Electrically foldable rearview mirrors interlocked with door locks

Abstract: A system for controlling the folded or erected rearview mirror position selectively by turning reversible motors (23,24) incorporated in the rearview mirrors by operating an operation switch (22) in the cabin of a motor vehicle, includes a door lock controller (10) locking the doors of the motor vehicle by an outer door lock (13,14) switch or inner door lock switch (15,16), a controller (20) for controlling the folded rearview mirrors, and switches (25-28) for detecting the folded or erected rearview mirror position mounted in the rearview mirror turning parts, in which electrically foldable rearview mirror system interlocked with door locks said controller (20) for controlling the folded rearview mirrors including a driving circuit changing over said reversible motors (23,24) between regular and reverse rotations, and a micro computer controlling said driving circuit by processing the inputs from said switches. The rearview mirrors are folded or erected as a top priority by operating the operation switch (22) after the ignition switch (21) is actuated.

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention: The present invention relates to a system for controlling the folded or erected rearview mirror position according to the preamble of claim 1. (JP-A-62-270 793) 2. Description of the Prior Art: Since the right and left rearview mirrors of a motor vehicle project out largely from the body of the motor vehicle, the mirror case thereof are moved from an erected to a folded position when parking or entering and leaving the garage in order to reduce the projection thereof. In general, such a foldable rearview mirror system comprises an operation switch mounted in the cabin of a motor vehicle, electric motors incorporated in the mirror cases, a rotational motion transmission mechanism turning the mirror cases from the erected to the folded position and vice versa by the rotation of the electric motors, and a controller for controlling the rotation of the electric motors after making the operation switch. However, this conventional rearview mirror system is inconvenient because the rearview mirrors must be folded by operating the switch whenever leaving the motor vehicle in order to hold the rearview mirrors in the folded position. The JP-A-62-270 793 discloses a system in which the folded or erected rearview mirror position is automatically controlled by signals from means for detecting the driver to be seated on the drivers seat or not, means for detecting the mount of an ignition key, is switched for detecting the door to be opened or closed and a switch for detecting the door to be locked. This system is disadvantegeous in that it needs a lot of additionals detection means which normally are not provided in a motor vehicle. Similarly, in Japanese Utility Model Laid Open Publication No. 76742/86, the rearview mirrors are folded automatically when the doors is locked after the ignition key is drawn out, and they are erected when the door is unlocked. In Japanese Patent Laid Open Publication No. 47637/89 is disclosed an apparatus for controlling selectively the folding and erecting of the rearview mirrors interlocked with the door locks according to the logical conditions of detectors for detecting the locked door nob position, the locked doors, the operated steering wheel, the locked engine key, the unlocked engine key, the change-over between MANUAL and AUTOMATIC, as well as the folded and erected rearview mirrors. In said apparatus for controlling the rearview mirrors described in Japanese Utility Model Laid Open Publication No. 76742/86, the rearview mirrors can not be folded or erected independently of the door locks because it has no manual operation switch. And according to Japanese Patent Laid Open Publication No. 47637/89 it is necessary to change over between MANUAL and AUTOMATIC and the operation is complicated, which may results in forgotten operations. In addition, the system described in Japanese Patent Laid Open Publication No. 47637/89 requires a lot of switches and the electric motors have the possibility of burnout in an unlocked condition. Since the controlling systems according to the both of said Publications have no means for detecting any obstruction which is moved or arranged outside the rearview mirrors after the rearview mirrors have been folded, the rearview mirrors are struck by said obstruction and the cases thereof are broken or damaged seriously if they are erected automatically. In addition, since said both controlling systems have no switch for detecting the rearview mirror folded or erected position, a motor lock or a clutch operates till the electric motors stop, which will result in the deteriorated electric motors or displeasure. The object of the present invention is to provide a system for folding and erecting the rearview mirrors automatically and correctly wherein a door lock controller and an electric folding apparatus is connected with each other by a micro computer. