JP5036357B2 - Vehicle door opening / closing operation force control device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention generally relates to a vehicle door opening / closing operation force control device that is mounted on a vehicle and controls an opening / closing operation force of a door of the host vehicle, and more particularly, a vehicle door opening / closing operation force control device that improves user convenience. About.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a device that is mounted on a vehicle and applies an assist force to an opening / closing operation force (door weight) of the host vehicle is known (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

Patent Document 1 includes an actuator that assists in opening and closing the door, a) door opening / closing speed, b) operation from the outside or operation from the inside, c) door opening and opening operation or closing operation, d Depending on the operating force applied to the door and e) the vehicle inclination angle, the magnitude of the assisting force applied to the door opening / closing operation force is changed, and obstacles are observed during vehicle travel and in the opening / closing locus. An apparatus is disclosed that prohibits assist in the presence of.
Japanese Patent No. 3300105

  The conventional device described in Patent Document 1 does not consider the physical strength / arm strength of the user who is a door opening / closing operator, and even if assist force determined based on various external factors as described above is applied, Depending on the user, the door may still feel heavy (insufficient assistance), or it may be too light and lack of operational feeling (excessive assistance), and there may be various ways of receiving it, which is not always convenient for the user. It's not good.

  The conventional device described in Patent Document 1 controls the magnitude of the assist force added to the door opening / closing operation force (weight) that is mechanically and / or electrically determined. It does not control the magnitude of the opening / closing operation force itself. And since the said conventional apparatus stops provision of assist force, when an obstacle exists in a door opening-and-closing locus | trajectory, when the vehicle inclines at that time, there exists a possibility that a door may open and close by the dead weight of a door. . In other words, the door opening / closing cannot be stopped simply by stopping the application of the assist force.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and has as its main object to provide a vehicle door opening / closing operation force control device with improved user convenience.

  One aspect of the present invention for achieving the above object is a vehicle door opening / closing operation force control device that is mounted on a vehicle and controls the opening / closing operation force of a door of the host vehicle, and measures the weight of a seated person Means for determining the opening / closing operation force of the door based on the weight of the seated person measured by the measuring means, and the opening / closing determined by the determining means when the door is opened / closed from the inside of the vehicle. A vehicle door opening / closing operation force control device having an operation force generating means for generating a door opening / closing operation force so as to realize an operation force.

  In the one aspect, the measurement means measures (or estimates) the weight of the seated person using, for example, a measurement sensor such as a pressure sensor element provided in the seat.

  Further, in the above aspect, based on an insight that a user with a higher weight will have stronger physical strength / arm strength, the determination means, in principle, performs a door opening / closing operation as the weight of the seated person increases. Designed to increase power.

  According to the above aspect, since the door opening / closing operation force according to the weight of the seated person is realized, the user feels uncomfortable that the door opening / closing operation force is too large / small (the door is too heavy / too light). The possibility of being held at the time of operation can be greatly reduced, and user convenience is improved.

  In the above aspect, the vehicular door opening / closing operation force control device includes an identification means for personally identifying a seated person, and a door opening / closing operation generated by the operating force generating means for a seated person personally identified by the identification means. And a storage means for storing the information in association with the force, wherein the operating force generating means stores the seated person identified by the identifying means and the associated door opening / closing operating force is stored in the storage means. If it is configured to generate the door opening / closing operation force so that the door opening / closing operation force stored in the storage means is realized when it is determined that the person is a person, the body weight is measured every time the passenger is seated. Is preferable because it becomes unnecessary.

  Further, in the above aspect, the vehicle door opening / closing operation force control device further includes detection means for detecting the inclination state of the own vehicle, and the determination means is the inclination state of the own vehicle detected by the detection means. If the vehicle is configured to correct the magnitude of the door opening / closing operation force, the same door opening / closing operation feeling as in the horizontal state can be given to the user even when the host vehicle is inclined from the horizontal state. This is preferable because it is possible.

