JP2010023554A - Brake system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To configure a brake system allowing a driver to certainly recognize a state in which traffic lights changes from a red signal to a green signal and an immediately preceding vehicle starts. <P>SOLUTION: It is discriminated that a signal light of the traffic lights changes to "green", from image information shot by a front camera 12; a stopping discriminating means 22 discriminates that a vehicle is in a stopping state; and an operation reaction force setting means 25 is provided, which controls a valve and a pump of a brake control unit 40 to return the brake fluid of the brake control unit 40 to a master cylinder 32 and improving the operation reaction force of a brake pedal 8, when it is discriminated that the distance from the immediately preceding vehicle is expanded, according to the signal from a distance sensor 13. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a brake system, and more particularly to a technique for transmitting information to a driver via a brake pedal.

  Although it is a little different from the above-described brake system, there is a technique described in Patent Document 1 that transmits information to the driver via an accelerator pedal instead of a brake pedal.

  In this patent document 1, when the inter-vehicle distance detected by the inter-vehicle distance detection means 13 becomes a predetermined value or less, the operation amount of the accelerator pedal 3 is large and the operation speed of the accelerator pedal 3 is faster. The main control unit 11 controls the operation reaction force variable setting means 9 to increase the operation reaction force of the accelerator pedal 3 (actuate in the direction in which the pedal is returned) to alert the driver.

  Further, as described above, it is not intended to transmit information to the driver via the brake pedal, but there is a technique described in Patent Document 2 that can change the reaction force when the brake pedal is operated. To do.

  In this patent document 2, an imaging device 11 that images the front of the host vehicle, a radar device 12 that measures an inter-vehicle distance from a preceding vehicle, and an automatic travel control controller 20 are provided. The brake pedal reaction force adjusting device includes a brake fluid pressure control device 8 that adjusts the reaction force of the brake pedal 21 by adjusting the output pressure of the master cylinder.

  With this configuration, when an obstacle is detected in front of the vehicle by the imaging device 11 or the radar device 12, automatic deceleration is performed, and when it is determined that the brake pedal is depressed during the automatic deceleration. The automatic travel control controller 20 sets the target automatic deceleration to the reference deceleration and controls the brake fluid pressure control device 8 to set the brake pedal reaction force-stroke characteristic.

  This characteristic is that the greater the vehicle deceleration immediately after the brake pedal is depressed or just before the switch from automatic braking to manual braking (depressing the brake pedal), the larger the target brake for the same brake pedal stroke S. The pedal reaction force is set. In other words, during emergency braking, when the driver depresses the brake pedal large and quickly, the target brake pedal reaction force is set large according to the amount of deceleration of the vehicle just before the switch, and the brake pedal depressing feeling is set. Makes it hard and uncomfortable.

JP 10-166889 A (paragraph number [0011-0033], FIGS. 1 to 4) JP 2001-347936 A (paragraph number [0016-0047], FIGS. 1 to 6)

  Considering the situation where a traffic light stops at a red light at an intersection or the like, when the traffic light switches from a red light to a green light, it is ideal to start the vehicle promptly in response to this switching.

  In particular, it is desirable to follow the start of the immediately preceding vehicle and start as little as possible on a road where traffic congestion is likely to occur. However, even if the driver is checking the road map, checking the meters on the panel, etc., even if the traffic light switches from a red signal to a green signal and the vehicle just before starting, this situation It may be late to notice.

  In such a situation, the driver of the vehicle behind is uncomfortable, and the vehicle is unnecessarily suddenly started to be improved.

  An object of the present invention is to rationally configure a brake system that allows a driver to reliably recognize this situation when the traffic light is switched from a red signal to a green signal.

  The features of the present invention are vehicle speed measuring means for measuring the vehicle speed of the host vehicle, traffic signal information acquiring means for acquiring information on a traffic signal installed on the road, and an operation reaction force for adjusting an operation reaction force of a brake pedal of the host vehicle. The operation reaction force setting means determines that the vehicle is in a stopped state from the measurement result of the vehicle speed measurement means, and the traffic signal information acquired by the traffic signal information acquisition means permits traveling. If this is determined, the operation reaction force is changed.

