JP2009156626A - Method and device for detecting drawing-out of air inside car compartment - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To inexpensively detect drawing-out of air inside a car compartment, which is a possible cause of wind noise during the car traveling, without using any wind tunnel facilities. <P>SOLUTION: The drawing-out of the air inside the car compartment being a possible cause of the wind noise during the car traveling is due to a difference in atmospheric pressure between the outside and the inside of the car compartment 2. Accordingly, to generate this atmospheric pressure difference without using any wind tunnel facilities, air 12 is supplied into the car compartment 2 from an outside-air inlet 11 of the car 1, and the atmospheric pressure inside the car compartment 2 is increased. By detecting, under this state, leakage of air from an opening/closing part 3 of the car 1 with an ultrasonic leak detector 16 or the like, the drawing-out of the air inside the car compartment 2 is detected. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle interior air suction detection method and apparatus that detect the suction of vehicle interior air that causes wind noise when a vehicle such as an automobile travels.

Conventionally, this type of technology has been described in Patent Document 1.
This applies a discolorable substance that changes color by reaction with the discoloration gas along the seal member at the vehicle body opening, while the discoloration gas is present in the vehicle interior. Then, in this state, an air flow is applied around the vehicle body, the vehicle interior air is sucked out of the vehicle interior, the discolored portion of the discolorable substance is examined, and the air intake portion of the vehicle interior air is detected. .

JP-A 63-179229

  However, the above prior art has a problem that a wind tunnel facility is required and the cost becomes high.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and provides a vehicle interior air suction detection method and apparatus that can detect the suction of vehicle interior air at low cost without using a wind tunnel facility. Let it be an issue.

The above-described problems can be solved by providing a vehicle interior air suction detection method and apparatus having configurations of the following aspects.
As with the claims, each aspect is divided into sections, each section is numbered, and is described in a form that cites the numbers of other sections as necessary. This is merely for the purpose of facilitating the understanding of the present invention, and the technical features described in this specification and combinations thereof should not be construed as being limited to those described in the following sections. . In addition, when a plurality of items are described in one section, it is not always necessary to employ the plurality of items together, and it is also possible to take out only a part of the items and employ them.

  Of the following items, (1) is in claim 1, (2) is in claim 2, (4) is in claim 3, (5) is in claim 4, (6) The term corresponds to claim 5, the term (7) corresponds to claim 6, the term (9) corresponds to claim 7, the term (10) corresponds to claim 8, and the term (11) corresponds to claim 9. . Claims (3) and (8) are not claimed inventions.

