JP2011137443A - Device for supporting low fuel consumption driving - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To inform an index of suitable driving operation for improving fuel efficiency without depending on vehicle speed during travelling in real time. <P>SOLUTION: A low fuel consumption drive supporting device 10 includes a storage part 12 for storing reference travel fuel efficiency set beforehand during constant speed travel for each vehicle speed, a vehicle speed detection part 21 for detecting actual vehicle speed, a fuel injection amount detection part 22 for detecting an actual fuel injection amount per unit time, a calculation part 13 for calculating actual fuel efficiency in every predetermined time based on the detected vehicle speed and the fuel injection amount as well as calculating a ratio of the actual fuel efficiency with respect to the reference travel fuel efficiency corresponding to the detected vehicle speed, and an informing part (a display part 15) for informing the ratio. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a low fuel consumption driving support device that supports low fuel consumption driving with a small fuel injection amount with respect to a distance by evaluating fuel efficiency during traveling and informing in real time.

  The fuel consumption is an index indicating the amount of fuel that can be traveled over a traveling distance or a certain distance per unit volume of fuel. It is known that the fuel consumption changes depending on the fuel used, tire air pressure, engine oil, loading capacity, traveling pattern, and the like.

  By the way, in the fuel economy described in the catalog, there are “moderate fuel economy” when driving at a constant speed on flat ground and “modes” including start, stop, and idling, assuming actual road driving. There is "driving fuel consumption". For example, in the case of a two-wheeled vehicle, traveling on a fixed road at 30 km / h (motorcycle bicycle) or 60 km / h (motorcycle), and in the case of a four-wheeled vehicle, traveling on an urban highway is added in addition to traveling on an urban area. It is generally expressed as “15-mode fuel consumption”. However, it is very difficult to travel with the fuel consumption described in these catalogs in actual traveling. This is because the acceleration / deceleration operation by the driver has a great influence on the actual fuel consumption.

  Therefore, conventionally, consideration has been given so that the driver can perform an appropriate acceleration / deceleration operation by displaying the instantaneous fuel consumption and the average fuel consumption on a vehicle meter as necessary, or displaying a message for prompting an appropriate operation. For example, the fuel consumption displayed on the vehicle meter is based on the fuel injection amount obtained via an ECU (electronic control unit), and there are many that can switch between instantaneous fuel consumption and average fuel consumption.

  However, in the above-described conventional fuel consumption display, the driver cannot know the index for the best fuel consumption (ideal fuel consumption), and it is difficult to drive with a target of constant fuel consumption. This is because the best fuel consumption varies depending on the vehicle speed.

  For this reason, for example, Patent Document 1 introduces a technique for more accurately evaluating fuel consumption based on ideal fuel consumption having universality. Specifically, the actual fuel consumption is evaluated by calculating a percentage of the actual fuel consumption that does not depend on the driver, and the evaluation result is displayed to allow the driver to recognize and promote an appropriate operation.

  According to the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1 described above, the driver himself / herself evaluates the fuel actually consumed in the section traveling of the road on which the vehicle is traveling based on the minimum amount of fuel necessary for traveling. It is possible to know an objective evaluation regarding the driving of the vehicle, and accordingly, it is possible to encourage the driving for improving the fuel consumption. However, since the evaluation is performed in consideration of the standard vehicle speed in the section travel, if a traffic jam or the like occurs in the section, it cannot be an accurate evaluation value. Even if there is no traffic jam, even if the evaluation value for the traveling result can be known, the evaluation value cannot be obtained in real time during the section traveling. Therefore, the evaluation result cannot be reflected in the driving operation for improving the fuel efficiency each time.

JP 2009-13938 A (paragraphs “0008” to “0018”, FIG. 1)

  It is an object of the present invention to provide a low fuel consumption driving support device that can display an indicator of proper driving operation for improving fuel efficiency in real time during traveling without depending on the vehicle speed.

  A fuel-efficient driving support device according to claim 1 includes a preset storage unit that stores a reference fuel consumption for each vehicle speed, a vehicle speed detection unit that detects an actual vehicle speed, and an actual fuel per unit time. A fuel injection amount detection unit that detects an injection amount, and calculates the actual fuel consumption from the detected vehicle speed and the fuel injection amount every predetermined time, and the reference traveling fuel consumption corresponding to the detected vehicle speed The calculation part which calculates the ratio of the said actual fuel consumption with respect to, and the alerting | reporting part which alert | reports to a driver based on the said ratio are characterized by the above-mentioned.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the fuel-efficient driving support device according to the first aspect, the reference traveling fuel consumption is obtained by multiplying the fuel consumption for each reference vehicle speed during constant speed traveling by a vehicle speed coefficient that increases as the reference vehicle speed increases. It is characterized by the above.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the fuel-efficient driving support device according to the first or second aspect, the vehicle further includes a gradient detection unit that detects the degree of the road gradient, and the calculation unit is the detected gradient degree. The standard driving fuel consumption is corrected according to the above.

