JP2008277213A - Lever switch device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a lever switch device capable of realizing a highly reliable switching operation without being affected by conduction and non-conduction or the like of a contact. <P>SOLUTION: In the lever switch device, switching of a turning lamp and a headlamp or the like is operated through an operation of an operating lever 20 installed on the vehicle. Here, inclination movement of the lever 20 is detected by an acceleration sensor 31 installed on the operating lever 20 and rotation of a rotary switch 21 is detected by a gyroscope sensor 32 installed on the rotary switch part 21. Furthermore, the change in posture of the vehicle is detected by an acceleration sensor 33 and a gyroscope sensor 34 installed on the lever unit main body 10. Then, based on comparison of each detection output of the acceleration sensors 31, 33, existence of switching operation of the operation lever is judged and based on the comparison of each detection output of the gyroscope sensors 32, 34, existence of switching operation of the rotary switch part 21 is judged. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a lever switch device that operates switching of an in-vehicle device through various operations of an operation lever.

  As is well known, a vehicle is provided with a lever switch device for operating switching of various in-vehicle devices such as turning on / off of a headlight and turning on / off of a turn signal lamp through various operations of an operation lever by a driver. . FIG. 8 shows a perspective structure inside the vehicle provided with this lever switch device. As shown in FIG. 8, such a lever switch device is normally fixedly disposed at a position near the steering device 100 in the driver's seat of the vehicle and operated by the driver himself. Conventionally, as such a lever switch device, for example, a device described in Patent Document 1 is known. FIG. 9 shows a perspective structure of the lever switch device described in Patent Document 1, and FIG. 10 shows an exploded perspective structure of the lever switch device.

  As shown in FIG. 9, the lever switch device includes a lever unit main body 200 fixed to a vehicle as a main body, and an operation lever that is cantilevered by the lever unit main body 200 and used for a switching operation of an in-vehicle device. 210 is basically provided. For example, when an external force is applied by the driver, the operation lever 210 tilts in the directions indicated by the arrows a11 and a12 in the xy plane in the drawing with the portion supported by the lever unit main body 200 as a base end. At the same time, it also tilts in the directions indicated by arrows b11 and b12 in the yz plane in the figure. Further, the operation lever 210 is provided with an operation knob including a rotary switch, that is, a rotary switch unit 211 at the tip thereof. The rotary switch unit 211 rotates about the central axis m in the longitudinal direction of the operation lever 210, that is, in the direction indicated by arrows c1 and c2 in the drawing. The lever unit main body 200 is fixed in a manner in which the xy plane in FIG. 9 is parallel to the steering wheel constituting the steering device 100 in the vehicle interior illustrated in FIG.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 10, in the lever unit main body 200, a switching element 201 that operates switching of the in-vehicle device in response to the tilting of the operation lever 210 or the rotation of the rotary switch unit 211 is provided. Is provided. For example, when the operation lever 210 rotates in the directions of arrows a11 and a12, the switching element 201 is switched on / off of the vehicle turn signal lamp. With such a configuration as the lever switch device, the switching operation of various in-vehicle devices can be integrated and performed through various operations of the operation lever 210 or the rotary switch unit 211 by the driver.
JP 2000-208003 A

  By the way, in the lever switch device described in Patent Document 1, the switching element 201 is provided with a plurality of contacts, and conduction and non-conduction between the plurality of contacts are selectively changed. Thus, switching of the headlight on / off, turn signal lamp on / off, etc. is executed. That is, normally, the switching element 201 is configured as a contact type switching element. For this reason, for example, when the polishing agent is sprayed on the lever 210, if the polymeric silicon contained in the polishing agent may adhere to the contact of the switching element, the adhered polymeric silicon There is a concern that, for example, an insulating film is formed to cause poor conduction between the contacts. If such contact failure occurs, a malfunction as a lever switch device may occur.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and the object thereof is a lever switch device capable of realizing a more reliable switching operation without being affected by contact conduction / non-conduction. Is to provide.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, the invention according to claim 1 is a lever switch device that operates switching of an in-vehicle device through operation of an operation lever provided in a vehicle, and is provided with an external force applied to the operation lever. A tilt detection means for detecting a tilt based on the application of the vehicle and a vehicle attitude detection means for detecting a change in the attitude of the vehicle provided at a location other than the operation lever of the vehicle, and a detection output by the tilt detection means And determining whether or not there is a switching operation by the operation lever based on a comparison between the vehicle posture detection means and the detection output by the vehicle posture detection means.

