JP2009235959A - Control device of actuator - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a control device of actuator that prevents degrading in response speed of a variable drive mechanism. <P>SOLUTION: An ECU performs feedback control of an actuator so that an actual stroke amount coincides with a target stroke amount, by a control amount set depending on deviation between the actual stroke amount of a control shaft of an inlet valve drive mechanism and the target stroke amount. The ECU executes, during control of the actuator, abnormal region storage processing for storing stroke amounts of control shaft in which the control amount exceeds the determination value as abnormal region, and abnormal region avoidance processing for changing target stroke amount to outside the abnormal region, when the target stroke amount of the control shaft is held for a predetermined time period in the stored abnormal region. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an actuator control device that adjusts the characteristics of a variable drive mechanism.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is known an actuator control device that outputs a driving force to a variable valve mechanism that adjusts valve characteristics such as a valve lift amount and a valve working angle of an intake valve of an internal combustion engine. In such an actuator control device, it is difficult to optimally maintain the operation state of the internal combustion engine if the arrival of the desired valve characteristic according to the operation state of the internal combustion engine is delayed. It is necessary to reach the desired valve characteristics.

Therefore, for example, in the actuator control device disclosed in Patent Document 1, the response of the actuator, which is in the control shaft of the variable valve mechanism, is calculated from the change amount of the target position per unit time and the change amount of the actual position. When the speed decreases, the control gain is increased to maintain the actual response speed at the target response speed.
JP 2004-116404 A

  However, in the actuator control apparatus of Patent Document 1 described above, the amount of change in the target position and the amount of change in the actual position are detected while the actuator moves the control shaft. While the amount of change is detected, the control shaft remains uncontrolled at the target position. That is, since the control gain is increased only after the response speed of the actuator is reduced, there is a possibility that the maintenance of the operation state of the internal combustion engine may be hindered even if the above-described control is performed.

  Further, in the actuator, when a foreign matter is caught in a motor, a gear mechanism, or the like that is a constituent member of the actuator, the internal combustion engine is controlled to a specific driving state that has a specific valve characteristic. An abnormality such as a decrease in response speed may occur. When such an abnormality occurs, the target response speed may decrease every time the actuator is controlled to the specific control state in the control device of Patent Document 1 as described above.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide an actuator control device that can prevent a reduction in response speed of a variable drive mechanism.

In the following, means for achieving the above object and its effects are described.
According to the first aspect of the present invention, an actuator that feedback-controls the actuator so that the actual characteristic matches the target characteristic by a control amount that sets the characteristic of the variable drive mechanism in accordance with a deviation between the actual characteristic and the target characteristic. In the control device, the characteristic region of the variable drive mechanism in which the control amount exceeds the determination value during the control of the actuator is stored as an abnormal region, and the characteristic of the variable drive mechanism is held in the stored abnormal region. The gist of the invention is to have an abnormal area avoiding means to be prohibited.

  When an abnormality occurs in an actuator that is feedback-controlled by a control amount set according to the deviation between the actual characteristic and the target characteristic, the control amount required to control the characteristic of the variable drive mechanism to the characteristic that causes the abnormality is usually It becomes larger than the set control amount.

  Therefore, according to the above configuration, the characteristic region of the variable drive mechanism in which the control amount exceeds the determination value during the control of the actuator is stored as the abnormal region, so that the abnormal region can be accurately detected. In addition, since it is prohibited to retain the characteristics of the variable drive mechanism in the stored abnormal area, it is possible to prevent a decrease in response speed when the change is started from the state where the characteristics of the variable drive mechanism are retained.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, the actual position of the control member is set to the target position by setting the control amount according to the deviation between the actual position of the control member that controls the characteristics of the variable drive mechanism and the target position. In an actuator control apparatus that performs feedback control of an actuator that drives the control member so as to match, the drive region of the control member in which the control amount exceeds a determination value during the drive of the control member is stored as an abnormal region. The gist of the invention is to have an abnormal region avoiding means for prohibiting holding the control member in the abnormal region.

  If an abnormality occurs in the actuator that drives the control member by setting the control amount according to the deviation between the actual position of the control member and the target position, the control required to drive the control member to the drive position where the abnormality occurs The amount is larger than the control amount that is normally set.

  Therefore, according to the above configuration, since the drive region of the control member whose control amount exceeds the determination value during driving of the control member is stored as the abnormal region, the abnormal region can be accurately detected. In order to prohibit the holding of the control member in the stored abnormal region, the response speed of the variable drive mechanism when starting the change from the state of holding the control member, that is, the state of holding the characteristics of the variable drive mechanism. Decline can be prevented in advance.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the actuator control device according to the first aspect, the abnormal region avoiding means sets the target characteristic in the vicinity of the abnormal region when the target characteristic is included in the abnormal region. The gist is to change to characteristics outside the region.

