed to.

While the light receiving element 2 is receiving light emitted from the light emitting element 1 (see reference numeral 1a in FIG. 1), the light emitted from the light emitting element 1 When the light-receiving element 2 is blocked by a foreign matter entering between the window frame 3 and the window frame, the light-receiving amount of the light-receiving element 2 is reduced, and it is determined that the foreign matter is trapped.

[0004]

However, in the above-mentioned window opening / closing control device, the light reflected by the inner wall of the window 3 (see reference numeral 1b in FIG. 1B) among the light emitted from the light emitting element 1 is the light receiving element. 2 to receive light,
Even if the light emitted from the light emitting element 1 and incident on the foreign matter is blocked by the foreign matter, the light reflected by the window 3 is received by the light receiving element 2. As a result, there is a problem that, although foreign matter is trapped, it is erroneously determined that the foreign substance is not trapped.

In order to cope with such a problem, the present invention focuses on the fact that the amount of light reflected by the window has a close relationship with the raised position of the window, and determines the entrapment of foreign matter with high accuracy. It is an object of the present invention to provide a window opening and closing control device.

[0006]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, according to the first and second aspects of the present invention, the opening / closing drive means (M, 90) includes a window (12) having a window frame (1).
Open / close drive along 1). A light detecting means (50);
Is provided near the window frame and is provided with the light emitting element driving means (60).
a) a light emitting element (50a) that emits light so as to intersect the direction of entry of a foreign substance that enters the opening of the window (12) between the window frame (11) and the window frame (11) under the light emission drive according to (a); And a light receiving element (50b) for detecting light from the light emitting element when the light is blocked by a foreign substance.

The position determining means (122) is based on data representing the relationship between the reference light receiving amount of the light receiving element and the position of the window in consideration of the amount of reflected light of the window with respect to the light of the light emitting element. The reference light receiving amount is determined according to the detection position of the window. Then, the entrapment determining means (130) compares the difference between the amount of light received by the light receiving element and the reference amount of received light during the closing operation of the window with a predetermined threshold value to determine whether or not the foreign object is caught by the window.

Then, the control means (132, 133)
The operating state of the driving means during the window closing operation is controlled based on the judgment of the foreign matter entrapment judgment means. In the present invention having such a configuration, when a foreign substance is sandwiched by the window, the path of light from the light emitting element to the light receiving element is blocked by the foreign substance. Therefore, the light receiving element detects a decrease in the amount of received light.

When the difference between the actual light receiving amount of the light receiving element and the reference light receiving amount becomes equal to or larger than the predetermined threshold, the entrapment determining means determines that the foreign object is entrapped. In this case, as described above, the data is set in consideration of the amount of the reflected light received by the light receiving element due to the reflection of the window with respect to the light of the light emitting element.

Accordingly, the actual light receiving amount of the light receiving element and the reference light receiving amount both similarly change in accordance with the window closing operation. For this reason, it is possible to accurately determine whether a foreign object is caught by the window without being affected by the reflection effect of the light emitting element of the window on light.

[0011]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows an example in which the present invention is applied to a vehicle window opening / closing control device. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 10 denotes a passenger seat side door of the vehicle. A window 12 is mounted on a window frame 11 of the door 10 so as to be openable and closable. Here, the window 12
It closes as it rises and opens as it descends.

The window opening / closing control device includes a drive mechanism provided in a lower portion of the door 10, and the drive mechanism includes:
A DC motor M and a coupling mechanism (not shown) connected between the lower edge of the window 12 and the DC motor M are provided. Then, the drive mechanism raises or lowers the window 12 via the connection mechanism as the DC motor M rotates forward or backward.

As shown in FIG. 1, the window opening / closing control device includes a closing operation switch 20 and an opening operation switch 30. The closing operation switch 20 generates a closing operation signal for closing the window 12 by an on operation thereof. On the other hand, the opening operation switch 30 generates an opening operation signal for opening the window 12 by the on operation.

