JP2009156144A - Exhaust valve control device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an exhaust valve control device for lowering the output of an engine when estimating that an exhaust valve is frozen and firmly fixed, in accordance with outside air temperature and cooling water temperature information. <P>SOLUTION: An exhaust valve device 5 is constructed to resiliently loading the exhaust valve 12 to be always opened with a torsion coil spring 17 and to drive the exhaust valve 12 be closed with one wire 15 connected thereto and pulled by a motor 25. An exhaust valve control part 35 in an ECU 30 as a control part is set to close the exhaust valve 12 at stopping the engine. An ignition timing calculating part 32 in the ECU 30 determines that the exhaust valve 12 is frozen in the closed condition when a cooling water temperature A detected by a water temperature sensor 40 and an outside air temperature B detected by an outside air temperature sensor 41 are each smaller than a predetermined value and a A-B value is smaller than a freezing determination value at restarting the engine, and retards an ignition timing to lower the output of the engine when the engine is set in a predetermined high load condition in this state. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an exhaust valve control device, and more particularly, to an exhaust valve control device that can reduce the engine output by estimating that the exhaust valve is fixed due to freezing based on outside air temperature and cooling water temperature information.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an exhaust valve device that opens and closes an exhaust valve provided in an exhaust device with a motor is known. According to such an exhaust valve device, by changing the area of the exhaust passage according to the operating state of the engine, it is possible to reduce resistance in the high rotation range and use exhaust pulsation, which is an ideal engine in the entire rotation range. It becomes possible to obtain characteristics. However, if the exhaust valve does not operate normally, there is a possibility that the ignition timing and fuel injection amount set on the assumption that the exhaust valve operates normally deviate from the optimum values.

Patent Document 1 discloses an engine control device that reduces the engine output to protect the engine when the exhaust valve does not operate normally.
JP 2005-54606 A

  As a configuration for driving the exhaust valve with a motor, a configuration in which the exhaust valve is directly connected to the rotation shaft of the motor, and is driven in both the open side and the closed side by means of a gear mechanism or two wires. It has been known. In such a driving method, since the movement of the motor and the exhaust valve are interlocked, as disclosed in Patent Document 1, the current flows when the motor is locked, or when an excessive load is applied to the motor. By detecting the current, an abnormality of the exhaust valve can be detected.

  However, the exhaust valve is driven by a single wire. Specifically, the exhaust valve is urged in the opening direction by a resilient member or the like, and the single wire connected to the exhaust valve is pulled by a motor. In the configuration that is driven in the closing direction, for example, if the exhaust valve is stuck in a closed state, when the exhaust valve is driven in the opening direction, the wire loosens even if the motor operates normally. There is a possibility that the exhaust valve will not be opened. In this case, the abnormality of the exhaust valve cannot be detected from the current state of the motor, and there is a possibility that the control for reducing the engine output cannot be executed appropriately.

  The object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, estimate that the exhaust valve is fixed due to freezing based on outside air temperature and cooling water temperature information, and reduce the engine output. To provide an apparatus.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an exhaust valve control device that controls opening and closing of an exhaust valve provided in an exhaust device of a vehicle with a motor, and controls an operating state of the engine and an exhaust valve according to the operating state. The control unit is set to close the exhaust valve when the engine is stopped, and the outside air temperature and the cooling water temperature are each smaller than a predetermined value when the engine is restarted. In addition, when the engine is in a predetermined high load state, the first feature is that a process for reducing the output of the engine is executed.

  Further, the control unit has a second feature in that when the value obtained by subtracting the outside air temperature from the cooling water temperature is equal to or less than a predetermined value, the output of the engine is reduced.

  Further, the exhaust valve is always elastically opened in the opening direction by an elastic member, and is configured to be driven in the closing direction by pulling one wire connected to the exhaust valve with a motor. There is a third feature.

  A fourth feature is that the exhaust valve is provided at an end portion of an inner pipe housed in a silencer of the exhaust device.

  Furthermore, the fifth feature is that the process for reducing the output of the engine is a retard process for the ignition timing.

