JP2003220930A - Wiper device and control method for the same - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To stop each wiper blade at a starting position without an overrun irrespective of a surface state of a windshield. <P>SOLUTION: When a setting mode by a changeover switch for wiper motors 11 and 21 is switched from a continuous operation to a stop or an intermittent operation to stop the wiper blades 10 and 20 at a starting position, in a return movement of the wiper blades to the starting position, the rotating speed of the wiper motors 11 and 21 is lowered below a preset standard rotating speed pattern. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a wiper device for wiping a windshield of a vehicle and a control method thereof.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, as a wiper device for wiping a windshield of a vehicle, a pair of wiper blades are driven by separate wiper motors, and the wiping areas of the wiper blades overlap each other within a certain range. A device (overlap type wiper device) has been developed.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an outline of an overlap type wiper device. As shown in the figure, the overlap type wiper device includes a driver side wiper blade 10 and a passenger side wiper blade 20. The driving force from the driver side wiper motor 11 is transmitted to the driver side wiper blade 10 via the link mechanism 12. On the other hand, the driving force from the passenger seat side wiper motor 21 is transmitted to the passenger seat side wiper blade 20 via the link mechanism 22.

Normally, the driver side wiper motor 11 rotates forward in one direction, and the rotational driving force thereof is converted by the link mechanism 12 into the reciprocating rotational movement of the driver side wiper blade 10. As a result, the driver seat side wiper blade 10 reciprocates between the starting position 2 set on the lower edge side of the windshield 1 and the upper folding position 3 set on one side edge side of the windshield 1.

Similarly, the passenger seat side wiper motor 21 also normally rotates forward in one direction, and its rotational driving force is applied to the link mechanism 22.
Converts into a reciprocating rotation operation of the passenger seat side wiper blade 20. Accordingly, the passenger seat side wiper blade 20 also reciprocates between the starting position 2 set on the lower end edge side of the windshield 1 and the upper folding position 4 set on the other side end edge side of the windshield 1.

The reciprocating movement of each of the wiper blades 10 and 20 is started from the starting position 2. However, in order to avoid mutual interference, one wiper blade 10 or 20 moves in advance and the other wiper blade 10 or 20 moves. The wiper blade 20 or 10 is controlled so as to follow it. In general,
In the going operation from the starting position 2 to the upper folding positions 3 and 4, the driver side wiper blade 10 moves first,
The passenger side wiper blade 20 follows this. vice versa,
In the returning operation from the upper folding positions 3 and 4 to the starting position 2, the passenger side wiper blade 20 moves first,
The driver side wiper blade 10 is controlled so as to follow this.

The driver side wiper blade 10 is
The driver seat side wiping area 1A of the windshield 1 is wiped, and the passenger seat side wiper blade 20 wipes the passenger seat side wiping area 1B of the windshield 1. The wiping areas 1A and 1B of these wiper blades are overlapped with each other by a hatched area 1C (hereinafter referred to as an overlap area) in FIG.

[0008]

When the wiper motors 11 and 21 are stopped, the wiper motors 11 and 21 return the wiper blades 10 and 20 to the starting position 2 and stop them. However, depending on the wiping speed before the stop, the wiper blades 10 and 20 may overrun due to inertia and stop at a position deviated from the starting position 2.

The wiping speed of each wiper blade 10, 20 changes depending on the surface condition of the windshield 1. For example, when the amount of raindrops hitting the windshield 1 is large, the frictional resistance of the windshield 1 is small, so that the wiping speed of each wiper blade 10, 20 tends to be high.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to stop each wiper blade at the starting position without overrunning, regardless of the surface condition of the windshield.

[0011]

In order to achieve the above object, the invention of claim 1 relating to a wiper device includes a driver side wiper blade for wiping a driver side wiping region of a vehicle windshield, and a vehicle windshield. At least stop the operation of each wiper motor, including the front passenger side wiper blade that wipes the front passenger side wiper area, the driver side wiper motor that drives the driver side wiper blade, the front passenger side wiper motor that drives the front passenger side wiper blade. , A switching switch for setting to either the intermittent operation mode or the continuous operation mode, and each wiper blade is set to the starting position set on the lower end edge side of the vehicle windshield and each side end edge side of the vehicle windshield. It moves reciprocally in the wiping area between the upper folding position and the upper folding position, and it is set within a certain range from the starting position. In a wiper device in which each wiper blade overlaps and wipes the overlap area where the seat side wiping area and the passenger side wiping area overlap, the setting mode of each wiper motor by the changeover switch from continuous operation to stop or intermittent operation When the wiper blades are switched to the stop position at the starting position by switching to, the rotation speed of each wiper motor is made lower than the preset standard rotation speed pattern when returning to the starting position. A control means is provided.

With this configuration, each wiper blade can be moved while being decelerated and appropriately stopped at the starting position. The rotation speed of each wiper motor is a value obtained by dividing the output time of the drive voltage by the output cycle (Dut
y ratio), the duty ratio for controlling each wiper motor is set to the standard duty that is set in advance.
It should be lower than the pattern. Further, during intermittent operation, each wiper motor repeats operation and stop alternately, but when the stop operation is started, the control means sets the rotation speed of each wiper motor to a value higher than a standard rotation speed pattern set in advance. Lower it.

In the invention of the above structure, the control means calculates the wiping speed of at least one of the wiper blades,
According to the calculation result, the timing for lowering the rotation speed of each wiper motor from the preset standard rotation speed pattern may be determined (claim 2).

Further, the control means calculates the wiping speed of at least one of the wiper blades, and based on the calculation result, lowers the rotation speed of each wiper motor below a preset standard rotation speed pattern. It is also possible to adopt a configuration for determining (claim 3).

Further, the control means may be configured to calculate the wiping speed of at least one of the wiper blades within a preset wiping range (claim 4). In addition, this control means, for the wiper motor driving at least one of each wiper blade,
While recognizing the current position of the wiper blade based on the rotation signal output from the rotation amount detection sensor that detects the rotation amount from the origin, the rotation amount at the time when the wiper blade passes a preset wiping range. The wiping speed of the wiper blade may be calculated by counting the number of pulses of the rotation signal output from the detection sensor per fixed time (claim 5).

Next, a sixth aspect of the invention relating to a method for controlling a wiper device is to wipe a driver side wiper blade for wiping a driver side wiping region of a vehicle windshield and a passenger side wiping region of a vehicle windshield. The passenger side wiper blade, the driver side wiper motor that drives the driver side wiper blade, the passenger side wiper motor that drives the passenger side wiper blade, and at least stop the operation of each wiper motor, and perform intermittent or continuous operation. A wiper blade is provided with a change-over switch for setting either mode, and each wiper blade has a starting position set on the lower edge side of the vehicle windshield and an upper folding position set on each side edge side of the vehicle windshield. It reciprocates in the wiping area between them and is set within a certain range from the starting position, and the wiping area on the driver's seat side and the wiping area on the passenger side In a wiper device configured such that each wiper blade wipes the overlapping area where the areas overlap with each other, the step of detecting the changeover operation of the changeover switch and the setting mode of each wiper motor by the changeover switch is stopped from continuous operation or When the wiper blades are switched to the intermittent operation and stopped at the starting position, when the respective wiper blades return to the starting position, the rotation speed of each wiper motor is made lower than the preset standard rotation speed pattern. And a control step for controlling the electric motor.

According to this control method, similarly to the first aspect of the invention, each wiper blade can be moved while being decelerated to be appropriately stopped at the starting position.

In the above control method, the motor control step further includes a speed calculation step for calculating the wiping speed of at least one of the wiper blades, and the rotation speed of each wiper motor is preset based on the calculation result. Determining a timing for lowering the rotation speed pattern below the standard rotation speed pattern (claim 7).

In the above control method, the motor control step further includes a speed calculation step for calculating the wiping speed of at least one of the wiper blades, and the rotation speed of each wiper motor is preset based on the calculation result. And a step of determining a reduction rate for reducing the rotation speed pattern below a certain standard rotation speed pattern (claim 8).

Further, the speed calculating step may be a step of calculating the wiping speed of at least one of the wiper blades within a preset wiping range (claim 10). In addition, this speed calculation step, for the wiper motor that drives at least one of the wiper blades, the current position of the wiper blade is determined based on the rotation signal output from the rotation amount detection sensor that detects the rotation amount from the origin. While recognizing, by counting the number of pulses of the rotation signal output from the rotation amount detection sensor per constant time at the time when the wiper blade passes through a preset constant wiping range, the wiping speed of the wiper blade Can also be used as a step for calculating.

[0021]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An embodiment in which the present invention is applied to an overlap type wiper device having the configuration shown in FIG. 1 will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. In the following description and drawings, "intermittent" may be described as "Int", "low speed" as "Lo", and "high speed" as "Hi".
Further, the "driver's seat" may be referred to as "Dr" and the "passenger seat" may be referred to as "As".

