Transducer device, and exterior unit

Abstract

To provide a transducer device capable of reducing the influence of reverberation vibration, and an exterior unit.SOLUTION: In a vehicle, a transducer device 100 as part of a sonar system that detects external objects, includes: a main unit 110 that is capable of transmission and reception of ultrasound; and an exterior unit 120 attached to the transmitting and receiving part of the main unit. The exterior unit has a first portion 1211 arranged to the tip of the transmitting and receiving part in contact therewith and a second portion 1212 arranged being spaced apart from the transmitting and receiving part. The main unit is a part constituting an ultrasound transducer, which has a transmitting and receiving part 111 formed in a cylindrical shape to transmit and receive ultrasound via the transmitting and receiving part. The distance between the second portion and the transmitting and receiving part is a distance that can be set appropriately, and that, when the transmitting and receiving part vibrates, it does not come into contact with the second portion.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a transducer device and a housing. [Background technology]

[0002] There are known existing transducer devices capable of transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In such transducer devices, an exterior component is attached to the tip portion. The exterior component is inserted into a mounting hole or the like of a mounting device (for example, a vehicle) to which the transducer device is attached. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] International Publication No. 2007 / 069609 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, there is a possibility that vibrations generated from the ultrasonic wave transmitting and receiving part of the transducer device may propagate to the mounting device through the mounting hole, which may increase the effect of reverberation vibrations after the vibrations have stopped. Therefore, if an exterior part is attached uniformly to the entire transmitting and receiving part, the effect of reverberation vibrations may increase.

[0005] The present disclosure contributes to providing a transducer device and an exterior part capable of reducing the effects of reverberation vibration. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] A transducer device according to the present disclosure comprises: A main body capable of transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves; an exterior part attached to a wave transmitting / receiving part of the main body part; Equipped with The exterior portion has a first portion arranged so as to contact the tip of the wave transmitting and receiving portion, and a second portion arranged at a distance from the wave transmitting and receiving portion.

[0007] The exterior product according to the present disclosure includes: An exterior part that can be attached to a transmitting / receiving part of a transducer capable of transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves, a first portion having an inner diameter capable of fitting into a side wall of the tip of the wave transmitting / receiving portion; a second portion having an inner diameter greater than the inner diameter of the first portion; Equipped with. Effect of the Invention

[0008] According to the present disclosure, the effects of reverberation vibrations can be reduced. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] 1 is a diagram showing a vehicle to which a transducer device according to an embodiment of the present invention can be applied; [Diagram 2] 1 is a block diagram showing an example of a sonar detection system to which a transducer device according to an embodiment of the present invention can be applied. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the transducer device according to the embodiment. [Figure 4] 1 is a cross-sectional view of a transducer device according to an embodiment of the present invention taken along a plane including a central axis of a cylindrical wave transmitting / receiving portion. [Diagram 5] 1 is a cross-sectional view of a transducer device attached to a bumper portion, taken along a plane including the central axis of a cylindrical wave transmitting / receiving portion. [Figure 6] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the time characteristics of reverberation vibration after vibration ends in a configuration according to existing technology. [Figure 7] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing the time characteristics of reverberation vibration after vibration ends in the present embodiment. [Figure 8] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing vibration intensity characteristics for each position of the wave transmitting and receiving portion. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0010] (Embodiment) Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

[0011] As shown in Fig. 1, a vehicle 1 is an example of a moving body, and is equipped with a sonar for detecting an external object 2 (see Fig. 2). A transducer device 100, which is part of the sonar, is attached to a bumper portion 1A (end portion) of the vehicle 1. In the example shown in Fig. 1, four transducer devices 100 are attached to each of the front and rear bumper portions 1A of the vehicle 1.

[0012] As shown in FIG. 2, the sonar detection system 10 includes, for example, a microprocessor 11, a wave transmitting drive circuit 12, a wave receiving amplifier circuit 13, a vehicle control unit 14, and a transducer device 100.