  As in the same configuration, when determining the presence or absence of the switching operation by the operation lever, the tilt based on the application of external force to the lever is detected by the tilt detection means provided on the operation lever, and provided at a place other than the operation lever. By detecting the change in the posture of the vehicle by the vehicle posture detection means, the influence of the conduction / non-conduction of the contact as described above can be eliminated. In addition, since the determination of the presence or absence of the switching operation by the operation lever is performed based on the comparison between the detection output by the tilt detection means and the detection output by the vehicle posture detection means, the vehicle acceleration, vibration, or It becomes possible to accurately detect whether or not the actual operation lever is tilted without disturbance elements such as impact, that is, whether or not the driver performs a switching operation. That is, as a result, a more reliable switching operation as a lever switch device is realized.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the lever switch device according to the first aspect of the present invention, the operation lever is composed of a composite operation lever having an operation knob including a rotation switch at the tip thereof, and the operation knob A rotation detecting unit that detects rotation based on application of an external force to the knob, and is configured to control the operation lever of the operation lever based on a comparison between a detection output from the rotation detection unit and a detection output from the vehicle attitude detection unit; The gist is to determine whether or not there is a switching operation.

  As such an operation lever, for example, there is a composite type operation lever provided with an operation knob including a rotary switch at its tip. In such an operation lever, when the switching element corresponding to the operation knob is configured as a contact type switching element, the above-described contact continuity failure cannot be ignored. In this regard, as in the same configuration, when determining the presence or absence of the switching operation by the rotary knob, the rotation based on the addition of an external force to the rotary knob is detected by the rotation detection means provided in the rotary knob. Such influences of contact / non-conduction of the contacts are eliminated. In addition, since the determination of the presence or absence of the switching operation by the operation knob is performed based on the comparison between the detection output by the rotation detection means and the detection output by the vehicle posture detection means, disturbance factors such as vehicle acceleration Thus, it is possible to accurately detect the presence or absence of rotation of the actual rotary knob, that is, the presence or absence of a switching operation by the driver. That is, as a result, a more reliable switching operation can be realized as a lever switch device used in a composite operation lever.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the lever switch device according to the second aspect, the tilt detection means includes an acceleration sensor that detects a tilt direction and a tilt amount based on application of an external force of the operation lever, and the rotation detection unit. The means includes a gyro sensor that detects a rotation direction based on application of an external force of the operation knob, and the vehicle attitude detection means includes a change direction and a change in the attitude of the vehicle corresponding to the tilt direction and the tilt amount of the operation lever. The gist of the invention is that it includes an acceleration sensor that detects the amount and a gyro sensor that detects a change direction of the posture of the vehicle corresponding to the rotation direction of the operation knob of the operation lever.

  According to the configuration, the detection output of the acceleration sensor that detects the tilt direction and the tilt amount of the operation lever, and the detection output of the acceleration sensor that detects the change direction and the change amount of the posture of the vehicle corresponding to the tilt direction and the tilt amount; Based on these comparisons, the actual tilting direction and tilting amount of the operating lever from which disturbance elements such as vehicle vibration are removed can be accurately detected. On the other hand, based on the comparison between the detection output of the gyro sensor that detects the rotation direction of the operation knob and the detection output of the change direction of the posture of the vehicle corresponding to the rotation direction, the actual vibration-free vibration elements are also removed. The rotation direction of the operation knob can be accurately detected. That is, by using a sensor suitable for each use for the operation lever and the operation knob, the accuracy of determination regarding the presence / absence of the switching operation described above can be further enhanced even with such a composite operation lever.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the lever switch device according to the second aspect, the tilt detection means includes an acceleration sensor that detects a tilt direction and a tilt amount based on application of an external force of the operation lever, and the rotation detection unit. The means includes an acceleration sensor that detects a rotation direction and a rotation amount based on application of an external force of the operation knob, and the vehicle posture detection means corresponds to the tilt direction and the tilt amount, the rotation direction, and the rotation amount of the operation lever, respectively. The gist of the invention is that it comprises an acceleration sensor that detects the direction and amount of change in the posture of the vehicle.

  According to the configuration, the detection output of the acceleration sensor that detects the tilt direction and the tilt amount of the operation lever, and the detection output of the acceleration sensor that detects the change direction and the change amount of the posture of the vehicle corresponding to the tilt direction and the tilt amount; Based on the comparison, the tilt direction and the tilt amount of the operation lever in which the disturbance elements such as the vibration of the vehicle are removed are accurately detected. On the other hand, based on the comparison between the detection output of the acceleration sensor that detects the rotation direction and the rotation amount of the operation knob and the acceleration sensor that detects the change direction and change amount of the posture of the vehicle corresponding to the rotation direction and rotation amount. The actual rotation direction of the rotary knob from which disturbance elements such as vibration are removed is detected. That is, in this case, in such a composite operation lever, the rotation knob can also detect the amount of rotation, so that a function setting and design with a higher degree of freedom as a lever switch device can be made.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the lever switch device according to the second aspect, the tilt detection means includes a gyro sensor that detects a tilt direction based on application of an external force of the operation lever, and the rotation detection means includes the rotation detection means. The gyro sensor detects a rotation direction based on application of an external force of the operation knob, and the vehicle posture detection means detects a change direction of the vehicle posture corresponding to each of the tilt direction and the rotation direction of the operation lever. The gist is that it consists of sensors.

