JP2003227365A - Speed limit device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve reliability by providing a method for canceling the state of vehicle speed limit when a cancel switch becomes impossible to operate due to a certain cause under the condition where the vehicle speed limit is set, in a vehicle speed limit device capable of arbitrarily setting up a maximum speed by a driver. <P>SOLUTION: When the vehicle is in the state of vehicle speed limit, an equivalent state to that of the cancel switch being operated is set up by software of the control device by operating an accelerator with a specific operation pattern, and the cancel switch is doubled substantially. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention is used in automobiles.
The present invention relates to a speed limiting device capable of inputting and setting a maximum vehicle speed value by a driver's operation. The present invention relates to an improvement in means for canceling a control state in which the maximum vehicle speed is limited when the vehicle is traveling in a state where the maximum vehicle speed is limited according to a set value.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art By inputting and setting a desired maximum speed value by a driver, by adjusting the accelerator pedal,
BACKGROUND ART There is known a speed limiting device capable of running a vehicle at a vehicle speed that does not exceed its maximum speed. This is a device to forcibly set the maximum permissible speed on highways of 90 km / h for large vehicles due to new legislation, and to restrict the vehicle from traveling beyond this maximum permissible speed. Is another. That is, instead of uniformly setting the maximum speed value to 90 km / h, the driver can arbitrarily set the maximum speed value and run the vehicle at a speed equal to or lower than a predetermined speed in response to changing road surface conditions. It is a device. Such a device, for example, sets a maximum speed of 40 km / h when driving in an urban area, and a maximum speed of 15 km when driving in a yard area of a specific freight depot.
It is a device that is used by setting the maximum speed to 5 km / h when performing parade travel. It is recommended to use such a vehicle speed limiting device for delivery vehicles of transportation companies, buses operating in urban areas, vehicles traveling in port areas or freight dumps, and it is used for many freight vehicles and buses. It became so.

In such a speed limiting device, (1) means for the driver to input and set a desired value as the maximum speed value by operation, and (2) a set switch for enabling this device by operation. , (3) a cancel switch for interrupting the state activated by this set switch,
(4) A resume switch is provided for resuming the control for limiting the maximum speed from the state interrupted by the cancel switch. That is, if the driver inputs and sets the maximum speed and operates the set switch to activate the control device, the vehicle will not exceed the maximum speed even if the accelerator pedal is depressed. Depending on the road surface condition, etc., if you operate the cancel switch,
This control can be temporarily interrupted. By operating the resume switch, the interrupted control can be restored.

As a related prior art, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-
The one disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 252520 (Applicant: Nissan Diesel) is known.

[0005]

As described above, the vehicle speed limiting device is used, for example, at a specific freight collection site, and when leaving the collection site, the cancel switch shown in the above (4) is operated. The cancel switch is also used, for example, when a vehicle slowly traveling ahead is overtaken while traveling on an ordinary road or a highway, and when a situation occurs in which the vehicle is temporarily accelerated. If the cancel switch fails for some unexpected reason, the vehicle will not be able to operate at speeds above the maximum speed currently set.

The engine key switch is used to stop the engine, and the engine is restarted, while the control state of the vehicle speed limiting device based on the set maximum speed is kept valid, that is, without the control switch being brought into the interrupted state. Even when the vehicle speed limiter is activated, the vehicle speed limiting device is activated in a state immediately before the engine is stopped. This is because, for example, in a freight dump, it is desirable to automatically enable the engine in its original state even when the engine is stopped and restarted during the unloading of cargo.

In many vehicles equipped with such a device, the cancel switch is wired by a harness wire, and it is absolutely necessary that disconnection or connection failure of this wire does not occur over the entire life of the vehicle. The design to do is practically difficult. In addition, it must be taken into consideration that the cancel switch itself may be damaged due to external shock or other reasons and cannot be used.

With respect to the input setting means shown in (1), the set switch shown in (2), or the cancel switch shown in (3), even if one of them fails, the vehicle speed limiting device can be used. Will not be available and will not cause any inconvenience to the normal running of the vehicle thereafter. However, once it is experienced that the cancel switch malfunctions and the vehicle cannot operate at a speed exceeding the maximum speed set at that time, the driver will It may become a habit not to use such a vehicle speed limiting device, which makes it meaningless to equip the vehicle speed limiting device.

