FR2947483A3 - Control system i.e. treatment and control unit, for controlling semi-active anti-rolling device for vehicle, has determination unit to determine control state among discrete control states, and control unit controlling control state - Google Patents

Abstract

The system (1) has a determination unit (4) for determining a control state (7) among discrete control states such as nominal states (8, 9), over-steer state (10) and/or under-steer state (11), of a semi-active anti-rolling device (2) based on information such as identification mark (13), operating state (14), regulation state (15) and over-steering rate (16) issued from a trajectory control device (6) of a vehicle (3). A control unit (5) controls the control state. The control device directly provides a discreet state of the vehicle to determine and control a state of the anti-rolling device.

Description

The present invention relates to a control system of a semi-active vehicle anti-roll device. More particularly, here is considered the interface with a device for controlling the trajectory of said vehicle and the use of status information from such a device. In the field of semi-active anti-roll devices, it is known, for example from WO 2005/120190, FR 2911840 or FR 2924381, to use controllable actuators to selectively control the coupling or decoupling of two half-bars. anti-roll or anti-roll. One observation on the basis of the invention is that an anti-roll device on one hand and a device for controlling the trajectory of said vehicle, for example of the ESP type, on the other hand, both contribute to the stability and vehicle control. It is therefore advantageous to develop a harmonious interface between these two devices. The invention is implemented with a trajectory control device in order to optimize the overall operation, coordinated or not, of the two devices in operation, to improve the performances and the efficiency of the two devices and to prevent malfunctions of these devices. two devices in situations where they have to act concurrently and / or simultaneously.

The subject of the invention is a control system for a semi-active anti-roll device for a vehicle, said device having several discrete control states, characterized in that it comprises: a means of determining a state of controlling among said discrete control states based on information from a trajectory control device of said vehicle, - a control means controlling said state.

According to another characteristic of the invention, said discrete control states of the anti-roll device comprise: at least one nominal state, at least one oversteer state and / or at least one understeer state.