  Moreover, in the said one aspect | mode, the said vehicle door opening / closing operation force control apparatus considers that an individual difference may arise in a physical strength / arm strength even if it is the same weight according to individual characteristics, such as sex and age, for example. And an imaging means for imaging the seated person, wherein the determining means performs image analysis processing on the image of the seated person taken by the imaging means to determine personal characteristics, and based on the personal characteristics, the door It is preferable to correct the magnitude of the opening / closing operation force.

  Further, in the above aspect, when the door is opened / closed from the outside of the vehicle, even if there is a seated person, even if the door opening / closing operating force is determined based on the physical strength / arm strength of the seated person, it is not necessarily from the outside of the vehicle. Based on the insight that the door opening / closing operator may not have an appropriate door opening / closing operation force, when the operation force generating means is opened / closed from the outside of the vehicle, the door is opened last. It is preferable to generate a door opening / closing operation force (for example, the same magnitude as the previous time) based on the magnitude of the door opening / closing operation force generated when the opening / closing operation is performed.

  Furthermore, in the above aspect, the vehicle door opening / closing operation force control device further includes a travel determination unit that determines whether or not the host vehicle is traveling, and the operation force generation unit includes the travel determination unit. If it is configured to generate a door opening / closing operation force that prevents the user from manually opening and closing the door when it is determined that the vehicle is traveling, this device realizes a door lock during traveling. Therefore, it is preferable.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the vehicle door opening / closing operation force control apparatus which improved the user convenience can be provided.

  Hereinafter, the best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  Hereinafter, a vehicle door opening / closing operation force control apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a vehicle door opening / closing operation force control apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment.

  The door opening / closing operation force control apparatus 100 includes a weight measuring unit 101 that measures the weight of an occupant seated in a seat of the host vehicle. The weight measuring unit 101 has, for example, a measurement sensor such as a pressure sensor element provided in the seat. Various configurations, structures, and mechanisms for measuring or estimating the weight of a seated person have already been proposed and are known to those skilled in the art, and thus detailed description thereof is omitted. In the present embodiment, any one of known configurations, structures, and mechanisms can be employed.

  The door opening / closing operation force control device 100 further includes an imaging unit 102 that captures an image of an occupant seated in the seat of the host vehicle. The imaging unit 102 is typically a camera attached to the vehicle interior. As long as an image analysis process for an occupant image as described later is possible, the type of the camera may be arbitrary, for example, a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) camera, a CMOS (Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor) camera, or the like.

  The door opening / closing operation force control device 100 further includes an inclination state detection unit 103 that detects how many times the vehicle body of the host vehicle is inclined from a horizontal state. In the present embodiment, the tilt state detection unit 103 includes a sensor that detects the tilt of the vehicle body at least in the vehicle width direction (the vehicle left-right direction). A sensor for detecting such an inclination is known to those skilled in the art and will not be described in detail. In the present embodiment, any known tilt detection sensor can be employed.

  The door opening / closing operation force control device 100 further includes an opening / closing direction determination unit 104 that determines whether the door has been opened / closed from the outside of the vehicle or opened / closed from the inside of the vehicle. In this embodiment, the opening / closing direction determination unit 104 includes touch sensors (contact sensors) provided on the door knobs / door handles (handles) on the outside and inside of the door. By determining whether the door knob is the outer door knob or the inner door knob, it is determined whether the door is opened / closed from the outside of the vehicle or opened / closed from the inside of the vehicle.

  The door opening / closing operation force control device 100 further includes a vehicle speed detection unit 106 that detects the traveling speed (vehicle speed) of the host vehicle. The vehicle speed detection unit 106 detects the vehicle speed of the host vehicle using, for example, a wheel speed sensor.

  The door opening / closing operation force control apparatus 100 further includes user input means 106 for the user to adjust the magnitude of the door opening / closing operation force according to his / her preference. In the present embodiment, the user input unit 106 allows the user to increase (heavy) or decrease (lighten) the door opening / closing operation force (door weight) within a range that does not hinder the mechanism operation. It is designed to have an operation interface that facilitates an operation of locking (fixing) the size at a desired size, and is installed at a location that can be easily operated by the user in the passenger compartment.