  When the signal light of the traffic light stops in a “red” state, the driver usually waits for the signal light to switch to “blue” with the brake pedal depressed. Further, when the driver does not start in a situation where the signal light of the traffic light is switched to a green light in a stationary state, this situation is determined based on the traffic light information acquisition means, and the operation reaction force setting means is connected to the brake pedal. Change the reaction force. As a result, the reaction force acting on the driver's foot from the brake pedal changes, and the driver can be made aware that it is necessary to start. Therefore, when the traffic light is switched from a red signal to a green signal, a brake system has been constructed that promptly recognizes the situation and prompts the driver to promote a reasonable start.

  The present invention comprises distance measuring means for measuring the distance to the preceding vehicle at the immediately preceding position when the vehicle is stopped, and the operation reaction force setting means determines that the vehicle is stopped from the measurement result of the vehicle speed measuring means, When it is determined that the information on the traffic light acquired by the traffic signal information acquisition means permits traveling, and the increase in the distance measured by the distance measurement means is determined, the operation reaction force may be changed. According to this, when the driver does not start the vehicle in the situation where the vehicle in front of the immediately preceding position has started, this situation is determined based on the traffic signal information acquisition means and the distance measurement means, and the operation reaction force The setting means changes the operation reaction force of the brake pedal.

  The present invention includes a braking system in which the pedaling force of the brake pedal is transmitted to the wheel brake device via the brake fluid, and adjusts the pressure of the brake fluid transmitted to the brake device based on the rotation state of the wheel, and brakes the brake pedal. While providing the brake control unit which changes the pressure which acts from a liquid, the said operation reaction force setting means may increase the pressure from the fluid which acts on a brake pedal by controlling the said brake control unit. According to this configuration, for example, a solenoid valve provided in a brake control unit made of ABS (abbreviation of Antilock Brake System) is controlled, and a solenoid valve for setting a reaction force is newly provided and controlled. Such an improvement makes it possible to change the reaction force of the brake pedal while effectively utilizing the existing system.

  The present invention may include a pedal operation mechanism that operates the brake pedal in a return direction opposite to the depression direction, and the operation reaction force setting unit may operate the brake pedal in a return direction by the pedal operation mechanism. According to this configuration, it is possible to change the operation reaction force by operating the pedal in the direction opposite to the depression direction without changing the braking force.

  According to the present invention, the traffic signal information acquisition unit includes a camera that acquires an image of the traffic signal, and a traffic signal information determination unit that identifies a position of the signal lamp in the traffic signal image and determines a hue of the signal lamp at the position. good. According to this configuration, it is possible to grasp the signal status of the traffic light using the camera.

  The present invention may further include a voice notification unit that outputs a voice prompting the vehicle body to move forward by voice in conjunction with the change of the manipulation reaction force by the manipulation reaction force setting unit. According to this configuration, it is possible to grasp that it is necessary to start not only by changing the reaction force of the brake pedal but also by voice, so that there is no error in recognition.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
[First Embodiment-Overall Configuration]
As shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, a driver's seat 3 and a steering wheel 4 are provided in a room of a vehicle body B having left and right front wheels 1L and 1R and left and right rear wheels 2L and 2R. A passenger car as an example of a vehicle is configured by disposing a panel 5 having meters and disposing a shift lever 6 for shifting on the side of the driver seat 3.

  The front part of the vehicle body B is driven by the engine E, a speed change mechanism T composed of a torque converter, CVT, etc. for shifting the power from the engine E and transmitting it to the front wheels 1L, 1R, and the rotational operation force of the steering wheel 4. A power steering unit PS that transmits to the front wheels 1L and 1R as steering force is disposed.

  The front wheels 1L and 1R and the rear wheels 2L and 2R are each provided with a disc brake type brake device BK that applies a braking force to each axle. As shown in FIG. 5, the brake device BK includes a brake disc BKd that rotates integrally with the axle, and a brake piston BKp that operates with the pressure of the brake fluid, and by applying the brake fluid pressure to the brake piston BKp. The brake piston BKp is operated, and the brake disc BKd is sandwiched between the pair of brake pads so that the braking force is applied.

  At the front foot position of the driver's seat 3, an accelerator pedal 7 for controlling the traveling speed and a brake device BK of the front wheels 1L, 1R and the rear wheels 2L, 2R are operated to operate the front wheels 1L, 1R, the rear wheels 2L, A brake pedal 8 that applies a braking force to 2R is arranged in parallel.

  A windshield 9 is provided in front of the driver seat 3, and a monitor 10 for displaying GPS navigation information is provided at an upper position of the console near the driver seat 3. A speaker 11 is provided on the case of the monitor 10. I have.