  According to the above configuration, the abnormal area avoiding means changes the target characteristic to a characteristic outside the abnormal area in the vicinity of the abnormal area when the target characteristic is included in the abnormal area. However, it is possible to prevent a decrease in response speed of the variable drive mechanism.

  Specifically, as described in claim 4, the abnormal area avoiding means sets the target characteristic to a characteristic outside the abnormal area in the vicinity of the abnormal area when the target characteristic is held in the abnormal area. It is possible to adopt a configuration such as changing to

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the actuator control device according to the second aspect, the abnormal area avoiding means sets the target position near the abnormal area when the target position is included in the abnormal area. The gist is to change to a position outside the region.

  According to the above configuration, the abnormal region avoiding means changes the target position to a position outside the abnormal region in the vicinity of the abnormal region when the target position is included in the abnormal region. It is possible to prevent the response speed of the variable drive mechanism from being lowered.

  Specifically, as described in claim 6, when the target position is held in the abnormal area, the abnormal area avoiding unit sets the target position to a position outside the abnormal area in the vicinity of the abnormal area. It is possible to adopt a configuration such as changing to

  The invention according to claim 7 is an actuator that feedback-controls the actuator so that the actual characteristic matches the target characteristic by a control amount that is set according to the deviation between the actual characteristic and the target characteristic. In the control apparatus, the characteristic region of the variable drive mechanism in which the control amount exceeds the determination value during the control of the actuator is stored as an abnormal region, and the stored abnormal region is stored before the characteristic of the variable drive mechanism transitions. The gist is to have an abnormal region transition means for increasing the control amount.

  According to the above configuration, since the characteristic region of the variable drive mechanism whose control amount exceeds the determination value during the control of the actuator is stored as the abnormal region, the abnormal region can be accurately detected. Since the amount of control is increased before the characteristics of the variable drive mechanism change in the stored abnormal area, it is possible to prevent a decrease in response speed when the characteristics of the variable drive mechanism change in the abnormal area.

  According to the eighth aspect of the present invention, the actual position of the control member that controls the characteristics of the variable drive mechanism is made to coincide with the target position by a control amount that is set according to the deviation between the actual position and the target position. In the actuator control apparatus that feedback-controls the actuator, a drive region of the control member in which the control amount exceeds a determination value during driving of the control member is stored as an abnormal region, and the stored abnormal region is stored in the control member. The gist is to have an abnormal region transition means for increasing the control amount before the position transitions.

  According to the above configuration, since the drive region of the control member whose control amount exceeds the determination value during the drive of the control member is stored as the abnormal region, the abnormal region can be accurately detected. And since the control amount is increased before the position of the control member transitions in the stored abnormal region, it is possible to prevent a decrease in the response speed of the variable drive mechanism when the position of the control member transitions in the abnormal region. it can.

  According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the actuator control device according to the seventh aspect, the abnormal region transition means sets a part of the abnormal region between an actual characteristic and a target characteristic of the variable drive mechanism. The gist is to increase the control amount when it is included.

  According to the above configuration, in order to increase the control amount when a part of the abnormal region is included between the actual characteristic and the target characteristic of the variable drive mechanism, the drive speed of the variable drive mechanism is previously set before the transition to the abnormal region. Can be increased.

  According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in the actuator control apparatus according to the eighth aspect, the abnormal region transition means includes a part of the abnormal region between an actual position of the control member and a target position. Sometimes, the gist is to increase the control amount.

  According to the above configuration, in order to increase the control amount when a part of the abnormal region is included between the actual position of the control member and the target position, the drive speed of the control member is increased in advance before transitioning to the abnormal region. Can be made.

(First embodiment)
Hereinafter, an actuator control device according to the present invention is applied to an intake valve drive mechanism including a variable valve mechanism that changes the maximum lift amount of an intake valve provided in a multi-cylinder (in this embodiment, in-line four-cylinder) internal combustion engine. The applied first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.