  According to this configuration, the vibration of the vehicle based on the comparison between the detection output of the gyro sensor that detects the tilt direction of the operation lever and the detection output of the gyro sensor that detects the change direction of the posture of the vehicle corresponding to the tilt direction. Thus, the actual tilting direction of the operating lever from which the disturbance element is removed can be accurately detected. On the other hand, based on the comparison between the detection output of the gyro sensor that detects the rotation direction of the operation knob and the detection output of the change direction of the posture of the vehicle corresponding to the rotation direction, the actual vibration-free vibration elements are also removed. The rotation direction of the operation knob can be accurately detected. That is, in this case, by using a gyro sensor with high detection accuracy particularly in the tilting direction and the rotation direction, at least the determination accuracy regarding the presence / absence of the tilt and the presence / absence of the rotation can be further enhanced as the lever switch device. It becomes like this.

  In this way, according to the present invention, a more reliable switching operation as a lever switch device based on an accurate determination on the presence or absence of actual operation of the operation lever without being affected by contact conduction / non-conduction, etc. It will be realized.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of a lever switch device according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
First, FIG. 1 shows a perspective structure of a lever switch device according to the present embodiment as a diagram corresponding to FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 1, this lever switch device also has a lever unit main body 10 that is fixed to the vehicle as its main body, and a lever unit main body 10 that is a piece of the lever unit main body 10. The operation lever 20 that is supported and used for the switching operation of the in-vehicle device is basically provided. The operation lever 20 is also tilted by a predetermined angle in the directions indicated by arrows a1 and a2 within the xy plane with the portion supported by the lever unit body 10 as the base end when an external force is applied by the operator, for example. At the same time, it tilts by a predetermined angle in the directions indicated by arrows b1 and b2 in the yz plane in the figure. The operation lever 20 is also provided with a rotary switch portion 21 at the tip thereof. The rotary switch unit 21 also rotates about the central axis m1 in the longitudinal direction of the operation lever 20, that is, rotates by a predetermined angle in the directions indicated by the arrows c1 and c2 in the drawing. Here, with reference to FIGS. 2-5, the relationship between operation with respect to these operation lever 20 and the rotary switch part 21, and switching operation of vehicle equipment is demonstrated.

First, with reference to FIG. 2, the switching operation of the in-vehicle device when the operation lever 20 is tilted in the directions indicated by the arrows a1 and a2 will be described.
FIG. 2 shows a front structure of the operation lever 20. In FIG. 2, a state (position) inclined by a predetermined angle in the direction indicated by the arrow a1 with respect to the axis m11 is a state (position) inclined by a predetermined angle at the axis m12 and in the direction indicated by the arrow a2. Is indicated by an axis m13.

  That is, the operation lever 20 has a mechanism for setting the reference axis at a position where the central axis m1 coincides with the axis m11 and holding the reference position. And when the operation lever 20 is hold | maintained in the reference position, vehicle equipment, such as a vehicle headlight and a turn signal lamp, is maintained in an OFF state. Further, when an external force is applied in the direction indicated by the arrow a1 from the state where the operation lever 20 is held at the reference position in this way, the lever 20 tilts to a position where the central axis m1 of the lever 20 coincides with the axis m12. The turn signal lamp on the left side of the vehicle is turned on. When the lever 20 reaches a position where the central axis m1 coincides with the axis m12, the position is maintained, and thereby the turn signal lamp on the left side of the vehicle is kept on. On the other hand, when an external force is applied in the direction indicated by arrow a2 from the state where the operation lever 20 is held at the reference position, the operation lever 20 tilts to a position where the central axis m1 of the lever 20 coincides with the axis m13. The right turn signal lamp is turned on. The lever 20 is also maintained when the center axis m1 reaches a position where the center line m1 coincides with the axis m13, and the turn signal lamp on the right side of the vehicle is thereby kept on.

  Subsequently, a switching operation of the in-vehicle device when the operation lever 20 is tilted in the direction indicated by the arrows b1 and b2 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 shows a planar structure of the operation lever 20. In FIG. 3, the state (position) tilted by a predetermined angle in the direction indicated by the arrow b1 with respect to the axis m11 is also tilted by the predetermined angle in the direction indicated by the arrow m2 (position). Position) is indicated by an axis m22. Further, FIG. 3 also shows a state where the operation lever 20 is held at the reference position, as in FIG.

