JP2002070638A - Data recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a data recorder with a simple and compact structure. SOLUTION: In this driving recorder 6 (data recorder), when a control unit 5 of an automobile fails or has a breakdown, lighting of a warning lamp 18 is triggered, and detection signal data before then is stored in a data recording part 27 of the driving recorder 6. Thereby, the structure of the driving recorder 6 becomes simple and compact, and a production cost and a running cost thereof are reduced. When a filament break of the warning lamp 18 is checked after a start of the control unit 5, the detection signal data is not stored in the data recording part 27 even if the warning lamp 18 operates, to prevent the mistaken recording of the unnecessary data when the control unit 5 does not fail or have the breakdown.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electronic control unit, for example, when a control unit mounted on a vehicle fails or malfunctions, collects various data on the control unit without fail. The present invention relates to a simple and compact data recording device capable of recording.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, an electronic control device using a microcomputer or the like has been widely used as a control device for a device to be controlled (for example, an automobile) requiring some control. However, in such an electronic control device, a failure (malfunction) or a failure sometimes occurs. Therefore, it is often the case that a data recording device is used to record various data output from the control device, and based on the data, the cause of the failure or failure of the control device is determined (for example, a special case is taken). See Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 11-65647.)

Specifically, for example, in an automobile manufacturer,
Equipped with a driving recorder in a car, various data output from a control unit that controls an engine or an automatic transmission, etc. are recorded in the driving recorder, and based on the data, a cause of a failure or failure of the control unit is determined. A response has been made. In the control device (programmable controller) disclosed in JP-A-11-65647,
When the failure occurs, the failure history is recorded on a PC card.

[0004]

However, if such a conventional data recording apparatus is configured to automatically record various data at the time of occurrence of a failure, the various data are always inputted, and the data is input based on the various data. It is necessary to provide a program for determining the occurrence of failure on the data recording device side. For this reason, there arises a problem that the structure of the data recording device becomes complicated or large, and its manufacturing cost or running cost increases. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, and has been made to solve the problem of providing a data recording device having a simple and compact structure, which is used for determining the cause of a failure or failure of a control device. Tasks to be done.

[0005]

According to the present invention, there is provided a data recording apparatus comprising: (i) when a target control device (for example, a control unit of an automobile) malfunctions (fails) or A data recording device comprising data control means for storing various detection signal data at the time of failure in a data recording unit (memory),
(Ii) The data control means is configured to store the detection signal data before the operation of the warning lamp in the data recording unit by using the operation (lighting) of the warning lamp of the target control device as a trigger. It is assumed that.

In this data recording device, the operation of the warning lamp is triggered, and the detection signal data before that is stored in the data recording unit. Therefore, even if various kinds of data are automatically recorded when a failure occurs, there is no need to provide a program for judging the failure occurrence detection on the data recording device side based on the various kinds of data. For this reason, the structure of the data recording device is simplified or downsized, and its manufacturing cost or running cost is reduced.

In solving the above problems, the present invention focuses on a warning lamp of a control device. That is, the control device is already provided with a program for determining the detection of the occurrence of a failure based on various data.
Further, the actual operation of the warning lamp is configured to operate when it is determined that the possibility of occurrence of a failure is relatively high for the purpose of the warning. This allows
In spite of the fact that a failure does not actually occur, a warning lamp is activated so that a trouble such as unnecessary confusion occurs for a person who sees the warning. The data recording apparatus according to the present invention considers that the warning lamp operates when it is determined that the possibility of occurrence of a failure is relatively high (that is, when a certain time has elapsed from the time when the failure occurred). It is an object of the present invention to solve the above-described problem by storing various data before the warning lamp is activated by using the operation of the warning lamp as a trigger.

In the above data recording apparatus, the data control means does not save the detection signal data in the data recording section even when the warning lamp is activated when the warning lamp is operated after the start of the target control apparatus. Storage is prohibited). In this way, when the target control device is not malfunctioning or malfunctioning, it is possible to prevent unnecessary recording of unnecessary data and to minimize recording of unnecessary data. Is done).

