JP2021099076A - Fan control device - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a fan control device capable of suppressing damage of peripheral components due to deformation of a fan caused by an excessive load to the fan.SOLUTION: A fan control device 100 mounted to a vehicle and controlling a fan 101 of which drive and stop can be optionally controlled includes: an imaging device 102 imaging a road on which the vehicle is located and generating captured images; and a fan stop device 103 determining whether or not a road is submerged on the basis of the captured images generated by the imaging device 102 and stopping the fan 101 when determining that the road is submerged. In the fan control device 100, the fan stop device 103 determines whether or not a road is submerged by comparing road works with a submergence water level on the basis of the captured images.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

The present invention relates to a fan control device that controls a fan mounted on a vehicle and capable of arbitrarily controlling drive and stop.

The vehicle is equipped with a fan whose drive and stop can be arbitrarily controlled in order to promote ventilation to a heat exchanger (for example, a radiator that cools engine cooling water).

JP-A-2002-30934 Jikkenhei 6-76695

When the road on which the vehicle is located is submerged, if the fan is submerged in water, an excessive load may be applied to the fan and the fan may be deformed. If the fan is continuously driven even after the fan is deformed, the fan may interfere with the peripheral parts and damage the peripheral parts.

In view of the above circumstances, it is an object of the present invention to provide a fan control device capable of suppressing damage to peripheral parts due to deformation of the fan due to an excessive load on the fan.

A fan control device that controls a fan that is mounted on a vehicle and can arbitrarily control drive and stop, and is an imaging device that images the road on which the vehicle is located to generate an image, and the imaging device. Based on the captured image generated in the above, it is determined whether or not the road is submerged, and if it is determined that the road is submerged, a fan stop device for stopping the fan is provided. The fan stop device provides a fan control device that compares a road structure with a submerged surface based on the captured image and determines whether or not the road is submerged.

The fan stopping device further includes a vehicle positioning device for identifying the position of the vehicle and a database for storing position information of a location where the vehicle is likely to be submerged, and the fan stopping device is used in addition to a comparison between the road structure and the submerged surface. Therefore, it is desirable to compare the position of the vehicle specified by the vehicle position specifying device with the position information of the easily submerged portion stored in the database to determine whether or not the road is submerged. ..

When the fan is stopped, it is desirable that the fan stop device stops the fan for a preset set time, and then releases the stop of the fan after the set time has elapsed.

The fan stop device further includes a rotation speed sensor that detects the rotation speed of the fan, and the fan stop device increases the rotation speed of the fan detected by the rotation speed sensor per unit time after releasing the stop of the fan. If is less than the preset value, it is desirable to stop the fan again for the set time.

It is possible to provide a fan control device capable of suppressing damage to peripheral parts caused by deformation of the fan due to an excessive load on the fan.

It is a figure explaining the structure of a fan control device. It is a figure explaining the operation of a fan control device.

First, the structure of the fan control device will be described.

As shown in FIG. 1, the fan control device 100 controls a fan 101 which is mounted on a vehicle and can arbitrarily control drive and stop (that is, rotation speed), and includes an image pickup device 102 and a fan. A stop device 103 is provided.

The fan 101 promotes air blowing to the heat exchanger, and is, for example, a radiator fan that is installed adjacent to a radiator that cools engine cooling water in a vehicle and promotes air blowing to the radiator.

In particular, since the fan 101 is exposed to the surrounding environment of the vehicle because it promotes ventilation to the heat exchanger, the road on which the vehicle is located (for example, the road on which the vehicle is traveling or the vehicle is traveling). If the stopped road) is submerged, the fan 101 may be submerged in water.

When the fan 101 is immersed in water, an excessive load may be applied to the fan 101 to deform the fan 101, and in the worst case, damage to peripheral parts due to the deformation of the fan may occur.

Further, as the fan 101 whose drive and stop can be arbitrarily controlled, for example, an electronically controlled fan which uses an engine as a drive source and can electrically control whether or not to transmit the driving force of the engine and a motor are driven. An electric fan as a source can be mentioned.

The image pickup device 102 captures an image of the road on which the vehicle is located to generate an captured image, and is, for example, a camera mounted on the vehicle.

The road on which the vehicle is located does not, of course, mean the part of the road on which the vehicle is located that is located behind the vehicle that the vehicle has already passed, but the vehicle that the vehicle passes behind. It means the part located in front of. In addition, the road on which the vehicle is located includes not only the road but also the periphery of the road.

The fan stop device 103 determines whether or not the road is submerged based on the captured image generated by the image pickup device 102, and if it is determined that the road is submerged, the fan 101 is stopped. For example, an electronic control unit (ECU) mounted on a vehicle.

The fan stop device 103 compares the road structure with the submerged surface based on the captured image to determine whether or not the road is submerged. Road structures are installed on or around roads, such as guardrails.

Specifically, the fan stop device 103 determines, for example, that the road is submerged when the captured image is image-analyzed and a part of the road structure is covered with a submerged surface.

Further, the fan stop device 103 is machine-learned so that the road structure and the submerged surface can be compared and the submerged road and the non-submerged road can be distinguished with high accuracy by image analysis. Is desirable.

When stopping the fan 101, it is desirable to stop the fan 101 before the vehicle enters the submerged road, that is, before the fan 101 is submerged in water.

This is because if the fan 101 is stopped after the vehicle has entered the submerged road, the fan 101 is rotated while being submerged in water, so that the fan 101 may be deformed due to the resistance of the water.

Further, it is desirable that the fan control device 100 further includes a vehicle position specifying device 104 that specifies the position of the vehicle, and a database 105 that stores position information of a location that is easily submerged in water.

The vehicle position specifying device 104, for example, receives a GPS signal to identify the position of the vehicle. The database 105 is recorded on a recording medium that can be read by the fan stop device 103.