  The invention according to claim 4 is the fuel-efficient driving support device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising a load detection unit that detects the onboard load, and the calculation unit is detected It is characterized in that the reference traveling fuel consumption is corrected in accordance with the onboard load.

  The invention according to claim 5 is the fuel-efficient driving support device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising an air pressure detection unit that detects tire air pressure, and the calculation unit is detected. The reference driving fuel consumption is corrected according to the air pressure.

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the fuel-efficient driving support device according to any one of the first to fifth aspects, the calculation unit is configured such that the vehicle speed detected by the vehicle speed detection unit continues for a predetermined time and the gradient When the road gradient detected by the detection unit and the on-board load detected by the load detection unit are zero, the reference travel fuel consumption for each vehicle speed stored in the storage unit is corrected when the vehicle is manufactured. .

  According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the fuel-efficient driving support device according to any one of the first to sixth aspects, the calculation unit is a value obtained by multiplying the reference travel fuel consumption for each vehicle speed by a predetermined coefficient. The reference fuel consumption is calculated, and the notification unit includes a display for reporting the reference fuel consumption superimposed on a graph representing the ratio of the actual fuel consumption to the reference travel fuel consumption.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, the calculation unit calculates the actual fuel consumption from the vehicle speed detected by the vehicle speed detection unit and the fuel injection amount detected by the fuel injection amount detection unit every predetermined time. And the ratio of the actual fuel consumption with respect to the reference | standard driving fuel consumption corresponding to the detected vehicle speed is calculated, and it alert | reports by an alerting | reporting part based on this ratio. Therefore, the notification unit can be notified of an index for low fuel consumption driving that does not depend on the vehicle speed at predetermined time intervals, and as a result, the driver can perform driving for fuel consumption improvement in real time. It becomes possible.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, the reference traveling fuel consumption stored in the storage unit is a value obtained by multiplying the fuel efficiency for each reference vehicle speed during constant speed traveling by a vehicle speed coefficient that increases as the reference vehicle speed increases. . For this reason, the achievement difficulty for low fuel consumption driving based on the ratio of the actual fuel consumption to the standard driving fuel consumption becomes uniform at all vehicle speeds, and it becomes possible to provide an easy to use low fuel consumption driving support device suitable for practical use. . Therefore, conventionally, it is difficult to drive while complying with the indicators for low fuel consumption driving because acceleration is required at low speed driving, and it has been easy to neglect driving effort for low fuel consumption driving. By setting the coefficient in the driving area low and conversely setting the coefficient in the high speed area high, the level of difficulty in achieving low fuel consumption driving is made uniform, which can help the driver to raise awareness when continuing low fuel consumption driving. it can.

  According to the invention which concerns on Claim 3, a calculating part correct | amends the reference | standard driving | running | working fuel consumption corresponding to a vehicle speed according to the degree of the road gradient detected by the gradient detection part. For this reason, an indicator for low fuel consumption driving based on the road gradient during actual driving can be displayed at predetermined time intervals, and as a result, the driver can improve the fuel consumption in real time without being aware of the road gradient when driving on a slope. Driving becomes possible.

  According to the invention which concerns on Claim 4, a calculating part correct | amends the reference | standard driving | running | working fuel consumption corresponding to a vehicle speed according to the vehicle-mounted loading amount detected by the load detection part. For this reason, an indicator of low fuel consumption driving based on the in-vehicle loading capacity can be notified at predetermined time intervals, and as a result, the driver can improve fuel consumption in real time without being aware of the loading capacity of the actual traveling load etc. Can be operated.

  According to the invention which concerns on Claim 5, a calculating part correct | amends the reference | standard driving | running | working fuel consumption corresponding to a vehicle speed according to the grade of the tire air pressure detected by the air pressure detection part. For this reason, an indicator for low fuel consumption driving based on tire air pressure can be reported at predetermined time intervals during traveling, and as a result, the driver can be aware of the tire air pressure during actual traveling, Driving to improve fuel economy in real time becomes possible.

