Patent Application
20180141520
The present invention relates to a drive controller for a vehicle wiper system and, more particularly, to a wiper system control device that achieves wiper blade operation control and window washer liquid ejection control in a single control device.
Generally, in a vehicle wiper system mounted on an automobile and the like, a wiper blade disposed on a wiping surface is actuated by one or two electric motors. For example, in an automobile front wiper, two wiper blades on a driver's seat side (DR side) and an assistant's seat side (AS side) are actuated by actuating a link mechanism using one electric motor or by performing synchronous control using two electric motors. In recent automobiles, a wiper device is often provided on a rear window as well, and the rear wiper is also driven by an electric motor.
Further, in order to remove dirt or mud on a wiping surface, many wiper systems are provided with a window washer device configured to eject washer liquid to a washing surface. In the window washer device, the washer liquid (window washer liquid) is supplied to a washer nozzle by a pump driven by an electric motor and sprayed onto the wiping surface together with wiping operation of a wiper blade.
Patent Document 1: JP 03-75063A (Utility model)
Patent Document 2: JP 05-56699A (Utility model)
Patent Document 4: JP 2001-26255A
Patent document 5: JP 2002-123304A
Patent Document 6: JP 2004-148897A
However, in order to finely control a visibility securing device for a vehicle, control units are required to control individual electric motors, thus posing problems in terms of on-vehicle layout and device cost. In this case, a configuration can be considered, where a relay mechanism that drives individual devices is mounted in a front wiper motor, and the motors are controlled by relay operation to reduce the number of the control units required. However, in such a configuration, the control units are affected by temperature rise due to heat generation of the motor, making it difficult to perform continuous operation at a high temperature. Further, in spite of increasing the size of the controller, it makes difficult to achieve fine control by ON/OFF operation of the relay mechanism.
On the other hand, the window washer device is required to eject an optimum amount of the washer liquid onto a glass surface for stable wiping based on uniform water film formation, reduction in the replenishing frequency of the washer liquid, and the like. In order to cope with such requirements, a system that ejects the washer liquid from a wiper arm or a wiper blade and a system that switches the ejection direction of the washer liquid between forward travel and backward travel to always sprinkle the water liquid in the wiper traveling direction have been launched. However, such systems require a drive circuit to perform switching of the ejection direction, and thus a control circuit dedicated for the washer is required. When this control circuit is integrated with the motor, a wide area for mounting control elements and a heat radiation structure are required, resulting in increase in the motor size.
Further, in order to adequately control the ejection amount of the washer liquid to reduce the replenishing frequency thereof, it is necessary to control an electric motor for the washer liquid (hereinafter, referred to as “washer motor”) as necessary to control the amount of the washer liquid to be supplied. However, to provide a control circuit for the washer motor as an independent control unit involves restriction on layout and increase in the number of components. Thus, although a method that incorporates the control circuit for the washer motor in a motor for wiper drive (hereinafter, referred to as “wiper motor”) has been considered, the size of a drive circuit is increased to increase the motor size, resulting in degradation in layout efficiency.
Further, it is the most ideal that washer liquid is ejected to the front side in the operation direction of the wiper blade; however, in order to change the ejection direction in response to the reciprocation of the wiper blade by one motor, the washer motor needs to be rotationally driven forward and backward. In this case, however, a bridge circuit using four FETs needs to be provided as a drive circuit for the washer motor. Thus, taken together with drive circuits for forward and backward rotational drive, a total of nine FETs are required including a battery reverse connection protection circuit. That is, a control part includes a very large scale circuit having nine FETs, with the result that deterioration in layout efficiency due to increase in the motor size cannot be avoided as above. Further, a dedicated module including the nine FETs may be very expensive unless it is expected to be used for other purposes, so that producing the dedicated module is disadvantageous in terms of cost.
A wiper system control device according to the present invention is a control device of a wiper system provided with at least one wiper motor and at least one other motor different from the wiper motor, the control device being characterized by comprising a FET module incorporating, in one package, at least two FETs for drive of the wiper motor, at least two FETs for drive of the other motor, and at least one FET for circuit protection at the time of power supply reverse connection.
