JPH0637397Y2 - Automatic control device for EC anti-glare mirror for automobiles - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial field of application] The present invention relates to an antiglare mirror for an automobile, and in particular, is an EC type antiglare mirror automatic control device improved so as to appropriately control changes in reflectance. It is about.

[Conventional technology]

Mirrors for automobiles (inside mirror, outside mirror, door mirror) are indispensable for confirming the rear view and driving safely, but they are dazzled when strong light such as the light of the following vehicle is reflected. It causes the trouble of feeling.

In order to reduce this dazzling, it is effective to reduce the reflectance of the mirror at night.

For this purpose, an antiglare mirror having a structure that can be adjusted to increase or decrease the reflectance is used.

Generally, prism type anti-glare mirrors and liquid crystal type anti-glare mirrors have been put to practical use, and EC type anti-glare mirrors utilizing electrochromism (hereinafter abbreviated as EC) have been developed and put to practical use. I am trying.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory view showing a cross section of an EC type antiglare mirror, in which the thickness dimension is enlarged for convenience of reading, and the right side of the drawing is the rear surface of the mirror.

A transparent conductive layer 2 is provided as a first electrode on the glass substrate 1. The material is, for example, ITO (indium tin tin
Oxide) and SnO ₂ are used.

Furthermore, EC colored by a reduction reaction (for example, WO
₃ , M ₀ O ₃ ) first EC layer 3, electrolyte layer (eg Ta ₂ O ₅ , ZrO ₂ , S
iO ₂ ) 4, EC colored by oxidation reaction (eg Cr ₂ O ₃ , N
iO, IrO ₂ ) second EC layer 5, second electrode / reflection layer (materials are Al, A
6) are sequentially layered, and an electrically insulating protective layer 7 is covered thereover. Note that the above 1st EC material and 2nd EC
It may be configured by replacing the material of.

Between the first electrode 2 and the second electrode 6, the DC voltage (0.5
(Approx. ~ 2.0V) and switch the polarity,
Electrochemical oxidation and reduction reactions occur in the second EC layer,
The first EC layer 3 and the second EC layer 5 are colored or erased.

Due to the coloring and decoloring, the absorptance of passing light changes, and the reflectance changes when the function as a mirror is examined.

When the EC anti-glare mechanism configured as described above is applied to a rearview mirror for an automobile, it is mainly required at night.

Considering further in detail, it is desirable that the EC anti-glare mirror is decolored during normal nighttime driving to increase the reflectance and brighten the rear view reflected on the mirror.

Then, when the light of the following vehicle is reflected by the mirror and enters the rear view, and the driver feels dazzling, the EC anti-glare mirror is colored to reduce the reflectance and darken the rear view reflected on the mirror. Is desirable.

Based on these demands, EC anti-glare mirrors having an automatic control device as shown in FIGS. 3 to 6 have been developed.

FIG. 3 is a front view and FIG. 4 is a rear view.

The EC anti-glare mirror body 8 having the structure described with reference to FIG. 2 is supported by the stay 10 via the mirror body 9.

An ambient brightness sensor 11 is provided on the back side and a following vehicle light sensor 12 is provided on the front side (the side facing the driver).

The VV cross section shown in FIG. 4 is shown in FIG. 5, and the VI-VI cross section is shown in FIG.

Reference numeral 13 denotes an electronic circuit board connected to the ambient brightness sensor 11 and the following vehicle light sensor 12, which is installed in the mirror body 9.

The ambient brightness sensor 11 detects the luminosity of the outside scene through the windshield for automobiles and outputs the luminosity level signal to the electronic circuit board.
It is sent to a control circuit (not shown) provided in 13.

The control circuit determines whether daytime or nighttime is determined from the brightness of the outside scene, and operates so as not to apply a voltage in the coloring direction to the EC antiglare mirror body during the daytime.