The window opening / closing control device includes a rotation sensor 40, an optical sensor 50, and a light emission drive circuit 60a and a signal processing circuit 60b connected to the optical sensor 50. The rotation sensor 40 includes an encoder. The rotation sensor 40 is provided in a lower part of the door 10. The rotation sensor 40 detects the rotation of the DC motor M and generates a pulse signal.

However, in this embodiment, when the window opening / closing control device is mounted on the vehicle, the DC motor M is rotated forward from the fully opened position to the fully closed position of the window 12 until the window 12 reaches the fully closed position. The number of pulse signals generated from the rotation sensor 40 is used as position reference data for determining the position of the window 12. Further, the change of the position of the window 12 from the fully open position to the fully closed position corresponds to the change from the fully open position to the fully closed position.
Corresponding to the change in the number of pulse signals. The position reference data is stored in a microcomputer 8 described later.
0 in advance.

As shown in FIG. 1, the optical sensor 50 has a light emitting element 50a and a light receiving element 50b. The light emitting element 50a is mounted on the inner wall of the door 10 near the lower part of the inclined front edge 11a of the window frame 11, and the light emitting surface 51 of the light emitting element 50a is perpendicular to the front edge 11a of the window frame 11. And faces the prism 52. The prism 52 is mounted on the boundary between the front edge 11a and the upper edge 11b of the window frame 11.

The light emitting element 50a incorporates an infrared light emitting diode. The light emitting element 50a transmits light from the infrared light emitting diode to the inclined front edge 11a of the window frame 11 from the light emitting surface 51. The beam light is emitted intermittently toward the prism 52 along. The light receiving element 50b is mounted on the side wall surface of the center pillar 13 on the passenger seat side between the front seat and the rear seat in the cabin of the vehicle near the rear of the upper edge 11a of the window frame 11. The light receiving surface 52 of the light receiving element 50b faces the prism 52.

The light receiving element 50b has a built-in phototransistor. The light receiving element 50b receives the light from the prism 52 through the light receiving surface 53 thereof.
The light from 0a is detected as the amount of light received by the phototransistor. In addition, the prism 52 includes the light emitting element 50a.
Is bent toward the light receiving surface 52 of the light receiving element 50b.

The window opening / closing control device includes a light emission driving circuit 60a and a signal processing circuit 60b, and a DA converter 70a and an AD converter 70b connected to the light emission driving circuit 60a and the signal processing circuit 60b, respectively. , Closing operation switch 20, opening operation switch 30, DA converter 7
The microcomputer 80 includes a microcomputer 80 connected to the Oa and A / D converter 70b, and a motor drive circuit 90 connected between the microcomputer 80 and the DC motor M.

The light emission drive circuit 60a includes a DA converter 80
The infrared light emitting diode of the light emitting element 50a is intermittently driven to emit light based on the output from the light emitting element 50a. The signal processing circuit 60b
The amount of light received by the phototransistor of the light receiving element 50b is signal-processed to generate a processing signal, which is output to the AD converter 70b. Note that the level of the processed signal corresponds to the amount of light received by the phototransistor of the light receiving element 50b.

The DA converter 70a converts the output data of the microcomputer 80 into an analog signal and converts the data into a light emitting element 50a.
Is output to the light emission drive circuit 60a so as to be intermittently driven.
The A / D converter 70b converts the processing signal from the signal processing circuit 70b into a digital signal and outputs the digital signal to the microcomputer 80 as received light amount data. Microcomputer 8
0 is operated by being supplied with power from the battery B, and FIG.
A computer program is executed in accordance with the flowchart shown in FIG. 7, and during this execution, a process of calculating the rotational speed of the DC motor M, a process of controlling opening and closing of the window 12, a process of determining pinching, and the like are performed.

