JPH0345431A - Motor type constant speed travel device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To perform judgement of failure of a clutch accurately without erroneous operation by closing a throttle valve fully after failure of the clutch is judged based on the actual measured value of an actuator opening immediately before control is started when constant speed travel control is interrupted. CONSTITUTION:An actuator 100 controls opening of a throttle valve 110 via a clutch 102 by a motor 101. A controller 120 connects a clutch 102 during constant speed travel control, and outputs a control signal which corresponds to difference between set car speed and actual car speed to the motor 101. In the above devices, failure of the clutch 102 is detected by a means 130, depending on whether opening of the actuator 100, when predetermined time elapses from interruption of constant speed travel control, is below the predetermined value obtained by adding the predetermined offset value to opening of the actuator 100 immediately before control is started or not. After the above predetermined time elapses, the throttle valve 110 is driven by a means 140 to fully closed condition.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Summary of the Invention] A motorized constant speed traveling device equipped with an actuator having a motor that controls the opening degree of a throttle valve and a crank that transmits the driving force of the motor to the throttle valve. , a clutch failure is detected by comparing the actuator opening degree when a predetermined time has elapsed since the constant speed cruise control was interrupted with a predetermined value obtained by adding a predetermined offset value to the actuator opening degree immediately before the constant speed cruise control was started. A detection means and a fully open drive means for fully closing the throttle valve when the predetermined time has elapsed are provided to reliably detect clutch failure.

[Industrial application field]

The present invention relates to a motor-type constant-speed traveling device, and more particularly to a motor-type constant-speed traveling device having a function of detecting failure of a clutch that constitutes an actuator.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, a motorized constant speed traveling device has been put into practical use, and includes an actuator that has a motor that controls the opening of a throttle valve in response to a control signal and a clutch that transmits the driving force of the motor to the throttle valve. ■When canceling, the clutch is released and the throttle valve is fully opened by spring force, interrupting constant speed driving control.

This system has the problem that if the clutch fails and cannot be released, the throttle valve will not return to its original state even if constant speed driving is canceled.As a fail-safe, the clutch must be released immediately upon cancellation. A method is known in which the system can be released by the motor even if the clutch cannot be released by operating the motor in the closing direction for a predetermined period of time. Although this system allows for a fail-safe, the driver is not notified of the state in which the clutch cannot be released, so if the motor power supply subsequently fails and the motor cannot be released, cancellation will not be possible.

As a means to solve this problem,
As shown in the publication (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 52-109093), (1) immediately release the clutch when constant speed driving control is canceled, (2) fully open the throttle valve by the motor, and (3) wait for a reference period of time to pass from the time of cancellation. There is a method that detects that the clutch is malfunctioning in a state where it cannot be released based on the actuator opening degree at the time. That is, as shown in FIG. 5, if the canceled state occurs at time 1+, if the clutch is normal, time 1. When the clutch is released, the spring force immediately causes the actuator to fully close A0, as shown by the solid line in Figure 5 (3). However, if the clutch is malfunctioning, the actuator is fully closed, as shown by the broken line in Figure 5 (3). Since the actuator is slowly fully opened by the motor, this time difference is used to determine that the actuator opening A is normal when the reference time T has elapsed from the time of cancellation and is less than the predetermined opening A, and is determined to be faulty if it is greater than or equal to the predetermined opening. It is something.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

In the related prior art, Tc is the return time from clutch release until the actuator opening reaches the predetermined opening A by the spring force, and Tc is the return time from the clutch release until the actuator opening A reaches the predetermined opening AI by the motor. Assuming that TH is the reference time T for failure determination as shown in FIG. 5 (3), Tc<T<Ti...
・It must be set so that (1), but Tc,
T.

If the variation in is large, (1) 2 cannot always be satisfied, and Tc<T, <'r, T<TC<TN, etc., resulting in erroneous determination.

The present invention is intended to solve these problems, and aims to reliably detect clutch failure.