  1 and 2 show a configuration of a variable valve mechanism 20 in an engine 1 (hereinafter referred to as an engine) as a four-cylinder internal combustion engine in the present embodiment. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of one cylinder, and FIG. 2 is a plan view of the upper structure of the engine 1.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, an engine 1 mounted on a vehicle has four cylinders, and a pair of intake valves 10 and exhaust valves 15 that are engine valves corresponding to the respective cylinders are provided in the cylinder head 2. Each is provided so as to be able to reciprocate. Further, the cylinder head 2 is provided with an intake valve drive mechanism 40 and an exhaust valve drive mechanism 45 corresponding to the intake valve 10 and the exhaust valve 15, respectively.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the exhaust valve drive mechanism 45 is provided with a lash adjuster 17 corresponding to each exhaust valve 15, and a rocker arm 18 is installed between the lash adjuster 17 and the exhaust valve 15. Has been. One end of the rocker arm 18 is supported by the lash adjuster 17 and the other end is in contact with the proximal end portion of the exhaust valve 15. A plurality of exhaust cams 8 are formed on the exhaust cam shaft 7 rotatably supported by the cylinder head 2, and the outer peripheral surfaces of the exhaust cams 8 abut on rollers 18 a provided on the rocker arm 18. Has been. The exhaust valve 15 is provided with a retainer 15 a and a valve spring 16 is provided between the retainer 15 a and the cylinder head 2. The exhaust valve 15 is urged in the valve closing direction by the urging force of the valve spring 16. As a result, the roller 18 a of the rocker arm 18 is pressed against the outer peripheral surface of the exhaust cam 8. When the exhaust cam 8 rotates during engine operation, the rocker arm 18 swings about a portion supported by the lash adjuster 17 as a fulcrum. As a result, the exhaust valve 15 is driven to open and close by the rocker arm 18.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 1, the intake valve drive mechanism 40 is also provided with a valve spring 11, a retainer 10a, a rocker arm 12, a roller 12a, and a lash adjuster 13 as in the exhaust side. An intake cam 6 is formed on the intake camshaft 5 that is rotatably supported by the cylinder head 2.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the intake valve drive mechanism 40 is different from the exhaust valve drive mechanism 45 in that the valve characteristics of the intake valve 10 between the intake cam 6 and the rocker arm 12, more specifically, A variable valve mechanism 20 for changing the maximum lift amount and the operating angle is provided. Incidentally, the operating angle of the intake valve 10 is a value that coincides with the opening period of the intake valve.

  In FIG. 1, the variable valve mechanism 20 has an input portion 23 and a pair of output portions 24. The input portion 23 and the output portion 24 can swing on a support pipe 22 fixed to the cylinder head 2. It is supported. The rocker arm 12 is biased toward the output portion 24 by the proximal end portion of the intake valve 10 and the lash adjuster 13, and the roller 12 a is in contact with the outer peripheral surface of the output portion 24. Further, a spring 14 is provided between the input portion 23 and the cylinder head 2, and a roller 23 b provided in the input portion 23 is biased by the intake cam 6 by the biasing force of the spring 14. .

  For example, when the intake cam 6 rotates during engine operation, the intake cam 6 presses the input portion 23 while being in sliding contact with the roller 23b, so that the output portion 24 swings in the circumferential direction of the support pipe 22. Become. When the output unit 24 swings, the rocker arm 12 swings using the portion supported by the lash adjuster 13 as a fulcrum. As a result, the intake valve 10 is driven to open and close by the rocker arm 12. In the present embodiment, the intake valve drive mechanism 40 including the intake valve 10 and the variable valve mechanism 20 corresponds to a variable drive mechanism.

  Here, as shown in FIG. 2, the base end portion (right end in the figure) of the control shaft 21 inserted through the support pipe 22 of the variable valve mechanism 20 is connected to the actuator 100 attached to the cylinder head 2. It is connected. That is, when the control shaft 21 is displaced in the axial direction by the driving force output from the actuator 100, the displacement in the axial direction (hereinafter referred to as stroke amount) is caused by the variable valve mechanism 20 in the circumferential direction of the control shaft 21. The rotational phase displacement between the input unit 23 and the output unit 24 is changed. As a result, the relative phase difference between the input unit 23 and the output unit 24 is changed, and the maximum lift amount and the operating angle of the intake valve 10 are changed synchronously.

  Next, the configuration of the actuator 100 will be described with reference to FIG. 3 showing a sectional view of the actuator 100. The actuator 100 includes a motor 71 and a planetary gear mechanism 75 in a housing 74 attached to the cylinder head 2. The motor 71 is configured as a brushless motor including a stator 72 having a coil and a rotor 73 having a permanent magnet, and the rotor 73 is connected to an internal gear 78 of a planetary gear mechanism 75 described later.

  The planetary gear mechanism 75 includes a control shaft 76 provided with a spiral spline on the outer periphery, a plurality of planetary gears 77 provided on the outer periphery, and an internal gear 78 provided on the inner periphery. It is comprised. These splines are formed by engaging the spline of the planetary gear 77 with both the spline of the control shaft 76 and the spline of the internal gear 78 externally fitted to the control shaft 76. The planetary gear 77 is combined so as to rotate while revolving around the control shaft 76.

  The internal gear 78 of the planetary gear mechanism 75 is rotatably supported by the housing 74 of the actuator 100, and one end of the control shaft 21 is connected to the control shaft 76.

  In the actuator 100 configured as described above, when the coil of the stator 72 is energized, the internal gear 78 of the planetary gear mechanism 75 configured as described above rotates together with the rotor 73, and the control shaft 76 has its axis. Displacement in the direction (arrow F or R direction in FIG. 3). Since the control shaft 76 is connected to the control shaft 21, in the variable valve mechanism 20, the control shaft 21 is also displaced in the axial direction as the control shaft 76 is displaced in the axial direction.