  Although not shown in the drawings, the vehicle body B has a GPS receiver that receives signals from a plurality of GPS satellites (GPS is an abbreviation for Global Positioning System), an orientation sensor that acquires information on the traveling direction of the vehicle body B, and the like. It has. And based on the information from these, the present position of the vehicle body and the traveling direction of the vehicle body B are acquired, map information corresponding to this position is displayed on the monitor 10, and the current position of the vehicle body and the vehicle body travel. A navigation controller for displaying a route to be displayed on a map is provided.

  The room is provided with a front camera 12 as signal information acquisition means for photographing the front of the vehicle body through the windshield 9. The front camera 12 has a built-in CCD type image pickup device that captures color image information corresponding to the three primary colors of R, G, and B, and image information exceeding several frames per second is acquired by this image pickup device.

  The front camera 12 gives the acquired image information to a control unit 20 described later. In the control unit 20, the traffic signal information discriminating means 24 (see FIG. 6) performs image processing, thereby extracting an image of the traffic signal from the image information, specifying an area where the signal lamp exists from the image information, and luminance in the area. Based on the value, a process of determining the hue of the signal lamp that is lit is performed.

  An ultrasonic distance sensor 13 is provided at the front end of the vehicle body B as distance measuring means for measuring the distance to the preceding vehicle at the immediately preceding position. This distance sensor 13 has an ultrasonic transmitter and receiver, and measures the distance from the time it takes to detect a reflected wave from the timing of ultrasonic transmission, but it uses radio waves such as microwaves. It is also possible to optically measure the distance using an infrared laser or the like.

  A brake sensor 15 that detects the presence or absence of a brake operation is provided in the vicinity of the operation system of the brake pedal 8. Further, rotation amount sensors 16L and 16R that electrically measure the rotation of the wheels are disposed in the vicinity of the left and right front wheels 1L and 1R, and the rotation of the wheels is electrically performed in the vicinity of the left and right rear wheels 2L and 2R. The rotation amount sensors 17L and 17R to be measured are arranged.

  The brake sensor 15 may have a simple structure that outputs an ON signal when the brake pedal 8 is depressed, and the rotation amount sensors 16L, 16R, 17L, and 17R include a photo interrupter type that measures the rotation amount of the axle, A pickup type sensor can be used.

  A control unit 20 that performs traveling control is disposed at the center of the vehicle body B. The control unit 20 is assumed to be used also as an ECU that realizes control of the brake device BK, but may include a dedicated control device. A control mode by the control unit 20 will be described later.

  In this passenger car, as shown in FIG. 5, the stepping force (stepping force) of the brake pedal 8 is increased by the booster 31 and transmitted to the tandem master cylinder 32, and the brake fluid pressure from the master cylinder 32 is transmitted to the brake control unit. A braking system is provided from 40 to the brake device BK.

  The master cylinder 32 sends brake fluid pressurized through the fluid path 33F from the one pressurizing chamber 32a to the front wheels 1L and 1R in response to the stepping operation, and at the same time from the other pressurizing chamber 32b. It has a structure for sending pressurized brake fluid to the rear wheels 2L, 2R via a fluid path 33R. Then, the pressure of the brake fluid from the fluid passages 33F and 33R is given to the brake device BK provided to each wheel via the brake control unit 40.

  The booster 31 has a function of increasing the pedaling force to act on the master cylinder 32 by applying an intake pressure of the engine E to an internal diaphragm (not shown) when the brake pedal 8 is depressed. The master cylinder 32 is arranged in a horizontal posture, and two pistons (not shown) are arranged in tandem on the coaxial core, and pressure is applied to the brake fluid from the pressurizing chambers 32a and 32b corresponding to the respective pistons. Act. A reservoir tank 34 for replenishing brake fluid to the master cylinder 32 is disposed above the master cylinder 32.

[Brake control unit]
The brake control unit 40 controls the pressure of the brake fluid supplied via the fluid passage 33F and applies it to the front wheels 1L and 1R, and the pressure of the brake fluid supplied via the fluid passage 33R. And a hydraulic pressure control unit 40R for applying to the rear wheels 2L and 2R.

  The hydraulic pressure control unit 40F corresponding to the front wheels 1L and 1R and the hydraulic pressure control unit 40R corresponding to the rear wheels 2L and 2R have substantially the same configuration and the same operation mode. The configuration and operation mode of the hydraulic pressure control unit 40F corresponding to 1L and 1R will be described.