As shown in FIG. 1, the wiper device according to the present embodiment transmits the driving force of the driver side wiper motor 11 to the driver side wiper blade 10 via the link mechanism 12 and the passenger side wiper motor 21. The driving force is transmitted to the passenger side wiper blade 20 via the link mechanism 22, and the wiper blades 10 and 20 overlap each other to wipe the windshield 1.

<Configuration of Control System> FIG. 2 is a circuit configuration diagram showing a control system of the wiper device. As shown in the figure, the control system mainly includes a changeover switch 30, a driver side detector 40, a passenger side detector 50, and a controller 70. The controller 70 includes a central processing unit (hereinafter, referred to as a central processing unit). , CPU) 71, power supply circuit 72, reset circuit 73, driver side motor drive circuit 74, passenger side motor drive circuit 75, driver side Hi / L
o switching relay 76, passenger side Hi / Lo switching relay 7
7 and a relay drive circuit 78.

The changeover switch (wiper switch) 30 is
“Stop (Off)”, “Intermittent (Int) operation”, “Low speed (Lo) operation”, “High speed (Hi)” of each wiper motor 11 and 21.
This is a switch for switching to one of the modes of “driving”.

When an operation mode other than the stop mode is selected by the changeover switch 30, a signal corresponding to the operation mode (operation mode signal) is input to the CPU 71 via the input circuit of the controller 70. Further, when the stop is selected, the operation mode signal is not output.

The CPU 71 determines the selection of the operation mode by the changeover switch 30 based on the presence and the content of the operation mode signal. Then, the CPU 71 drives and controls each of the wiper motors 11 and 21 in the corresponding operation mode based on the input operation mode signal. Further, the changeover switch 30 is provided with an intermittent volume 31 for setting the drive interval of each wiper motor 11, 21 in the intermittent operation mode.

The changeover switch 30 also serves as an operation switch of the washer motor 32, and the changeover switch 3
When 0 is switched to the washer mode, the drive voltage is output to the washer motor 32. The washer motor 32 is rotated by this drive voltage and jets the cleaning liquid toward the windshield 1.

The driver's seat side detecting section 40 includes a rotation amount detecting sensor 41, a starting position detecting switch 42, and an upper folded position detecting switch 43. Among these, the rotation amount detection sensor 41 is a sensor for detecting the rotation amount of the driver side wiper motor 11 from the origin, and a Hall IC 41a provided in a housing (not shown) of the driver side wiper motor 11; The magnet 41b is attached to the armature shaft of the motor 11. The magnet 41b has N poles and S poles alternately attached at 90 ° intervals. When each of these magnets 41b rotates integrally with the armature shaft and comes to a position opposite to the Hall IC 41a, positive and negative electromotive force is generated from the Hall IC 41a. Are output alternately. This electromotive force is waveform-shaped by the input circuit of the controller 70, and a rotation signal of two pulses per one rotation of the driver side wiper motor 11 is input to the CPU 71.

The CPU 71 recognizes the rotation amount of the driver side wiper motor 11, that is, the wiping position of the driver side wiper blade 10 based on this rotation signal.

The starting position detecting switch 42 is a switch for detecting that the driver side wiper blade 10 has reached the starting position 2. As described above, the starting position 2 is set on the lower edge side of the windshield 1 (see FIG. 1), and the driver side wiper motor 11 is normally driven with the rotational position corresponding to the starting position 2 as the origin. Controlled. The starting position detection switch 42 is a rotary drive system (for example, a rotary drive system fixed to the output shaft of the driver side wiper motor 11 synchronized with the reciprocating operation of the driver side wiper blade 10).
When the driver's seat side wiper blade 10 reaches the start position 2, the start position detection switch 42 inputs a start position detection signal to the CPU 71 via an input circuit of the controller 70.

The CPU 71 recognizes that the driver seat side wiper blade 10 has reached the starting position 2 by the input of the starting position detection signal, and at the same time, the driver seat side wiper motor based on the rotation signal from the rotation amount detecting sensor 41. 1
The cumulative rotation amount of 1 is initialized.

The upper folded position detecting switch 43 is a switch for detecting that the driver seat side wiper blade 10 has reached the upper folded position 3. As described above, the upper folding position 3 is set on one side edge side of the windshield 1, and the driver seat side wiper blade 10 is provided.
Reciprocates between the starting position 2 and the upper folding position 3 to wipe the windshield 1 (see FIG. 1). When the driver's seat side wiper blade 10 reaches the upper folding position 3, the upper folding position detection switch 43 outputs an upper folding position detection signal, which is output by the controller 7
It is input to the CPU 71 through the 0 input circuit.

The CPU 71 recognizes that the driver side wiper blade 10 has reached the upper folding position 3 by the input of the upper folding position detection signal.

The passenger's seat side detecting section 50 is also the hall IC 51a.
And a rotation amount detection sensor 51 including a magnet 51b,
It includes a starting position detecting switch 52 and an upper folded position detecting switch 53. Each of these components is configured similarly to that of the driver's seat side detection unit 40. The rotation amount detection sensor 51 is a sensor for detecting the rotation position of the passenger seat side wiper motor 21 from the origin, and a rotation position signal of 2 pulses per one rotation of the passenger seat side wiper motor 21 is input via an input circuit. It is input to the CPU 71.

Based on this rotation signal, the CPU 71 recognizes the rotation amount of the passenger seat side wiper motor 21, that is, the wiping position of the passenger seat side wiper blade 20.

The starting position detection switch 52 is a switch for detecting that the passenger side wiper blade 20 has reached the starting position 2, and the passenger side wiper blade 2
When 0 reaches the starting position 2, a starting position detection signal is input to the CPU 71 from the starting position detection switch 52 via the input circuit of the controller 70.

The CPU 71 recognizes that the passenger seat side wiper blade 20 has reached the starting position 2 by the input of the starting position detection signal, and the passenger seat side wiper motor based on the rotation signal from the rotation amount detecting sensor 51. Two
The cumulative rotation amount of 1 is initialized.

The upper folded-back position detection switch 53 is a switch for detecting that the front passenger's seat side wiper blade 20 has reached the upper folded-back position 4 set on the other side edge of the windshield 1. When the seat side wiper blade 20 reaches the upper folding position 4, an upper folding position detection signal is output from the upper folding position detection switch 53, and C is input via the input circuit of the controller 70.
It is input to the PU 71.

The CPU 71 recognizes that the passenger seat side wiper blade 20 has reached the upper folding-back position 4 by the input of the upper folding-back position detection signal.

Next, the structure of the controller 70 will be described. The power supply circuit 72 is a circuit that converts a voltage supplied from the power supply 80 into a voltage necessary for driving the wiper device and outputs the voltage. A start switch 81 for supplying or stopping power is provided on the power supply line from the power supply to the power supply circuit 72. Generally, this start switch 81
It is linked to the engine key of the vehicle.

The reset circuit 73, when power is supplied to the power supply circuit 72 in accordance with the ON operation of the start switch 81,
This is a circuit for initializing the memory in the CPU 71.

The driver side motor drive circuit 74 uses the drive voltage input from the power supply circuit 72 as the driver side wiper motor 11.
It is a circuit for outputting to the brush to drive the wiper motor 11 on the driver side for rotation. Here, as shown in FIG. 3A, the drive voltage is intermittently output to the brush of the driver side wiper motor 11 at regular time intervals. A value B obtained by dividing the output time B of the drive voltage by the output cycle A
/ A is referred to as a duty ratio, and the rotation speed of the driver side wiper motor 11 is controlled by this duty ratio.

[0043] That is, as shown in FIG. 3 (b), when a shorter output time B ₁ of the driving voltage, since the driving current flowing through the driver's side wiper motor 11 decreases, the rotational speed of the driver's side wiper motor 11 is slow Become. On the other hand, FIG.
As shown in (c), when the output time B ₂ of the drive voltage is lengthened, the drive current flowing through the driver side wiper motor 11 increases, so that the rotation speed of the driver side wiper motor 11 increases.

This duty ratio is the speed command signal (PWM) output from the CPU 71 to the driver side motor drive circuit 74.
Signal).

The passenger side motor drive circuit 75 also has the same structure and function as the driver side motor drive circuit 74 described above, and outputs the drive voltage input from the power supply circuit 72 to the brush of the passenger side wiper motor 21. Then, it is a circuit for rotationally driving the wiper motor 21 on the passenger seat side. From the passenger side motor drive circuit 75, the drive voltage is output to the brush of the passenger side wiper motor 21 with the duty ratio set based on the speed command signal of the CPU 71.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a standard duty ratio pattern used for drive control of each wiper motor in this embodiment. That is, in the present embodiment, each wiper blade 1
0, 20 starts the wiping operation from the starting position 2, reverses at the upper folding positions 3, 4 and returns to the starting position 2 again, the duty ratio of the driver side wiper motor 11 is changed to
The duty ratio of the passenger side wiper motor 21 is changed as shown in the pattern 101 while the pattern 102 is changed.
It is changed as shown in. These duty ratio patterns are preset in the memory of the CPU.

