JP2015020460A - Control device of on-vehicle illumination lamp - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a control device of an on-vehicle illumination lamp capable of precisely detecting an abnormal state such as disconnection or short-circuit even when being exchanged into either of a light bulb/LED as the on-vehicle illumination lamp.SOLUTION: Control means 4 performs lighting fixture discrimination processing S3 which detects an inrush current when lighting control of a light source C is performed, determines whether the detected inrush current reaches a first threshold 3a or not and, thereby, discriminates species of a lighting fixture of the light source C, and abnormality determination processing S4 which detects a driving current (stable current) of the light source C in the lighting state of the light source C after elapse of a predetermined time from the lighting fixture discrimination processing S3 and determines whether the driving current is in the abnormal state or not on the basis of second thresholds 3b to 3e set in accordance with the species of the lighting fixture discriminated by the lighting fixture discrimination processing S3.

Description

  The present invention relates to a control device for an in-vehicle illumination lamp that controls an illumination lamp mounted on a vehicle.

  As a conventional vehicle-mounted illumination light control device, for example, it is disclosed in Patent Document 1, and such a vehicle-mounted illumination light control device includes a drive unit that drives a direction indicator lamp as a vehicle-mounted illumination light, and a drive unit. And a detecting element for detecting a voltage at both ends of the resistance element, and a disconnection and a short circuit of the indicating lamp are determined based on the voltage detected by the detecting means. It was something to do.

JP 2009-40285 A

  In recent years, instead of conventional bulbs, LEDs (light emitting diodes) with a small drive current have been used for such in-vehicle illumination lamps (direction indicator lamps). When is used, the drive current is much smaller than when a light bulb is used, and power is saved. However, the voltage across the resistance element disposed between the driving means and the in-vehicle illumination lamp also becomes very small according to the driving current, and the disconnection and short circuit of the in-vehicle illumination lamp by the detection means cannot be detected with high accuracy. It was.

  Therefore, the present invention pays attention to the above-described problems, and for example, in-vehicle illumination that can accurately detect an abnormal state such as disconnection or short-circuit even when the driving current of the light source is greatly different, such as replacement from a light bulb to an LED as an in-vehicle illumination lamp. An object of the present invention is to provide a lamp control device.

  The on-vehicle illumination lamp control device according to the present invention includes control means for controlling turning on / off of the on-vehicle illumination lamp according to vehicle operation, and performing a determination process by detecting an energized state to determine whether the on-vehicle illumination lamp is defective. A control device for an in-vehicle illumination lamp, wherein the control means detects an inrush current when controlling the lighting of the in-vehicle illumination lamp, and determines whether or not a first threshold value is reached, thereby determining the in-vehicle illumination A lamp discriminating process for discriminating the type of the lamp of the illuminating lamp, and a driving current of the in-vehicle illuminating lamp in a lighting state of the in-vehicle illuminating lamp after a predetermined time has elapsed from the lamp discriminating process. An abnormality determination process for determining whether or not an abnormal state is present based on a second threshold value set according to the type of lamp determined by the process is characterized.

  Moreover, after detecting the said vehicle operation, a lamp discrimination | determination process is performed based on the inrush current at the time of the first lighting of the said vehicle-mounted illumination light.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, even if it is a case where it replaces | exchanges from a light bulb to LED or LED to a light bulb as a vehicle-mounted illumination light regarding the control apparatus of a vehicle-mounted illumination light, abnormal states, such as a disconnection or a short circuit, can be detected accurately.

The block diagram which shows the electric circuit structure of the control apparatus by embodiment of this invention. The time chart which shows the drive current example at the time of the electric light bulb mounting by embodiment same as the above. The time chart which shows the drive current example at the time of LED mounting by embodiment same as the above. The flowchart which shows the process sequence of the control means which concerns on this invention by embodiment same as the above. The flowchart which shows the process sequence of the abnormality determination process by the control means by embodiment same as the above.

  Hereinafter, as an embodiment of an on-vehicle illumination lamp control device according to the present invention, an example applied to an on-vehicle instrument for motorcycles will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 shows an example of the electrical configuration of an in-vehicle instrument according to the present invention. An in-vehicle instrument A according to the present embodiment includes a drive unit 1, a current detection unit 2, a display unit 3, and a control unit. 4.