[0013] The microprocessor 11 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) core 11A, a wave transmission signal generator 11B, and a wave detector 11C. The CPU core 11A controls the wave transmission driving circuit 12 to output a wave transmission signal to the transducer device 100 via the wave transmission signal generator 11B.

[0014] The CPU core 11A also outputs to the vehicle control unit 14 the detection result of the detector 11C for the reflected wave signal received via the transducer device 100 and the receiving amplifier circuit 13. The reflected wave signal is, for example, a signal that is a transmitted signal that hits an object 2 located in the periphery of the vehicle 1 and is reflected.

[0015] The vehicle control unit 14 controls the traveling of the vehicle 1 based on the detection result acquired from the CPU core 11A. For example, when the detection result indicates that an object 2 is detected in the vicinity of the vehicle 1 by a reflected wave signal, the vehicle control unit 14 controls the traveling of the vehicle 1 to avoid the object 2.

[0016] The transducer device 100 is, for example, an ultrasonic transducer such as a microphone, and has the function of converting an electric signal into ultrasonic waves and transmitting the ultrasonic waves, and also of receiving external ultrasonic waves and converting them into electric signals. The transducer device 100 is attached, for example, to a mounting hole 1B (see FIG. 5) in a bumper portion 1A of the vehicle 1. The mounting hole 1B is a hole that opens to the outside of the vehicle 1.

[0017] The transducer device 100 converts the electric signal output from the wave transmission driving circuit 3 into an ultrasonic wave and transmits it to the outside of the vehicle 1. In addition, the transducer device 100 receives the ultrasonic wave reflected when the ultrasonic wave transmitted from the vehicle 1 hits an external object, converts it into an electric signal, and outputs it to the wave receiving amplifier circuit 4.

[0018] As shown in FIG. 3, the transducer device 100 has a main body portion 110 and an exterior portion 120.

[0019] The main body 110 is a part that constitutes the main body of the ultrasonic transducer, and has a cylindrically configured wave transmitting and receiving part 111. The main body 110 is configured to be able to transmit and receive ultrasonic waves via the wave transmitting and receiving part 111.

[0020] The exterior part 120 is attached to the wave transmitting and receiving part 111, and comes into contact with the edge of the mounting hole 1B when attached to the vehicle 1. The exterior part 120 is made of an elastic body such as silicone, and is attached by being fitted into the wave transmitting and receiving part 111. The exterior part 120 has an exterior main body part 121 and a flange part 122.

[0021] 4, the exterior main body part 121 is configured in a substantially cylindrical shape, and is disposed so as to surround the entire wave transmitting and receiving part 111. The exterior main body part 121 has a first portion 1211 and a second portion 1212.

[0022] The first portion 1211 is disposed at a position corresponding to the tip of the wave transmitting and receiving portion 111. The inner diameter of the first portion 1211 is large enough to fit into the side wall of the wave transmitting and receiving portion 111. For example, the first portion 1211 is disposed so as to contact the tip of the wave transmitting and receiving portion 111.

[0023] Second portion 1212 is a portion that is disposed at a position corresponding to a portion other than the tip of wave transmitting / receiving portion 111. Second portion 1212 is connected to first portion 1211, and has the same thickness as first portion 1211.

[0024] The inner diameter of the second portion 1212 is larger than the inner diameter of the first portion 1211 and larger than the outer diameter of the wave transmitting and receiving portion 111. For example, the second portion 1212 is disposed at a distance from the wave transmitting and receiving portion 111. The distance between the second portion 1212 and the wave transmitting and receiving portion 111 can be set appropriately, but may be, for example, a distance that does not cause the wave transmitting and receiving portion 111 to come into contact with the second portion 1212 when the wave transmitting and receiving portion 111 vibrates. In addition, the distance between the second portion 1212 and the wave transmitting and receiving portion 111 may be a distance that does not cause vibrations to propagate to the second portion 1212 even if the wave transmitting and receiving portion 111 comes into contact with the second portion 1212 when the wave transmitting and receiving portion 111 vibrates.

