JP2021049865A - vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a vehicle which can be reduced in inclination upon turning and therefore can appropriately prevent cargo shifting.SOLUTION: A vehicle 1 includes: a motor 50 and a motor 60 (a drive force supply source) that supply a left-right pair of front wheel 20 and rear wheel 30 of a vehicle with drive force independently; a front-wheel suspension mechanism 22 connecting the front wheel 20 to a vehicle body 10 in such a way that a center of rotation of the vehicle 1 in a side view is positioned between the front wheel 20 and rear wheel 30 of the vehicle 1; a rear-wheel suspension 32 connecting the rear wheel 30 to the vehicle body 10; a turning detection unit 102 detecting a turning motion of the vehicle 1 and a turning direction thereof while the vehicle 1 turns; and a drive force control unit 101 controlling drive force to be supplied to the front wheel 20 and rear wheel 30 in such a manner that a number-of-rotation difference occurs between the front wheel 20 on an outer side of turning and the rear wheel 30 on an outer side of turning, and/or between the front wheel 20 on an inner side of turning and the rear wheel 30 on an inner side of turning.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

The present disclosure relates to a vehicle whose vehicle height can be controlled.

Vehicles are generally provided with a suspension mechanism to reduce the impact transmitted from the wheels to the vehicle body or loading platform. According to Patent Document 1, in order to improve the riding comfort of the occupant and the ability to run on rough roads, the driving force applied to the front wheels and the rear wheels is adjusted, and the swing arm type suspension is operated to adjust the vehicle height even while driving. A technique capable of this is disclosed in Patent Document 1.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2012-240444

When the vehicle turns, the vehicle tilts to the opposite side (outside) of the turning direction due to centrifugal force. In vehicles such as trucks that run with a large number of loads on the loading platform, the load may collapse due to this inclination, and improvement is required.

It is an object of the present disclosure to provide a vehicle capable of reducing the inclination of the vehicle when turning and suitably preventing the load from collapsing.

The vehicle of the present disclosure has a driving force supply source that independently supplies driving force to at least one of a pair of left and right front wheels or rear wheels included in the vehicle, and the vehicle has a rotation center in a side view of the vehicle. A suspension mechanism that connects the driving wheels to which the driving force is supplied to the vehicle body so as to be located between the front wheels and the rear wheels, and the turning operation and turning direction of the vehicle while the vehicle is running. A rotation speed difference occurs between the turning detection unit to be detected and the front wheel on the outside of the turn and the rear wheel on the outside of the turn, and / or between the front wheel on the inside of the turn and the rear wheel on the inside of the turn. As described above, it has a driving force control unit that controls the driving force supplied to the driving wheels.

According to the present disclosure, it is possible to reduce the inclination of the vehicle when turning and preferably prevent the load from collapsing.

Side view for explaining the vehicle Conceptual diagram for explaining the drive system of a vehicle Block diagram for explaining the control unit and sensors The figure for demonstrating the vehicle height when the inclination compensation processing was performed and the vehicle height when it was not performed at the time of turning a vehicle. The figure which shows the state which the vehicle height increased in the inclination compensation process The figure which shows the state that the vehicle height decreased in the inclination compensation process

Hereinafter, each embodiment of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, more detailed explanations than necessary, such as detailed explanations of already well-known matters and duplicate explanations for substantially the same configuration, may be omitted.

FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining a vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle 1 has a vehicle body 10, front wheels 20, rear wheels 30, and a loading platform 40.

The vehicle body 10 includes a cab provided with a driver's seat (not shown). A loading platform 40 capable of loading luggage is provided behind the cab of the vehicle body 10.

A front wheel 20 and a rear wheel 30 that support the vehicle body 10 are provided below the vehicle body 10. In the present embodiment, driving force is supplied to the front wheels 20 and the rear wheels 30 by motors 50 and 60, which will be described later.