  A battery power source B mounted on the vehicle is connected to the vehicle-mounted instrument A, and a light source C to be described later is turned on by power supplied from the power source B. Moreover, the vehicle-mounted instrument A detects the disconnection and the short circuit of the light source C by the current detection means 2, and notifies the user of the detection result using the display means 3. Moreover, the control apparatus of the vehicle-mounted illumination lamp in this Embodiment is the structure provided in the housing | casing of the vehicle-mounted meter A, and is mounted and provided in the circuit board. That is, the vehicle-mounted instrument A according to the present embodiment includes a vehicle-mounted illumination light control device (hereinafter referred to as a light source control device) provided in a meter panel and a light source C disposed outside the vehicle. It is an electrically connected configuration.

  The light source (vehicle lighting lamp) C is, for example, a light emitting element such as a light bulb (incandescent light bulb) using a filament or an LED (light emitting diode). Are provided at four locations of the vehicle. The light source C is connected in parallel for the front side and the rear side, and is supplied with current via the driving means 1. In FIG. 1, only one set (for the right side) of the front and rear light sources C is shown, but another set (for the left side) of the front light source and the rear light source is also connected in parallel to drive the left side. The means and the current detection means are connected to the left and right control means 4 (in this embodiment, the description for the left side is omitted).

  The driving means 1 is a switching element composed of a semiconductor element such as an FET (field effect transistor), and is electrically connected to the power source B, the light source C, and the control means 4. By turning on and off based on the control signal (on or off), a current is supplied to the connected light source C, and the light source C blinks (lights on and off) at a predetermined cycle.

  The current detecting means 2 detects a resistance element for adjusting the current supplied from the driving means 1 to the light source C, and a voltage at both ends of the resistance element, and amplifies and A / D converts this voltage as a detection signal. And an amplifier circuit that outputs to the control means 1.

  The display unit 3 is a display unit including a liquid crystal display panel (LCD) and performs display based on a display signal from the control unit 4. The display means 3 displays vehicle information and the like sent from the vehicle electronic control unit (ECU) D. For example, vehicle information such as an odd value that is the total travel distance of the vehicle and a trip value that is a section distance is displayed. Switching between the odd value and the trip value is performed by pressing an operating means provided on the meter panel.

  Further, when the disconnection or short circuit of the light source C is detected in the normal operation, the display unit 3 displays an abnormal part or the like indicating whether an abnormality has occurred on the right side or an abnormality on the left side. An abnormal state can be notified to the user.

  The control unit 4 is an electronic control unit such as a microcomputer including a CPU, a memory, an I / F circuit, and the like, and is connected to the drive unit 1, the current detection unit 2, and the display unit 3. Further, the control means 4 is electrically connected to the vehicle electronic control unit D, the direction indicating switch E via the vehicle electronic control unit D, and a CAN (Controller Area Network) communication cable or a wiring (not shown).

  Various vehicle information is input to the control unit 4 from the electronic control unit D, and the vehicle information is displayed on the display unit 3 based on the vehicle information. Further, an operation signal of the direction indicating switch E is input to the control means 4 via the vehicle electronic control unit D.

  The operation signals of the direction indicating switch E are a right indicating signal, a left indicating signal, and a non-indicating signal. When the right indicating signal is input, the control means 4 has a right light source C (right front and rear signals). The driving means 1 to which the light source is connected is driven to blink the right light source C.

  Next, the processing procedure of the control means 4 for detecting the abnormal state of the light source C according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

  The control means 4 monitors the operation state of the direction indicating switch E (step S1), and when the direction indicating switch E is operated to blink any one of the light sources C while the light source C is turned off, the control means 4 is desired. Since the light source C flashes, a control signal for prompting lighting for a predetermined period is output to the driving means 1 (step S2).

  Further, at this time, the control means 4 monitors the drive current (the supply current from the drive means 1 to the light source C) at t1 immediately after the first rising signal (signal for urging from turning off to turning on) is output, and the first signal is output. A lamp discrimination process (step S3) for determining whether or not the threshold value 3a is reached is performed.