(1) A vehicle interior air suction detection method for detecting air suction in the vehicle interior by increasing air pressure in the vehicle interior of the vehicle and detecting air leakage from the opening / closing section of the vehicle. .
The suction of vehicle interior air that causes wind noise when the vehicle is running is due to a difference in atmospheric pressure inside and outside the vehicle interior. Therefore, if this atmospheric pressure difference can be generated without using the wind tunnel facility, it is possible to easily detect the suction of the passenger compartment air without using the wind tunnel facility. The invention of item (1) has been made paying attention to this point.
(2) The vehicle interior air suction detection method according to (1), wherein the air pressure in the vehicle interior is increased by supplying air from the outside air intake port of an air conditioner installed in the vehicle to the vehicle interior.
Compressed air is preferable as the air supplied from the outside air inlet to the vehicle interior. However, the air is not limited to compressed air as long as the air pressure in the vehicle interior can be increased to a level that allows air intake detection in the vehicle interior.
(3) The vehicle interior air suction detection method according to (2), wherein air is supplied from the outside air inlet of the air conditioner to the vehicle interior by a blower.
When a fan is used for the blower, if a duct is provided between the fan and the outside air inlet, the blower can be configured to efficiently supply air from the fan to the outside air inlet.
(4) The vehicle interior air suction detection method according to (1), wherein the air pressure in the vehicle interior is increased by expanding air in the vehicle interior.
This method can be selected as a method of increasing the air pressure in the passenger compartment without placing devices outside the vehicle.
(5) The vehicle interior air suction detection method according to (4), wherein the air is inflated in the vehicle interior by operating an airbag mounted on the vehicle.
An air bag is an automobile safety device that reduces the shock applied to an occupant at the time of a collision by a bag that instantly inflates with gas, and is currently installed in many automobiles, making it easy to realize the invention of (4). To do.
(6) An air leak detection method for a vehicle interior according to any one of items (1) to (5), wherein an air leak from an opening / closing part of the vehicle is detected by an ultrasonic leak detector. .
The ultrasonic leak detector comprises an ultrasonic transmitter and a receiver, and if there is a crack, gap, etc. in the partition wall that partitions these transmitters and receivers, and ultrasonic waves from the transmitter leak to the receiver side, That is, when the receiver receives the ultrasonic wave from the transmitter, it is notified by generation of an audible sound or the like (detecting an ultrasonic leak).
Since the ultrasonic wave propagates using air as a medium, the ultrasonic wave leakage can be replaced with the air leakage. Therefore, the leakage of air from the opening / closing part of the vehicle can be detected by detecting the ultrasonic wave leakage. The ultrasonic transmitter and receiver of the ultrasonic leak detector are small and lightweight, and air leaks can be detected by placing them on either side of the opening / closing part of the vehicle. The invention of item (6) pays attention to these points.
(7) The vehicle according to any one of (1) to (5), wherein air leakage from an opening / closing part of the vehicle is detected by smoke from a smoke generator operated in a vehicle interior. Indoor air suction detection method.
Air leak detection by smoke from the smoke generator is one of the very simple air leak detection methods, and air leak can be detected visually.
(8) The interior air suction detection method according to (7), wherein a gas generator that generates a colored inert gas is used as the smoke generator.
There are various types of inert gas, but non-toxic, non-flammable and inexpensive ones are preferable. Although the kind of coloring is not ask | required, the color different from the surrounding color of the environment where work is performed is preferable. When smoke is generated in the backlight, visual observation becomes easier.
(9) A vehicle interior pressure increasing means for increasing the air pressure in the vehicle interior of the vehicle, and an air leak detection means for detecting an air leak from the opening / closing part of the vehicle whose air pressure has been increased by the vehicle interior air pressure increase means. A vehicle interior air suction detection device.
The invention of this section embodies the invention of (1).
(10) The vehicle interior pressure increase means is a blower that increases the air pressure in the vehicle interior by supplying air from the outside air intake port of an air conditioner installed in the vehicle, or air in the vehicle interior by operating. The vehicle interior air suction detection device according to (9), wherein the airbag is an airbag mounted on a vehicle.
The invention of this section embodies the invention of the section (2), (3), or (4), (5).
(11) The vehicle interior air suction detection device according to (9) or (10), wherein the air leak detection means is an ultrasonic leak detector.
The invention of this section embodies the invention of section (6).