In the above data recording device, the data control means includes:
Alternatively, the detection signal data may not be stored in the data recording unit (prohibiting the storage of the data) within a predetermined time after the warning lamp is activated by the disconnection check operation. In this case as well, unnecessary data is prevented from being recorded accidentally when the target control device does not malfunction or break down.

Further, the data control means stores the detection signal data in the data recording section until the warning lamp is operated (turned off) after the warning lamp is operated by the disconnection check operation after the start of the target control apparatus. You may not be saved in. It is necessary that the target control device always shifts the warning lamp to the non-operation state after the operation of checking the centering of the warning lamp. In this case as well, unnecessary data is prevented from being recorded accidentally when the target control device does not malfunction or break down.

Alternatively, the data control means may detect the detection signal data until the warning lamp is activated or deactivated a plurality of times (three or more times) (counting the total number of times without discriminating between activation and deactivation). May not be stored in the data recording unit. Also in this case, it is prevented that unnecessary data is erroneously recorded when the target control device does not malfunction or break down.

In each of the above data recording devices, it is preferable that the data control means changes the manner in which the detection signal data is stored in the data recording section in accordance with the operating state of the warning lamp. In this way, optimal data can be collected and recorded according to the characteristics of a malfunctioning or failed device.

[0013]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described below. In this embodiment, a case where data of a control unit of a vehicle is collected and recorded will be described as an example, but the application field of the data recording device according to the present invention is not limited to the control unit of a vehicle. Of course, the data recording device can be widely applied to various electronic control devices.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a control unit 5 (ECU) having a microcomputer for controlling an engine 2, an automatic transmission 3, and the like is provided in an automobile 1 (an experimental vehicle). Is provided. In addition, electric power is supplied from the battery 4 to various electric devices in the automobile 1. The control unit 5 is provided in the car 1.
A driving recorder 6 for recording various output signal data of the control unit 5 is mounted in order to investigate the cause of a failure (malfunction) or failure of the control unit 5.
The driving recorder 6 is connected via a power cable 7
Backup power terminal 11 of control unit 5
(ACC).

Further, the driving recorder 6 is connected to the control unit 5 via a connection harness 8. The connection harness 8 includes a vehicle harness 8 a having a distal end connected to various devices (actuators and the like) in the engine 2 or the automatic transmission 3, and an intermediate harness 8 b connecting the vehicle harness 8 a and the control unit 5.
And a branch harness 8c branched from the intermediate harness 8b and connected to the driving recorder 6. The driving recorder 6 is connected to the host computer 10 using the collected data transfer cable 9 as needed.
(Personal computer). That is, the driving recorder 6 and the host computer 10 perform serial communication via the collected data transfer cable 9. The driving recorder 6 and the host computer 10
Means that information can be transmitted and exchanged using the RAM card 12 as shown by a double arrow X.

As shown in FIG. 3, the control unit 5 includes a power transistor 15 for a warning lamp.
A warning lamp 18 is provided on a power supply lead 17 connecting the collector (not shown) of the power transistor 15 and the power supply lead 16. In addition,
The emitter (not shown) of the power transistor 15 is connected to the ground 19 via the ground conductor 20. Here, a voltage is applied to the base (not shown) of the power transistor 15 in a pattern corresponding to the failure of the various devices or the control unit 5 in the automobile 1, and the power transistor 15 responds to the presence or absence of the application of the voltage. On and off. Then, when the power transistor 15 is turned on, a current flows through the power supply conductor 17 and the warning lamp 18 is turned on (operates). Here, the presence / absence (on / off) of power supply of the power supply conductor 17 or the warning lamp 18 and the power supply pattern are input to the driving recorder 6 as a warning lamp signal.

Hereinafter, the configuration, functions, and the like of the driving recorder 6 will be described in detail. The driving recorder 6 reliably collects and records various signal data at the time of a failure or failure of the control unit 5, and according to an output pattern (blinking state) of a warning lamp signal output from the control unit 5. Thus, various signal data before a failure or before a failure can be reliably recorded.

