JP2004142649A - Vehicle control system and method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a vehicle control system capable of early detecting wear of a tire or a brake pad to prevent an accident. <P>SOLUTION: A plurality of chips 3 are buried into the tire 2 attached to a vehicle 1 in the radial direction for every rubber layer. A detector 4 is installed inside the vehicle 1 and radio wave is periodically transmitted to the chip 3 to detect the presence or absence of the chip 3. When the tire 2 is worn due to running of the vehicle 1, the chip 3 is broken in order starting from the chip 3 buried in the rubber layer on an outer side to limit the maximum running speed of the vehicle 1 in accordance with degree of wear. If the chip for determining whether the vehicle can advance into an expressway or not is broken, the detector 4 controls the vehicle 1 to inhibit its advance into the expressway. If the chip in the deepest rubber layer for determining and promoting tire replacement is broken, the detector 4 gives a warning indicating a necessity for replacing the tire to a driver. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a vehicle control system and method for automatically detecting wear of a vehicle tire or brake pad.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Generally, how much the tires and brake pads of the vehicle are worn is finally determined by visual judgment based on the mileage, the number of years, the slipperiness of the tire during driving, and the effectiveness of the brake. When it is visually determined that the depth of the groove of the tire is reduced, the tire is replaced. When it is determined that the thickness of the brake pad is reduced, the brake pad is replaced.
[0003]
The conventional technology for detecting tire wear is to attach a light-reflecting member with a light-reflecting surface to the hole in the tire, and when the wear limit is reached, receive the reflected light from this light-reflecting member with a light receiver. (See, for example, Patent Document 1).
In addition, there is one that calculates a slip ratio from tire rotation information and detects a wear state (for example, see Patent Document 2).
[0004]
[Patent Document 1]
JP-A-11-170819 [Patent Document 2]
JP, 2002-36837, A
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, recently, with an increase in the number of female drivers, the number of women who drive the vehicle without confirming the wear of the tires and brake pads is increasing, as the manner of maintenance of the vehicle is unknown. In addition, since the wear of tires and brake pads is generally visually determined, the degree of exact wear is not known, and the vehicle is often driven even when the tires and brake pads are extremely worn. Therefore, there is a problem in the safety of running the vehicle.
The present invention has been made in view of such a point, and an object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle control system that detects tire or brake pad wear at an early stage and prevents an accident.
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 1 is characterized in that a plurality of chips embedded at different positions in a thickness direction of a tire or a brake pad and a chip mounted inside a vehicle, and a different transmission for each chip is performed. A detector for receiving a signal; and control means for controlling a running state of the vehicle in accordance with a reception result of the detector.
[0007]
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the vehicle control system according to the first aspect, when the detector determines that the transmission signal from a predetermined chip is no longer received, the control unit determines the vehicle according to a determination result. The maximum speed is limited.
[0008]
According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the vehicle control system according to the first or second aspect, when it is determined that the detector has stopped receiving a signal from a predetermined chip, the control means sets the vehicle on an expressway. It is characterized by making it impossible to enter.
[0009]
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the vehicle control system according to the first or second aspect, when the detector determines that the transmission signal from the innermost chip of the tire or the brake pad is no longer received, the driver A warning means for warning of replacement of the tire or the brake pad.
[0010]
The invention according to claim 5, wherein a chip embedded in a tire or a brake pad transmits a signal different for each chip to a detector attached to a vehicle, and the detector comprises: A second step of receiving the signal transmitted by the chip, and detecting the degree of wear of the tire or brake pad by the breakage of the chip when the detector determines that the signal from the predetermined chip is no longer received. A third step of controlling the running of the vehicle and notifying a driver in the vehicle.
[0011]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a tire and a vehicle to which a vehicle control system according to one embodiment of the present invention is applied. A plurality of chips 3 are embedded in the tire 2 attached to the vehicle 1 in the radial direction for each rubber layer. The detector 4 is installed inside the vehicle 1 and emits radio waves to detect the presence or absence of the chip 3.
FIG. 2 shows the configuration of the chip 3. The radio wave transmitted from the detector 4 to the chip 3 is received by the receiving circuit 31, rectified and sent to the integrating circuit 32. The integration circuit 32 integrates the output of the reception circuit 31 and outputs the result to the oscillation circuit 33. When the output of the integration circuit 32 exceeds a certain value, the oscillation circuit 33 oscillates a high-frequency signal using the output of the integration circuit 32 as a power supply, and radiates it to the detector 4 from the antenna. Since the signals generated by the oscillation circuit 33 differ from one chip to another, the detector 4 can determine the chip 3.
[0012]
FIG. 3 shows a configuration diagram of the detector 4. The detector 4 includes a CPU (central processing unit) 41 for controlling the operation of the entire apparatus, a ROM (read only memory) 42 for storing an operation program of the CPU 41, a RAM (random access memory) 43 for temporarily storing data, It has a transmitting section 44 for transmitting, a receiving section 45 for receiving a signal from the chip 3, a display 46 serving as an interface to a driver, and a memory 47 for storing information of the chip 3.
[0013]
Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. The transmitting unit 44 of the detector 4 periodically transmits a radio wave to the chip 3 (Step S1). Each of the chips 3 transmits a signal to the receiving unit 45 (“Yes” in step S3). The receiving unit 45 receives the signal from the chip 3 and outputs data corresponding to the reception level to the CPU 41. The CPU 41 receives the data from the receiving unit 45, and determines that the tire is normal when the data is equal to or more than a certain value.
