JP2022152838A - Shift instruction device - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a shift instruction device enabling an operator to recognize that shift is not performed at appropriate timing.SOLUTION: A shift instruction device comprises: an engine 2; a transmission 3 capable of shifting power output from the engine 2 to a speed corresponding to a plurality of gear stages and arbitrarily selecting a gear stage; and a shift indicator control unit 7 that when the gear stage is not an optimum gear stage calculated from the running state of a vehicle 1, causes a meter display unit 5 to notify an operator to shift it to the optimum gear stage, and when the shift is not performed even after a predetermined time has elapsed after the notification by the meter display unit 5, gives a notification to prompt the shift by a meter light emitting unit 6.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

The present invention relates to a shift indicating device.

A technology is known that displays an instruction to shift up or shift down to the driver according to the driving situation, prompts the driver to shift to the optimum gear stage, and improves fuel efficiency.

In Patent Document 1, when an upper limit value of driving force is set for each gear stage selected in a manual shift mode, the actual driving force is equal to the upper limit value of the driving force set at the current gear stage. is approaching, a shift down instruction is given by the gear shift instruction device. It is described that an instruction to shift gears to the upshift side is prohibited.

Japanese Patent No. 5733194

However, even if such a gear shift instruction device is provided, if the gear shift instruction is followed after a period of time has elapsed since the gear shift instruction was given, the gear shift timing with good fuel efficiency will be missed, and an improvement in fuel efficiency can be expected. It is not possible. Furthermore, since the driver has no way of recognizing that the timing for gear shifting with good fuel consumption is missed, the function of the gear shift indicating device is not fully utilized.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a gear shift instruction device that enables a driver to recognize that gear shifting is not performed at an appropriate timing.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a shift instruction for a vehicle equipped with a transmission that shifts the power output from an internal combustion engine to speeds corresponding to a plurality of gear stages, and that allows the gear stages to be selected arbitrarily. In the apparatus, when the gear stage is not the optimum gear stage calculated from the running state of the vehicle, the first notification unit notifies the driver to shift to the optimum gear stage, and A shift indicator control section is provided for performing a notification to prompt a shift by a second notification section when a predetermined time has passed since the notification by the first notification section and the gear shift has not been performed.

Thus, according to the present invention, it is possible to make the driver recognize that the gear shift is not performed at an appropriate timing.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a shift instruction device according to one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a meter display section and a meter light emitting section of a shift indicating device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing the procedure of shift instruction control processing of the shift instruction device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

A shift instruction device according to an embodiment of the present invention is a vehicle equipped with a transmission that shifts power output from an internal combustion engine to speeds corresponding to a plurality of gear stages, and that can arbitrarily select a gear stage. wherein, when the gear stage is not the optimum gear stage calculated from the running state of the vehicle, the first notification unit notifies the driver to shift to the optimum gear stage; A shift indicator control section is provided to issue a notification to prompt a shift by a second notification section when a predetermined time has elapsed after notification by the first notification section has not been performed.

As a result, the shift instruction device according to the embodiment of the present invention can make the driver recognize that the shift is not performed at an appropriate timing.

A gear shift indicating device according to an embodiment of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
In FIG. 1, a vehicle 1 equipped with a shift indicating device according to an embodiment of the present invention includes an internal combustion engine type engine 2, a transmission 3, drive wheels 4, a meter display section 5, and a second notification device. It includes a meter light emitting unit 6 and a shift indicator control unit 7 as a unit.

The engine 2 is a four-cycle engine that performs a series of four strokes consisting of an intake stroke, a compression stroke, an expansion stroke and an exhaust stroke, and performs ignition in the combustion chamber between the compression stroke and the expansion stroke.

The transmission 3 shifts the rotation output from the engine 2 at a gear ratio corresponding to one of a plurality of gear stages to drive the drive wheels 4 . The transmission 3 includes, for example, a constant mesh type transmission mechanism (not shown) composed of a parallel shaft gear mechanism, and a clutch (not shown) composed of a normally closed type dry clutch. The transmission mechanism can form any one gear stage among a plurality of gear stages.

Gear stages that can be formed by the transmission mechanism include, for example, gear stages for running from the first low-speed stage to the fifth high-speed stage, and a reverse gear. The number of gear stages for traveling varies depending on the specifications of the vehicle 1, and is not limited to the 1st to 5th gear stages.