[0025] The second portion 1212 has an angled portion 1212A and a non-angled portion 1212B.

[0026] The inclined portion 1212A is disposed at an incline such that the distance between the inclined portion 1212A and the wave transmitting / receiving portion 111 increases as the distance from the connection portion with the first portion 1211 increases from the first portion 1211.

[0027] The non-inclined portion 1212B extends from the inclined portion 1212A and is disposed substantially parallel to the wave transmitting and receiving portion 111.

[0028] The flange portion 122 is a portion that constitutes the flange of the exterior portion 120, and is disposed at a position corresponding to the end of the second portion 1212 (non-inclined portion 1212B).

[0029] Further, second portion 1212 is configured to be longer than first portion 1211, and may have a length that is, for example, about two to three times the length of first portion 1211.

[0030] 5, the length of the first portion 1211 is shorter than the length of the edge of the mounting hole 1B in the bumper portion 1A of the vehicle 1. When the transducer device 100 is attached to the mounting hole 1B, the second portion 1212, which has an inner diameter larger than that of the first portion 1211, is disposed in contact with the edge of the mounting hole 1B. For example, the exterior portion 120 is attached such that the first portion 1211 does not contact the edge of the mounting hole 1B and the second portion 1212 contacts the edge of the mounting hole 1B.

[0031] The effects of the present embodiment configured as described above will now be described. In an ultrasonic transducer, vibrations are generated in the transmitting and receiving parts, and the vibrations are propagated to the bumper part, for example, when the exterior part comes into contact with the edge of the mounting hole.

[0032] For example, in a configuration in which the entire exterior body is the first part (configuration according to existing technology), the exterior contacts the entire wave transmitting and receiving part, so the entire exterior receives the vibration of the wave transmitting and receiving part. Therefore, if an exterior configured according to existing technology is attached by fitting it into a mounting hole, the vibration propagated to the entire exterior is propagated directly to the bumper part. As a result, the impact of reverberation vibration after the vibration has ended may become significant.

[0033] 6, L1 indicates an input waveform to detector 11C, L2 indicates an output waveform from detector 11C, and T indicates a threshold value. The horizontal axis of Fig. 6 represents time [msec], and the vertical axis of Fig. 6 represents the intensity of reverberation vibration.

[0034] The threshold value is a threshold value for identifying whether the signal detected by detector 11C is detected as a signal reflected from object 2, and can be set to an appropriate value. For example, when the signal detected by detector 11C is equal to or greater than the threshold value, vehicle control unit 14 determines that the signal is a signal reflected from object 2, and executes driving control for vehicle 1 corresponding to the detected object outside vehicle 1. In addition, the threshold value may be set to a smaller value after a certain amount of time has elapsed after the end of vibration than before the time has elapsed.

[0035] As shown in Figure 6, the reverberation vibration after the end of the vibration attenuates after 1.1 msec., but it has been experimentally confirmed that there is a period of time when the reverberation exceeds the threshold even after attenuation. Therefore, it is difficult to detect the object 2 based on the detected signal.

[0036] In contrast, in the present embodiment, the first part 1211 of the exterior part 120 comes into contact with the wave-transmitting and receiving part 111, and the second part 1212 does not come into contact with the wave-transmitting and receiving part 111, thereby reducing the vibration propagating from the wave-transmitting and receiving part 111 and making it easier to detect the object 2.

[0037] 7, L1 indicates an input waveform to detector 11C, L2 indicates an output waveform from detector 11C, and T indicates a threshold value. The horizontal axis of Fig. 7 represents time [msec], and the vertical axis of Fig. 7 represents the intensity of reverberation vibration.

[0038] As shown in Figure 7, it has been experimentally confirmed that the reverberation vibration after the end of vibration attenuates after 1.1 msec and there is no time period during which the threshold is exceeded. Therefore, it is easy to detect the object 2 based on the detected signal.