Although details will be described later, driving force is independently supplied to the front wheels 20 and the rear wheels 30 on the left and right sides, respectively. As a result, the front wheels 20 and the rear wheels 30 can rotate independently on the left and right sides.

The front wheels 20 are independently left and right connected to the vehicle body 10 by a swing arm type front wheel suspension mechanism 22. In other words, the front wheel suspension mechanism 22 is a leading arm suspension. The connection point 24 shown in FIG. 1 indicates a position where the arm 23 of either the left or right front wheel suspension mechanism 22 and the vehicle body 10 are connected in a side view of the vehicle 1. With such a configuration, the front wheels 20 can rotate on an arc with the length of the arm 23 as the radius, with the connection point 24 as the fulcrum.

Further, the rear wheels 30 are independently left and right connected to the vehicle body 10 by a swing arm type rear wheel suspension mechanism 32. In other words, the rear wheel suspension mechanism 32 is a trailing arm suspension. The connection point 34 shown in FIG. 1 indicates a position where the arm 33 of either the left or right rear wheel suspension mechanism 32 and the vehicle body 10 are connected in a side view of the vehicle 1. With such a configuration, the rear wheel 30 can rotate on an arc with the length of the arm 33 as the radius, with the connection point 34 as the fulcrum.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the drive system of the vehicle 1. As shown in FIG. 2, a left motor 50L that transmits a driving force is connected to the left front wheel 20L. A right motor 50R independent of the left motor 50L is connected to the front wheel 20R on the right side. Further, as shown in FIG. 2, a left motor 60L for transmitting a driving force is connected to the left rear wheel 30L. A right motor 60R independent of the left motor 60L is connected to the right rear wheel 30R. The left motor 50L and the right motor 50R, and the left motor 60L and the right motor 60R are connected to the battery 80 via the inverter 70 and operate by the electric power supplied from the battery 80. In the following description, the left motor 50L and the right motor 50R that transmit the driving force to the front wheels 20 may be collectively referred to as the motor 50. Further, in the following description, the left motor 60L and the right motor 60R that transmit the driving force to the rear wheels 30 may be collectively referred to as the motor 60.

The power supply from the battery 80 to the motor 50 and the motor 60 via the inverter 70 is controlled by the control unit 100 based on the operation by the driver of the vehicle 1.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram for explaining the control unit 100 and the sensors 110. As shown in FIG. 3, the control unit 100 includes a driving force control unit 101 and a turning detection unit 102.

The driving force control unit 101 determines the magnitude of the driving force applied to the left and right front wheels 20L and 20R by the left motor 50L and the right motor 50R, and the left, based on one operation (for example, depression of the accelerator pedal) by the driver of the vehicle 1. The magnitude of the driving force applied to the left and right rear wheels 30L and 30R by the motor 60L and the right motor 60R is controlled, respectively.

Then, when the turning detection unit 102, which will be described later, detects the turning of the vehicle 1 while the vehicle 1 is traveling, the driving force control unit 101 compensates for the inclination of the vehicle body 10 to the outside of the turning caused by the turning. I do. The details of the tilt compensation process will be described later.

In the present invention, the outside of turning means the side opposite to the turning direction of the vehicle 1. That is, when the vehicle 1 turns to the left, the outside of the turn means the right side of the vehicle 1, and when the vehicle 1 turns to the right, the outside of the turn means the left side of the vehicle 1. Further, in the present invention, the inside of the turn means the same side as the turn direction of the vehicle 1.

Sensors 110 including a steering angle sensor 111, a vehicle speed sensor 112, and a wheel speed sensor 113 are connected to the turning detection unit 102. The steering angle sensor 111 detects an operation amount (steering angle) of a steering wheel (steering wheel) (not shown) by the driver of the vehicle 1. The vehicle speed sensor 112 detects the traveling speed of the vehicle 1. The wheel speed sensor 113 detects the rotation speeds of the left and right front wheels 20L and 20R and the left and right rear wheels 30L and 30R, respectively.