  According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, when the vehicle speed detected by the vehicle speed detection unit continues for a predetermined time, the calculation unit corrects the reference travel fuel consumption for each vehicle speed stored in the storage unit when the vehicle is manufactured. However, no correction is made if the road slope and the on-board load are not zero. This is effective, for example, when the fuel consumption changes rapidly due to tire replacement.

  According to the seventh aspect of the invention, the calculation unit calculates a value obtained by multiplying the reference travel fuel consumption for each vehicle speed by a predetermined coefficient as the reference fuel consumption, and the notification unit calculates the actual fuel consumption with respect to the reference travel fuel consumption. The reference fuel consumption is superimposed on the graph representing the ratio and notified to the display unit. Accordingly, an indicator for low fuel consumption driving can be reported as the reference fuel consumption, and driving for improving fuel consumption is set as a reasonable target value, so that an excellent user interface can be provided.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the low fuel consumption driving assistance device which concerns on this invention. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the low fuel consumption driving assistance device which concerns on this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the screen display of the eco bar of the low fuel consumption driving assistance device which concerns on this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the ambient meter screen display of the low fuel consumption driving assistance device which concerns on this invention. It is the figure which showed the vehicle speed fuel consumption characteristic before correction | amendment with the graph. It is the figure which showed the standard driving | running | working fuel consumption after correction | amendment with the graph. It is the figure which showed the vehicle speed fuel consumption characteristic after correction | amendment with the graph.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail.

(Configuration of Example)
As shown in FIG. 1, the low fuel consumption driving support device 10 includes a vehicle state detection unit 11, a storage unit 12, a calculation unit 13, a drawing / display control unit 14, and a display unit (notification unit) 15. Composed. The vehicle state detection unit 11 includes a vehicle speed detection unit 21, a fuel injection amount detection unit 22, a gradient detection unit 23, a load detection unit 24, and an air pressure detection unit 25.

  The vehicle speed detection unit 21 is, for example, a vehicle speed sensor that obtains the vehicle speed by measuring vehicle speed pulses, and the fuel injection amount detection unit 22 is an injection of fuel that is injected into the cylinder from an engine that employs EGI (Electronic Gasoline Injection). It is a fuel sensor that detects the amount. The gradient detector 23 is, for example, a gradient sensor that emits ultrasonic waves to the road and detects the road gradient from the reflected waves. The load detector 24 is a load sensor that measures the onboard load, The detection unit 25 is an air pressure sensor that measures the air pressure of the tire. Information relating to the vehicle speed, fuel injection amount, road gradient, onboard load, and tire air pressure obtained by these sensors is output to the calculation unit 13.

  The storage unit 12 stores in advance a vehicle speed-reference travel fuel consumption map 12a. The vehicle speed-reference travel fuel consumption map 12a is a reference travel fuel consumption (so-called ground travel fuel consumption) measured when the vehicle travels at a constant vehicle speed with a gradient of 0 and a load of 0. The storage unit 12 is composed of a rewritable nonvolatile semiconductor memory, and the vehicle speed-reference traveling fuel consumption map 12a is written in advance at the time of manufacture.

  The calculation unit 13 calculates the actual fuel consumption FEi from the vehicle speed V detected by the vehicle speed detection unit 21 and the fuel injection amount Fs detected by the fuel injection amount detection unit 22, and the actual fuel consumption FEi is detected. The vehicle has a function of calculating a ratio (hereinafter referred to as eco-driving degree) obtained by dividing by the reference travel fuel consumption FEc at the vehicle speed V every predetermined time. The calculation unit 13 corrects and uses the reference travel fuel consumption based on information detected by the vehicle state detection unit 11 such as the vehicle speed V, the road gradient θ, the onboard load KG, and the tire pressure P. For this reason, the calculating part 13 is comprised including the instantaneous fuel consumption calculation part 13a, the eco-drive degree calculation part 13b, the correction coefficient calculation part 13c, and the reference fuel consumption calculation part 13d.

  The instantaneous fuel consumption calculation unit 13a multiplies the vehicle speed V by the unit time t, and divides by the fuel injection amount Fs to calculate actual fuel consumption (hereinafter referred to as instantaneous fuel consumption FEi). The eco-driving degree calculation unit 13b calculates the eco-driving degree EDR by dividing the instantaneous fuel consumption FEi calculated by the instantaneous fuel consumption calculation unit 13a by the reference traveling fuel consumption FEc for each vehicle speed stored in the storage unit 12. However, the reference travel fuel consumption FEc used when the eco-driving degree calculation unit 13b calculates the eco-driving degree is a value obtained by multiplying the correction coefficient calculated by the correction coefficient calculating unit 13c described later.