The driving recorder 6 has a central processing unit 21 (CPU) for controlling the entire driving recorder.
And various output signals (for example, an engine speed signal, a throttle opening signal, a vehicle speed signal, a cooling water temperature signal, a brake switch signal, etc.) output from the control unit 5, and input level conversion and filtering are performed on them. Input interface (I / F) unit 2 to be applied
2 and a malfunction detecting section 23 which receives a warning lamp signal output from the control unit 5 and detects a failure or failure state of the control unit 5.
An operation switch processing unit 25 that receives various operation switch signals output from the operation switch (SW) group 24, processes these instruction systems, and outputs the processed instruction system to the central processing unit 21 (CPU); S to store
A RAM 26 and a data recording unit 27 (non-volatile memory, for example, an EEPROM) for recording sampling data are provided. The data recording unit 27 has a RAM
A RAM card slot is provided to make the card 12 (flash memory: see FIG. 2) detachable.
The data can also be stored in the RAM card 12.

The driving recorder 6 is simple, compact, and highly reliable. That is, the driving recorder 6 is, for example, 250 mm
It is a compact object of about × 245 mm × 100 mm, and it is also possible to stack and use several units. Therefore, the driving recorder 6 is of a size that can be mounted on a durable vehicle from the beginning, and its reliability is very high, and the same reliability as the control unit 5 is secured. As described above, the driving recorder 6 can be very easily connected to the automobile 1 using the power cable 7 and the branch harness 8c.

The operation of the driving recorder 6 is extremely simple, so that anyone can use it easily. That is, the driving recorder 6 is an ignition switch (not shown) of the automobile 1.
When is turned on, measurement starts automatically. However, the measurement can be started manually. On the other hand, when the ignition switch is turned off, the mode is switched to the sleep mode four minutes after that, thereby saving power.
Then, when the trigger condition is satisfied, that is, when the warning lamp 18 (fail lamp) is turned on, the measurement is stopped. However, the measurement can be stopped by a switch operation.

Thus, the driving recorder 6 can reliably collect and record data when the trigger condition is satisfied, that is, when the control unit 5 fails or fails. The driving recorder 6 can sample, for example, 16 channels of data at a high speed, and can measure almost all input / output signals (16 types / units) of the control unit 5. Then, with the lighting of the warning lamp 18 as a trigger, various data of 1 to 4 minutes before the trigger are measured. Note that, even when the warning lamp 18 does not light, a trigger can be applied by pressing the manual switch at any time. Further, in the driving recorder 6, data processing is extremely simple. For example, various data can be stored in the RAM card 12 (flash card) by a switch operation, and data can be exchanged with the RAM card 12. Further, these data can be analyzed on a Windows (registered trademark) screen of the host computer 10.

Further, the driving recorder 6 is very simple to use or operate. The outline of the operation method of the driving recorder 6 is as follows. (1) First, the operating conditions of the driving recorder 6 are set. When installing by serial communication with the host computer 10, a sampling rate, a trigger mode, a signal name of each measurement channel, a comment, and a time are set. The sampling rate is, for example, 0.1 m
s, 1 ms or 10 ms. The trigger mode is the warning lamp 1 by the control unit 5.
A plurality of types (for example, 9 types) are set according to the control mode of 8, the trigger inhibition time (for example, 10 ms, 20 ms, 30 ms) after the ignition switch is turned on. When operating conditions are set by the switches of the driving recorder 6, the sampling rate (for example, 0.1 m
s, 1 ms, 10 ms) and a logic inversion switch of a trigger signal to the driving recorder 6 are set, and the input gain of the channel 1 is changed.

(2) Next, data sampling is started. Data sampling is started manually by turning on a sampling start switch (not shown) attached to the driving recorder 6 or automatically by turning on an ignition switch.

(3) Thus, the control unit 5
When a failure or failure occurs in the above, data sampling is stopped. Data sampling is stopped manually by turning on a sampling stop switch (not shown) attached to the driving recorder 6 or automatically by turning on / flashing a warning lamp 18. If data sampling is stopped by mistake, if the sampling stop switch is kept pressed for a certain period of time (for example, 5 seconds or longer), sampling can be performed again.