The turning detection unit 102 detects the turning motion and the turning direction of the vehicle 1 based on the steering angle acquired from the steering angle sensor 111. Further, the turning detection unit 102 calculates the turning radius based on the steering angle, and calculates the lateral acceleration from the turning radius and the traveling speed. The information on the turning motion, the information on the turning direction, and the information on the lateral acceleration detected by the turning detection unit 102 are output to the driving force control unit 101.

<Inclination compensation processing>
Hereinafter, the inclination compensation process by the driving force control unit 101 will be described in detail. First, the effect of the inclination compensation process will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the vehicle height when the inclination compensation process is performed and the vehicle height when the inclination compensation process is not performed when the vehicle 1 is turned.

FIG. 4 shows a state in which the vehicle 1 is viewed from behind. That is, the right side of the paper corresponds to the right side of the vehicle 1, and the left side of the paper corresponds to the left side of the vehicle 1. The wheels shown in FIG. 4 have a rear wheel 30L on the left side and a rear wheel 30R on the right side.

FIG. 4 shows how the vehicle 1 is turning to the right. When the inclination compensation process is not performed, the vehicle body 10 is inclined toward the outside of the turn, that is, to the left side due to the centrifugal force applied to the vehicle body 10. In FIG. 4, the state in which the vehicle body 10 is tilted to the left when the tilt compensation process is not performed is shown by a dotted line.

On the other hand, in the inclination compensation process, when the turning of the vehicle 1 is detected, the vehicle height on the inclined side of the vehicle body 10 is raised. By appropriately adjusting the amount of raising the vehicle height, the vehicle body 10 can be kept substantially horizontal even during turning, as shown by the solid line in FIG.

FIG. 4 shows that the vehicle 1 is turning to the right, but when the vehicle 1 is turning to the left, the inclination compensation process is performed if the vehicle height on the right side of the vehicle body 10 is raised. Good.

Note that FIG. 4 has described an example in which the vehicle height on the outside of the turning of the vehicle body 10 is raised as the inclination compensation processing, but on the contrary, in the inclination compensation processing of the present invention, the inside of the turning of the vehicle body 10 is performed. The process of lowering the vehicle height may be performed. Further, the process of raising the vehicle height on the outside of the turning of the vehicle body 10 and the processing of lowering the vehicle height on the inside of the turning may be performed at the same time. In either case, by appropriately adjusting the amount of raising or lowering the vehicle height, the vehicle body 10 can be kept substantially horizontal even during turning.

Next, a method of raising or lowering the vehicle height in the inclination compensation process will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a state in which the vehicle height on either the left or right side is increased in the inclination compensation process. FIG. 5 shows a state in which the vehicle 1 is viewed from the left side when the outside of the turn, that is, the side for raising the vehicle height is the left side of the vehicle 1.

When the turning detection unit 102 detects a turning motion of the vehicle 1 in the right direction while the vehicle 1 is traveling, the driving force control unit 101 has a rear wheel 30L on the left side of the rotation speed of the front wheel 20L on the left side, which is outside the turning. The left motor 50L and the left motor 60L are controlled via the inverter 70 so that the rotation speed of the vehicle becomes larger. Specifically, the driving force control unit 101 reduces the rotation speed of the front wheels 20L and increases the rotation speed of the rear wheels 30L to generate a rotation speed difference between the front wheels 20L and the rear wheels 30L. .. Due to this difference in rotation speed, a force (braking force) in the direction of moving the vehicle backward acts on the front wheels 20L, and a force (propulsion force) in the direction of moving the vehicle 1 forward acts on the rear wheels 30L.

At this time, the driving force control unit 101 controls the left motors 50L and 60L so that the braking force applied to the front wheels 20 and the propulsive force applied to the rear wheels 30 are the same, so that the vehicle 1 is subjected to the inclination compensation process. Can be prevented from exhibiting unintended behavior. The unintended behavior of the vehicle 1 means that the vehicle 1 performs an unintended turning motion by decelerating or accelerating the front wheels and the rear wheels on the left side of the vehicle body 10 as compared with the front wheels and the rear wheels on the right side.