  The door opening / closing operation force control device 100 further stores and holds the personal setting of each user's favorite door opening / closing operation force in association with each user, and the magnitude of the door opening / closing operation force applied during the previous opening / closing operation for each door. And a storage unit 107 that stores and holds a table indicating the correspondence between individual characteristics such as weight, weight, sex, and age and the magnitude of the door opening / closing operation force. In the present embodiment, the storage unit 107 may be a storage medium of any type / standard.

  The door opening / closing operation force control device 100 further includes a door opening / closing operation force control unit 108 that controls the opening / closing operation force (weight) of the swing type door. In this embodiment, the door opening / closing operation force control unit 108 includes an actuator that generates a door opening / closing operation force, and changes the magnitude of the door opening / closing operation force by energizing the actuator.

  The door opening / closing operation force control device 100 further includes a calculation / control unit 109 that executes various calculations and comprehensively controls each component of the door opening / closing operation force control device 100. In the present embodiment, the calculation / control unit 109 is, for example, an ECU (Electronic Control Unit).

  Next, a flow of door opening / closing support processing by the vehicle door opening / closing operation force control device 100 according to the present embodiment having the above-described configuration will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. This relates to door opening / closing operation force control for one door, and in a vehicle having a plurality of doors, the following processing is performed for each door. Further, in the following description, when the term “seat” is used, it means a seat that is ridden / ridden exclusively through a door that is subject to opening / closing operation force control.

  First, the calculation / control unit 109 determines whether or not the host vehicle is traveling based on the vehicle speed of the host vehicle detected by the vehicle speed detection unit 105 (S201).

  When the host vehicle is traveling (“YES” in S201), the calculation / control unit 109 instructs the door opening / closing operation force control unit 108 to greatly increase the output of the actuator, and the passenger operates the door inside. The door opening / closing operation force is increased so that the door cannot be opened (S217). The operating force at this time is referred to as “running operating force” in the figure.

  Thus, since the door can be prevented from opening during traveling by the door opening / closing operation force created by the actuator, the door lock mechanism is not required according to this embodiment.

  On the other hand, when the host vehicle is not running (“NO” in S201), the calculation / control unit 109 then places the seat on the seat based on the measurement result by the weight measurement unit 101 and / or the image captured by the imaging unit 102. It is determined whether an occupant is seated (S202).

  When there is a seated person (“YES” in S202), the calculation / control unit 109 then identifies the seated person and personal setting data of the door opening / closing operation force is stored and held in the storage unit 107 for the individual. It is determined whether or not (S203).

  Here, the individual identification of the seated person is performed, for example, by performing image analysis processing on the image of the seated person (for example, particularly the face) captured by the imaging unit 102. Alternatively, as other embodiments, biometric authentication such as fingerprint authentication and voiceprint authentication, user authentication (key authentication) in a smart entry & push start system, user identification by a user operation such as a seat position memory, and the like are used. Also good.

  When the personal data of the seated person is stored (“YES” in S203), the calculation / control unit 109 reads the personal data from the storage unit 107 (S205) and sets it as the door opening / closing operation force applied this time. (S207).

  On the other hand, when the personal data of the seated person is not stored in the storage unit 107 (“NO” in S203), the calculation / control unit 109 determines the weight of the seated person (S204) measured by the weight measuring unit 101. Based on the image of the seated person imaged by the imaging unit 102 (S206), the door opening / closing operation force to be applied this time is determined (S207).

  More specifically, the calculation / control unit 109 extracts the door opening / closing operation force corresponding to the body weight by comparing the weight of the seated person measured by the body weight measurement unit 101 with a table stored in the storage unit 107. To do. Here, given the insight that the lighter the person, the lower the physical strength / arm strength, and the smaller (lighter) the door opening / closing operation force is, the above table shows the measured weight of the seated person. The door opening / closing operation force is set in advance so that the heavier is, the larger (heavy) the corresponding door opening / closing operation force becomes.

  When the door opening / closing operation force (the weight of the door) corresponding to the weight of the seated person measured by the table is extracted, the calculation / control unit 109 then extracts the image of the seated person captured by the imaging unit 102. The image is subjected to image analysis processing, and personal characteristics such as gender and age of the seated person are analyzed and acquired. The acquired personal characteristics of the seated person are used for correcting the door opening / closing operation force corresponding to the weight of the seated person read from the table. For example, in the above table, if the relationship between the seated person's weight and the corresponding door opening / closing operation force is created on the premise of an adult male, the seated person is an adult male of the same weight, such as a female or elderly person, by image analysis processing When the physical strength / arm strength is considered to be relatively weak as compared with, the door opening / closing operation force is corrected in a lighter direction.

