JP2023163971A - Foreign matter detection device - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a technology for reducing a risk that a vehicle drives onto a detection device while maintaining a range in which intrusion of foreign matters is detectable at a necessary size, for a device that detects intrusion of foreign matters into a lower part of a vehicle via detection light.SOLUTION: A foreign matter detection device comprises: an optical transmitter which emits detection light toward a retroreflective target mounted on a bottom face of a vehicle body of a vehicle in a direction which is inclined relative to a vertical direction; and a light receiving sensor for receiving detection light reflected by the target. The foreign matter detection device is arranged on a side face of a movable device mounted on a ground surface so as to be located at a position closer to a center line of the vehicle in a lateral direction than to the target.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

The present disclosure relates to a foreign object detection device that detects foreign object intrusion into the underfloor of a vehicle.

Patent Document 1 discloses a system for accurately detecting foreign objects present on the upper surface of a casing housing a coil in a non-contact power supply system while suppressing the influence of ambient light such as sunlight and lighting. The contactless power supply system includes a light emitting unit and a light receiving unit, and detects foreign objects such as iron using detection light that travels from the light emitting unit to the light receiving unit. The light-emitting unit and the light-receiving unit are provided so that the detection light passes through the upper surface of the casing that houses the coil for charging.

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2014-107915

As disclosed in Patent Document 1, a detection device is known that detects intrusion of foreign matter by blocking detection light. Such devices may be used to prevent the entrainment of foreign objects when mobile equipment, such as the ground plane of a contact automatic charging system, operates. The ground unit of the contact-type automatic charging system is installed under the floor of a parked vehicle in a parking space, etc., and charges the vehicle by moving its movable parts and connecting with the device on the vehicle. However, if a human body or the like enters the underfloor of the vehicle while the movable parts are in operation, there is a risk of damage to the movable parts or the human body. Therefore, a detection device is installed in order to stop the operation of the movable part when it is detected that a foreign object has entered the underfloor of the vehicle. Detection devices are often installed close to the wheels in order to widen the range in which they can detect intrusion of foreign objects, but this may cause the vehicle to run onto the device when entering a parking space. Cheap.

An object of the present disclosure is to provide a device that detects the intrusion of a foreign object under the floor of a vehicle by blocking detection light, while maintaining a necessary range for detecting the intrusion of a foreign object, while reducing the risk of a vehicle running onto the detection device. The goal is to provide technology that can reduce

The present disclosure relates to a foreign object detection device that detects intrusion of foreign objects into the underfloor of a vehicle by blocking detection light.
The foreign object detection device includes an optical transmitter that emits detection light in a direction oblique to the vertical direction toward a retroreflective target mounted on the bottom of the vehicle body, and receives the detection light reflected by the target. A light receiving sensor is provided.
The foreign object detection device is placed on the side of a movable device installed on the ground so as to be closer to the lateral centerline of the vehicle than the target.

According to the technology of the present disclosure, in a device that detects the intrusion of a foreign object under the floor of a vehicle by blocking the detection light, it is possible to maintain a sufficient range for detecting the intrusion of a foreign object while reducing the risk of the vehicle running onto the detection device. can be reduced.

This is a configuration example of a parking space comparison technique to which a foreign object detection device is applied. It is a configuration example of a parking space to which the foreign object detection device according to the present embodiment is applied. It is another example of a structure of the parking space to which the foreign object detection device based on this Embodiment is applied.

Embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Consider installing a movable device, such as a ground unit for a contact-type automatic charging system, in a vehicle parking space. FIG. 1 shows an example of the configuration of a parking space in which a ground vehicle of a contact type automatic charging system is installed in a comparative technology. The ground plane 21 is a device installed on the ground in the contact automatic charging system, and can charge the vehicle by connecting to a device mounted on the bottom of the vehicle body. The ground plane 21 is installed to be located between the wheels 12 of the vehicle 11 to be parked and stopped, and when the vehicle 11 is parked or stopped, it operates the movable part 22 toward the bottom of the vehicle body to move the vehicle 11. It connects to the device on the side and charges the vehicle 11.

If a foreign object such as a human body enters under the floor of the vehicle 11 while the movable part 22 is operating, the human body or the like may be caught in the movement of the movable part 22, leading to damage to the movable part 22 or the human body. Therefore, in order to stop the operation of the movable part 22 when a foreign object enters under the floor of the vehicle 11, a foreign object detection device 31 is installed in the parking space to detect the foreign object entering under the floor of the vehicle by blocking the detection light. will be installed.