  The first threshold value 3a is a value for detecting an inrush current that temporarily increases as shown in FIG. 2 when a light bulb (incandescent light bulb) is used as the light source C. A value larger than the current value of the normal drive current (stable current) in which is settled is set. If an LED is used as the light source C, a large inrush current as shown in FIG. 2 is not detected, and a rectangular wave smaller than the normal drive current value is output as shown in FIG. Therefore, by detecting the inrush current, it is possible to determine which lamp of the light bulb / LED is mounted as the light source C. The control means 4 temporarily stores in the memory as an identifier indicating which lamp / LED lamp is mounted as a discrimination result.

  In addition, as shown in FIG. 2, since the inrush current has a large value at the time of the first lighting among a plurality of blinks, and tends to gradually decrease with the number of blinks, the lamp determination process described above is performed in the direction This is advantageously performed at the first lighting after the instruction switch E is operated, so that the accuracy of determination can be improved.

  Next, the control means 4 is presumed that the light source C at t2 is in a lighting drive state after a predetermined time from the lamp discrimination processing in step S3, and the waveform of the current value detected by the current detection means 2 is stable. By inputting a stable current and comparing it with the second threshold values 3b to 3e corresponding to the identifier indicating which lamp of the light bulb / LED stored in the memory is mounted, an abnormality such as a short circuit or disconnection An abnormality determination process (step S4) for determining the state is performed.

  Next, the control means 4 outputs to the drive means 1 a control signal that prompts the light source C to turn off for a predetermined period in order to blink the desired light source C (step S5). Note that the blinking cycle of the light source C by the driving unit 1 (turning on and off for a predetermined period) in step S2 and step S5 can be switched by the control unit 4 between, for example, a normal state and an abnormal state described later.

  As shown in FIG. 5, as the abnormality determination process in step S4, the control means 4 reads the identifier, determines which lamp is mounted (step S41), and a second threshold value corresponding to this. When the lamp is a light bulb, the second threshold values 3b and 3c for the light bulb are set (step S42). When the lamp is an LED, the second threshold value 3b for the light bulb is set. The second threshold values 3d and 3e for the smaller LED are set (step S43). In this case, as the second threshold, overcurrent thresholds 3b and 3d and one-light-break thresholds 3c and 3e are prepared for the bulb and the LED, respectively.

  The control means 4 determines whether or not the stable current is smaller than the overcurrent threshold values (second threshold values) 3b and 3d set in the setting process in step S42 or step S43. Current determination processing (step S44) is performed. When the determination condition of the overcurrent determination process is not satisfied, the control unit 4 estimates that the light source C is in an overcurrent state (abnormal state) due to a short circuit or the like, and stops the power supply to the light source C. The drive means 1 is controlled (step S45). By this process, not only wasteful power consumption due to a short circuit can be suppressed, but also an effect of suppressing deterioration of an abnormal state can be expected. In this case, it is possible to notify the user by displaying an abnormal state on the display means 3 together with the alarm output.

  On the other hand, when the determination condition in the overcurrent determination process in step S44 is satisfied, the control means 4 determines that the above-described stable current is the one-light-break threshold value (second threshold value set in step S42 or S43 setting process). A one-light-breakage determination process (step S46) is performed for determining whether or not the threshold value is larger than 3c and 3e. The control means 4 estimates that one of the light sources C is in a disconnected state (abnormal state) due to exhaustion of a light emitter such as a filament when the determination condition of this one-lamp disconnection determination process is not satisfied. The drive means 1 is controlled so that the blinking cycle is made smaller than usual and fast blinking is performed (step S47). By this process, even if one of the light sources C is disconnected, the other light source C that is not disconnected can be kept blinking while notifying a vehicle user or the like of one lamp disconnection.

  The control means 4 includes an AD converter as power supply monitoring means, detects the voltage of the power supply B, and can convert the voltage value which is an analog value of the power supply B into a digital value and input it. Therefore, the control means 4 can correct the determination threshold values (first and second threshold values 3a to 3e) stored in advance in the memory based on the voltage value of the power supply B. With this configuration, it is possible to perform an accurate disconnection short circuit detection (abnormality determination process) without depending on a voltage change of the power supply B caused by an increase or decrease in the load of the in-vehicle device.