  When the door opening / closing operation force is set in this manner, the calculation / control unit 109 then determines whether the door opening / closing operation force is manually adjusted by the user through the user input unit 106 (S208). .

  When manual adjustment by the user (to increase / decrease the weight of the door) is performed (“YES” in S208), the calculation / control unit 109 is set according to the adjustment amount specified by the user. The magnitude (weight) of the door opening / closing operation force is changed (S209). When manual adjustment by the user is not performed (“NO” in S208), S209 is skipped.

  When the door opening / closing operation force is thus set according to the characteristics and preferences of the seated person, the calculation / control unit 109 sets the magnitude of the door opening / closing operation force to the personal data for the next and subsequent times. The information is stored in the storage unit 109 in association with the seated person (S210).

  Next, the calculation / control unit 109 determines whether or not the door opening / closing operation force is tilted to the extent that the door opening / closing operation force should be corrected based on the state of the tilt of the host vehicle from the level detected by the tilt state detection unit 103 ( S211).

  For example, if it is determined that the host vehicle is tilted from the horizontal state to such an extent that the door opening / closing operation is affected by its own weight ("YES" in S211), the calculation / control unit 109 In order to allow the user to open and close the door with the same feeling of operation when the user is in a horizontal state (the weight of the door felt by the user), the set door opening and closing force is set according to the direction and angle of the vehicle's tilt. Correction is performed (S212). When it is determined that the posture of the host vehicle is substantially horizontal (“NO” in S211), S212 is skipped.

  When the door opening / closing operation force exerted when the door is opened / closed in this way is determined, the calculation / control unit 109 waits for the door opening / closing operation by the user. When the opening / closing direction determination unit 104 determines that the door has been opened / closed from the inside of the vehicle (“YES” in S213), the calculation / control unit 109 instructs the door opening / closing operation force control unit 108 to The output of the actuator is controlled so that the door opening / closing operation force set this time is realized through the processing in S203 to S212 (S216). The operating force at this time is referred to as “current operating force” in the figure.

  When it is determined by the opening / closing direction determination unit 104 that the door has been opened / closed from the outside of the vehicle (“YES” in S214), the door is based on the door opening / closing operation by the seated person set this time through the processing in S203 to S212 described above. It is determined that it is not always appropriate to apply the opening / closing operation force (current operation force), and is stored and held in the storage unit 107 based on the insight that the user who has finally got off the vehicle is likely to get on again. The door opening / closing operation force applied when the door is last opened / closed is read and applied (S215). The operating force at this time is referred to as “previous operating force” in the figure. As another embodiment, an average value of the door opening / closing operation force applied during the past predetermined opening / closing operations may be applied.

  If it is determined in S202 that there is no occupant seated in the seat (“NO” in S202), it can be determined that the door is not opened / closed by the seated person from the inside of the vehicle. S213 is skipped and the process proceeds to S214.

  When the door is not opened / closed from the inside or the outside (“NO” in S214), the process returns to S201 and this flow is repeated again.

  Thus, according to the present embodiment, the physical strength / arm strength of the door opening / closing operator is estimated from the weight of the seated person, and the magnitude of the door opening / closing operation force is mainly set according to the estimated physical strength / arm strength, Appropriate door opening / closing operation force according to the physical strength / arm strength of each user is realized, so that the user feels uncomfortable when the door opening / closing operation force is too large / small (the door is too heavy / too light) The possibility of hugging can be greatly reduced.

  Further, according to the present embodiment, the door opening / closing operation force set based on the weight of the seated person is corrected based on personal characteristics (such as gender and age) estimated from the image of the seated person. The door opening / closing operation force can be made more suitable for each user.

  Further, according to the present embodiment, since the user can arbitrarily adjust the door opening / closing operation force manually, the door opening / closing operation force reflecting the user's desire can be realized.