The motor drive circuit 90 drives the DC motor M to rotate forward or reverse under the control of the microcomputer 80. Hereinafter, the operation of the present embodiment thus configured will be described. The microcomputer 80 is operated by the power supply from the battery B and constantly executes the computer program according to the flowchart of FIG. Here, when the computer program proceeds to step 100, processing for intermittently driving the light emitting element 50a is performed.

With the processing in step 100, the intermittent drive output of the light emitting element 50a from the microcomputer 80 is converted into an analog voltage by the DA converter 70a and output to the light emission drive circuit 60a. Therefore, the light emission drive circuit 60a intermittently drives the infrared light emitting diode of the light emitting element 50a based on the analog voltage. Thus, the light emitting element 50a emits light intermittently from the infrared light emitting diode to the prism 52 along the front edge 11a of the window frame 11 through the light emitting surface 51.

For this reason, the light receiving element 50b is formed by the phototransistor through the light emitting element 50 through the prism 52.
The light from a is received. Then, the light receiving output of the light receiving element 50b is generated as a processing signal by the signal processing circuit 60b, and this processing signal is digitally converted by the A / D converter 70b and output to the microcomputer 80.
At this time, it is assumed that the window 12 is in the open state, and the position of the window 12 is stored as the latest position information in the RAM of the microcomputer 80.

In this state, when the closing operation switch 20 is turned on, after the determination in step 110 is NO, the determination in step 120 is YES. Then, at step 121, the window 12 is raised. Accordingly, when the motor drive circuit 90 causes the DC motor M to rotate forward, the window 12 starts to rise. Further, with the rotation of the DC motor M, the rotation sensor 40 starts generating pulse signals sequentially.

Next, in step 122, the actual position of the window 12 is determined according to the number of pulse signals from the rotation sensor 40 based on the position reference data and the latest position information. After this determination, step 123
In FIG. 3, reference light-receiving amount-position data (FIG. 3) of the light-receiving element 50b representing the relationship between the reference light-receiving amount and the position of the window 12.
Based on the position determined in step 123, the reference light receiving amount is determined based on the graph L shown in FIG.

Here, as shown by the graph L, when the position of the window 12 is out of the detection range of the foreign substance entrapment, the reference light receiving amount of the reference light receiving amount-position data is constant. Further, when the position of the window 12 is within the foreign matter trapping detection area, the reference light receiving amount increases in proportion to the decrease in the opening of the window 12. this is,
The light reflected by the window 12 is added in proportion to the decrease in the opening of the window 12.

After the processing in step 123, the light receiving output of the light receiving element 50b at the present stage, that is, the light receiving amount is input to the microcomputer 80 in the next step 124. Next, in step 130, the input received light amount is compared with the determined reference received light amount in step 123.

Specifically, it is determined whether or not the difference between the input light reception amount and the reference light reception amount is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold. Here, when a foreign substance is sandwiched by the window 12, the light path from the light emitting element 50a to the light receiving element 50b is blocked by the foreign substance. Therefore, the light receiving element 50
The amount of received light b decreases (see the graph indicated by reference numeral La in FIG. 3).

Therefore, the difference between the input light receiving amount and the reference light receiving amount becomes equal to or larger than the predetermined threshold value, and the determination in step 130 becomes YES. On the other hand, when no foreign matter is caught by the window 12, the light emitting element 50a
The light path to b is not blocked by the foreign matter. For this reason, the amount of light received by the light receiving element 50b does not decrease (see the graph indicated by the symbol L in FIG. 3).

Therefore, the determination at step 130 is N
It becomes O. Further, the reference light receiving amount-position data is set in consideration of the amount of the reflected light received by the light receiving element 50b due to the reflection of the window 12 with respect to the light from the light emitting element 50a. The determination in step 130 described above is also made in consideration of the reflected light by the window 12.

