JP2018141377A - Cooling fan motor controller for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable a rotational direction of a cooling fan motor to be switched without increasing the number of terminals of a connector.SOLUTION: A fan motor controller is configured to, based on correspondence between two terminals for signal input and an ON/OFF signal and PWM signal input to these terminals, set normal rotation/reverse rotation of a fan motor, to thereby be able to save a terminal for inputting a signal indicating normal rotation/reverse rotation. Consequently, a rotational direction of the fan motor can be switched only with connection to each terminal switched, without increasing the number of terminals of a connector.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle cooling fan motor control device.

  For example, in an automobile, a cooling fan is attached to a condenser for cooling an engine or a refrigerant for cooling an air conditioner, and the radiator and the condenser are cooled by blowing air from the cooling fan.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-309685 JP 2007-215281 A

  By the way, when the layout in the engine room is changed, there is a demand for changing the airflow generated from the cooling fan so as to be suitable for the layout change. In this case, depending on the layout change, it may be appropriate to reverse the rotation direction of the cooling fan. That is, by changing the cooling fan from, for example, clockwise to counterclockwise, the radiator or condenser is cooled by the cooling fan, while the airflow flowing in the engine room is improved to suit the layout.

  To change the rotation direction of the cooling fan, it is necessary to reverse the cooling fan motor. However, from the viewpoint of common parts, replace only the cooling fan without modifying the mounting structure of the cooling fan motor to the radiator or condenser. It is desirable to reverse the cooling fan motor.

  Therefore, although it was possible to rewrite the control software on the control device side that controls the drive of the cooling fan motor, the software for forward / reverse rotation must be prepared at the time of development, which increases the development cost. Yes.

Under such circumstances, there has been proposed a control device that switches forward / reverse rotation of the cooling fan motor from a switching-dedicated signal input to the control device from the outside (see Patent Documents 1 and 2).
However, since it is necessary to provide the control device with a dedicated terminal for inputting a switching dedicated signal, it is necessary to add a connector terminal. For this reason, it is necessary to increase the number of terminals of the connector, which may increase the size of the control device.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a vehicle cooling fan motor control device capable of switching the rotation direction of the cooling fan motor without increasing the number of terminals of the connector. It is in.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, when an operation / stop signal is input to one of the first input terminal (8b) and the second input terminal (8c) and the rotation speed signal is input to the other, the input signal determination unit ( 11) executes a monitoring process for determining the correspondence between each input terminal (8b, 8c) and the input signal by determining the type of signal input to each input terminal (8b, 8c). When the operation condition is established based on the determination result by the input signal determination unit (11), the control unit (11) sets the rotation direction based on the correspondence relationship between each input terminal and the input signal and outputs the rotation number signal. Based on this, the number of revolutions is set to drive the cooling fan motor. When the stop condition is satisfied, the cooling fan motor is stopped. And the control part (11) will reverse | invert the rotation direction of a cooling fan motor, when the correspondence of each input terminal (8b, 8c) and an input signal interchanges.

The block diagram which shows schematically the fan control apparatus in 1st Embodiment. Diagram showing the correspondence between PWM input duty and fan motor speed The figure which shows the relation between the signal which is input to each terminal and the rotation direction Timing diagram showing signals input to each terminal Flow chart showing operation of control circuit The flowchart which shows operation | movement of the control circuit in 2nd Embodiment.

(First embodiment)
A first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 5.
In the engine room of the vehicle, an unillustrated radiator for cooling the engine and a condenser for cooling the refrigerant of the air conditioner are provided facing each other, and two cooling fan units 1 are arranged in parallel on the front surface of the radiator. .

  The cooling fan unit 1 is configured by integrating a cooling fan motor control device (hereinafter referred to as a fan motor control device) 2 and a fan motor 3, but may be configured separately. A cooling fan (not shown) is attached to the tip of the rotating shaft of the fan motor 3, and the cooling fan rotates while the fan motor 3 is driven, so that it is blown and cooled by the radiator and the condenser.