In the wiper system control device, the wiper system may have a front wiper for wiping a windshield of a vehicle and a front wiper motor for driving the front wiper as the wiper motor, and the FET module may have four FETs for rotationally driving the front wiper motor forward and backward, two FETs for rotationally driving the other motor in one direction, and one FET for circuit protection at the time of power supply reverse connection.
The wiper system may nave a washer nozzle for spraying washer liquid onto the windshield or a rear windshield of a vehicle and a washer motor configured to be rotationally driven in one direction so as to supply the washer liquid to the washer nozzle and to spray the washer liquid onto the vehicle windshield or rear windshield as the other motor.
The wiper system may have a rear wiper for wiping the vehicle rear windshield and a rear wiper motor for driving the rear wiper as the other motor.
The wiper system may have two wiper blades for wiping a windshield of a vehicle, a front wiper motor for driving the wiper blades as the wiper motor, and a link mechanism installed between the wiper blades and the front wiper motor to synchronously drive the two wiper blades.
The wiper system may have two wiper blades for wiping a windshield of a vehicle and two front wiper motors for driving the respective wiper blades as the wiper motor, and the wiper system control device may use two FET modules to synchronously drive the two wiper blades.
The wiper system may have a washer nozzle for spraying washer liquid onto the windshield or a rear windshield of the vehicle and a washer motor configured to be rotationally driven in one direction so as to supply the washer liquid to the washer nozzle and to spray the washer liquid onto the vehicle windshield or rear windshield as the other motor, and the wiper system control device may use two FETs in each of the two FET modules to form a half-bridge circuit in each of the FET modules and use the two half-bridge circuits to rotationally drive the washer motor forward and backward.
The wiper system may have a rear wiper for wiping a rear windshield of a vehicle and a rear wiper motor for driving the rear wiper as the other motor, and the wiper system control device may use two FETs in each of the two FET modules to form a half-bridge circuit in each of the FET modules and use the two half-bridge circuits to rotationally drive the rear wiper motor forward and backward.
The wiper system may have a front wiper for wiping a windshield of a vehicle, a rear wiper for wiping a rear windshield of the vehicle, a washer nozzle for spraying washer liquid onto the windshield or rear windshield, a front wiper motor for driving the front wiper as the wiper motor, and a rear wiper motor and a washer motor as the other motors, the rear wiper motor being a motor for driving the rear wiper, the washer motor being a motor for supplying the washer liquid to the washer nozzle and spraying the washer liquid onto the windshield or rear windshield, and the FET module may have two FETs for rotationally driving the front wiper motor in one direction, two FETs for rotationally driving the rear wiper motor in one direction, two FETs for rotationally driving the washer motor in one direction, and one FET for circuit protection at the time of power supply reverse connection.
The wiper system may have two wiper blades for wiping the vehicle windshield, a front wiper motor for driving the two wiper blades as the wiper motor, and a link mechanism installed between the wiper blades and the front wiper motor to synchronously drive the two wiper blades.
The wiper system may have a front wiper for wiping a windshield of a vehicle and a plurality of washer nozzles for spraying washer liquid onto the windshield or rear windshield, a front wiper motor for driving the front wiper as the wiper motor, and a washer motor rotationally driven forward and backward so as to selectively supply the washer liquid to the washer nozzles and to spray the washer liquid onto the vehicle windshield or rear windshield as the other motor, and the FET module may have two FETs for rotationally driving the front wiper motor in one direction, four FETs for rotationally driving the washer motor forward and backward, and one FET for circuit protection at the time of power supply reverse connection.
The wiper system may have a front wiper for wiping a windshield of a vehicle and a rear wiper for wiping a rear windshield of the vehicle, a front wiper motor for driving the front wiper as the wiper motor, and a rear wiper motor for driving the rear wiper as the other motor, and the FET module may have two FETs for rotationally driving the front wiper motor in one direction, four FETs for rotationally driving the rear wiper motor forward and backward, and one FET for circuit protection at the time of power supply reverse connection.
The wiper system may have a front wiper for wiping a windshield of a vehicle and a front wiper motor for driving the front wiper as the wiper motor, and the FET module may be mounted on a control board incorporated in the front wiper motor.
The control board may have thereon a rotation signal transmitting/receiving part for transmitting and receiving a signal to rotate the other motor. The wiper motor and the other motor may be connected to each other through a signal transmitting part for transmitting the signal.
