JP2000073808A - Idling control device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reliably conduct an idling control of a car. SOLUTION: An ECU 8 reads road map data around a current position of an own car from a road map data storage unit of a navigation device 1. On the other hand, based on a change in vehicle-to-vehicle distance and speed of the own car respectively detected by a circumference recognition sensor 2 and a speed sensor 3, a relative speed of the preceding car to the own car is obtained. By comparing the obtained relative speed with the speed of the own car, whether the preceding car has stopped or has started is determined. When it is detected based on the road map data that the own car is running near an intersection, and when it is determined that the own car has stopped with a state where the stop of the preceding car is determined, an engine control portion 9 stops the engine of the own car. When it is determined by the ECU 8 that the preceding car has started after the engine of the own car has stopped, the engine control portion 9 restarts the engine of the own car and automatically starts the idling.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an idle control device for controlling an engine to stop when a preceding vehicle stops in front of the preceding vehicle.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years,
Awareness of global environmental protection is increasing on a global scale, and various attempts have been made to realize the prevention of global warming by suppressing the emission of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide. For example, taking a car as an example, how to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in exhaust gas is a major problem.

Incidentally, as one of measures for reducing the amount of carbon dioxide in the exhaust gas of an automobile, it is conceivable to stop the idling of the automobile. That is, when the host vehicle stops due to the stop of the preceding vehicle ahead of the host vehicle due to traffic congestion or the like, the engine of the host vehicle is stopped, and the amount of carbon dioxide emitted by idling is suppressed.

[0004] However, since vehicles usually do not have a function for automatically performing idle control, the driver must turn off and then turn on the ignition switch to stop and start the idle, which is very troublesome. There's a problem.

Therefore, a sensor for detecting the state of the side brake is provided. With this sensor, it is detected that the driver has turned on the side brake, and the engine is stopped to perform an idle stop. It has been considered that when the side brake is turned off, the engine is restarted and idle start is performed.

It has also been considered that when an automobile has been continuously stopped for a predetermined time or more, an idle stop is performed by forcibly controlling the engine to a stopped state.

However, in the former case, whether to stop or restart the idle depends on the driver's intention (operation) to turn on or off the side brake, so that idle control is always performed. However, there is a problem of lack of certainty. On the other hand, in the latter case, a predetermined determination time is always required until it is determined whether or not to perform the idle stop.

An object of the present invention is to make it possible to carry out idle control of an automobile with high reliability.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides an idle control for controlling the engine to stop when the host vehicle stops due to the stop of the preceding vehicle ahead of the host vehicle. A road map data storage unit that stores road map data, and reads road map data around the vehicle from the road map data storage unit, and based on the road map data, the vehicle is traveling near an intersection. A detection unit for detecting whether the vehicle is traveling around an intersection by the detection unit, and an engine control unit for controlling the engine of the vehicle to a stopped state when the vehicle stops. And is characterized by having.

According to such a configuration, when the own vehicle is stopped in a state where it is detected that the own vehicle is traveling near the intersection based on the road map data, the engine is stopped.
Therefore, the idling control of the vehicle can be performed reliably without being influenced by the driver's intention as in the related art, and without needless time for determining whether to stop the engine.

The present invention also relates to an idle control device for controlling the engine to stop when the host vehicle stops due to the stop of the preceding vehicle ahead of the host vehicle. A receiving unit that receives a signal, and a detecting unit that detects whether the vehicle is traveling near an intersection based on the point code signal received by the receiving unit,
An engine control unit that controls the engine of the own vehicle to a stopped state when the own vehicle is stopped in a state where the detection unit detects that the own vehicle is traveling near an intersection. I have.

With this configuration, the point code signal transmitted from the position beacon is received by the receiving unit, and it is detected that the own vehicle is traveling near the intersection based on the received point code signal. When the vehicle stops, the engine is stopped, so that the vehicle is not affected by the driver's will and does not need to waste time to determine whether to stop the engine. Control can be performed with high reliability.

Further, the present invention provides a preceding vehicle detecting unit for detecting stop and start of the preceding vehicle, and determining whether the preceding vehicle has stopped or started from the output of the preceding vehicle detecting unit, A determination unit that determines whether the vehicle has stopped in a state where it is determined that the vehicle has stopped.

In this case, it is detected that the own vehicle is traveling near the intersection based on the road map data and the point code signal from the position beacon, and it is determined from the output of the preceding vehicle detecting section that the preceding vehicle has stopped. When the vehicle stops in the state of being stopped, the engine is stopped. Therefore, it is possible to reliably determine whether or not to stop the engine, and it is possible to further enhance the reliability of the idling control of the vehicle.

[0015] Further, according to the present invention, the engine control unit includes:
When the determination unit determines that the preceding vehicle has started based on the output of the preceding vehicle detection unit after the engine of the vehicle has stopped, the engine of the vehicle is restarted.