That is, in the going operation, the current output level to the driver side wiper motor 11 in the section G1 from the starting position 2 to the point beyond the first wiping position P1 is approximately 100 until the vicinity of the first wiping position P1. % Dut
The y ratio is set, and then the Duty ratio is gradually decreased. On the other hand, the passenger side wiper motor 2 in the section G1
The current output level to No. 1 is set to a duty ratio of about 50% at the starting position 2, and then the first wiping position P1 is set.
The duty ratio is gradually increased until the above. Then, at the first wiping position P1, each wiper motor 1
The duty ratios of 1 and 21 are set to be almost the same.

Here, the first wiping position P1 is set near the end of the overlap area 1C. By driving the wiper motors 11 and 21 in the section G1 at the duty ratios described above, the driver seat side wiper motor 11 rotates with a large rotational torque, and the driver seat side wiper blade 10 preceding by the going operation is quickly moved. It is possible to prevent the wiper blades 10 and 20 from colliding with each other in the overlap region 1C.

In the latter half of the subsequent going operation, the section G2 from the first wiping position P1 to the upper end folding positions 3 and 4
Then, the current output level to the driver's seat side wiper motor 11 is further lowered, and the duty ratio is kept constant at about 43% immediately before reaching the upper end turning positions 3 and 4. on the other hand,
The current output level to the passenger side wiper motor 21 in the section G2 maintains a duty ratio of about 90 to 80%.

As a result, in the section G2, the passenger seat side wiper motor 21 rotates with a large rotational torque, and the passenger seat side wiper blade 20 can be moved quickly. As a result, the passenger side wiper blade 20 in the section G1
It is possible to return the wiper blades 10 and 20 to the upper folding positions 3 and 4 almost in synchronization with each other.

Next, in the returning operation, the section R from the upper folding positions 3, 4 to the second wiping position P2 is exceeded.
For No. 1, the current output level to the passenger side wiper motor 21 is set to a duty ratio of about 90 to 80%. On the other hand, the driver side wiper motor 11 in the section R1
The current output level to the above is set to a duty ratio of about 43% from the upper folding positions 3 and 4 for a while, and then,
The duty ratio is gradually increased until reaching the second wiping position P2. Then, at the second wiping position P2, the duty ratios of the wiper motors 11 and 21 are set to be substantially the same.

Here, the second wiping position P2 is set near the entry end into the overlap area 1C. Section R1
For each of the wiper motors 11 and 21,
By driving at a ratio, the passenger seat side wiper motor 21 rotates with a large rotational torque, so that the passenger seat side wiper blade 20 moves quickly. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the wiper blades 10 and 20 from colliding with each other by allowing the front passenger side wiper blade 20 to enter the overlap area 1C in advance.

In the second half of the subsequent returning operation, the current output level to the passenger side wiper motor 21 is gradually lowered in the section R2 from the second wiping position P2 to the starting position 2. On the other hand, the current output level to the driver side wiper motor 11 in the section R2 is further increased until the duty ratio becomes 100%.

As a result, in the section R2, the driver side wiper motor 11 rotates with a large rotational torque, and the driver side wiper blade 10 can be moved quickly. As a result, the driver side wiper blade 10 in the section R1
The wiper blades 10 and 20 can reach the starting position 2 almost in synchronism with each other.

Returning to FIG. 2, the driver side Hi / Lo switching relay 76 is the Lo provided on the driver side wiper motor 11.
It is a relay for selecting a brush that outputs a driving voltage, between the brush and the Hi brush. Similarly, passenger side H
The i / Lo switching relay 77 is provided on the passenger side wiper motor 21.
It is a relay for selecting a brush that outputs a driving voltage, with respect to the Lo brush and the Hi brush provided in the. In the present embodiment, each wiper motor 11, 21 uses a motor called a three-brush motor. In this three-brush motor, the drive voltage is output between the common brush and the Hi brush compared to the rotation speed of the armature shaft (that is, the rotation speed of the motor) when the drive voltage is output between the common brush and the Lo brush. Sometimes the rotation speed of the motor becomes faster.

The relay drive circuit 78 is a circuit for driving the Hi / Lo switching relays 76 and 77, and is a CPU
Based on the command signal from 71, a switching signal is output from the relay drive circuit 78 to each of the Hi / Lo switching relays 76 and 77. Each of the Hi / Lo switching relays 76 and 77 outputs a brush (H) that outputs a driving voltage based on the switching signal.
i brush or Lo brush).

That is, the CPU 71 uses the changeover switch 3
When an operation mode signal of “low speed operation (Lo)” is input from 0, a command signal for selecting the Lo brush is output to the relay drive circuit 78. Based on this command signal, the relay drive circuit 78 controls the switching between the Hi / Lo switching relays 76 and 77 to set the drive voltage from the motor drive circuits 74 and 75 to be output to the Lo brush.

Further, when the operation mode signal of "high speed operation (Hi)" is inputted from the changeover switch 30, the CPU 71 outputs a command signal for selecting the Hi brush to the relay drive circuit 78. Based on this command signal, the relay drive circuit 78 switches and controls the Hi / Lo switching relays 76 and 77 to set the drive voltage from the motor drive circuits 74 and 75 to be output to the Hi brush.

When the operation mode is "intermittent operation (Int)", the Lo brush is used for each wiper motor 11 and 21. That is, the CPU 71 outputs a command signal for selecting the Lo brush to the relay drive circuit 78 when the operation mode signal of “intermittent operation (Int)” is input from the changeover switch 30. Based on this command signal, the relay drive circuit 78 controls the switching between the Hi / Lo switching relays 76 and 77 to set the drive voltage from the motor drive circuits 74 and 75 to be output to the Lo brush. Further, in the intermittent operation mode, the motor drive circuits 74 and 75 are controlled at the drive intervals set by the intermittent volume 31, and the drive voltage pulses are output and stopped intermittently from the motor drive circuits 74 and 75. Be done.

<Overall Control of Wiper Device> Next, a method of controlling the wiper device by the above-described control system will be described. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a main routine relating to the control method of the wiper device. The control system described above controls each wiper motor according to the flowchart shown in FIG.

First, when the current from the vehicle power supply 80 is applied to the power supply circuit 72 by the connection of the start switch 81, the reset circuit 73 detects this and the reset circuit 73 outputs a reset signal to the CPU 71. Then, when the CPU 71 detects the reset signal in step S1, the CPU 71 is initialized in step S2. The initialized CPU 71 has a new changeover switch 3
0, the rotation amount detection sensors 41 and 51, the start position detection switches 42 and 52, and the upper turn-back position detection switches 43 and 53 store signal data sent to the CPU 71 in a memory. The detection operation of each input signal is continuously performed until the power supply 80 is cut off.

Next, the changeover switch 30 is set to "high speed operation".
Alternatively, if the mode is set to "low speed operation", the process branches at step S3 to execute normal operation control (step S4). Further, in the present embodiment, in addition to the normal operation control, control during blade lock (step S5) and control during snowfall (step S6) are executed depending on the situation.
Each of these controls is treated as a subroutine and will be described in detail later.

On the other hand, when the changeover switch 30 is set to the "intermittent operation" mode, the operation branches to the next step S7 to execute the intermittent operation of each wiper motor 11,21. In the intermittent operation, the low speed operation using the Lo brush and the stop for the time set by the intermittent volume 31 are alternately repeated. Therefore, the CPU 71 determines in step S8 whether it is the stop period or the operation period, and shifts to the stop control in the stop period (step S9). In this embodiment,
The stop control (step S9) also uses a specific control method, and is therefore treated as a subroutine and will be described in detail later. During the operation period, each wiper motor 1
1, 21 are driven at a low speed (step S10).

Even in this intermittent operation, the special control may be executed by shifting to the blade lock control (step S5) or the snowfall control (step S6) depending on the situation.

The control of the wiper device is continuously performed until the vehicle power supply 80 is cut off, and is terminated when the vehicle power supply 80 is cut off (step S11).

<Control During Normal Operation> The normal operation control shown in step S4 is executed based on the flow charts shown in FIGS. That is, in the normal operation control, first, as shown in FIG. 6, the CPU 71 refers to the operation mode signal from the changeover switch 30 and determines whether or not the operation mode is set to the high speed operation (step S101). When the operation mode is not set to the high speed operation, that is, the low speed operation mode, the wiper motors 11 and 21 are set.
Is driven by the normal rotation of the low speed operation (step S102).

