JP2006103393A - Assist system for fuel saving driving - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an assist system for fuel saving driving capable of providing a piece of advice related to shifting-up engine speed for the fuel saving driving in which the timing of actual shifting-up is reflected into a driver and vehicle mass which largely changes by a load capacity is considered. <P>SOLUTION: This vehicle is provided with a mechanical transmission (MT) having a plurality of gear ratios, and which includes an engine speed measurement means 2 for measuring the engine speed of the vehicle, a vehicle speed measurement device 4 for measuring the vehicle speed, an engine load measurement device 6 for measuring the engine load, and a controller 7 for operating a travel distance, acceleration, the gear ratio and the vehicle mass from the engine speed, the vehicle speed and the engine load which are measured, and for storing the operated data. The controller 7 is constituted so as to command the engine speed with shifting-up to the driver to perform the shift-up based on the actual vehicle mass. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention evaluates the driving state of a vehicle and performs the best driving for a driver when performing fuel-saving driving in, for example, a freight car or a bus having a large difference in total vehicle mass between an empty vehicle and a loaded vehicle. The present invention relates to a driving support system for advising a method.

  When determining the engine speed for upshifting during acceleration, if the engine speed is higher than the maximum speed in the minimum fuel consumption rate range by a predetermined rate or more, the driver is encouraged to shift up, or the gear position of the transmission becomes lower. There is a technology (fuel-saving driving support system) that evaluates with a fuel efficiency evaluation score table prepared in advance so that the evaluation score becomes lower as the shift-up warning rotational speed is set lower or farther away from the predetermined engine speed range Proposed.

  However, in the evaluation method described above, a bad evaluation is obtained when the ratio of start acceleration at a low speed stage is large, and a good evaluation is obtained when there is a large shift up at a high speed stage. This results in an evaluation result that is far from the actual operation (in general, the shift-up engine speed tends to decrease as the gear stage becomes higher in actual operation).

  Further, although the vehicle mass changes greatly depending on the size of the load, and therefore the shift-up engine speed should reflect the vehicle mass that changes significantly, no consideration is given to the vehicle mass.

  In addition to the above technique, a technique for promoting improvement of the driving technique of the driver and improving the fuel consumption by improving the driving operation is disclosed (for example, see Patent Document 1).

However, even the technique (Patent Document 1) does not solve the above-described problems.
JP 2002-362185 A

  The present invention is proposed in view of the above-described problems of the prior art, and reflects the actual shift-up timing to the driver and saves fuel in consideration of the vehicle mass that varies greatly depending on the loading capacity. The purpose is to provide a fuel-saving driving support system that can provide advice on the engine speed for upshifting.

  The fuel-saving driving evaluation system of the present invention is a vehicle equipped with a mechanical transmission (MT) having a plurality of gear ratios, and measures engine speed measuring means (2) for measuring the engine speed of the vehicle, and measures the vehicle speed. Vehicle speed measuring means (4) for measuring the engine load, engine load measuring means (6) for measuring the engine load, and calculating the travel distance, acceleration, gear ratio and vehicle mass from the measured engine speed, vehicle speed and engine load. Control means (7) for storing the calculated data, and the control means (7) can instruct the driver about the engine speed for upshifting in order to perform upshifting according to the actual vehicle mass. (Claim 1).

  The control means (7) is configured to notify the driver of the upshift engine speed by means of display means (monitor 8) and / or sound alarm means (claim 2).

  The upshift engine speed that is instructed to the driver is the standard upshift engine speed and the target upshift engine speed.

  The control means (7) calculates in advance the standard and target upshift engine speeds in the empty state and the loaded state, and the upshift engine speed at the actual vehicle mass from the calculated upshift engine speed. The number is calculated (claim 4).

  According to the fuel-saving driving support system of the present invention having the above-described configuration and evaluation method, in a vehicle including a mechanical transmission (MT) having a plurality of gear ratios, an engine speed measuring means (2); The vehicle speed measuring means (4), the engine load measuring means (6), and the travel distance, acceleration, gear ratio and vehicle mass are calculated from the measured engine speed, vehicle speed and engine load, and the calculated data is stored. Control means (7), and the control means (7) is configured so that the driver can be instructed about the engine speed of the upshift in order to perform the upshift according to the actual vehicle mass. In addition, the standard and target upshift engine speeds in the loaded vehicle state are calculated in advance, and the upshift at the actual vehicle mass is calculated from the calculated upshift engine speed. Since the engine speed is calculated, the actual shift-up timing is reflected to the driver (in actual operation, the shift-up engine speed generally tends to decrease as the gear speed increases). In addition, it is possible to provide advice on the engine speed of the upshift engine for fuel-saving operation in consideration of the vehicle mass that varies greatly depending on the load.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  First, a first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.

In FIG. 1, the fuel-saving driving support system according to the first embodiment includes a vehicle U-side equipment U1, a management-side equipment U2, and a vehicle 1-side equipment equipped with a mechanical transmission MT having a plurality of gear ratios. The memory card 15 is a transfer means for transferring data recorded in U1 to the equipment U2 on the management side.
Here, the management side refers to, for example, a vehicle management department of a transportation company that owns the vehicle 1.