  The hydraulic pressure control unit 40F includes a first diversion liquid path 41a and a second diversion liquid path 41b that apply the hydraulic pressure from the main liquid path 41 communicating with the liquid path 33F to the brake devices BK of the front wheels 1L and 1R. Has been. Check that the normally open type inlet valve 42 is interposed in the first diversion liquid passage 41a and the second diversion liquid passage 41b, and the hydraulic pressure is released from the brake device BK in the direction of the main liquid passage 41 in parallel to this. A valve 43 is provided.

  Further, a branch liquid path 41c that branches from a portion on the brake device BK side from the inlet valve 42 is formed in the first branch liquid path 41a and the second branch liquid path 41b, and a normally closed outlet is provided in the branch liquid path 41c. A valve 44 is interposed.

  The inlet valve 42 is configured as an electromagnetically operated two-position switching valve that is in a communication state when not energized and is in a cutoff state when energized. The outlet valve 44 is configured as an electromagnetically operated two-position switching valve that is cut off when not energized and communicates when energized.

  In addition, a reservoir 45 that temporarily stores brake fluid is provided at a junction of branch fluid passages 41c from the two outlet valves 44, and a return fluid passage 46 that returns brake fluid from the reservoirs 45 to the main fluid passage 41 is provided. ing.

  Furthermore, a pump P driven by the electric motor M so as to suck the brake fluid from the junction of the branch fluid passage 41c from which the brake fluid is sent out from the two outlet valves 44 and return it to the main fluid passage 41, and a brake fluid pump A supply liquid passage 48 in which a check valve 47 for preventing back flow to the P side is interposed is provided.

[ABS control]
From such a configuration, in a normal state where ABS control does not function, the electromagnetic solenoids of the inlet valve 42 and the outlet valve 44 are in a non-energized state. In position.

  Therefore, when the brake pedal 8 is depressed, the brake fluid pressure from the master cylinder 32 is changed from the main fluid passage 41 to the left and right front wheels 1L and 1R, the brake piston BKp of the brake device BK, and the left and right rear wheels. By being directly transmitted to the brake piston BKp of the brake device BK of the wheels 2L and 2R, each brake device BK applies a braking force to the corresponding wheel.

  When braking force is applied to each wheel in this way, the ABS control means 21 (see FIG. 5) of the control unit 20 is used to prevent the left and right front wheels 1L and 1R and the left and right rear wheels 2L and 2R from being locked. 6) obtains the state of rotation of the wheel from the rotation amount sensors 16L, 16R, 17L, and 17R corresponding to the respective wheels, and the brake device BK corresponding to the wheel that is determined that the ABS control means 21 is in the locked state. By alternately reducing and increasing the pressure of the brake piston BKp in a short time, the wheel is allowed to rotate and released from the locked state.

  When pressure is reduced by this ABS control, the ABS control means 21 energizes the electromagnetic solenoid of the inlet valve 42 to operate to the shut-off position, and energizes the electromagnetic solenoid of the outlet valve 44 with a set duty ratio. As a result, the hydraulic pressure of the brake piston BKp of the brake device BK is reduced in proportion to the duty ratio, so that the pressure reduction is realized.

  In addition, when the pressure is increased, the electromagnetic fluid of the outlet valve 44 is not energized, and the electromagnetic fluid of the inlet valve 42 is energized with the set duty ratio, so that the brake fluid from the master cylinder 32 is supplied. As a result of the hydraulic pressure proportional to the duty ratio being applied to the brake piston BKp of the brake device BK, pressure increase is realized.

  It should be noted that the duty ratio is set so as to follow a preset tendency both when performing pressure reduction and when increasing pressure.

  Although the wheel lock is eliminated by reducing the pressure and increasing the pressure in this way, the brake fluid in the fluid passages 33F and 33R is reduced, leading to a phenomenon in which the brake pedal 8 is lowered. In order to eliminate this inconvenience, the brake motor in the reservoir 45 is supplied to the main fluid passage 41 by driving the electric motor M and operating the pump P during the ABS control, and the brake fluid is supplied from the main fluid passage 41 to the brake device BK. The brake fluid is reduced by sending it. Thus, the brake fluid is sent to the main fluid passage 41, so that the brake fluid is sent to the master cylinder 32 and the inconvenience that the brake pedal 8 is lowered is also eliminated.

  In the present invention, by using the brake control unit 40 for realizing this ABS control, the control reaction force of the brake pedal 8 is changed, and control for prompting the driver to start is realized.