According to another characteristic of the invention, said information comprises at least one operating state taking its values among: active and inactive / default, and the system is able to determine and control a safe state of the anti-roll device, when the The operating state of the trajectory control device is inactive / defect, the safe state being a predetermined one of said discrete control states which guarantees the best stability of the vehicle. According to another characteristic of the invention, said information comprises at least one control state taking its values among: active and inactive, indicating that the trajectory control device does or does not perform active regulation, and the system is able to control a freezing, in which the control state of the anti-roll device does not change, as long as the control state is active. According to another characteristic of the invention, said information comprises at least one oversteering rate indicative of the behavior of the vehicle, and the system further comprises a thresholding means with two thresholds capable of determining a vehicle state taking its values among subvirers, when the oversteer rate is lower than the lower threshold, oversteer, when the oversteer rate is higher than the upper and nominal threshold, when the oversteer rate is between the two thresholds, and the system is able to determine and control an understeer state of the anti-roll device when the vehicle state is overrunning, an oversteer state of the anti-roll device when the vehicle state is underpass, and a nominal state of the anti-roll device when the vehicle state is nominal. According to another characteristic of the invention, said discrete vehicle state for determining and controlling a state of the anti-roll device is directly provided by the trajectory control device. According to another characteristic of the invention, the anti-roll device comprises at least one semi-active front anti-roll bar controllable between a connected state and a disconnected state and / or a rear semi-active anti-roll bar controllable between a connected state. and a disconnected state, wherein the nominal state is obtained by controlling the two semi-active anti-roll bars simultaneously in a connected state or in a disconnected state as far as possible, where the underpass state is obtained by controlling the bar forward semi-active anti-roll in a connected state and / or the semi-active rear anti-roll bar in a disconnected state, and wherein the oversteer state is obtained by controlling the semi-active front anti-roll bar in a state disconnected and / or the semi-active rear anti-roll bar in a connected state. According to another characteristic of the invention, the anti-roll device comprises at least one semi-active controlled suspension on the inner side relative to the current turn and a semi-active controlled suspension on the outside of the current turn, all controllable between a steep state and a flexible state, wherein the underhood condition is obtained by controlling the semi-active external controlled suspension in a steep state and the semi-active controlled suspension interior in a flexible state, the oversteer state is obtained by controlling the suspension external semi-active controlled in a flexible state and the semi-active controlled suspension interior in a steep state and the nominal state is obtained by controlling the semi-active controlled external and internal suspensions in the same flexible or steep state. According to another characteristic of the invention, the anti-roll device indicates its state to the trajectory control device of said vehicle. Other characteristics, details and advantages of the invention will emerge more clearly from the detailed description given below as an indication in relation to drawings in which: FIG. 1 shows a diagram of an embodiment of the device according to the invention. FIG. 1 shows a logic and functional diagram of an embodiment of a system 1 according to the invention. This system 1 is intended to control a semi-active anti-roll device 2, which is mounted on a vehicle 3. An anti-roll device 2 is a device intended to limit or control the roll of a vehicle. is known anti-roll devices based on torsion bars connecting one side of the vehicle 3 to another. Such devices do not allow any adjustment and are called passive. New systems are emerging that allow active action on roll behavior. There are active devices where energy is injected directly to fight against rolling for example by means of an actuator acting between the two sides of the vehicle 3. There are still semi-active systems where an actuator can modify the configuration of an anti-roll device without direct energy input. A typical case is an anti-roll bar cut in two parts, connected by a controllable connector. When the connector is connected the bar behaves like a passive anti-roll bar, increases the roll stiffness of the vehicle 3 and helps to balance the vehicle 3. When the connector is disconnected, the action of the bar disappears and the two sides vehicle 3 are disconnected as if the bar was absent. The invention relates mainly to semi-active anti-roll devices 2 and more particularly to such devices 2 characterized by a discrete number of operating states. A particular embodiment of an anti-torsion device 2 uses one or two semi-active anti-roll bars. Other embodiments are possible, in particular based on semiactive controlled suspensions, which will be described later. By way of illustration, reference is made to the controllable anti-roll bars in order to explain the states of the anti-roll device 2. A semi-active anti-roll bar has two states: a connected state and a disconnected state. Such a semi-active anti-roll bar can be placed at the front or rear of the vehicle 3 or both. A vehicle 3 is said subvirner, when during a turn, it tends to open the turn, the front train slipping out of the turn. In this case it is necessary to control the steering wheel a more closed turn to return / stay on the desired path. A vehicle 3 is said to be an oversteer, when, during a turn, it tends to close the turn, the rear train slipping out of the turn. If it continues, the oversteer can lead to a spin. An asymmetrical disconnection of a front or rear anti-roll bar of the vehicle 3 causes a change in the load transfer. This has the consequence of modifying the yaw behavior of the vehicle 3. The presence of a passive anti-roll bar, or what is equivalent, of a connected semi-active anti-roll bar, in front of a Vehicle 3, tends to make the vehicle 3 (more) underwater. The absence of a passive anti-roll bar, or what is equivalent, of a disconnected semi-active anti-roll bar at the front of a vehicle 3 causes a rearward load transfer and tends to make the vehicle 3 (more) oversteer. Similarly, the presence of a passive anti-roll bar, or equivalent, of a semi-active anti-rollbar connected to the rear of a vehicle 3, tends to make the vehicle 3 ( over).

The absence of a passive anti-roll bar, or what is equivalent, of a disconnected semi-active anti-roll bar at the rear of a vehicle 3, causes forward load transfer and tends to make the vehicle 3 (more) underfoot.

An anti-roll device 2 comprising two antiroll bars front and rear, thus has four combinations: a) connected front bar and disconnected rear bar, in this state, there is a forward load transfer that makes the vehicle more underwater that in a nominal state, this state of the device 2 is named sub-sink 11, b) disconnected front bar and disconnected rear bar, c) connected front bar and connected back bar, in the two preceding states, the balanced states of the two bars do not produce no load report. The vehicle has a stable behavior on its trajectory, neither subvireur nor oversteer. These two states are named nominal, 8, 9, d) disconnected front bar and connected rear bar, in this state, there is a rearward load report which makes the vehicle more overrunning than in a nominal state, this state The complete anti-roll device 2 thus has several discrete 7-11 states in which it can be controlled. It comprises a nominal state 8, 9, an oversteer state 10 and / or a understeer state 11. The reference 7 designates from generic material one of these states 8-11 or more particularly the determined state 7 and represented by a circle FIG. 1. An anti-roll device 2 comprising only one bar decreases the number of combinations and thus the number of available control states. It is possible to replace the second bar controllable either by a passive bar, equivalent to a permanently connected bar, or by nothing, equivalent to a bar permanently disconnected. A single bar at the front, and a passive bar at the rear, for example, limit the discrete control states of the anti-roll device to states c) and d) two states, a nominal state and an oversteer state. A single bar at the rear, and a passive bar at the front, limit the discrete control states of the anti-roll device to states a) and b) a sub-sink state and a nominal state.