  Here, the rotation direction of the cooling fan includes clockwise rotation (forward rotation) and counterclockwise rotation (reverse rotation) depending on the vehicle manufacturer and vehicle type. The rotation direction of the fan motor 3 depends on the fan motor 3. It depends on whether the rotating fan to be installed is for clockwise or counterclockwise use. That is, the rotation direction of the fan motor 3 is forward rotation when the rotation fan attached to the fan motor 3 is for clockwise rotation, and reverse rotation when the rotation fan is for counterclockwise rotation.

  The vehicle is provided with an ECU (Electronic Control Unit) 4 that instructs the fan motor control device 2 on the rotation speed. The ECU 4 starts to operate when power is supplied from the battery 6 mounted on the vehicle via the fuse 7 in a state where the ignition switch 5 is turned on. In addition, ECU4 shares various information by transmitting / receiving information with other ECUs via the vehicle-mounted network which is not shown in figure.

  The fan motor control device 2 is provided with a connector 8 for connection to the battery 6 and the ECU 4. 1 terminal 8a-No. Four terminals 8d are provided. No. One terminal 8 a is a power supply terminal, and is connected to the positive electrode of the battery 6 via the fuse 9. No. 2 terminal 8b (corresponding to the first input terminal) is an input terminal, and an ON / OFF signal (corresponding to an operation / stop signal) output from the ignition switch 5 according to the ON / OFF state of the ignition switch 5, Also, one of the PWM signals (corresponding to the rotation speed signal) output from the ECU 4 is connected to be input. No. The 3 terminal 8c (corresponding to the second input terminal) is an input terminal and is connected so that the other of the ON / OFF signal and the PWM signal is input. No. The 4 terminal 8 d is a ground terminal and is connected to the negative electrode of the battery 6.

  The ON / OFF signal from the ignition switch 5 is a level signal that becomes high level when the ignition switch 5 is ON and becomes low level when it is OFF. On the other hand, the PWM signal is a pulse signal having a predetermined period.

  No. 2-terminal 8b and No. 2 The three terminals 8c are connected to the ground via a pull-down resistor, and are held at a low level in a non-input state of signals to these terminals 8b and 8c.

  The fan motor control device 2 includes a relay circuit 10 including a system relay, 2-terminal 8b and No. 2 A control circuit 11 (corresponding to an input signal determination unit, a control unit, a consumption current suppression unit, and a storage unit) that processes a signal input to the three terminals 8c and outputs a stepping signal, and inputs a stepping signal from the control circuit 11 Drive circuit 12 (corresponding to the drive unit) for stepping driving the fan motor 3, a smoothing circuit 13 for boosting the battery voltage to a predetermined high voltage and supplying it to the drive circuit 12 in a smoothed state; 1 terminal 8a and No. 1 A reverse connection protection circuit 14 for protecting each circuit from the reverse connection of the battery 6 to the four terminals 8d is provided.

  The relay circuit 10 is No. 1 terminal 8a and control circuit 11 are always connected, and in accordance with a command from control circuit 11, No. 1 terminal 8a is connected. The power supply state in which the one terminal 8a and the smoothing circuit 13 are connected is switched to or the non-power supply state in which the connection is released.

  The control circuit 11 is No. 2-terminal 8b and No. 2 A monitoring process for monitoring the voltage transition of the three terminals 8c for a certain period is executed. In this monitoring process, no. 2 terminal 8b is at high level and No. 3 whether the forward rotation condition in which the PWM signal is inputted to the terminal 8c is satisfied or not. No. 2 terminal 8b receives a PWM signal and It operates as a signal determination unit that determines whether a reverse rotation condition in which the three terminals 8c are at a high level is satisfied. In addition, when the normal rotation condition or the reverse rotation condition is satisfied, the control circuit 11 sets the rotation direction based on the satisfied condition, sets the rotation speed based on the PWM signal, and based on the setting, the drive circuit 12 It operates as a control unit that outputs and controls a switching signal.

  The control circuit 11 is composed of a semiconductor integrated circuit (IC), and its current consumption is extremely small. Therefore, even if power is supplied from the battery 6 for a long time when the engine is stopped, the battery 6 is consumed. There is no.

