JP3276420B2 - Bicycle with electric motor - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention provides a drive system driven by a human power and a drive system driven by an electric motor in parallel, and controls the drive power of the electric motor in response to a change in the drive power (hereinafter referred to as "pedal force"). The present invention relates to a bicycle with an electric motor as described above.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a bicycle with an electric motor, the purpose of adding assistance by the electric motor is mainly to reduce the fatigue of the driver. In this case, the pedal is comfortably applied without feeling fatigue.
It is desirable to be able to drive over the road. However, the degree of feeling of this fatigue is not only changed by the physical strength and physical condition of the driver at the time , but also affected by the gradient of the traveling road, the road surface condition, and the wind direction.

[0004] As those conventionally proposed, simply but there is to drive <br/> animal and stop the motor at a constant drive force by the manual switch operation, this degree of fatigue of the driver
A certain amount of motor assisting force is applied regardless of the driving force, and if a driver with a low degree of fatigue
In other words, the driving speed is excessively
May increase. Also has been proposed that increase or decrease the driving force F _M of the motor relative to the pedal force F _L by detecting the pedaling force F _L at a constant ratio (hereinafter referred to as the specific subsidy rate eta) (Japanese Utility Model 56 - 76590, JP-A-2-74491
No.).

[0005]

But increasing and decreasing the assist force F _M of the motor depending on the magnitude of the conventional problems of the Related Art The pedal force F _L, when the fatigue level is low <br/> driver rides becomes excessive motor assist force not required vehicle speed or cause the battery drain may or to unnecessarily increase.

[0006] Further, if the assisting rate is set so that the same driver can obtain an appropriate assisting force on a flat ground, the driver may feel insufficient power on an uphill, and conversely, an assisting rate suitable for an uphill. If> is set, the assist power will be excessive on flat roads.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and is provided with an electric motor capable of always obtaining a proper assisting force of a motor according to the degree of fatigue of a driver so that comfortable driving can be performed. The purpose is to provide bicycles.

[0008]

According to the present invention, an object of the present invention is to provide a bicycle with an electric motor in which a human-powered drive system and an electric drive system are provided in parallel, and the output of the electric drive system is controlled in response to a change in pedaling force due to human power. , and the pedal force detection means for detecting a pedal force, run
Heart rate and call changes depending on the driver's fatigue during driving
Calculate at least one of the number of suctions or its change during running
A human body index detection unit that outputs a human body index, and a controller that controls the driving force of the electric motor so as to increase or decrease the ratio of the driving force of the electric motor to the pedaling force in response to the increase or decrease of the human body index. This is achieved by a bicycle with an electric motor.

[0009] Here, the increase reflects the increase or decrease in the degree of fatigue of the driver.
At least one of heart rate and respiratory rate
As well as those with driver fatigue such as blood pressure and body temperature
Can you to a combination of indicators that show the degree. Also these guys
Changes in the body index during running may be used as the body index,
Using a combination of these human body indices as a human body index
Good. Therefore, the human body index detecting means uses these heartbeats of the driver.
Sensors that detect indices such as number, breathing frequency, blood pressure, body temperature, etc.
And means for determining changes in these indices during running.

[0010]

FIG. 1 is a side view of an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a power system diagram thereof, FIG. 3 is a development view of the power system, FIG. 4 is a side view showing a treading force detecting section, and FIG. FIG. 6 is a characteristic diagram of the auxiliary ratio η, and FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a change in the auxiliary ratio η during traveling.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 10 denotes a main frame, which extends rearward and downward from a head pipe 12 to a rear wheel 1.
4 axles. A seat tube 16 is fixed substantially perpendicular to the main frame 10, and a seat post 20 for supporting a saddle 18 is fixed to an upper end of the seat tube 16.

A lower portion of the seat tube 16 is formed with a cylindrical portion 16a which is opened downward, and accommodates a DC electric motor 22 therein. A power unit 24 is fixed to a lower end of the seat tube 16. The power unit 24 includes a bottom bracket case (hereinafter referred to as a BB case) 26,
A rear stay 28 extends rearward from the BB case 26, and the rear wheel 14 is fixed to the rear end of the rear stay 28. The drive shaft 30 is inserted through the right rear stay 28 (FIG. 3).