  Now, when an external force is applied in the direction indicated by the arrow b1 from the state where the operation lever 20 is held at the reference position in this way, the operation lever 20 tilts to a position where the central axis m1 of the lever 20 coincides with the axis m21, The vehicle headlight is operated upward (the headlight upward tilting mechanism is turned on). When the lever 20 reaches a position where the center axis m1 coincides with the axis m21, the position is maintained, and thereby the headlight is maintained in the upward state. On the other hand, when an external force is applied in the direction indicated by the arrow b2 from the state where the operation lever 20 is held at the reference position, the lever 20 tilts until the center axis m1 of the lever 20 coincides with the axis m22. When the external force is removed, the lever 20 is automatically returned to the reference position. That is, the vehicle headlight is temporarily operated upward (passing operation) through such an operation of the lever 20.

  Furthermore, with reference to FIG. 4, the switching operation of the vehicle-mounted device when the rotary switch unit 21 is tilted in the directions indicated by the arrows c1 and c2 will be described. FIG. 4 shows a side structure of the rotary switch unit 21. In FIG. 4, a state (position) inclined by a predetermined angle in the direction indicated by the arrow c1 with respect to the axis m31 is a state (position) inclined by the predetermined angle at the axis m32 and in the direction indicated by the arrow c2. ) Is indicated by an axis m33.

  That is, the rotary switch unit 21 has a reference position at which the reference line m2 passing through the central axis m1 coincides with the axis m31, and is held at this position. In addition, when an external force is applied in the direction indicated by the arrow c1 from the state where the rotary switch 21 is held at the reference position as described above, the reference line m2 rotates to a position where the reference line m2 coincides with the axis m32. When the external force is removed, the rotation position of the switch unit 21 is automatically returned to the reference position. On the other hand, when an external force is applied in the direction indicated by the arrow c2 from the state where the rotary switch unit 21 is held at the reference position, the reference line m2 rotates to a position where it coincides with the axis m33. However, when the external force is removed, the turning position of the switch unit 21 automatically returns to the reference position. And in this embodiment, it is supposed that switching operation of the small light of a vehicle and a headlight will be performed as follows using such a structure of the rotary switch part 21. FIG.