  According to the first feature, the engine includes a control unit that controls an operating state of the engine and drives an exhaust valve according to the operating state, and the control unit is set to close the exhaust valve when the engine is stopped. In addition, when the engine is restarted, the outside air temperature and the cooling water temperature are each lower than a predetermined value, and if the engine is in a predetermined high load state, a process for reducing the engine output is executed. Therefore, when it is estimated that the exhaust valve is fixed or difficult to open when the exhaust valve is closed, it is possible to prevent the exhaust pressure from increasing due to the engine being in a high load state while the exhaust valve is closed. Thereby, it is possible to protect the engine by preventing the occurrence of knocking or the like.

  According to the second feature, the controller reduces the output of the engine when the value obtained by subtracting the outside air temperature from the cooling water temperature is equal to or less than a predetermined value, so that the vehicle is operated based on the difference between the cooling water temperature and the outside air temperature. It can be determined that the engine has been left in the cold outside air for a long time, and the engine can be protected.

  According to the third feature, the exhaust valve is always springed in the opening direction by the elastic member, and is configured to be driven in the closing direction by pulling one wire connected to the exhaust valve with a motor. Therefore, it is possible to obtain a control device suitable for the exhaust valve device having a configuration in which the icing state of the exhaust valve cannot be determined based on the driving state of the motor.

  According to the fourth feature, since the exhaust valve is provided at the end of the inner pipe housed in the silencer of the exhaust device, the exhaust valve device configured so that the exhaust valve cannot be touched from the outside. It becomes possible to perform engine protection during freezing.

  According to the fifth feature, since the process for reducing the engine output is the ignition timing retard process, the engine can be protected by reducing the engine output by a simple method without adversely affecting the engine. It becomes.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a side view of an exhaust valve device 5 driven by an exhaust valve control device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a partial cross-sectional front view of the exhaust valve device 5. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing the relationship between the exhaust valve 12 and the motor 25 that drives the exhaust valve 12.

  The exhaust valve device 5 is disposed inside a silencer 1 (muffler) of an exhaust device of a vehicle such as a motorcycle. A silencer 1 connected to the rear end of an engine exhaust pipe (not shown) reduces exhaust noise by the structure of the internal partition 3 and the inner pipes 4, 10, and is provided at the rear end of the silencer 1. Exhaust gas is discharged from the exhaust port 2 to the rear of the vehicle. The exhaust valve device 5 according to the present embodiment is attached to an inner pipe 10 located on the rear side in the silencer 1, and the exhaust passage area is reduced by an openable / closable exhaust valve 12 provided in the inner pipe 10. It can be changed arbitrarily. The exhaust valve 12 is configured such that a position that contacts the opening 11 of the inner pipe 10 is a closed position, and the opening 11 is completely closed at this closed position.

  The substantially circular exhaust valve 12 is fixed to the rotating shaft 18 by two mounting bolts 23. The rotating shaft 18 is rotatably supported by a base member 20 joined to the inner pipe 10 by support stays 21 and 22, and a nut 19 is fastened to one end portion thereof, whereby the rotating plate 13. It is comprised so that it may rotate integrally. A cylindrical case 16 connected to the rotating plate 13 accommodates a torsion coil spring 17 as a resilient member. The torsion coil spring 17 has one end portion 17a engaged with the base member 20 and the other end portion 17b engaged with the rotating plate 13, so that the exhaust valve 12 is always urged in the opening direction. Generating power.

  A wire 15 having a tie 14 attached to one end is engaged with the rotating plate 13, and the wire 15 is pulled toward the front side of the vehicle body against the elastic force of the torsion coil spring 17. The valve 12 can be driven in the closing direction. The other end of the wire 15 is engaged with the rotating member 26 of the motor 25 by a tie 27. With the configuration described above, when the motor 25 is driven and the wire 15 is pulled to the left in the figure, the exhaust valve 12 is driven in the closing direction, while the motor 25 is driven in the reverse direction to move the wire 15 to the right in the figure. When the valve is loosened, an exhaust valve driving device of a so-called single wire pulling system in which the exhaust valve 12 is driven in the opening direction can be obtained.

  As the motor 25 according to the present embodiment, a servo motor provided with a speed reduction mechanism is used, and the elastic force of the torsion coil spring 17 described above is used even when a pulse width modulation duty for driving the servo motor is not given. It does not move in the opening direction. Therefore, for example, even when the vehicle is turned off in the closed position, the closed position is maintained. The motor 25 is provided on the vehicle body side of a vehicle (not shown).