The FET module may be a module for driving a three-phase brushless motor provided with seven FETs. By using the module for driving a three-phase brushless motor, it is possible to constitute the control device of the invention with general-purpose components, thus eliminating the need to produce dedicated electronic components, which leads to reduction in production cost.
In the wiper system provided with at least one wiper motor and at least one other motor, the wiper system control device uses a FET module incorporating, in one package, at least two FETs for drive of the wiper motor, at least two FETs for drive of the other motor, and at least one FET for circuit protection at the time of power supply reverse connection. With this configuration, it is possible to realize a compact controller capable of controlling both the wiper motor and the other motor without involving increase in the size of the drive circuit. Thus, the size of the motor is reduced and the number of components is reduced, resulting in cost reduction.
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail based on the drawings. The object of the embodiments described below is to provide a wiper system control device capable of achieving operation control of a wiper blade and ejection control of window washer liquid with a compact configuration.
As illustrated in
The wiper system 1 is further provided with a window washer device 15. The window washer device 15 has washer nozzles 16 that eject washer liquid onto the glass surface and a washer pump 17 for supplying the washer liquid to the washer nozzles 16. The washer pump 17 is driven by a washer motor (other motor) 18 and supplies the washer liquid stored in a washer tank 19 to the washer nozzles 16 at a predetermined pressure. The washer liquid is sprayed from the washer nozzles 16 at a pressure according to the rotating speed of the washer motor 18.
The motor unit 6 has a wiper motor (front wiper motor) 7 and a decelerating mechanism 8. The wiper motor 7 is provided with a sensor for defecting the relative positions of the wiper blades 4a and 4b. The decelerating mechanism 3 is provided with a sensor for detecting the absolute positions (e.g., lower inversion position) of the wiper blades 4a and 4b. The relative position detecting sensor outputs a pulse signal with rotation of the motor. The absolute position detecting sensor outputs a signal corresponding to the positions of the wiper blades 4a and 4b.
The motor unit 6 is integrally provided with a controller (wiper system control device) 9, and the wiper motor 7 is controlled by the controller 9.
The controller 9 uses, as the FET module 10, a general-purpose FET module used for driving a three-phase brushless motor. In general, the FET module for the three-phase drive includes a total of seven FETs (one reverse connection protection FET and three sets of two FETs for driving each phase). That is, six FETs are mounted on the general-purpose FET module in addition to the reverse connection protection FET. On the other hand, in the wiper system, four FETs and two FETs are required respectively for forward and backward rotational drive of the wiper motor 7 and for drive of the washer motor 18. The present inventor found that the number of the three-phase drive FETs of the general-propose module and the number of FETs required for the wiper motor and washer motor are each six and came to the conclusion that the general-purpose FET module is applied to control of the wiper system.
Thus, of the six FETs for drive of the respective phases, the controller 9 according to the present invention uses four FETs for forward and backward rotational drive of the wiper motor 7 and uses the remaining two FETs for drive of the washer motor 18. As illustrated in
In the FET module 10, the FETs 34b to 34e are turned ON/OFF appropriately by the CPU (Central Processing Unit) 21 and first and second drive circuits 23 and 24 based on the position information of the wiper blades 4a and 4b to thereby control forward and backward rotational drive of the wiper motor 7. Further, the FETs 34f and 34g are turned ON/OFF appropriately by the CPU 21 and the first and second drive circuits 23 and 24 in conjunction with operation of the window washer switch to thereby control operation of the washer motor 18. Under the above control, the wiper blades 4a and 4b perform reciprocating wiping operation on the glass surface and washer liquid is ejected onto the glass surface in response to the switch operation.
As described above, in the present invention, the general-purpose FET module for three-phase motor drive is diverted to control of the wiper system whereby the controller 9 can be constituted by a FET module incorporating the wiper drive FETs, washer drive FETs, and reverse connection protection FET in one package. As a result, it is possible to realize a compact controller capable of controlling both the wiper motor and the washer motor without involving increase in the size of the drive circuit. Thus, the size of the controller-integrated motor can be reduced. Further, there is no need to provide the control circuit of the washer motor as an independent control unit, so that the number of components can be reduced, resulting in cost reduction. Furthermore, efficient layout of the wiper system can be achieved by reducing the size of the FET module and forming the FET module into one component.