  The driving of the actuator 100 is controlled by an electronic control unit (hereinafter referred to as ECU) 60 as shown in FIG. The ECU 60 is mainly configured of a digital computer, and includes a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, various driver circuits, an input port, an output port, and the like connected to each other via a bidirectional bus. Then, signals such as an accelerator pedal operation amount, an engine speed, an intake air amount, an engine coolant temperature, an air-fuel ratio, a reference crank angle, and the like are input to the input port of the ECU 60.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the ECU 60 causes the actuator 100 to detect the axial movement position of the control shaft 76, that is, the shaft position signal representing the actual stroke amount from the shaft position sensor 63 for detecting the axial movement position of the control shaft 21. Is entered.

  The output port of the ECU 60 is connected to each fuel injection valve via a drive circuit, and the ECU 60 performs valve opening control of each fuel injection valve in accordance with the operating state of the engine 1 to control fuel injection timing and fuel injection amount. Control is being executed. In addition, various controls such as ignition timing control are executed.

  Further, the ECU 60 outputs a drive signal representing a control amount set according to the operating state of the engine 1 to the actuator 100, whereby the axial direction position of the control shaft 21 is adjusted by the actuator 100. Specifically, the ECU 60 calculates the target of the control shaft 21 in which the actual stroke amount of the control shaft 21 detected by the shaft position sensor 63 is calculated based on the operating state of the engine 1 such as the operation amount of the accelerator pedal and the engine speed. Based on the deviation between the actual stroke amount and the target stroke amount so as to coincide with the stroke amount, feedback control calculation of a control amount for the actuator 100 such as a current amount and a voltage value is executed. Then, the intake air amount is adjusted by adjusting the rotation direction and the rotation amount of the motor 71 by the control amount (drive signal) calculated in this way. In this feedback control calculation, PID control and PI control are executed.

  Here, in the actuator control device as described above, it is difficult to optimally maintain the operation state of the internal combustion engine if the arrival of the desired valve characteristic according to the operation state of the internal combustion engine is delayed. Therefore, it is necessary to quickly reach a desired valve characteristic.

  Further, in the actuator, when a foreign matter is caught in the planetary gear mechanism 75 or the like that is a part of the actuator, the internal combustion engine is controlled to a specific driving state of a specific valve characteristic. An abnormality such as a decrease in response speed may occur. When such an abnormality occurs, in the conventional actuator, there is a possibility that the target response speed decreases every time the actuator is controlled to the specific control state.

  Therefore, the ECU 60 of the actuator 100 according to the present embodiment has an abnormal area avoiding means for avoiding the abnormal area in which the abnormality as described above occurs. This abnormal area avoiding means will be described below.

  FIG. 4 shows a procedure of an abnormal area storing process as one of the processes executed by the abnormal area avoiding means. Note that this processing is periodically executed by the ECU 60 while the control shaft 21 is being driven.

  As shown in FIG. 4, when the abnormal area storing process is started, the ECU 60 first determines whether or not the amount of change in the target stroke amount of the control shaft 21 per unit time is equal to or less than a predetermined value in step S110. To do. If the change amount of the target stroke amount is equal to or smaller than the predetermined value (step S110: YES), the process proceeds to step S120. Otherwise (step S110: NO), the process is temporarily terminated as it is. The predetermined value is a value set to determine whether or not the amount of change in the target stroke amount per unit time is a relatively small amount of change suitable for determining an abnormal region. This is a calculated value.

  Subsequently, the ECU 60 reads the control amount in step S120. In step S130, the ECU 60 determines whether or not the read control amount is larger than a predetermined determination value. If it is determined that the control amount is larger than the determination value (step S130: YES), the process proceeds to step S140, and the stroke amount of the control shaft 21 at that time is stored as an abnormal region. On the other hand, when it is determined that the control amount is equal to or smaller than the determination value (step S130: NO), the present process is once terminated. By repeating the above processing, an abnormal region when driving the control shaft 21, that is, an abnormal region when changing the characteristics of the intake valve drive mechanism 40 is stored. Here, in the present embodiment, the control amount is set according to the deviation between the actual stroke amount of the control shaft 21 and the target stroke amount. The amount will be larger than the normally set value. For these reasons, the determination value is set in advance based on experiments or the like so that it can be determined that an abnormality has occurred in the actuator 100 when the control amount exceeds the determination value. Further, since the magnitude of the control amount also changes depending on the target stroke amount, the determination value is set according to the target stroke amount of the control shaft 21.