  Such an in-vehicle instrument A performs a determination process by controlling the blinking of the light source (in-vehicle illumination lamp) C according to the operation (vehicle operation) of the direction indicating switch E and detecting whether the light source C is defective or not. A control device for an in-vehicle illumination lamp provided with a control means 4, wherein the control means 4 detects an inrush current when controlling the lighting of the light source C and determines whether or not the first threshold value 3 a is reached. Thus, the lamp discrimination process S3 for discriminating the type of the lamp of the light source C, and the drive current (stable current) of the light source C in the lighting state of the light source C after a predetermined time has elapsed from the lamp discrimination process S3 are detected. However, an abnormality determination process S4 is performed for determining whether or not an abnormal state is present based on the second threshold values 3b to 3e set according to the type of the lamp determined in the lamp determination process S3.

  Therefore, even when the light source (vehicle-mounted illumination lamp) C is replaced with a light source having a significantly different driving current, such as replacement from a light source using a light bulb to a light source using an LED, an abnormal state such as disconnection or short circuit can be accurately detected. It becomes the control apparatus of the vehicle-mounted illumination lamp which can be detected. In addition, even if the user does not have specialized knowledge, a suitable threshold value (second threshold value) is automatically set, and an abnormal condition can be detected with high accuracy by this threshold value. Can do.

  Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not construed as being limited to the above-described embodiments, and can be applied to various embodiments without departing from the scope of the present invention. . For example, the above-described embodiment is advantageous in that the abnormal state determined by the display means provided near the direction indicating switch can be displayed as a configuration of the motorcycle. Although what was applied to A was shown, it can also be provided in combination with the control means of other control equipment, or it may be one that performs an abnormality determination process by a control means that is separately provided, Has the same effect as the form.

  Further, in the above-described embodiment, an example of a vehicle-mounted illumination lamp applied to a direction indicator lamp has been described as an example, but it can also be applied to a vehicle width lamp, a brake lamp, a headlamp, a high beam light, etc. In this case, the blinking control is not necessary, and the abnormal state can be accurately determined by performing the lamp discrimination process based on the inrush current and the abnormal determination process based on the stable current at the transition from the off state to the on state. And the same effects as those of the above-described embodiment can be obtained.

  In addition, the control means 4 has been described by taking as an example what is realized by using a microcomputer that performs arithmetic processing also for display control or the like, but a dedicated control circuit constituted by a plurality of electronic components is used for the in-vehicle illumination lamp. It can also be applied as a control means for determining the state, and the same effect as the above-described embodiment can be obtained.

  The present invention relates to a control device for an in-vehicle illumination lamp, and is suitable, for example, as an in-vehicle instrument mounted on a moving body including an automobile, a motorcycle, an agricultural machine, or a construction machine.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Drive means 2 Current detection means 3 Display means 4 Control means A Vehicle-mounted instrument B Power supply C Light source (vehicle-mounted illumination light)
D Vehicle ECU
E Direction indicator switch

Claims (2)

In accordance with vehicle operation, the on-vehicle lighting is controlled to turn on and off,
A control device for an in-vehicle illuminating lamp comprising a control means for performing determination processing by detecting an energized state whether there is a defect in the in-vehicle illuminating lamp,
The control means detects a rush current when controlling the lighting of the in-vehicle illumination lamp, and determines whether or not the first threshold value is reached, thereby determining a type of the in-vehicle illumination lamp. Discrimination processing;
A drive current of the in-vehicle illumination lamp in a lighting state of the in-vehicle illumination lamp that has passed a predetermined time from the lamp determination process is detected, and the drive current is set according to the type of the lamp determined by the lamp determination process. An on-vehicle illuminating lamp control device that performs an abnormality determination process for determining whether or not an abnormal state is present based on a threshold value of 2.   2. The vehicle illumination lamp control device according to claim 1, wherein after the vehicle operation is detected, a lamp determination process is performed based on an inrush current when the vehicle illumination lamp is first turned on.

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