In all cases there is at least one nominal state 8, 9, where appropriate supplemented by at least one oversteer state 10, or at least one understeer state 11, or both. The function of the system 1 is to determine, among the available discrete control states 8-11, a state 7 that is most adapted, in real time, to a situation of the vehicle 3 and to effectively control the device 2 to obtain said state 7 of the device 2. For this, the system 1 comprises a means 4 for determining a control state 7 among said available 8-11 discrete control states, that is to say determined by the configurations of the components of the device 2. The description of the system 1 is indicated here in a functional manner. The teaching of this patent for the realization of such a system 1 can be implemented by any processing and control technology known to those skilled in the art. System 1 is a processing and control unit that can be realized in mechanical, hydraulic, pneumatic, electronic, and other technologies. According to a preferred embodiment, the system 1 can be implemented by a computer / controller / microprocessor under the control of software. According to an essential characteristic of the invention, the known information is used and can be provided by a device 6 for controlling the trajectory of said vehicle 3. Such a device 6 is concerned with the dynamic behavior of the vehicle and may be subjected to the changes in state of the anti-roll device 2. On the contrary, it has information that may be useful to the system 1. Such a device 6 is, for example, an ESP device. An ESP system performs according to quantities indicative of the behavior of the vehicle 3 such as vehicle speed, lateral acceleration, yaw rate, and steering wheel angle, automatic corrections so that the vehicle 3 remains on the desired trajectory by a driver. The determination of the state 7 is carried out according to information 13-16 from the device 6 for controlling the trajectory of said vehicle 3. The reference 13 generically designates a piece of information coming from the device 6. Once determined, said state 7 retained is implemented by a control means 5 which controls said state 7 by means of control signals 19 of the anti-roll device 2. Referring to the previous example of the bars, the signal or signals 19 are the signals controlling the selective locking / unblocking of the controllable semi-active bar or bars. A first mode of operation of the system 1 aims at securing the operation of the semi-active anti-roll device 2 according to an operating state of the trajectory control device 6. In the event of a malfunction of the anti-roll device 2, the situations The following states of state change or configuration can occur: - connected rear anti-roll bar and locked front anti-roll bar: permanent behavior of the vehicle more alive or oversteer, - connected rear anti-roll bar and disconnection 10 unintentional front anti-roll bar: suddenly louder or oversteer vehicle, - rear anti-roll bar disconnected and front anti-roll bar blocked in connection: permanent behavior of the understeer vehicle, 15 - disconnected rear anti-roll bar and inadvertent connection of anti-roll bar front: vehicle suddenly understeer. These situations may cause, depending on the typing of the vehicle and the driving situations, loss of control of the trajectory. When a trajectory control device 6 is active on the vehicle 3, these potential losses of trajectory control are corrected by the device 6. However, in the event of non-availability or malfunction of the device 6, these same cases of change Unexpected state can then become dangerous and cause the loss of control of the vehicle 3. For purposes of operational safety, the system 1, according to an operating state 14 provided by the trajectory control device 6, taking its values among: active and inactive / defect, determines and controls a refuge setting 12 of the anti-roll device 2. The operating state 14 can take different forms. It must enable the system 1 to distinguish an active, functional and operational state where the trajectory control device 6 is able to recover the consequences of an accidental change of state of the anti-roll device 2, of all the other states of the system. incapacity, whatever the reason for the incapacity: device 6 out of order, in default, inactive, disconnected, etc. According to a particular embodiment, the operating state 14 is indicated by means of two binary signals a first active / inactive signal and a second fault / operational signal. The system 1 then performs a logical combination to detect a disability and trigger a safe state 12 if NO (active) OR default. In the event of such an incapacitation, an inadvertent change of state of the anti-roll device 2 must be avoided or its consequences reduced. For this, a refuge state 12, shown in dashed lines in FIG. 1, is then determined 21 and controlled. The refuge state 12 is a predetermined state of said 8-11 discrete control states of the anti-roll device 2. This refuge state 12 is chosen, according to the type of vehicle 3, which ensures the best stability of the vehicle 3, the state 12 in which a fault or a driving error of the least consequence. The refuge state 12 is most often a nominal state 8, 9.

Note that in this particular case, it is possible to take advantage of the redundancy of the nominal states 8, 9 of the device 2. Thus, if a controllable anti-roll bar is blocked in connection, the nominal state will advantageously be the nominal state. c) 8, the state b) 9 being no longer accessible because of the blockage.

A second mode of operation aims to simplify the operation of the trajectory control device 6. The latter when it performs a regulation operates in a controlled and continuous manner. A change of state 8-11 of the anti-roll device 2 has a direct influence on the yaw behavior of the vehicle 3. A change of state of the semi-active anti-roll device 2 while the trajectory control device 6 regulates trajectory correction generates a transient regime that potentially strongly demands the dynamic performance of the device 6 and which may degrade its overall performance. In order to avoid this situation, the state of the anti-roll device 2 can be frozen during the active phases in the trajectory correction regulation of the device 6. For this, the trajectory control device 6 provides at least one regulation state 15 taking its values among: active and inactive, indicating whether or not the trajectory control device 6 performs active regulation.