The present invention has been made against such a background, and an object thereof is to improve the reliability of a vehicle speed limiting device. It is an object of the present invention to avoid a state in which a vehicle speed limiting device cannot release a vehicle speed when the vehicle speed is limited to a certain value. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to prevent a state in which a vehicle speed is limited cannot be released due to a failure of a cancel switch or other hardware. An object of the present invention is to provide a device in which a releasing means for releasing a state in which the vehicle speed is limited is duplicated. It is an object of the present invention to provide a device in which this releasing means is duplicated without adding or changing hardware.

[0010]

According to the present invention, when the cancel switch described above becomes defective and the state in which the vehicle speed is limited cannot be released, the accelerator pedal is specified as another independent releasing means. The greatest feature is that the control software is configured so that the state in which the vehicle speed is limited can be released when the vehicle is operated in accordance with the operation pattern. This does not eliminate the cancel switch itself. Providing a set switch and a cancel switch by manual operation is rational in terms of convenience of operation and is not abolished.

In the present invention, when the cancel switch becomes inoperative due to a hardware failure, software detects that the accelerator pedal is operated according to a specific operation pattern as a preliminary means, and the vehicle speed is limited. It is configured so that the above-mentioned state can be released. Since the present invention can realize the duplicated means by making a slight change in software, there is no need to add or change the hardware, and it is extremely economical, and any change in the vehicle hardware design and assembly process is required. No need to do. Also, because the accelerator pedal is designed to be robust, failure of the accelerator pedal is rare and it is rational to use the accelerator pedal as a duplication means.

The present invention relates to a speed limiting device including a control means (3) for fetching information on a vehicle speed during traveling and limiting a fuel supply amount to an engine so that the vehicle speed does not exceed a set maximum speed. The means (10, 14) for inputting and setting the value of the maximum speed, the set switch (11) for activating the means for limiting the fuel supply amount by operation, and the set switch (11) for activating the set switch (11). A cancel switch (13) for interrupting the control by the control means, and the cancel switch (13)
A resume switch (12) for resuming the control by the control means interrupted by the control means, and means for interrupting the control by the control means (3) when the accelerator pedal (4) is operated in a specific pattern. It is characterized by

The numbers in parentheses are reference numbers in the drawings of the apparatus of the embodiment described later. This is given to facilitate understanding of the configuration of the present invention, and is not intended to limit the understanding of the present invention to the examples. The same applies to the following description.

The specific pattern has a predetermined time (t seconds)
It is possible to have a pattern in which the accelerator pedal reciprocates once for two different preset depression amounts (point A and point B).

It is not always necessary to provide the resume switch separately from the set switch, and the resume switch may be substantially shared with the set switch and configured by one piece of hardware. In this case, after a new maximum speed has been set, when a switch composed of that one hardware is operated, it acts as a set switch and is operated in a state where the control is interrupted by the cancel switch. When operated, it is configured to act as a resume switch. The present invention can be implemented with such a configuration.

Another aspect of the present invention is a vehicle equipped with such a vehicle speed limiting device, the maximum speed of which is legally restricted (eg, 90 km for large vehicles).
/ H) is equipped with the above-mentioned vehicle speed limiting device in addition to the maximum speed limiting device fixedly set. The present invention means that a vehicle is provided with a vehicle speed limiting device of the present invention, which is capable of arbitrarily setting the maximum speed, in addition to the maximum speed limiting device set so as not to exceed the legally regulated maximum speed. To do. This can be realized by configuring the software so that it can be implemented by setting two different maximum speeds in one hardware device, rather than by providing two hardware devices separately. it can. In this way, a device that can set two different maximum speeds,
When traveling at the maximum speed set so as not to exceed the maximum speed (90 km / h) regulated by law, neither the cancel switch nor the cancellation by the specific depression pattern of the accelerator pedal operates. This operation is legally prohibited from being canceled.

Here, the relationship with the technique described in the above-mentioned prior art (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-252520) will be described. In this gazette, as a second invention, the vehicle speed limitation state is indicated by an accelerator. -There is a statement that the operation of the vehicle speed limiting device will be released by operating the pedal in the prescribed pattern. The content described in this publication is intended to release the operation of the vehicle speed limiting device by operating a predetermined pattern of the accelerator pedal, and there is no idea that the releasing means is duplicated. That is, the above publication does not
The problem regarding the malfunction of the switch has not been considered yet, and the purpose and effect are different from those of the present invention. In addition, the invention described in the above publication has the maximum speed regulated by the above-mentioned laws (eg, 90k for large vehicles).
It is a device that limits the vehicle speed to m / h), and is intended to temporarily release this maximum speed by a specific operation, so that it will not run over the legally regulated maximum speed. There is no idea about providing a speed limiting device for arbitrarily setting and using the maximum speed other than the device for limiting the vehicle speed.