[Means to solve the problem]

FIG. 1 shows a principle diagram of the present invention, which includes a motor 101 that controls the opening degree of the throttle valve 110 according to a control signal, a clutch 102 that transmits the driving force of the motor 101 to the throttle valve 110, an actuator 100 having a
2 and outputs the control signal to the motor 101 according to the difference between the set vehicle speed and the actual vehicle speed, and releases the clutch 102 to interrupt constant speed driving control when a cancel signal is received. In the motor type constant speed traveling device, a failure of the clutch 102 is detected depending on whether the opening degree of the throttle valve 110 is equal to or less than a predetermined value when a predetermined time has elapsed since the constant speed traveling control was interrupted. The present invention is characterized in that it is provided with a detection means 130 to fully open the throttle valve 110 after the predetermined period of time has elapsed.

Note that the detection means 130 includes, for example, a timer 131 that measures the elapsed time after receiving the cancel signal, and a timer 131 that detects the opening degree of the actuator 2 and controls the actuator opening when the timer 131 detects that a predetermined time has elapsed. The control unit 132 compares the opening degree of the actuator with a predetermined value obtained by adding a predetermined offset value to the actuator opening degree immediately before the start of the constant speed cruise control to determine whether the clutch 102 is malfunctioning.

(Function) As shown in Fig. 4, if the cancel state occurs at time L1, the clutch is immediately released (Fig. 4 (1)
)) As shown in FIG. 4(2), the motor is not driven until the predetermined time T for failure determination has elapsed. Then, the detection means detects a clutch failure depending on whether or not the actuator opening degree A is less than or equal to a predetermined value A1 when a predetermined time T has elapsed from the reception of the cancel signal t1, and then the throttle valve is closed by the fully closing drive means. It is said to be fully opened. Therefore, when the clutch is normal, the actuator opening degree A immediately returns to the predetermined value A due to the spring force, as shown by the solid line in FIG. 4 (3).

However, when the clutch fails in a state where it cannot be released, the actuator opening degree A remains unchanged even after the predetermined time T has elapsed, as shown by the broken line in Fig. 4 (3), so the actuator opening degree A remains below the predetermined value A. Therefore, even if there are variations in Tc and Ti, the above equation (1) always holds, and clutch failure can be reliably detected.

The above-mentioned clutch failure detection can be made more reliable by setting the predetermined value A not as a fixed value but on the basis of the actuator opening immediately before the start of constant speed driving control (this is generally fully closed A0). In other words, in order to make the predetermined value A a fixed value, set it to a thick value taking into account variations in the actuator's opening detection means and variations in the play in the link system between the actuator and the throttle valve. must be kept. However, if A1 is too large, A≦A may occur during constant speed cruise control, resulting in a problem that cannot be distinguished from an actual clutch failure.

Therefore, in the present invention, by focusing on the fact that the actuator opening immediately before the start of constant speed driving control is fully closed, and actually detecting this, and adding a predetermined offset value a to it, the actuator opening is adjusted to suit each vehicle. A predetermined value A1 is created.

For example, when Ao varies in the range of 15 degrees to +56 degrees, if a=3 degrees, A1 varies in the range of 12 degrees to +8 degrees. As described above, when A is set to a fixed value, it is necessary to set A to the maximum value of +8°, and there is a difference of 10' between the value and the minimum value of +8°. On the other hand, if A is made a variable value as in the present invention, it will be an appropriate value according to 80 actual measured values for each vehicle, and it will be possible to avoid variations in the actuator opening detection means and the difference between the actuator and the throttle. Variations in play in the link system are automatically corrected.

[Embodiments of the invention]

Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained in detail using the drawings.

FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of the present invention, in which 1 is a controller. This controller l is a microcomputer 11 (hereinafter abbreviated as microcomputer) drivers 12 and 13.
．． 14 and an A/D converter 15. 2 is an actuator that controls the opening degree of the throttle valve 4, which includes a motor 21 controlled by the microcomputer 11, a reduction gear 22 that reduces the rotation of the motor 21, a clutch 23 that transmits the driving force from the reduction gear 22 to the throttle valve; It consists of an electromagnetic coil 24 for connecting and releasing the clutch 23 and a potentiometer 25 for detecting the opening degree (actuation amount) of the actuator. Reference numeral 3 denotes a link mechanism having a known structure that allows the throttle valve to be opened and closed from either the actuator 2 or the accelerator pedal 1O.

6 is a return spring that biases the throttle valve in the closing direction; 7
8 is a set switch, 8 is a cancel switch linked to the brake pedal, clutch pedal, etc., and 9 is a vehicle speed sensor.