(4) The sampled data is recorded in the data recording section 27. The sampled data can be recorded on the RAM card 12 at any time. In this case, the RAM card 12 is inserted into the RAM card slot, the RAM card write switch (not shown) is turned on, and the data is stored in the RAM card 12 (the RAM card 12 is not inserted into the slot while the automobile is running). Is preferred.). When the data writing to the RAM card 12 is completed, the data inside the driving recorder 6 is cleared. However, if the data writing is not completed normally, the measurement data will not be cleared.

Hereinafter, a specific method of collecting and recording data in the driving recorder 6 will be described. The principle of data collection in the driving recorder 6 is as follows. Here, for convenience, it is assumed that the storage capacity is 80 MB (megabyte). As shown in FIG. 4, when the control unit 5 is in the ON state (when the power is turned on), sampling of various data is always performed. Incidentally, the start point R ₁ in the sampling data is when the control unit 5 is turned on actuation. Since the storage capacity is 80MB, 80M
When data exceeding B is sampled, old data is sequentially deleted, and the latest data of 80 MB is always stored.

When an abnormality is detected by some detecting means, that is, at the trigger point R ₂ , the sampling of the various data is stopped, and the data sampled before that is written to the nonvolatile memory (data recording unit). It is. Here, the write size of data to the nonvolatile memory in the first trigger point R ₂ are all samples (80MB) to endpoint. However, when the start point R ₁ to the end point R ₃ are smaller than the total memory capacity (80 MB), the data write size is from the start point R ₁ to the end point R ₃
It is the amount of data between.

FIG. 5 shows an example of the data collected and recorded in this way and the analysis results. In FIG. 5, an analog engine speed signal input to the control unit 5 from an engine speed sensor (not shown), and SGC is input to the control unit 5 from a cylinder identification sensor (not shown). This is an analog cylinder identification signal. And NE ⁺ PCM and SGC PCM
Are an engine speed signal and a cylinder identification signal generated (output) by the control unit 5 based on the analog engine speed signal NE ⁺ and the analog cylinder identification signal SGC, respectively. In the example shown in FIG. 5, the control unit 5 outputs the analog cylinder identification signal SGC
, The cylinder is erroneously detected (cylinder identification error). That is, in the cylinder identification signal SGC PCM generated by the control unit 5, the cylinder erroneous detection unit P is recognized. As described above, by analyzing the data recorded in the driving recorder 6, the cause of the failure or failure of the control unit 5 can be determined.

More specifically, the driving recorder 6 uses a warning lamp signal output from the control unit 5 as means for detecting a failure or failure of the control unit 5. That is, the output pattern (blinking state) of the warning lamp signal is read, and a failure or failure state (failure code) of the control unit 5 is detected.
Then, data before the failure or failure is reliably recorded according to the state of the failure or failure.

Table 1 shows the correspondence between failure contents and failure codes in the constant vehicle speed control device (not shown) of the automobile 1.

[Table 1] Table 1 Correspondence table between failure contents and failure codes

For example, as shown in FIG. 6, in this constant vehicle speed control device, the output patterns (failure code: blinking state) of the warning lamp signals shown in Table 1 are mutually determined in advance according to the failure site or the failure content. It is set differently. Then, a change (falling, rising) of this signal is detected to detect a failure or failure of the control unit 5 and its state. Further, the data recording time is changed according to the fail state or the failure state of the control unit 5. For example, the higher the priority corresponding to the failure code shown in Table 1, the longer the data recording time. The sampling rate may be set higher (finer) as the priority order corresponding to the failure code is higher. As described above, the data analysis can be facilitated by extending the data recording time according to the fail state or the failure state of the control unit 5.

As shown in FIG. 7, in the automobile 1, when the ignition switch (the power supply of the control unit 5) is turned on, the warning lamp 18 is checked for a predetermined time in order to check the disconnection of the warning lamp 18. Operation such as turning on 18 unconditionally,
A so-called disconnection check is performed. For this reason, as described above, when the warning or failure of the control unit 5 is detected by using the warning lamp signal output from the control unit 5 as a trigger, the driving recorder 6 performs control when the disconnection is checked. The unit 5 is erroneously determined to have failed or failed (hereinafter, referred to as “failure determination of failure”),
Unnecessary data will be recorded.