According to the invention described in item (1), since large-scale equipment such as a wind tunnel equipment is not used for detecting air intake in the vehicle interior, air intake in the vehicle interior can be detected at low cost.
The invention described in item (2) embodies the invention described in item (1).
According to the invention described in item (3), the invention described in item (2) can be easily configured, and the start and end of air supply can be easily controlled by turning on / off the blower.
According to the invention described in the item (4), it is possible to detect the suction of the air in the vehicle interior by increasing the air pressure in the vehicle interior without placing devices outside the vehicle.
According to the invention described in the item (5), since the airbag is installed in many automobiles, the invention of the item (4) is easily realized.
According to the invention as described in the item (6), it is possible to accurately detect air leaks by a simple operation with a simple device.
According to the invention described in item (7), air leakage can be detected by visual observation.
According to the invention described in item (8), visual air leak detection can be performed more safely and reliably.
According to the invention described in item (9), there is provided a vehicle interior air suction detection device capable of detecting vehicle interior air suction at a low cost without using a large-scale facility such as a wind tunnel facility for vehicle interior air suction detection. Can be provided.
According to the invention described in item (10), the invention described in item (9) can be easily configured, and the start and end of air supply can be easily controlled by turning on / off the blower, or the vehicle It is possible to provide a vehicle interior air suction detection device capable of detecting the suction of vehicle interior air by increasing the air pressure in the vehicle interior without placing any devices outside.
According to the invention as described in the item (11), it is possible to provide a vehicle interior air suction detection device capable of accurately detecting an air leak by a simple operation with a simple device.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described. Prior to that, an outline of the present invention will be described.
The present invention is a vehicle interior air suction detection method and apparatus for increasing air pressure in a vehicle interior of a vehicle, detecting air leakage from an opening / closing portion of the vehicle, and detecting air suction from the interior of the vehicle interior. .
In the present invention, a large-scale facility such as a wind tunnel facility is not used, that is, an air flow outside the vehicle interior is not operated, and a pressure difference between the vehicle interior and the exterior is generated simply by increasing the air pressure inside the vehicle interior. . Then, the leakage of air from the vehicle opening / closing portion to the outside of the vehicle compartment due to the pressure difference between the inside and outside of the vehicle interior is detected in consideration of the suction of air inside the vehicle interior, and is detected as the suction of air inside the vehicle interior. did. FIG. 3 is a graph showing the relationship between the atmospheric pressure difference outside the vehicle interior and the air leakage outside the vehicle interior. When the air pressure difference outside the vehicle interior exceeds the critical point of occurrence of air leakage, It shows that the air leak begins to occur due to the difference, and that the air leak increases rapidly due to the increase in the pressure difference.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In addition, the same code | symbol shows the same or an equivalent part between each figure.
FIG. 1 is a view for explaining an embodiment of a vehicle interior air suction detection apparatus to which the method of the present invention is applied.
In this figure, 1 is a vehicle, 2 is a compartment of this vehicle 1, and is an object of air suction detection.
The air suction of the vehicle interior often occurs particularly in the seal portion 5 between the opening / closing portion of the vehicle 1, specifically, the opening portion 3 of the vehicle compartment 2 and the door 4 that opens and closes the opening portion 3. Therefore, in the present embodiment, a case will be described in which the leakage of air in the seal portion 5 is detected and detected as the suction of the passenger compartment air.

  In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, the compressed air 12 is fed into the vehicle compartment 2 from the outside air intake port 11 of the air conditioner installed in the vehicle 1 (vehicle interior pressure increasing means). The air pressure inside the vehicle compartment 2 is detected by detecting air leakage from the opening / closing part of the vehicle 1, specifically, the seal part 5 (air leakage detection means). .

In the present embodiment, the compressed air 12 is fed into the passenger compartment 2 by a blower 13 disposed opposite to the outside air inlet 11.
In the illustrated example, the blower 13 includes a fan 14 and a duct 15 that guides an air flow from the fan 14 to the outside air inlet 11. However, the fan 14 uses a compression fan and is connected to the outside air inlet 11. The duct 15 may be omitted if compressed air can be sent from a close range. When the compressed air 12 is fed into the passenger compartment 2, it is desirable to set the outside air intake amount to the maximum value and operate the air conditioner.

Further, the detection of air leakage from the seal portion 5 is performed by the ultrasonic leak detector 16 in this embodiment.
The ultrasonic leak detector 16 includes an ultrasonic transmitter 17 and an ultrasonic receiver 18, and receives ultrasonic waves from the ultrasonic transmitter 17 placed in a sealed space corresponding to the interior of the passenger compartment 2. When the ultrasonic receiver 18 outside the sealed space corresponding to the outside of the passenger compartment 2 detects, an audible sound is generated and / or the intensity thereof is numerically displayed.
If there is a sealing failure in the opening / closing part of the sealed space corresponding to the opening 3 of the passenger compartment 2 or there are cracks, gaps, etc. in the partition wall that partitions the sealed space corresponding to the passenger compartment 2, the ultrasonic waves Or leaks to the outside through a gap or the like, and is detected by the external ultrasonic receiver 18. That is, if a defective seal portion or gap is detected, and the ultrasonic receiver 18 is moved, the position of the defective seal portion or gap can also be examined. Note that the position of the ultrasonic transmitter 17 and the position of the ultrasonic receiver 18 may be reversed.