(Control configuration)
As shown in FIG. 6, the control unit 20 includes a microprocessor that performs information processing, and the microprocessor is configured to execute a predetermined program. The control unit 20 may be an ECU for brake control.

  The control unit 20 acquires image information from the front camera 12 as a traffic signal information acquisition unit, acquires distance information from the distance sensor 13 as a distance measurement unit, acquires a signal from the brake sensor 15, and acquires a vehicle speed. An input signal system for acquiring rotation amount information from rotation amount sensors 16L and 16R and rotation amount sensors 17L and 17R as measuring means is provided. The control unit 20 includes an output signal system for the inlet valve 42 and the outlet valve 44 of the brake control unit 40.

  The control unit 20 includes software ABS control means 21, stoppage determination means 22, inter-vehicle distance determination means 23, traffic light information determination means 24, operation reaction force setting means 25, and voice notification means 26. I have. These are assumed to be configured by software, but some may be configured by hardware instead of software.

  The ABS control means 21 controls the inlet valve 42, the outlet valve 44, and the electric motor M of the brake control unit 40 based on the signals from the rotation amount sensors 16L, 16R, 17L, and 17R as described above. To release the wheel lock.

  The stop determination means 22 determines whether or not the vehicle body B is in a stopped state based on signals from the rotation amount sensors 16L, 16R, 17L, and 17R. The inter-vehicle distance discriminating means 23 measures the inter-vehicle distance from the preceding vehicle at the immediately preceding position based on the signal from the distance sensor 13. The traffic light information discriminating means 24 discriminates the hue of the signal lamp that is lit in the traffic light based on the image information from the front camera 12.

  The operation reaction force setting means 25 realizes increase / decrease in the operation reaction force acting on the brake pedal 8 by operating the inlet valve 42, the outlet valve 44, and the electric motor M of the brake control unit 40. The voice notification means 26 makes the driver recognize by voice that it is necessary to start.

(Operation reaction force control)
This control unit 20 executes control of an operation reaction force change routine shown in the flowchart of FIG. That is, when the vehicle speed is measured based on the rotation amount per unit time of the rotation amount sensors 16L, 16R, 17L, and 17R, and the stop determination unit 22 determines that the vehicle speed is “0” (stopped). In addition, based on the information from the distance sensor 13, the distance to the rear end of the preceding vehicle that has stopped just before is measured (steps # 101 to # 103).

  By executing this measurement, if it is determined that measurement is impossible, the process proceeds to auxiliary control, and if measurement is possible, the inter-vehicle distance is stored (steps # 104, # 200, and # 105).

  If the measurement is possible, the inter-vehicle distance determining means 23 determines the inter-vehicle distance and stores it in the memory of the control unit 20 as inter-vehicle distance information (step # 105).

  Next, by performing image processing on the image information acquired by the front camera 12, the traffic signal information discriminating means 24 extracts an image of the traffic signal from the image information, and identifies an area where the signal lamp is present in the signal image. . Furthermore, the process which discriminate | determines the hue of the signal lamp of a lighting state from the specified area | region is performed. If the signal information can be obtained by this process, if the hue of the lit signal lamp is “red” or “yellow”, the process for determining the signal information is executed again, When the hue of the signal light is other than “red” or “yellow” (when it is “blue”), the process proceeds to the next process (steps # 106 to # 108).

  As described above, when it is determined that the hue of the signal light on which the traffic light is lit is “blue”, the inter-vehicle distance determination means 23 determines that the vehicle (vehicle body B) is based on the information from the distance sensor 13. ) And the vehicle distance between the vehicle in front and the immediately preceding position, and the measured value is compared with the vehicle distance between the host vehicle (vehicle body B) already stored and the vehicle in front of the immediately preceding position. If it is determined by this comparison that the inter-vehicle distance has increased, the operation of the brake pedal 8 is maintained and the operation is performed only when it is determined that the vehicle speed is “0” (stopped). Reaction force increase control is executed (steps # 109 to # 113, # 300).

[Operation reaction force increase control]
This operation reaction force increase control (step # 300) is set as a subroutine, and the control is executed by the operation reaction force setting means 25. The control form is shown in the flowchart of FIG.

  In this control, the solenoid valve of the inlet valve 42 is energized to shut off the inlet valve 42, and the solenoid valve of the outlet valve 44 is energized to connect the outlet valve 44. At the same time, the voice notification means 26 outputs a voice message in human language from the speaker 11 so as to prompt the user to start the vehicle body B by supplying electric power to the electric motor M to activate the pump P. (Step # 301).