  The correction coefficient calculation unit 13c detects the vehicle speed V, the road gradient θ, the onboard load KG, and the tire pressure P detected by the vehicle speed detection unit 21, the gradient detection unit 23, the load detection unit 24, and the air pressure detection unit 25, respectively. Based on this, a correction coefficient C for changing the reference travel fuel consumption FEc is calculated. Here, the correction coefficient C is set to 1 when the road gradient θ is 0 (flat road), and decreases as the upward gradient increases and increases as the downward gradient increases. Further, the correction coefficient C becomes smaller than 1 as the on-vehicle loading amount KG increases. Further, the correction coefficient C becomes smaller than 1 as the tire air pressure P decreases from the appropriate air pressure. Further, the correction coefficient C may be changed depending on the degree of deterioration of the engine oil. That is, the correction coefficient is set to 1 when the engine oil is changed, and is set smaller than 1 when the travel distance from that time increases.

  When the reference fuel consumption calculation unit 13d converts the ecodrive degree EDR calculated by the ecodrive degree calculation unit 13b into, for example, the bar graph shown in FIG. 3 or the display form of the ambient meter shown in FIG. A reference fuel consumption FEr used as a value to be targeted by the driver is calculated. Here, the reference fuel consumption FEr is fuel consumption data close to actual traveling obtained by multiplying the standard traveling fuel consumption FEc by the correction coefficient C and the coefficient 0.6. The coefficient 0.6 described above may be arbitrarily set by the driver.

  The drawing / display control unit 14 converts the eco-drive degree calculated by the calculation unit 13 (eco-drive degree calculation unit 13b) into display information that matches the display mode shown in FIGS. Draw in (VRAM). The display information drawn in the VRAM is read out in synchronization with the display timing of the display unit 15 under the control of the drawing / display control unit 14 and displayed on the display unit 15 in a desired form.

  The display unit 15 is configured using, for example, an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) or an organic EL (Electro-Luminescence), which is configured by arranging a large number of pixels (a combination of light emitting elements of a plurality of colors) vertically and horizontally. The display unit 15 is controlled by the drawing / display control unit 14 and displays the display information drawn in the above-described VRAM in the display form shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, for example.

  In addition, although the display part 15 mentioned above is demonstrated as an alerting | reporting part which alert | reports a ratio (eco-drive degree EDR) here, you may alert | report with an audio | voice so that it may mention later.

(Operation of the embodiment)
Hereinafter, the operation of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 2. First, the generation and maintenance management of the vehicle speed-reference traveling fuel consumption map 12 a stored in the storage unit 12 will be described.

  The administrator of the vehicle speed-reference travel fuel consumption map 12a measures in advance the reference travel fuel consumption when the vehicle travels at a constant speed with a vehicle load of 0 on the road gradient 0. For example, the reference travel fuel consumption measured at a vehicle speed of 10 km / h is measured in advance and written in a predetermined area of the storage unit 12 at the time of manufacture. In addition, for the reference running fuel consumption at a vehicle speed not measured (for example, 11 km / h to 19 km / h), a value obtained by proportionally allocating the measured reference running fuel consumption at the measured vehicle speed (10 km / h and 20 km / h). Shall be written.

  The vehicle speed-reference travel fuel consumption map 12a is corrected when the vehicle speed detected by the vehicle speed detection unit 21 continues for a predetermined time. However, this is limited to the case where the road gradient detected by the gradient detection unit 23 and the on-board loading amount detected by the load detection unit 24 are both zero. This is effective when the fuel consumption changes rapidly due to tire replacement or the like.

  According to FIG. 2, in the calculation unit 13, first, the instantaneous fuel consumption calculation unit 13 a acquires the vehicle speed V from the vehicle speed detection unit 21 and the information on the fuel injection amount Fs from the fuel injection amount detection unit 22 (step S <b> 101). The instantaneous fuel consumption calculation unit 13a calculates the instantaneous fuel consumption (FEi = V · t / Fs) from these pieces of information (step S102). Here, t is a unit time.