Next, a case where the present invention is applied to a wiper system in which two wiper motors are used to actuate the respective driver's seat side and assistant's seat side wiper blades will be described as a second embodiment of the present invention.
The wiper system 40 is an opposing wiping type wiper system, in which a driver's seat side (DR side) wiper arm 41a and an assistant's seat side (AS side) wiper arm 41b are disposed opposite to each other. The wiper arms 41a and 41b are attached with wiper blades 42a and 42b, respectively. The wiper blades 42a and 42b are brought into elastic contact with a windshield 43 by unillustrated spring members or the like incorporated in the wiper arms 41a and 41b.
Two wiper shafts (pivot shafts) 44a and 44b are fixed to a vehicle body. The base end portions of the wiper arms 41a and 41b are fixed to the wiper shafts 44a and 44b, respectively, thereby forming a so-called direct drive wiper. The symbols “a” and “b” attached to the reference numerals indicate components or portions provided on the driver's seat side and the assistant's seat side, respectively. In order to swing the wiper arms 41a and 41b, the wiper system 40 has two motor units 46a and 46b which are subjected to PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) duty control. The motor units 46a and 46b each include a wiper motor (front wiper motor) (47a, 47b) and a decelerating mechanism 48.
The wiper motors 47a and 47b are drive-controlled by controllers (wiper system control devices) 50a and 50b, respectively, to be rotationally driven forward and backward. Like the controller 9 of the first embodiment, the controllers 50a and 50b are integrally provided in the motor units 46a and 46b, respectively, and each have a control board like one illustrated in
The controller 50a that drive-controls the wiper motor 47a is connected to an ECU (Engine Control Unit) 71 as a vehicle side controller through an on-vehicle LAN (Local Area Network) 72. Switch information such as ON/OFF, Lo, Hi, INT (intermittent operation) or the like of a wiper switch, engine start-up information, and the like are input from the ECU 71 to the controller 50a through the LAN 72. The wiper controllers 50a and 50b are connected to each other through a communication line 73.
In the wiper system 40, the wiper motors 47a and 47b are feedback-controlled (PI-controlled) based on position information of the wiper blades 42a and 42b, respectively. In this example, target speeds of both blades are set according to the positions of the respective wiper blades 42a and 42b. The target speeds are previously stored in the respective controllers 50a and 50b in the form of a map or the like. The controllers 50a and 50b detect current positions of the respective wiper blades 42a and 42b and detects moving speeds of the respective wiper blades 42a and 42b from rotating speeds of the respective wiper shafts 44a and 44b. The rotating speeds of the wiper shafts 44a and 44b are each detected by a sensor magnet (not illustrated) mounted to the wiper shaft (44a, 44b) or the rotary axis of the wiper motor (47a, 47b) and a magnetic sensor (not illustrated) disposed opposite to the sensor magnet. The controllers 50a and 50b compare the current speeds of the wiper blades 42a and 42b with the target speeds of the wiper blades 42a and 42b at the positions where the current speeds are detected and appropriately control the respective wiper motors 47a and 47b according to a difference between the target speed and the current speed.
Control information of the wiper motors 47a and 47b is exchanged between the controllers 50a and 50b through the communication line 73, and the wiper motors 47a and 47b are subjected to synchronous control based on the positional relationship between the blades. That is, the controllers 50a and 50b control forward and backward rotational drive of the wiper motors 47a and 47b, respectively, based on the positions of their corresponding blades and, at the same time, control the wiper motors 47a and 47b based on the blade position information of the wiper blades 42a and 42b to thereby control the wiper system so as not to cause interference between the blades or not to increase a difference in angle therebetween. As a result, the wiper blades 42a and 42b are each brought into swing movement between a lower inversion position and an upper inversion position within a wiping range 45, whereby rain or snow adhered to the windshield 43 is wiped away therefrom.