  By performing this process, since the brake fluid is returned from the pump P to the master cylinder 32, a force is generated in the direction in which the brake pedal 8 is lifted, and the driver feels that the operating reaction force of the brake pedal 8 increases. In addition, the driver can recognize that the start should be made by a voice message.

  In other words, when the signal light of the traffic light stops in a “red” state, the driver usually waits for the signal light to switch to “blue” with the brake pedal depressed. In addition, the traffic light information determining means 24 determines that the signal light of the traffic light has changed to a green signal in the stopped state, the inter-vehicle distance determining means 23 determines from the inter-vehicle distance that the preceding vehicle at the immediately preceding position has started, and the brake pedal 8 When it is determined from the signal from the brake sensor 15 and the stop determination means 22 that the vehicle has been depressed, the operation reaction force setting means 25 changes the operation reaction force of the brake pedal.

  As a result, the reaction force acting on the driver's foot from the brake pedal 8 changes, and the driver is made aware that it is necessary to start, and at the same time, the speaker 11 is in a situation to start by voice. The driver will recognize the message. Therefore, when the traffic light switches from a red signal to a green signal and the preceding vehicle starts, the situation can be surely and immediately recognized by the driver, and it is possible to promote a reasonable start. It becomes.

  In this control, the inlet valve 42 and the outlet valve 44 in one of the two hydraulic pressure control units 40F and 40R are controlled, or the inlet valves 42 of both the two hydraulic pressure control units 40F and 40R. It is conceivable that the outlet valve 44 is controlled.

  When one of the two hydraulic pressure control units 40F and 40R is controlled, it is possible to maintain the braking force of the two-wheel brake device BK, and both of the two hydraulic pressure control units 40F and 40R. When the control is performed, the operation reaction force of the brake pedal 8 can be strongly changed.

  After starting the operation of returning the brake fluid of the brake control unit 40 to the master cylinder 32 in this way, signals from the rotation amount sensors 16L, 16R, 17L, and 17R are acquired to determine the movement of the vehicle body B, and the brake sensor 15 signal is acquired to determine whether to release the brake operation, and these controls are continued until the set time has elapsed (steps # 302 and # 303).

  Thereafter, after the set time has elapsed, the energization of the electromagnetic solenoid of the inlet valve 42 is stopped, thereby making the inlet valve 42 communicated and the energization of the electromagnetic solenoid of the outlet valve 44 is stopped. The outlet valve 44 is shut off, and the power supply to the electric motor M is stopped (Step # 304).

  Thereby, the operation reaction force of the brake pedal 8 returns to the original state. Accordingly, when this control is started, the operation reaction force of the brake pedal 8 increases and then decreases.

  As a result of this check, when the driver releases the depression operation of the brake pedal 8, even before the set time has elapsed, the energization to the electromagnetic solenoid of the inlet valve 42 is stopped, whereby this inlet The valve 42 is communicated and the energization of the outlet valve 44 to the electromagnetic solenoid is stopped, whereby the outlet valve 44 is shut off and the power supply to the electric motor M is stopped (step # 304).

  In other words, the brake pedal 8 is controlled by the operation reaction force increase control (step # 300) only when the brake pedal 8 is kept depressed and the vehicle is not running even after the traffic light is switched to “blue”. The operation reaction force of the vehicle is changed to make the driver recognize that it is necessary to start.

[Auxiliary control]
As described above, if it is determined in step # 104 that measurement of the inter-vehicle distance is impossible, there is no vehicle immediately before the vehicle is stopped, so auxiliary control is performed as control corresponding to this (step # 200). Is done. This auxiliary control is set as a subroutine, and its control form is shown in the flowchart of FIG.

  In this auxiliary control, the image of the traffic light is extracted by performing image processing of the image information acquired by the front camera 12 in the same manner as the processing of steps # 106 to # 108 described above, and the signal lamp is extracted from the image of the traffic light. Identify areas that exist. Furthermore, the process which discriminate | determines the hue of the signal lamp of a lighting state from the specified area | region is performed. If the signal information can be obtained by this process, if the hue of the lit signal lamp is “red” or “yellow”, the process for determining the signal information is executed again, When the hue of the signal light is other than “red” or “yellow” (in the case of “blue”), the process proceeds to the next process (steps # 201 to # 203).