  Subsequently, the eco-drive degree calculation unit 13b reads the vehicle speed-reference travel fuel consumption map 12a from the storage unit 12, and uses C · FEc obtained by multiplying the reference travel fuel consumption FEc corresponding to the vehicle speed V at that time by the correction coefficient C described above. Then, the instantaneous fuel consumption FEi calculated by the instantaneous fuel consumption calculation unit 13a is divided to calculate the eco-driving degree EDR (step S103). Here, the reference travel fuel consumption FEc used for calculating the eco-drive degree EDR is assumed to be a value that is sequentially corrected by calculation according to actual travel.

  Specifically, the correction coefficient calculation unit 13c acquires information on road gradient, in-vehicle loading amount, tire pressure, and the like detected in real time by each of the gradient detection unit 23, the load detection unit 24, and the air pressure detection unit 25, A corresponding correction coefficient is acquired from a correction map (not shown) in which the relationship between the information and the correction coefficient is defined, and is output to the eco-drive degree calculation unit 13b. The eco-drive degree EDR calculated by the eco-drive degree calculation unit 13b is supplied to the drawing / display control unit 14 for display.

  Prior to the display of the eco-driving degree by the drawing / display control unit 14, the reference fuel consumption calculation unit 13d calculates the reference fuel consumption (step S104). The reference fuel efficiency FEr is obtained by multiplying the standard travel fuel efficiency FEc by the correction coefficient C and the coefficients a and b. The reference fuel consumption calculated here is supplied to the drawing / display control unit 14 together with the eco-driving degree EDR calculated by the eco-driving degree calculation unit 13b and the instantaneous fuel consumption FEi calculated by the instantaneous fuel consumption calculation unit 13a. The drawing / display control unit 14 is based on the instantaneous fuel consumption FEi calculated by the instantaneous fuel consumption calculation unit 13a, the reference fuel consumption FEr calculated by the reference fuel consumption calculation unit 13d, and the ecodrive degree EDR calculated by the ecodrive degree calculation unit 13b. Display information that changes is displayed on the display unit 15.

  The drawing / display control unit 14 calculates the ecodrive degree EDR calculated by the ecodrive degree calculation unit 13b based on the resolution of the monitor included in the display unit 15 or based on the unit operation width of the ecobar set from the outside. Convert to Here, the length of the eco-bar is set based on the eco-driving degree EDR which is a ratio of the reference travel fuel efficiency FEc and the instantaneous fuel efficiency FEi. For example, as shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, the time elapses. Display information for displaying an eco bar whose length changes is generated (step S105).

  For example, when the FEi / C · FEc is increased or decreased in units of 10%, the length of the eco bar is expanded or contracted by about ± 5 mm. The drawing / display control unit 14 draws the generated display information on the VRAM, reads it in accordance with the display timing of the display unit 15, and displays it on the display unit 15 in the form of an eco bar as shown in FIGS. (Step S106). As will be described later, when the eco-mark is displayed with a color, red (R) when FEi / C · FEc is 0 to 40%, yellow when FEi / C · FEc is 40 to 60% When (Y), FEi / C · FEc is 60% or more, it is displayed in green (G).

  A display example for low fuel consumption driving support by the eco bar is shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B together with a graph showing a mechanism of the display. 3A shows a bar graph length in terms of eco-driving degree EDR with b as a reference point, and FIG. 3B shows a display example in which the bar graph length is shown as 100-EDR with c as a reference point. It is.

  The graph shown in the lower right of FIG. 3 (a) is plotted with the vehicle speed [km / h] on the horizontal axis and the instantaneous fuel consumption [km / l] on the vertical axis, plotted with a bold solid line. The curve indicates the standard fuel efficiency (reference fuel efficiency curve), and the curve plotted with a thick broken line indicates the reference fuel efficiency (reference fuel efficiency curve). As indicated by the white arrow in this graph, the low fuel consumption driving (good) as the instantaneous fuel consumption approaches the standard driving fuel consumption curve based on the reference fuel consumption curve, and the higher fuel consumption driving ( Impossible).

  According to the eco bar display example shown in the upper left of FIG. 3 (a), as is apparent from the above-described graph, the position c at the substantially center of the eco bar is the tip position of the eco bar when traveling at the reference fuel efficiency Fer. Position a is the leading position when 100% low fuel consumption driving is performed with the reference traveling fuel efficiency FEc, and position b is the leading position of the eco-bar when performing the highest fuel efficiency driving (fuel consumption 0 km / l). That is, as the eco bar extends to the right, the fuel-efficient driving is performed. The area indicated by hatching at the right end of the eco bar is the area where the leading position of the eco bar enters when the engine brake is decelerated. In this case, the vehicle travels with a fuel injection amount of 0, so it is driven with the lowest fuel consumption. Will be. Further, a vertical line for displaying the reference fuel efficiency FEr is drawn in the vicinity of 60% of the standard travel fuel efficiency FEc. Therefore, the driver is driven so that the eco-driving degree EDR exceeds the reference fuel efficiency FEr, and since the target value is reasonable, it is an excellent user interface.

