JP2776067B2 - Clutch engagement speed control device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a clutch engagement speed control device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The engagement speed of a clutch is controlled by the driver appropriately adjusting the release operation of the clutch pedal in accordance with the driving state of the vehicle. If the foot is slid from the clutch pedal at the time of release, a large impact torque is generated in the clutch.While the vehicle is running, if the depression release operation is not accelerated according to the vehicle speed, wear of the clutch disk,
Fever increases. For this reason, it is desired to have a control device that can accurately control the engagement speed of the clutch according to the situation of the vehicle. In order to cope with such a demand, the present applicant proposed in Japanese Patent Application No. 2-54200 previously filed an actuator capable of accurately controlling the engagement speed of a clutch, and an example of control using the actuator. Is disclosed.

The actuator is disposed between a clutch pedal and a vehicle body rotatably supporting the pedal, and applies a predetermined voltage to an electrorheological fluid contained in a case to reduce the rotation return speed of the clutch pedal. This is controlled, and more specifically, has the following configuration. That is, the actuator has a cylinder bore at the center and is connected to the vehicle body side. The actuator is slidably fitted in the cylinder bore of the cylinder body in the longitudinal direction and connected to the clutch pedal. The pedal is made of an electrorheological fluid that is sealed in the cylinder body and changes its viscosity according to an applied voltage, and the cylinder body is made of A first passage and a second passage communicating with both ends of the cylinder inner hole, a check valve provided in the first passage and allowing the flow of the electrorheological fluid only when the clutch pedal is depressed; The structure is provided with an electrode provided in the passage for applying a voltage to the electrorheological fluid.

In this actuator, when the clutch pedal is depressed, the piston rod connected to the clutch pedal slides in the cylinder bore of the cylinder body toward the front end in the longitudinal direction, and accordingly, the electric power in the cylinder bore is reduced. The viscous fluid is mainly discharged from the front end side of the cylinder bore.
It flows through the passage and flows into the rear end of the cylinder bore. As a result, the clutch pedal is depressed by a predetermined amount, hydraulic fluid is supplied from the clutch master cylinder to the clutch release cylinder, and the engagement of the clutch is released. Also, when the depression of the clutch pedal is released in this state, the clutch pedal is pushed back to the original position by the return of the hydraulic oil from the clutch release cylinder to the clutch master cylinder, and at this time, the piston rod moves in the cylinder bore at the rear end side. , The electrorheological fluid flows through the second passage from the rear end side of the cylinder bore, and flows into the front end side of the cylinder bore.

The electrorheological fluid is usually a fluid having a low viscosity. However, when a voltage is applied, the viscosity increases in accordance with the applied voltage as shown in the graph of FIG. . For this reason, if the voltage applied to the electrodes provided in the second passage is controlled according to the operating state of the vehicle, the viscosity of the electrorheological fluid flowing between the electrodes is changed according to the operating state of the vehicle. The speed of the flow in the passage is controlled according to the driving state of the vehicle. As a result, the release speed of the clutch pedal, the recirculation speed of the hydraulic oil, and hence the engagement speed of the clutch are controlled in accordance with the driving state of the vehicle.

In the above-mentioned prior application, as a control method using the actuator, a voltage set in advance based on the accelerator opening is applied to the electrorheological fluid.
Means for controlling the clutch engagement speed by controlling the return speed of the pedal according to the accelerator opening is employed.

[0007]

By the way, a beginner of driving tends to retreat when the vehicle starts on a slope and tends to depress the accelerator too much in order to prevent this. For this reason, the vehicle does not start smoothly on a slope, and the half-clutch state continues for a long time, causing damage such as seizure of the clutch and early wear. Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to enable a vehicle to start smoothly regardless of the inclination of a road using the above-described actuator.