  The vehicle-side equipment U1 includes an engine speed measuring means (hereinafter referred to as an engine speed sensor) 2 for measuring the engine speed of a vehicle (lorry vehicle in the illustrated example) 1 and a vehicle speed. Vehicle speed measuring means (hereinafter referred to as vehicle speed sensor) 4 and engine load measuring means (hereinafter referred to as engine load sensor) 6 for measuring engine load.

  The vehicle-side equipment U1 calculates a travel distance, acceleration, gear ratio, and vehicle mass from the measured engine speed, vehicle speed and engine load, and stores the calculated results (vehicle data). And a monitor 8 as a display means and a voice guide means (not shown).

  On the other hand, the equipment U2 on the management side receives the vehicle data from the memory card 15 and uses the measured engine speed, vehicle speed, and engine load, which are vehicle data, from the travel distance, acceleration, Control means (management side control unit; personal computer for various data analysis) 20 for calculating the gear ratio and vehicle mass at the time of traveling and evaluating the way of driving and output means for outputting the evaluation result by the management side control unit 20 And the printer 22.

  The management-side control unit 20 can also input information calculated by the in-vehicle control unit 7 by a wireless transmission / reception means (not shown).

  The in-vehicle control unit 7 is configured to notify the driver of the upshift engine speed by means of a monitor 8 and / or a voice alarm means (not shown).

  The shift-up engine speed to be instructed to the driver is a shift-up engine speed that is regarded as a standard (for example, a shift that is regarded as a standard operation of a specific driver or a plurality of drivers driving a vehicle equipped with the system) Up engine speed) and the target shift-up engine speed, that is, the best shift-up engine speed.

Here, the relationship between the standard shift-up engine speed, the target shift-up engine speed, and the gear ratio, that is, “vehicle speed / engine speed” at a certain mass of the vehicle, is shown in FIG. It shows as a characteristic diagram.
The characteristic diagram of FIG. 2 is stored in a database (not shown) of the control unit 7.

According to FIG. 2, the shift-up engine speed can be lowered on the high speed stage side (right side of the horizontal axis) compared to the low speed stage side (left side of the horizontal axis). That is, it is possible to drive with fuel saving.
Furthermore, the shift-up engine speed (characteristic line Y1), which is the best and the target, is shifted up in the entire gear ratio range, compared with the shift-up engine speed (characteristic line Y2) considered as a standard by an actual driver. It is shown that the engine speed can be kept low.

  The control unit 7 calculates the acceleration from the time variation of the measured vehicle speed. The mass at that time is further calculated from the calculated acceleration and the engine load detected by the engine load sensor 6.

  Here, it is known that the shift-up engine speed (characteristic lines Y1 and Y2) regarded as the target and the standard changes approximately in proportion to the mass as shown in FIG.

  Therefore, the control unit 7 calculates in advance the shift-up engine speed that is regarded as the target and standard at the time of fixed product and when the vehicle is empty, and stores it in the database as a characteristic diagram similar to FIG.

At the start of traveling, first, acceleration is performed, and acceleration at that time and vehicle mass at that time are calculated.
The shift-up engine speed assumed as the target and the standard is given as a fixed product at the time of the previous run and a map of the shift-up engine speed in the empty vehicle (see FIG. 2).
Then, from the calculated value of the vehicle mass and a map thereof (the target engine and the standard for the empty vehicle and the shift-up engine speed that is regarded as the standard are drawn as a characteristic diagram), the target at the vehicle mass and The shift-up engine speed that is assumed to be standard is calculated and displayed on the monitor 8 as guide information (advice). Alternatively, the driver is informed by voice.

  Next, the control (evaluation) method of the first embodiment, that is, drive support control that advises the driver of the optimum shift-up engine speed will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 3 and the configuration of FIG.

  First, in step S1, the in-vehicle control unit 7 reads operation data (engine speed by the engine rotation sensor 2, vehicle speed by the vehicle speed sensor 4, engine load by the engine load sensor 6).

  In the next step S2, the control unit 7 calculates a gear ratio, that is, a value obtained by dividing the vehicle speed by the engine speed, and then proceeds to step S3.

  In step S3, the acceleration is calculated from the read data, the vehicle mass at that time is estimated from the calculated acceleration and the read engine load, and is temporarily stored in the database of the control unit 7.

  In the next step S4, after calculating the shift-up engine speed that is regarded as the target and standard in the case of a constant product, the process proceeds to step S5.

  In step S5, after calculating a shift-up engine speed that is regarded as a target and standard in the case of an empty vehicle, the process proceeds to step S6.

  In step S6, the control unit 7 uses the estimated vehicle mass from the upshift engine speed that is regarded as the target and standard for the fixed volume and the empty vehicle, and shifts that are regarded as the target and standard at the vehicle mass. Calculate up-engine speed.