[0018]

The present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. A fuel pump 2 of an engine 1 mounted on a vehicle and generating a traveling driving force is controlled by an engine ECU 3. This engine ECU 3 is
The operation information of the pedal 4, the vehicle speed information from the vehicle speed sensor 5, the engine rotation information from the engine rotation sensor 6 and the like are fetched, and a control output is sent to the fuel pump 2 to control the fuel supply amount supplied to the engine 1.

Here, a control program for the speed limiting device is installed as control software inside the engine ECU 3. In order to perform this speed limit control, the engine ECU 3 has, as input information, operation information of the set switch 11, operation information of the resume switch 12, operation information of the cancel switch 13, and operation information of the set value up / down switch 14. Captured,
The display information of the display 15 provided in the driver's seat is configured to be transmitted.

Blocks indicated by a chain line in FIG. 1 are the set switch 11 and the resume switch 1 described above.
2, the cancel switch 13 and the set value up / down switch 14 are concentrating means for integrally providing these with the turn signal switch already installed in the driver's seat. This is a configuration for enabling the driver to operate the above switches without any error, and is not directly related to the gist of the present invention. Therefore, FIG. 4 will be used after the configuration and operation of the present invention are described. Explain.

The operation of setting the set value is performed while the driver looks at the speedometer (or the display 15) attached to the dashboard. Set value up / down
When the switch 14 is operated to the up side, the value of the display 15 is increased by 1 km / h per step at a rate of 10 steps per second. Similarly, if it is operated to the down side, 10 per second
The numerical value of the display unit 15 is decreased at the step rate. The driver operates the set value up / down switch 14 while looking at the numerical display on the display unit 15, releases the hand when the desired value is displayed, and presses the set switch 11 to change the vehicle speed at that time. The set value can be set as the maximum speed value of the vehicle speed limiting device. The set value (for example, 15 km / h) that has been set is continuously displayed on this display.

Here, the feature of the present invention relates to the case where some trouble occurs in the operating end 10. In particular, when the cancel switch 13 becomes unusable due to poor contact of hardware, disconnection of the wiring system, damage to the operating end 10 due to an external failure, or the like, the maximum speed set in the vehicle speed limiting device is set at that time. This is in consideration of the case where the vehicle continues to operate at the set value and the vehicle cannot operate at a speed exceeding the set value. For example, if the maximum speed is set to 15 km / h and the vehicle cannot be operated at the freight collection site, the vehicle cannot operate at a speed exceeding that speed.

In the device of the present invention, the accelerator pedal 4 is operated at a specific operation pattern at this time, so that the software of the engine ECU 3 detects this and performs the same control as when the cancel switch 13 is operated. Is configured to run. As a specific operation pattern of the accelerator pedal 4, in this embodiment, the accelerator pedal
A point A is set at a depression position close to the release position of the pedal 4, and B is set at a position close to the maximum depression of the accelerator pedal 4.
A point is set, and accelerator pedal 4 is set to point A → B within t seconds.
When the operation is from point to point A, this is set as a specific operation pattern. This t second is 0.2 from the test result.
It is desirable to set it in the range of 2.0 seconds. As an example, t is 1 second. Such an accelerator / pedal operation pattern is recognized as a kick-down operation by many drivers.

FIGS. 2 and 3 are flowcharts of the main control of the software of the apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is an operation flowchart in the maximum speed setting mode. The process of setting the maximum speed is displayed by operating UP or DOWN by operating the rotary ring 16 of the operating end 10. When the maximum speed is set, the vehicle speed limit mode shown in FIG. 3 is entered. In the vehicle speed limit mode, the vehicle speed information at that time is fetched, and when the vehicle speed is smaller than the set value, the vehicle speed control is executed according to the accelerator information. When the vehicle speed reaches the set value, a control signal is sent to the fuel pump 2 to limit the vehicle speed to the value set as the maximum vehicle speed. When the cancel switch 13 is operated, this control is interrupted at that point. When the resume switch 12 is operated, the vehicle speed control is restored.