  Next, the procedure of an abnormal area avoidance process, which is another process executed by the abnormal area avoidance means, will be described with reference to FIG. Note that, similarly to the above-described abnormal area storage process, the abnormal area avoidance process is also periodically executed by the ECU 60 when the control shaft 21 is being driven.

  As shown in FIG. 5, when the abnormal region avoidance process is started, the ECU 60 first determines whether or not the target stroke amount of the control shaft 21 is held in the abnormal region for a predetermined time in step S210. . If it is determined that it is held (step S210: YES), this process proceeds to step S220. If it is determined that it is not held (step S210: NO), this process is once terminated.

  Subsequently, in step S220, the ECU 60 is in the same abnormal region as the stroke amount of the control shaft 21 stored by the abnormal region storage process, and has the maximum abnormal stroke amount and the minimum value which are the maximum values. It is determined whether a stroke amount intermediate between the minimum abnormal stroke amount is equal to or greater than the target stroke amount. Here, when the ECU 60 determines that the intermediate stroke amount is equal to or larger than the target stroke amount (step S220: YES), the process proceeds to step S230, and a value smaller than the minimum abnormal stroke amount is set as a temporary target stroke amount. Set as. On the other hand, when the ECU 60 determines that the intermediate stroke amount is less than the target stroke amount (step S220: NO), the process proceeds to step S240, and a value larger than the maximum abnormal stroke amount is set as a temporary target stroke amount. Set as. That is, in step S230 and step S240, since the stroke amount outside the abnormal region is set as the temporary target stroke amount, the smaller change amount of the target stroke amount from before the change to after the change is adopted. Yes. In this way, after finishing the process of either step S230 or step S240, this process is once complete | finished. It is assumed that the temporary target stroke amount after the change is in the vicinity of the abnormal region, and even if the temporary target stroke amount after the change is set, it is a value that can suppress the influence on the driving of the actuator 100. In addition to the temporary target stroke amount, the target stroke amount is set based on the operating state of the engine 1.

  FIG. 6 is a timing chart showing an example of transition of the actual stroke amount and the target stroke amount of the control shaft 21 when the above-described abnormal region avoidance process is executed while the control shaft 21 is being driven.

  As shown in FIG. 6, when the target stroke amount of the control shaft 21 increases, the actual stroke amount also increases accordingly. When the target stroke amount reaches the abnormal region and the target stroke amount starts to be held in the abnormal region from time t1, the predetermined time starts counting. At a time t2, when a predetermined time has elapsed since the target stroke amount starts to be held in the abnormal region, the maximum abnormal stroke amount within the same abnormal region of the stroke amount of the control shaft 21 stored by the abnormal region storage process is obtained. It is determined that the intermediate stroke amount with respect to the minimum abnormal stroke amount is equal to or larger than the target stroke amount, and a value smaller than the minimum abnormal stroke amount is set as the temporary target stroke amount. By changing the target stroke amount to the temporary target stroke amount in this way, it is possible to avoid the actual stroke amount being held in the abnormal region. Note that the target stroke amount is maintained based on the operating state of the engine 1. At time t5, when the holding of the target stroke amount is released and the target stroke amount decreases, the temporary target stroke amount is changed to the target stroke amount. Accordingly, the actual stroke amount approaches the target stroke amount and coincides with the target stroke amount at time t6.

  In the case where the abnormal area avoidance process indicated by the broken line in FIG. 6 is not performed, when the actual stroke amount reaches the abnormal area at time t4, the increase speed of the actual stroke amount decreases, and the speed approaching the target stroke amount decreases. To do. At time t5, when the retention of the target stroke amount is released and the target stroke amount decreases, the actual stroke amount also decreases. However, since the change is within the abnormal region, the change rate of the actual stroke amount is in a reduced state. That is, the response speed when the change is started from the state in which the characteristics of the intake valve drive mechanism 40 are maintained is reduced.

According to the embodiment described above, the following effects can be obtained.
(1) Since the drive region of the control shaft 21 whose control amount exceeds the determination value during the drive of the control shaft 21 is stored as an abnormal region, the abnormal region can be accurately detected. In order to prohibit holding the control shaft 21 in the stored abnormal region, the intake valve drive when starting the change from the state where the control shaft 21 is held, that is, the state where the characteristics of the intake valve drive mechanism 40 are held. A decrease in the response speed of the mechanism 40 can be prevented in advance.

  (2) Since the target position is changed to a position outside the abnormal region in the vicinity of the abnormal region when the target stroke amount is included in the abnormal region by the abnormal region avoiding process, the control shaft 21 is brought into a state close to a desired position. In other words, the response speed of the intake valve drive mechanism 40 can be prevented from being lowered while the intake valve drive mechanism 40 is in a state close to desired characteristics.