  In step S7, the shift-up engine speed that is assumed to be the target and standard calculated in step S6 is displayed on the monitor 8, or the voice is notified to the driver, and the data is transferred to the management-side control unit 20 to save fuel. After using the data for evaluation or the like, the process returns to step S1, and step S1 is repeated again.

  According to the first embodiment of the configuration and the evaluation method described above, the in-vehicle control unit 7 is configured to be able to instruct the driver of the upshift engine speed so as to perform the upshift according to the actual vehicle mass. In addition, since the standard and target upshift engine speed in the empty state and the loaded state are calculated in advance, the upshift engine speed at the actual vehicle mass is calculated from the calculated upshift engine speed. Reflects actual shift-up timing to the driver (generally, in actual operation, the shift-up engine speed tends to decrease as the gear stage becomes higher) and greatly depends on the load capacity. Advice on shift-up engine speed for fuel-saving driving, taking into account the changing vehicle mass It can be provided.

In general, an engine with the highest output engine speed has a higher engine speed with a minimum fuel consumption rate, and a higher shift-up engine speed. In contrast, an engine with a low maximum output engine speed has a low engine speed with a minimum fuel consumption rate.
Therefore, in the case of engines with different maximum output engine speeds, the target shift-up engine speed can be set for each engine without having the map (see FIG. 2) by correcting with the ratio of the maximum output engine speed. It is possible to ask.

Therefore, as a modification of the first embodiment, the target shift-up engine rotational speed Y2 can be obtained by the method shown in FIG. 5 for engines having different maximum output engine rotational speeds.
That is, the target shift-up engine speed (given in FIG. 2) of the reference engine is
If Y1 (Y1 = F (X1), indicated by a thick line),
The target shift-up engine speed Y2 of the engine you want to find is
Y2 = A × F (X1) (indicated by a thin line).
Here, A is the ratio of the maximum output engine or the ratio of the minimum fuel consumption rate.

Next, a second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.
The first embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 5 is an embodiment in which the engine rotation sensor 2, the vehicle speed sensor 4, and the engine load sensor 8, which are detection means for each parameter, are connected to the in-vehicle control unit 7 by dedicated circuits. is there.

  On the other hand, in the second embodiment of FIG. 6, the vehicle speed signal, the engine speed signal, and the engine load signal are collected as digital signals to the LAN repeater 9 by the in-vehicle communication network “in-vehicle LAN” in advance. The vehicle-mounted control unit 7 is configured to be stored. Except for these configurations, the operation and effects are substantially the same as those in the first embodiment shown in FIGS.

  It should be noted that the illustrated embodiment is merely an example, and does not limit the technical scope of the present invention.

1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a fuel-saving driving support system according to a first embodiment of the present invention. The characteristic view which showed the relationship between the gear ratio which concerns on embodiment of this invention, and the upshift engine speed which is considered as the target upshift engine speed and standard. The characteristic view which showed the method of calculating | requiring the upshift engine speed which reflected actual vehicle mass in connection with embodiment of this invention. The flowchart explaining the drive assistance control which concerns on embodiment of this invention and advises a driver about the optimal upshift engine speed. FIG. 6 is a characteristic diagram for explaining a method for obtaining a target shift-up engine speed in a vehicle having engines with different maximum output engine speeds, which is a modification of the first embodiment. The block diagram which shows the structure of the fuel-saving driving | operation evaluation system which concerns on 2nd Embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Vehicle 2 ... Engine rotation speed measurement means / Engine rotation sensor 4 ... Vehicle speed measurement means / Vehicle speed sensor 6 ... Engine load measurement means / Engine load sensor 7 ... In-vehicle control unit 8 ... Display means / monitor 9 LAN relay 15 Memory card 20 Management side control unit 22 Printer U1 Vehicle side equipment U2 Management side equipment

Claims (4)

  In a vehicle equipped with a mechanical transmission having a plurality of gear ratios, an engine speed measuring means for measuring the engine speed of the vehicle, a vehicle speed measuring means for measuring the vehicle speed, and an engine load measuring means for measuring the engine load Control means for calculating the travel distance, acceleration, gear ratio and vehicle mass from the measured engine speed, vehicle speed and engine load, and storing the calculated data. A fuel-saving driving support system for a vehicle, characterized in that it is configured so that a driver can be instructed about the engine speed for upshifting in order to perform upshifting accordingly.   2. The vehicle fuel-saving driving support system according to claim 1, wherein the control unit is configured to notify the driver of the upshift engine speed by a display unit and / or a voice alarm unit.   The fuel-saving driving support system for a vehicle according to any one of claims 1 and 2, wherein the shift-up engine rotational speed instructed to the driver is a shift-up rotational speed regarded as a standard and a target shift-up engine rotational speed.   The control means calculates in advance the standard and target upshift engine speeds in an empty state and a loaded state, and calculates the upshift engine speed at the actual vehicle mass from the calculated upshift engine speed. A fuel-saving driving support system for a vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 3, configured as described above.

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