[0008]

A clutch engagement speed control device according to the present invention is characterized in that a predetermined voltage is applied to an electrorheological fluid housed in a case and disposed between a clutch pedal and a vehicle body rotatably supporting the pedal. An actuator for controlling the rotation return speed of the clutch pedal by applying a force, a pedal operation detecting means for detecting a depression operation of the clutch pedal, a shift position detecting means for detecting a shift position of the transmission, and a vehicle speed. Vehicle speed detecting means for detecting, accelerator opening detecting means for detecting an accelerator opening degree, gradient detecting means for detecting a gradient of a road, the shift position detecting means and the vehicle speed detecting means in a depressing operation state of the clutch pedal. The shift position of the transmission is the first or reverse shift position based on the detection signal from Determining means for determining whether there is a certain control state; and a predetermined voltage corresponding to a road gradient and an accelerator opening based on detection signals from the gradient detecting means and the accelerator opening detecting means at the time of the braking state. Is provided with control means for assigning

[0009]

In the clutch engagement speed control device having the above construction, the engagement speed of the clutch is controlled according to the driving state of the vehicle as described above. In particular, a gradient detecting means for detecting the gradient of the road. Since a predetermined voltage corresponding to the road gradient and the accelerator opening is applied to the electro-rheological granules of the actuator, when the road gradient is large, the return of the clutch pedal is accelerated to increase the clutch speed. If the road gradient is small, the return of the clutch pedal is slowed to reduce the clutch engagement speed, and if the both are intermediate, the clutch engagement speed is set to an intermediate value. Can control. As a result, the clutch engagement such as starting on a normal road can be smoothly performed, and the vehicle can be smoothly started on a slope by changing the clutch engagement speed according to the gradient of the road. it can.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows an actuator 10 constituting a clutch engagement speed control device according to an embodiment of the present invention. The actuator 10 is disposed between the clutch pedal 21 and the dash panel 22 of the vehicle body as shown in FIG. 2, and controls the clutch engagement speed by controlling the operation of releasing the clutch pedal 21. The clutch pedal 21 is connected to a clutch master cylinder 24 via a push rod 23, and when the clutch pedal 21 is depressed, hydraulic oil is supplied from the clutch master cylinder 24 to the clutch release cylinder through a hydraulic line, thereby disengaging the clutch. Is done. Also, in this state, when the operation of depressing the clutch pedal is released, the hydraulic oil returns from the clutch release cylinder to the clutch master cylinder,
When the clutch is engaged, the clutch pedal returns to its original position.

The actuator 10 is made of a cylinder body 11, a piston rod 12, and an electrorheological fluid sealed in the cylinder body 11. The cylinder body 11 is provided with a cylinder inner hole 11a at the center and a first passage 11b extending along the cylinder inner hole 11a.
And a second passage 11c.
1c both communicate with both ends of the cylinder bore 11a.
A check valve 13 is interposed in the first passage 11b, and the check valve 13 allows only the flow of the electrorheological fluid in the direction of arrow A. An electrode 14 is provided in the second passage 11c, and the electrode 14 is connected to the second passage 11c.
A voltage is applied to the electrorheological fluid flowing through. The electrorheological fluid is introduced as an electrorheological fluid ER fluid in the publication "NIKKEI MECHANICAL (1986, 2, 10) P35". The piston rod 12 is formed in the cylinder bore 11 of the cylinder body 11.
a slidably inserted in the longitudinal direction of the cylinder a. During sliding, the electrorheological fluid (hereinafter referred to as ER fluid) in the cylinder bore 11a flows through the first passage 11b or the second passage 11c. In the actuator 10, a cylinder body 11 is rotatably connected to a dash panel 22 at a front end thereof, and a piston rod 12 is connected to a clutch pedal 21 at a rear end thereof.

The ER fluid changes its viscosity in accordance with the applied voltage. FIG. 3 shows a graph of the viscosity-applied voltage characteristic of the ER fluid. The ER fluid is applied with a voltage by the electrode 14 in the second passage 11c of the cylinder body 11, and the voltage supplied to the electrode 14 is controlled by an electric control device 30 described later.