In the graph shown in the lower right of FIG. 3B, the horizontal axis indicates the braking G [m / s ² ], the vertical axis indicates the low fuel consumption driving score BS (0 to 100), and the braking G is 0. The low fuel consumption driving score BS is assumed to be 100 points, and when the braking G is applied, the low fuel consumption driving score BS deteriorates and approaches zero points as much as possible. The graph shown in the upper right is the same as the graph shown in FIG.

  The display example shown in FIG. 3B is an example in which the eco-drive degree at the time of accelerator operation (acceleration) and brake operation (braking) is displayed by the expansion / contraction of the eco bar (100-EDR or 100-BS). . With the position c as the origin, an eco bar display area at the time of deceleration toward the left end and an eco bar display area at the time of acceleration toward the right end are formed. If described in the light of the above-described graph, it is indicated that the position “c” at the center of the eco bar is operating at a low fuel consumption with a low fuel consumption driving score 100. The eco bar is stretched and displayed with a length of 100-EDR or 100-BS around the position c. Accordingly, the eco bar extending from the position c to the origin and moving toward the position a or the position b is a clear zone within the allowable driving range, and when the vehicle enters the hatching region beyond this, the fuel-efficient driving is performed. . Keeping the eco bar in the clear zone near the center contributes to low fuel consumption driving.

  Display examples for low fuel consumption driving assistance by the ambient meter are shown in FIGS. 4 (a), 4 (b), and 4 (c). Here, the display image of the eco-drive during acceleration is shown in comparison with the eco-bar display shown in FIG.

  In other words, Fig. 4 (a) shows that when FEi / C · FEc is 60% or more and optimal eco-driving is performed, Fig. 4 (b) shows that FEi / C · FEc is 40 to 60% and gentle acceleration is achieved. FIG. 4C shows examples of display when FEi / C · FEc suddenly accelerates from 0 to 40%. From FIG. 4C to FIG. 4A, the eco-mark color (gradation) indicated by the shaded portion changes from R to G via Y, so that the driver can see in real time. It becomes possible to inform the eco-driving degree.

  In addition, according to the above-described embodiment, only the case of displaying the eco-driving degree EDR has been described. However, since visual information has a safety problem when watched while the vehicle is running, the above-described eco bar or ambient meter display is used. It is also conceivable to perform notification by sound in accordance with the driving situation together with changing or displaying. For example, it is possible to provide a low fuel consumption driving support device that also considers safety by providing a user interface such as changing to a gentle tone as the eco-driving degree increases.

  Here, the value of the reference travel fuel consumption of the vehicle speed-reference travel fuel consumption map 12a stored in advance in the storage unit 12 will be described. As described above, the reference travel fuel consumption FEc is a fuel consumption measured when the vehicle travels on the condition that the gradient is 0, the loading amount is 0, and the vehicle speed is constant. In this embodiment, in order to improve usability (practicality) during actual traveling, the reference traveling fuel consumption FEc stored in the storage unit 12 is corrected to achieve the degree of difficulty in achieving low fuel consumption driving according to the vehicle speed (hereinafter referred to as the following). The level of difficulty in achieving eco-driving is achieved over the entire vehicle speed range.

  Explain in detail the difficulty of achieving eco-driving. When the vehicle is actually driven, in the low speed range (0 km / h or more to less than 40 km / h), there are many acceleration operation states, or the instantaneous fuel efficiency FEi tends to deteriorate due to the use of the low gear. On the other hand, in the high speed range (40 km / h or more to 100 km / h or less), there are many traveling states close to the reference fuel efficiency FEc or the high speed gear stage is used, so the instantaneous fuel efficiency FEi is not so bad. FIG. 5 shows the instantaneous fuel consumption FEi in the case of gradual acceleration. In the figure, FEr1 is a reference fuel efficiency obtained by multiplying the standard fuel efficiency FEc by 0.3 as a symmetric comparison.

