JP2009184579A - Cruise controller for motorcycle - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent a riding attitude of a rider during one-handed riding from being disordered, even by operation of a rear wheel brake during cruise control. <P>SOLUTION: A motorcycle having a brake lever 7 operating a front wheel brake BF and a brake pedal 12 operating the rear wheel brake BR has an electronic control unit 30 operating an actuator 23 for opening and closing a throttle valve 17 to perform the cruise control to automatically control a vehicle speed to a desired vehicle speed of the rider. Though the electronic control unit 30 stops the cruise control when the front wheel brake BF is operated during the cruise control by the electronic control unit 30, the electronic control unit 30 continues the cruise control when an operation time of the rear wheel brake BR is less than a prescribed value when the rear wheel brake BR is operated, and the electronic control unit 30 stops the cruise control when the operation time is not less than the prescribed value. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a motorcycle equipped with a manual brake lever for operating a front wheel brake and a foot brake pedal for operating a rear wheel brake, by operating an actuator for opening and closing an engine throttle valve, The present invention relates to an improvement in a cruise control device for a motorcycle having an electronic control unit for cruise control so that the vehicle is automatically controlled to a rider's desired vehicle speed.

Such a cruise control device for a motorcycle is already known as disclosed in Patent Document 1 below.
JP 2006-336638 A

  In a conventional motorcycle cruise control device, during the cruise control by the electronic control unit, if either the front wheel brake or the rear wheel brake is operated, the cruise control of the electronic control unit is stopped.

  However, motorcycle riders inevitably grip the steering handle with both hands when operating the brake lever. Therefore, even if the motorcycle suddenly decelerates due to the operation of the front wheel brake during cruise control, Although it is easy to maintain a normal driving posture, the brake pedal may be operated when holding the steering handle with one hand and operating the switches with the other hand. The rider may disturb the driving posture due to the deceleration of the motorcycle.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and cruise control of a motorcycle that prevents a rider during one-handed driving from disturbing the driving posture even when the rear wheel brake is operated during cruise control. An object is to provide an apparatus.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an actuator for opening and closing an engine throttle valve in a motorcycle including a first brake operation member and a second brake operation member capable of individually operating a front wheel brake and a rear wheel brake. It is equipped with an electronic control unit that controls the cruise so that the vehicle speed is automatically controlled to the rider's desired vehicle speed. During cruise control by this electronic control unit, the electronic control unit stops cruise control when the front wheel brake is activated. However, when the rear wheel brake is operated, if the operating time is less than the predetermined value, the electronic control unit continues the cruise control, and if the operating time is greater than the predetermined value, the electronic control unit The first feature is to stop the operation.

  Further, the present invention provides a motorcycle including a manual brake lever for operating a front wheel brake and a foot brake pedal for operating a rear wheel brake, by operating an actuator for opening and closing an engine throttle valve, An electronic control unit for cruise control is provided to automatically control the vehicle speed to the rider's desired vehicle speed. During cruise control by this electronic control unit, when the front wheel brake is activated, the electronic control unit stops cruise control, but the rear wheel The second feature is that when the brake is operated, the electronic control unit continues cruise control.

  In the above description, the actuator corresponds to the electric motor 23 in the embodiment of the present invention described later.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, during the cruise control by the electronic control unit, when the rear wheel brake is instantaneously operated, the cruise control is continued. However, even if one hand is separated from the steering handle, the rider's driving posture can be prevented from being disturbed. Also, when the rear wheel brake is fully operated by depressing the brake pedal for a predetermined time or longer, the rider generally holds the steering handle with both hands, so at this stage the electronic control unit stops the cruise control, The rider can decelerate the motorcycle without disturbing the driving posture.

  According to the second feature of the present invention, during cruise control by the electronic control unit, the cruise control is continued even by the operation of the rear wheel brake, so that the motorcycle does not decelerate, and the rider is given a temporary command and one hand. Even if the is away from the steering handle, the rider's driving posture can be prevented from being disturbed.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below on the basis of preferred embodiments of the present invention shown in the accompanying drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a side view of a motorcycle equipped with a cruise control device according to a first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic view of the cruise control device, and FIG. 3 is a cruise control executed by an electronic control unit in FIG. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the procedure, and FIG. 4 is a diagram corresponding to FIG.

