JP2009090820A - Turnable vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent a turn against the intention of a vehicle which is turnable in place. <P>SOLUTION: The turnable vehicle is provided with respective motors 2a-2d for rotating and driving all wheels 1a-1d separately and respective actuators 5a-5d for steering the respective wheels separately and conducts control to rotate in place only in the case that all input conditions of respective signals for rotating from a rotation permission switch 7, a rotation direction operation lever 8 and an acceleration pedal 9 are satisfied. As respective operation pieces for conducting operations for satisfying respective conditions are separately provided and rotation is not conducted even if one or two of the operation pieces are operated by mistake, it is possible to prevent from unintentionally starting to rotate the vehicle in place. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle that can rotate on the spot.

Conventionally, in a four-wheeled vehicle, all four wheels can be steered and rotated, and each wheel is steered in the tangential direction of the circumference with the center between the four wheels as the center of rotation to drive each wheel to rotate. In some cases, the vehicle can be rotated on the spot (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2).
JP-T-60-50037 JP-A-60-53470

  In a rotatable car having the above-described configuration, the four wheels are directed in the running direction during normal driving. Therefore, in order to rotate on the spot, the vehicle is temporarily stopped, the four wheels are steered, and then rotated. Drive the drive wheel in the direction. As an operation command for that purpose, a steering device may be used for turning, and an accelerator device may be used for rotational driving and stopping of driving wheels. Moreover, you may provide the operation element for rotation for making it the turning state which rotates on the spot separately.

  However, if the steering device or the rotary operator is accidentally operated and turned into a rotating state on the spot, it will start to rotate unexpectedly if the accelerator device starts running for the purpose of normal driving. was there.

  In order to solve such a problem and to prevent the vehicle from rotating on the spot against the intention, in the present invention, all the wheels are set so that the vehicle can rotate on the spot. Steering means (5a, 5b, 5c, 5d) for turning (1a, 1b, 1c, 1d), and wheel driving means for rotationally driving at least a part of all the wheels (1a, 1b, 1c, 1d) In a rotatable vehicle having (2a, 2b, 2c, 2d), all the wheels (1a, 1b, 1c, 1d) are rotated on the spot by the turning means (5a, 5b, 5c, 5d). A rotation permission operator (7) for turning to a turning angle and outputting a rotation permission signal enabling driving to the wheel driving means (2a, 2b, 2c, 2d), and instructing the direction of the rotation Rotation direction indicating operator (8) and wheel driving hand It was assumed to have a drive control operator (9) for causing the driving and stopping of the wheel caused by.

  In particular, even when the stop is performed by the drive control operation element (9) and the rotation direction instruction by the rotation direction instruction operation element (8) is neutral, the rotation permission operation element (7) Until the output of the rotation permission signal is stopped, the wheels (1a, 1b, 1c, and 1d) are preferably held at the turning angle at which the wheels are rotated on the spot.

  As described above, according to the present invention, the rotation on the spot is performed only when the rotation permission operator, the rotation direction instruction operator, and the drive control operator have the operating conditions of rotating on the spot. Therefore, each operation element that performs operations satisfying each of these conditions is provided separately, and even if one or two of them are operated by mistake, rotation is not performed. It is possible to prevent starting.

  In particular, when returning to the original state, the rotation permission signal can be stopped by the rotation permission operator. For example, when the rotation is intermittently performed to finely adjust the direction of the vehicle, the rotation can be performed each time the vehicle is stopped. Operation can be prevented from becoming complicated, for example, there is no need to reset conditions.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a plan view schematically showing a four-wheeled vehicle to which the present invention is applied. As shown in the drawing, motors 2a, 2b, 2c, and 2d for independently rotating and driving are provided on the front and rear wheels 1a1b, 1c, and 1d, respectively. Thus, during normal driving, all the motors 2a to 2d are driven during four-wheel drive, and for example, the front motors 2a and 2b are driven during front wheel driving, so that a driving method corresponding to the driving situation is arbitrarily selected. be able to.

