JP5569474B2 - Idling stop control device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an idling stop control device for automatically stopping an engine when idling a vehicle engine, and more particularly to an idling stop control device capable of prohibiting the automatic stop depending on conditions.

  Conventionally, as one driving method of eco-driving that has been encouraged to reduce the fuel consumption of vehicles and reduce carbon dioxide, which is a major cause of global warming, the engine is stopped when stopping at an intersection, etc. An idling stop to stop is known.

  However, it is troublesome for the driver to stop and restart the engine every time the vehicle stops. Therefore, it has been proposed that the engine is automatically stopped when a stop condition such as a preset time elapses after the vehicle stops, and the engine is automatically restarted when a restart condition such as the accelerator pedal is depressed. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1).

  Further, in such an idling stop control device, there is a case where it is not desired to stop the engine even if the stop condition is satisfied depending on the life area and taste of the driver. Therefore, it has been proposed to prohibit the automatic stop of the engine in an area set in advance by the driver (see Patent Document 2).

JP 2000-120464 A JP 2004-132333 A

  However, there is a problem that noise is generated when the engine is stopped and restarted by the idling stop. It is good if the driver sets a residential area or the like in an area where automatic engine stop is prohibited using the technology of Patent Document 2, but if the driver does not make such a setting, Stopping and restarting frequently can cause noise problems.

  Therefore, the present invention has been made with the object of providing an idling stop control device that can satisfactorily suppress the occurrence of noise problems by prohibiting engine stop and restart in a residential area.

The present invention, which has been made to achieve the above object, includes a stop control means for stopping the engine when a preset stop condition is satisfied at the time of idling of the engine of the vehicle, and after stopping the engine by the stop control means, In an idling stop control device comprising a restart control means for restarting the engine when a set restart condition is satisfied, narrow street information acquisition means for acquiring information on whether or not the vehicle is on a narrow street Current time acquisition means for acquiring the current time, and information acquired by the narrow street information acquisition means indicates that the vehicle is on a narrow street , and the current time acquired by the current time acquisition means If the time is within a predetermined time, the stop prohibition means for prohibiting stopping of the engine by the stop control means, as comprising the That.

  In the idling stop control device of the present invention configured as described above, the stop control means stops the engine when a preset stop condition is satisfied at the time of idling of the engine of the vehicle, and the restart condition is set in advance after the stop. When is established, the restart control means restarts the engine.

The narrow street information acquisition means acquires information on whether or not the vehicle is on the narrow street, and the acquired information indicates that the vehicle is on the narrow street and is acquired by the current time acquisition means. If the current time is within a predetermined time , the stop prohibiting unit prohibits the engine from being stopped by the stop control unit. Therefore, Ri vehicle narrow street near a residential area, etc., and, if the current time is within a predetermined time, is prohibited stop of the engine by the stop control means, restarting the engine by thus restart control means Is also prohibited. Therefore, in the present invention, it is possible to satisfactorily suppress the occurrence of noise problems by prohibiting engine stop and restart in a residential area. In many cases, noise problems caused by stopping and restarting an engine in a residential area are limited to a predetermined time such as at night. In the present invention, the information acquired by the narrow street information acquisition means indicates that the vehicle is on a narrow street, and the current time acquired by the current time acquisition means is within the predetermined time. In this case, since the engine stop is prohibited, the prohibition by the stop prohibiting means is invalidated outside the predetermined time. Therefore, even in a residential area, the engine is stopped by the stop control means outside the predetermined time, and the fuel consumption of the vehicle can be further reduced. The predetermined time may be, for example, a time set in advance as a time when noise is likely to be a problem.

  In the present invention, when the vehicle includes a navigation system having storage means for storing position information of a narrow street and detection means for detecting the position of the vehicle, the narrow street information acquisition means is Information on whether the vehicle is on a narrow street may be acquired from the navigation system. A navigation system that provides vehicle driving guidance with a detecting means such as a GPS that detects the position of the vehicle is a narrow street that is not suitable for a route search candidate because of its narrow road width, as well as a general road location information, a database, etc. May be stored in the storage means. Therefore, when the vehicle is equipped with such a navigation system, the narrow street information acquisition means can acquire information on whether or not the vehicle is on a narrow street from the navigation system. Therefore, in this case, the configuration of the apparatus can be simplified and the manufacturing cost can be reduced as compared with the case where the narrow street information acquisition unit uses a configuration independent of the existing configuration.