  Next, when it is determined that the hue of the signal light that is lit by the traffic light is “blue”, the depression operation of the brake pedal 8 is maintained and the vehicle speed is “0” (stopped). Only when it is determined that this is the case, the operation reaction force increase control is executed (steps # 204 to # 206, # 300). The control in step # 300 is performed in the same manner as described above.

  In this auxiliary control, when the signal light of the traffic light is switched to “blue” in the situation where there is no vehicle immediately before, the state where the brake pedal 8 is depressed and the vehicle is not running is operated. The control reaction force of the brake pedal 8 is changed by the increase control (# 300 step), and the driver is made aware that it is necessary to start, and at the same time, a message is sent from the speaker 11 that it should be started by voice. This makes the driver recognize.

[Second Embodiment-Overall Configuration]
In the second embodiment, the operation reaction force of the brake pedal 8 is applied to one that can be mechanically changed.

  In the second embodiment, the configuration of the control system is not fundamentally different from that shown in the first embodiment as shown in FIG. 10, and the output target of the control signal for setting the operation reaction force is The difference is that the swing operation mechanism 58 is used. Further, as the control mode of the second embodiment, control common to the operation reaction force change routine, auxiliary control routine, and operation reaction force increase control routine shown in the flowcharts of FIGS. 7 to 9 of the first embodiment is performed. .

  That is, as shown in FIG. 10, the arm 53 is swingably supported with respect to the shaft 51 via the sleeve 52, and the brake pedal 8 is provided at the swing end of the arm 53. Is connected to an operating rod 54 linked to the booster.

  An arm piece 55 is fixed to the sleeve 52, and a return spring 57 is provided between the arm piece 55 and the swing arm 56. The swing arm 56 is configured to swing by a swing operation mechanism 58 having an actuator such as an electric motor (not shown). The swing operation mechanism 58 constitutes the pedal operation mechanism of the present invention.

  With such a configuration, the traffic light information determining means 24 determines that the traffic light has been switched to a green light when the vehicle is stopped, and the inter-vehicle distance determining means 23 determines from the inter-vehicle distance that the preceding vehicle at the immediately preceding position has started. When it is determined from the signal from the brake sensor 15 and the stop determination means 22 that the brake pedal 8 is maintained in the depressed state, the operation reaction force setting means 25 is set to the swing operation mechanism 58 and the return spring 57 is set. Actuate in the direction of tensioning. As a result, the operation reaction force of the brake pedal 8 is increased, and at the same time, the brake pedal 8 operates in the return direction (lifting direction).

  As a result, the reaction force acting on the driver's foot from the brake pedal 8 changes, and the driver is made aware that it is necessary to start, and at the same time, the speaker 11 is in a situation to start by voice. The driver will recognize the message. Therefore, when the traffic light switches from a red signal to a green signal and the preceding vehicle starts, the situation can be surely and immediately recognized by the driver, and it is possible to promote a reasonable start. It becomes.

[Effect of the embodiment]
As described above, according to the present invention, in a situation where the traffic light is switched from the red signal to the green signal and the vehicle ahead immediately before starting, when the driver does not start, the control unit 20 performs the automatic control so that the brake pedal 8 The operation reaction force is increased in the direction of lifting the vehicle, and at the same time, by outputting a voice message that the speaker 11 is in a situation to start, the driver can be sure that the vehicle is in a situation to start, and It makes it possible to recognize it instantly and eliminate sudden sudden starts.

  In particular, the control unit 20 performs the automatic control to control the brake pedal 8 even when the driver does not start even in the situation where the vehicle ahead does not exist immediately before the traffic light switches from the red signal to the green signal. The operation reaction force is increased in the lifting direction, and at the same time, the same effect as that of outputting a voice message indicating that the speaker 11 is to start is obtained.

[Another embodiment]
The present invention may be configured as follows in addition to the embodiment described above.

(A) As described above, a brake-by-wire system may be used as a control target to realize the control for changing the operation reaction force using the brake fluid. In particular, in the case of changing the operation reaction force using brake fluid, not only the control system solenoid valve using brake fluid is controlled but also a new dedicated solenoid valve for returning brake fluid to the master cylinder is added. You may comprise so that it may do.

(B) As a control mode when changing the operation reaction force of the brake pedal, the control reaction force of the brake pedal is increased and then returned to the original operation reaction force periodically. The control mode may be set so as to make the driver feel that the reaction force of the brake pedal changes so as to pulsate and to make the driver recognize that it is necessary to start the vehicle body.