With this arrangement, if the start of the preceding vehicle is detected by the determination unit based on the output of the preceding vehicle detection unit, the engine is automatically restarted. It can be carried out.

Further, the present invention is characterized in that the preceding vehicle detecting section comprises an inter-vehicle distance sensor for detecting an inter-vehicle distance between the own vehicle and the preceding vehicle and a vehicle speed sensor for detecting the own vehicle speed. .

In this case, the relative speed of the preceding vehicle with respect to the own vehicle is derived from the change in the inter-vehicle distance and the own vehicle speed, and whether the magnitude of the derived relative speed is the same as the own vehicle speed is determined.
It is possible to determine whether or not the preceding vehicle is stopped. If the relative speed of the preceding vehicle increases with respect to the own vehicle speed of zero, it can be determined that the preceding vehicle has started.

[0019]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. However, FIG. 1 is a block diagram, and FIGS. 2 and 3 are flowcharts for explaining the operation.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a navigation device, which is a GPS for detecting the current position (latitude, longitude) of the vehicle.
(Global Positioning System)
A road map data storage unit comprising a CD-ROM or the like storing road map data; a reading unit for reading road map data around the current position of the vehicle detected by the position detection unit from the road map data storage unit; And a display unit such as a liquid crystal display for displaying a road map based on the road map data read by the unit.

Further, in FIG. 1, reference numeral 2 denotes a peripheral recognition sensor comprising an inter-vehicle distance sensor for detecting an inter-vehicle distance between the own vehicle and a preceding vehicle in front of the own vehicle, and 3 a vehicle speed sensor for detecting the own vehicle speed. The preceding vehicle detecting section is constituted by the peripheral recognition sensor 2 and the vehicle speed sensor 3. Reference numeral 4 denotes a side brake switch for outputting a signal corresponding to the on / off state of the side brake, reference numeral 5 denotes an accelerator pedal switch for outputting a signal in accordance with whether or not the accelerator pedal is depressed, and reference numeral 6 denotes an automatic transmission. A / T range switch that outputs a signal corresponding to the A / T range.

Here, as an inter-vehicle distance sensor constituting the peripheral recognition sensor 2, a laser beam is emitted forward while scanning at predetermined angles, and reflected light from a preceding vehicle ahead is detected to derive the inter-vehicle distance. Laser radar,
It is desirable to use an image processing device or the like that processes an image captured by the imaging unit and derives an inter-vehicle distance from a temporal change of the image.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 8 denotes an ECU which receives signals from the navigation device 1, the sensors 2, 3 and the switches 4 to 6, and controls the fuel injection amount and other components according to these signals. Reference numeral denotes an engine control unit comprising an idle ON / OFF relay for controlling idle stop and start of the engine according to a control signal from the ECU 8.

The ECU 8 reads the road map data around the own vehicle from the road map data storage section of the navigation device 1 as well as controls the respective parts as described above, and reads the read road map around the own vehicle. It has a function of detecting whether or not the vehicle is traveling near an intersection based on the data. The process of reading the road map data around the own vehicle corresponds to the above-described reading unit, and the process of detecting whether the vehicle is traveling near the intersection corresponds to the detecting unit.

Further, the ECU 8 derives a relative speed of the preceding vehicle with respect to the own vehicle based on the change in the inter-vehicle distance detected by the peripheral recognition sensor 2 and the vehicle speed sensor 3 and the own vehicle speed. To determine whether the preceding vehicle has stopped or started, based on the road map data around the own vehicle, it is detected that the own vehicle is traveling near the intersection, and the relative position of the preceding vehicle with respect to the own vehicle is determined. In a state in which it is determined from the comparison between the speed and the own vehicle speed that the preceding vehicle has stopped, the vehicle control device also has a function of determining whether the own vehicle has stopped based on the output of the vehicle speed sensor 3 and controlling the engine control unit 9. That is, if the derived relative speed of the preceding vehicle is the same as the own vehicle speed, it can be determined that the preceding vehicle has stopped, and if the relative speed of the preceding vehicle increases with respect to the own vehicle speed of zero, The car can be determined to have started. Such a determination process corresponds to a determination unit.

Next, the operation will be described. First, FIG.
This will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

Now, as shown in FIG. 2, it is determined from the output of the vehicle speed sensor 3 whether or not the own vehicle is stopped (step S1). If the result of this determination is NO, the operation ends as it is. If the determination result is YES, it is determined whether or not the preceding vehicle is stopped as described above (step S2).

Then, if the decision result in the step S2 is NO, the operation is ended as it is, and if the decision result is YES, the vicinity of the current position of the own vehicle read from the road map data storage section of the navigation device 1 is read. Based on the road map data, it is determined whether or not the vehicle is traveling near the intersection (step S3). If the determination is NO, the operation ends, and if the determination is YES, the engine is stopped. The engine is controlled to be stopped by the control unit 9 to perform idle stop (step S4), and then the operation ends.