  That is, the lever switch device includes a light control counter LCC that is updated based on such rotation of the rotary switch unit 21, and performs a small light and headlight switching operation based on the value of the counter LCC. Specifically, every time the rotary switch unit 21 rotates from the reference position in the direction indicated by the arrow c1, the value of the counter LCC is incremented by “1” and also rotates from the reference position in the direction indicated by the arrow c2. Each time the counter LCC value is subtracted by “1”, the counter LCC value is set to one of “0” to “3”. As shown in the state transition in FIG. 5, the light conditions P0 to P3 defining the on / off modes of the small light and the headlight corresponding to the values “0” to “3” of the counter LCC, respectively. Is predetermined. For this reason, each time the driver operates the rotary switch unit 21, one of the light conditions P0 to P3 is selected, and the small light and the headlight are switched according to the selected light conditions P0 to P3. The operation will be performed. Incidentally, when the value of the counter LCC is “0”, that is, when the light condition P0 is selected, both the small light and the headlight of the vehicle are turned off. When the value of the counter LCC is changed to “1”, that is, when the light condition P1 is selected, the small light is turned on while maintaining the headlight off state. Further, when the value of the counter LCC is changed to “2”, that is, when the light condition P2 is selected, the headlight is turned on while the small light is kept on. When the value of the counter LCC is changed to “3”, that is, when the light condition P3 is selected, the small light and the headlight are automatically turned on without depending on the operation of the rotary switch unit 21 of the driver. It is assumed that so-called auto light control that is turned on / off is executed.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 1, the lever switch device is provided with a sensor group 30 including various sensors for detecting the state of the operation lever 20 and the rotary switch unit 21, the posture of the vehicle, and the like. As the sensor group 30, for example, an operation acceleration sensor 31 that outputs a voltage Vg <b> 1 corresponding to the tilt direction and the tilt amount of the operation lever 20 is provided at the base end portion of the operation lever 20. Incidentally, by providing the operation acceleration sensor 31 at the base end portion of the operation lever 20 in this way, it is possible to prevent disturbance components due to vibrations of the operation lever 20 itself from being mixed in the output signal of the sensor 31. I have to. The rotary switch unit 21 is provided with an operation gyro sensor 32 that outputs a voltage Vj1 corresponding to the rotation direction of the rotary switch unit 21. Further, the lever unit body 10 includes a reference acceleration sensor 33 that outputs a voltage Vg2 corresponding to the change direction and change amount of the posture of the vehicle corresponding to the tilt direction and the tilt amount of the operation lever 20, and the rotary switch. A reference gyro sensor 34 that outputs a voltage Vj2 corresponding to the change direction of the posture of the vehicle corresponding to the rotation direction of the unit 21 is provided. In the lever switch device according to the present embodiment, the operation acceleration sensor 31 is the tilt detection means, the operation gyro sensor 32 is the rotation detection means, and the reference acceleration sensor 33 and the reference gyro sensor 34 are the vehicle attitude detection means. It becomes.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the circuit board 40 provided in the lever unit body 10 has a voltage Vg1 output from the operation acceleration sensor 31 and a voltage Vg2 output from the reference acceleration sensor 33. Are provided for differential amplification. Similarly, the circuit board 40 takes in the voltage Vj1 output from the operation gyro sensor 32 and the voltage Vj2 output from the reference gyro sensor 34, respectively, and performs differential amplification thereof. 42 is provided. By performing such differential amplification, for example, the operation lever 20 is output from the reference acceleration sensor 33, that is, the component caused by the vehicle behavior in the voltage Vg1 output from the operation acceleration sensor 31, that is, the reference acceleration sensor 33. The voltage Vg2 is cancelled. Based on such cancellation, eventually, a voltage Vg corresponding to the actual tilting direction and tilting amount of the operating lever 20 from which disturbance factors such as vehicle vibration are removed can be obtained. In addition, regarding the rotary switch unit 21, the component caused by the vehicle behavior in the voltage Vj 1 output from the operation gyro sensor 32, that is, the voltage Vj 2 output from the reference gyro sensor 34 is canceled. Based on such cancellation, eventually, a voltage Vj corresponding to the actual rotation direction of the rotary switch unit 21 from which disturbance elements such as vibrations of the vehicle are removed is obtained. The differential amplification outputs Vg and Vj by the differential amplifiers 41 and 42 are both taken into the vehicle control unit 50 provided at an appropriate part in the vehicle, and the in-vehicle device group 60 through the vehicle control unit 50 is used. For on / off control. In other words, the vehicle control unit 50 uses various differential in-vehicle devices such as a headlight 61, a small light 62, a turn signal lamp 63 on the left side of the vehicle, and a turn signal lamp 64 on the right side of the vehicle based on the differential amplification outputs Vg and Vj. The switching operation will be controlled.

  FIG. 7 shows an outline of the control procedure of the switching operation of such various in-vehicle devices by the vehicle control unit 50. Hereinafter, the specific control procedure will be described in detail based on FIG.

As shown in FIG. 7, in the vehicle control unit 50,
(A) Based on the voltage Vg output from the differential amplifier 41, the tilt direction Dg and the tilt amount Ag of the actual operation lever 20 from which the disturbance elements are removed are calculated (step S101).
(B) Based on the voltage Vj output from the differential amplifier 42, the actual rotational direction Dj of the rotary switch unit 21 from which the disturbance elements are removed is calculated (step S102).
The process is repeatedly executed. The vehicle control unit 50 that has calculated the actual tilt direction Dg and tilt amount Ag of the operating lever 20 and the actual rotation direction Dj of the rotary switch unit 21 thus calculates the calculated tilt direction Dg, tilt amount Ag, and rotation. Whether or not the switching operation of the operation lever 20 and the rotary switch unit 21 is performed is always determined based on the direction Dj.

Specifically, based on the calculation result of the tilting direction Dg of the operating lever 20, it is determined whether or not the operating lever 20 has been operated in the directions indicated by the arrows a1 and a2 in FIG. 2 (step S110). . In step S110, if it is determined that the operation lever 20 has been operated in the directions indicated by the arrows a1 and a2 (step S110: YES), step S111 is performed based on the calculation result of the tilt amount Ag. As a processing of
(A1) On / off of the turn signal lamp 63 on the left side of the vehicle (a2) Any switching operation such as on / off of the turn signal lamp 64 on the right side of the vehicle is executed. That is, based on the calculation result of the tilt amount Ag, when it is determined that the operation lever 20 is in a position tilted in the direction indicated by the arrow a1 from the reference position, for example, the turn signal lamp on the right side of the vehicle. The turn-on operation of the turn signal lamp 63 on the left side of the vehicle is executed while maintaining the OFF state of 64. In the process of step S111, it is also determined whether or not the operation lever 20 is held at the tilted position based on the value of the tilt amount Ag. As a result, when it is determined that the operating lever 20 is held at any one of the tilt positions, the corresponding turn signal lamp is kept on. When it is determined that the vehicle has been returned to the reference position (axis line m11), the corresponding turn signal lamp is turned off.