Further, the present invention made to achieve the above object is to provide a stop control means for stopping the engine when a preset stop condition is satisfied during idling of the engine of the vehicle, and after the engine is stopped by the stop control means. And an idling stop control device comprising: a restart control means for restarting the engine when a preset restart condition is satisfied; narrow street information for acquiring information on whether or not the vehicle is on a narrow street Acquired by the acquisition means, the time calculation means after the narrow street exit for calculating the time from when the vehicle left the narrow street, and the narrow street information acquisition means from the latest time when the vehicle was on the narrow street When the information indicates that the vehicle is on a narrow street, and when the time calculated by the time calculation means after exiting the narrow street is within a predetermined time, Serial or may be characterized in that and a stop prohibition means for prohibiting stopping of the engine by the stop control means. In this case, the stop prohibiting means prohibits the stop of the engine by the stop control means not only when the vehicle is on the narrow street but also when the time after the vehicle leaves the narrow street is within a predetermined time. Therefore, in this case, stop and restart of the engine in the vicinity of the residential area are prohibited, and the occurrence of noise problems can be suppressed more satisfactorily.

Further, the present invention made to achieve the above object is to provide a stop control means for stopping the engine when a preset stop condition is satisfied during idling of the engine of the vehicle, and after the engine is stopped by the stop control means. And an idling stop control device comprising: a restart control means for restarting the engine when a preset restart condition is satisfied; narrow street information for acquiring information on whether or not the vehicle is on a narrow street The acquisition means, the nearest narrow street distance information acquisition means for acquiring the distance to the nearest narrow street of the vehicle, and the information acquired by the narrow street information acquisition means that the vehicle is in the narrow street When instructing, and when the distance acquired by the nearest narrow street distance information acquiring means is a predetermined value or less, the engine by the stop control means A stop inhibiting means for inhibiting the stop, may be characterized in that it comprises a. In this case, the stop prohibiting means prohibits the stop of the engine by the stop control means not only when the vehicle is on the narrow street but also when the distance from the vehicle to the nearest narrow street is equal to or less than a predetermined value. Therefore, in this case, stop and restart of the engine in the vicinity of the residential area are prohibited, and the occurrence of noise problems can be suppressed more satisfactorily.

  In the present invention, when the vehicle includes road-to-vehicle communication means for receiving information from a transmission device provided on the road side, the narrow street information acquisition means determines whether the vehicle is on a narrow street. Information on whether or not may be obtained from information received by the road-to-vehicle communication means. Information on whether or not the vehicle is on a narrow street can also be obtained by road-to-vehicle communication means that receives information from a transmission device provided on the road side. Therefore, when the narrow street information acquisition means acquires information on whether or not the vehicle is on a narrow street from the information received by the road-to-vehicle communication means, the narrow street information acquisition means is independent of the existing configuration. Compared to the case of using the configuration described above, the configuration of the apparatus can be simplified and the manufacturing cost can be reduced.

1 is an overall configuration diagram of an idling stop system according to a first embodiment. It is a flowchart of an engine stop prohibition determination process in the system. It is a flowchart of the engine stop prohibition determination process according to the second embodiment. It is a flowchart of the engine stop prohibition determination process according to the third embodiment. It is a flowchart of the engine stop prohibition determination process which concerns on 4th Embodiment. It is a whole block diagram of the idling stop system which concerns on 5th Embodiment.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
[First Embodiment]
<Configuration>
FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram showing an idling stop system according to a first embodiment to which the present invention is applied. As shown in FIG. 1, the idling stop system of the present embodiment includes an engine starter 2 that starts an engine, an accelerator pedal sensor 3 that detects an operation state of an accelerator pedal, and a brake pedal that detects an operation state of a brake pedal. A sensor 4, an engine ECU 5 that detects and controls the operating state of the engine, a navigation system 6 that provides driving guidance for a vehicle provided with the present system, an accelerator pedal sensor 3, a brake pedal sensor 4, an engine ECU 5, and a navigation system 6 Is provided with an idling stop control device 1 that controls the engine starter 2 and the engine ECU 5 to stop and restart the engine when the engine is idling.

  And each apparatus 1-6 which comprises an idling stop system is mutually connected via the vehicle network (for example, CAN) 7. That is, each of the devices 1 to 6 includes at least a communication controller that enables communication via the vehicle network 7.

  The accelerator pedal sensor 3 and the brake pedal sensor 4 both detect the pedal depression amount (0% to 100%) as the pedal operation status, and the detection result is at least idling via the vehicle network 7. It transmits to the stop control apparatus 1 and engine ECU5.