In the wiper system 40, washer nozzles 55 (55f, 55r) for ejecting washer liquid onto the glass surface are formed in each of the wiper blades 42a and 42b. The washer nozzles 55 are supplied with washer liquid from a washer pump 56. The washer pump 56 is driven by a washer motor (other motor) 57 to supply washer liquid stored in a washer tank 58 to the washer nozzles 55 at a predetermined pressure. The washer liquid is sprayed from the washer nozzles 55 at a pressure according to the rotating speed of the washer motor 57. The washer motor 57 is drive-controlled by a signal transmitted thereto from a rotation signal transmitting/receiving part 60 of each of the controllers 50a and 50b through a signal line 59.
The CPUs 51a and 51b calculate position information (current positions) of the wiper blades 42a and 42b based on signals output from the respective sensors and controls forward and backward rotational drive of the wiper motors 47a and 47b or rotating speeds thereof while referring to the control data stored in the ECU 71. Further, the CPUs 51a and 51b control forward and backward rotational drive of the washer motor 57 or rotating speed thereof by a signal transmitted thereto from the rotation signal transmitting/receiving part 60 through the signal line 59 in conjunction with operation of an unillustrated window washer switch. Under such control, washer liquid is ejected onto the glass surface appropriately from the washer nozzles 55f or 55r.
Also in the wiper system 40, the general-purpose FET module used for driving a three-phase brushless motor is used as each of FET modules 54a and 54b of the respective controllers 50a and 50b. As described above, in general, the FET module for the three-phase drive includes a total of seven FETs (one reverse connection protection FET and three sets of two FETs for driving each phase). On the other hand, in the wiper system according to the second embodiment, four FETs are required for forward and backward rotational drive of the wiper motor 7, and a total of eight FETs are required for DR and AS. Further, four FETs are required for forward and backward rotational drive of the washer motor 57.
when four of six FETs (7 (seven FETs for three-phase drive)−1 (one FET for reverse connection protection)) are used for wiper motor forward and backward rotational drive, there are two surplus FETs. Then, when the two FET modules are used for DR and AS, there are four surplus FETs, which can be used for forward and backward rotational drive of the washer motor. That is, when two general-purpose FET modules are applied to control of the two-motor type wiper system, forward and backward rotational drive of the washer motor can also be achieved.
Thus, of the six FETs for drive of the respective phases, the controllers 50a and 50b according to the present invention use four FETs for forward and backward rotational drive of the wiper motors 47a and 47b, and use the remaining four FETs (two FETs and two FETs) for forward and backward rotational drive of the washer motor 57. As illustrated in
In the wiper motor drive parts 62a and 62b, bridge circuits for forward and backward rotational drive of the respective wiper motors 47a and 47b are formed by the FETs 64b to 64e and FETs 65b to 65e, respectively. Further, in the washer motor drive parts 63a and 63b, two half-bridge circuits are formed by two FETs 64f and 64g and two FETs 65f and 65g, respectively. A bridge circuit for forward and backward rotational drive of the washer motor 57 is formed by the two half-bridge circuits.
In the FET modules 54a and 54b, the FETs 64b to 64e and FETs 65b to 65e are turned ON/OFF appropriately by the CPU 51a and CPU 51b, and first and second drive circuits 52a and 52b and first and second drive circuits 53a and 53b based on the position information of the wiper blades 42a and 42b to thereby control forward and backward rotational drive of the wiper motors 47a and 47b. Under the above control, the wiper blades 42a and 42b perform reciprocating wiping operation on the glass surface. Further, the FETs 64f and 64g and FETs 65f and 65g are turned ON/OFF appropriately by the CPU 51a and CPU 51b and first and second drive circuits 52a and 52b and first and second drive circuits 52a and 53b in conjunction with operation of the window washer switch to thereby control forward and backward rotational drive of the washer motor 57. Under the above control, washer liquid is selectively supplied to the nozzles 55f and 55r in sync with movement of the wiper blades 42a and 42b and appropriately ejected onto the glass surface toward the blade travel direction.