Next, the operation when the engine is stopped will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. FIG.
As shown in (5), it is determined whether or not the side brake has been switched from the on state to the off state based on the output of the side brake switch 4 (step S11). Is controlled to the operating state, an idle start is performed (step S12), and then the operation ends.

On the other hand, if the decision result in the step S11 is NO, a decision is made based on the output of the accelerator pedal switch 5 as to whether or not the accelerator pedal is in an on state (depressed state) (step S13). The result is YE
If S, the process proceeds to step S12 described above, and if the determination result is NO, it is determined whether the preceding vehicle has started as described above (step S14), and if the determination result is YES, Proceeding to step S12 described above,
If the result of the determination is NO, the operation ends.

As described above, based on the road map data around the current position of the vehicle read out from the road map data storage unit of the navigation device 1, it is detected whether or not the vehicle is traveling near the intersection. The relative speed of the preceding vehicle to the own vehicle is derived based on the change in the inter-vehicle distance detected by the surrounding recognition sensor 1 and the vehicle speed sensor 2 and the own vehicle speed,
The derived relative speed and the own vehicle speed are compared, and if the magnitude of the derived relative speed of the preceding vehicle is the same as the own vehicle speed, it is determined that the preceding vehicle has stopped. If the relative speed increases, it is determined that the preceding vehicle has started.

When it is detected that the own vehicle is traveling near the intersection, and it is determined that the preceding vehicle has stopped, the output of the vehicle speed sensor 2 determines that the own vehicle has also stopped. The engine of the own vehicle is stopped by the engine control unit 9 based on the control signal from the ECU 8, and the idle stop is automatically performed. On the other hand, after the engine of the host vehicle is stopped, the output of the peripheral recognition sensor 2 and the speed
When it is determined by U8 that the preceding vehicle has started, E
The engine of the own vehicle is restarted by the engine control unit 9 according to the control signal from the CU 8, and the idle start is automatically performed.

Therefore, according to the above-described embodiment, the idle time of the vehicle is not influenced by the driver's intention as in the prior art, and no unnecessary time is required for determining whether to stop the engine. The control can be performed with high reliability, and the amount of carbon dioxide emitted from the vehicle can be effectively reduced.

A peripheral recognition sensor 2 and a vehicle speed sensor 3
Since the relative speed of the preceding vehicle with respect to the own vehicle is derived from the output of the vehicle, and by comparing the derived relative speed with the own vehicle speed, it is determined whether the preceding vehicle has stopped or started.
Stopping and starting of the preceding vehicle can be reliably and easily determined.

In the above-described embodiment, the navigation device 1 is provided, and the road map data around the current position of the vehicle is read from the road map data storage to determine whether or not the vehicle is traveling near the intersection. However, instead of such a navigation device 1, a receiver for receiving a point code signal transmitted from a position beacon installed along the road is provided, and the point code signal received by the receiver is provided. Of course, it may be determined whether or not the own vehicle is traveling near the intersection based on.

In the above-described embodiment, the case where the navigation device 1 is used in combination with the preceding vehicle detecting unit including the peripheral recognition sensor 2 and the vehicle speed sensor 3 has been described. However, the peripheral recognition sensor 2 is not particularly required. The present invention can be similarly implemented even when only the navigation device 1 is provided. The same applies to the case where a receiving unit for receiving a point code signal is provided instead of the navigation device 1, and only the receiving unit need be provided without providing the preceding vehicle detecting unit.

Further, in addition to the navigation device 1 and the receiver for receiving the point code signal, a signal information receiver for obtaining signal information at an intersection is provided, and the signal information obtained by the signal information receiver is also taken into consideration. When the idle control is performed by using the idle control, the reliability of the idle control can be further improved.

At this time, for example, as an operation during the operation of the engine, when the determination result of step S3 in FIG. 2 is YES, the signal information acquired by the signal information receiving unit is "red".
It is determined whether or not the engine is stopped. If the result of the determination is YES, the process proceeds to step S4, and the engine is stopped. If the result of the determination is NO, the operation may be terminated. Also,
As an operation during engine stop, when the determination result in step S14 of FIG. 3 is NO, it is determined whether the signal information acquired by the signal information receiving unit is “blue”, and if the determination result is YES, The process may proceed to step S12 to restart the engine, and if the determination result is NO, the operation may be terminated as it is.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the case has been described where the preceding vehicle detecting section is constituted by the peripheral recognition sensor 2 and the vehicle speed sensor 3 including an inter-vehicle distance sensor and the like, but the structure of the preceding vehicle detecting section is not limited to this. However, it is sufficient that at least stop and start of the preceding vehicle can be detected.