Thus, if there is a defective seal portion or a gap, the ultrasonic wave leaks from here and can be detected by the ultrasonic receiver 18. On the other hand, if there is a pressure difference between the inside and outside of the sealed space (inside and outside of the passenger compartment 2), and there are defective seals and gaps in the sealed space (inner compartment 2), air leaks from there.
Since the ultrasonic wave propagates using air as a medium, the leakage of the ultrasonic wave can be replaced with the leakage of air from the poorly sealed portion or the gap. Therefore, by detecting the leakage of the ultrasonic wave, the poorly sealed portion or Air leakage from the gap can be detected.

In the present embodiment, based on such a principle, the ultrasonic transmitter 17 is placed at an appropriate position in the passenger compartment 2, for example, on the seat surface of the front seat, and the ultrasonic receiver 18 is sealed around the door or the like. Positioning and fixing at a desired position of the part 5. The position of the ultrasonic receiver 18 can be moved along the seal portion 5 or to an arbitrary position (see arrow A in FIG. 1).
Although the position of the ultrasonic transmitter 17 and the position of the ultrasonic receiver 18 may be reversed, it is more likely that the ultrasonic receiver 18 is positioned outside the passenger compartment 2 to generate audible sound and numerical values. Easy to check the display.

In such an embodiment, now, the ultrasonic transmitter 17 is placed on the seating surface of the front seat in the passenger compartment 2 to close the door 4 of the vehicle 1 and the interior of the passenger compartment 2 is sealed. .
When the air blower 13 is operated in this state, the compressed air 12 is fed into the vehicle compartment 2 from the outside air inlet 11 of the vehicle 1 to increase the air pressure in the vehicle compartment 2, and in the vehicle compartment 2 An ultrasonic wave is transmitted from the sound wave transmitter 17.
Here, if there is an air leak in the seal portion 5, that is, if there is a seal failure or a gap, the ultrasonic receiver 18 located at or near that location detects the leakage of the ultrasonic wave. That is, the ultrasonic receiver 18 generates an audible sound having a strength corresponding to the level of the leaked ultrasonic wave, thereby detecting the presence or absence or degree of air leakage of the seal portion 5. The ultrasonic receiver 18 also displays a numerical value corresponding to the leaked ultrasonic level.

According to the embodiment described above, since a large-scale facility such as a wind tunnel facility is not used for detecting the air intake in the vehicle interior, the air intake in the vehicle interior can be detected at a low cost.
In addition, since the air blower 13 is configured to supply air from the outside air inlet 11 of the air conditioner into the vehicle compartment 2, the start and end of the air supply can be easily controlled by turning on / off the air blower 13.
In addition, since the air leakage is detected by the simple ultrasonic leakage detector 16, the air leakage can be detected accurately with a simple operation.

In the above-described embodiment, the air leak detection of the seal portion 5 is performed using the ultrasonic leak detector 16, but the air leak detection of the seal portion 5 may be performed by other methods.
For example, a smoke generator may be used to detect the air leakage of the seal portion 5, and an example thereof is shown in FIG.
In FIG. 2, reference numeral 31 denotes a smoke generator, which is placed on the seat surface of the front seat in the passenger compartment 2, for example.
The smoke generator 31 is a gas generator that generates smoke 32, in this case, a non-toxic inert gas colored in pink when activated. The colored gas is used to facilitate visual leak detection. The non-toxic inert gas is used to ensure the safety of the worker during the detection operation.

