Denso Corporation

Nippon Soken, Inc.

Other

Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha

Denso Corpora Tion

Takeo Tsuzuki

Keisuke Ueda

Hiroyuki Kani

Taketo Harada

Tadashi Nakamura

Masahiro Goto

Ikuo Hayashi

Yasuhiro Kawashima

Fumio Asakura

Tadao Shimizu

Mitsuyasu Matsuura

Tomoyuki Funayama

Yoshihisa Sato

Koichi Mizutani

Kenichi Ohue

Kiyonari Kojima

Akio Nakano

Toru Yoshida

Nobuyuki Iwasaki

Takanobu Sasaki

Tanemichi Chiba

A retainer member is equipped with a microphone facing portion, a drain path, and a stamped wall portion. The microphone facing portion is formed in a cylindrical shape matching an ultrasonic microphone is disposed outside the ultrasonic microphone in a radial direction extending radially from a longitudinal center line. The microphone facing portion extends from a body retaining portion toward a base side in an axial direction. The drain path extends through the microphone facing portion in the radial direction and is capable of discharging water from an inner space in the microphone facing portion. The stamped wall portion is formed in the microphone facing portion and faces the drain path through the longitudinal center line.

Retainer member

An ultrasonic sensor includes a sensor body, a cushion member, a retainer unit, and a drainage path. The sensor body includes an ultrasonic microphone and a microphone support unit which allows a protruding part of the ultrasonic microphone located at a distal end in an axial direction to protrude and supports the protruding part. The cushion member covers the protruding part. The retainer unit allows exposure of a portion of the cushion member that is located at the distal end in the axial direction, and a portion of the cushion member that is located at a proximal end in the axial direction is sandwiched between the retainer unit and an outer peripheral surface of the protruding part. The drainage path penetrates the retainer unit in a radial direction to allow water to be discharged out of the retainer unit from a gap between the retainer unit and the cushion member.

Ultrasonic sensor and retainer

An object sensing device is configured to sense an object therearound using an ultrasonic sensor. The object sensing device comprises: a distance judgment portion that performs a judgement of a distance to the object therearound in accordance with received ultrasonic waves that are based on transmitted ultrasonic waves by the ultrasonic sensor; and a notification control portion that performs a predetermined notification operation in accordance with the received ultrasonic waves that are based on the transmitted ultrasonic waves. The notification control portion performs the predetermined notification operation when the distance judgement portion has continuously judged that the object is within a predetermined close range. The notification control portion fails to perform the predetermined notification operation when a judgement history of the distance to the object by the distance judgement portion indicates an abnormal appearance of the object within the predetermined close range.

Object sensing device

An ultrasonic sensor is provided with a sensor body, a cushion member, a retainer part and a waterproof seal. The sensor body has an ultrasonic microphone and a microphone support part. The cushion member covers a protrusion part of the ultrasonic microphone. The retainer part sandwiches a sandwiched part on a proximal end side between the retainer part and an outer peripheral surface of the ultrasonic microphone, while exposing an exposed part on a tip end side in the axial direction of the cushion member. The waterproof seal blocks a gap between a vehicle body component and the exposed part of the cushion member in an on-board state.

Ultrasonic sensor

An ultrasonic wave sensor includes: a bezel configured by a tubular member having a hollow portion, and including a tubular portion and a flange, the flange having a larger radial dimension than the tubular portion, one surface of the flange on a side opposite to the tubular portion being a front surface, one surface of the flange on the tubular portion side being a back surface; a sensor body including an ultrasonic vibrator and integrated with the bezel while part of the sensor body is inserted into the hollow portion; and a vibration prevention member arranged on the back surface and configured by an elastic body to prevent vibration transmission. The vibration prevention member is an O-ring having an annular shape surrounding the bezel so as to surround a center axis of the bezel, and the back surface has a ring-shaped groove into which part of the O-ring is inserted.

Ultrasonic wave sensor

An ultrasonic sensor is secured to an attachment object and passes through the attachment object. The ultrasonic sensor includes an oscillator which has a transceiving surface which transmits or receives an ultrasonic wave, a cylindrical elastic member which surrounds an outer surface of the oscillator extending from the transceiving surface in a thickness-wise direction of the transceiving surface and has an inner surface contacting the outer surface of the oscillator, a body which has a housing with a bottom and in which the to oscillator and the elastic member are disposed except a protruding portion on a side of said transceiving surface, and an annular body which surrounds the protruding portion of the elastic member and is disposed in the body in contact with a front of the attachment object. A gap is provided between an outer surface of the protruding portion of the elastic member and an inner surface of the annular body which faces the outer surface of the protruding portion, thereby minimizing the ingress of water into the body.

A detection system includes: a detection portion that has an output function outputting a detection wave toward surroundings of a vehicle, and a detection function detecting an object around the vehicle based on a reflected wave; a determination section that determines that the object is definitely present around the vehicle when a number of times of detection of the object by the detection function exceeds a predetermined number of times; a control section that causes operation of the detection function without operation of the output function when the vehicle travels at a predetermined speed or higher; and an adjustment section that adjusts and increases the predetermined number of times designated for the determination section when the object is detected by the detection function operated by the control section during traveling of the vehicle at the predetermined speed or higher.