Therefore, in the driving recorder 6, the warning lamp signal is masked (ignored) during the disconnection check period in order to prevent erroneous determination of a failure when the warning lamp 18 is checked for disconnection. That is, when the warning lamp 18 is checked for disconnection, data is not stored in the data recording unit 27 even if the warning lamp 18 is turned on. Further, the period during which the warning lamp signal is masked is made variable (for example, in the case of EGI, the period is set to the time when the engine completely explodes.
In the case of S, it is 6 seconds. ), So that various control units 5 can be supported. This prevents the failure or failure of the control unit 5 from being erroneously detected during the disconnection check, and the failure or failure of the control unit 5 is reliably or accurately detected.

The driving recorder 6 saves data to be recorded by dividing the data to be recorded into a plurality of data according to a failure or failure state of the control unit 5 for each data collection system or for each predetermined time. The security (preservation) of the data is improved. That is, the driving recorder 6 reads an output pattern (blinking state) of a warning lamp signal output from the control unit 5, detects a failure or failure state (failure code) of the control unit 5, and stores the state accordingly. The number of data divisions is changed. For example, in the case of the above-described constant vehicle speed control device, the higher the priority order corresponding to the failure codes shown in Table 1, the greater the number of divisions.

Specifically, by operating the operation switch,
Saved data can be written for each data collection channel or for a predetermined time (time axis). For example, as shown in FIG. 8, by dividing and writing a file for each channel, it is possible to prevent the file from being totally damaged due to a defect or damage of the storage medium used as the data recording unit 27. That is, it is possible to minimize the influence of the failure or damage of the recording medium. Also, as shown in FIG. 9, by writing a file by dividing the file on the time axis, similarly, it is possible that the file is totally damaged due to a defect or damage of the storage medium used as the data recording unit 27. Is prevented.

Hereinafter, a specific operation or control method of the control unit 5 or the driving recorder 6 will be described with reference to flowcharts shown in FIGS. First, referring to FIGS. 10A to 10E,
The operation or control method of the control unit 5 will be described. As shown in FIG. 10A, when the ignition switch is turned on and the control unit 5 is energized, it is first determined in step S10 whether or not the control unit 5 has been activated.
O) This step S10 is repeatedly executed, skipping all the following steps. That is, it waits until the control unit 5 is activated. On the other hand, if it is determined in step S10 that the control unit 5 has been activated (YES), a disconnection check routine is executed in step S20, a normal control routine is executed in step S30, and then a transmission is made in step S40. A control routine is executed, and then a failure diagnosis routine is executed in step S50.

Next, each of the above routines (step S20,
The specific operation or control method in S30, S40, S50) will be described. As shown in FIG. 10B, in the disconnection check routine of step S20, first, in step S21, it is determined whether or not a predetermined time has elapsed since the start of the control unit 5. And
If the predetermined time has not elapsed (NO), step S22
As a result, a positive voltage is applied to the base of the power transistor 15, and the collector and the emitter of the power transistor 15 are electrically connected. As a result, the warning lamp 18 is turned on, and a warning lamp signal is output from the control unit 5 to the malfunction detecting unit 23 of the driving recorder 6. In this case, since no failure or failure has occurred in the control unit 5, the driving recorder 6 ignores (masks) the warning lamp signal as described later.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S21 that a predetermined time has elapsed since the activation of the control unit 5 (YES), the disconnection check routine ends. In other words, in this centering check routine, after the control unit 5 is activated, the warning lamp 18 is energized for a predetermined time, and the driver checks whether the warning lamp 18 is centered by checking whether the warning lamp 18 is lit.

As shown in FIG. 10C, step S3
In the normal control routine of 0, first, in step S31
Reads various input signals. Subsequently, step S3
In 2, a predetermined arithmetic process is executed using various input signals, and control signals to be applied to actuators (not shown) to be controlled are created. After this, step S
At 33, each control signal is transmitted to each actuator.
That is, in this normal control routine, each control target device (actuator) of the automobile 1 is controlled by the control unit 5 according to a predetermined program.