Then, when it is determined that it is nighttime, the EC anti-glare mirror main body operates so that the coloring direction voltage or the erasing direction voltage can be applied.

When it is determined that the vehicle is at night, the following vehicle light sensor 12 automatically controls the vehicle.

However, a switch 14 for switching operation shown in FIG. 3 is provided so that automatic control and manual operation can be switched. 15 is an adjusting lever.

[Problems to be solved by the device]

The EC anti-glare mirror main body 8 increases the coloring degree when a voltage is applied in the coloring direction, and decreases the coloring degree when a voltage is applied in the erasing direction.

Further, when the degree of coloring is at a certain level, if the connection with the power source is cut off so as to prevent leakage, the degree of coloring at that time is maintained.

Therefore, a desirable function for the automatic control of the EC anti-glare mirror having such a function is "the illuminance when the light of the following vehicle is reflected by the anti-glare mirror is colored to such an extent that the driver is not dazzled (reflection Rate), and the reflected image does not become too dark due to excessive coloring. ”

However, in the control device of the conventional example shown in FIGS. 3 to 6, the above-described appropriate coloring (decrease in reflectance) cannot be obtained,
When the light of the following vehicle of a certain level or higher is received, there is a problem that the coloring progresses to the maximum extent, the reflectance becomes the minimum, and the reflected image becomes too dark.

The elucidation of the mechanism that causes the above problems is extremely important for the solution, and will be considered next.

When the light of the following vehicle is reflected by the EC anti-glare mirror and enters the eyes of the driver, how much or more looks you feel glare depends on the driver's individual feeling, and also the surrounding scenery. It also depends on the brightness.

Assuming that the driver feels dazzling at 10 lux or more and is easy to drive at about 5 lux, it will be easier to understand the calculation.

In the control device of the conventional example, in such a case, when the following vehicle light sensor 12 detects light of 10 lux or more,
By applying a voltage in the coloring direction to the EC anti-glare mirror body, the coloring reaction proceeds and the reflectance is reduced.

When the reflectance decreases to 1/2, the driver's eyes will see 10 × 1
It is suitable because the light of / 2 = 5 (looks) comes in.

However, let us consider the case where a 10 lux light is continuously incident from the following vehicle.

The driver sees the reflection image from the EC anti-glare mirror body with a reflectance of 1/2, which is preferable.

However, the following vehicle light sensor 12 detects the light of the following vehicle of 10 lux at the same time.

In this way, the driver's sense and the following vehicle light sensor 12
There will be a gap with the sensitivity of.

Therefore, although the driver feels that the driver is just right, the following vehicle light sensor 12 continues to output an electric signal indicating "dazzling", and the electronic circuit board 13 is input to this signal to the EC anti-glare mirror main body 8 The voltage in the coloring direction is continuously applied.

In this way, the EC anti-glare mirror body 8 is colored without stopping and reaches the maximum coloring degree (minimum reflectance).

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and when the light of the following vehicle starts to make the driver feel dazzling, the coloring degree (reflectance) of the EC anti-glare mirror main body is changed to It is an object of the present invention to provide a device that can be automatically controlled so that a value suitable for the driver can be obtained.

[Means for Solving the Problems]

As described above, in the control device of the conventional example in which the illuminance of the following vehicle light sensor exceeds the set value, the cause of the follower vehicle light sensor 12 outputs a signal that endlessly without "dazzling", succeeding the feeling of the driver It can be seen that there is a deviation from the sensitivity of the car light sensor.

The present invention was created based on the idea of correcting the above-mentioned deviation with the simplest configuration, and the principle thereof is as follows.

That is, since the driver is looking at the reflection image from the EC anti-glare mirror body 8, in order to make the sensitivity of the following vehicle light sensor 12 match the driver's sense, the following vehicle light sensor is used.
It suffices if the light reflected by the EC anti-glare mirror body 8 is also received by 12.