Detection system

A distance sensor for vehicles is provided which includes a sensor device and an electric connector for an electrical connection between the sensor device and a mating connector. The connector includes at least one first terminal pin and at least one second terminal pin. The first terminal pin has a first section leading to the sensor device and a second section extending toward an inlet opening of the connector. The second terminal pin has a first section leading to the sensor device and at least two branched second sections extending toward the inlet opening of the connector. Specifically, the second terminal pin is shaped to provide two-pin plugs, thereby permitting the size of the connector to be reduced, which facilitates ease of installation of the distance sensor to, for example, a bumper of the automotive vehicle.

Distance sensor for vehicle with electrical connector

The vehicle-use object detection apparatus includes a plurality of ultrasonic sensors mounted on a vehicle, each of the ultrasonic sensors being configured to receive a reflected version of an ultrasonic wave transmitted by itself and not to receive reflected versions of ultrasonic waves transmitted by the other ultrasonic sensors, a first determination means to make a determination whether an object is present around the vehicle based on the received reflected versions of the transmitted ultrasonic waves when a first detection condition is satisfied, and a second determination means to make a determination, for each of the ultrasonic sensors, whether there is adhesion of snow around the ultrasonic sensor based on an echo wave received by the ultrasonic sensor when a second detection condition different from the first detection condition is satisfied.

Vehicle-use object detection apparatus

A distance sensor equipped with a mount for mounting the sensor in a mount hole of a bumper of a vehicle. The mount includes a casing with a sensor holder, a bezel, and a resin-made retainer. The bezel is made up of a cylindrical member joined to the sensor holder and a flange having an outer diameter greater than an inner diameter of the mount hole. The retainer includes an annular base joined to the bezel, a plurality of arms, and a plurality of protrusions. The protrusions extend from ends of the arms radially outward of the base and serve to establish a snap-fit on a peripheral edge of the mount hole, thereby nipping a wall of the bumper between the protrusions and the flange tightly to secure the distance sensor to the bumper.

An electronic circuit device includes a case and a cover between which a space is defined, electronic circuit parts arranged in the space, and a sealant to seal the electronic circuit parts. The case has a bottom face, a side wall, and an opening face opposing to the bottom face. The cover is located inside of the side wall so as to close the opening face of the case. The cover has a filling port through which the sealant is filled. The cover has a top face located approximately equal to an end face of the side wall, or adjacent to the bottom face relative to the end face of the side wall.

Electronic circuit device

A mobile object includes a wall member to which an ultrasonic sensor is fixed. The wall member has a through hole through which an oscillating face of the ultrasonic sensor is exposed from the wall member. A closing member closes a gap generated between the wall member and the ultrasonic sensor. The closing member connects an edge of the through hole located outside of the wall member and an edge of the oscillating face of the ultrasonic sensor. The closing member has an outer face exposed from the wall member, and the outer face of the closing member has asperities.

Mounting structure of ultrasonic sensor

An ultrasound sensor for a vehicle has a housing which is fixedly arranged at a vehicle inner side of a periphery member of the vehicle, an ultrasound vibrator for sending and receiving ultrasound, and an ultrasound transferring member which is constructed of a different material from that of the housing to have an acoustic impedance with a medium value between an acoustic impedance of the ultrasound vibrator and that of the periphery member. The ultrasound vibrator is accommodated in the housing and fixed to an end portion of the housing, which faces the periphery member. The ultrasound transferring member is arranged at the end portion of the housing, and contacts both the ultrasound vibrator and the periphery member of the vehicle.

Ultrasound sensor

An ultrasonic sonar has a transceiver equipped with an ultrasonic oscillator. An ultrasonic wave is transmitted from the transceiver. The ultrasonic wave reflected from an obstacle is received by the ultrasonic oscillator to detect the obstacle. The transmission frequency of the ultrasonic wave is set to be different from the reverberation frequency. When the obstacle is detected, a microcomputer converts the analog signal received by the ultrasonic oscillator into a digital signal, performs a frequency transform of this signal by Fourier transform to extract only the transmission frequency component, and performs an inverse transform.

Ultrasonic sonar and method using transmission frequency different from reverberation frequency

An obstacle detecting system for vehicles has an ultrasonic vibrator having a vibration plate and mounted on a vehicle to transmit and receive an ultrasonic wave. An obstacle is detected in response to an output signal of the ultrasonic vibrator. When the temperature around the ultrasonic vibrator is below a predetermined temperature corresponding to snowfall, the system calculates a ratio of a period of reverberating vibration of the ultrasonic vibrator relative to a predetermined time period following an ultrasonic wave transmission, and determines accumulation of snow when the calculated ratio exceeds a predetermined time ratio. The system notifies an abnormality of the ultrasonic vibrator arising from the accumulation of snow.

Growing community of inventors

Toyota, Japan

Takeo Tsuzuki