Further, the A / T is set to an electronically controlled A / T or C
It is needless to say that the electronic control type A / T or CVT shift operation may be automatically performed during idle stop by the ECU 8 by using a VT (belt type continuously variable transmission).

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications other than those described above can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention.

[0042]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, if the vehicle stops when it is detected that the vehicle is traveling near the intersection based on the road map data,
Since the engine is stopped, the idle control of the vehicle is reliably performed without being influenced by the driver's intention as in the past and without wasting time for determining whether to stop the engine. It is possible to contribute to environmental conservation by reducing the amount of carbon dioxide emitted by automobiles.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the point code signal transmitted from the position beacon is received by the receiver, and the own vehicle is traveling near the intersection based on the received point code signal. If the own vehicle stops when it is detected, the engine is stopped, so that the idle control of the vehicle can be performed reliably.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, it is detected that the vehicle is traveling near the intersection based on the road map data and the point code signal from the position beacon,
Further, if the vehicle stops when the preceding vehicle is determined to have stopped from the output of the preceding vehicle detection unit, the engine is stopped, so that it is possible to reliably determine whether to stop the engine, It is possible to further improve the reliability of the idle control of the vehicle.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, when the start of the preceding vehicle is detected by the determining unit from the output of the preceding vehicle detecting unit, the engine is automatically restarted.
Restart after idle stop can be performed automatically.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the preceding vehicle is stopped or the preceding vehicle is stopped based on the relative speed of the preceding vehicle with respect to the own vehicle derived from the change in the following distance and the own vehicle speed. It can be easily determined whether the vehicle has started.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Navigation apparatus 2 Peripheral recognition sensor (preceding vehicle detection part) 3 Vehicle speed sensor (preceding vehicle detection part) 8 ECU (detection part, judgment part) 9 Engine control part

Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat II (reference) G08G 1/16 G08G 1/16 DA G09B 29/10 G09B 29/10 A (72) Inventor Kenichi Yamada Ikeda-shi, Osaka 2-1, 1-1 Taoyuan Daihatsu Kogyo Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Yasuhisa Hiroshima 2-1-1 Taoyuan, Ikeda-shi, Osaka Daihatsu Kogyo Co., Ltd. F-term (reference) 2C032 HB06 HB24 HC02 HD03 3D044 AA04 AA17 AA21 AA25 AA45 AB01 AC05 AC13 AC16 AC24 AC26 AC56 AC59 AD01 AD02 AE01 AE04 3G092 CA01 EA08 EA14 EB08 FA03 FA30 FA32 FA47 GA01 GA04 GA10 GA17 GB01 GB02 GB04 HE01X HE01Z HF08Z HF19X HF20Z HF22X03 HF22X03 HF22X03 HF22X03 HF22X03 HF22X02 CA04 CA09 CB10 DA01 DA06 DB05 DB06 DB15 DB16 DB18 EA01 EA03 FA11 FB01 5H180 AA01 BB13 CC03 CC04 CC12 CC14 CC27 FF05 FF22 FF27 FF33 LL01 LL04 LL09

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. An idle control device for controlling an engine to stop when a host vehicle stops due to a stop of a preceding vehicle ahead of the host vehicle, comprising: a road map data storage unit storing road map data; A detection unit that reads road map data around the own vehicle from the road map data storage unit and detects whether the own vehicle is traveling near an intersection based on the road map data; An idle control device, comprising: an engine control unit that controls an engine of the own vehicle to a stop state when the own vehicle stops and stops in a state where it is detected that the own vehicle is traveling. 2. An idle control device for controlling an engine to stop when a host vehicle stops in front of a host vehicle ahead of the host vehicle, and receives a point code signal transmitted from a position beacon. A receiving unit, a detecting unit that detects whether the vehicle is traveling near an intersection based on the point code signal received by the receiving unit, and that the vehicle is traveling near the intersection by the detecting unit. And an engine control unit that controls an engine of the own vehicle to a stopped state when the own vehicle stops in a state where the is detected. 3. A preceding vehicle detector for detecting stop and start of the preceding vehicle, and determining whether the preceding vehicle has stopped or started based on an output of the preceding vehicle detector, and determining that the preceding vehicle has stopped. The idle control device according to claim 1, further comprising: a determination unit configured to determine whether or not the vehicle stops in a state where the vehicle is stopped. 4. The engine control section restarts the engine of the own vehicle when the determination section determines from the output of the preceding vehicle detection section that the preceding vehicle has started after stopping the engine of the own vehicle. The idle control device according to claim 3, wherein: 5. The vehicle according to claim 3, wherein the preceding vehicle detecting section includes an inter-vehicle distance sensor for detecting an inter-vehicle distance between the own vehicle and the preceding vehicle and a vehicle speed sensor for detecting the own vehicle speed. 5. The idle control device according to 4.