As described above, the front wheel 20L is connected to the vehicle body 10 by the front wheel suspension mechanism 22 that can rotate with the connection point 24 as the fulcrum, and the rear wheel 30L has the rear wheel suspension mechanism 32 that can rotate with the connection point 34 as the fulcrum. Is connected to the vehicle body 10. Therefore, the front wheels 20L move backward with respect to the vehicle body 10, and the rear wheels 30L move forward with respect to the vehicle body 10, so that the distance (wheelbase) between the front wheels 20L and the rear wheels 30L in the vehicle length direction becomes large. Decrease.

At this time, since the lengths of the arm 23 and the arm 33 are unchanged, the wheelbase is reduced, so that the connection point 24 of the front wheel suspension mechanism 22 fixed to the vehicle body 10 and the rear are as shown in FIG. The connection points 34 of the wheel suspension mechanism 32 and the connection points 34 move upward, respectively. As a result, the vehicle body 10 on the left side moves upward, and the vehicle height on the left side rises.

In the tilt compensation process, the difference in rotation speed between the front wheels 20L and the rear wheels 30L generated by the driving force control unit 101 is determined as follows, for example, based on the magnitude of the lateral acceleration calculated by the turning detection unit 102. Will be done.

Information indicating the relationship between the magnitude of the lateral acceleration applied to the vehicle body 10 when the vehicle 1 turns and the inclination angle (roll angle) of the vehicle body 10 is generated in advance by, for example, experimentally running the vehicle 1. Further, the relationship between the inclination angle of the vehicle body 10 and the amount to increase the vehicle height on the outside of the turn during the inclination compensation process (hereinafter referred to as the amount of increase in vehicle height) can be easily obtained, for example, geometrically. it can. Further, information indicating the relationship between the difference in the number of revolutions between the front wheels 20L and the rear wheels 30L and the amount of increase in the vehicle height on the left side of the vehicle body 10 is generated in advance by, for example, experimentally running the vehicle 1. There is.

Based on this information, information (for example, a table) that is generated in advance and indicates the relationship between the magnitude of the lateral acceleration applied to the vehicle body 10 when the vehicle 1 turns and the rotation speed difference between the front wheels 20L and the rear wheels 30L is generated in advance. It is stored in a storage unit or the like (not shown in FIG. 3 or the like). The driving force control unit 101 may determine the rotation speeds of the front wheels 20L and the rear wheels 30L by referring to this table at the time of the inclination compensation process.

As shown in FIG. 4, the horizontal posture of the vehicle body 10 is maintained by increasing the vehicle height outside the rotation of the vehicle body 10 during the turning operation of the vehicle 1 by such an inclination compensation process. As a result, the loading platform 40 provided on the vehicle body 10 can also maintain a horizontal posture, so that the load (luggage) loaded on the loading platform 40 collapses due to a change in the posture of the vehicle body 10 during turning. Will be able to prevent.

On the other hand, FIG. 6 is a diagram showing how the vehicle height is lowered in the inclination compensation process. FIG. 6 shows a state in which the vehicle 1 is viewed from the left side when the inside of the turn, that is, the side for lowering the vehicle height is the left side of the vehicle 1.

When the turning detection unit 102 detects a left-handed turning motion of the vehicle 1 while the vehicle 1 is traveling, the driving force control unit 101 has a rear wheel 30L on the left side of the rotation speed of the front wheel 20L on the left side inside the turning. The left motor 50L and the left motor 60L are controlled via the inverter 70 so that the rotation speed of the vehicle becomes smaller. Specifically, the driving force control unit 101 increases the rotation speed of the front wheels 20L and decreases the rotation speed of the rear wheels 30L to generate a rotation speed difference between the front wheels 20L and the rear wheels 30L. .. Due to this difference in the number of rotations, a force in the direction of moving the vehicle 1 forward (propulsion force) acts on the front wheels 20L, and a force (braking force) in the direction of moving the vehicle 1 backward acts on the rear wheels 30L.