On the other hand, when the operation mode is set to high speed operation, the process proceeds from step S101 to step S103. Here, the CPU 71 constantly monitors the change of the operation mode signal and determines the operation of the changeover switch 30 based on the change of the signal. And the changeover switch 3
When 0 is switched to the high speed operation from the intermittent operation, a flag (Int / Hi flag = 1) indicating that is set (step S104). Further, when the changeover switch 30 is switched from the low speed operation to the high speed operation, a flag (Lo / Hi flag = 1) indicating that is set (steps S105, S).
106).

Next, the process proceeds to step S107 shown in FIG. 7, and when Int / Hi flag = 1 is set, peculiar control is executed when switching from intermittent operation to high speed operation (steps S108 to S112). . This control is a control for avoiding the risk of the blades interfering with each other when the wiper blades are switched from the intermittent operation to the high-speed operation due to the synchronization shift between the wiper motors 11 and 21 and a sudden increase in speed. .

That is, the CPU 71 causes the Int / Hi flag = 1.
When the driver's seat side wiper blade 10 is installed, the driver's seat side wiper blade 10
It is confirmed whether the vehicle has reached the starting position 2 or the upper folding position 3 (steps S108 and S109). Then, when the driver side wiper blade 10 has not reached these positions, the intermittent operation is continued at a low speed (step S110) and the process returns to the main routine of FIG.

The loop from the above-mentioned main routine through the subroutine of the normal operation control is repeated to continue the intermittent operation at a low speed. After that, in step S108 or S109 of FIG. 7, the CPU 71 causes the driver side wiper motor 11 to start. When the arrival at 2 or the upper folding position 3 is detected, the Int / Hi flag is reset (step S111), and the wiper motors 11 and 21 are switched to the high speed operation and controlled (step S112).

The starting position 2 and the upper turning position 3 are turning points of the wiper blades 10 and 20, and the speed of the wiper blades 10 and 20 once becomes zero at these positions.
The speed gradually increases from this position. Therefore, when the driver side wiper blade 10 reaches the starting position 2 or the upper folding position 3 where the speed once becomes zero, the wiper blade 10 is switched to the high speed operation, so that each wiper accompanying the sudden speed increase is executed. It is possible to avoid interference between the blades 10 and 20. In the above control, the switch to the high-speed operation is executed by paying attention to the position of the driver seat side wiper blade 10, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the passenger seat side wiper blade 20 is set to the starting position 2 or the upper folding position 3. The switching to the high speed operation may be executed at the timing of reaching.

In step S107 shown in FIG. 7, In
When the t / Hi flag = 1 is not reached, that is, when the Int / Hi flag = 0, the process proceeds to step S113 in FIG. 8 and the Lo / Hi flag is confirmed. And Lo / Hi flag = 1
If not, that is, if the Lo / Hi flag is 0, the wiper motors 11 and 21 are switched to high speed operation (step S114) and the process is returned to the main routine of FIG.

On the other hand, in step S113 of FIG.
When the Lo / Hi flag = 1 is set, a control peculiar to the switching from the low speed operation to the high speed operation is executed (steps S115 to S121). This control is performed when the wiper blades 10 and 20 are switched from the normal rotation of the low speed operation to the normal rotation of the high speed operation, due to the synchronization deviation of the wiper motors 11 and 21 and the rapid speed increase.
This is a control for avoiding the risk that 0 and 20 interfere.

That is, the CPU 71 makes the Lo / Hi flag = 1.
If there is, the drive wiper motor 11 or 21 of the preceding wiper blade 10 or 20 is first switched to the operating state of high-speed operation, and the value of the switching counter is incremented by 1 (steps S115, S116). The switching counter is built in the circuit of the CPU 71 and has an arbitrary threshold value set in advance. This threshold value corresponds to the time from when the preceding wiper blade 10 or 20 is switched to the high-speed operating state until when the other trailing wiper blade 20 or 10 is switched to the high-speed operating state. Wiper blade 10 or 20
It is preset to the necessary and sufficient value until the high-speed operation of starts.

In this embodiment, the driver's seat side wiper blade 10 is the preceding wiper blade in the going operation from the starting position 2 to the upper folding positions 3, 4 and in the reverse returning operation. The front passenger side wiper blade 20 is the leading wiper blade.

In the following step S117, the value of the switching counter is compared with the threshold value, and when the value of the switching counter is less than the threshold value, the wiper blade 20 or 1 which follows
The drive wiper motor 21 or 11 of 0 is operated at the low speed forward rotation (step S118), and the process returns to the main routine of FIG.

When the loop from the main routine to the normal operation control subroutine is repeated, the value of the switching counter is incremented by one in step S116 of FIG. When the value of the switching counter reaches the preset threshold value (step S11)
7) Then, the driving wiper motor 21 or 11 for the trailing wiper blade 20 or 10 is switched to an operating state for high speed operation (step S119). In this way, after the preceding wiper blade 10 or 20 is switched to the high speed operation, the trailing wiper blade 20 is provided at a sufficient interval.
Or 10 is switched to high speed operation, the trailing wiper blade 20 or 10 is followed by the leading wiper blade 10
Alternatively, it is possible to surely prevent a failure of colliding with the vehicle 20.

The CPU 71 uses the trailing wiper blade 2
After switching the driving wiper motor 21 or 11 of 0 or 10 to the operating state of high-speed operation, the switching counter is reset (step S120), the Lo / Hi flag is reset (step S121), and the main routine of FIG. Return to.

The control for switching the wiper blades from the intermittent operation to the high speed operation can be executed in the next step S. That is, in step S107 shown in FIG. 7, when Int / Hi flag = 1 is set, steps S115 to S1 shown in FIG. 8 are replaced with steps S108 to S112 shown in FIG.
It is also possible to execute the same control as 21.

Specifically, the CPU 71 uses the Int / Hi flag
= 1 is reached, the process proceeds from step S107 of FIG. 7 to step S115 of FIG. 8 to drive the wiper motor 11 or 21 of the preceding wiper blade 10 or 20.
Is first switched to the operating state of high-speed operation, and one is added to the value of the switching counter (steps S115, S1).
16). In a succeeding step S117, the value of the switching counter is compared with the threshold value, and when the value of the switching counter is smaller than the threshold value, the driving wiper motor 21 or 11 of the following wiper blade 20 or 10 is rotated at a low speed forward rotation. The operation is continued as it is (step S118), and the process returns to the main routine of FIG.

When the loop from the main routine to the normal operation control subroutine is repeated, the value of the switching counter is incremented by one in step S116 of FIG. When the value of the switching counter reaches the preset threshold value (step S11)
7) Then, the driving wiper motor 21 or 11 for the trailing wiper blade 20 or 10 is switched to an operating state for high speed operation (step S119). In this way, after the preceding wiper blade 10 or 20 is switched to the high speed operation, the trailing wiper blade 20 is provided at a sufficient interval.
Or 10 is switched to high speed operation, the trailing wiper blade 20 or 10 is followed by the leading wiper blade 10
Alternatively, it is possible to surely prevent a failure of colliding with the vehicle 20.

The CPU 71 uses the trailing wiper blade 2
After switching the drive wiper motor 21 or 11 of 0 or 10 to the operating state of high-speed operation, the switching counter is reset (step S120) and step S121.
Then, the Int / Hi flag is reset and the process returns to the main routine of FIG.

<Control at Stop> Next, the stop control (step S9) shown in FIG. 5 will be described mainly with reference to FIG. In the stop control, the changeover switch 30 is set to “stop”, or the changeover switch 30 is set to “intermittent operation”.
It is executed when the mode is set to. Now, each wiper blade 10 and 20 returns to the starting position 2 and stops. Here, “stop” means that the wiper blades 10, 20 stop at the starting position 2 in the “stop” mode, and are in a rest state at the starting position 2 in the “intermittent operation” mode. Say. However, depending on the wiping speed, the wiper blades 10 and 20 may overrun due to inertia and may stop at a position deviated from the starting position 2. The wiping speed of each wiper blade 10, 20 changes depending on the surface condition of the windshield 1. For example, when the amount of raindrops hitting the windshield 1 is large, the frictional resistance of the windshield 1 is small, so that the wiping speed of each wiper blade 10, 20 tends to be high. In the present embodiment, in consideration of such a situation, regardless of the surface condition of the windshield 1, the starting position 2 is set without overrunning the wiper blades 10 and 20.
The following controls are executed to stop the operation.

That is, as shown in FIG. 9, when the changeover switch 30 is switched to "stop" or when the intermittent operation mode is switched from the stop period to the operation period, the CPU 71 detects the switching timing ( In step S201), the wiping speed at the predetermined wiping position is calculated (step 202). Here, the changeover switch 30
The timing of switching to “stop” can be recognized by detecting the output OFF of the operation mode signal output from the changeover switch 30. In the intermittent operation mode, the switching timing from the stop period to the operation period occurs every time the operation period starts.