  The engine ECU 5 acquires various types of information related to engine operation from each part of the vehicle via the vehicle network 7 to control the engine operation state, and engine state information (stop / operation / idling) indicating the engine operation state. Etc.) is transmitted to the idling stop control device 1. Further, when the engine ECU 5 receives an engine stop command via the vehicle network 7, the engine ECU 5 stops the engine. Below, stopping an engine by the engine stop command from the idling stop control apparatus 1 and the stopped state are called idling stop.

  The navigation system 6 includes a position detection device that includes a GPS, a gyroscope, and the like to detect the position of the vehicle, and a database that stores map information, and performs route search to the destination and vehicle travel guidance. Note that the navigation system 6 of the present embodiment also stores position information of narrow streets that are not suitable for route search because the road width is narrow, together with position information of general roads, in the database. The navigation system 6 detects the position of the host vehicle and whether or not the host vehicle is on a narrow street, and transmits the detection result to the idling stop control device 1 via the vehicle network 7 as narrow street information.

The engine starter 2 starts the engine when it receives an engine start command via the vehicle network 7, and is configured by a starter motor.
<Idling stop control device>
The idling stop control device 1 controls the engine ECU 5 when the engine operating state indicated in the engine state information received from the engine ECU 5 is “idling” and a predetermined stop condition is satisfied. When a predetermined restart condition is satisfied after the engine is stopped by the control of the stop control unit 10 (that is, during idling stop), the engine is started. And a restart control unit 20 that executes control for outputting an engine start command to the device 2.

  The stop control unit 10 performs control for not outputting an engine stop command when the host vehicle is determined to be on a narrow street through the navigation system 6 by executing the engine stop prohibition determination process described below (engine Execute stop prohibition). As the stop condition other than when the host vehicle is in a narrow street, it can be used that a preset grace time elapses after the engine is in an idling state, but is not limited thereto. On the other hand, the restart control unit 20 transmits an engine start command to the engine starter 2 via the vehicle network 7 when the brake pedal is released during idling stop.

  The idling stop control device 1 is configured around a known microcomputer having a CPU, a ROM, and a RAM. The stop control unit 10 and the restart control unit 20 include the CPU stored in the ROM. This is realized by processing to execute a program.

<Details of engine stop prohibition determination processing>
Hereinafter, of the processes executed by the CPU, the engine stop prohibition determination process will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. This process is repeatedly executed at predetermined intervals during engine operation.

  As shown in FIG. 2, in this process, first, narrow street information is acquired from the navigation system 6 in S1. That is, information on whether or not the own vehicle transmitted by the navigation system 6 is on a narrow street (narrow street information) is acquired via the vehicle network 7. In subsequent S3, based on the narrow street information acquired in S1, it is determined whether or not the vehicle is traveling on the narrow street (including when the vehicle is stopped).

  If the vehicle is not traveling on a narrow street (S3: NO), the process is temporarily terminated. In this case, the processing by the stop control unit 10 and the restart control unit 20 is executed as usual according to the stop condition and restart condition described above.

  On the other hand, if the vehicle is traveling on a narrow street (S3: YES), after the engine stop prohibition command is output in S5, the process is temporarily terminated. When the engine stop prohibition command is output, the stop control unit 10 does not output the engine stop command even if the stop condition is satisfied. For this reason, idling stop is not performed, and consequently, the engine is not started by the restart control unit 20.

<Effect>
As described above, the idling stop control device 1 prohibits idling stop (S5) when the vehicle is on a narrow street (S3: YES). For this reason, when the vehicle is on a narrow street such as a residential area, it is possible to inhibit the engine from being stopped and restarted, and to satisfactorily suppress the occurrence of noise problems.

[Second Embodiment]
Next, a second embodiment will be described. In the present embodiment, since the engine stop prohibition determination process is different from the first embodiment, a detailed description of common parts will be omitted below, and different parts will be described mainly. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an engine stop prohibition determination process according to the second embodiment. That is, the engine stop prohibition determination process of the present embodiment is different in that the following processes of S11 and S13 are inserted between S3 and S5 described above.

  When the vehicle is traveling on a narrow street (S3: YES), the process proceeds to S11, and the current time is acquired. In subsequent S13, it is determined whether or not the time is within a predetermined time (for example, at night). If it is within the predetermined time (S13: YES), the process proceeds to S5 described above, and an engine stop prohibition command is output. If it is not within the predetermined time (S13: NO), the process is temporarily performed as it is. finish.