When the tire 2 wears as the vehicle 1 travels, the chips 3 are sequentially broken from those embedded in the outer rubber layer. Since the signal from the damaged chip cannot be received by the receiving unit 45 (“No” in step S3), the receiving unit 45 outputs data “0” to the CPU 41 as received data. Based on the data "0", the CPU 41 determines that the rubber layer of the tire 2 has worn and the chip has been damaged, and records damage information on which chip has been damaged in the memory 47 (step S5). In addition, the CPU 41 limits the maximum traveling speed of the vehicle 1 according to the degree of wear of the tire 2 that can be detected by the damaged chip (step S6). As the damaged chip is embedded in the inner rubber layer, the CPU 41 limits the maximum speed to be lower.
[0014]
When the CPU 41 detects the breakage of a chip (referred to as a chip 3a) that is a deciding factor of whether or not to enter the expressway ("Yes" in step S7), it recognizes the vehicle 1 as a vehicle that is prohibited from entering the expressway, and displays the display 46. Is displayed to the driver to prohibit the vehicle 1 from entering the highway due to wear of the tire 2 (step S9). When the driver approaches the freeway entrance gate to enter the freeway with the vehicle 1 (step S11), the transmission unit 44 transmits to the freeway entrance gate that the vehicle 1 is prohibited from entering the freeway. (Step S13). The entrance gate of the highway takes measures, such as closing the gate and not issuing a toll ticket, so that the vehicle 1 does not enter the highway in response thereto.
[0015]
In addition, a chip (referred to as a chip 3b) which is a decisive factor for promoting tire replacement is embedded in the deepest rubber layer. If the chip 3b is damaged, the last chip embedded in the tire 2 has been damaged. If the wear of the tire further progresses and the chip damage information recorded in step S5 is the chip 3b (“Yes” in step S15), the CPU 41 determines that the chip which is a decisive warning for tire replacement has been broken. The driver is warned using the display 46 (step S17).
[0016]
As described above, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to know the degree of wear of the tire due to breakage of the chip, and to know the degree of wear of the tire accurately and early. Further, when the chip is worn due to wear, the maximum speed is limited according to the degree of wear. Furthermore, if the wear progresses and a chip embedded in a certain rubber layer breaks, entry to the expressway is prohibited, and if the wear further progresses and the last chip remaining on the tire is damaged, a warning of tire replacement is issued. Therefore, safe driving of the vehicle can be achieved.
[0017]
As described above, the embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, the specific configuration is not limited to the embodiments, and may include a design change or the like without departing from the gist of the present invention.
[0018]
For example, in the above-described embodiment, the wear of the tire is described, but the wear of the brake pad may be performed in the same configuration.
In the above embodiment, a plurality of chips are embedded for each rubber layer of the tire. However, the chips may be embedded only in the rubber layer that warns of tire replacement. Alternatively, the chip may transmit and transmit a radio wave, and the detector may detect the radio wave to detect the degree of wear.
[0019]
【The invention's effect】
As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, the detector mounted inside the vehicle receives different transmission signals for each of a plurality of chips embedded at different positions in the thickness direction of the tire or the brake pad. I do. This allows the detector to detect the presence or absence of each chip, and recognizes the degree of wear of the tire or brake pad to control the running of the vehicle, so that safe driving can be performed according to the degree of wear of the tire or brake pad. it can.
[0020]
According to the present invention, when the detector determines that the transmission signal from a predetermined chip is no longer received, the degree of wear of the tire or the brake pad is detected due to the damage of the chip, and the vehicle is determined according to the determination result. Make a maximum speed limit. Therefore, the vehicle can travel safely at a speed corresponding to the degree of wear of the tire or the brake pad.
[0021]
Further, according to the present invention, when the detector determines that the transmission signal from the predetermined chip is no longer received, the vehicle cannot enter the highway, and the wear of the tires or the brake pads may cause the traveling on the highway. It is possible to detect at an early stage that the vehicle is traveling unsuitably, and to prevent an accident on a highway.
[0022]
Further, according to the present invention, when it is determined that the transmission signal from the chip closest to the center of the tire or the brake pad is no longer received, the driver is warned, so that the wear of the tire or the brake pad is not suitable for running the vehicle. Can be detected at an early stage, and the driver can be prompted to replace tires or brake pads.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a chip 3 in the embodiment.
FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of a detector 4 in the embodiment.
FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an operation of the detector 4 in the embodiment.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Vehicle, 2 ... Tire, 3 ... Chip, 4 ... Detector

Claims (5)

A plurality of chips embedded at different positions in the thickness direction of the tire or brake pad,
A detector mounted inside the vehicle and receiving a different transmission signal for each of the chips;
A control unit for controlling a running state of the vehicle according to a reception result of the detector. When the detector determines that the transmission signal from a predetermined chip is no longer received,
2. The vehicle control system according to claim 1, wherein the control unit limits the maximum speed of the vehicle according to a result of the determination. When the detector determines that the signal from the predetermined chip is no longer received,
The vehicle control system according to claim 1, wherein the control unit prevents the vehicle from entering a highway. When the detector determines that the transmission signal from the innermost tip of the tire or the brake pad is no longer received, the detector is provided with a warning unit that warns the driver of replacement of the tire or the brake pad. The vehicle control system according to claim 1. A first step in which a chip embedded in a tire or a brake pad transmits a different signal for each of the chips to a detector attached to a vehicle;
A second step in which the detector receives a signal transmitted by the chip;
When the detector determines that the signal from a predetermined chip is no longer received, the chip detects damage and detects a degree of wear of a tire or a brake pad, controls running of the vehicle, and controls a driver in the vehicle. And a third step of notifying the vehicle.

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