As shown in FIG. 10D, step S4
In the transmission control routine of 0, in step S41,
Various input signals or control signals to the control unit 5 or output signals of the control unit 5 are input to the input interface unit 22 of the driving recorder 6.
Sent to. That is, in this transmission control routine, each signal related to the operation of the control unit 5 is always input to the driving recorder 6.

As shown in FIG. 10E, step S5
In the failure diagnosis routine of step S51, first, in step S51,
A failure diagnosis is performed based on various input signals or control signals. Subsequently, in step S52, it is determined whether or not the value indicating the possibility of failure is equal to or greater than a predetermined value. If the value indicating the possibility of failure is equal to or more than a predetermined value (YE
S) In step S53, a positive voltage is applied to the base of the power transistor 15, and the collector and the emitter of the power transistor 15 are electrically connected. As a result, the warning lamp 18 is turned on, and a warning lamp signal is output from the control unit 5 to the malfunction detecting unit 23 of the driving recorder 6. That is, the warning lamp 18 is turned on to notify the driver of the occurrence of the failure, and a warning lamp signal notifying the occurrence of the failure is transmitted to the driving recorder 6.
On the other hand, if it is determined in step S52 that the possibility of failure is less than the predetermined value (NO), the failure control routine ends.

The operation or control method of the driving recorder 6 will be described below with reference to FIGS. 11 (a) to 11 (c). As shown in FIG. 11A, when the driving recorder 6 starts operating, first, in step T10,
It is determined whether or not there is a storage start command. If there is no storage start command (NO), all the following steps are skipped, and this step T10 is repeatedly performed. That is, it waits until a storage start command is issued. On the other hand, if it is determined in step T10 that there is a storage start command (YES), a temporary storage routine is executed in step T20, and then a storage routine is executed in step T30.

Next, the above routines (step T20,
A specific operation or control method in T30) will be described. As shown in FIG. 11B, in the temporary storage routine in step T20, in step T21, various input signals or control signals or output signals (hereinafter, referred to as "signal data") received in step T21 have a predetermined capacity. (For example, 80 MB) is temporarily stored in the SRAM 26. When the signal data exceeds the capacity, the signal data is updated and recorded from the old signal data.

As shown in FIG. 11C, step T3
In the storage routine of 0, first, in step T31,
It is determined whether or not the warning lamp 18 is turned on, that is, whether or not a warning lamp signal is input from the control unit 5 to the driving recorder 6. If the warning lamp 18 is not turned on (NO), the control unit 5 does nothing. Since it is considered that no failure or failure has occurred, all the following steps are skipped, and the storage routine ends.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step T31 that the warning lamp 18 is turned on (YES), in step T32, an alignment check confirmation subroutine is executed, and the lighting of the warning lamp 18 is based on the alignment check. Is examined. The specific contents of the disconnection check confirmation subroutine will be described later (FIG. 1).
2 (a) to (c)). Next, in step T33, it is determined whether or not the lighting of the warning lamp 18 is the lighting by the check of the centering. If the lighting is based on the disconnection check (YES), the lighting of the warning lamp 18 does not indicate a failure or failure of the control unit 5, and the storage routine ends.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step T33 that the light is not turned on by the disconnection check (NO), since the control unit 5 has failed or failed, the selection subroutine is executed in step T34. In addition,
The specific contents of the selection subroutine will be described later (FIG. 1).
3 (a) to (d)). Next, in step T35, the selected storage content is written to the data recording unit 27 (non-volatile memory, for example, EEPROM), and the storage routine ends. In this manner, the cause of the failure or failure of the control unit 5 is determined based on the data recorded in the data recording unit 27.