As described above, in the present invention, the general-purpose FET module for three-phase motor drive is diverted to control of the wiper system, whereby each of the controllers 50a and 50b can be constituted by a FET module incorporating the wiper drive FETs, washer drive FETs, and reverse connection protection FET in one package. As a result, it is possible to realize a compact controller capable of controlling both the wiper motor and the washer motor without involving increase in the size of the drive circuit. Further, it is possible to realize a circuit capable of achieving fine ejection control (e.g., switching the ejection direction between the forward travel and backward travel) of the washer liquid in a compact layout. Thus, as in the first embodiment, the size of the motor can be reduced. Further, there is no need to provide a control unit of the washer motor as an independent unit, so that the number of components can be reduced, resulting in cost reduction, which in turn leads to efficient layout of the wiper system.
Next, as a third embodiment of the present invention, a case where the control target is set to motors for respective front and rear wipers will be described. A wiper system 80 according to the third embodiment includes a front wiper and a rear wiper, and the control device uses one FET module to rotationally drive one front wiper motor forward and backward and rotationally drive one rear wiper motor in one direction.
When the control devices are provided for the motors of both front and rear wipers, respectively, in order to control drive of both the wipers, efficient layout is difficult to achieve, and the number of components is increased. Thus, in the third embodiment, in place of the washer motor in the first embodiment, the rear wiper motor is drive-controlled by a controller using one FET module so as to achieve efficient layout or reduce the number of components.
The wiper system 80 is provided with a rear wiper 85 in addition to the front wiper 81. The rear wiper 85 is disposed on a rear windshield 86 at the vehicle rear side and has a wiper arm 87 and a rear wiper blade 88. The wiper arm 87 and the rear wiper blade 83 are driven by a rear wiper motor (motor for rear wiper: other motor) 91 for rotationally driving them in one direction through a link mechanism 89. The rear wiper motor 91 and the front wiper 82 are controlled by the same controller 83. In place of the link mechanism 89 of the rear wiper 85, a crank mechanism, a swinging mechanism using a sector gear, or the like may be incorporated in the rear wiper motor 91 for rotational drive.
The controller 83 also uses, as the FET module 10, a general-purpose FET module used for driving a three-phase brushless motor. In the wiper system 80, four FETs and two FETs are required respectively for forward and backward rotational drive of the wiper motor 82 and for drive of the rear wiper motor 91. Thus, as described above, the general-purpose FET module can be applied to control of the wiper system 80.
Of the six FETs for drive of the respective phases, the controller 83 uses four FETs for forward and backward rotational drive of the front wiper motor 82 and uses the remaining two FETs for drive of the rear wiper motor 91. As illustrated in
As described above, in the FET module 10, the FETs 34b to 34e are turned ON/OFF appropriately by the CPU 21 and the first and second drive circuits 23 and 24 based on the position information of the wiper blades 4a and 4b to thereby control forward and backward rotational drive of the front wiper motor 82. Further, the FETs 34f and 34g are turned ON/OFF appropriately by the CPU 21 and the first and second drive circuits 23 and 24 in conjunction with operation of a rear wiper switch to thereby control operation of the rear wiper motor 91. Under the above control, the wiper blades 4a and 4b perform reciprocating wiping operation on the glass surface and the rear wiper motor 91 also performs reciprocating wiping operation on the rear windshield 86 in response to the switch operation. In this case, the front wiper motor 82 and the rear wiper motor 91 are controlled by the same controller 83. Thus, it is possible to synchronously drive both the motors 82 and 91 to link the operations of the front wiper 81 and rear wiper 85.
As described above, in the present invention, diversion of the general-purpose FET module for three-phase motor drive allows the controller 83 to be constituted by a FET module incorporating the front wiper drive FETs, rear wiper drive FETs, and reverse connection protection FET in one package. As a result, it is possible to realize a compact controller capable of controlling both the front wiper motor 82 and the rear wiper motor 91 without involving increase in the size of the drive circuit. Thus, as in the first embodiment, the motor size can be reduced. Further, there is no need to provide an independent control unit for the rear wiper motor 91, so that the number of components can be reduced, resulting in cost reduction. Further, efficient layout of the wiper system can be achieved.
