Search

DE-112018007340-B4 - straddle seat vehicle

DE112018007340B4DE 112018007340 B4DE112018007340 B4DE 112018007340B4DE-112018007340-B4

Abstract

Straddle seat vehicle (1) which features: a front fairing (12) configured to cover a front part of the vehicle (1); a windscreen (13) arranged above the front fairing (12); and a detection means (16A, 16B) for detecting a situation in front of the vehicle, characterized in that the detection means (16A, 16B) includes at least one image acquisition means (16A) which is positioned above a lower end (12a) of the front fairing (12) and in a section of the straddle seat vehicle (1) that is central in the direction of the vehicle width, the image acquisition means (16A) is arranged behind an upper section (122) of the front panel (12), a lower edge of the windscreen (13) contains an upwardly recessed recess (13a), and the image acquisition means (16A) is arranged in the recess (13a) in the front view of the vehicle (1) so that the windshield (13) does not interfere with its image acquisition area (R).

Inventors

  • Yoshiyuki Kuroba
  • Hiroshi Maeda
  • Masashi Hagimoto

Assignees

  • HONDA MOTOR CO., LTD.

Dates

Publication Date
20260513
Application Date
20180323

Claims (8)

  1. A straddle-seat vehicle (1) comprising: a front fairing (12) configured to cover a front part of the vehicle (1); a windshield (13) arranged above the front fairing (12); and a detection means (16A, 16B) for detecting a situation in front of the vehicle, characterized in that the detection means (16A, 16B) includes at least one image acquisition means (16A) located above a lower end (12a) of the front fairing (12) and in a position within the vehicle in the middle section of the straddle-seat vehicle (1) is positioned, the image acquisition means (16A) is arranged behind an upper section (122) of the front fairing (12), a lower edge of the windscreen (13) contains an upwardly recessed recess (13a), and the image acquisition means (16A) is arranged in the recess (13a) in the front view of the vehicle (1) so that the windscreen (13) does not interfere with its image acquisition area (R).
  2. The straddle-seat vehicle (1) according to Claim 1 , characterized in that it further comprises a headlight unit (11) configured to emit light in the forward direction of the vehicle (1), wherein the image acquisition means (16A) is arranged outside the headlight unit (11).
  3. The straddle-seat vehicle (1) according to Claim 1 , characterized in that it further comprises a headlight unit (11) containing left and right lighting units (11L, 11R) configured to emit light in the forward direction of the vehicle (1), wherein the image acquisition means (16A), in front view of the vehicle (1), is positioned between a light source (111L) of the lighting unit (11C) on a left side and a light source (111R) of the lighting unit (11R) on a right side.
  4. The straddle-seat vehicle (1) according to Claim 1 , characterized in that it further comprises a vehicle body frame (3) which includes a main frame (31) extending in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle, wherein the image acquisition means (16A) is mounted on the main frame (31).
  5. The straddle-seat vehicle (1) according to Claim 4 , characterized in that the image receiving means (16A) is mounted on the main frame (31) via a strut (36).
  6. The straddle-seat vehicle (1) according to Claim 5 , characterized in that it further comprises a headlight unit (11) configured to emit light in the forward direction of the vehicle (1), wherein the strut is a headlight strut (36) supporting the headlight unit (11).
  7. The straddle-seat vehicle (1) according to Claim 5 , characterized in that it further comprises a measuring display unit (MP) configured to display information to a driver, wherein the strut is a measuring display strut supporting the measuring display unit (MP).
  8. The straddle-seat vehicle (1) according to Claim 1 , characterized in that the detection means (16A) further comprises a radar (16B) arranged behind the central section of the front fairing (12), and the image acquisition means (16A) is arranged above the radar (16B).

Description

TECHNICAL AREA The present invention relates to a straddle-seat vehicle with a front detection function. TECHNICAL BACKGROUND A straddle-seat vehicle has been proposed with a function to detect the presence of an obstacle or similar object ahead and to report the detection result to the driver. For example, the JP 2017- 39 487 A , on which the preamble of claim 1 is based, a straddle-seat vehicle which includes a sensor, such as an image capture unit called a front sensor unit, on the rear of a windshield and which detects an obstacle or the like in front of the vehicle. The EP 3 243 731 A1 shows a camera positioned between the left and right headlights of a motorcycle. TECHNICAL PROBLEM Unfortunately, the windshield of a cross-seat vehicle is generally made of transparent plastic, and therefore its color can deteriorate or change over time. In a configuration where the image capture unit is mounted on the back of the windshield, the quality of the captured image decreases over time, sometimes impairing the detection accuracy for an obstacle ahead. As a countermeasure, if the image capture unit is installed in a different section of the vehicle, preferably one where the front detection area is wide, it becomes even more reliable to avoid interference from a vehicle component that shifts due to driving. The object of the present invention is to provide a straddle-seat vehicle that is able to maintain the front detection accuracy of a vehicle for a long period of time. SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEM According to the present invention, a straddle-seat vehicle according to claim 1 is specified. Preferred embodiments are specified in the dependent claims. ADVANTAGEOUS EFFECTS OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention of claim 1, no image is captured through the windshield, so the image quality does not deteriorate over time due to aging or color changes of the windshield. Therefore, the detection accuracy in front of the vehicle can be maintained for a long period. Since the image acquisition means is also positioned above the lower end of the front fairing, interference, for example with the front wheel cover, can be more reliably avoided. Furthermore, the image acquisition means is positioned in the aforementioned central section, making it possible to obtain a wider image acquisition area in the left and right areas in front of the vehicle and to detect the situation in front of the vehicle without missing anything. According to the present invention of claim 1, the image acquisition means can be arranged in a higher position to avoid the windshield, while avoiding an increase in the size of the front part of the vehicle in the vertical direction. Therefore, a wider image acquisition area can be obtained. According to the present invention of claim 2, the headlight unit can be reduced in size compared to an arrangement in which the image acquisition means is installed inside the headlight unit. According to the present invention of claim 3, the space between the left and right light sources can be effectively used as an installation space for the detection means. According to the present invention of claim 4, the image acquisition means is mounted on the main frame, which has a relatively high rigidity among the vehicle components. This makes it possible to improve the load-bearing stiffness of the image acquisition means and to avoid displacement or the like of the image acquisition area when the vehicle is in use. According to the present invention of claim 5, the use of the strut can increase the degree of freedom of the installation position and improve the mounting properties of the image acquisition means. According to the present invention of claim 6, the same strut can be used for the headlight unit and the image acquisition means. This can reduce the number of parts and improve assembly properties. According to the present invention of claim 7, the same strut can be used for the measuring display unit and the image acquisition means. This can reduce the number of parts and improve assembly characteristics. According to the present invention of claim 8, the image acquisition unit can be arranged at a higher position, thus extending the image acquisition area. Furthermore, it is easily possible to use a layout in which the image acquisition means does not interfere with the detection area of the radar. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 1 is a side view of the right side of a straddle-seat vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention,2 is a front view of the in 1 shown straddle-seat vehicle;3 is an enlarged view of the area surrounding a headlight unit;4 is a sectional view along line II in 3 ;5 is an exploded view of a vehicle body frame;6 This is an exploded view of the vehicle body frame;7 shows other examples of the arrangement of a detection device; and8 shows other arrangement examples of the detection device. DESCRIPTION OF THE EXECUTIONS A straddle-seat vehicle according to an