Hereinafter, with reference to FIGS. 12 (a) to 12 (c), three specific control methods of the decentering check confirmation subroutine of step T32 in FIG. 11 (c) will be described. 1-3). FIG.
(A) As shown in FIG.
In this case, first, in step U11, it is determined whether or not a predetermined time has elapsed since the start of the control unit 5. If the predetermined time has not elapsed (N
O) In step U12, it is determined that the lighting of the warning lamp 18 is the lighting by the disconnection check. On the other hand, if it is determined in step U11 that the predetermined time has elapsed, it is unlikely that the disconnection check is being performed anymore. Therefore, the lighting of the warning lamp 18 is not based on the disconnection check, and the control is not performed. It is determined that the failure is due to a failure or failure of the unit 5.

As shown in FIG. 12B, in the case of the disconnection check confirmation subroutine 2, first, at step U21,
After the control unit 5 is started, it is determined whether the warning lamp 18 has once been turned off. And
If the lamp has not been turned off once (NO), it is determined in step U22 that the lighting of the warning lamp 18 is the lighting by the disconnection check. On the other hand, if it is determined in step U21 that the warning lamp 18 has once been turned off (Y
ES), since there is no possibility that the disconnection check is being performed anymore, it is determined that the lighting of the warning lamp 18 is not based on the disconnection check but due to a failure or failure of the control unit 5.

As shown in FIG. 12C, in the case of the disconnection check confirmation subroutine 3, first, at step U31,
After the control unit 5 is activated, it is determined whether the warning lamp 18 has been turned on or off a plurality of times (three or more times). If the warning lamp 18 has not been turned on or turned off a plurality of times (NO), it is determined in step U32 that the lighting of the warning lamp 18 is the lighting by the disconnection check. On the other hand, step U31
If it is determined that the warning lamp 18 has been turned on or off a plurality of times (YES), there is no possibility that the disconnection check is being performed anymore, so the lighting of the warning lamp 18 is not based on the disconnection check. , Is determined to be due to a failure or failure of the control unit 5.

Hereinafter, four specific control methods of the selection subroutine of step T34 in FIG. 11C will be described with reference to FIGS. 13A to 13D (selection subroutines 1 to 4). As shown in FIG. 13A, in the case of the selection subroutine 1, first, at step V11, the content of the failure or failure of the control unit 5 is detected based on the lighting state of the warning lamp 18 or the like. Subsequently, in step V12, a sampling rate or a storage period is set for each of various input signals or control signals according to the content of the failure or the content of the failure. Thereafter, in step V13, the content to be stored in the data recording unit 27 is selected based on the sampling rate or the storage period.

As shown in FIG. 13B, in the case of the selection subroutine 2, first, at step V21, the contents of a failure or the contents of a failure are estimated from various input signals or control signals. Subsequently, in step V22, a sampling rate or a storage period is set for each of the various input signals or control signals in accordance with the content of the estimated failure or the content of the failure. Thereafter, in step V23, based on the sampling rate or the storage period, the data recording unit 2
7, the contents to be stored are selected.

As shown in FIG. 13C, in the case of the selection subroutine 3, first, in step V31, the vehicle state (for example, vehicle speed, engine speed, etc.) is detected. Subsequently, in step V32, according to the detected vehicle state,
A sampling rate or a storage period is set for each of various input signals or control signals. Thereafter, step V33
Then, the content to be stored in the data recording unit 27 is selected based on the sampling rate or the storage period.

As shown in FIG. 13D, in the case of the selection subroutine 4, first, at step V41, the remaining memory capacity in the data recording unit 27 is detected. Subsequently, in step V42, the frequency of failure or failure (warning lamp lighting) is detected. Next, in step V43,
The remaining memory capacity is corrected according to the frequency of failure or failure. Then, in step V44, a sampling rate or a storage period is set for each of various input signals or control signals according to the corrected remaining memory capacity. Thereafter, in step V45, the content to be stored in the data recording unit 27 is selected based on the sampling rate or the storage period.