In such an embodiment, the smoke generator 31 is now placed on the seating surface of the front seat in the passenger compartment 2 to close the door 4 of the vehicle 1 and the interior of the passenger compartment 2 is sealed.
When the smoke generator 31 is operated in this state, smoke 32 is generated from the smoke generator 31 in the passenger compartment 2, and the smoke 32 is filled in the passenger compartment 2 after a certain time. When the air blower 13 is operated, the compressed air 12 is fed into the vehicle compartment 2 from the outside air inlet 11 of the vehicle 1 and the air pressure in the vehicle compartment 2 rises.
Here, if there is an air leak in the seal portion 5, that is, if there is a seal failure or a gap, the smoke 32 leaks from that location (see leak portion a in FIG. 2). Therefore, if this is visually observed or imaged with a television camera and observed on the monitor screen, the presence or absence of air leakage of the seal portion 5 is detected. If the amount of air leakage of the seal portion 5 is large, the amount of leakage of the smoke 32 also increases, so that the amount of air leakage can be detected.

In the above-described embodiment, the pressure inside the vehicle compartment required for carrying out the present invention is increased by the air blower disposed opposite to the outside air intake port of the air conditioner installed in the vehicle. However, the present invention is not limited to this. Never happen.
For example, the air pressure in the passenger compartment may be increased by expanding air in the passenger compartment. As a method of inflating the air in the passenger compartment, a method of operating an air bag mounted on the vehicle from the outside is preferable. This is because air bags are installed in many automobiles. The operation of the air bag only needs to give an operation signal to the air bag operation module from the outside, and it is needless to say that it is not necessary to give an impact to the vehicle.
If the volume can be expanded at once by inflator ignition, a synthetic bag or a balloon may be substituted for the airbag.
A container in which air is compressed and sealed may be opened instantaneously in the passenger compartment to increase the air pressure in the passenger compartment.

It is a figure for demonstrating one Embodiment of the vehicle interior air suction detection apparatus with which the method of this invention was applied. It is a figure for demonstrating other embodiment of this invention apparatus. It is a graph which shows the relationship between the atmospheric | air pressure difference of a vehicle interior and the exterior, and an air leak.

Explanation of symbols

  1: Vehicle, 2: Vehicle compartment, 3: Vehicle compartment opening (vehicle opening / closing part), 4: Door, 5: Sealing part, 11: Outside air inlet, 12: Compressed air, 13: Blower Means), 14: fan, 15: duct, 16: ultrasonic leak detector (air leak detection means), 17: ultrasonic transmitter, 18: ultrasonic receiver.

Claims (9)

  A vehicle interior air suction detection method, comprising: increasing air pressure in a vehicle interior of the vehicle and detecting air leakage from the opening / closing portion of the vehicle to detect air intake in the vehicle interior.   2. The vehicle interior air suction detection method according to claim 1, wherein the air pressure in the vehicle interior is increased by supplying air into the vehicle interior from an outside air intake port of an air conditioner installed in the vehicle.   2. The vehicle interior air suction detection method according to claim 1, wherein the air pressure in the vehicle interior is increased by expanding air in the vehicle interior.   4. The vehicle interior air suction detection method according to claim 3, wherein the air is inflated in the vehicle interior by operating an airbag mounted on the vehicle.   The vehicle interior air suction detection method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein an air leak from an opening / closing part of the vehicle is detected by an ultrasonic leak detector.   5. The vehicle interior air suction detection method according to claim 1, wherein leakage of air from an opening / closing part of the vehicle is detected by smoke from a smoke generator operated in the vehicle interior.   Vehicle interior pressure increasing means for increasing the air pressure in the vehicle interior of the vehicle, and air leakage detection means for detecting air leakage from the opening and closing part of the vehicle whose air pressure has been increased by the vehicle interior air pressure increasing means. A vehicle interior air suction detection device.   The vehicle interior pressure increasing means is a blower that increases the air pressure in the vehicle interior by supplying air from the outside air inlet of an air conditioner installed in the vehicle, or expands the air in the vehicle interior by operating it. The vehicle interior air suction detection device according to claim 7, wherein the airbag is an airbag installed in the vehicle.   9. The vehicle interior air suction detection device according to claim 7, wherein the air leak detection means is an ultrasonic leak detector.

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