At this time, in the device of the present invention, when a specific operation pattern of the accelerator pedal 4 is executed, the software installed in the engine ECU 3 detects this and is equivalent to the case when the cancel switch 13 is operated. Control of. As a result, the cancel switch 1
When the operation of 3 is disabled, it is possible to avoid the phenomenon that the vehicle cannot get out of the state of controlling the set maximum speed.

Next, the operation switches 11 to 11 described in FIG.
14, the embodiment will be described. It is necessary for the driver to operate these operation switches 11 to 14 without making a mistake while the vehicle is traveling. In this embodiment, these operation switches 11 to 14 are provided integrally with the turn signal switch already installed in the driver's seat.

Referring to FIG. 4, the operating end 10 has a plurality of these operating switches added by replacing the turn signal switch, which is already provided immediately below the steered wheels of the driver's seat, with this configuration. . When the operating end 10 is operated upward, a turn signal for a left turn blinks before and after the vehicle, as shown by a vertical arrow in FIG. 4, and a right turn signal also blinks for a downward operation.

In this embodiment, when a rotary ring 16 is provided near the tip of the operating end 10 and is pinched by the fingertip of the right hand and rotated clockwise, the UP of the set value up / down switch 14 described in FIG. Alternatively, the operation is an instruction to set the set switch 11. When the finger is released, the rotating ring 16 returns to its original position by the spring action. Turn counterclockwise to set value up / down switch 1 as well.
4 DOWN or RES of the resume switch 12 is instructed. When the finger is released, the rotary ring 16 returns to its original position. Further, a push button switch that can be pushed in the axial direction is provided at the tip of the operating end 10, and this is referred to as a cancel switch 13.

More specifically, the software installed in the engine ECU 3 identifies the meaning of the switch operation from the operating state at that time. For example, when not in the setting mode, the rotary ring 1
When 6 is operated in the clockwise direction, it is recognized that the operation is to set the setting mode. Further, when the rotary ring 16 is continuously operated in the clockwise direction, it is in the setting mode at that time, so that it can be recognized that the operation is an instruction operation for increasing the set value. Even when the rotary ring 16 is operated counterclockwise, it is possible to distinguish between resume and set value down according to the state at that time. As described above, the identification software installed in the engine ECU 8 allows the switch as one piece of hardware to be designed to be used for a plurality of purposes. This is indicated by the chain line block shown in FIG.

[0030]

According to the present invention, it is possible to avoid a state in which the vehicle speed limiting device cannot release the vehicle speed when the vehicle speed is limited to a constant value. That is, it is possible to avoid a phenomenon that the state in which the vehicle speed is limited cannot be released due to a failure of the cancel switch and other hardware. According to the present invention, the reliability of the vehicle speed limiting device can be improved. According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a device in which this releasing means is duplicated without adding or changing hardware.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block configuration diagram of an apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a main part control flowchart in a setting mode of the device according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a main part control flowchart in a vehicle speed limiting mode of the device of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a structural diagram of an operating end of an apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 engine 2 fuel pump 3 engine ECU 4 accelerator pedal 5 vehicle speed sensor 6 Engine rotation sensor 10 Operation end 11 set switch 12 Resume switch 13 Cancel switch 14 Set value up / down switch 15 Indicator 16 rotating rings

Continued front page    F-term (reference) 3G093 AA01 BA07 BA14 BA23 BA27                       CB01 CB12 CB13 DA01 DA06                       DB03 DB05 DB11 EA05 FA11                       FB05                 3G301 HA01 JA03 JA35 KB02 LB01                       MA11 ND02 NE17 PA11Z                       PF01Z PF03Z PF07Z

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A speed limiting device including control means for fetching information on a vehicle speed during traveling and limiting a fuel supply amount to an engine so that the vehicle speed does not exceed a set maximum speed. Means for inputting and setting by operation, a set switch for activating means for limiting the fuel supply amount by operation, a cancel switch for interrupting control by the control means validated by the set switch, and a cancel switch. 2. A speed limiting device comprising: a resume switch for resuming control by the control means interrupted by means of, and means for interrupting control by the control means when the accelerator pedal is operated in a specific pattern. 2. The specific pattern has a predetermined time (t seconds)
2. The speed limiting device according to claim 1, wherein the accelerator pedal has a pattern in which the accelerator pedal reciprocates once between two preset depression values (point A and point B) having different values. 3. The vehicle speed limiting device according to claim 1, in addition to the maximum speed limiting device fixedly set to the maximum speed which is legally regulated (eg 90 km / h for large vehicles). Vehicle equipped with.