As described above, in the present embodiment, when the control unit 5 fails or fails, the lighting of the warning lamp 18 is triggered and the previous detection signal data is stored in the data recording unit 27. Therefore, even if various kinds of data are automatically recorded when a failure occurs, there is no need to provide a program for judging the failure occurrence detection on the data recording device side based on the various kinds of data. For this reason, the structure of the driving recorder 6 is simplified or downsized, and its manufacturing cost or running cost is reduced. When the warning lamp 18 is checked for disconnection after the activation of the control unit 5, the detection signal data is not stored in the data recording unit 27 even if the warning lamp 18 is activated. When no failure occurs, unnecessary data is prevented from being recorded by mistake, and recording of unnecessary data is minimized.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory side view of an automobile equipped with a driving recorder according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a connection form of a driving recorder to a control unit and a host computer.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a control unit and a driving recorder.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a principle of collecting data in an SRAM in a driving recorder.

FIG. 5 is a graph showing an example of data collected and recorded by a driving recorder when a control unit fails or fails.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of an output form of a warning lamp signal.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a trigger timing of a driving recorder when a control unit fails or fails.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a data recording mode when a file is divided and recorded for each channel in a data recording unit.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a data recording mode when a file is divided and recorded on a time axis in a data recording unit.

10A is a flowchart illustrating a control method of a main control routine in the control unit, FIG. 10B is a flowchart illustrating a control method of a disconnection check routine in the main control routine, and FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a control method of a normal control routine in a control routine, (d) is a flowchart showing a control method of a transmission control routine in a main control routine, and (e) is a flowchart of a failure diagnosis routine in the main control routine. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a control method.

11A is a flowchart illustrating a control method of a main control routine in the driving recorder, FIG. 11B is a flowchart illustrating a control method of a temporary storage routine in the main control routine, and FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a control method of a storage routine during the routine.

FIGS. 12A to 12C respectively show FIGS.
9 is a flowchart showing a control method of a centering check confirmation subroutine in a storage routine shown in (c).

13 (a) to 13 (d) respectively show FIG.
It is a flowchart which shows the control method of the selection subroutine in the storage routine shown to (c).

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Car, 2 ... Engine, 3 ... Automatic transmission, 4 ... Battery, 5 ... Control unit (ECU), 6 ... Driving recorder (data recording device), 7 ... Power cable, 8 ... Connection harness, 8a ... Vehicle harness .., 8b... Intermediate harness, 8c... Branch harness, 9... Collected data transfer cable, 10... , 1
8 Warning lamp, 19 Ground part, 20 Ground conductor, 21 Central processing unit (CPU), 22 Input interface part, 23 Malfunction detection part, 24 Operation switch group, 25 Operation switch processing part, 26 ... SRAM, 2
7. Data recording unit (non-volatile memory, for example, EEPRO
M).

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Kazu Okuda ▲ Toku ▼ 3-1, Shinchi, Fuchu-cho, Aki-gun, Hiroshima Prefecture F-term (reference) within Mazda Co., Ltd. CC08 DD03 EE29 EE30

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A data recording device comprising data control means for storing various kinds of detection signal data in a data recording part when a target control device malfunctions or fails, wherein the data control means is A data recording apparatus characterized in that the operation of a warning lamp is triggered and the detection signal data before the operation of the warning lamp is stored in a data recording unit. 2. The data control means according to claim 1, wherein at the time of a warning lamp disconnection check operation after activation of the target control device, the detection signal data is not stored in the data recording section even if the warning lamp is activated. The data recording device according to claim 1, wherein: 3. The data control means stores the detection signal data in the data recording unit within a predetermined time after the target control device is activated or within a predetermined time after the warning lamp is activated by the disconnection check operation. 3. The data recording apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the data recording apparatus does not perform the recording. 4. The data control means stores the detection signal data in a data recording unit after the warning lamp is activated by the disconnection check operation after the start of the target control device and until the warning lamp is deactivated. 3. The data recording apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the data recording apparatus does not perform the recording. 5. The data recording apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the object control device always shifts the warning lamp to a non-operation state after the warning lamp has been checked for disconnection. . 6. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the detection signal data is not stored in the data recording unit until the data control means detects the operation or non-operation of the warning lamp a plurality of times. The data recording device according to the above. 7. The data control means according to claim 1, wherein the data control means changes the manner in which the detection signal data is stored in the data recording section in accordance with the operation state of the warning lamp. A data recording device according to any one of the preceding claims.