Based on the above principle, the automatic control device for the EC anti-glare mirror according to the present invention is provided on a glass substrate as a specific configuration for adapting this to the actual surface and simplifying the configuration as much as possible. A transparent conductive layer as a first electrode,
A first EC layer that changes color tone with an electrochemical redox reaction, an electrolyte layer, a second EC layer that changes color tone with an electrochemical redox reaction, a conductive layer as a second electrode, and an optical reflection surface are provided. An EC type antiglare mirror for automobiles, which is sequentially laminated, is applied, and a DC voltage is applied between the optical sensor installed facing the end surface of the glass substrate and the first electrode and the second electrode. A drive power supply circuit, a switch interposed in the drive power supply circuit, and an output of the optical sensor are input, the level of the output is compared with a preset value, and the switch is operated. And a discrimination circuit.

[Action]

According to the above configuration, since the EC antiglare mirror body is installed so as to face the end surface of the glass substrate, the optical sensor receives light transmitted through the first EC layer and the second EC layer of the antiglare mirror body.

In this way, the optical sensor receives light of approximately the same level as the reflected light image that enters the eyes of the driver, and thus emits a signal output having the same tendency as the glare felt by the driver.

Therefore, even though the driver does not feel it is dazzling, the optical sensor (light sensor of the following vehicle) does not cause a problem that the EC anti-glare mirror is colored by issuing a signal of "dazzling". Automatic control is performed so that the degree of coloring (reflectance) is suitable for the driver.

(Embodiment) FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of an EC anti-glare mirror according to the present invention,
FIG. 1A is a cross-sectional view and FIG. 1B is a block diagram of an electric circuit.

As shown in FIG. 1 (A), the EC is placed in the mirror body 9 '.
The antiglare mirror body 8 is fixed.

The EC anti-glare mirror main body 8 is configured as shown in FIG. 2, and 1 is the glass substrate 6 which is also a reflective layer and a second electrode.

A succeeding vehicle light sensor 12 is installed so as to face the end surface of the glass substrate 1 and is connected to an electronic circuit substrate 13.
The electrical connection is as shown in FIG.

Between the EC anti-glare mirror body 8 and the drive power supply circuit 21, a switch (A) 22, a switch (B) 23, and a switch (C) 24 are provided.
And are connected in series.

Of the above three types of switches, the switch (A) 22 is controlled by the ambient brightness sensor 11 via the amplifier circuit 28 and the discrimination circuit 29, and detects a state requiring EC antiglare effect (for example, at night). It will be closed when you do. This switch (A)
When the switch 22 is opened, the DC power of the drive circuit 21 is not applied to the EC anti-glare mirror body 8 regardless of whether the other switches (23, 24) are open or closed.

Therefore, the antiglare mirror main body 8 is not colored on a general daytime road.

The determination circuit 29 determines whether the ambient brightness becomes less than or equal to how much the ambient light can be activated.
It can be adjusted as desired by operating the regulator 30 of.

Thus, the following vehicle light sensor 12 (see FIG. 1A) is connected to the discrimination circuit 26 via the amplifier circuit 25 as shown in FIG. 1B.

The discrimination circuit 26 controls the single-pole single-throw switch (B) 23 and the double-pole double-throw switch (C) 24 based on the output signal of the following vehicle light sensor 12.

When the switch (C) 24 is turned on to the contact A'side,
The EC anti-glare mirror main body 8 is wired so that a voltage in the coloring direction is applied and a voltage in the erasing direction is applied when the contact B'is conducted.

Now, if the driver is driving at night, switch (A) 22
Is closed.

Then, it is assumed that the driver operates the regulator 27 of the determination circuit 26 to adjust the desired illuminance by 5 lux.

In this case, the switch (B) 23 is for the following vehicle light sensor 12
From the received light of 5 lux + α lux or more, and
It is controlled so that it is closed when it is 5 lux-α lux or less and it is opened between 5 lux-α lux or lux + α lux.