The transmission 3 engages and disengages the clutch by the operation of a clutch pedal (not shown) by the driver, and selects the gear stage to be formed according to the operation of the shift lever 14 by the driver.

The transmission 3 may be, for example, an automatic transmission having a manual transmission mode, in which an actuator is used to switch gear stages and engage and disengage a clutch in a transmission mechanism.

The meter display unit 5 is provided on an instrument panel or the like, and displays, for example, the current gear position of the transmission mechanism of the transmission 3, or displays an instruction to the driver to upshift or downshift.

The meter light emitting unit 6 is provided on an instrument panel or the like, and notifies the driver of information by emitting light. The meter light emitting unit 6 notifies the driver of information by, for example, changing the color of the emitted light.

The meter display section 5 and the meter light emitting section 6 are configured as shown in FIG. 2, for example. 2, the meter display unit 5 includes a gear stage display unit 51 that displays the current gear stage of the transmission mechanism of the transmission 3 under the control of the shift indicator control unit 7, and a gear stage display unit 51 that displays the current gear stage of the transmission mechanism of the transmission 3 under the control of the shift indicator control unit 7. An upshift instruction unit 52 as a first notification unit that instructs an upshift, and a downshift instruction unit 53 as a first notification unit that instructs the driver to downshift under the control of the shift indicator control unit 7. I have it.

The meter light emitting section 6 is provided above and below the meter display section 5, and is designed to emit light in a predetermined color or blink under the control of the shift indicator control section 7, for example.

In FIG. 1, the shift indicator control unit 7 is a computer having a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a RAM (Random Access Memory), a ROM (Read Only Memory), a flash memory, an input port, and an output port. made up of units.

The ROM of this computer unit stores a program for causing the computer unit to function as the shift indicator control section 7 along with various constants, various maps, and the like.

That is, these computer units function as the shift indicator control section 7 in this embodiment by the CPU executing the program stored in the ROM using the RAM as a work area.

Input ports of the shift indicator control unit 7 are connected to an engine speed sensor 10 for detecting the engine speed of the engine 2 (hereinafter also referred to as "engine speed"), a vehicle speed sensor 11 for detecting the vehicle speed, and an accelerator pedal 12. Various sensors including an accelerator opening sensor 13 that detects the amount of operation (hereinafter also referred to as "accelerator opening") and a shift position sensor 15 that detects the shift position of the shift lever 14 are connected.

Various control objects including the meter display section 5 and the meter light emitting section 6 are connected to the output port of the shift indicator control section 7 .

In this embodiment, the shift indicator control unit 7 calculates the gear stage of the transmission 3 that improves the fuel efficiency according to the running state of the vehicle 1 as the optimum gear stage.

The shift indicator control unit 7 calculates the optimum gear stage based on, for example, the accelerator opening, the vehicle speed, and the engine speed. The shift indicator control unit 7 calculates the optimum gear stage using a map that determines the optimum gear stage from, for example, the accelerator opening, the vehicle speed, and the engine speed.

When the current gear stage of transmission 3 is different from the optimum gear stage, shift indicator control unit 7 issues a shift command through upshift instruction unit 52 or downshift instruction unit 53 of meter display unit 5 . Further, the shift indicator control section 7 causes the meter light emitting section 6 to emit green light, for example. The shift indicator control unit 7 detects the current gear stage of the transmission 3 by using the shift position sensor 15, for example.

If a shift change is not performed within a predetermined period of time after the shift indicator control unit 7 issues a shift command notification through the meter display unit 5, the shift indicator control unit 7 changes the color of the light emitted from the meter light emitting unit 6 to issue a shift prompt notification. Do. The shift indicator control section 7 changes the light emission color of the meter light emitting section 6 from green to orange, for example.

The shift indicator control unit 7 changes the predetermined time until the meter light emitting unit 6 is turned on to issue a notification prompting the gear shift according to the degree of opening of the accelerator.

For example, when an upshift instruction is issued, the shift indicator control unit 7 changes the predetermined time so that the greater the accelerator opening, the shorter the predetermined time.