(C) In the case where the traffic signal transmits radio wave information corresponding to the signal, the state of the traffic signal is determined by receiving the radio wave information from the traffic signal. Thus, when determining the state of the traffic light based on the radio wave information, it is not necessary to perform image processing as in the case of using a camera, and the weight of the processing system can be reduced.

(D) When determining which one of the signal lights of a traffic light is lit at an intersection, it is necessary to first determine the position of the traffic light, and it may take a long time to process the position. For this reason, based on the information from the GPS receiver, for example, the traffic light area included in the camera image information is assumed from the position of the vehicle body at the intersection, and the traffic light image is extracted in the assumed area. The processing form may be set to By performing such processing, the processing weight can be reduced.

(E) Based on the image information from the front camera 12, the processing mode may be set so as to determine the presence or absence of the immediately preceding vehicle and to measure the inter-vehicle distance from the immediately preceding vehicle. In particular, when measuring the inter-vehicle distance, it is possible to improve the reliability of measurement by using it together with the measurement result of the distance sensor.

(F) As the brake control unit, in addition to the unit that performs only the ABS control, the unit that performs the control of the ABS control and the TCS control in combination is the control target, and the brake fluid from the brake control unit is used as the master cylinder. The operating reaction force of the brake pedal may be changed by returning to.

The partially cutaway perspective view of the passenger car of the first embodiment The perspective view of the vehicle body front part which shows arrangement | positioning of the distance sensor of 1st Embodiment The figure which shows arrangement | positioning of the accelerator pedal of 1st Embodiment, a brake pedal, etc. The top view which shows arrangement | positioning of the wheel of 1st Embodiment, a brake device, a rotation amount sensor, etc. The figure which shows the liquid-path structure of the brake control unit of 1st Embodiment. The block diagram which shows the control structure of the brake system of 1st Embodiment. Flowchart of operation reaction force change routine of the first embodiment Flowchart of auxiliary control routine of the first embodiment Flow chart of operation reaction force increase control routine The block diagram which shows the control structure of the brake system of 2nd Embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

8 Brake pedal 12 Traffic light information acquisition means / camera (front camera)
13 Distance measuring means (distance sensor)
16L, 16R Vehicle speed measurement means (rotation amount sensor)
17L, 17R Vehicle speed measurement means (rotation amount sensor)
24 traffic light information discriminating means 25 operation reaction force setting means 26 voice notification means 40 brake control unit 58 pedal operation mechanism (swing operation mechanism)
B Body BK Brake device

Claims (6)

A vehicle speed measuring means for measuring the vehicle speed of the host vehicle, a traffic signal information acquiring means for acquiring information of a traffic signal installed on the road, and an operation reaction force setting means for adjusting the operation reaction force of the brake pedal of the host vehicle. ,
The operation reaction force setting means determines that the vehicle is in a stopped state from the measurement result of the vehicle speed measurement means, and determines that the traffic signal information acquired by the traffic signal information acquisition means permits traveling. A brake system for changing the operation reaction force.   Distance measuring means for measuring the distance to the preceding vehicle at the position immediately before stopping, wherein the operation reaction force setting means determines that the vehicle is stopped from the measurement result of the vehicle speed measuring means, and the traffic signal information acquiring means 2. The brake system according to claim 1, wherein it is determined that the information on the traffic light acquired in step 1 permits traveling, and when the increase in the distance measured by the distance measuring unit is determined, the operation reaction force is changed. A brake system that transmits the brake pedal force to the wheel brake device via the brake fluid is provided, and the pressure of the brake fluid transmitted to the brake device is adjusted based on the rotation state of the wheel, and the brake pedal acts from the brake fluid. With a brake control unit that changes the pressure,
The brake system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the operation reaction force setting means increases the pressure from the fluid acting on the brake pedal by controlling the brake control unit.   The pedal operation mechanism for applying a force in a return direction opposite to the depression direction of the brake pedal is provided, and the operation reaction force setting means operates the brake pedal in the return direction by the pedal operation mechanism. Brake system.   The traffic light information acquisition means includes a camera that acquires a traffic light image, and traffic light information determination means that identifies the position of the traffic light in the traffic light image and determines the hue of the traffic light at that position. 5. The brake system according to any one of 4.   The brake system according to any one of claims 1 to 5, further comprising: a sound notification unit that outputs a sound for urging the vehicle body to advance by sound in conjunction with a change in the operation reaction force by the operation reaction force setting unit. .

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