The fan stop device 103 compares the position of the vehicle specified by the vehicle position specifying device 104 with the position information of the easily submerged part stored in the database 105, in addition to the comparison between the road structure and the submerged surface. Determine if the road is submerged.

Even if the judgment of whether or not the road is submerged is delicate in image analysis, there is a high possibility that the road is actually submerged in a place where it is easily submerged. If it is located in the vicinity of an easily submerged road, set the threshold value for distinguishing between a submerged road and a non-submerged road by image analysis on the safe side so that it is easy to determine that the road is submerged. change.

Further, it is desirable that the fan stop device 103 stops the fan 101 for a preset set time when the fan 101 is stopped, and releases the stop of the fan 101 after the set time has elapsed.

While the fan 101 is stopped, the air blown by the fan 101 to the heat exchanger is stopped. Therefore, if the air blown air by the fan 101 to the heat exchanger is stopped for too long, the heat exchanger is stopped. This is because there is a risk that the parts that should be cooled by will overheat.

Further, after a certain period of time has passed, it is considered that the vehicle passes through the submerged road, and if the vehicle passes through the submerged road, there is no possibility that the fan 101 will be submerged in water. Therefore, the fan 101 is stopped. This is because it is desirable to release the above to drive the fan 101.

The set time is not particularly limited, but is set based on a time that does not overheat the parts to be cooled by the heat exchanger even if the air blown to the heat exchanger by the fan 101 is stopped.

Further, it is desirable that the fan control device 100 further includes a rotation speed sensor 106 that detects the rotation speed of the fan 101. The rotation speed of the fan 101 detected by the rotation speed sensor 106 is input to the fan control device 100, and is grasped in real time by the fan control device 100.

The rotation speed of the fan 101 can be estimated based on whether or not the driving force of the engine is transmitted and the current applied to the motor, but it is difficult to accurately estimate it due to a mechanical response delay or the like. Therefore, it is desirable to actually detect it with the rotation speed sensor 106. However, the mode of estimating the rotation speed of the fan 101 is not excluded.

Further, the fan stop device 103 is set when the rate of increase of the rotation speed of the fan 101 per unit time detected by the rotation speed sensor 106 is less than a preset set value after the stop of the fan 101 is released. It is desirable to stop the fan again over time.

If the rate of increase in the rotation speed of the fan 101 per unit time is low even after the stop of the fan 101 is released, it is difficult for the fan 101 to be rotated due to some resistance such as the fan 101 being still submerged in water. This is because it is considered that the situation is present, and it is desirable to stop the fan 101 in order to suppress the deformation of the fan 101 until the situation is improved.

Next, the operation of the fan control device 100 will be described.

As shown in FIG. 2, in the first step S101, the imaging device 102 images the road on which the vehicle is located to generate an captured image. The captured image generated by the image capturing device 102 is input to the fan stopping device 103.

In the next step S102, the fan stop device 103 compares the road structure with the submerged surface based on the captured image to determine whether or not the road is submerged. If it is determined that the road is submerged, the process proceeds to step S103, and if it is determined that the road is not submerged, the process returns to step S101.

In step S103, deformation of the fan 101 is suppressed by stopping the fan 101 before the vehicle enters the submerged road.

In the next step S104, the fan stop device 103 determines whether or not a preset set time has elapsed. Step S104 is repeated until the set time elapses, and when the set time elapses, the process proceeds to step S105 to release the stop of the fan 101.

In the following step S106, it is determined whether or not the rate of increase of the rotation speed of the fan 101 per unit time detected by the rotation speed sensor 106 is equal to or higher than a preset set value. If it is determined that the value is less than the set value, it is considered that the fan 101 is still submerged in water and it is difficult for the rotation speed of the fan 101 to increase due to the resistance of the water. Stop it. If it is determined that the value is equal to or higher than the set value, it is considered that the vehicle has passed the submerged road, and it is not necessary to stop the fan 101 again. Therefore, the control loop is ended and the process returns to step S101.

If the rotation speed of the fan 101 does not increase even after repeating step S106 several times, there is a high possibility that the rotation of the fan 101 is hindered by some abnormality. You can do it.

With the above control, the fan control device 100 can suppress damage to peripheral parts due to deformation of the fan 101 due to an excessive load on the fan 101.

100 Fan control device 101 Fan 102 Imaging device 103 Fan stop device 104 Vehicle position identification device 105 Database 106 Rotation speed sensor

Claims (4)

It is a fan control device that controls a fan that is mounted on a vehicle and can arbitrarily control drive and stop.
An image pickup device that captures an image of the road on which the vehicle is located and generates an image.
Based on the captured image generated by the image pickup device, it is determined whether or not the road is submerged, and if it is determined that the road is submerged, a fan stop device for stopping the fan and a fan stop device.
With
The fan stop device is a fan control device characterized in that it determines whether or not the road is submerged by comparing a road structure with a submerged surface based on the captured image. A vehicle position specifying device for specifying the position of the vehicle and
A database that stores location information of places that are easily submerged,
Further prepare
In addition to the comparison between the road structure and the submerged surface, the fan stop device includes the position of the vehicle specified by the vehicle position specifying device and the position information of the easily submerged portion stored in the database. The fan control device according to claim 1, wherein the above roads are compared to determine whether or not the road is submerged. The fan stop device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein when the fan is stopped, the fan is stopped for a preset set time, and the stop of the fan is released after the set time has elapsed. Fan control device. A rotation speed sensor for detecting the rotation speed of the fan is further provided.
When the rate of increase of the rotation speed of the fan per unit time detected by the rotation speed sensor is less than a preset set value after the fan is released from the stop, the fan stop device has the set time. The fan control device according to claim 3, wherein the fan is stopped again.

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