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the invention this object is solved by a system for controlling the folded or erected reaview mirror position comprising the features of claim 1. According to the present invention, the operation of a seesaw switch for electric folding is processed as a top priority under the locked or unlocked condition of a door lock key switch. That is, the system according to the present invention comprises a door lock controller, electrically foldable rearview mirrors with incorporated electric motors, driving circuits for the reversible motors for the rearview mirrors, a group of switches including an ignition switch, a manual two-circuit reversible motor operation switch, an outer door lock key switch, an inner door lock key switch, and switches for detecting the folded or erected positions of the rearview mirrors, as well as a micro computer processing the input from each switch and controlling said driving circuits for the motors electrically folding the rearview mirrors. When the ignition switch is in ON position, the rearview mirrors are folded or erected as a top priority by operating the manual two-circuit reversible motor operation switch (for example a one-touch seesaw switch). When the ignition switch is in OFF position, the rearview mirrors are folded by locking the door lock key switch, and they are erected after a predetermined period of time (T₁) by unlocking it, however, if they were folded just before by the manual switch, they are not folded automatically. The door lock key switch is changed over from LOCK to UNLOCK and vice versa also by operating the inner door lock switch, but rearview mirrors are not folded at that time. If any operation is carried out, the operation signal just before is cancelled. A reversing operation is also possible while the rearview mirrors are being folded or erected, and even if a motor lock slip happens, the motor concerned stops after a period of time (T₂). DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more evident from the following description of the preferred embodiments taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is a block diagram of a whole system according to the present invention, Fig. 2 is a circuit diagram of a controller for controlling the folding operations of the rearview mirrors, Fig. 3 is a block diagram showing a variation of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a timing chart, Fig. 5 is a block diagram of the inside of a micro computer, Fig. 6 is a circuit diagram around the micro computer, Figs. 6A and 6B taken together as one area a block diagram of the Fig. 6, and Figs. 7 ∼ 14 are flow charts. DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings. This embodiment is applied to the motor vehicles of generally known door lock type, and the whole system is shown in Fig. 1. In Fig. 1 a door lock controller 10 and a controller for controlling the folding of the rearview mirrors 20 are interconnected by a control bus 11. The door lock controller 10 has a power supply, an earth and a group of input switches, and with the output side thereof for example 6 electric motors for locking the doors 12 are connected in parallel. As a group of switches, single-pole single-throw lock key switches for right and left doors 13, 14, a single-pole single-throw inner door unlock switch 15, and an inner door lock switch of the same type 16 are used. The controller for controlling the folding of the rearview mirrors 20 has, as described later with reference to Fig. 2, a built-in four-bit one-tip micro computer and relay circuits 31, 32, and with the input side of the controller 20 not only the control bus 11 from said group of switches 13, 14, 15, 16, but also a seesaw switch 22 connected in series with a ignition switch 21 are connected, and with the output side thereof motor circuits 35, 36 are connected, wherein said motor circuits 35, 36 include reversible motors 23, 24 for electrically folding right and left rearview mirrors, as well as limit switches for detecting the folded or erected rearview mirror position 23 ∼ 28 as described for example in U.S. Patent Application No. 187,965. Fig. 2 shows the makeup of said controller for controlling the folding 20 including a four-bit micro computer 30 for processing each input of said switch group, an erecting relay circuit 31 closed when the mirror cases are turned to the erected (reset) side, a folding relay circuit 32 closed when the mirror cases are turned to the folded side, and a voltage regulator 34. As a micro computer 30, one including not only ROM, RAM, I/O, and CPU but also peripheral circuits such as timer, counter and serial interface, for example µPD 7554CS (NEC), is used (See Fig. 5). The erecting relay circuit 31 and the folding relay circuit are connected in parallel with each other. Self-holding circuits are formed respectively by connecting the transfer-type relay contact 33 of the erecting relay Ry1 and the transfer-type relay contact 34 of the folding relay Ry2 in parallel with each other. These relays are connected to the collector sides of transistors Tr1 and Tr2 respectively, and are driven because said transistors are made when the signals from the micro computer 30 are impressed on the base thereof. The transistors Tr1 and Tr2 are earthed at the emitter thereof and have Zener diodes for protection ZD1 and ZD2 between collector and emitter respectively, however, the base voltage from the micro computer is not impressed on both of the transistors simultaneously. As shown in Fig. 2, the limit switches 25 ~ 28 are arranged in series respectively with the motors for electric folding 23, 24 between. The limit switches 