The drive circuit 12 includes a plurality of switching elements, and rotates the fan motor 3 forward or backward at a predetermined rotational speed in accordance with a switching signal from the control circuit 11.
When the operation starts, the ECU 4 outputs a PWM signal to the fan motor control device 2 based on the water temperature of the radiator and the refrigerant temperature of the condenser acquired from another ECU or the like. In this case, the rotational speed is indicated by the duty of the PWM signal (hereinafter referred to as PWM input duty). That is, as shown in FIG. 2, the PWM input duty (ratio) and the fan motor rotational speed (r / min) are in a corresponding relationship, and the rotational speed of the fan motor 3 can be instructed by the PWM input duty. In this case, when the PWM input duty is 0-10 and 90-100, the fan motor speed is set to 0, and at 10-30 and 70-90, the fan motor speed is set constant. This is because redundancy is provided to enhance noise resistance. Note that the PWM input duty and the fan motor rotational speed may be set to have a linear correspondence without providing redundancy.

  Now, when the ignition switch 5 and ECU 4 are connected to the connector 8 of the fan motor control device 2 at the time of manufacture of the vehicle, no. 2-terminal 8b and No. 2 The three terminals 8c are connected so that the ON / OFF signal from the ignition switch 5 and the PWM signal from the ECU 4 input to these terminals 8b and 8c have a predetermined correspondence relationship. That is, as shown in FIG. 2 terminal 8b, ON / OFF signal, No. It connects so that a PWM signal may be input into 3 terminal 8c. On the other hand, when reversing the fan motor 3, no. 2 terminal 8b PWM signal, No. Connect so that the ON / OFF signal is input to the three terminals 8c.

  In FIG. 1, the ON / OFF signal from the ignition switch 5 is No. 2 terminal 8b, the PWM signal from ECU4 is No. 3 shows a case where the fan motor 3 is rotated in the forward direction by being connected so as to be input to the three terminals 8c. In this case, a rotating fan for clockwise rotation (for forward rotation) is attached to the fan motor 3.

  When the battery 6 and the connector 8 of the fan motor control device 2 are connected during manufacture of the vehicle, power is supplied from the battery 6 to the control circuit 11 via the relay circuit 10 to start operation.

  When the control circuit 11 starts operating, as shown in FIG. 5, for example, the relay circuit 10 is brought into a non-powered state by predetermined initialization (S1), and then enters the input terminal monitoring period and starts monitoring processing (S2). (See FIG. 4). In this monitoring process, the input terminal No. 2-terminal 8b and No. 2 The presence or absence of an input signal is determined by monitoring the transition of the voltage input to the three terminal 8c. In this case, if there is no signal change during the monitoring process, it is determined as a level signal and recognized as an ON / OFF signal. On the other hand, when an edge is detected during the monitoring process, it is determined as a pulse signal and recognized as a PWM signal. As edge detection, a rising edge or a falling edge may be detected, or it may be determined that an edge has been detected on the condition that a plurality of edges have been detected.

  Note that the terminal voltage is held at a low level when the ON / OFF signal and the PWM signal are not input. Therefore, in such a state, the ON / OFF signal is input but the PWM signal is not input. Recognize.

  When the monitoring process for a predetermined period is completed (S3: YES), the control circuit 11 determines No. during the monitoring process. 2 terminal 8b is high level, no. It is determined whether the forward rotation condition for inputting the PWM signal to the three terminal 8c is satisfied (S4). If the forward rotation condition is not satisfied (S4: NO), No. 3 terminal 8c is high level, no. It is determined whether the reverse rotation condition for inputting the PWM signal to the two terminal 8b is satisfied (S7).

  When the ignition switch 5 is OFF and the ECU 4 is not operating, no PWM signal is output from the ECU 4, so neither the forward rotation condition nor the reverse rotation condition is satisfied.

  When neither the normal rotation condition nor the reverse rotation condition is satisfied (S7: NO), the control circuit 11 determines whether the normal rotation condition and the reverse rotation condition are not satisfied for a predetermined number of times (S10). When the ignition switch 5 is in the OFF state, the state where neither the forward rotation condition nor the reverse rotation condition is satisfied continues for a predetermined number of times (S10: YES). Therefore, the power supply state from the battery 6 to the drive circuit 12 via the smoothing circuit 13 is changed by the relay circuit 10. Stop (S11). At the start of the operation by the power supply from the battery 6, the relay circuit 10 is in a non-power supply state due to the initialization, and therefore the power supply stop state in which power is not supplied from the battery 6 to the drive circuit 12 via the smoothing circuit 13 continues. It will be.