In other words, since the light receiving amount of the light receiving element 50b and the reference light receiving amount both increase in accordance with the rise of the window 12, the determination in step 130 is as follows.
This is performed in a state where the light reflected by the window 12 is canceled without being mixed as an error. For this reason, the determination of the pinching of the foreign matter by the window 12 is accurately performed in step 132 without being affected by the reflection effect of the light emitting element 50a of the window 12 on the light.

Therefore, the light emitting element 50a is
It is possible to provide a highly reliable window opening / closing control device without delicately adjusting the light emitting direction of the light emitting element 50a or changing the shape of the window frame 11 or the window 12 so that the light is not applied. Become. When the process in step 130 is completed as described above, in step 133, the process of stopping the raising of the window 12 is performed. For this reason, the motor drive circuit 90 stops raising the window 12.

If the determination in step 130 is NO, step 131 sets that no foreign matter is caught. In step 110, Y
If the ES is determined, the process of lowering the window 12 is performed in step 140. In implementing the present invention, the present invention is applied not only to a window opening / closing control device for a passenger side door of a car, but also to a door opening / closing control device for other seats of a vehicle, a sunroof, and windows of various vehicles. You may. In this case, the opening / closing direction of the window is not limited to the vertical direction, but may be any direction such as a horizontal direction.

In practicing the present invention, not only the rotation of the DC motor M but also the output of a sensor for detecting the operating state of the drive mechanism 20 is input to the microcomputer 90 instead of the output of the rotation sensor 50a. It may be carried out as follows. The rotation sensor 50a is not limited to an encoder, and may be any sensor as long as the rotation of the DC motor M such as a Hall element can be detected.

In implementing the present invention, step 1
The light emission driving process at 00 may be started, for example, by turning on an ignition switch of the vehicle, and may be stopped when a certain time has elapsed after the turning off. Further, in implementing the present invention, each step in the flowchart of the above embodiment may be realized by a hardware logic configuration as a function executing unit.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of the microcomputer of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a graph showing a relationship between a reference light receiving amount of a light receiving element and a position of a window in the embodiment.

FIG. 4A is a perspective view showing a light receiving state of a light receiving element with respect to light of a conventional light emitting element, and FIG. 4B is a view showing light receiving element in FIG. FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a state in which the light is received.

[Explanation of symbols]

Reference numeral 10: passenger side door, 12: window, 20: drive mechanism, 50: optical sensor, 50a: light emitting element, 50b: light receiving element, 60a: light emitting drive circuit, 60b: signal processing circuit,
80: microcomputer, 90: motor drive circuit,
M: DC motor.

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Yoshihisa Sato 1-1-1, Showa-cho, Kariya-shi, Aichi Pref. Inside Denso Corporation (72) Inventor Norio Terashima 1-1-1, Showa-cho, Kariya-shi, Aichi Co., Ltd. Inside DENSO

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A window (12) having a window frame (11).
Opening / closing drive means (M, 90) for opening and closing along the window; and light emitting element driving means (60
a light emitting element (50a) that emits light so as to intersect the direction of entry of foreign matter that enters the opening of the window between the window frame and the window frame under the light emission driving according to a), and is provided near the window frame. A light receiving element (50b) for receiving light from the light emitting element and detecting when the light is blocked by the foreign matter (50b).
0); and position detecting means (40) for detecting the position of the window.
Based on data representing a relationship between a reference light receiving amount of the light receiving element and a position of the window in consideration of a reflected light amount of the window with respect to light of the light emitting element, based on the detection position of the window, Position determining means for determining (122), and comparing the difference between the amount of light received by the light receiving element and the reference amount of received light during the closing operation of the window with a predetermined threshold to determine whether or not the foreign object is caught by the window. A window opening / closing control device comprising: a pinch determination means (130) for performing the operation; and a control means (132, 133) for controlling an operation state of the drive means during the closing operation of the window based on the determination by the foreign substance pinch determination means. 2. The window opening / closing control device according to claim 1, wherein the data is set so as to increase the reference amount of received light in a region where the window is caught by the foreign object.