Next, the power unit 24 will be described. Figure 1,
3, a crankshaft 32 is inserted into the BB case 26, and a crank 34 is fixed to both ends of the crankshaft 32. The crank 34 has crank pedals 36 attached thereto.

The left end of the axle 38 of the rear wheel 14 is fixed to an end plate 28a fixed to the left rear stay 28,
The right end of the axle 38 is fixed to a bevel gear case 40 fixed to the right rear stay 28. A hub 42 is rotatably held on the axle 38, and the drive shaft 3
The rotation of 0 is transmitted via the bevel gear mechanism 44.

The electric motor 22 is fitted and fixed to the BB case 26 from above as shown in FIG. 3, and its motor shaft 22a is orthogonal to the crankshaft 32 and located near the center in the vehicle width direction. The BB case 26 is a seat tube 1
The motor 22 is fitted into the cylindrical portion 16a so as to be inserted from below into the cylindrical portion 16a, and is connected by four bolts 46 (see FIG. 3).

As shown in FIG. 3, the rotation of the motor 22 is rotatably held on the crankshaft 32 via a one-way clutch 48, a planetary gear type reducer 50, a small bevel gear 52, and a large bevel gear 54. The resultant force is transmitted to a cylindrical resultant force shaft 56. The rotation of the resultant shaft 56 is further transmitted to the drive shaft 30 by a bevel gear mechanism 58.

The rotation from the rear wheel 14 to the motor 22 is interrupted by a one-way clutch 43 provided in the hub 42.
Note that the planetary gear type speed reducer 50 is a known type, and is provided between the sun gear rotated by the motor 22 and the ring gear fixed to the BB case 26 to transmit the revolution of the planetary gear meshing with them to the small bevel gear 52. Things.

On the other hand, the rotation input manually from the pedal 36 is transmitted to the large bevel gear 54 via the crankshaft 32, the one-way clutch 60, and the planetary gear type gearbox 62. Therefore, the rotation input from the crankshaft 32 is transmitted from the large bevel gear 54 to the drive shaft 30 via the resultant shaft 56 and the bevel gear mechanism 58. The rotation of the crankshaft 32 is controlled by the action of the clutch 48 while the motor 22 is stopped.
Does not reach. Further, the rotation of the motor 22 is not transmitted to the crankshaft 32 due to the action of the clutch 60 while the crankshaft 32 is stopped or during reverse rotation. Here, the drive shaft 30 is located on the right side of the plane A in the vehicle longitudinal direction including the motor shaft 22a (see FIG. 3).

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, the planetary gear type gearbox 62 includes a ring gear 62a fixed to the large bevel gear 54,
A sun gear 62b fixed to the pedaling force detection lever 64 and a planet gear 62c interposed therebetween are provided. The crankshaft 32 revolves the planetary gear 62c via the one-way clutch 60.

The pedaling force detecting lever 64 constitutes a part of the pedaling force detecting means 65 for detecting the driving force at the time of manual driving by the pedal 36 by the reaction force applied to the sun gear 62b. The treading force detecting means 65 is located on the left side of the plane A.

That is, the lever 6 of the pedaling force detecting means 65
4 are two projections 64a, 64b as shown in FIGS.
The one protrusion 64a abuts against the stopper 66 to restrict the clockwise rotation in FIG. 4, in other words, the rotation in the direction opposite to the direction in which the pedaling force of the pedal 36 is applied. Another second lever 68 abuts on the projection 64b, and the counterclockwise rotation of the lever 64 causes the second lever 68 to rotate clockwise.

The second lever 68 is provided with a return behavior by a return spring 70, whereby the lever 64 is moved to the position shown in FIG.
With this, return behavior in the clockwise direction is given. And this second
Of the lever 68 is transmitted to a potentiometer 72 as a pedaling force sensor. As a result, the lever 64 rotates counterclockwise in FIG.
Of the lever 68 rotates clockwise, the pedaling force is obtained from the rotation amount of the potentiometer 72.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 80 denotes a rechargeable battery such as a lead battery, and reference numeral 82 denotes a controller, which is accommodated between the head pipe 12 and the seat tube 16 of the main frame 10. In FIG. 3, reference numeral 84 denotes a vehicle speed detecting means provided to face the large bevel gear.
Any known structure that detects the rotation electromagnetically or optically can be used.