  When the ignition switch 5 is turned on for the first time after the vehicle is manufactured, power is supplied from the battery 6 to the ECU 4 via the ignition switch 5, so that the ECU 4 starts to operate. When the operation starts, the ECU 4 determines the rotational speed of the fan motor 3 based on the water temperature of the radiator and the refrigerant temperature of the condenser acquired from other ECUs and the like. When the engine is stopped or the engine is started, the water temperature of the radiator and the refrigerant temperature of the condenser are low, and it is not necessary to drive the fan motor 3. Therefore, the PWM signal is not output and the low level state is continued. .

On the other hand, when the ignition switch 5 is turned on, No. of the fan motor control device 2 is set. The ON / OFF signal input to the two terminal 8b becomes high level.
When the water temperature of the radiator rises due to the start of the engine and becomes equal to or higher than the set temperature, the ECU 4 sends a PWM signal indicating the rotational speed corresponding to the water temperature to the No. of the connector 8 of the fan motor control device 2. Output to 3 terminal 8c. That is, as the water temperature of the radiator increases, a PWM signal with a larger PWM input duty is output.

  In the monitoring process, the control circuit 11 is No. 2 terminal 8b is high level, no. Since the normal rotation condition in which the PWM signal is input to the 3 terminal 8c is satisfied (S4: YES), when the normal rotation condition is satisfied twice (S5: YES), the normal rotation is set (S6). ), And sets the rotation speed based on the PWM signal (S12).

  Next, after confirming that the indicated rotational speed is not 0 (S13: NO), the relay circuit 10 is driven to supply power from the battery 6 to the drive circuit 12 via the smoothing circuit 13 (S14). As a result, a predetermined high voltage generated by boosting and smoothing the voltage of the battery 6 in the smoothing circuit 13 is supplied to the drive circuit 12, so that the fan motor 3 is stepped and driven via the drive circuit 12. Then (S15), the above-described monitoring process is repeated.

  As described above, the fan motor control device 2 rotates the fan motor 3 in the normal direction at the number of revolutions instructed by the ECU 4, so that the rotating fan rotates and is blown to the radiator and the condenser to be cooled.

  Thereafter, the ECU 4 instructs the fan motor control device 2 with the PWM input duty on the basis of information acquired from other ECUs and the like, and the control circuit 11 responds accordingly by the control circuit 11. The fan motor 3 is driven by setting the rotational direction and the rotational speed by executing the monitoring process (see FIG. 4).

  Further, the ECU 4 stops the output of the PWM signal when the temperature of the radiator and the condenser decreases and the fan motor 3 is stopped. Thereby, since the PWM input duty becomes 0, the control circuit 11 stops the fan motor 3 assuming that the stop condition is satisfied (S16) when the set instruction rotational speed becomes 0 (S13: YES). (See FIG. 4).

  When the ignition switch 5 is operated in the OFF state, neither the forward rotation condition nor the reverse rotation condition is satisfied (S4: NO, S7: NO). The power supply state to the drive circuit 12 through the smoothing circuit 13 is stopped (S11) (see FIG. 4).

  Here, the control circuit 11 repeatedly executes the monitoring process even after the fan motor is stopped as described above. For example, there may be a case where a state in which no PWM signal is input from the ECU 4 is continued due to an abnormality in the in-vehicle network. . In such a case, the power supply state from the battery 6 to the drive circuit 12 via the smoothing circuit 13 is continued, and there is a concern that the battery 6 is consumed due to the dark current of the drive circuit 12.

  Therefore, the control circuit 11 drives the relay circuit 10 from the battery 6 via the smoothing circuit 13 when the forward rotation state and the reverse rotation state are not established for a predetermined number of times as described above (S10: YES). Power supply to the drive circuit 12 is stopped (S11).

  When the power supply state from the battery 6 to the smoothing circuit 13 is stopped in this way, it is possible to prevent a dark current from flowing from the battery 6 to the drive circuit 12 via the smoothing circuit 13, so that consumption of the battery 6 can be suppressed. .