When the device 6 is actively controlling, the system 1 advantageously controls a freeze 20, shown in dotted lines in FIG. 1. The regulation state can be declined and detailed according to the different modules of the device 6. Thus the control device 6 of FIG. trajectory can detail the operating status in regulation of anti-lock braking (ABS), trajectory control (AYC) or traction control (ASR, MSR). The freezing 20 consists in blocking the current control state 7 of the anti-roll device 2, so that it does not change. This is maintained as long as the control state remains active. This can be done in a variety of ways. Either the determination means 4 determines the same state 7, or the control means 5 prohibits any change of command. According to a third mode of operation, the state of the anti-roll device 2 can modify the yaw behavior of the vehicle 3 by modifying the forward / backward load report, depending on the driving situations, and in order to facilitate the potential intervention of the trajectory control device 6, in order to correct the trajectory, the anti-roll device 2 is advantageously controlled in a state 7 favoring the return of the vehicle to the trajectory 3. If an understeer (drift of the nose gear) is detected, the Advantageously, the system controls an oversteer state 10 of the anti-roll device 2 in order to relieve the front axle and to help the vehicle 3 to turn further. If an over-turn (drift of the rear axle) is detected, the system advantageously controls a subsurface state 11 of the anti-roll device 2 in order to load the front axle and to help the vehicle 3 to straighten. This type of corrections is advantageously implemented temporarily in the event of detected path drift, in order to facilitate or even minimize the intervention of the trajectory control device 6. Once the return to normal after correction of the path reached, the anti-roll device 2 can be controlled in a nominal state 8, 9. To achieve this mode, the trajectory control device 6 provides an indicator 16 of oversteer indicative This indicator 16 may be a proportional oversteer rate. The system 1 further comprises a thresholding means with multiple thresholds. This means compares said oversteer rate 16 with the thresholds to determine a vehicle state.

Thus with two thresholds, three states are determined. understeer, when the oversteer rate 16 is lower than the lower threshold, oversteer, when the oversteer rate 16 is greater than the upper and nominal threshold, when the oversteer rate 16 is between the two thresholds.

The system 1 determines 22 and controls: a subsurface state 11 of the anti-roll device 2 when the vehicle state is overrunning, - an oversteer state 10 of the anti-roll device 2 when the vehicle state is underpass, and - one of the states nominal 8, 9 of the anti-roll device 2 when the vehicle state is nominal. According to an interface variant, said discrete vehicle state 16 among a subwoofer, nominal and oversteer is directly supplied in discrete form by the trajectory control device 6. According to a first embodiment, the anti-roll device 2 comprises at least one semi-active front anti-roll bar and / or one semi-active rear anti-roll bar both controllable between a connected state and a disconnected state. The nominal state 8, 9, of the anti-roll device 2, is obtained by controlling the two semi-automatic anti-roll bars simultaneously in the same connected state 8 or in the same disconnected state 9, where the underhood state is obtained by commanding the semi-active front anti-roll bar in a connected state and / or the semi-active rear anti-roll bar in a disconnected state, and wherein the oversteer state is obtained by controlling the semi-active front anti-roll bar in a disconnected state and / or the semi-active rear anti-roll bar in a connected state. This is understood, depending on the configurations, to the extent that these states are possible. In order to provide an anti-roll device 2, an alternative to the controllable semi-active bars is the use of semi-active controlled suspensions. Such a suspension is known and is a suspension similar to a passive suspension, further comprising a means of modifying the stiffness or damping. Such a setting may be proportional or discrete. In the following it is considered that each suspension has a discrete number of states. These states can be obtained organically by a mechanical locking / unlocking or by an opening / closing of a hydraulic pipe or be carried out logically by a control controller producing thresholds from a proportionally adjustable suspension. It is thus possible to have a semi-active suspension at each of the wheels, or at least a semi-active controlled suspension on each side of the vehicle 3. With two suspensions each having, for example, a stiff / flexible binary state, we obtain four states of the device 2. The steep / flexible states condition the load reports and allow to define nominal states 8, 9, overstrike 10 and under 11. With four controlled suspensions, it becomes possible to manage load ratios between before and back. In addition, combinatorics increases to sixteen states. With more states (3, 4, ...) by suspension the combinatorics increases again. The states of the anti-roll device 2 may in this case include several oversteer states 10 or several under-11 states. A gradation may exist with states more or less remover or oversteer. In this case the thresholding is adapted to define a corresponding number of oversteer levels. The principle of the invention remains fully applicable. The direction of rotation of the turn is known, for example by means of other information 18, such as the lace, coming for example from the vehicle 3. Thus, it is possible to define an inside and an outside of the turn.