Foreign object detection device 31 includes an optical transmitter and a light receiving sensor. The optical transmitter can irradiate detection light toward a reflective target 13 mounted on the bottom surface of the vehicle body 11 . The light receiving sensor can receive the detection light reflected by the target 13. In FIG. 1, the path through which the detection light passes is shown by dotted arrows. When a foreign object enters under the floor of the vehicle 11, the detection light is blocked. Then, even though the optical transmitter irradiates the target 13 with the detection light, the light receiving sensor no longer receives the reflected detection light, so that the foreign object detection device 31 can detect the intrusion of the foreign object. In the comparative technique shown in FIG. 1, the passage path of the detection light is oriented in the vertical direction. This is such that the target 13 and the foreign object detection device 31 are in a positional relationship directly above and directly below so that the detection light is vertically irradiated toward the target 13, which has a specular reflective horizontal surface, and is reflected back to its original position. This is because they are arranged so that

The detection range in which the foreign object detection device 31 can detect the intrusion of a foreign object is the area sandwiched between the passage path of the detection light in the space under the floor of the vehicle 11. , at least one each. Further, for the purpose of preventing foreign matter from being drawn in when the movable part 22 is operated, the detection range needs to include the movable range of the movable part 22. In the comparative example, since the detection light is irradiated vertically directly above the foreign object detection device 31, the detection range is inside the foreign object detection device 31 when viewed in the lateral direction of the vehicle 11, that is, in the axle direction. Therefore, as a result of being arranged outside the movable range of the movable part 22, in the comparative technique, the foreign object detection device 31 is installed at a position close to the wheel 12. However, with this arrangement, there is a high possibility that the wheels 12 may run onto the foreign object detection device 31 depending on the route taken when the vehicle 11 enters the parking space. If this happens, the foreign object detection device 31 may be damaged, and the foreign object detection device 31 may become inoperable. Therefore, it is desirable that the foreign object detection device 31 be installed inside the wheel 12 so as not to be close to it.

The foreign object detection device 31 of the present disclosure is provided to solve such problems. FIG. 2 shows a configuration example of a parking space to which the foreign object detection device 31 of the present disclosure is applied. As shown in FIG. 2, in the present disclosure, the foreign object detection device 31 is arranged at a position closer to the center of the vehicle 11 than the target 13 when viewed in the axle direction. Then, the optical transmitter irradiates detection light toward the target 13 in a direction inclined with respect to the vertical direction. Since the passage path of the detection light is oriented diagonally to the vertical direction and the target 13 is located outside of the foreign object detection device 31 when viewed in the axle direction of the vehicle 11, the detection range is directed upward. The range has expanded. Thus, in the present disclosure, the detection range can include the movable range of the movable part 22 without installing the foreign object detection device 31 outside the movable range of the movable part 22.

The optimal location for installing the foreign object detection device 31 is on the side of the ground plane 21. Since the wheels 12 cannot pass over the ground plane 21 or the foreign object detection device 31, if the foreign object detection device 31 is installed outside the ground plane 21, the range through which the wheels 12 can pass will be narrowed. However, if the foreign object detection device 31 is installed inside the ground plane 21, the detection range may become narrower and not include the movable part 22. Therefore, the optimum position for installation is the side of the ground plane 21.

An example of the configuration of the target 13 will be explained. The target 13 is mounted outside the foreign object detection device 31 when viewed in the lateral direction of the vehicle 11. Furthermore, in order to widen the detection range, it is desirable that the target 13 be a target installed at a position close to the outside of the vehicle 11 when viewed in the lateral direction. Although FIG. 2 only shows the positional relationship in a plane including the horizontal and vertical directions of the vehicle 11, the wheels 12, target 13, ground plane 21, and foreign object detection device 31 are located at the front and rear of the vehicle 11. The positional relationships in the directions are different. Moreover, as the target 13 for reflecting the obliquely irradiated detection light back to its original position, a retroreflective target 13 as shown in FIG. 2 is assumed, for example. Retroreflectivity refers to the property of reflecting incident light in the same direction, and is sometimes referred to as retroreflectivity. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 3, a target 13 mounted on the bottom surface of the vehicle body 11 so as to face diagonally with respect to the horizontal plane may be used.

Note that the effects of the present disclosure can also be obtained in an arrangement in which the foreign object detection device 31 and the target 13 are exchanged. In this case, the target 13 is installed on the side surface of the ground plane 21, and the foreign object detection device 31 is installed on the bottom surface of the vehicle 11 at a position outside of the target 13 when viewed in the lateral direction. By irradiating the detection light in the direction in which the optical transmitter is inclined toward the target 13, it is possible to reduce the risk of the wheels 12 running onto the target 13 while ensuring the necessary detection range.

As described above, the foreign object detection device of the present disclosure is installed on the side of a movable device such as a ground plane of a contact automatic charging system. Then, detection light is emitted in an inclined direction toward a target mounted on the vehicle, and foreign objects that have entered the underfloor of the vehicle are detected by blocking the detection light. By irradiating the detection light in an inclined direction toward the target, it is possible to maintain the detection range within a range that includes the movable range of the device and reduce the risk of the wheels running over.

11 Vehicle 12 Wheel 13 Target 21 Ground plane 22 Movable part 31 Foreign object detection device

Claims (1)

an optical transmitter that emits detection light in a direction oblique to the vertical direction toward a retroreflective target mounted on the bottom of the vehicle body;
a light receiving sensor that receives the detection light reflected by the target;
Equipped with
arranged on the side of a movable device installed on the ground so as to be closer to the lateral centerline of the vehicle than the target,
detecting the intrusion of foreign matter into the underfloor of the vehicle by blocking the detection light;
Foreign object detection device.

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