  By the way, for example, when the layout in the engine room is changed due to a minor change of the vehicle, the fan motor 3 may be reversed after the counterclockwise rotation fan is adopted so as to be suitable for the layout change. Is reversed, the PWM signal from the ECU 4 is No. 2 terminal 8b, the ON / OFF signal from the ignition switch 5 is No. It connects so that it may input into 3 terminal 8c.

  Thus, no. 2-terminal 8b and No. 2 When the input signal is switched in the case of the three terminals 8c, the control circuit 11 determines that the reverse rotation condition is satisfied in the monitoring process (S7: YES), and when the reverse rotation condition is satisfied twice in succession (S8: (YES), reverse rotation is set (S9), rotation speed setting is set (S12), power supply from the battery 6 to the drive circuit 12 is started via the smoothing circuit 13 (S14), and the fan motor 3 is driven. (S15).

As described above, no. 2-terminal 8b and No. 2 The direction of rotation of the fan motor 3 can be switched by switching the connection of the ON / OFF signal from the ignition switch to the 3 terminal 8 c and the PWM signal from the ECU 4.
The control circuit 11 is reset when the battery 6 is removed from the connector 8 of the fan motor control device 2 (see FIG. 4).

According to such an embodiment, the following effects can be produced.
The fan motor control device 2 is No. 2-terminal 8b and No. 2 Since the forward / reverse rotation of the fan motor 3 is set based on the correspondence between the 3 terminal 8c and the ON / OFF signal and PWM signal input to these terminals 8b and 8c, a signal indicating forward / reverse is input. The terminal for doing so can be omitted. Thereby, the rotation direction of the fan motor 3 can be switched only by switching the signals input to the terminals 8b and 8c without increasing the number of terminals of the connector 8.

Since the rotation direction is set when the normal rotation condition or the reverse rotation condition is satisfied twice in the monitoring process, it is possible to improve noise resistance and prevent malfunction.
If the forward rotation condition or the reverse rotation condition is not satisfied continuously for a predetermined number of times in the monitoring process, power supply from the battery 6 to the drive circuit 12 via the smoothing circuit 13 is stopped, so that consumption of the battery 6 can be suppressed as much as possible. it can.

(Second Embodiment)
A second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. The second embodiment is characterized in that when the rotation direction is set by the monitoring process, the rotation direction is stored, and the monitoring process is omitted by setting the rotation direction stored in the next operation. In FIG. 6, the same steps as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same step numbers and the description thereof is omitted.

  When the operation starts, the control circuit 11 executes a predetermined initialization operation as shown in FIG. 6 (S1), and then determines whether the rotation direction is stored (S21). Since the rotation direction is not stored at the start of the operation by power supply from the battery 6 (S21: NO), the monitoring process described in the first embodiment is started (S2). When normal rotation is set in this monitoring process (S6), normal rotation is stored (S24), and when reverse rotation is set (S9), after reverse rotation is stored (S25), the fan motor 3 is driven. (S14).

  The control circuit 11 determines whether or not the rotation direction is stored (S21) when the set instruction rotational speed becomes 0 (S13: YES) and the fan motor 3 is stopped (S16). In this case, as described above, since the rotation direction is stored when the fan motor 3 is driven last time (S21: YES), it is determined whether the stored information is normal (S22).

  Here, if the stored information is destroyed for any reason or the stored information cannot be read, it is determined that the stored information is abnormal (S22: NO), and the above-described monitoring process is started. (S2). As a result, the rotation direction is set in the monitoring process as in the case where the stored information is not stored, and therefore the rotation direction is stored again (S24, S25).

  On the other hand, if the stored information is normal (S22: YES), the rotation direction is set based on the stored information (S23), the rotation number is set (S12), and the fan motor 3 is driven (S15). Or stop (S16). That is, the fan motor 3 can be driven without executing the monitoring process.

According to such an embodiment, the following effects can be produced.
When the rotation direction is set by the monitoring process, the fan motor control device 2 stores the rotation direction and sets the rotation direction stored in the next operation, so that the monitoring process can be omitted. The load can be reduced.
When the storage information indicating the rotation direction is abnormal, the rotation direction is set and stored again by re-execution of the monitoring process, so that it is possible to cope with the storage information abnormality.