The current position of the front passenger side wiper blade 20 is determined by the rotation amount detecting sensor 51 provided in the front passenger side detecting section 50.
It can be detected by the rotation signal output from.
In the present embodiment, for example, as shown in FIG. 10, a certain wiping range D is set on the track of the passenger seat side wiper blade 20, and when the passenger seat side wiper blade 20 passes through the wiping range D. The wiping speed is calculated based on the rotation signal input from the rotation amount detection sensor 51.
Since the rotation signal at the time of passing the wiping range D is stored in the memory, the CPU 71 can read the stored data and calculate the wiping speed at a proper time.

Since the wiping speed is proportional to the number of pulses of the rotation signal output from the rotation amount detection sensor 51 per fixed time, it can be calculated by counting the number of pulses. For example, at the normal wiping speed, FIG.
When the rotation amount detection sensor 51 outputs a rotation signal at the pulse intervals shown in (a), if the wiping speed of the passenger side wiper blade 20 increases (that is, the rotation speed of the passenger side wiper motor 21 changes). (If it rises), the pulse interval of the rotation signal output from the rotation amount detection sensor 51 correspondingly becomes short as shown in FIG. 11B, and is output from the rotation amount detection sensor 51 within a fixed time. Increase the number of pulses. On the other hand, if the wiping speed of the passenger seat side wiper blade 20 decreases (that is, if the rotation speed of the passenger seat side wiper motor 21 decreases), the pulse interval of the rotation signal output from the rotation amount detection sensor 51 correspondingly. Becomes longer, for example, as shown in FIG.
The number of pulses output from the rotation amount detection sensor 51 decreases within a fixed time. Therefore, the wiping speed of the wiper blade 20 on the passenger seat side can be calculated based on the number of pulses of the rotation signal output from the rotation amount detection sensor 51 per constant time. Similarly, driver side wiper blade 1
The wiping speed of 0 can also be calculated by counting the number of pulses of the rotation signal output from the rotation amount detection sensor 41.

Next, the CPU 71 drives the respective wiper motors 11 and 21 based on the calculated wiping speed Duty.
A start position (hereinafter, sometimes simply referred to as “start position”) at which the ratio is made lower than the standard duty ratio pattern shown in FIG. 4 is determined (step S203). The standard duty ratio pattern is a standard rotation speed pattern. In the present embodiment, when the changeover switch 30 is switched from the continuous operation mode to the stop mode or the intermittent operation mode, the wiper blades 10 and 20 are returned to the starting position 2, and when the returning operation is performed, the determined start position (that is, the timing). ), The rotation speed of each wiper motor 11, 21 is gradually reduced according to a preset reduction pattern of the Duty ratio, thereby moving each wiper blade 10, 20 to the starting position 2 while decelerating, We are trying to prevent orchids.

The starting position for decreasing the duty ratio is
It is determined based on the wiping speed calculated in step S202. For example, assuming that the start position (standard start position) at the standard wiping speed is set to the position shown in E of FIG. 11, if the wiping speed calculated in step S202 is faster than the standard wiping speed, the speed Depending on the ratio, from the wiping position farther to the starting position 2 than the standard starting position E
By starting the decrease of the duty ratio, it is possible to prevent the overrun and stop the wiper blades 10 and 20 to the starting position 2.

On the other hand, when the wiping speed calculated in step S202 is slower than the standard wiping speed, the duty ratio starts to decrease from the wiping position closer to the starting position 2 than the standard start position E according to the speed ratio. By doing so, the wiper blades 10 and 20 can be quickly moved to the starting position 2.

After determining the starting position in step S203, the CPU 71 proceeds to step S204 to confirm the current position of the passenger side wiper blade 20 and
It is determined whether or not the current position has passed the start position.
The current position of the passenger seat side wiper blade 20 can be confirmed by the rotation signal from the rotation amount detection sensor 51.

When the current position of the front passenger side wiper blade 20 has not reached the start position, the operation of each wiper motor 11, 21 is continued based on the standard duty ratio pattern shown in FIG. 4 (step S205), FIG.
Return to the main routine of.

When the stop control shown in FIG. 9 is shifted from the main routine of FIG. 5 again, the operation switching timing has already passed, so the routine proceeds from step S201 to step S206 to step S204, and the passenger side It is determined whether or not the current position of the wiper blade 20 has passed the start position. If the current position of the wiper blade 20 on the passenger side has not yet reached the start position, the operation of each wiper motor 11, 21 is continued based on the standard duty ratio pattern shown in FIG. 4 (step S205), and again. Return to the main routine of FIG.

These steps S201, S206, S2
04, S205, and the process of passing through the main routine are repeated, and when the passage of the start position is confirmed in step S204, the CPU 71 proceeds to step S207 and follows the preset reduction pattern of the Duty ratio to determine the Duty ratio. Lowers. In addition, Du
The decrease pattern of the ty ratio can be arbitrarily set, such as continuous decrease or stepwise decrease.

In step S208, whether or not each wiper blade 10, 20 has reached the starting position 2 is determined based on the rotation signal from each rotation amount detection sensor 41, 51, and has not yet reached the starting position 2. At this time, the duty ratio is gradually reduced by repeating the control steps from the main routine of FIG. 5 to step S207.
Then, when each wiper blade 10, 20 reaches the starting position 2, the respective wiper motors 11, 21 are individually stopped (step S209), and the data regarding the starting position determined in step 203 and stored in the memory is reset. Yes (step S210).

As described above, the duty ratios output to the wiper motors 11 and 21 are gradually reduced according to the preset reduction pattern until the stop, whereby the wiper blades 10 and 20 are moved while decelerating. Then, it becomes possible to appropriately stop at the starting position 2. When the wiper motors 11 and 21 are stopped, the process directly returns to the main routine of FIG. 5 in step S206.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing another method of stop control. The same steps as those in the control method shown in FIG. 9 are designated by the same reference numerals. In the control method shown in FIG. 9, in step S203, the duty ratio is calculated as shown in FIG.
The start position for lowering the standard duty ratio pattern shown in (4) is determined (step S203), and the duty ratio is gradually decreased in accordance with the predetermined decrease pattern from the start position to the stop. (Step S207), the wiper blades 10 and 20 are decelerated and moved to the starting position 2 to prevent overrun.

On the other hand, in the control system shown in FIG.
After the wiping speed at the predetermined wiping position is calculated in step S202, the reduction ratio of the duty ratio is determined based on the wiping speed (step S203a), and the duty ratio is set from the predetermined start position set in advance according to this reduction ratio. By gradually lowering (step S207a), the wiper blades 10 and 20 are decelerated and moved to the starting position 2 to prevent overrun.

The start position for decreasing the duty ratio can be set arbitrarily, and the wiper blade 20 on the passenger seat side can be set.
From the time when the vehicle has passed its start position (step S20
4), the duty ratio is gradually reduced.

The decrease rate of the Duty ratio is determined in step S20.
It is determined based on the wiping speed calculated in 2. For example,
If the wiping speed calculated in step S202 is faster than the standard wiping speed, the Duty ratio is set to be higher than the standard lowering rate according to the speed ratio. It is possible to prevent the overrun and stop the wiper blades 10 and 20 to the starting position 2 by increasing the lowering ratio.

On the other hand, if the wiping speed calculated in step S202 is slower than the standard wiping speed, the wiper blades 10, 10 are wiped by decreasing the duty ratio lowering rate than the standard lowering rate according to the speed ratio. 20 can be quickly moved to the starting position 2.

<Control During Blade Lock> Next, the control during blade lock (step S5) shown in FIG. 5 will be described mainly with reference to FIGS. The movement of the wiper blades 10 and 20 is hindered and stopped due to an obstacle attached to the windshield 1 (hereinafter,
This phenomenon is sometimes referred to as blade locking or simply locking), and the changeover switch 30 is “stopped”.
When the mode is switched to, the wiper blades 10 and 20 continue to be in the stopped state even after the obstacle is removed. However, in general, when blade lock occurs, each wiper blade 10, 20 often stops at an intermediate position in the wiping region. When the wiper blades 10 and 20 are stopped at the intermediate position of the wiping area in this way, the wiper blades 10 and 20 partially block the view from the driver's seat and the passenger seat, which is an eyesore.

When the driver's seat side wiper blade 20 is locked in the overlap area 1C and the driving of the driver's seat side wiper blade 10 is continued as it is, the passenger's seat side wiper blade 20 is replaced with the driver's seat side wiper blade 10. have a finger in the pie. Further, even when the blade lock is released and the passenger side wiper blade 20 is returned to operation, there is a risk of mutual interference within the overlap region 1C depending on the positional relationship between the wiper blades 10 and 20.