  First, the description starts with the description of the first embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, a body frame F of a motorcycle M includes a head pipe 1, a cradle type main frame 2 coupled to the rear surface of the head pipe 1, and a rear end upper portion of the main frame 2 integrally coupled to the rear. The seat rail 3 extends. The head pipe 1 supports the front fork 4 supporting the front wheel WF so as to be steerable, and a rod-like steering handle 5 is fixed to the upper end portion of the front fork 4, and the steering handle 5 has a right end portion thereof. A brake lever 7 is pivotally supported in the vicinity of the accelerator grip 6.

  An engine E with a built-in transmission is mounted on the main frame 2, a fuel tank 8 is attached to the upper part of the main frame 2, and a seat 9 is supported by the seat rail 3. A swing arm 10 that supports the rear wheel WR is pivotally supported at the lower rear end of the main frame 2 so as to swing up and down, and a single rear damper 11 is interposed between the swing arm 10 and the vehicle body frame F. . A brake pedal 12 is pivotally supported at the lower part of the main frame F.

  A rear wheel brake BR that brakes the front wheel WF is attached to the front fork 4, and a rear wheel brake BR that brakes the rear wheel WR is attached to the swing arm 10, and the front wheel brake BF and the rear wheel brake BR are The brake lever 7 and the brake pedal 12 are individually operated by each operation.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the throttle body 15 joined to the cylinder head of the engine E has a number of intake passages 16 (two in the illustrated example) corresponding to the number of cylinders of the engine. A common valve shaft 18 of a butterfly throttle valve 17 that opens and closes the intake passage 16 is rotatably supported by the throttle body 15. The first and second throttle drums 21 and 22 are fixed to the right end portion of the throttle body 15 adjacent to each other, and the first throttle drum 21 is connected to the accelerator drum 20 attached to the accelerator grip 6 with a first operation cable. The throttle valve 17 can be opened and closed by the rotation of the accelerator grip 6.

  On the other hand, a drive drum 26 fixed to an output shaft of an electric motor 23 attached to the vehicle body frame F or the engine E is connected to the second throttle drum 22 via a second operation cable 25. Thus, the throttle valve 17 can be opened and closed.

  The operation of the electric motor 23 is controlled by an electronic control unit 30 attached to the vehicle body frame F so as to be covered with the seat 9. The electronic control unit 30 includes a vehicle speed sensor 31 that detects the speed of the motorcycle M, an engine speed sensor 38 that detects the speed of the engine E, a throttle sensor 32 that detects the opening degree of the throttle valve 17, and a transmission shift. A shift position sensor 33 that detects a position, a clutch switch 34 that outputs an ON signal when the clutch is OFF, a front wheel brake switch 35 that outputs an ON signal when the front wheel brake BF is activated, and an ON signal when the rear wheel brake BR is activated Each output signal of the rear wheel brake switch 36 that outputs is input. In addition, an output signal of the cruise control switch 37 which is turned on / off by the rider is input. The electronic control unit 30 lights the brake lamp 39 of the motorcycle M when receiving an output signal of at least one of the front wheel brake switch 35 and the rear wheel brake switch 36.

  Thus, the electronic control unit 30 controls the cruising of the motorcycle M according to the flowchart shown in FIG. 3 when the rider turns on the cruise control switch 37 at a predetermined vehicle speed desired by the motorcycle M. That is, if it is determined in the first step S1 that the cruise control switch 37 is turned on, the process proceeds to the second step S2, and if it is determined that the front wheel brake switch 35 is not turned on, the process proceeds to the third step S3, where the clutch switch 34 If it is determined that is not on, the process proceeds to a fourth step S4. If it is determined that the change in the vehicle speed within the predetermined time is less than the predetermined value, the process proceeds to the fifth step S5, and the change in the engine speed within the predetermined time is detected. If it is determined that the shift position is less than the predetermined value, the process proceeds to a sixth step S6. If it is determined that there is no change in the shift position, the process proceeds to a seventh step, and if it is determined that the rear wheel brake BR is not operated, an eighth step S8. , The operation of the electric motor 23 is permitted and the process proceeds to the ninth step S9, where the cruise control switch 37 is kept on and the cruise control is continued. That. That is, the electronic control unit 30 operates the electric motor 23 based on the output signal of the vehicle speed sensor 31 to open and close the throttle valve 17 so that the actual vehicle speed of the motorcycle M becomes a predetermined vehicle speed desired by the rider.

  If it is determined in the second step S2 that the front wheel brake switch 35 is on, the process proceeds to a tenth step S10, where the cruise control switch 37 is automatically turned off to stop the cruise control. Accordingly, when the front wheel brake BF is activated by operating the brake lever 7, the cruise control is stopped by the electronic control unit 30.