  Furthermore, according to the present embodiment, the door opening / closing operation force set mainly based on the weight of the seated person is corrected according to the tilt state of the vehicle, and the user can keep the level even when the vehicle posture is tilted from the horizontal state. In order to obtain the same operational feeling as in the state, it is possible to prevent the door from becoming heavy or light due to the inclined state of the vehicle.

  In the above-described embodiment, for example, in order to control the magnitude of the door opening / closing operation force itself, rather than controlling the assisting force applied to the door opening / closing operation force, for example, there is an obstacle in the door opening / closing locus. When an object is detected, or when the position of the vehicle is tilted and the door opens and closes due to its own weight, the door opening / closing operation itself can be appropriately stopped by this apparatus.

  In the above-described embodiment, the door opening / closing operation force control as described above is performed for each door of the vehicle. The door opening / closing operation force may be set / adjusted manually by the user. By adopting such a configuration, for example, the child lock mechanism is realized by this apparatus by increasing the opening / closing operation force of the door of the seat on which the infant is seated so that it cannot be manually opened / closed by the user.

  INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention can be used for a device that is mounted on a vehicle and controls an opening / closing operation force (door weight) of the door. The power source type, fuel type, appearance design, weight, size, running performance, etc. of the vehicle to be mounted are all unquestioned.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a vehicle door opening / closing operation force control device according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the door opening / closing assistance process by the vehicle door opening / closing operation force control apparatus which concerns on one Example of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Vehicle door opening / closing operation force control apparatus 101 Weight measurement part 102 Imaging part 103 Inclination state detection part 104 Opening / closing direction determination part 105 Vehicle speed detection part 106 User input part 107 Memory | storage part 108 Door opening / closing operation force control part 109 Calculation / control part

Claims (6)

A vehicle door opening / closing operation force control device that is mounted on a vehicle and controls the opening / closing operation force of the door of the host vehicle,
Measuring means attached to a seat of a vehicle and measuring the weight of a seated person seated on the seat;
Determination means for determining an opening / closing operation force of a door used for getting on and off the seat to which the measurement means is attached, among the doors of the own vehicle , based on the weight of the seated person measured by the measurement means ;
An operation for generating a door opening / closing operation force so that the opening / closing operation force determined by the determination unit is realized when a door used for getting on and off the seat to which the measurement unit is attached is opened / closed from inside the vehicle. Force generating means;
A vehicle door opening / closing operation force control device characterized by comprising: The vehicle door opening / closing operation force control device according to claim 1,
An identification means for personal identification of the occupant;
Storage means for storing the seated person identified by the identification means in association with the door opening / closing operation force generated by the operation force generation means,
The operating force generating means stores in the storage means when the seated person identified by the identifying means is determined to be a seated person whose associated door opening / closing operating force is stored in the storage means. A door opening / closing operation force control device for a vehicle, wherein the door opening / closing operation force is generated so that the door opening / closing operation force is realized. The vehicle door opening / closing operation force control device according to claim 1 or 2,
It further has detection means for detecting the tilt state of the host vehicle,
The vehicle door opening / closing operation force control device, wherein the determining means corrects the magnitude of the door opening / closing operation force based on an inclination state of the host vehicle detected by the detection means. The vehicle door opening / closing operation force control device according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
It further has an imaging means for imaging a seated person,
The determining means performs image analysis processing on the image of the seated person imaged by the imaging means to determine personal characteristics, and corrects the magnitude of the door opening / closing operation force based on the personal characteristics. The vehicle door opening / closing operation force control device. The vehicle door opening / closing operation force control device according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The operating force generating means generates a door opening / closing operation force based on the magnitude of the door opening / closing operation force that was generated when the door was last opened / closed when the door was opened / closed from the outside of the vehicle. A door opening / closing operation force control device for a vehicle. The vehicle door opening / closing operation force control device according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
It further has a traveling determination means for determining whether or not the host vehicle is traveling,
The operation force generating means generates a door opening / closing operation force that cannot be manually opened / closed by the user when the traveling determination means determines that the host vehicle is traveling. Vehicle door opening / closing operation force control device.

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