[0039] Therefore, in this embodiment, the influence of reverberation vibration can be reduced, and as a result, the object 2 can be easily detected.

[0040] As described above, the first portion 1211 is disposed at a position corresponding to the tip of the wave transmitting and receiving portion 111. As shown in Fig. 8, it has been experimentally confirmed that the vibration intensity in the direction from the base end to the tip of the wave transmitting and receiving portion 111 is lowest at the tip portion. The vertical axis in Fig. 8 indicates vibration intensity. The horizontal axis in Fig. 8 indicates the position of the wave transmitting and receiving portion 111. The left side of the horizontal axis is the tip side of the wave transmitting and receiving portion 111, and the right side is the base side of the wave transmitting and receiving portion 111.

[0041] Specifically, it has been experimentally confirmed that the vibration strength increases rapidly from the weakest value from the tip to the base end, reaches a peak, and then gradually decreases. Therefore, the vibration strength is relatively high in the portion other than the tip of the wave transmitting / receiving portion 111 (for example, the portion corresponding to the second portion 1212 of the exterior portion 120).

[0042] In this embodiment, the first part 1211 in contact with the transmitting and receiving part 111 is positioned at a position corresponding to the tip of the transmitting and receiving part 111 where the vibration strength is weak, so that the first part 1211 is relatively unaffected by the vibrations propagating from the transmitting and receiving part 111.

[0043] On the other hand, the second part 1212, which does not contact the transmitting and receiving part 111, is positioned at a position corresponding to a part other than the tip of the transmitting and receiving part 111, thereby preventing the second part 1212 from being affected by vibrations propagating from the transmitting and receiving part 111, which has a relatively high vibration strength.

[0044] As a result, the vibrations propagating to the exterior portion 120 can be generally suppressed, and the effects of reverberation vibrations can be reduced.

[0045] As another effect, since the thickness of second portion 1212 is the same as the thickness of first portion 1211, exterior portion 120 can have a uniform thickness as a whole. Therefore, exterior portion 120 can be manufactured more easily compared to a configuration in which the first portion and the second portion have different thicknesses.

[0046] In addition, since second portion 1212 includes inclined portion 1212A that is inclined so that the distance between second portion 1212 and wave transmitting / receiving portion 111 increases with increasing distance from first portion 1211, exterior portion 120 can have a smooth shape as a whole. As a result, exterior portion 120 can be easily manufactured.

[0047] Furthermore, since the first portion 1211 is disposed so as not to come into contact with the edge of the mounting hole 1B, it is possible to separate the first portion 1211 to which the vibration is transmitted from the wave transmitting and receiving portion 111 from the bumper portion 1A of the vehicle 1. Therefore, although the vibration from the wave transmitting and receiving portion 111 is relatively small, it is possible to suppress the vibration from being directly transmitted to the bumper portion 1A.

[0048] In addition, because second portion 1212 is disposed so as to contact the edge of mounting hole 1B, the vibration propagated to first portion 1211 passes through second portion 1212 before reaching bumper portion 1A. This makes it possible to make the vibration propagation distance relatively long, thereby attenuating the vibration propagating to bumper portion 1A and further reducing the effects of reverberation vibration.

[0049] Moreover, since the exterior part 120 is made of silicone, it is possible to suppress changes in elasticity of the exterior part 120 due to temperature. Furthermore, since silicone has excellent elasticity, the exterior part 120 can be attached to the bumper portion 1A smoothly and with a good appearance. As a result, the design of the vehicle 1 can be improved.

[0050] Furthermore, since the exterior part 120 is arranged such that the first part 1211 is in contact with the transmitting and receiving part 111 and the second part 1212 is spaced apart from the transmitting and receiving part 111, the gap between the exterior part 120 and the transmitting and receiving part 111 is the point where the second part 1212 and the transmitting and receiving part 111 face each other.