As can be easily understood from FIG. 1 (A), when the light from the following vehicle enters the EC anti-glare mirror body 8 as shown by the arrow L, the driver's eye Eye colors the EC anti-glare mirror body 8. The light passing back and forth through the layers is received by the pupil.

On the other hand, the light sensor 12 of the following vehicle is also the main body 8 of the EC anti-glare mirror.
The light reflected by the front surface of the glass substrate 1 is received by passing through the colored layer of FIG.

In this way, the following vehicle light sensor 12 always receives the light amount proportional to the light amount entering the eyes of the driver according to the change in the coloring degree (reflectance) of the EC anti-glare mirror body 8.

When the following vehicle light sensor 12 detects 5 lux or more, the switch (C) 24 is switched to the coloring side by the control operation of the determination circuit 26.

At this time, if it is 5 lux + α lux or more, the switch (B) 23 is closed, so the EC anti-glare mirror body 8
A voltage in the coloring direction is applied to the EC anti-glare mirror main body 8 to reduce its reflectance.

Due to the decrease in the reflectance, the amount of light entering the eyes of the driver and the amount of light received by the following vehicle light sensor 12 decrease substantially in proportion.

In this way, when the light entering the eyes of the driver and the light received by the following vehicle light sensor 12 are reduced to less than 5 lux + α lux, the switch (C) 24 remains switched to the contact A ′ side (colored side), The switch (B) 23 is opened, the EC anti-glare mirror main body 8 is disconnected from the drive circuit, and the colored state (reflectance) is maintained as it is.

Switch (C) when the following car light is less than 5 lux
24 is switched to contact B '(decoloring side).

Further, when it becomes 5 lux-α lux or less, the switch (B) 23 is closed and a voltage in the erasing direction is applied to the EC anti-glare mirror main body 8, and the EC anti-glare mirror restores the reflectance by the erasing reaction.

As illustrated above, the reason why the inactive region of ± α looks is provided is to prevent chattering of the switch.

[Effect of device]

As described above, according to the automatic control device of the present invention,
When the light of the following vehicle starts to make the driver feel dazzling, it is an excellent practical method that can automatically control the coloring degree of the EC anti-glare mirror body to a value suitable for the driver. Produce an effect.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of an automatic control apparatus for an automobile EC anti-glare mirror according to the present invention. FIG. 1 (A) is a sectional view and FIG. 1 (B) is a block diagram of an electric circuit. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view for explaining the structural function of the EC antiglare mirror. 3 to 6 show a conventional example, FIG. 3 is a front view, and FIG. 4 is a rear view. FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line VV shown in FIG. 4, and FIG. 6 is the same.
It is a VI-VI sectional view. 1 ... Glass substrate, 6 ... Reflecting layer and second electrode, 8 ... EC
Main body of anti-glare mirror, 11 ...... Ambient brightness sensor, 12 ...... Light sensor of following vehicle, 13 ...... Electronic circuit board.

Claims (2)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A transparent conductive layer as a first electrode provided on a glass substrate, a first EC layer that changes a color tone in accordance with an electrochemical redox reaction, an electrolyte layer, and a color tone by an electrochemical redox reaction. For an automobile in which a second EC layer for changing the light emission, a conductive layer as a second electrode and an optical reflection surface are sequentially laminated.
In the EC type anti-glare mirror, an optical sensor installed facing the end surface of the glass substrate, a drive power supply circuit for applying a DC voltage between the first electrode and the second electrode, and An intervening switch, and a determination circuit that inputs the output of the optical sensor, compares the level of the output with a preset value, and operates the switch. , Automotive EC
Automatic control device for anti-glare mirror. 2. The discriminating circuit has a manual operation means for adjusting a preset output level value, and the switch has a function of opening and closing application of a DC voltage by a driving power supply circuit, The automatic control device for an EC anti-glare mirror for an automobile according to claim 1, which has a function of switching between positive and negative of the applied voltage.