At this time, the driving force control unit 101 controls the left motors 50L and 60L so that the braking force applied to the front wheels 20 and the propulsive force applied to the rear wheels 30 are the same as in the case of raising the vehicle height. By doing so, it is possible to prevent the vehicle 1 from exhibiting unintended behavior due to the inclination compensation process.

As described above, the front wheel 20L is connected to the vehicle body 10 by the front wheel suspension mechanism 22 that can rotate with the connection point 24 as the fulcrum, and the rear wheel 30L has the rear wheel suspension mechanism 32 that can rotate with the connection point 34 as the fulcrum. Is connected to the vehicle body 10. Therefore, the front wheels 20L move forward with respect to the vehicle body 10, and the rear wheels 30L move rearward with respect to the vehicle body 10, so that the distance (wheelbase) between the front wheels 20L and the rear wheels 30L in the vehicle length direction becomes large. Increase.

At this time, since the lengths of the arm 23 and the arm 33 are unchanged, the wheelbase is increased, so that the connection point 24 of the front wheel suspension mechanism 22 fixed to the vehicle body 10 and the rear are as shown in FIG. The connection points 34 of the wheel suspension mechanism 32 move downward, respectively. As a result, the entire vehicle body 10 on the left side moves downward, and the vehicle height is lowered.

By such an inclination compensation process, the horizontal posture of the vehicle body 10 is maintained by lowering the vehicle height inside the rotation of the vehicle body 10 during the turning operation of the vehicle 1. As a result, the loading platform 40 provided on the vehicle body 10 can also maintain a horizontal posture, so that the load (luggage) loaded on the loading platform 40 collapses due to a change in the posture of the vehicle body 10 during turning. Will be able to prevent.

<Action / effect>
As described above, the vehicle 1 according to the embodiment of the present disclosure includes a motor 50 and a motor 60 that independently supply driving force to the pair of left and right front wheels 20 and rear wheels 30 included in the vehicle 1. The front wheel suspension mechanism 22 that connects the front wheels 20 to the vehicle body 10 and the rear wheels so that the center of rotation in the side view of the vehicle 1 is located between the front wheels 20 and the rear wheels 30 of the vehicle 1). The rear wheel suspension mechanism 32 that connects 30 to the vehicle body 10, the turning detection unit 102 that detects the turning motion and turning direction of the vehicle 1 while the vehicle 1 is running, the front wheels 20 on the outside of the turning, and the rear wheels 30 on the outside of the turning. Driving force control that controls the driving force supplied to the front wheels 20 and the rear wheels 30 so that a difference in the number of revolutions occurs between the front wheels 20 on the inside of the turn and / or the rear wheels 30 on the inside of the turn. It has a part 101 and.

With such a configuration, the horizontal posture of the vehicle body 10 is maintained by increasing the vehicle height on the outside of the vehicle body 10 and / or decreasing the vehicle height on the inside of the vehicle body 10 during the turning operation of the vehicle 1. As a result, the loading platform 40 provided on the vehicle body 10 can also maintain a horizontal posture, so that the load (luggage) loaded on the loading platform 40 collapses due to a change in the posture of the vehicle body 10 during turning. Will be able to prevent.

(Modification example)
Although the embodiments of the present disclosure have been described above, the present disclosure is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and can be appropriately modified and implemented without departing from the spirit of the present disclosure.

In the above-described embodiment, the case where the front wheels 20 and the rear wheels 30 are all driving wheels has been described. However, the present disclosure is not limited to this, and for example, only the front wheels or only the rear wheels may be driving wheels, and the other wheel may be a non-driving wheel. When either the front wheel or the rear wheel is a non-driving wheel, it is desirable that a braking force applying means (brake mechanism or the like) for applying a braking force to the non-driving wheel is provided. With such a configuration, the braking force applied to the non-driving wheels and the propulsive force applied to the driving wheels are made the same, so that the inclination compensation process is preferably performed while preventing the vehicle from exhibiting unintended behavior. be able to.