For example, when a downshift instruction is issued, the shift indicator control unit 7 changes the predetermined time so that the smaller the accelerator opening, the shorter the predetermined time.

A shift command control process performed by the shift command device according to the present embodiment configured as described above will be described with reference to FIG. Note that the shift instruction control process described below is started when the shift indicator control unit 7 starts operating, and is executed at preset time intervals.

In step S1, the shift indicator control unit 7 calculates the current optimum gear stage of the transmission 3 based on the accelerator opening, vehicle speed, and engine speed. After executing the process of step S1, the shift indicator control section 7 executes the process of step S2.

In step S<b>2 , the shift indicator control section 7 determines whether or not the current optimal gear stage of the transmission 3 is equal to the current gear stage of the transmission 3 .

When determining that the current optimum gear stage of the transmission 3 is equal to the current gear stage of the transmission 3, the shift indicator control section 7 terminates the shift instruction control process. If it is determined that the current optimum gear stage of the transmission 3 is not equal to the current gear stage of the transmission 3, the shift indicator control section 7 executes the process of step S3.

In step S3, the shift indicator control unit 7 notifies the shift instruction by the upshift instruction unit 52 or the downshift instruction unit 53 of the meter display unit 5 so that the gear is shifted to the optimum gear stage. For example, it emits green light. After executing the process of step S3, the shift indicator control section 7 executes the process of step S4.

In step S<b>4 , the shift indicator control unit 7 acquires the accelerator opening from the accelerator opening sensor 13 . After executing the process of step S4, the shift indicator control section 7 executes the process of step S5.

In step S5, the shift indicator control unit 7 corrects the predetermined time according to the accelerator opening. After executing the process of step S5, the shift indicator control section 7 executes the process of step S6.

In step S6, the shift indicator control unit 7 determines whether or not the driver has changed gears within a predetermined period of time.

If it is determined that the driver has changed gears within the predetermined time, the shift indicator control section 7 executes the process of step S9. If it is determined that the driver has not changed the shift within the predetermined time, the shift indicator control section 7 executes the process of step S7.

In step S7, the shift indicator control section 7 changes the color of the light emitted from the meter light emitting section 6 from green to orange to notify the user of the need to shift gears. After executing the process of step S2, the shift indicator control section 7 executes the process of step S8.

In step S8, the shift indicator control unit 7 determines whether or not the driver has changed gears.

If it is determined that the driver has changed gears, the shift indicator control section 7 executes the process of step S9. If it is determined that the driver has not changed gears, the shift indicator control section 7 executes the process of step S7.

In step S<b>9 , the shift indicator control section 7 terminates the notification by the upshift instruction section 52 or the downshift instruction section 53 of the meter display section 5 and the notification by the meter light emitting section 6 . After executing the process of step S9, the shift indicator control section 7 terminates the shift instruction control process.

Thus, in this embodiment, the shift indicator control section 7 controls the upshift instruction section 52 or the downshift instruction section 53 of the meter display section 5 when the current gear stage of the transmission 3 is different from the optimum gear stage. If the shift change is not performed within a predetermined time after the shift instruction is notified by the meter display part 5, the meter light emitting part 6 is lit to notify the shift to be urged.

As a result, the driver is made to recognize that the gear shift is not performed at the appropriate timing, thereby making the driver aware that the fuel efficiency is deteriorating, promoting the effective use of the gear shift instruction device, and realizing an ideal shift. It is possible to improve fuel efficiency by performing gear shifting.

In addition, the shift indicator control unit 7 changes the predetermined time until the meter light emitting unit 6 is lit to notify the operator of the need to shift gears, depending on the degree of opening of the accelerator.

Since the optimum timing for switching the gear stage changes depending on the degree of accelerator opening (that is, the acceleration/deceleration state of the vehicle 1), the timing at which the meter light emitting portion 6 is turned on to notify the gear shift is changed depending on the degree of accelerator opening. Fuel efficiency can be improved by encouraging the implementation of gear shifting at more ideal timing.

Further, the shift indicator control unit 7 changes the predetermined time so that the greater the accelerator opening, the shorter the predetermined time.