The wiper system 95 has an opposing wiping type front wiper 96 like the one illustrated in
In the wiper system 95, the FET modules 54a and 54b are partitioned into the battery reverse connection protection parts 61a and 61b, front wiper motor drive parts 62a and 62b, and rear wiper motor drive parts 98a and 98b, respectively. The battery reverse connection protection parts 61a and 61b are provided with one FET 64a and one FET 65a, respectively, the front wiper motor drive parts 62a and 62b are provided with four FETs 64b to 64e and four FETs 65b to 65e, respectively, and the rear wiper motor drive parts 98a and 98b are provided with two FETs 64f and 64g and two FETs 65f and 65g, respectively. In the rear wiper motor drive parts 98a and 98b, two half-bridge circuits are formed by the two FETs 64f and 64g and two FETs 65f and 65g, respectively. A bridge circuit for forward and backward rotational drive of the rear wiper motor 91 is formed by the two half-bridge circuits.
Also in the wiper system 70, the general-purpose FET module for three-phase motor drive is diverted to control of the wiper system to constitute each of the controllers 72a and 72b. As a result, it is possible to realize a compact controller capable of controlling both the front wiper motor and the rear wiper motor without involving increase in the size of the drive circuit.
The rear wiper 111 has a wiper arm 112. The wiper arm 112 is attached with a wiper blade 213 for wiping the glass surface. The wiper blade 113 is also brought into elastic contact with a rear windshield 114 by an unillustrated spring member or the like incorporated in the wiper arm 112. The wiper arm 112 is connected to a motor unit 116 through a link mechanism 115. The wiper blade 113 is driven by the motor unit 116.
The motor unit 6 has the front wiper motor (motor for front wiper) and the decelerating mechanism 8, and the motor unit 116 has a rear wiper motor 117 (motor for rear wiper: other motor) and a decelerating mechanism 118. The motor unit 6 is integrally provided with a controller (wiper system control device) 102, and both the wiper motors 7 and 117 and washer motor 18 are controlled by the controller 102. The internal configuration of the controller 9 is the same as that illustrated in
That is, of the six FETs for drive of the respective phases, the controller 102 uses two FETs for drive of the front wiper motor 7, uses two FETs for drive of the rear wiper motor 117, and uses the remaining two FETs for drive of the washer motor 16. As illustrated in
In the FET module 110, the FETs 135b and 135c are turned ON/OFF appropriately by the CPU 121, and the first and second drive circuits 123 and 123 to thereby control operation of the front wiper motor 7. Similarly, the FETs 135d and 135e are turned ON/OFF appropriately by the CPU 121 and the first and second drive circuits 123 and 123123 to thereby control operation of the rear wiper motor 117. Further, the FETs 135f and 135g are turned ON/OFF appropriately by the CPU 121, and the first and second drive circuits 123 and 123 in conjunction with operation of the window washer switch to thereby control operation of the washer motor 18. Under the above control, the wiper blades 4a and 4b perform reciprocating wiping operation on the windshield, the wiper blade 113 performs reciprocating wiping operation on the rear windshield, and washer liquid is appropriately ejected onto the glass surface in response to the switch operation.
As described above, in the present invention, the general-purpose FET module for three-phase motor drive is diverted to control of the wiper system to constitute the controller 102 by an FET module incorporating the front wiper drive FET, rear wiper drive FET, and washer drive FET, and reverse connection protection FET in one package. As a result, it is possible to realize a compact controller capable of controlling the front and rear wiper motors and the washer motor without involving increase in the size of the drive circuit.
Next, as a sixth embodiment of the present invention, a case where the present invention is applied to a wiper system in which the front wiper is actuated by one motor, and washer liquid is ejected in two directions by rotationally driving another motor forward and backward will be described.
As illustrated in
In a window washer device 150 of the wiper system 141, washer nozzles 151 (151f: first washer nozzles, 151r: second washer nozzles) for ejecting washer liquid onto the glass surface are formed in each of the wiper blades 144a and 144b. The washer nozzles 151 are supplied with washer liquid from a washer pump 152. The washer pump 152 is driven by a washer motor (other motor) 153 to supply washer liquid stored in a washer tank 154 to the washer nozzles 151 at a predetermined pressure. The washer liquid is sprayed from the washer nozzles 151 at a pressure according to the rotating speed of the washer motor 153.