  In this way, the difficulty of achieving eco-driving varies greatly depending on the vehicle speed. For this reason, for example, there may be a case where a driver traveling at a low speed cannot accelerate smoothly in consideration of the high fuel consumption driving indicated by the eco bar display even though the driver needs acceleration. Further, since it is often determined as “high fuel consumption driving” in the low speed range, it is often determined as “high fuel consumption driving” at the start. For this reason, it is conceivable that the driver gives up fuel-efficient driving at the time of departure. On the other hand, although acceleration is not required in the high speed range, there is an acceleration margin due to the low fuel consumption driving indicated by the eco bar display, and therefore it is possible to accelerate excessively.

  In this embodiment, based on such circumstances, the reference travel fuel consumption FEc before correction shown in FIG. 6A is corrected by the accelerator opening shown in FIG. 6B and the vehicle speed coefficient shown in FIG. 6C. By this correction, a new reference travel fuel consumption FEc2 shown in FIG. 6 (d) is generated. In other words, in order to improve practicality, the standard driving fuel efficiency is corrected by the accelerator opening and the vehicle speed coefficient, so that the difficulty of achieving eco-driving is made uniform over the entire vehicle speed range.

  This will be specifically described below. In FIG. 6B, the engine speed (rpm) on the vertical axis and the vehicle speed (km / h) on the horizontal axis, the characteristics of the engine speed and vehicle speed for each accelerator opening (large, medium, and small). A curve is shown. In the figure, “large” is a characteristic curve of the engine speed and the vehicle speed during full throttle travel, “medium” during normal acceleration travel, and “small” during travel based on the reference travel fuel consumption before correction.

  According to FIG. 6 (b), when the accelerator opening is "medium" and the vehicle travels at a low speed of 20 km / h which requires the most acceleration, the reference travel fuel consumption FEc1 before correction is multiplied by a coefficient 0.5 (1000 rpm / 2000 rpm). When the vehicle is traveling at a high speed of 100 km / h, the difficulty in achieving eco-driving is made uniform by multiplying the reference travel fuel consumption FEc1 before correction by a coefficient of 0.53 (2000 rpm / 3800 rpm).

  On the other hand, in FIG. 6C, the weighting factor is set on the vertical axis, the vehicle speed is scaled on the horizontal axis, and the weighting factor to be multiplied by the reference travel fuel consumption before correction is increased as the vehicle speed increases. That is, with the vehicle speed of 40 km / h as a boundary, the standard driving fuel consumption FEc1 before correction is multiplied by a weight of 0.5 to 1 in the low speed range, and the weight coefficient of 1 to 2 is multiplied in the high speed range, thereby achieving difficulty in achieving eco-driving. Is set to be gentle in the low speed range and strict in the high speed range to equalize the difficulty of achieving eco-driving. The reference fuel efficiency FEc2 corrected in this way finally becomes as shown in FIG. 6D, and is corrected so as to rise relatively smoothly in the low speed range and to be flat in the high speed range.

  Specifically, as shown in the corrected vehicle speed fuel efficiency characteristics in FIG. 7, the reference fuel efficiency FEr2 during actual traveling approaches the instantaneous fuel efficiency FEi over the entire range from the low speed range to the high speed range, and the interval d1, d2 is substantially constant over the entire area. That is, the degree of difficulty in achieving eco-driving is made uniform. As a result, fuel-efficient driving can be realized without being influenced by changes in vehicle speed, so that practicality can be improved and the driver can use it to raise awareness when continuing fuel-efficient driving.

  In the above-described embodiment, in order to equalize the vehicle speed difference in the degree of difficulty in achieving eco-driving, it has been described that both the correction based on the accelerator opening and the correction based on the vehicle speed coefficient are performed on the reference travel fuel consumption. Only correction using coefficients may be used. The correction based on the vehicle speed coefficient has a significantly larger effect on the corrected reference travel fuel consumption than the correction based on the accelerator opening, depending on the slope of the coefficient straight line.

  According to the low fuel consumption driving support device 10 according to the embodiment, the instantaneous fuel consumption is calculated from the vehicle speed and the fuel injection amount, and the ratio (eco-drive degree EDR) between the instantaneous fuel consumption and the reference traveling fuel consumption is calculated every predetermined time. indicate. For this reason, an index for low fuel consumption driving can be notified at a predetermined time interval that does not depend on the vehicle speed. As a result, the driver can perform driving for fuel consumption improvement in real time.