25, 26 are used to detect the erected and folded positions of the right rearview mirror, and the limit switches 27, 28 are used to detect the erected and folded positions of the left rearview mirror. The reversible motors 23, 24 turn the mirror cases to the folded position when current flows from terminal N to terminal B, and turn them to the erected position when current flows from terminal B to terminal N. In the following the operation will be described. First, the case wherein both of the right and left mirror cases are in the folded positions will be described. When the switch 22 in Fig. 2 is pushed to OPEN side while the right and left mirror cases are in the folded positions, and the ignition switch 21 is in ON position, the transistor Tr1 is made through the output of the micro computer 30, actuating the relay Ry1. As soon as the relay contact 33 is changed over to NO (Normal Open) side, relay Ry1 is self-held to the NO side through the output of the micro computer. Since the limiter switches 25 and 27 are closed while the mirror cases are in the folded positions, the motor circuit 35 is closed, and current flows from terminal B to terminal N, rotating the motors 23, 24 so that the mirror cases are turned to the erected sides. At the beginning of the erecting operation the limit switches 26, 28 of the erected sides are in OFF positions, however, current flows through the diode D3, D4, and immediately after the operation the switches 26, 28 are put to ON. When the limit switch 27 is put to OFF soon after one of the mirror cases, for example the left mirror case L, has reached an erected end, the motor driving circuit 35 is opened to stop the motor 24. When the limit switch 25 is put to OFF after the other mirror case, for example the right mirror case R, has reached an erected end, the motor circuit 35 is opened to stop the motor 23. Simultaneously with the stop of the motor the micro computer 30 reads the OFF signal of the limit switch 25 and stop the output to the transistor Tr1, thereby putting the relay Ry1 to OFF. When the switch 22 is pushed to the folded side while both of the right and left mirror cases are in the erected positions, the relay Ry2 is actuated and the relay contact 34 is changed over to conduct current from the terminal N to the terminal B, thereby reversing the motors 23, 24 and thus turning the mirror cases to the folded sides. Since the limiter switches 26 and 28 are closed when the switch 22 is changed over to the closed side while the mirror cases are in the erected positions, the motor circuit 36 is closed, and current flows from terminal N to terminal B, rotating the motors 23, 24 in the reverse direction so that the mirror cases are turned to the folded side. At the beginning of the folding operation the limit switches 25, 27 of the folded sides are in OFF positions, however, current flows through the diode D1, D2, and immediately after the operation the switches 25, 27 are put to ON. Meanwhile, the motor driving circuit 36 is opened to stop the motor 24 when the limit switches 28 are put to OFF after the one of the mirror cases, for example left side mirror case L has reached the folded ends, the motor 23 is stopped by putting the limit switches 26 to OFF as the same. Fig. 3 shows the whole system wherein the door lock controller 20 shown in Fig. 1 is incorporated into the controller for controlling the electric folding 20. The door lock controller shown in Fig. 3 has a relay circuit 17 for driving the door lock motors 12 regularly and reversely. Fig. 4 shows the timing chart of said system. In the left section of the chart ON and OFF of the switches including the ignition switch and the relays as well as the conditions of the rearview mirrors are indicated, and the lower section is divided into the zone I to XIII according to the conditions of each component. In the following each zone will be described. I..... When the ignition switch is in ON position, the rearview mirrors are erected or folded by the electric folding operation switch 22. II..... The rearview mirrors can be reversed by opening or closing the electric folding operation switch 22. III..... If the rearview mirrors are struck by an obstruction while being turned, they are stopped, and the relays are put to OFF after the timer time T₂ (for example 16 ± 6 seconds). IV..... Even if the ignition switch 21 is put to OFF while the rearview mirrors are being turned, they are moved to the last positions thereof. V..... When the ignition switch 21 is in OFF position, the rearview mirrors can not be moved even if the electric folding operation switch 22 is operated. VI..... After the rearview mirrors have been folded electrically by the switch 22, they are not erected automatically. VII..... When the rearview mirrors are operated by the door lock key 13 or 14, they are folded automatically and erected automatically. However, they begin to be operated after the time T₂ (for example 20 seconds) when erected automatically. VIII..... The relays are not actuated even if the inner door lock switches 15, 16 are operated. IX, X..... Top priority is given to the operation of the electric folding operation switch 22. In IX the rearview mirrors can be reversed by the switch 22 even if they are being operated, and in X the rearview mirrors are not affected by the switches 13, 14 while operated by the electric folding