Like the washer nozzles 55 of
The motor unit 146 has a wiper motor 147 and a decelerating mechanism 148. The motor unit 146 is integrally provided with a controller (wiper system control device) 149. Both the wiper motor 147 and the washer motor 153 are controlled by the controller 149. The controller 149 has the same configuration as the controller 9 illustrated in
Also in the wiper system 141, the general-purpose FET module used for driving a three-phase brushless motor is used as the FET module 160 of the controller 149. In the wiper system 141, two FETs are used for rotationally driving the wiper motor 147 in one direction, and four FETs are used to rotationally drive the washer motor 153 forward and backward. That is, of the six FETs for drive of the respective phases, and two FETs are used for drive (unidirectional rotation) of the wiper motor 147 and the remaining four FETs for forward and backward rotational drive of the washer motor 153. As illustrated in
In the FET module 160, the FETs 168b and 168c are turned ON/OFF appropriately by the CPU 161 and the first and second drive circuits 163 and 164 to thereby control operation of the wiper motor 147. Further, the FETs 168d to 168g are turned ON/OFF appropriately by the CPU 161 and the first and second drive circuits 163 and 164 in conjunction with operation of the window washer switch to thereby control forward and backward rotational drive of the washer motor 153. Under the above control, the wiper arms 142a and 142b perform reciprocating wiping operation on the glass surface and washer liquid is ejected onto the glass surface appropriately toward the blade travel direction in sync with movement of the wiper arms 142a and 142b.
As described above, in the present invention, the general-purpose FET module for three-phase motor drive is diverted to control the wiper system to constitute the controller 149 by a FET module incorporating the wiper drive FETs, washer drive FETs, and reverse connection protection FET in one package. As a result, it is possible to realize a compact controller capable of controlling both the wiper motor and the washer motor without involving increase in the size of the drive circuit. Further, it is possible to realize a circuit capable of achieving fine ejection control (e.g., switching the ejection direction between the forward travel and the backward travel) of the washer liquid in a compact layout.
In the sixth embodiment, washer liquid is ejected while switching between the washer nozzles 151f and 151r formed on both side surfaces of each of the wiper blades 144a and 144b by forward and backward rotational drive of the washer motor 153; alternatively, however, washer liquid may be ejected while switching between the washer nozzles formed on the front side and rear side by forward and backward rotational drive of the washer motor.
As illustrated in
In the wiper system 170, the FET module 160 is partitioned into the battery reverse connection protection part 165, front wiper motor drive part 166, and a rear wiper motor drive part 172. The battery reverse connection protection part 165 is provided with one FET 168a, the front wiper motor drive part 166 is provided with two FETs 168b and 168c, and the rear wiper motor drive part 172 is provided with four FETs 168d to 168g. In the rear wiper motor drive part 172, a bridge circuit for forward and backward rotational drive of the rear wiper motor 117 is formed by the FETs 168d to 168g.
Also in the wiper system 170, the general-purpose FET module for three-phase motor drive is diverted to control of the wiper system to constitute the controller 171. As a result, it is possible to realize a compact controller capable of controlling both the front wiper motor and the rear wiper motor without involving increase in the size of the drive circuit.
The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, but various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention.
For example, in the above embodiments, the present invention is applied to the wiper system of a parallel wiping type rotationally driven forward and backward by one motor (first and third embodiments), the wiper system of an opposing wiping type rotationally driven forward and backward by two motors (second and fourth embodiments), and the wiper system of a parallel wiping type rotationally driven in one direction by one motor (fifth to seventh embodiments); however, the present invention may be applied to wiper systems of other embodiments, such as a wiper system of a parallel wiping type rotationally driven forward and backward by two motors. That is, the present invention may be applied to any wiper system as long as seven FETs can be appropriately assigned thereto for drive of, for example, the front wiper motor, rear wiper motor, and washer motor.
Further, while the structure of the controller in the wiper motor is not especially illustrated in the second and subsequent embodiments, the heat plate can be used for miniaturization of the device in the controllers of the second and subsequent embodiments, as in the first embodiment. Further, in the above some embodiments, the washer nozzles are formed on both side surfaces of each wiper blade as illustrated in
Further, the circuit configuration of the controller according to the sixth embodiment is not limited to that illustrated in
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015-098797 | May 2015 | JP | national |
| 2015-098798 | May 2015 | JP | national |
| 2016-008006 | Jan 2016 | JP | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/JP2016/064184 | 5/12/2016 | WO | 00 |