  In addition, according to the fuel-efficient driving support device 10 according to the embodiment, the achievement difficulty for the fuel-efficient driving based on the ratio of the actual fuel consumption to the reference traveling fuel consumption (eco-drive degree EDR) becomes uniform at all vehicle speeds. It is possible to provide a fuel-efficient driving support device that is convenient and easy to use. Therefore, in the past, it was difficult to drive in compliance with the indicators for fuel-efficient driving because acceleration was required during low-speed driving, and as a result, driving efforts for fuel-efficient driving were apt to be neglected. According to the example, by setting the coefficient in the low-speed driving range low and conversely setting the high-speed coefficient high, the level of difficulty in achieving low fuel consumption driving is made uniform, and the driver's awareness of continuing low fuel consumption driving It can be used for uplifting.

  Further, according to the low fuel consumption driving support device 10 according to the embodiment, the reference fuel consumption is corrected by calculation based on the road gradient detected in accordance with the actual traveling, the on-vehicle loading amount, the tire air pressure, etc. A ratio (eco-driving degree EDR) with the reference traveling fuel consumption is calculated. For this reason, it becomes possible to notify the index of the low fuel consumption driving according to the actual driving, and as a result, the driver is aware of the road gradient, the in-vehicle loading amount, the tire air pressure, etc. during the actual driving, Driving to improve fuel economy in real time becomes possible.

  Further, according to the low fuel consumption driving support device 10 according to the embodiment, an indicator for low fuel consumption driving can be displayed as information with movement in real time, and the driver can judge the quality of the current driving fuel efficiency at a glance. It is possible to provide an excellent user interface.

  The low fuel consumption driving support device 10 of the present invention calculates the instantaneous fuel consumption from the vehicle speed and the fuel injection amount, and calculates the ratio between the calculated instantaneous fuel consumption and the reference traveling fuel consumption set for each vehicle speed at predetermined time intervals. And is suitable not only for vehicles but also for all moving bodies that require low fuel consumption driving.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Low fuel consumption driving assistance device, 11 ... Vehicle state detection part, 12 ... Memory | storage part, 12a ... Vehicle speed-reference | standard driving | running | working fuel consumption map, 13 ... Calculation part, 13a ... Instantaneous fuel consumption calculation part, 13b ... Eco drive degree calculation part, 13c ... correction coefficient calculation unit, 13d ... reference fuel consumption calculation unit, 14 ... drawing / display control unit, 15 ... notification unit (display unit), 21 ... vehicle speed detection unit, 22 ... fuel injection amount detection unit, 23 ... gradient detection unit, 24 ... Load detection unit, 25 ... Air pressure detection unit.

Claims (7)

A storage unit that stores a reference running fuel efficiency for each reference vehicle speed set in advance;
A vehicle speed detector for detecting the actual vehicle speed;
A fuel injection amount detection unit for detecting an actual fuel injection amount per unit time;
Calculation for calculating the actual fuel consumption from the detected vehicle speed and the fuel injection amount for each predetermined time and calculating the ratio of the actual fuel consumption to the reference travel fuel consumption corresponding to the detected vehicle speed And
A low fuel consumption driving support device comprising: a notification unit that notifies a driver based on the ratio. The standard driving fuel consumption is
2. The low fuel consumption driving support apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the fuel efficiency at each reference vehicle speed during constant speed traveling is a value obtained by multiplying a vehicle speed coefficient that increases as the reference vehicle speed increases. A slope detector for detecting the degree of road slope;
The low fuel consumption driving support device according to claim 1, wherein the calculation unit corrects the reference traveling fuel consumption according to the detected degree of the gradient. A load detection unit that detects the onboard load is further provided,
The low fuel consumption driving support device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the calculation unit corrects the reference traveling fuel consumption according to the detected on-vehicle loading amount. An air pressure detection unit for detecting the tire air pressure is further provided,
The low-fuel-consumption driving support device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the calculation unit corrects the reference traveling fuel consumption according to the detected air pressure. The computing unit is
Vehicle manufacturing is performed when the vehicle speed detected by the vehicle speed detection unit continues for a predetermined time, and when the road gradient detected by the gradient detection unit and the on-vehicle load detected by the load detection unit are zero. The low fuel consumption driving support device according to claim 1, wherein a reference traveling fuel consumption for each vehicle speed stored in the storage unit is corrected. The calculation unit calculates, as a reference fuel consumption, a value obtained by multiplying a standard driving fuel consumption for each vehicle speed by a predetermined coefficient,
The notification unit
The low fuel consumption driving support according to any one of claims 1 to 6, further comprising a display that superimposes the reference fuel consumption on a graph representing a ratio of an actual fuel consumption to the reference travel fuel consumption. apparatus.

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