operation switch 22. XI..... When the door lock key switches 13, 14 are changed over to UNLOCK while the rearview mirrors are being folded by the operation of the switches 13, 14, the rearview mirrors are stopped temporarily and erected after the time T₂. XII..... If the rearview mirrors are struck by an obstruction while being turned, or the motors are locked, the rearview mirrors are stopped, and the relays are put to OFF after the time T₂. XIII..... When the door lock key switches 13, 14 are locked on within the time T₁ after they have been unlocked, the rearview mirrors are not erected. Priority is given to the operation immediately before. Fig. 5 is a block diagram of the inside of said four-bit single-tip micro computer, and Fig. 6 is a circuit diagram around said micro computer. In the following resetting/watch dog concerns will be described with reference to Figs. 6A and 6B. The voltage stabilizer device TA8001S (Toshiba), is connected a capacitor to the sixth pin thereof. When the capacitor is charged, the voltage at point A is 1.5V and above, and further the output voltage at the stabilizing power source is 4.75V, no resetting is output, however, when the voltage at point A is lower than 1.5V, resetting is output, which is used as a watch dog timer. Since the watch dog output is kept at +5V or 0V if the CPU runs recklessly and does not execute the normal program, only DC pulses are generated and the rectifying voltage B of rectifying circuit of watch dog pulse is reduced to 0V. Accordingly, the voltage at point A is also reduced gradually, and when this voltage is less than 1.5V, a resetting pulse is output. Since resetting is maintained in this condition, voltage is impressed from the resetting output C on the sixth pin by the resistor RB, charging point C and thus releasing the reset condition. Figs. 7 ∼ 14 show a flow of the control program of the micro computer 30. Fig. 7 is a general flow, Fig. 8 is an initial routine, Fig. 9 is a timer routine, Fig. 10 is a switch read-in routine, Fig. 11 is a electric folding/outer lock/unlock routine, Fig. 12 is a mode control routine, Fig. 13 is a process end routine, and Fig. 14 is a switch change plug set subroutine. In the following said embodiment will be described supplementary: (1) The locking part of the driver's seat or assistant driver's seat is changed over by either the door key or the motor. (2) The object of the delay T₁ is to move the motor vehicle during the time T₁ till the rearview mirrors have been erected so that any obstruction may be avoided. As described above, according to the present invention, the door locking system and the electric folding apparatus are connected with each other by the micro computer, thus enabling the rearview mirrors to be folded and erected automatically and surely. While several forms of the invention have been shown and described, other forms will now be apparent to those skilled in the art. Therefore, it will be understood that the embodiments shown in the drawings and described above are merely for illustrative purposes, and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention which is defined by the claims which follow.

Claims: A system for controlling the folded or erected rearview mirror position selectively by turning reverversible motors (23, 24) incorporated in the rearview mirrors by operating an operation switch (22) in the cabin of a motor vehicle, having a controller (20) for controller for controlling the foldable rearview mirrors, and switches (25-28) for detecting the folded or erected rearview mirror position mounted in the rearview mirror position mounted in the rearview mirror turning parts, characterized in that a door lock controller (10) locks the doors of the motor vehicle by an outer door lock switch (13, 14) or an inner door lock switch (15, 16); the foldable rearview mirror system interlocks with said door lock switches said controller for controlling the folded rearview mirrors including a driving circuit (31-36) having two relay circuits (31, 32) for changing over said reversible motors between regular and reverse rotations, and that a micro computer controlles said driving circuit (31-36) by processing the inputs form said switches. A system for controlling the folded or erected rearview mirror position as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the operation switch (22) is a manual two-circuit reversible motor operation switch and is connected to the controller (20) for controlling the rearview mirrors to be folded or erected as a top priority when being operated while the ignition switch (21) is in ON position. A system for controlling the folded or erected rearview mirror position as claimed in clain 1 or 2, characterized in that the outer door lock switch (13, 14) is connected to the controller (20) for controlling the foldable rearview mirrors, the rearview mirrors are folded by locking the outer door lock switch (13,14) when the ignition switch (21) is in OFF position and thereafter the folded rearview mirrors are erected after a predetermined period by unlocking the outer door lock switch (13, 14).

Inventors: LUIGI DARBESIO, NAKAYAMA KIYOSHI, LUIGI, DARBESIO,, NAKAYAMA, KIYOSHI,
Applicants: FIAT AUTO SPA, MURAKAMI KAIMEIDO KK, FIAT AUTO S.P.A., MURAKAMI KAIMEIDO CO., LTD
Application year: 1990
Main classification: B60R1
IPC codes: B60R1, B60J5