In step S120, similarly, based on the tilting direction Dg of the operating lever 20, it is determined whether or not the operating lever 20 has been operated in the directions indicated by the arrows b1 and b2 in FIG. If it is determined that the operation lever 20 has been operated in the directions indicated by the arrows b1 and b2 (step 120: YES), the process of step S121 is performed based on the calculation result of the tilt amount Ag.
(B1) A switching operation such as turning on / off the operation of turning the headlight 61 of the vehicle upward is executed. That is, when it is determined that the operating lever 20 is in a position tilted in the direction indicated by the arrow b1 from the reference position based on the calculation result of the tilt amount Ag, the vehicle headlight is directed upward. To be operated. Also in the process of step S121, it is also determined whether or not the operation lever 20 is held at the tilted position based on the tilt amount value. As a result, when it is determined that the operation lever 20 is held at any one of the tilt positions, the headlight 61 of the vehicle is operated upward. When it is determined that the vehicle has been returned to the reference position (axis line m11), the headlight 61 of the vehicle is operated downward.

On the other hand, in step S130, based on the rotation direction Dj of the rotary switch unit 21, it is determined whether or not the rotary switch unit 21 has been operated in the directions indicated by arrows c1 and c2 in FIG. When it is determined that the rotary switch unit 21 has been operated in the directions indicated by the arrows c1 and c2 (step S130: YES), the value of the light control counter LCC is updated based on the rotation direction Dj. (Step S131). Specifically, when it is determined that the rotation direction Dj is the direction indicated by the arrow c1, for example, “1” is added to the value of the counter LCC. After updating the value of the counter LCC in this way, based on the value of the counter LCC, as the process of step S132,
(C1) Any switching operation such as on / off of the headlight 61 of the vehicle (c2) on / off of the small light 62 of the vehicle is executed. The details are as described with reference to FIG.

As described above, according to the lever switch device of the present embodiment, the following effects can be obtained.
(1) When determining the presence or absence of the switching operation of the operation lever 20, the tilt based on the application of an external force to the lever 20 is detected by the operation acceleration sensor 31 provided on the lever 20 and provided on the lever unit body 10. A change in the posture of the vehicle is detected by the reference acceleration sensor 33. Thereby, the influence of the conduction / non-conduction of the contact as described above is eliminated. In addition, here, as described above, the presence or absence of the switching operation by the operation lever 20 is determined based on the differential amplification output between the output voltage Vg1 from the operation acceleration sensor 31 and the output voltage Vg2 from the reference acceleration sensor 33. I did it. For this reason, it is possible to accurately detect the presence or absence of the actual operation lever 20 from which disturbance elements such as acceleration, vibration, or impact of the vehicle are removed, that is, the presence or absence of the switching operation by the driver. In determining whether or not the rotary switch unit 21 is switched, rotation based on the application of external force to the switch unit 21 is detected by an operation gyro sensor 32 provided in the switch unit 21, and the lever unit main body 10. A change in the posture of the vehicle is detected by a reference gyro sensor 34 provided in the vehicle. This also eliminates the influence of contact conduction / non-conduction as described above, and the presence / absence of actual rotation of the rotary switch unit 21 without disturbance elements such as vehicle acceleration, that is, the driver's switching operation. It becomes possible to accurately detect the presence or absence of. That is, as a result, a more reliable switching operation as a lever switch device is realized.

  (2) The acceleration sensors 31 and 33 are used for monitoring the presence or absence of operation of the operation lever 20 whose tilt amount changes greatly during the switching operation by the driver, and the operation of the rotary switch unit 21 whose rotation direction changes greatly. The gyro sensors 32 and 34 are used for the presence / absence monitoring. As described above, the use of sensors suitable for the respective applications for the operation lever 20 and the rotary switch unit 21 makes it possible to naturally improve the accuracy of determination regarding the presence or absence of a switching operation as a composite operation lever. become.

  (3) The operation acceleration sensor 31 is provided at the base end portion of the operation lever 20. As a result, it is possible to prevent disturbance components due to vibrations of the lever 20 itself from being mixed into the detection result of the tilt direction and the tilt amount of the operation lever 20.

  (4) The presence or absence of the switching operation of the operation lever 20 is performed based on the differentially amplified values of the detection voltages Vg1, Vg2 of the acceleration sensors 31, 33. Further, the presence or absence of the switching operation of the rotary switch unit 21 is also performed based on the value obtained by differentially amplifying the detection voltages Vj1 and Vj2 of the gyro sensors 32 and 34. Therefore, it is possible to more accurately determine whether or not there is a switching operation based on a signal that emphasizes the difference between the detection voltages.