In the joint speed control device 10 having the above-described structure, the piston rod 12 connected to the clutch pedal 21 in response to the depression operation of the clutch pedal 21 moves through the inside of the cylinder bore 11a of the cylinder body 11 at the front end in the longitudinal direction. Side, the ER fluid in the cylinder bore 11a flows from the front end side mainly through the first passage 11b in the direction of arrow A and flows into the rear end side of the cylinder bore 11a. As a result,
The clutch pedal 21 is depressed by a predetermined amount, hydraulic fluid is supplied from the clutch master cylinder 24 to the clutch release cylinder, and the engagement of the clutch is released. When the depression of the clutch pedal 21 is released in this state, the clutch pedal 21 is pushed back to the original position by the return of the hydraulic oil from the clutch release cylinder to the clutch master cylinder 24, and at this time, the piston rod 12
The ER fluid flows from the rear end of the cylinder bore 11a through the second passage 11c in the direction of arrow B as it slides toward the rear end in the cylinder a, and flows into the front end of the cylinder bore 11a.

Thus, the ER fluid has the viscosity-applied voltage characteristic shown in FIG. 3, and by changing the voltage applied to the electrodes 14, the viscosity of the fluid flowing between the electrodes 14 is changed, and The flow speed in the two passages 11c can be changed. For this reason, if the applied voltage of the ER fluid is controlled in accordance with the driving state of the vehicle, the release speed of the clutch pedal 21, the recirculation speed of the hydraulic oil from the clutch release cylinder to the clutch master cylinder, and thus the engagement speed of the clutch can be reduced. The control can be performed according to the driving state of the vehicle.

In the present embodiment, the applied voltage to the ER fluid is controlled by the electric control device 30. The applied voltage is determined when the transmission is in the first shift position or the reverse shift position and is lower than a predetermined vehicle speed. It is provided according to the accelerator opening. The electric control device 3
0 together with the actuator 10 constitutes the clutch engagement speed control device of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 4, the electric control device 30 includes a clutch operation switch 31a and a shift position sensor 31.
b, vehicle speed sensor 31c, accelerator opening sensor 31
d, an inclination angle sensor 31e, a brake switch 31f, a microcomputer 32 and a voltage control circuit 33. The operation switch 31a, the shift position sensor 31b, the vehicle speed sensor 31c, the accelerator opening sensor 31d, and the inclination angle sensor 31e are pedal operation detecting means, shift position detecting means, vehicle speed detecting means, accelerator opening detecting means, gradient detecting means of the present invention. Respectively.

The switches 31a and 31f and the sensors 31b to 31e are connected to a microcomputer 32, which comprises a ROM 32b, a CPU 32c, a RAM 32d and an I / O 32e commonly connected to a bus 32a. The microcomputer 32 is connected to a voltage control circuit 33. ROM32
b stores a program corresponding to the flowchart shown in FIG. 5 and also stores control data corresponding to the graph of the voltage-accelerator opening characteristic in FIG. 6A in the form of a table. The CPU 32c keeps executing the program by closing the ignition switch.
2d temporarily stores variable data necessary for executing the program.

Since the ER fluid has the viscosity-applied voltage characteristics shown in FIG. 3, the characteristics shown in FIG.
The viscosity-accelerator opening characteristic of (b) is obtained, and the pedal return speed-accelerator opening characteristic of FIG. 6 (c) is obtained for the characteristic of FIG. 6 (b). Characteristic lines A to C in these figures
And the inclination angle, for example, the characteristic line A is about 0 degree
3 degrees, the characteristic line B is about 3 degrees to 6 degrees, and the characteristic line C is about 6 degrees or more. However, these ranges can be changed to various characteristics suitable for each vehicle.

In the electric control device 30, when the ignition switch is turned on, the CPU 32
c starts executing the program from step 40 of FIG. The CPU 32c determines in step 41 that the operation switch 31
a on / off state is determined, and if it is on, it is determined that the clutch pedal 21 has been depressed, and “YES”.
The program proceeds to step 42, and if it is in the off state, it is determined that the clutch pedal 21 has not been depressed, and "NO" is determined, and the program is restored. C
The PU 32c determines the shift position sensor 31 in step 42.
The shift position is determined based on the signal from b. If the shift position of the transmission is in the first shift position or the reverse shift position, the determination is “YES”, the program proceeds to step 43, and if the shift position is in another shift position, NO is determined and the program is restored.