  The position of the inner pipe 10 to which the exhaust valve device 5 is attached can be arbitrarily changed in the silencer 1. Further, the inner pipe provided in the silencer 1 may be only one directly connected to the exhaust pipe connected to the exhaust port, and the inner partition wall or the inner pipe may be provided with a silencing punching hole or the like. Good.

  The exhaust valve control device according to the present embodiment is set so that the exhaust valve 12 is closed when the main power is turned off. As a result, when the vehicle is stopped for a long time in cold weather, moisture due to condensation after the engine stops may freeze, and the joint between the inner pipe 10 and the exhaust valve 12 may be fixed. As described above, since the exhaust valve device 5 does not have a return-side wire, even if the motor 25 is driven in this icing state and the exhaust valve 12 is driven in the opening direction, the wire 15 is only loosened. The exhaust valve 12 will not open. If the engine is in an operating state in which the exhaust valve 12 should be opened in this icing state, for example, in a high rotation state, the exhaust pressure may increase and the engine may be knocked. The exhaust valve control device according to the present embodiment is characterized in that it is configured to estimate the icing state of the exhaust valve as described above and to execute engine control corresponding to this.

  FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an exhaust valve control device according to an embodiment of the present invention. The same reference numerals as those described above denote the same or equivalent parts. The ECU 30 as the control unit includes a water temperature sensor 40 that detects the cooling water temperature of the engine, an icing state determination unit 31 that determines the icing state of the exhaust valve 12 based on information from the outside air temperature sensor that detects the outside air temperature, and an engine An ignition timing calculation unit 32 for calculating the ignition timing of the engine, an ignition device control unit 34 for driving and controlling an ignition device 45 including an ignition plug, an ignition number counter 36 for measuring the number of ignitions of the engine from a predetermined timing, and an exhaust gas And an exhaust valve control unit 35 for driving and controlling the motor 25 connected to the valve 12.

  The ignition timing calculation unit 32 receives information from the engine speed sensor 42, the throttle opening sensor 43, the ignition map 33, and the icing state determination unit 31. During normal operation of the engine, the engine speed and the throttle opening degree. Is applied to the ignition map 33, so that the standard ignition timing transmitted to the ignition device control unit 34 is calculated. Further, the exhaust valve control unit 35 drives the exhaust valve 12 to a predetermined opening based on information from the engine speed sensor 42 and the throttle opening sensor 43 during normal operation of the engine, and when the engine is stopped. The exhaust valve 12 is set to be closed.

  Hereinafter, with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 5, the flow of the cold point fire timing control according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described. When the main power supply of the vehicle is turned on in step S1, in step S2, the water temperature sensor 40 detects the water temperature A and the outside air temperature sensor detects the outside air temperature B. When the engine is started in step S3, the ignition frequency counter 36 starts counting the ignition frequency in step S4. In subsequent step S5, it is determined whether or not the water temperature A is lower than the predetermined water temperature. If an affirmative determination is made, the process proceeds to step S6. In step S6, it is determined whether or not the outside air temperature B is lower (lower) than the predetermined outside air temperature. If an affirmative determination is made, the process proceeds to step S7. In step S7, it is determined whether or not the value obtained by subtracting the outside air temperature B from the water temperature A is smaller (lower) than the freezing determination value as a predetermined value.

  Here, for example, when the water temperature A is 1 degree Celsius lower than the predetermined water temperature, the outside air temperature B is minus 3 degrees Celsius lower than the predetermined outside air temperature, and the freezing determination value is set to 10 degrees, The value of A-B is 4 degrees smaller than the icing determination value, and an affirmative determination is made in step S7. The determination in step S7 is executed by the icing state determination unit 31, and it is determined that the vehicle has been stopped in a cold environment for a long time based on the small difference between the cooling water temperature of the engine and the outside air temperature. is there. If an affirmative determination is made in step S7, it is determined in step S8 that there is a high possibility that the exhaust valve 12 is frozen and fixed to the exhaust valve, and the process proceeds to step S9. In addition, determination of step S7 can also be performed based on the ratio of the water temperature A and the outside temperature B.