  In many cases, noise problems caused by stopping and restarting an engine in a residential area are limited to a predetermined time such as at night. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the engine stop prohibition command is output only when it is within a predetermined time (S13: YES). For this reason, in this embodiment, idling stop is made outside the predetermined time even in a residential area (S13: NO), and the fuel consumption of the vehicle can be further reduced. The predetermined time may be, for example, a time set in advance for each vehicle shipping destination in consideration of citizenship and nationality as a time when noise is likely to become a problem.

[Third Embodiment]
Next, a third embodiment will be described. Since the present embodiment also differs from the first embodiment only in the engine stop prohibition determination process, the detailed description of the common parts will be omitted below, and the different parts will be described mainly. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an engine stop prohibition determination process according to the third embodiment.

  In the present embodiment, when the vehicle is traveling on a narrow street (S3: YES), the process proceeds to S21, the narrow street stay time stored in the predetermined area of the RAM is updated with the current time, and then the process is performed. Shifts to S5 described above. For this reason, as in the first embodiment, idling stop is prohibited during traveling on narrow streets.

  On the other hand, when the vehicle is not traveling on a narrow street (S3: NO), the process proceeds to S22, and the current time is acquired. In subsequent S23, the difference between the narrow street stay time stored in S21 and the current time acquired in S22 is calculated as time Td after the narrow street escape. In further S24, it is determined whether or not the time Td calculated in S23 is equal to or less than a predetermined value set in advance. If the time Td is equal to or less than a predetermined value (S24: YES), the process proceeds to S5 described above. If the predetermined value is exceeded (S24: NO), the processing is temporarily terminated as it is.

  In this embodiment, not only when the vehicle is on a narrow street (S3: YES), but also when the time Td after the vehicle leaves the narrow street is within a predetermined time (predetermined value) (S24: YES) Stop is prohibited (S5). For this reason, the stop and restart of the engine in the vicinity of the residential area are prohibited, and the occurrence of noise problems can be further suppressed.

[Fourth Embodiment]
Next, a fourth embodiment will be described. Since the present embodiment also differs from the first embodiment only in the engine stop prohibition determination process, the detailed description of the common parts will be omitted below, and the different parts will be described mainly. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an engine stop prohibition determination process according to the fourth embodiment.

  In the present embodiment, when the vehicle is traveling on a narrow street (S3: YES), the process proceeds to S5 described above as in the first embodiment, and idling stop is prohibited. On the other hand, when the vehicle is not traveling on the narrow street (S3: NO), the process proceeds to S31, and the distance Dt (straight distance) from the host vehicle to the nearest narrow street is acquired via the navigation system 6. In subsequent S32, it is determined whether or not the distance Dt acquired in S31 is less than a predetermined value set in advance (S32: YES), the process proceeds to S5 described above, If it is equal to or greater than the predetermined value (S32: NO), the process is temporarily terminated as it is.

  In this embodiment, not only when the vehicle is on a narrow street (S3: YES), but also when the distance Dt to the nearest narrow street is less than a predetermined value (S32: YES), idling stop is prohibited ( S5). For this reason, the stop and restart of the engine in the vicinity of the residential area are prohibited, and the occurrence of noise problems can be further suppressed.

[Fifth Embodiment]
Next, a fifth embodiment will be described. FIG. 6 is an overall configuration diagram showing an idling stop system according to the fifth embodiment. As shown in FIG. 6, the idling stop system of the present embodiment is different in that a road-to-vehicle communication device 8 is used instead of the navigation system 6, and the rest is the same as that of the first embodiment. Detailed explanation about is omitted, and different parts will be explained mainly.

  The road-to-vehicle communication device 8 receives information from a road-side transmission device installed at an intersection or the like. From the data received by the road-to-vehicle communication device 8, whether the vehicle is on a narrow street or not is determined. Information can be acquired. Therefore, in this embodiment, the road-to-vehicle communication device 8 detects whether or not the host vehicle is on a narrow street, and transmits the detection result to the idling stop control device 1 via the vehicle network 7 as narrow street information. Then, the idling stop control device 1 executes the aforementioned engine stop prohibition determination process shown in FIG. 2 based on the narrow street information. In this case, the same effect as that of the first embodiment is produced. The idling stop control device 1 may execute the engine stop prohibition determination process shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, and in this case, the same effect as in the second to fourth embodiments is produced.

[Other Embodiments]
As mentioned above, although some embodiment of this invention was described, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment, In the range which does not deviate from the summary of this invention, it can implement in various aspects.