  The wheels 1a to 1d are supported by the corresponding support shafts 3a, 3b, 3c, and 3d so as to be steerable with respect to the vehicle body 4. The support shafts 3a to 3d are provided with actuators 5a, 5b, 5c, and 5d for individually turning the wheels 1a to 1d. By controlling the actuators 5a to 5d separately, Each wheel 1a-1d can be individually steered in any direction and angle. The front wheels 1a and 1b are provided with a steering device (not shown) and an actuator for driving the steering device. In addition, a rotation direction operation lever 8 made of, for example, a joystick as a turning direction support operation element and an accelerator pedal 9 as a drive control operation element are arranged at appropriate positions so as to be independently operable. During normal running, the steering device is driven by operating a rotation direction control lever 8 and a signal from a sensor for detecting the tilt direction being input to a steering control device (not shown) indicating a direction of turning. The actuators for driving are driven, and the motors 2a, 2b, 2c, and 2d are driven by operating the accelerator pedal 9, and the traveling direction of the vehicle can be changed.

  Further, a control circuit 6 is provided for controlling each of the traveling motors 2a to 2d and each of the actuators 5a to 5d. Further, a rotation permission switch 7 formed of, for example, a push button switch as a rotation permission operation element is disposed at a proper position so as to be operated independently. An ON signal of the rotation permission switch 7 is input to the control circuit 6 as a rotation permission signal, and in the rotation direction operation lever 8, a signal from a sensor that detects the tilt direction is a signal that indicates the direction of rotation. In the case of the accelerator pedal 9, a displacement detection signal from a displacement sensor for detecting the depression amount is input to the control circuit 6 as a wheel drive / stop signal.

  FIG. 2A shows an example of the arrangement of the rotation permission switch 7 and the rotation direction operation lever 8. A panel 12 of the operation unit is attached to an interior member 11 provided on the side of the driver's seat, and a rotation permission switch 7 and a rotation direction operation lever 8 are disposed at appropriate positions on the panel 12. In the illustrated example, the shift lever 13 and the parking switch 14 are also disposed on the same panel 12. As shown in FIG. 2B, the rotation permission switch 7 is a push button switch, and on the pressing surface, an illustration that can be understood at a glance that the button indicates that the button rotates on the spot is drawn. It is. Thereby, an operation mistake can be suitably prevented.

  An operation procedure when the vehicle body 4 is rotated on the spot in the rotatable vehicle configured as described above will be described below with reference to the flowchart of FIG. This flow control may be executed by the CPU of the control circuit 6 as program processing and interrupt processing.

  First, in step ST1, it is determined whether or not the rotation permission switch 7 is turned on (pressed). When it is determined that the rotation permission switch 7 is in the OFF state, this flow is finished. If it is determined in step ST1 that the rotation permission switch 7 is on, the process proceeds to step ST2. In step ST2, it is determined whether or not the vehicle is stopped. The determination of the stop may be based on the determination that the vehicle speed is 0 km / h based on a vehicle speed detection signal from a vehicle speed sensor (not shown).

  If it is determined in step ST2 that the vehicle is not stopped, the process proceeds to step ST3, where alarm processing is performed, and this flow is terminated. As the alarm processing, for example, a buzzer 10 can be connected to the control circuit 6 to sound, or a warning light can be blinked. This is for surely shifting from the stop state to the mode of rotating on the spot.

  If it is determined in step ST2 that the vehicle is stopped, the process proceeds to step ST4, where the vehicle is brought into a rotatable state. Specifically, the wheels 1a to 1d are directed by the actuators 5a to 5d in the tangential direction of a circle (two-dot chain line) whose center is the intersection of the diagonal lines of the wheels 1a to 1d as shown in FIG. Steer and maintain the steered angle. This center C becomes the center of rotation that rotates on the spot of the vehicle body 4 as a vehicle.

  In the next step ST5, it is determined whether or not the rotation direction operation lever 8 is instructed to rotate in either the left or right direction. Step ST5 is repeated until the rotation direction operation lever 8 is operated in either the left or right direction. If a right rotation instruction is issued, the process proceeds to step ST6. If a left rotation instruction is issued, the process proceeds to step ST7. In step ST6, it is determined whether or not the accelerator pedal 9 is operated (on) or not (off), and if it is operated, the process proceeds to step ST8.

  In step ST8, as indicated by an arrow R in FIG. 4, the motors 2a to 2d are driven in the direction of rotating the vehicle body 4 to rotate the wheels 1a to 1d, and the process returns to step ST6. Similarly, when the process proceeds to step ST7, it is determined whether or not the accelerator pedal 9 is operated. If the accelerator pedal 9 is operated, the process proceeds to step ST9. In step ST9, as indicated by an arrow L in FIG. 4, the motors 2a to 2d are driven in the direction to rotate the vehicle body 4 counterclockwise to rotate the wheels 1a to 1d, and the process returns to step ST7.