Therefore, in this embodiment, in order to avoid such an inconvenience when the blade lock occurs, the CP
The U71 is configured to execute the following control. That is, in the memory (not shown) built in the CPU 71 shown in FIG. 2, in order to determine the occurrence of blade lock, the intervals (pulses) of the rotation signals (pulses) output from the rotation amount detection sensors 41 and 51 A threshold for time) is preset. This threshold value is arbitrarily longer than the output interval (time) of the rotation signals from the rotation amount detection sensors 41 and 51 during the normal operation, corresponding to the high speed operation, the low speed operation, and the intermittent operation, respectively. It is set to the time of.

The CPU 71 executes step S301 of FIG.
Detects the output interval of the rotation signal from each of the rotation amount detection sensors 41 and 51 (hereinafter, may be simply referred to as a signal output interval). The output interval is compared with the threshold value (step S302). If this signal output interval exceeds the threshold value, the driver side wiper blade 1
It is judged that 0 is locked and the Dr lock flag
= 1 is set (step S303). Subsequently, the signal output interval from the rotation amount detection sensor 51 provided in the passenger seat side detection unit 50 is compared with the threshold value (step S30).
4). When the signal output interval exceeds the threshold value, it is determined that the front passenger side wiper blade 20 is locked, and the As lock flag = 1 is set (step S305).

Next, in step S306, it is determined whether or not the Dr lock flag = 1 is set. When the Dr lock flag = 1 is set, each wiper motor 11, 21
Is stopped (step S307), and the process proceeds to step S314 shown in FIG. On the other hand, Dr lock flag
When = 1 is not reached, the process proceeds to step S308.

At step S308, the As lock flag is set.
= 1 is determined, As lock flag =
If 1 is not reached, it returns to the main routine of FIG. On the other hand, when the As lock flag = 1 is set, it is determined whether or not the stop position of the passenger side wiper blade 20 is within the overlap area 1C (step S30).
9). Here, the stop position of the passenger seat side wiper blade 20 can be recognized by the rotation signal from the rotation amount detection sensor 51.

As a result of the discrimination, the front passenger side wiper blade 20
Is locked in the overlap area 1C, the operation of the passenger seat side wiper motor 21 is stopped (step S310), and the driver seat side wiper blade 10 is moved according to the stop position of the passenger seat side wiper blade 20. The allowable movement range is determined (step S311). That is, the moving end in the return direction is determined so as not to collide with the passenger seat side wiper blade 20 stopped in the overlap area 1C.
Then, between the moving end and the upper folding position 3, the driver side wiper motor 11 is operated in the forward and reverse directions so as to reciprocate the driver side wiper blade 10 (step S
312) and proceeds to step S314 shown in FIG.
By operating the driver-side wiper motor 11 in the forward and reverse directions in this manner, collision of the driver-side wiper blade 10 with the passenger-side wiper blade 20 stopped in the overlap region 1C is avoided and the assistant Even when the seat side wiper blade 20 is locked, the driver's side view can be secured.

On the other hand, as a result of the determination in step S309, the passenger seat side wiper blade 20 is overlapped with the overlap area 1
If locked outside C, front passenger side wiper motor 2
Only the operation of No. 1 is stopped, the driver side wiper motor 11 continues the normal operation (step S313), and the process proceeds to step S314 shown in FIG.

In step S314 shown in FIG. 14, it is detected whether the obstacle has been removed after the blade lock and the changeover switch 30 has been re-operated. Changeover switch 30
When the re-operation is performed, the SW switching flag is set to 1 (step S315). The re-operation of the changeover switch 30 detected here is a switching operation to one of the modes of “high-speed operation”, “low-speed operation”, “intermittent operation”, and “stop”. The operation of switching to the "stop" mode is also included. On the other hand, when the changeover switch 30 has not been operated again, it stands by until it is operated again (step S31).
6).

When the SW switch flag = 1 is reached, then D
It is confirmed whether or not the r-lock flag = 1 is set (step S317). And Dr lock flag = 1
If it is, it is confirmed whether the changeover switch 30 has been switched to the "stop" mode (step S3).
18). Here, the mode of the changeover switch 30 is “stop”
When not in the mode, the wiper motors 11 and 21 are returned to the normal operation (step S319), and the SW
The switching flag, the Dr lock flag, and the As lock flag are set to 0 (steps S320, S321, S32).
2) Return to the main routine of FIG.

When the Dr lock flag = 1 is set, the wiper motors 11 and 21 are stopped as shown in step S307 of FIG. 13, so that the wiper blades 10 can be returned from that state to the normal operation. , 20 do not interfere.

If the mode of the changeover switch 30 is the "stop" mode in step S318,
Next, each wiper motor 1 is moved so that each wiper blade 10 and 20 moves from the stopped position toward the starting position 2.
1 and 21 are driven (step S323). When the wiper blades 10, 20 reach the starting position 2 (step S324), the wiper motors 11, 21 are stopped (step S325), and the SW switching flag,
The Dr lock flag and the As lock flag are set to 0 (steps S320, S321, S322), and the process returns to the main routine of FIG.

Thus, the driver side wiper blade 10
And at least one of the passenger side wiper blades 20 is blade-locked, and then the wiper blades 10 and 20 are forcibly moved to the starting position 2 when switched to the "stop" mode by re-operation of the changeover switch 30. so,
Even if at least one of the wiper blades 10 and 20 is locked in the middle position of the wiping range, the wiper blades 10 and 20 move to the starting position 2, so that the visibility from the driver's seat and the passenger seat is secured. be able to.

If the Dr lock flag = 1 is not set in step S317, the process proceeds to step S326 to check the operating state of the driver side wiper motor 11. Then, as shown in step S312 of FIG. 13, the driver seat side wiper motor 11 causes each wiper blade 1 to move.
When the forward and reverse rotation is performed so as to avoid the interference of 0 and 20, the passenger seat side wiper motor 21 is driven so as to move from the position where the passenger seat side wiper blade 20 is stopped to the starting position 2. When the passenger seat side wiper blade 20 reaches the starting position 2 (step S328) (step S329), the wiper motors 11 and 21 are stopped (step S330).

On the other hand, the driver side wiper motor 11 is
As shown in step 313 of No. 3, when the normal operation is continued, the passenger side wiper blade 20 is moved from the stop position to the start position 2 depending on the current position of the driver side wiper blade 10. Doing so may cause interference. Therefore, the current position and the moving direction (whether it is the going direction or the returning direction) of the driver side wiper blade 10 are detected by the rotation signal from the rotation amount detection sensor 41, and the driver side wiper blade 10 is set to the passenger side wiper blade 20. It is confirmed whether the position is closer to the upper folding position 3 than the position symmetrical with the stop position, or whether the driver side wiper blade 10 is going out of the overlap region 1C (step S327).

That is, in the next step S328, the passenger seat side wiper blade 20 is moved to the starting position 2, but at this time, the driver seat side wiper blade 10 is inside the passenger seat side wiper blade 20, that is, closer to the starting position 2. When the wiper blades 10 and 20 collide with each other in the overlap area 1C, the wiper blades 10 and 20 collide in the overlap area 1C. May occur.

Therefore, in this case, the operation of the passenger seat side wiper motor 21 is stopped in step S327. Then, when the driver's seat side wiper blade 10 comes outside the position symmetrical with the stop position of the passenger's seat side wiper blade 20 or when the outward movement is performed outside the overlap area 1C, the passenger's seat side wiper blade 20 for moving the passenger seat side wiper motor 2 toward the starting position 2
1 is driven (step S328), and the passenger side wiper blade 20 reaches the starting position 2 (step S32).
9), the wiper motor 21 is stopped (step S33).
0).

Next, after the passenger side wiper blade 20 reaches the starting position 2, the driver side wiper motor 11 is returned to normal operation (step S331), and the driver side wiper blade 10 is moved to the starting position 2. (Step 332). Note that when the process proceeds from step S313 in FIG. 13, the driver side wiper motor 11 has already continued normal operation, so in step S331, normal operation continues.

Then, it is confirmed whether the changeover switch 30 has been changed to the "stop" mode (step S3).
33). Here, the mode of the changeover switch 30 is “stop”
When not in the mode, the passenger side wiper motor 21 is returned to the normal operation (step S334), and the SW
The switching flag and the As lock flag are each set to 0 (steps S335 and S336), and the process returns to the main routine of FIG.

When only the front passenger side wiper blade 20 is locked, as described above (step S31 in FIG. 13).
2, S313), since the driver side wiper motor 11 is continuously driven, each wiper motor 11, 21 is restored at the time of restoration.
Is out of sync. Therefore, in the present embodiment, as described above, the wiper blades 10 and 20 are first returned to the starting position 2 to synchronize the wiper motors 11 and 21.