When an upshift is required and the accelerator opening is large, it can be determined that the vehicle 1 is accelerating. Therefore, if the shift instruction is not followed, the engine speed will increase, leading to deterioration in fuel consumption. For this reason, the predetermined time until the meter light-emitting portion 6 is turned on to notify the operator of the need to shift gears is shortened so that the driver can recognize that the timing for shifting gears with good fuel efficiency has been missed, and gear shifting is performed at ideal timing. Fuel efficiency can be improved by promoting implementation.

The accelerator opening is considered to be the degree of acceleration (or deceleration). During acceleration, the engine speed rises quickly and the fuel consumption deteriorates. Therefore, it is better to change the gear stage quickly, and the predetermined time is shortened to notify the driver of the deterioration of the fuel consumption. On the other hand, when the acceleration is small, there is a margin, so the predetermined time is long.

In addition, when an upshift is required and the accelerator opening is large, it is conceivable that the driver does not have enough time to spare, so it is conceivable to lengthen the predetermined time.

Further, the shift indicator control unit 7 changes the predetermined time so that the smaller the accelerator opening, the shorter the predetermined time.

When a downshift is required and the accelerator opening is small, it can be determined that the vehicle 1 is decelerating. For this reason, the predetermined time period until the meter light-emitting portion 6 is lit to notify the user of the need to shift gears is shortened so that the driver can recognize that the timing for shifting gears with good fuel efficiency has been missed, and gear shifting is performed at ideal timing. Fuel efficiency can be improved by promoting implementation. Also, if the gear stage is not changed during deceleration, the engine may stall, and the occurrence of the engine stall can be suppressed.

Contrary to the case where an upshift is required, when a downshift is required, the degree of deceleration is large when the accelerator opening is small, so the engine speed decreases quickly and fuel efficiency deteriorates. and notify the driver of the worsening of fuel consumption.

In this embodiment, the upshift instruction section 52 or the downshift instruction section 53 of the meter display section 5 issues a shift instruction, and after the shift instruction is issued by the meter display section 5, a predetermined period of time elapses. When the shift change is not performed immediately, the color of light emitted from the meter light emitting portion 6 is changed to notify the operator of the need to shift gears, but the present invention is not limited to this method. For example, flashing of light, notification by sound, animation, or the like may be used as long as the notification makes it possible to know the ideal shift timing. Alternatively, the meter light emitting portion 6 may be provided on the shift knob of the shift lever 14 or the like.

Further, when the current gear stage becomes the optimum gear stage and there is no need to shift gears, the shift indicator control unit 7 stops the notification and terminates the process in any step of the gear shift instruction control process. Let

In this embodiment, an example in which the shift indicator control unit 7 performs various determinations and calculations based on various sensor information has been described. Various determinations and calculations are performed by the external device based on the detection information of various sensors transmitted from the communication unit, the determination results and calculation results are received by the communication unit, and the received determination results and calculation results are received. may be used to perform various controls.

Although embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed, it will be apparent that modifications may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention. All such modifications and equivalents are intended to be included in the following claims.

1 vehicle 2 engine (internal combustion engine)
3 transmission 5 meter display unit 6 meter light emitting unit (second notification unit)
7 shift indicator control unit 10 engine speed sensor 11 vehicle speed sensor 13 accelerator opening sensor 15 shift position sensor 52 upshift instruction unit (first notification unit)
53 Downshift instruction unit (second notification unit)

Claims (4)

A shift instruction device for a vehicle equipped with a transmission that shifts power output from an internal combustion engine to speeds corresponding to a plurality of gear stages and is capable of arbitrarily selecting the gear stages,
When the gear stage is not the optimum gear stage calculated from the running state of the vehicle, the first notification unit notifies the driver to shift to the optimum gear stage, and the first notification unit A gearshift instruction device comprising a shift indicator control section that issues a notification to prompt a gearshift by a second notification section when a gearshift has not been performed even after a predetermined time has elapsed after notification. 2. The shift instruction device according to claim 1, wherein the shift indicator control section changes the predetermined time until the second notification section performs notification according to the degree of accelerator opening. 3. The shift instruction device according to claim 2, wherein the shift indicator control section shortens the predetermined time until the notification by the second notification section is performed as the accelerator opening increases. 3. The shift instruction device according to claim 2, wherein the shift indicator control section shortens the predetermined time until the second notification section performs notification as the accelerator opening decreases.

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