In step 43, the CPU 32c determines the vehicle speed based on the signal from the vehicle speed sensor 31c. If the vehicle speed V is equal to or less than the set vehicle speed Vc, the CPU 32c determines "YES" and advances the program to step 44, where the program proceeds to step 44. If it is faster, the determination is "NO" and the program is restored. CPU32
c is the brake switch 31f is turned on in step 44,
The off state is determined, and if it is off, "YES" is determined and the program proceeds to step 45. If it is on, "NO" is determined and the program is restored.

The CPU 32c reads the tilt angle signal from the tilt angle sensor 31e in step 45, reads the accelerator opening signal from the accelerator opening sensor 31d in step 46, and reads the corresponding data (step 47) from the table. The applied voltage on each of the characteristic lines A to C corresponding to the inclination angle is read, and a control signal corresponding to the applied voltage is output to the voltage control circuit 33 for a predetermined time in step 48. The inclination angle corresponds to the inclination angle of the road, that is, the degree of inclination of the slope.

Thus, the electrode 1 of the actuator 10
4 indicates that the shift position of the transmission is in the first or reverse shift position until the clutch pedal 21 is depressed and fully returned, and that the vehicle speed is equal to or less than the set value. A voltage corresponding to the accelerator opening corresponding to the degree of the inclination is applied, and the return speed of the clutch pedal 21, that is, the engagement speed of the clutch is controlled. Therefore,
When the vehicle starts, the return speed of the clutch pedal 21 changes according to the degree of inclination of the road and the accelerator opening, and the engagement speed of the clutch changes accordingly. For this reason, the engagement speed of the clutch is optimally controlled by the degree of depression of the accelerator pedal and the degree of inclination of the road, and the vehicle starts smoothly even on a slope. In addition,
After the vehicle starts, the engagement speed control is not performed, and a normal clutch operation is performed.

In the above embodiment, an example is shown in which the vehicle inclination angle sensor 31e is adopted. However, the accelerator pedal depression speed is read from the opening signal from the accelerator opening sensor 31d, and the acceleration speed is read from the acceleration speed sensor 31d. You may comprise so that the inclination angle of a road may be estimated.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of an actuator constituting a control device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a layout diagram showing a relationship between the actuator, a clutch pedal, and a clutch master cylinder.

FIG. 3 is a characteristic diagram of a viscosity-applied voltage characteristic of an electrorheological fluid.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an electric control device constituting the control device.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart executed by a microcomputer of the electric control device.

FIG. 6 is a characteristic diagram showing a relationship between an accelerator opening and a voltage (a), an accelerator opening and a viscosity (b), and an accelerator opening and a return speed (c) of a clutch pedal.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 ... actuator, 11 ... clutch body, 11a ...
Cylinder bore, 11b, 11c passage, 12 piston rod, 13 check valve, 14 electrode, 21 clutch pedal, 22 dash panel, 30 electric control device, 31a operation switch, 31b shift position sensor , 31c: vehicle speed sensor, 31d: accelerator opening sensor, 31e: inclination angle sensor, 31f: brake switch, 32: microcomputer, 33: voltage control circuit.

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] The present invention controls a rotational return speed of a clutch pedal by applying a predetermined voltage to an electrorheological fluid accommodated in a case and disposed between a clutch pedal and a vehicle body rotatably supporting the clutch pedal. Actuator, pedal operation detecting means for detecting depression of the clutch pedal, shift position detecting means for detecting a shift position of the transmission, vehicle speed detecting means for detecting vehicle speed, and accelerator opening for detecting accelerator opening Detecting means for detecting a gradient of a road, and a shift position of the transmission based on detection signals from the shift position detecting means and the vehicle speed detecting means when the clutch pedal is depressed. Determining means for determining whether or not the vehicle is in a control state in which the vehicle is at a shift position and a vehicle speed is equal to or lower than a predetermined value; A clutch engagement speed, comprising: control means for applying a predetermined voltage corresponding to a road gradient and an accelerator opening to the actuator based on detection signals from the gradient detecting means and the accelerator opening detecting means. Control device.