On the other hand, when the "stop" mode of the changeover switch 30 is detected in step S333, the wiper motors 11 and 21 are stopped (step S333).
337), SW switch flag, and As lock flag to 0, respectively.
Then (steps S335 and S336), the process returns to the main routine of FIG. Here, each wiper blade 10,
Since 20 has already been moved to the starting position 2 in steps S328 to S332, the visibility from the driver's seat and the passenger seat can be secured.

<Control During Snowfall> Next, the control during snowfall (step S6) shown in FIG. 5 will be described mainly with reference to FIGS. In operation during snowfall, a phenomenon may occur in which snow adhering to the windshield 1 is scraped up by the wiper blades 10 and 20 and accumulated at the starting position 2 set at the lower edge of the windshield 1 to form a snowdrift. . When a snowdrift is formed at the starting position 2, the front passenger seat side wiper blade 20 located on the lower side is less likely to move near the starting position 2 due to the resistance of the snowdrift. For this reason, the driver's seat side wiper blade 10 moving from the rear toward the starting position 2 may collide with the passenger's seat side wiper blade 20.

When the wiper blades 10 and 20 cannot reach the starting position 2 due to the formation of a snowdrift near the starting position 2, the starting position detecting switches 42 and 52 detect the positions of the wiper blades 10 and 20. Therefore, the rotation angles of the wiper motors 11 and 21 and the positions of the wiper blades 10 and 20 cannot be synchronized. The CPU 71 uses the rotation amount detection sensor 4
Rotation signals from 1, 51, that is, each wiper motor 1
Since the positions of the wiper blades 10 and 20 are recognized from the rotation angles of 1 and 21, when the synchronization is lost as described above, the positions of the wiper blades 10 and 20 cannot be accurately grasped, and proper control is performed. The problem arises that compensation cannot be made.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, in order to avoid such an inconvenience during snowfall, the CPU 71 executes the following control. That is, the CP shown in FIG.
A memory (not shown) built in the U71 has a front passenger side wiper motor 2 at a predetermined position separated from the starting position 2 in order to detect the occurrence of a snowdrift.
The first and second threshold values for the angular velocity of 1 are preset. Of these, the first threshold value is the rotation angle of the passenger seat side wiper motor 21, that is, the position of the passenger seat side wiper blade 20 reaches the starting position 2, but the passenger seat side wiper blade 20 moves due to snow accumulation. It is difficult to set the angular velocity so that it may collide with the driver side wiper blade 10 when left unattended. Further, the second threshold value is arbitrarily set to an angular velocity at which the passenger-side wiper blade 20 cannot reach the starting position 2 due to a larger snow accumulation.

The CPU 71 executes step S401 in FIG.
The output interval (time) of the rotation signal from the rotation amount detection sensor 51 provided in the passenger seat side detection unit 50 is detected, and the angular velocity of the passenger seat side wiper motor 21 is detected based on this output interval. In a succeeding step S402, it is confirmed whether or not the rotation angle of the passenger seat side wiper motor 21 has reached the starting position 2. The rotation angles of the wiper motors 11 and 21 and the positions of the wiper blades 10 and 20 are determined by the CPU 71.
It is synchronized by the position counter built into the.

The rotation angle of the passenger seat side wiper motor 21 is
When reaching the starting position 2, the angular velocity near the starting position 2 is then compared with the first threshold value (step S40).
3) If the angular velocity is higher than the first threshold value, the snowdrift flag is set to 0 (step S404). On the other hand, if the angular velocity is lower than the first threshold value, it is determined that a snowdrift has occurred. Judgment is made and the snow accumulation flag is set to 1 (step S405). After that, the position counter of the passenger seat side wiper motor 21 is reset (step S406), and the rotation angle 0 ° of the wiper motors 11 and 21 is synchronized with the starting position 2 of the passenger seat side wiper blade 20.

Then, it is confirmed whether or not the snowdrift flag = 1 is set (step S407), and the snowdrift flag is set.
When = 1 is not reached, it is determined that the snowdrift has not occurred, so the process proceeds to step S408, and it is confirmed whether or not the rotation angle of the driver side wiper motor 11 has reached the starting position 2. Then, when the start position 2 is reached, the position counter of the driver side wiper motor 11 is reset at that time (step S409), and the rotation angle 0 ° of the wiper motor 11 is set to the start position 2 of the driver side wiper blade 10.
Sync to. When the rotation angle of the driver side wiper motor 11 has not reached the starting position 2, the wiper motors 11 are normally operated as they are (step S41).
0), and returns to the main routine of FIG.

On the other hand, when the snowdrift flag = 1 is set, the process proceeds to step S411 in FIG. 16 to rotate the driver side wiper motor 11 in the reverse direction based on the angular velocity near the starting position 2, that is, the driver side. The lower inverted position of the wiper blade 10 is calculated, and the driver seat wiper motor 11 is calculated.
When the rotation angle of reaches the lower reversal position (step S412), the wiper motor 11 is rotated in the reverse direction,
The driver side wiper blade 10 is reversed from the returning operation to the going operation (step S413).

As described above, in the present embodiment, first, the driver side wiper blade 10 reaches the starting position 2 at an arbitrary position (lower reversal position) depending on the snowdrift condition.
So, it is reversed from the return operation to the go operation. That is, as the amount of snow accumulated in the starting position 2 increases, the return operation is hindered at the position where the wiper blades 10 and 20 are separated from the starting position 2. Therefore, the driver's seat side wiper motor 11 is rotated in the reverse direction when the snowdrift is small to compensate for the smooth operation of the driver's seat side wiper blade 10 to secure the driver's seat side view where the driver sits.

Here, the lower reversal position at which the driver seat side wiper motor 11 starts reverse rotation is the passenger seat side wiper motor 21.
Changes depending on the angular velocity in the vicinity of the starting position 2. That is, when the snowdrift is small and the decrease in the angular velocity is small, the lower reversal position is set near the starting position 2. Then, as the snowdrift increases, the angular velocity decreases. Therefore, the lower reversal position is separated from the starting position 2 in response to the decrease in the angular velocity.

Next, when the rotation angle of the driver side wiper motor 11 reaches the upper turnaround position 3 (step S
414), the wiper motor 11 is rotated in the forward direction again to change the driver side wiper blade 10 to the return operation (step S415).

Here, the determination as to whether or not the upper folding position 3 has been reached is made based on the detection signal (upper folding position detection signal) from the upper folding position detection switch 43 provided in the driver side detector 40. . That is, the rotation angle of the driver's seat side wiper motor 11 corresponding to the moving distance from the starting position 2 to the upper folding position 3 is calculated in advance by the CPU 71.
However, if the driver side wiper motor 11 rotates in the reverse direction at an arbitrary lower folding position, C
The PU 71 cannot recognize the upper folding position 3 based on the rotation signal from the rotation amount detection sensor 41. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the upper folded-back position detection switch 43 is provided as shown in FIG. 2 and the detection signal from this switch is used to recognize that the driver seat side wiper blade 10 has reached the upper folded-back position 3. I am doing it. In addition,
The same applies to the wiper blade 20 on the passenger side.

Further, the CPU 71 resets the position counter of the driver side wiper motor 11 (step S416) when the detection signal is input from the upper folding position detection switch 43 (step S416), and the rotation angle of the driver side wiper motor 11 is set to 1
80 ° is synchronized with the upper folding position 3 of the driver side wiper blade 10. That is, when the position counter is reset only at the starting position 2, the driver side wiper blade 10 is inverted before reaching the starting position 2 as described above when a snow accumulation occurs, so the position counter at the starting position 2 is reset. As a result, a deviation occurs between the rotation angle of the driver side wiper motor 11 and the wiping position of the driver side wiper blade 10. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the upper folding position detection switch 43 is provided at the upper folding position 3, and the position counter of the driver side wiper motor 11 is reset based on the detection signal from the switch.

Next, the CPU 71 compares the angular velocity near the starting position 2 of the passenger side wiper motor 21 with the second threshold value (step S417). When the angular velocity is larger than the second threshold value, the passenger seat side wiper motor 21 is normally operated (step S418) and the process returns to the main routine of FIG.

On the other hand, when the angular velocity is lower than the second threshold value, it is determined that the snowdrift is expanding, and the process proceeds to step S419 in FIG. 2 Passenger side wiper motor 21 based on angular velocity near 2
The lower reversal position of is calculated. Then, when the rotation angle of the passenger seat side wiper motor 21 reaches the lower reversal position (step S420), the wiper motor 21 is rotated in the reverse direction to reverse the passenger seat side wiper blade 20 from the return operation to the going operation. (Step S421).