The operation of the microcomputer 11 will be explained below with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. The microcomputer 11 starts operating when a power source (not shown) is turned on, and sets a predetermined value A1 at step SO.
Calculate. This is a process in which the actuator opening degree A detected by the potentiometer 25 immediately before the start of constant speed control is converted into a digital value by the A/D converter 15 and read, and a predetermined offset value a is added to this value. Next, in step St, it is determined whether or not the set switch 7 has been operated to enter the set state. When the set state is reached, the electromagnetic coil 24 is energized to connect the clutch 23 in step S2, and the vehicle speed detected from the vehicle speed sensor 9 is stored as the set vehicle speed in step S3, and constant speed driving control is started. Thereafter, in step S3, a control signal is output to the motor 21 in accordance with the difference between the actual vehicle speed and the set vehicle speed to control the opening degree of the actuator 2, that is, the opening degree of the throttle valve 4. Note that the storage process of the set vehicle speed in step S3 is executed only immediately after the set vehicle speed is set. If it is determined in step 31 that the setting state is not set, the process moves to step S4. In step S4, it is determined whether the cancel switch 8 is turned on and the cancel state is entered, and step S5 is executed only immediately after the cancel state is entered, and thereafter, and during constant speed driving control, the process moves to step S7. Therefore, when the cancellation state is reached, the energization of the electromagnetic coil 24 is stopped in step S5, the clutch is released and the constant speed running control is interrupted, and then a timer is started in step S6.
4, the process moves to step S7. In step S7, it is determined whether or not the timer is in operation, and if it is in operation, it is determined in step S8 whether or not a reference time T for failure determination has elapsed. This reference time T is set to be larger than the maximum value, taking into account the variation in the time Tc. Step S7. If the determination in S8 is N (no), the process ends. When the reference time T has elapsed since the timer activation in step S6, the process moves from step S8 to step S9, and a failure determination of the clutch is performed. That is, the actuator opening degree A is read from the potentiometer 25 via the A/D converter 15 and compared with the predetermined opening degree A set in step SO.

If the actuator opening degree hole is less than the predetermined opening degree AI, the clutch is released and is normal, so the process ends. Incidentally, as shown by the broken line in FIG. 3, the motor may be closed in step Sll just in case. Step S
If the actuator opening degree A is equal to or greater than the predetermined opening degree A in step 9, the clutch is still connected and has failed, so step 31
At step S1, abnormality processing such as reset prohibition processing, lamp lighting, and storage processing for indicating that the clutch is out of order is performed at step S1. Thereafter, in step S11, the motor 21 is driven to the closed side for a predetermined period of time to fully close the throttle valve.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above in detail, according to the present invention, the throttle valve is not driven until a predetermined period of time has elapsed after entering the cancel state, and during that time, a failure determination of the clutch is performed, and then the throttle valve is fully closed. Therefore, clutch failure can be determined reliably without malfunction.

In addition, since the predetermined value A for failure determination is created based on the actual measured value of the actuator opening immediately before the start of constant speed driving control, it is possible to avoid variations in the actuator opening detection means for each vehicle, and the difference between the actuator and the throttle. This has the advantage that there is less variation in play in the link system between valves, and clutch failure within the actuator can be detected more reliably.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a diagram showing the principle of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 3 is a flow chart showing the operation of the present invention, Fig. 4 is a time chart of the present invention, Fig. 5 is a conventional diagram. This is a time chart. In the figure, 100 is an actuator, 110 is a throttle valve, 120 is a control device, 30 is a detection means, and 140 is a fully closed drive means. Applicant Fujitsu Ten Ltd.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. An actuator having a motor that controls the opening of a throttle valve in accordance with a control signal and a clutch that transmits the driving force of the motor to the throttle valve, and the clutch during constant speed driving control. and a control device that outputs the control signal to the motor according to the difference between the set vehicle speed and the actual vehicle speed, and releases the clutch and interrupts constant speed driving control when a cancel signal is received. In the motor type constant speed traveling device, the opening degree of the actuator is detected, and the opening degree of the actuator when a predetermined time has elapsed since the interruption of the constant speed traveling control is set to a predetermined offset from the actuator opening degree immediately before starting the constant speed traveling control. A detection means for detecting a failure of the clutch depending on whether the added value is equal to or less than a predetermined value, and a fully closing drive means for fully closing the throttle valve after the predetermined time has elapsed. A motorized constant speed traveling device.