  In step S9, it is determined whether or not the engine speed is equal to or higher than a predetermined speed and the throttle opening is equal to or higher than a predetermined opening. The determination in step S9 is to determine whether or not the engine is in a predetermined high load state. For example, the predetermined rotation speed can be set to 5000 rpm, and the throttle opening can be set to 50%. The setting of each numerical value may correspond to a value set to open the exhaust valve 12 during normal operation. If a negative determination is made in steps S5, S6, S9, S9, a series of controls are terminated, assuming that there is a low possibility that the exhaust valves are frozen.

  If the determination in step S9 is affirmative, that is, if it is determined that the engine is in a high load state with the exhaust valve 12 estimated to be frozen, the process proceeds to step S10 and is derived by the ignition map 33. A retarding process is executed to retard the ignition timing from a standard value based on the assumption that the exhaust valve is operating normally. According to this retarding process, the engine output can be quickly reduced, the occurrence of knocking or the like based on icing of the exhaust valve can be prevented, and the engine can be protected. In the subsequent step S11, it is determined whether or not the number of ignitions has reached a predetermined number. In this step S11, it is estimated that the engine started has warmed up and the icing state of the exhaust valve 12 has been eliminated by the heat of the engine or exhaust gas. The predetermined number of times is set to 10,000, for example. be able to.

  If an affirmative determination is made in step S11, the process proceeds to step S12 to cancel the retard state and shift to ignition timing control based on the ignition map 33 to end a series of controls. If a negative determination is made in step S11, the number of ignitions is incremented in step S13, and the process returns to step S10 to continue the retard process.

  The predetermined values of the water temperature A, the predetermined outside air temperature B, the freezing determination value, the condition for determining that the engine is in a high load state, the retard amount in the retard processing, the predetermined number of times of ignition, etc. Various modifications can be made according to the specifications. The determination in step S7 may be performed based on information on either the engine speed or the throttle opening.

  As described above, according to the exhaust valve control device of the present invention, it is estimated that the exhaust valve is frozen based on the information on the water temperature and the outside air temperature, and the engine output is reduced. Even in an exhaust valve device that does not have a means for detecting that it has stuck, it is possible to prevent the engine from being placed in a high load state with the exhaust valve closed and adversely affecting the engine.

  Note that the structure and arrangement of the exhaust valve device, the configuration of the ECU, and the like are not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various changes can be made. For example, the process of reducing the engine output is not limited to the ignition timing retard, and may be executed by changing the fuel injection amount or the intake air amount.

1 is a side view of an exhaust valve device according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a partial cross section front view of an exhaust valve device. It is a schematic diagram which shows the relationship between an exhaust valve and a motor. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the exhaust valve control apparatus which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the cold time fire timing control which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Silencer, 5 ... Exhaust valve apparatus, 10 ... Inner pipe, 12 ... Exhaust valve, 13 ... Rotating plate, 15 ... Wire, 17 ... Torsion coil spring (elastic member), 18 ... Rotating shaft, 25 ... Motor , 30 ... ECU (control unit), 31 ... icing state determination unit, 32 ... ignition timing calculation unit, 34 ... ignition device control unit, 35 ... exhaust valve control unit, 40 ... water temperature sensor, 41 ... outside air temperature sensor, 42 ... Engine speed sensor 43 ... Throttle opening sensor 45 ... Ignition device

Claims (5)

In an exhaust valve control device that controls opening and closing of an exhaust valve provided in an exhaust device of a vehicle with a motor,
A control unit that controls the operating state of the engine and drives the exhaust valve according to the operating state,
The control unit is set to close the exhaust valve when the engine is stopped, and when the engine is restarted, the outside air temperature and the cooling water temperature are smaller than predetermined values, and the engine is in a predetermined high load state. If so, an exhaust valve control device that executes a process of reducing the output of the engine.   2. The exhaust valve control device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit reduces the output of the engine when a value obtained by subtracting an outside air temperature from the cooling water temperature is smaller than a predetermined value.   The exhaust valve is always elastically projected in the opening direction by an elastic member, and is configured to be driven in the closing direction by pulling one wire connected to the exhaust valve with a motor. The exhaust valve control device according to claim 1 or 2.   The exhaust valve control device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the exhaust valve is provided at an end portion of an inner pipe housed in a silencer of the exhaust device.   The exhaust valve control device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the process of reducing the output of the engine is a retard process of an ignition timing.

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