As described above, in the present embodiment, first, the driver side wiper blade 10 is inverted at an arbitrary position (lower inverted position) before reaching the starting position 2 in accordance with the snowdrift condition ( In step S413), if the snowdrift becomes large, the front passenger side wiper blade 20
As for the above, the position is inverted at an arbitrary position (lower side inversion position) before reaching the starting position 2. The lower reversal position is calculated based on the angular velocity in the vicinity of the starting position 2 as in the case of the driver's seat side wiper motor 11.

Next, when the rotation angle of the passenger seat side wiper motor 21 reaches the upper folding position 4, (step S
422), the wiper motor 21 is normally rotated again to change the front passenger side wiper blade 20 to return operation (step S423). Here again, the determination as to whether or not the vehicle has reached the upper folding position 4 is made based on the detection signal (upper folding position detection signal) from the upper folding position detection switch 53 provided in the passenger seat side detection unit 50.

Further, the CPU 71 resets the position counter of the front passenger side wiper motor 21 (step S424) when the detection signal is input from the upper folding position detection switch 53 (step S424), and the rotation angle of the front passenger side wiper motor 21 is set to 180 °. It is synchronized with the upper folding position 4 of the passenger seat side wiper blade 20. When a snow accumulation occurs, the procedure returns to the main routine of FIG. 5 through the above steps.

If the angular velocity is lower than the second threshold value in step S417 of FIG.
As shown in (b), the passenger seat side wiper motor 21 may be stopped (step S430) and the process may return to the main routine of FIG.

When the front passenger side wiper motor 21 is continuously operated, snow adhering to the windshield 1 is scraped up near the starting position 2 every time the front passenger side wiper blade 20 returns, and the starting position is reduced. The snow pool near 2 increases. Therefore, the wiper blade 20 on the passenger seat side, which has little influence on the driving of the vehicle, can be stopped in accordance with the situation of the snowdrift, so that a further increase of the snowdrift can be suppressed.

[0141]

As described above, according to the present invention,
It is possible to stop each wiper blade at the starting position without overrunning regardless of the surface condition of the windshield.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an outline of an overlap type wiper device.

FIG. 2 is a circuit configuration diagram showing a control system of the overlap type wiper device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining a duty ratio of a drive voltage output to a brush of each wiper motor.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a standard duty ratio pattern used for drive control of each wiper motor in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a main routine relating to a control method of the wiper device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

6 is a flowchart relating to normal operation control of step S4 in the main routine shown in FIG.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart following FIG. 6, relating to normal operation control.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart following FIG. 7, relating to normal operation control.

9 is a flowchart relating to the stop control of step S9 in the main routine shown in FIG.

FIG. 10 shows a stop control according to an embodiment of the present invention,
It is a figure which shows an example of the wiping range which calculates the wiping speed.

FIG. 11 is a waveform diagram for explaining the relationship between the rotation signal pulse input from the rotation amount detection sensor and the wiping speed.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing another method of stop control according to the embodiment of the present invention.

13 is a flowchart relating to control during blade lock in step S5 in the main routine shown in FIG.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart following FIG. 13, relating to control during blade lock.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart relating to control during snowfall in step S6 in the main routine shown in FIG.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart following FIG. 15, relating to control during snowfall.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart following FIG. 16, relating to control during snowfall.

[Explanation of symbols]

1: Windshield 1 1A, 1B: wiping area 1C: Overlap area 2: Start position 3: Upper folding position 4: Upper folding position 10: Wiper blade on driver side 11: Driver side wiper motor 12: Link mechanism 20: Passenger side wiper blade 21: Passenger side wiper motor 22: Link mechanism 30: Changeover switch 31: Intermittent volume 32: Washer motor 40: Driver side detector 41: Rotation amount detection sensor 42: Start position detection switch 43: Upper folding position detection switch 50: Passenger side detector 51: Rotation amount detection sensor 52: Start position detection switch 53: Upper folded position detection switch 60: Vehicle speed sensor 70: Controller 71: CPU (central processing unit) 72: Power supply circuit 73: Reset circuit 74: Driver side motor drive circuit 75: Motor drive circuit for passenger side 76: Hi / Lo switching relay on driver side 77: Hi / Lo switching relay on the passenger side 78: Relay drive circuit 80: Power 81: Start switch

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    F term (reference) 3D025 AA02 AB01 AC01 AD02 AD09                       AE57 AE76 AG01 AG10 AG18                       AG77

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A driver side wiper blade for wiping a driver side wiping area of a vehicle windshield, a passenger side wiper blade for wiping a passenger side wiping area of a vehicle windshield, and the driver side wiper blade. A driver seat side wiper motor to be driven, a passenger seat side wiper motor that drives the passenger seat side wiper blade, and a changeover switch for setting at least the operation of each wiper motor to any mode of intermittent operation or continuous operation. The wiper blade reciprocates in the wiping region between the starting position set on the lower end edge side of the vehicle windshield and the upper folding position set on each side end edge side of the vehicle windshield, and Overrun is set within a certain range from the starting position and the driver side wiping area and the passenger side wiping area overlap. In a wiper device configured to wipe the lap region by overlapping each wiper blade, the setting mode of each wiper motor by the changeover switch is switched from continuous operation to stop or intermittent operation and each wiper blade is stopped at the starting position. At this time, when the respective wiper blades return to the starting position, the wiper motor is provided with a control means for reducing the rotation speed of the wiper motor below a preset standard rotation speed pattern. apparatus. 2. The wiper device according to claim 1, wherein the control means calculates a wiping speed of at least one of the wiper blades, and presets a rotation speed of each wiper motor based on the calculation result. A wiper device characterized in that it determines the timing of lowering the rotation speed pattern from a certain standard rotation speed pattern. 3. The wiper device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit calculates a wiping speed of at least one of the wiper blades, and presets a rotation speed of each wiper motor based on the calculation result. A wiper device characterized by determining a reduction ratio for reducing the rotation speed pattern from a certain standard rotation speed pattern. 4. The wiper device according to claim 2, wherein the control unit calculates a wiping speed of at least one of the wiper blades within a preset wiping range. Wiper device. 5. The wiper device according to claim 4, wherein the control unit outputs to a wiper motor that drives at least one of the wiper blades, a rotation amount detection sensor that detects a rotation amount from its origin. The current position of the wiper blade is recognized based on the rotation signal, and a pulse of the rotation signal output from the rotation amount detection sensor per constant time at the time when the wiper blade passes a preset constant wiping range. A wiper control device, wherein the wiping speed of the wiper blade is calculated by counting the number. 6. A driver side wiper blade for wiping a driver side wiping area of a vehicle windshield, a passenger side wiper blade for wiping a passenger side wiping area of a vehicle windshield, and the driver side wiper blade. A driver seat side wiper motor to be driven, a passenger seat side wiper motor that drives the passenger seat side wiper blade, and a changeover switch for setting at least the operation of each wiper motor to any mode of intermittent operation or continuous operation. The wiper blade reciprocates in the wiping region between the starting position set on the lower end edge side of the vehicle windshield and the upper folding position set on each side end edge side of the vehicle windshield, and Overrun is set within a certain range from the starting position and the driver side wiping area and the passenger side wiping area overlap. In a wiper device having a configuration in which each wiper blade wipes a lap region by overlapping, a step of detecting a switching operation of the changeover switch, and a setting mode of each wiper motor by the changeover switch is changed from continuous operation to stop or intermittent operation. When stopping each wiper blade at the starting position, when the respective wiper blades return to the starting position, the rotation speed of each wiper motor is made lower than the standard rotation speed pattern set in advance. And a step of controlling the motor, the control method of the wiper device. 7. The method for controlling a wiper device according to claim 6, wherein the motor control step further includes a speed calculation step of calculating a wiping speed of at least one of the wiper blades, and a calculation result based on the calculation result. And a step of determining a timing at which the rotation speed of each wiper motor is made lower than a preset standard rotation speed pattern, the control method of the wiper device. 8. The method for controlling a wiper device according to claim 6, wherein the motor control step further includes a speed calculation step of calculating a wiping speed of at least one of the wiper blades, and a calculation result thereof. And a step of determining a reduction rate for reducing the rotation speed of each wiper motor below a preset standard rotation speed pattern. 9. The method for controlling a wiper device according to claim 7, wherein the speed calculating step calculates a wiping speed of at least one of the wiper blades within a preset wiping range. A method for controlling a wiper device, comprising: 10. The method for controlling a wiper device according to claim 9, wherein the speed calculation step detects a rotation amount of a wiper motor driving at least one of the wiper blades from a starting point thereof. The current position of the wiper blade is recognized based on the rotation signal output from the sensor, and the wiper blade is output from the rotation amount detection sensor per fixed time at the time when the wiper blade passes a preset fixed wiping range. A control method for a wiper control device, comprising a step of calculating a wiping speed of the wiper blade by counting the number of pulses of a rotation signal.