(Second Embodiment)
The actuator control apparatus according to the present invention is applied to an intake valve drive mechanism including a variable valve mechanism that changes the maximum lift amount of an intake valve provided in a multi-cylinder (in this embodiment, in-line four-cylinder) internal combustion engine. The second embodiment will be described below with reference to FIGS. Note that the configuration of the intake valve drive mechanism 40, the actuator 100, and the ECU 60 that is the control device for the actuator 100 in this embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment shown in FIG.

  Here, the ECU 60 in the present embodiment includes an abnormal region transition means for transitioning an abnormal region that may cause an abnormality in the conventional actuator control device as described above. This abnormal region transition means will be described below.

  FIG. 7 shows a procedure of an abnormal area transition process as one of the processes executed by the abnormal area transition means. Note that this processing is periodically executed by the ECU 60 while the control shaft 21 is being driven.

  As shown in FIG. 7, when the abnormal region transition process is started, the ECU 60 first determines whether or not the target stroke amount is within the abnormal region in step S310. This abnormal area is assumed to be an abnormal area stored in the abnormal area storing process in the first embodiment shown in FIG. That is, the abnormal area transition means in the present embodiment executes an abnormal area storage process and an abnormal area transition process.

  If the target stroke amount is within the abnormal region (step S310: YES), the process proceeds to step S320, and the control amount is increased. Specifically, when a part of the abnormal region is included between the actual stroke and the target stroke of the control shaft 21, that is, a part of the abnormal region between the actual characteristic and the target characteristic of the intake valve drive mechanism 40. The amount of control is increased when including. Then, after increasing the control amount in step S320, the present process is temporarily terminated as it is. On the other hand, if it is determined that the target stroke amount is outside the abnormal region (step S310: NO), this process is temporarily terminated.

  FIG. 8 is a timing chart showing an example of the transition of the actual stroke amount, the target stroke amount, and the control amount of the control shaft 21 when the abnormal region transition process described above is executed while the control shaft 21 is being driven.

  As shown in the upper part of FIG. 8, when the target stroke amount of the control shaft 21 increases, the actual stroke amount also increases accordingly. Then, when the target stroke amount reaches the abnormal region at time t1, the control amount starts to increase in the presence of this processing, as indicated by the solid line in the lower part of FIG. That is, when the actual stroke amount reaches the abnormal region at time t2 when the actual stroke amount reaches the abnormal region, the actual stroke with this process is more effective than the case without this process. The amount is approaching the target stroke. Here, compared with the case without this processing, the change amount of the actual stroke amount with the main processing increases from time t1 to time t2, so that the drive speed of the control shaft 21 also increases.

  From time t2 to time t3, based on the transition of the actual stroke amount when the abnormality indicated by the one-dot chain line in FIG. 8 does not occur, the actual stroke amount without this processing is the actuator at time t2. Since an abnormality occurs in 100 and the increase stagnates and the difference from the target stroke amount widens, a response delay of the intake valve drive mechanism 40 occurs until it catches up with the actual stroke amount when no abnormality occurs at time t3. Become. On the other hand, the actual stroke amount with the present process indicated by the solid line in FIG. 3 leaves the abnormal region at time t3 without greatly deviating from the actual stroke amount when no abnormality occurs. It becomes.

  Regarding the transition of the control amount shown in the lower part of FIG. 8, the control amount suddenly increases or decreases from time t2 to time t3 when this processing is not performed. On the other hand, after execution of this process, the control amount starts to increase from time t1 as described above, and gradually increases or decreases from time t1 to time t3.

According to the present embodiment described above, the following effects (3) and (4) can be obtained instead of (1) and (2) of the first embodiment.
(3) Since the drive region of the control shaft 21 whose control amount exceeds the determination value during the drive of the control shaft 21 is stored as the abnormal region, the abnormal region can be accurately detected. In order to increase the control amount before the actual stroke amount of the control shaft 21 transitions in the stored abnormal region, that is, before the characteristics of the intake valve drive mechanism 40 transition in the stored abnormal region, the control shaft 21 It is possible to prevent a decrease in the response speed of the intake valve drive mechanism 40 when the actual stroke amount transits the abnormal region.

  (4) When a part of the abnormal region is included between the actual stroke amount and the target stroke amount of the control shaft 21, that is, a part of the abnormal region is included between the actual characteristic and the target characteristic of the intake valve drive mechanism 40. In order to increase the control amount when it is included, the drive speed of the control shaft 21 (variable valve mechanism 20) can be increased in advance before transitioning to the abnormal region.