The pedal force F _L detected by the potentiometer 72
And the vehicle speed S detected by the vehicle speed detecting means 84 are input to a controller 82, and the controller 82
_The motor current is controlled based on _L and the vehicle speed S to generate a motor torque T _M.

In FIG. 2, reference numeral 82a denotes a memory, in which characteristics indicating an auxiliary rate η with respect to the human body index H as shown in FIG. 6 are recorded. This auxiliary factor η is, as described above, F _M
/ F _L and increases with an increase in the human body index H.
The human body index H used here is detected by the human body index detecting means 88.

[0026] The human body index detection means 88, for example, a band and that wound, such as the driver of the hands and feet, has a sensor attached to such as a clip on both sides of the earlobe of the driver, such as heart rate read by these sensors The human body index H
I can . The person's respiratory rate along with or instead of heart rate
The body index H may be used. Together with these, the human body index H may be determined using other data such as blood pressure and body temperature . Man
The body index detecting means 88 further uses the change rate of the heart rate and the number of breaths as the human body index H, or inputs the heart rate and the number of breaths before running in advance and uses these changes during running to improve the driver 's fatigue. it may be a human body index H indicating the degree of.

[0027] In the case of the heart rate and respiratory rate as the human body index H Doo Ru is, when the degree of fatigue with the these increases is increased determine
Then , control is performed so as to increase the auxiliary ratio η (FIG. 6).
Various characteristics can be used as the characteristics stored in the memory 82a, and a switch 82c shown in FIG. 2 can be used to select a desired characteristic or create a desired characteristic according to the driver's preference. Good. In addition, basic data such as the gender, age, and weight of the driver may be input before traveling, and the optimal characteristics may be automatically selected.

As shown in FIG. 7, the controller 82 reads the average human body index H during the predetermined measurement period τ from the human body index detection means 88 after the start and starts the auxiliary ratio η in the next measurement period τ. From the characteristics stored in the memory 82a.

[0029] Then the motor drive force F _M in the measurement period τ using the subsidy rate eta, is calculated by F _M = η · F _L. Controller 82 driving force of the motor is the F _M
The motor current is controlled so that

In the above embodiment, the vehicle speed detecting means 84 is provided so as to face the large bevel gear 54.
A may be provided on the front wheel 86 as shown by A. However, in the case where the crankshaft 32 is provided between the crankshaft 32 and the one-way clutch 43 as in the embodiment, the speed S = 0 when the crankshaft 32 is stopped during downhill or the like, and the energy consumption can be further reduced.

In the above embodiment, the rear wheel 14 is driven by a transmission system consisting of a shaft drive mechanism using the drive shaft 30, but the present invention uses a transmission system consisting of a chain drive mechanism with a sprocket fixed to the resultant shaft 56. It may drive the rear wheels 14.

[0032]

As described above, according to the present invention, the degree of driver fatigue
At least one of the heart rate and the number of breaths is reflected as a human body index H, and changes in the running state are defined as a human body index H. The motor assist rate η corresponding to the increase or decrease of the human body index H
Since those increasing or decreasing the (= motor drive force F _M / pedal force F _L), depending on the degree of fatigue of the driver, always suitable motor
Driving force (F _M ) is generated to enable comfortable running.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view of one embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2 Power system diagram

FIG. 3 is a development view of the power system.

FIG. 4 is a side view showing a treading force detection unit.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line VV.

FIG. 6 is a characteristic diagram of an auxiliary ratio η.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a change in an auxiliary ratio η during traveling.

[Explanation of symbols]

 14 rear wheel 22 electric motor 72 treading force detecting means 82 controller 84 vehicle speed detecting means 88 human body index detecting means

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on front page (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B62M 23/02 B62K 11/00 B62M 17/00

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A stepping force detecting means for detecting a stepping force in a bicycle with an electric motor which is provided with a manpower driving system and an electric driving system in parallel and controls the output of the electric driving system in response to a change in the stepping force due to the manpower. Depending on the driver's fatigue
Heart rate and / or respiratory rate
Or a human body index detecting means for determining a change during traveling and outputting the obtained value as a human body index, and increasing or decreasing the ratio of the driving force of the electric motor to the pedaling force in accordance with the increase or decrease of the human body index. A bicycle with an electric motor, comprising: a controller that controls a driving force of the electric motor.