An underhood state 11 is obtained by controlling the semi-active controlled suspension outside the turn in a steep state and the inner semi-active controlled suspension in a flexible state. An oversteer state 10 is obtained by controlling the outer semi-active controlled suspension in a flexible state and the inner semi-active controlled suspension in a steep state. The relative flexibility or stiffness of the controlled suspensions have a direct influence on the forward / reverse and left / right load shifts and thus on the dynamic behavior of the vehicle 3. Advantageously, the anti-roll device 2 in return indicates its state 17 to the device 6 of FIG. vehicle trajectory control 3. This may enable said device 6 to adapt its strategy accordingly.

Claims (9)

REVENDICATIONS1. System (1) for controlling a semi-active vehicle anti-roll device (2) (2), said device (2) having a plurality of discrete control states (7-11), characterized in that it comprises: means (4) for determining a control state (7) among said discrete control states (8-11) as a function of information (13-16) from a control device (6) trajectory of said vehicle (3), - control means (5) controlling said state (7). The system of claim 1, wherein said discrete anti-roll device control states (7-11) comprise: at least one nominal state (8, 9), at least one oversteer state (10) and / or minus a sub-turn state (11). The system of claim 1 or 2, wherein said information (13-16) comprises at least one operating state (14) taking its values among active and inactive / default, and wherein the system (1) is able to determine (21) and to control a safe state (12) of the anti-roll device (2), when the operating state (14) of the trajectory control device (6) is inactive / defect, the safe state ( 12) being a predetermined state (12) of said discrete control states (7-11) which ensures a better stability of the vehicle (3). 30 4. System according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein said information (13-16) comprises at least one control state (15) taking its values among active and inactive, indicating that the device (6) control detrajectoire performs or not active regulation, and where the system (1) is able to control freezing (20), wherein the state (7) of the control device (2) anti-roll does not change, as long as the Regulating state is active. 5. System according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein said information (13-16) comprises at least one rate (16) of oversteer indicative of the behavior of the vehicle (3), and where the system (1) still comprises a two-threshold thresholding means capable of determining a vehicle state taking its values from: undercargo, when the oversteer rate (16) is lower than the lower threshold, oversteer, when the oversteer rate (16) is greater than the upper threshold and nominal, when the oversteer rate (16) is between the two thresholds, and where the system (1) is able to determine (22) and to control an under-state (11) of the anti-roll device (2) when the vehicle state is overrunning, an oversteer state (10) of the anti-roll device (2) when the vehicle state is underpass, and a nominal state (8, 9) of the anti-roll device (2) when the state vehicle is nominal. The system of claim 5, wherein said discrete vehicle state (16) for determining and controlling a state of the anti-roll device (2) is directly provided by the trajectory control device (6). 7. System according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the anti-roll device (2) comprises at least one front semi-active anti-roll bar controllable between a connected state and a disconnected state and / or an anti-roll bar. controllable back semi-active between a connected state and a disconnected state, wherein the nominal state (8, 9) of the anti-roll device (2) is obtained by controlling the two semi-active anti-roll bars simultaneously in the same connected state or in the same disconnected state, as far as possible, where the underpass condition (11) is obtained by controlling the semi-active front anti-roll bar in a connected state and / or the semi-active rear anti-roll bar in a disconnected state, where possible, and wherein the oversteer state (10) is obtained by controlling the front semi-active anti-roll bar in a disconnected state and / or the semi-active rear anti-roll bar in a state connected, as far as pos sible. 8. System according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the anti-roll device (2) comprises at least one semi-active controlled suspension on the inner side relative to the current turn and a semi-active controlled suspension on the outside of the turn. in progress, all controllable between at least one steep state and one flexible state, wherein the underfloor state (11) is obtained by controlling the semi-active external controlled suspension in a steep state and the inner semi-active controlled suspension in a state flexible, wherein the oversteer state (10) is obtained by controlling the outer semi-active controlled suspension in a flexible state and the inner semi-active controlled suspension in a steep state, and wherein the nominal state (8, 9) is obtained by controlling the outer and inner semi-active controlled suspensions in the same flexible or stiff state. 9. System according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the anti-roll device (2) indicates its state (17) to the device (6) trajectory control of said vehicle (3).