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US-12617352-B2 - Structure and performance reduction suppression device

US12617352B2US 12617352 B2US12617352 B2US 12617352B2US-12617352-B2

Abstract

To effectively suppress deterioration in performance of the radar caused by the ice column, provided is a structure for prevent the performance degradation of a radar, the radar is provided below a plate member disposed on an outer surface of a vehicle and irradiating a radio wave toward an outside of the vehicle. The structure is comprising an ice column suppressing part configured to suppressing the formation of the ice column depending from the lower end of the plate member toward an irradiation area of the radio wave.

Inventors

  • Takayuki Mashimo

Assignees

  • TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA

Dates

Publication Date
20260505
Application Date
20231106
Priority Date
20221109

Claims (5)

  1. 1 . A structure for preventing performance degradation of a radar provided below a plate member disposed on an outer surface of a vehicle, the radar radiating a radio wave toward an outside of the vehicle, the structure comprising: an ice column suppressing part configured to suppress formation of an ice column hanging from a lower end of the plate member toward an irradiation area of the radio wave, wherein the ice column suppressing part includes a holding portion for holding a heating element, the holding portion provided at a portion below the lower end of the plate member and above the irradiation area, and wherein an end of the holding portion facing the outside of the vehicle is formed on an extension line of a surface of the plate member or protrudes further outward from the vehicle than the surface.
  2. 2 . A structure for preventing performance degradation of a radar provided below a plate member disposed on an outer surface of a vehicle, the radar radiating a radio wave toward an outside of the vehicle, the structure comprising: an ice column suppressing part configured to suppress formation of an ice column hanging from a lower end of the plate member toward an irradiation area of the radio wave, wherein the ice column suppressing part includes a pair of inclined portions provided at a portion above the irradiation area, and wherein the pair of inclined portions is lower than the lower end of the plate member and is inclined downward from a center side in a horizontal direction of the irradiation area parallel to a planar direction of the plate member toward both ends.
  3. 3 . The structure according to claim 1 , wherein the plate member is a license plate disposed on a front surface of a front bumper of the vehicle, and wherein the inclined portion is provided at a lower end of a bracket or a frame for attaching the license plate to the front bumper.
  4. 4 . A performance reduction suppression device comprising the structure according to claim 1 , comprising: a determination value calculation unit configured to calculate a determination value for determining whether the performance of the radar is deteriorated based on the reception level of the radio wave received by the radar, and a control unit configured to execute a heating control which generates heat of the heating element when the determination value reaches a predetermined threshold value and stopping heat generation of the heating element when the determination value decreases below the threshold value.
  5. 5 . The structure according to claim 2 , wherein the plate member is a license plate disposed on a front surface of a front bumper of the vehicle, and wherein the inclined portion is provided at a lower end of a bracket or a frame for attaching the license plate to the front bumper.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This application claims priority to Japanese Patent Application No. JP2022-179319 filed on Nov. 9, 2022, the content of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety into this application. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present disclosure relates to a structure and a performance reduction suppression device, and relates to a technique suitable for suppressing performance reduction of a radar mounted on a vehicle. 2. Description of the Related Art For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (kokai) No. 2001-311265 discloses an apparatus including a planar heating element protruding from an eaves of a roof and configured to suppress generation of an ice column at the eaves by heating snow accumulated on the roof with the planar heating element. In some cases, a radar for recognizing an object or the like existing around the vehicle is mounted on the vehicle. Among such radars, a radar that recognizes the front of the vehicle may be disposed on, for example, a lower grille below a license plate attached to the front surface of the front bumper. Generally, the lower grille is offset to the rear side of the vehicle body relative to the license plate. Therefore, in a configuration in which a radar is disposed on a lower grill, when the vehicle travels on a road surface covered with snow of snowfall or semi-molten snow (sherbet snow or slushy snow, hereinafter referred to as “wet snow”), wet snow adhering to the front surface of the license plate may flow downward and form an ice column hanging from the lower end of the license plate toward the radar. When such the ice column enters the irradiation area of the radio wave of the radar, there is a problem that the recognition performance of the radar is reduced. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present disclosure has been made in order to solve the above described problems, and an object thereof is to effectively suppress deterioration in performance of the radar caused by the ice column. A structure for prevent the performance degradation of a radar, the radar is provided below a plate member disposed on an outer surface of a vehicle and irradiating a radio wave toward an outside of the vehicle. The structure is comprising an ice column suppressing part configured to suppressing the formation of the ice column depending from the lower end of the plate member toward an irradiation area of the radio wave. According to the above aspect, it is possible to effectively prevent the formation of the ice column depending on the irradiation area of the radio wave of the radar, and thus it is possible to effectively suppress the deterioration in the performance of the radar. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1A is a schematic view of the vehicle according to the present embodiment viewed from the front. FIG. 1B is a schematic cross sectional view illustrating a structural according to the present embodiment. FIG. 2 is an overall configuration diagram of the performance reduction suppression device according to the present embodiment. FIG. 3A is a flow chart for explaining a routine of a calculation process of a determination value. FIG. 3B is flow chart for explaining a routine of a heat control process. FIG. 4A to 4C are schematic cross sectional views illustrating a structure according to a modification. FIG. 5 is a schematic front view illustrating a structure according to a modification. DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS Description is now given of a structure and a performance reduction suppression device according to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1A is a schematic view of the vehicle according to the present embodiment viewed from the front. FIG. 1B is a schematic cross sectional view illustrating a structural according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1A, a front bumper 11 extending in a vehicle widthwise direction is attached to a front portion of a vehicle 10. An upper grille 12 for taking in the traveling wind is provided above the front bumper 11. In the present disclosure, the vehicle 10 may not include the upper grille 12. A license plate bracket (hereinafter, referred to as a bracket) 20 for fixing a license plate 13 is provided at a substantially center of the front bumper 11 in the vehicle width direction and most protruding toward the front side of the vehicle 10. The bracket 20 is attached to the front bumper 11 by a bolt nut (not shown) or the like in a state where the rear surface thereof is brought into contact with the front surface of the front bumper 11. A pair of left and right rear surface nuts (not shown) is fixed to the bracket 20. The license plate 13 is attached by screwing a pair of left and right bolt B1, B2 into the rear nut of the bracket 20 while the rear surface thereof contacts the front surface of the bracket 20. The length of the bracket 20 in the vehicle width direction is substantially t