  If it is determined in the seventh step S7 that the rear wheel brake switch 36 is on, the process proceeds to an eleventh step S11, and the electric motor 23 is held at the operating position immediately before the rear wheel brake switch 36 is turned on. The process proceeds to 12 step S12, and if it is determined that the ON time of the rear wheel brake switch 36 is less than a predetermined time (for example, second), the process proceeds to the eighth step S8, the operation of the electric motor 23 is permitted, and the process proceeds to the ninth step S9. Continue cruise control as usual as described above. Therefore, even if the rider instantaneously operates the brake pedal 12 to operate the rear wheel brake BR, the cruise control will continue and the motorcycle M will not decelerate. Even if one hand is separated from the steering handle 5, the rider's driving posture can be prevented from being disturbed.

  If it is determined in the 12th step S12 that the ON state of the rear wheel brake switch 36 has continued for a predetermined time or longer, the process proceeds to a 10th step S10, and the cruise control switch 37 is turned OFF to stop the cruise control. Therefore, when the brake pedal 12 is continuously depressed for a predetermined time or longer and the rear wheel brake BR is operated in earnest, the rider generally holds the steering handle 5 with both hands, and at this stage, the electronic control unit 30 performs cruise control. By stopping, the rider can decelerate the motorcycle M without disturbing the driving posture.

  Next, a second embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 4 will be described.

  In this second embodiment, the ON signal of the front wheel brake switch 35 is input to the electronic control unit 30 and used for stopping the cruise control as in the previous embodiment, but the output signal of the rear wheel brake switch 36 is It is not input to the electronic control unit 30 and is used only for lighting the brake lamp 39. In this case, the output signal of the front wheel brake switch 35 is also used for lighting the brake lamp 39, and the rear wheel brake switch 36 is connected between the signal circuit of the front wheel brake switch 35 and the signal circuit of the rear wheel brake switch 36. A diode 40 is provided that prevents the output signal from being input to the electronic control unit 30.

  Since other configurations are the same as those of the previous embodiment, portions corresponding to those of the previous embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals in FIG.

  According to the second embodiment, since the output signal of the rear wheel brake switch 36 is not involved in the cruise control, the cruise control is continued regardless of the operation of the rear wheel brake BR during the cruise control. The motorcycle M is not decelerated, and even if the rider is temporarily instructed to move one hand away from the steering handle 5, the rider can be prevented from being disturbed.

  The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various design changes can be made without departing from the scope of the invention.

1 is a side view of a motorcycle including a cruise control device according to a first embodiment of the present invention. Schematic of the cruise control device. The flowchart which shows the procedure of the cruise control which the electronic control unit in FIG. 2 performs. FIG. 3 is a view corresponding to FIG. 2 showing a second embodiment of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols

BF: front wheel brake BR ... rear wheel brake E ... engine M ... motorcycle 7 ... brake lever 12 ... brake pedal 17 ... throttle valve 23 ... accelerator (Electric motor)
30 ... Electronic control unit

Claims (2)

  In a motorcycle equipped with a manual brake lever (7) for operating the front wheel brake (BF) and a foot brake pedal (12) for operating the rear wheel brake (BR), the throttle of the engine (E) An electronic control unit (30) is provided for cruising control so as to automatically control the vehicle speed to the rider's desired vehicle speed by operating an actuator (23) for opening and closing the valve (17), and cruise control by this electronic control unit (30) When the front wheel brake (BF) is activated, the electronic control unit (30) stops the cruise control, but when the rear wheel brake (BR) is activated, if the operation time is less than a predetermined value, The electronic control unit (30) continues the cruise control, and if the operation time exceeds a predetermined value, the electronic control unit Preparative (30) is characterized in that to cancel the cruise control, the motorcycle cruise control device.   In a motorcycle equipped with a manual brake lever (7) for operating the front wheel brake (BF) and a foot brake pedal (12) for operating the rear wheel brake (BR), the throttle of the engine (E) An electronic control unit (30) is provided for cruising control so as to automatically control the vehicle speed to the rider's desired vehicle speed by operating an actuator (23) for opening and closing the valve (17), and cruise control by this electronic control unit (30) When the front wheel brake (BF) is activated, the electronic control unit (30) stops the cruise control, but when the rear wheel brake (BR) is activated, the electronic control unit (30) continues the cruise control. A cruise control device for motorcycles.

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