  In the illustrated example, if the accelerator pedal 9 is operated, the vehicle body 4 is rotated. In this case, the rotation (angular) speed is a preset constant speed for safe rotation. The rotational speed may be increased or decreased according to the depression amount of 9. Even in that case, it is preferable to set an upper limit speed to prevent overspeed.

  If it is determined in step ST6 or ST7 that the accelerator pedal 9 is not operated (off), the process proceeds to step ST10, the motors 2a to 2d are stopped according to the state of the accelerator pedal 9, and the process proceeds to step ST11.

  In step ST11, it is determined whether or not the rotation direction operation lever 8 is in the neutral position. If it is determined that the position is not the neutral position, the process returns to step ST5 because the operation state is either left or right, the above flow is repeated, and the rotation process is continued. If it is determined in step ST11 that the position is the neutral position, the process proceeds to step ST12.

  In step ST12, it is determined whether or not the rotation permission switch 7 is turned off. If the rotation permission switch 7 remains on, the process returns to step ST10, and if it is off, the process proceeds to step ST13. When a push button switch is used that switches from one on / off state to the other each time it is pressed, it may be determined whether or not the push button switch has been pressed. Thereby, the rotation operation on the spot can be continued until the rotation permission switch 7 is turned off. For example, when the rotation is intermittently performed to finely adjust the direction of the vehicle, the rotation control state is continued. It is possible to prevent the operation from becoming complicated, for example, since it is not necessary to reset the condition for rotation every time the vehicle stops.

  In step ST13, the normal running state is restored. Specifically, this operation is the reverse of step ST4, and the steering stet and this flow are ended so that the respective wheels 1a to 1d are directed to a state in which they can move forward and backward as shown in FIG. . Note that the straight-ahead state may be set as the initial position and returned to the initial position.

  As described above, other conditions (operations of the rotation direction operation lever 8 and the accelerator pedal 9) are all set on condition that the rotation permission switch 7 which is an intention to rotate by the driver is operated (ON). It is possible to carry out the rotation control only on the spot. Since each operation element that performs an operation that satisfies these conditions is provided separately, for example, even if the rotation direction operation lever 8 is mistakenly operated and the accelerator pedal 9 is stepped on, it will inadvertently start rotating on the spot. Can be prevented.

  In the illustrated example, each of the wheels 2a to 1d is provided with the motors 2a to 2d, which are individually driven to rotate. However, a motor as a driving means is provided only for some of the wheels. Also good. For example, in the case of a six-wheeled vehicle provided with two front and rear wheels as rear wheels, only one of them may be driven by a motor. Further, even when a motor is provided for each wheel, for example, only one pair of diagonal wheels may be motor-driven during rotational driving.

1 is a plan view schematically showing a four-wheeled vehicle to which the present invention is applied. (A) is a principal part perspective view which shows the operation element based on this invention, (b) is an enlarged view which shows a rotation permission switch. It is a flowchart which shows the control based on this invention. It is a figure corresponding to FIG. 1 which shows the rotation state on the spot.

Explanation of symbols

1a, 1b, 1c, 1d Wheel 2a, 2b, 2c, 2d Motor (wheel drive means)
5a ・ 5b ・ 5c ・ 5d Actuator (steering means)
7 Rotation permission switch (Rotation permission operator)
8 Rotation direction operation lever (Rotation direction indicator)
9 Accelerator pedal (drive control operator)

Claims (2)

In a rotatable vehicle having steering means for turning all the wheels so that the vehicle is rotatable on the spot, and wheel driving means for rotationally driving at least a part of all the wheels,
A rotation permission operator that turns the wheel to a turning angle that rotates all the wheels on the spot and outputs a rotation permission signal that enables the wheel driving means to be driven; and a direction of the rotation. A rotatable vehicle comprising: a rotating direction indicating operator for instructing; and a drive control operator for causing the wheel driving means to drive and stop the wheel.   Even when the rotation is indicated by the drive control operator and the rotation direction indication by the rotation direction indicator is neutral, until the rotation permission signal is stopped by the rotation permission operator. The rotatable vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the wheels are held at a turning angle at which the wheels are rotated on the spot.

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