In addition, the said embodiment can also be implemented with the following forms which changed this suitably.
In the first embodiment, the stroke amount of the control shaft 21 is stored as an abnormal region, but the valve lift amount of the intake valve 10 may be stored as an abnormal region. Specifically, the differences between the intake valve drive mechanism, the actuator, and the actuator control device in the present embodiment from the first and second embodiments are as follows. First, the ECU 60 in the first and second embodiments receives a shaft position signal representing the actual stroke amount from the shaft position sensor 63 for detecting the axial movement position of the control shaft 21 in the actuator 100. In this embodiment, the ECU receives a lift amount signal representing the actual lift amount from a lift amount sensor for detecting the lift amount of the intake valve. In addition, the ECU according to the present embodiment provides a target of the intake valve in which the actual lift amount of the intake valve detected by the lift amount sensor is calculated based on the operating state of the engine 1 such as the operation amount of the accelerator pedal and the engine speed. Based on the deviation between the actual lift amount and the target lift amount so as to match the lift amount, feedback control calculation of the control amount for the actuator such as the current amount and the voltage value is executed. Then, the intake air amount is adjusted by adjusting the rotation direction and the rotation amount of the motor according to the control amount (drive signal) thus calculated. Except for the above differences, the configuration of the intake valve drive mechanism, the actuator, and the ECU of the actuator in this embodiment is the same as that in the first and second embodiments shown in FIG. In the actuator control device according to the present embodiment having such a configuration, the lift amount region of the intake valve in which the control amount exceeds the determination value during the control of the actuator is stored as an abnormal region. FIG. 9 shows the transition of the valve lift when the abnormal area avoiding process corresponding to the abnormal area avoiding means is executed. According to this embodiment, the following effects can be obtained in place of (1) and (2) of the first embodiment.

  (1 ′) In order to control the valve lift amount to the lift amount that causes the abnormality when an abnormality occurs in the actuator that is feedback-controlled by the control amount set according to the deviation between the actual valve lift amount and the target valve lift amount. The control amount required for is larger than the control amount that is normally set. Therefore, according to the above aspect, since the region of the lift amount of the intake valve in which the control amount exceeds the determination value during the control of the actuator is stored as the abnormal region, the abnormal region can be accurately detected. And since it is prohibited to hold | maintain valve lift amount in the memorize | stored abnormal area | region, the fall of the response speed at the time of starting a change from the state which hold | maintained valve lift amount can be prevented beforehand.

  (2 ′) The target valve lift amount is changed to a characteristic outside the abnormal region in the vicinity of the abnormal region when the target valve lift amount is included in the abnormal region by the abnormal region avoiding process. It is possible to prevent a decrease in the response speed of the intake valve while maintaining a state close to the amount.

  In the second embodiment, the valve lift amount of the intake valve 10 may be stored as an abnormal region. The specific configuration is the same as the above embodiment. FIG. 10 shows the transition of the valve lift amount and the control amount when the abnormal region transition process corresponding to the abnormal region transition means is executed. According to this embodiment, the following effects can be obtained in place of (3) and (4) of the second embodiment.

  (3 ′) Since the region of the lift amount of the intake valve in which the control amount exceeds the determination value during the control of the actuator is stored as the abnormal region, the abnormal region can be accurately detected. Since the control amount is increased before the valve lift amount transitions in the stored abnormal region, it is possible to prevent a decrease in response speed when the valve lift amount transitions in the abnormal region.

  (4 ′) In order to increase the control amount when a part of the abnormal region is included between the actual lift amount and the target lift amount of the intake valve, the drive speed of the intake valve is increased in advance before transitioning to the abnormal region. be able to.

  -If the control amount exceeds the judgment value, the drive region of the control member of the actuator other than the control shaft and the characteristic region other than the valve lift amount of the intake valve drive mechanism should be stored as an abnormal region. The same effects as those of the first and second embodiments can be obtained.

  In the first embodiment, when the target stroke amount is held for a predetermined time in the abnormal region, the target stroke amount is changed outside the abnormal region. However, the target stroke amount is not held for a predetermined time. When the target stroke amount reaches the abnormal region, it may be changed outside the abnormal region.

  In the second embodiment, the control amount is increased when the target stroke amount of the control shaft 21 reaches the abnormal region, but the target stroke is gradually changed. If the change in the target stroke amount is such that the amount can be expected to reach the abnormal region, the target stroke amount must be within the above-mentioned abnormal region between the actual stroke amount and the target stroke amount. The control amount may be increased before reaching the area.

  In the first and second embodiments, the case where the present invention is applied to the intake valve drive mechanism 40 as a variable drive mechanism has been described. However, the present invention can also be applied to an exhaust valve drive mechanism. Furthermore, the present invention can be applied to other than a valve driving mechanism as long as the characteristics are controlled by an actuator.

  -In the said 1st and 2nd embodiment, although the case where this invention was employ | adopted as the 4-cylinder engine was demonstrated, the number of cylinders may be 1-3, and 5 or more may be sufficient as it. Also, the arrangement of the cylinders may be in series as in the first and second embodiments, or may be V-type or other arrangements.