  (5) The reference acceleration sensor 33 and the reference gyro sensor 34 are provided in the lever unit body 10. For this reason, it is possible to minimize the routing of wiring for comparison with the detection voltages by the reference acceleration sensor 33 and the reference gyro sensor 34.

In addition, the said embodiment can also be implemented with the following forms which changed this suitably.
In the above embodiment, the reference acceleration sensor 33 and the reference gyro sensor 34 are provided in the lever unit main body 10, but may be provided, for example, in the steering device as long as they are in the vicinity of the base end portion of the operation lever 20.

  In the above embodiment, the presence or absence of the switching operation of the operation lever 20 is performed based on the differentially amplified values of the detection voltages Vg1, Vg2 of the acceleration sensors 31, 33. For example, the detection voltages Vg1, Vg2 You may make it perform based on the value calculated from ratio. Further, the presence / absence of the switching operation of the rotary switch unit 21 may be performed based on a value calculated from the ratio of the detection voltages Vj1 and Vj2 of the gyro sensors 32 and 34.

  In the above embodiment, the operation acceleration sensor 31 is provided at the base end of the operation lever 20. However, when the lever switch device is mounted on a vehicle in which the vibration of the operation lever 20 itself is relatively small. The operation acceleration sensor 31 may be provided near the rotary switch unit 21.

  In the above embodiment, the gyro sensor 32 for operation is provided in the rotary switch unit 21 in determining whether or not the switching operation of the rotary switch unit 21 is performed. However, an acceleration sensor is provided instead of the gyro sensor 32. Also good. That is, in this case, a reference acceleration sensor is provided corresponding to the acceleration sensor, and the presence / absence of the switching operation of the rotary switch unit 21 and the operation amount thereof are determined based on the comparison of the output voltages. According to such a configuration as the lever switch device, the amount of rotation of the rotary switch unit 21 can also be detected, so that function setting and design with a higher degree of freedom as the device can be performed.

  In the above embodiment, the operation acceleration sensor 31 is provided on the lever 20 when determining whether or not the operation lever 20 is switched. However, a gyro sensor may be provided instead of the acceleration sensor 31. Good. That is, in this case, a reference gyro sensor is provided in a form corresponding to the gyro sensor, and the presence / absence of the switching operation of the operation lever 20 is determined based on the comparison of the output voltages. According to such a configuration as the lever switch device, at least the determination accuracy about the presence or absence of the operation lever 20 and the presence or absence of the rotation can be further improved.

  Furthermore, instead of providing either the acceleration sensor or the gyro sensor for the operation lever 20 and the rotary switch unit 21 in this way, the acceleration sensor and the gyro sensor may be provided together. Thereby, it is possible to perform detection with higher accuracy by mutually interpolating the characteristics of the acceleration sensor and the gyro sensor.

  In the above embodiment, the case where the present invention is applied to a lever switch device of a so-called composite operation lever in which the rotary switch portion 21 is provided at the distal end portion of the operation lever 20 has been described. The present invention can be similarly applied to a lever switch device of an operation lever having no portion.

In the above embodiment, the lever switch device applied to the operation lever 20 of the type that is tilted by one step in each direction from the state held at the reference position is exemplified. It may be capable of tilting in multiple steps in a direction or a specific direction. Even in this case, by providing the acceleration sensor 31, the operation position of the lever can be determined from the calculated tilt amount Ag.
(Appendix)
Next, a technical idea that can be grasped from the above embodiment and its modifications will be additionally described.

  (A) In the lever switch device according to claim 5, the tilt detection means further includes an acceleration sensor for detecting an amount of tilt based on application of an external force of the operation lever, and the rotation detection means is provided on the operation knob. The vehicle further includes an acceleration sensor that detects an amount of rotation based on the application of an external force, and the vehicle attitude detection unit includes an acceleration sensor that detects an amount of change in the attitude of the vehicle corresponding to the tilt amount and the rotation amount of the operation lever. A lever switch device further comprising: In general, an acceleration sensor can detect the amount of rotation or the amount of tilt together, but the detection accuracy in the direction of rotation or the direction of tilt is relatively low. On the other hand, the gyro sensor can detect the rotation direction or the tilt direction with high accuracy, but it is difficult to detect the rotation amount or the tilt amount. In this respect, if an acceleration sensor and a gyro sensor are provided in each of the operation lever and the operation knob as in the same configuration, detection with higher accuracy can be performed by mutually interpolating each characteristic. .

  (B) The lever switch device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, or the appendix 1, wherein the tilt detection means is provided at a base end portion of the operation lever. . According to this configuration, it is possible to suppress a disturbance component caused by vibration of the lever itself from being detected in the tilt direction and tilt amount of the operation lever, or the detection result of the rotation amount of the rotation direction.