[0051] For example, if the gap between the exterior part and the wave transmitting and receiving part is divided into multiple spaces by partitions or the like, when liquid seeps in from the outside, the partitions may make it difficult for water to escape. In contrast, in this embodiment, when liquid seeps in from the outside, it is possible for the liquid to easily escape through the gap between the opposing part of second part 1212 and wave transmitting and receiving part 111, for example, through one gap.

[0052] In the above embodiment, the second part of the exterior part is configured to be spaced apart from the wave transmitting and receiving part, thereby providing a gap between the second part and the wave transmitting and receiving part, but the present disclosure is not limited to this. For example, the second part and the wave transmitting and receiving part may be spaced apart by configuring a part of the wave transmitting and receiving part to be recessed from the exterior part.

[0053] In the above embodiment, the second portion has an inclined portion, but the present disclosure is not limited to this. For example, the first portion and the second portion may be configured in a stepped shape to provide a gap between the second portion and the wave transmitting / receiving portion.

[0054] In the above embodiment, the thickness of the second portion is the same as that of the first portion, but the present disclosure is not limited to this, and the thickness of the second portion may be different from that of the first portion. For example, the inner wall surface of the exterior main body may be configured such that the portion corresponding to the second portion is thinner than the portion corresponding to the first portion.

[0055] Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the exterior portion is made of silicone, but the present disclosure is not limited to this, and the exterior portion may be made of an elastic material other than silicone.

[0056] Further, in the above embodiment, the first portion does not contact the bumper portion, but the present disclosure is not limited to this, and the first portion may contact the bumper portion.

[0057] Further, in the above embodiment, the transducer device is attached to a vehicle, but the present disclosure is not limited to this, and the transducer device may be attached to a moving body other than a vehicle.

[0058] In addition, the above-mentioned embodiments are merely examples of the embodiment of the present disclosure, and the technical scope of the present disclosure should not be interpreted as being limited by these. Therefore, the present disclosure can be embodied in various forms without departing from the gist or main features thereof. [Industrial Applicability]

[0059] The transducer device of the present disclosure is useful as a transducer device and an exterior component capable of reducing the influence of reverberation vibration. [Explanation of symbols]

[0060] 1 vehicle 1A Bumper part 1B Mounting hole 2 objects 10. Detection System 11 Microprocessors 11A CPU core 11B Transmission signal generator 11C Detector 12 Transmitting Wave Driver Circuit 13 Receiving amplifier circuit 14 Vehicle control unit 100 Transducer device 110 Main body 111 Transmitting and receiving part 120 Exterior part 121 Exterior body part 122 Flange 1211 Part 1 1212 Part 2 1212A Slope 1212B Non-slope section

Claims

1. A main body capable of transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves; an exterior part attached to a wave transmitting / receiving part of the main body part; Equipped with The exterior portion has a first portion arranged to contact a tip of the wave transmitting and receiving portion, and a second portion arranged at a distance from the wave transmitting and receiving portion. Transducer device.

2. The thickness of the second portion is the same as the thickness of the first portion. The transducer device of claim 1 .

3. The second portion includes an inclined portion that is inclined such that a distance between the second portion and the wave transmitting / receiving portion becomes wider as the second portion moves away from the first portion. The transducer device according to claim 2 .

4. The movable body is attached to an attachment hole that opens outward at an end of the movable body. The transducer device of claim 1 .

5. The exterior portion is disposed such that the first portion does not contact an edge of the mounting hole and the second portion contacts an edge of the mounting hole. The transducer device according to claim 4.

6. the first portion and the second portion are made of silicone; The transducer device of claim 1 .

7. An exterior part that can be attached to a transmitting / receiving part of a transducer capable of transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves, a first portion having an inner diameter capable of being fitted into a side wall of the tip of the wave transmitting / receiving portion; a second portion having an inner diameter greater than an inner diameter of the first portion; An exterior part comprising:

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