1 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a configuration of an intake valve drive mechanism of an engine to which the actuator control device according to the present invention is embodied in the first embodiment. FIG. The top view which shows the upper structure of the engine of FIG. The fragmentary sectional view which shows the structure of the actuator concerning the embodiment. 7 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure for abnormal area storage processing according to the embodiment; 7 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure for abnormal area avoidance processing according to the embodiment; The timing chart which shows transition of the actual stroke amount and target stroke amount of a control shaft by execution of the abnormal area | region avoidance process concerning the embodiment. The flowchart which shows the process sequence of the abnormal area | region transition process concerning 2nd Embodiment. The timing chart which shows transition of the actual stroke amount of a control shaft, target stroke amount, and control amount by execution of the abnormal area | region transition process concerning the embodiment. The timing chart which shows transition of the actual valve lift amount and target valve lift amount of an intake valve about the modification of the abnormal area | region avoidance process concerning this invention. The timing chart which shows transition of the actual valve lift amount of an intake valve, the target valve lift amount, and the control amount about the modification of the abnormal area | region transition process concerning this invention.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Engine, 2 ... Cylinder head, 5 ... Intake cam shaft, 6 ... Intake cam, 7 ... Exhaust cam shaft, 8 ... Exhaust cam, 10 ... Intake valve, 10a, 15a ... Retainer, 11, 16 ... Valve spring , 12, 18 ... Rocker arm, 12a, 18a, 23b ... Roller, 13, 17 ... Rush adjuster, 14 ... Spring, 15 ... Exhaust valve, 20 ... Variable valve mechanism, 21 ... Control shaft, 22 ... Support pipe, 23 ... Input part 24 ... Output part 40 ... Intake valve drive mechanism 45 ... Exhaust valve drive mechanism 60 ... ECU (electronic control unit) 63 ... Shaft position sensor 71 ... Motor 72 ... Stator 73 ... Rotor 74 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS ... Housing, 75 ... Planetary gear mechanism, 76 ... Control shaft, 77 ... Planetary gear, 78 ... Internal gear, 100 ... Actuator.

Claims (10)

In the actuator control device that feedback-controls the actuator so that the actual characteristic matches the target characteristic by the control amount that is set according to the deviation between the actual characteristic and the target characteristic.
Abnormal area avoidance in which the characteristic area of the variable drive mechanism in which the control amount exceeds the determination value during the control of the actuator is stored as an abnormal area, and it is prohibited to retain the characteristics of the variable drive mechanism in the stored abnormal area Means for Controlling the Actuator The control member is driven so that the actual position of the control member matches the target position by setting a control amount in accordance with the deviation between the actual position of the control member that controls the characteristics of the variable drive mechanism and the target position. In the actuator control device for feedback control of the actuator to be
An abnormal area avoiding unit that stores a drive area of the control member in which the control amount exceeds a determination value during driving of the control member as an abnormal area and prohibits the control member from being held in the stored abnormal area. The actuator control apparatus characterized by the above-mentioned. The actuator control device according to claim 1,
The abnormal region avoiding means changes the target characteristic to a characteristic outside the abnormal region in the vicinity of the abnormal region when the target characteristic is included in the abnormal region. In the actuator control apparatus according to claim 3,
The abnormal region avoiding means changes the target characteristic to a characteristic outside the abnormal region in the vicinity of the abnormal region when the target characteristic is held in the abnormal region. In the actuator control device according to claim 2,
The abnormal region avoiding means changes the target position to a position outside the abnormal region in the vicinity of the abnormal region when the target position is included in the abnormal region. In the actuator control apparatus according to claim 5,
The abnormal region avoiding means changes the target position to a position outside the abnormal region in the vicinity of the abnormal region when the target position is held in the abnormal region. In the actuator control device that feedback-controls the actuator so that the actual characteristic matches the target characteristic by the control amount that is set according to the deviation between the actual characteristic and the target characteristic.
During the control of the actuator, the characteristic region of the variable drive mechanism in which the control amount exceeds the judgment value is stored as an abnormal region, and the control amount is increased before the characteristic of the variable drive mechanism changes in the stored abnormal region An actuator control device characterized by comprising an abnormal region transition means. Actuator control that feedback-controls the actuator so that the actual position matches the target position by a control amount that is set according to the deviation between the actual position and the target position of the control member that controls the characteristics of the variable drive mechanism In the device
The drive region of the control member in which the control amount exceeds a determination value during driving of the control member is stored as an abnormal region, and the control amount is increased before the position of the control member transitions in the stored abnormal region. An actuator control device comprising an abnormal region transition means. In the actuator control apparatus according to claim 7,
The abnormal region transition means increases the control amount when a part of the abnormal region is included between an actual characteristic and a target characteristic of the variable drive mechanism. The actuator control device according to claim 8,
The abnormal region transition means increases the control amount when a part of the abnormal region is included between an actual position and a target position of the control member.

Images