  (C) In the lever switch device according to any one of claims 1 to 5 or appendix 1 or 2, the determination of the presence or absence of the switching operation based on the comparison of the detection outputs differs from the corresponding detection outputs. A lever switch device, which is performed based on a dynamically amplified value. According to this configuration, it is possible to more accurately determine the presence or absence of a switching operation based on a signal that emphasizes the difference between detection outputs.

  (E) The lever switch device according to any one of claims 1 to 5 or any one of appendices 1 to 3, wherein the operation lever is provided via a lever unit body that cantilever-supports the lever. A lever switch device provided in a vehicle, wherein the vehicle attitude detecting means is provided for the lever unit main body. According to this configuration, it is possible to minimize wiring routing for comparison with the detection output by the vehicle attitude detection means.

The perspective view which shows the perspective structure about one Embodiment of the lever switch apparatus concerning this invention. The front view which shows the front structure about the lever switch apparatus of the embodiment. The top view which shows the planar structure about the lever switch apparatus of the embodiment. The side view which shows the side structure about the rotary switch part of the lever switch apparatus of the embodiment. The state transition diagram which showed the relationship between the value of the counter LCC, and the on / off state of a small light and a headlight about the lever switch apparatus of the embodiment. The block diagram which shows the system structure about the switching operation system of the lever switch apparatus of the embodiment. The flowchart which shows the control procedure of switching operation of the various vehicle equipment by the lever switch apparatus of the embodiment. The perspective view which shows the perspective structure inside the vehicle provided with the lever switch apparatus. The perspective view which shows the perspective structure about the conventional lever switch apparatus. The perspective view which shows the disassembled perspective structure similarly about the conventional lever switch apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10,200 ... Lever unit main body, 20, 210 ... Operation lever, 21, 211 ... Rotary switch part, 30 ... Sensor group, 31 ... Operation acceleration sensor, 32 ... Operation gyro sensor, 33 ... Reference acceleration sensor, 34 ... Gyro sensor for reference, 40 ... Circuit board, 41, 42 ... Differential amplifier, 42 ... Differential amplifier, 50 ... Vehicle control unit, 60 ... In-vehicle device group, 61 ... Headlight, 62 ... Small light, 63 ... Turn Signal lamp, 64 ... turn signal lamp, 100 ... steering device, 201 ... switching element.

Claims (5)

In a lever switch device that operates switching of in-vehicle devices through operation of an operation lever provided in a vehicle,
Tilt detecting means provided on the operating lever for detecting tilting based on application of external force to the lever, and vehicle attitude detecting means provided on a location other than the operating lever of the vehicle for detecting a change in the posture of the vehicle. And determining whether or not there is a switching operation by the operation lever based on a comparison between a detection output by the tilt detection means and a detection output by the vehicle attitude detection means. The lever switch device according to claim 1,
The operation lever includes a composite operation lever having an operation knob including a rotation switch at the tip thereof, and rotation detection means provided on the operation knob for detecting rotation based on application of an external force to the knob. And a lever switch device for determining whether or not a switching operation is performed by an operation knob of the operation lever based on a comparison between a detection output from the rotation detection unit and a detection output from the vehicle attitude detection unit. The tilt detection means includes an acceleration sensor that detects a tilt direction and a tilt amount based on application of an external force of the operation lever, and the rotation detection means includes a gyro sensor that detects a rotation direction based on application of an external force of the operation knob. The vehicle posture detecting means corresponds to an acceleration sensor that detects a change direction and a change amount of the vehicle posture corresponding to the tilt direction and the tilt amount of the operation lever, and the rotation direction of the operation knob of the operation lever. The lever switch device according to claim 2, further comprising a gyro sensor that detects a change direction of the posture of the vehicle. The tilt detection means includes an acceleration sensor that detects a tilt direction and a tilt amount based on application of an external force of the operation lever, and the rotation detection means includes an acceleration that detects a rotation direction and rotation amount based on the application of an external force of the operation knob. The vehicle posture detection means includes an acceleration sensor that detects the change direction and change amount of the vehicle posture corresponding to the tilt direction and the tilt amount of the operation lever, and the rotation direction and the rotation amount, respectively. The lever switch device according to 2. The tilt detection means includes a gyro sensor that detects a tilt direction based on application of an external force of the operation lever, and the rotation detection means includes a gyro sensor that detects a rotation direction based on application of an external force of the operation knob. The lever switch device according to claim 2, wherein the posture detection means includes a gyro sensor that detects a change direction of the posture of the vehicle corresponding to the tilt direction and the rotation direction of the operation lever.

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