(Other embodiments)
In the monitoring process, the rotation direction is set when the forward rotation condition and the reverse rotation condition are satisfied twice continuously. However, for example, the rotation direction may be set when the rotation condition is satisfied three times or more. .

Instead of the PWM signal, a PWM frequency system signal indicating the number of rotations at intervals of a pulse signal having a constant width may be employed.
For controlling a fan motor that rotates a rotating fan that blows and cools a single radiator or a single capacitor, or for cooling a secondary battery such as a lithium battery or a hydrogen battery mounted in a hybrid vehicle or an electric vehicle A fan motor that rotates the cooling fan may be controlled.

  The type of signal is made different depending on the level signal and the pulse signal as the signal inputted to each terminal 8b, 8c. However, the type of signal is made different by inputting a level signal of a different voltage to each terminal 8b, 8c. Alternatively, the types of signals may be made different by inputting pulse signals having different periods to the terminals 8b and 8c.

  The number of fan motors to be controlled is not limited to two, but may be one or three or more. When a plurality of fan motors are to be controlled, different control is executed for each fan motor. You may do it.

The operation / stop signal may be input from a device other than the ignition switch, or the rotation speed signal may be input from a device other than the ECU.
Although the present disclosure has been described with reference to the embodiments, it is understood that the present disclosure is not limited to the embodiments and structures. The present disclosure includes various modifications and modifications within the equivalent range. In addition, various combinations and forms, as well as other combinations and forms including only one element, more or less, are within the scope and spirit of the present disclosure.

In the drawing, 2 is a cooling fan motor control device, 8b is No. 2 terminals (first input terminal), 8c is No. 3 terminals (second input terminals), 11 is a control circuit (input signal determination unit, control unit, current consumption suppression unit, storage unit), and 12 is a drive circuit (drive unit).

Claims (6)

A vehicle cooling fan motor control device (2) for controlling the rotation direction and the number of rotations of a cooling fan motor in accordance with an external input signal,
A first input terminal (8b) for inputting one of an operation / stop signal and a rotation speed signal having a different signal type from the operation / stop signal as the input signal;
A second input terminal (8c) for inputting the other of the operation / stop signal and the rotation speed signal;
An input signal determination unit that executes a monitoring process for determining whether an operation condition in which the operation / stop signal input to one of the input terminals instructs an operation and the rotation signal is input to the other input terminal is satisfied. (11) and
When the operation condition is satisfied, the rotation direction is set based on the correspondence relationship between the input terminal and the signal input to the input terminal, and the rotation speed is set based on the rotation number signal, and the cooling fan motor is set. A controller (11) for driving and stopping the cooling fan motor when a stop condition is satisfied;
A vehicle cooling fan motor control device comprising: The operation / stop signal is a level signal,
The rotational speed signal is a pulse signal,
The input signal determination unit monitors the transition state of the voltage input to the input terminal in the monitoring process, and determines that the input / output signal is the operation / stop signal when the input voltage does not change, and the input voltage changes. The vehicle cooling fan motor control device according to claim 1, wherein it is determined that is the rotation speed signal.   The vehicle cooling fan according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the input signal determination unit repeatedly executes the monitoring process and sets a rotation direction and a rotation speed when the operation condition is satisfied at least twice. Motor control device. A drive unit (12) for performing a switching operation for controlling energization of the cooling fan motor in a state where power is supplied from a battery mounted on the vehicle;
A current consumption suppression unit (11) that stops power supply from the battery to the drive unit when the state in which the operation condition is not satisfied continues;
The vehicle cooling fan motor control device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising: A storage unit (11) for storing the rotation direction set by the control unit;
The input signal determination unit does not execute the monitoring process when the rotation direction is stored in the storage unit,
The said control part is a cooling fan motor control apparatus for vehicles as described in any one of Claim 1 to 4 which sets the said rotation direction as a rotation direction, when the said rotation direction is memorize | stored in the said memory | storage part. The input signal determination unit executes the monitoring process when the rotational speed stored in the storage unit is abnormal,
The vehicle cooling fan motor control according to claim 5, wherein the control unit controls the cooling fan motor based on a determination result by the input signal determination unit when the rotational speed stored in the storage unit is abnormal. apparatus.

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