  For example, in each of the above embodiments, the idling stop control device 1 is configured to input / output the brake depression amount, the accelerator depression amount, the engine operation state, the engine stop command, and the engine start command via the vehicle network 7. All or a part of the engine starter 2, the accelerator pedal sensor 3, the brake pedal sensor 4, and the engine ECU 5 may be directly input / output.

  In each of the above embodiments, the engine stop prohibition command is repeatedly output every time the engine stop prohibition determination process is executed when the idling stop is prohibited (S5). The prohibition setting and the cancellation thereof may be performed. Further, in each of the above embodiments, the narrow street information is acquired using the existing navigation system 6 or the road-to-vehicle communication device 8 provided in the vehicle, but the narrow street information acquisition means is independent of the existing configuration. The configuration described above may be used. However, when the narrow street information acquisition unit acquires the narrow street information using the existing configuration as in each of the embodiments, the narrow street information acquisition unit uses a configuration independent of the existing configuration. Compared to the above, the configuration of the apparatus can be simplified and the manufacturing cost can be reduced. Further, the navigation system 6 and the road-to-vehicle communication device 8 may be used in combination, and in that case, the latest road information can be acquired by road-to-vehicle communication.

[Correspondence with Invention]
In the embodiment, the stop control unit 10 is a stop control unit, the restart control unit 20 is a restart control unit, the road-to-vehicle communication device 8 is a road-to-vehicle communication unit, the position detection device of the navigation system 6 is a detection unit, and navigation. Database of system 6 is storage means, processing of S1 is narrow street information acquisition means, processing of S5 is stop prohibition means, processing of S11 is current time acquisition means, processing of S23 is time calculation means after exiting narrow streets, processing of S31 Corresponds to the nearest narrow street distance information acquisition means.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Idling stop control apparatus 2 ... Engine starting apparatus 3 ... Accelerator pedal sensor 4 ... Brake pedal sensor 6 ... Navigation system 7 ... Vehicle network 8 ... Road-to-vehicle communication device 10 ... Stop control part 20 ... Restart control part

Claims (5)

Stop control means for stopping the engine when a preset stop condition is satisfied when idling the engine of the vehicle;
Restart control means for restarting the engine when a preset restart condition is satisfied after the engine is stopped by the stop control means;
In an idling stop control device comprising:
Narrow street information acquisition means for acquiring information on whether or not the vehicle is on a narrow street;
Current time acquisition means for acquiring the current time;
If the information acquired by the narrow street information acquisition means indicates that the vehicle is on a narrow street , and the current time acquired by the current time acquisition means is within a predetermined time, the stop Stop prohibiting means for prohibiting the engine from being stopped by the control means;
An idling stop control device comprising: Stop control means for stopping the engine when a preset stop condition is satisfied when idling the engine of the vehicle;
Restart control means for restarting the engine when a preset restart condition is satisfied after the engine is stopped by the stop control means;
In an idling stop control device comprising:
Narrow street information acquisition means for acquiring information on whether or not the vehicle is on a narrow street;
A time calculation means after narrow street exit for calculating the time from when the vehicle left the narrow street from the most recent time when the vehicle was on the narrow street;
When the information acquired by the narrow street information acquisition unit indicates that the vehicle is on a narrow street , and when the time calculated by the time calculation unit after exiting the narrow street is within a predetermined time , Stop prohibiting means for prohibiting the stop of the engine by the stop control means;
An idling stop control device comprising: Stop control means for stopping the engine when a preset stop condition is satisfied when idling the engine of the vehicle;
Restart control means for restarting the engine when a preset restart condition is satisfied after the engine is stopped by the stop control means;
In an idling stop control device comprising:
Narrow street information acquisition means for acquiring information on whether or not the vehicle is on a narrow street;
Nearest narrow street distance information obtaining means for obtaining a distance to the nearest narrow street of the vehicle;
When the information acquired by the narrow street information acquisition unit indicates that the vehicle is on a narrow street , and when the distance acquired by the nearest narrow street distance information acquisition unit is a predetermined value or less , Stop prohibiting means for prohibiting the engine from being stopped by the stop control means;
An idling stop control device comprising: The vehicle includes a navigation system having storage means for storing position information of narrow streets and detection means for detecting the position of the vehicle,
The idling stop control device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the narrow street information acquisition unit acquires information on whether or not the vehicle is on a narrow street from the navigation system. The vehicle includes road-to-vehicle communication means for receiving information from a transmission device provided on the road side,
The narrow street information acquisition unit, the information on whether the vehicle is in a narrow street, in any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that to obtain the information the road-vehicle communication means receives The idling stop control device described.

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