In the above-described embodiment, the configuration in which the driving force control unit 101 is subjected to the braking force or the propulsive force by the motor 50 or the motor 60 has been described, but the present disclosure is not limited to this. For example, a braking force applying unit such as a braking mechanism independent of the driving force control unit may be further provided, and the braking force may be applied by this braking mechanism.

In the above-described embodiment, the turning detection unit 102 calculates the lateral acceleration applied to the vehicle body 10 based on the information of the steering angle sensor 111, the vehicle speed sensor 112, and the wheel speed sensor 113. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the lateral acceleration itself may be detected by using, for example, a 3-axis acceleration sensor.

In the above-described embodiment, the driving force control unit 101 determines the amount of raising and lowering the vehicle height based on the magnitude of the lateral acceleration calculated by the turning detection unit 102. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the driving force control unit 101 geometrically detects the stroke amount of the suspension of the front wheels 20L and 20R, which are non-driving wheels, by the stroke sensor during the turning operation, and geometrically increases or decreases the vehicle height from the stroke amount. It may be calculated.

Further, the driving force control unit 101 obtains the lateral acceleration calculated by the turning detection unit 102 based on, for example, information on the gear selected during the turning operation of the vehicle 1, the accelerator pedal operation amount, the brake pedal operation amount, and the like. After correcting to an appropriate value, the tilt compensation process may be performed using the corrected lateral acceleration. With such a configuration, more suitable inclination compensation processing can be performed.

Further, the driving force control unit 101 is based on the front image information acquired from the camera that captures the front image of the vehicle 1 and / or the navigation route information acquired from the car navigation device mounted on the vehicle 1. The vehicle 1 may predict the turning motion to be performed in the future. According to such a configuration, the inclination compensation process can be performed at the same time as the start of the turning operation, which is more preferable.

The present disclosure is useful for vehicles that perform turning operations.

1 Vehicle 10 Body 20, 20L, 20R Front wheel 22 Front wheel suspension mechanism 23 Arm 24 Connection point 30, 30L, 30R Rear wheel 32 Rear wheel suspension mechanism 33 Arm 34 Connection point 40 Loading platform 50, 60 Motor 50L, 60L Left motor 50R, 60R Right motor 70 Inverter 80 Battery 100 Control unit 101 Driving force control unit 102 Swivel detection unit 110 Sensors 111 Steering angle sensor 112 Vehicle speed sensor 113 Wheel speed sensor

Claims (6)

A driving force supply source that independently supplies driving force to at least one of the pair of left and right front wheels or rear wheels of the vehicle.
A suspension mechanism that connects the drive wheels to which the driving force is supplied to the vehicle body so that the center of rotation in the side view of the vehicle is located between the front wheels and the rear wheels of the vehicle.
A turning detection unit that detects the turning motion and turning direction of the vehicle while the vehicle is running,
The drive wheels have a rotational speed difference between the front wheels on the outside of the turn and the rear wheels on the outside of the turn, and / or between the front wheels on the inside of the turn and the rear wheels on the inside of the turn. A driving force control unit that controls the supplied driving force,
Has a vehicle. The driving force control unit controls the driving force supplied to the driving wheels so that the number of rotations of the rear wheels on the outside of the turning is larger than that of the front wheels on the outside of the turning.
The vehicle according to claim 1. The driving force control unit controls the driving force supplied to the driving wheels so that the number of rotations of the rear wheels on the inside of the turning is smaller than that of the front wheels on the inside of the turning.
The vehicle according to claim 1 or 2. The turning detection unit calculates the lateral acceleration applied to the vehicle during the turning operation, and calculates the lateral acceleration.
The driving force control unit determines the difference in rotation speed based on the magnitude of the lateral acceleration.
The vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 3. The drive wheels are the left and right rear wheels.
The vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 4. The driving force supply source is an electric motor.
The vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 5.

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