JP6193417B2 - Idling stop device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an idling stop device that stops an engine when a running vehicle stops due to a signal or the like.

In order to improve fuel efficiency by reducing fuel consumed during idling and to reduce exhaust gas exhausted during idling, the idling stop device causes the engine to stop when a running vehicle stops at a signal. It is done to stop automatically.
However, if the engine is repeatedly stopped / started by the idling stop function in a state where the battery voltage is lowered, the battery voltage may further drop, which may cause problems such as the engine being unable to start. Therefore, various measures are taken against the state where the voltage of the battery is lowered.
For example, when the engine is restarted, if the voltage of the battery decreases and becomes lower than the minimum operating voltage of the control means, the control means is reset.
Therefore, in the idling stop device of Patent Document 1, when the engine is restarted, the voltage of the battery drops below the minimum operating voltage, and when the control means is reset, the fact that the voltage drops below the minimum operating voltage is stored in the storage unit. It has been proposed to do. Thereby, the control means after reset can grasp that the voltage of the battery has decreased based on the voltage decrease information, and thereafter, the power generation amount of the alternator that charges the battery is increased to increase the voltage of the battery.

Special table 2014-518979 gazette

In other words, the technique proposed in Patent Document 1 stops idling stop when the battery is weak, and actively charges the battery.
Therefore, no measures have been taken for various data lost when the control means is reset.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and provides an idling stop device capable of storing acquired data without losing data even in a situation where the control means is reset. The purpose is to provide.

  In order to achieve the above object, an idling stop device according to the present invention performs control to automatically stop an engine when a predetermined engine automatic stop condition is satisfied while the engine is operating. When the engine is automatically stopped and a predetermined engine restart condition is satisfied, an engine idling stop device having control means for performing control to restart the engine detects the engine failure. And a failure detection means that stores recorded contents even when the power is turned off, and when the failure detection means detects a failure during the automatic stop of the engine, information on the failure is provided. Recording means for recording in a non-volatile memory, and the control means detects a failure of the engine during the automatic stop of the engine by the failure detection means. Case, in response to the recording of information of the failure to the nonvolatile memory is completed, and permits a restart the engine.

  According to such a configuration, when a failure is detected during the engine automatic stop, the battery voltage is low by writing the failure information in the nonvolatile memory before the engine is restarted. Even when the volatile memory is erased by a voltage drop and the failure information is lost, the failure information can be stored.

  Further, in the idling stop device, the recording means includes a volatile memory in which the recorded contents are erased when the power is turned off, and information on a failure that occurs during operation of the engine is recorded in the volatile memory as needed. At the same time, it is preferable to record the failure information recorded in the volatile memory in the non-volatile memory when the ignition is turned off and the operation of the engine is terminated.

  According to such a configuration, since the non-volatile memory has a limit on the number of times of writing, in order to reduce the number of times of writing as much as possible, a failure occurring during engine operation is recorded in the volatile memory and is automatically stopped. Write to the non-volatile memory only at the time of failure and when the engine operation is finished. Thereby, the number of times of writing to the nonvolatile memory can be reduced, and the reaching of the limit number of times of writing can be delayed.

  In the idling stop device, the control unit may record the failure information in the nonvolatile memory when the failure detection unit detects a failure of the engine during the automatic stop of the engine. It is preferable that the engine is forcibly restarted without waiting for the engine restart condition to be satisfied in response to the completion.

  According to such a configuration, when a failure is detected during the engine automatic stop, the engine is forcibly restarted without waiting for the engine restart condition to be satisfied, thereby being detected during the automatic stop. It is possible to prevent the engine from being unable to restart due to a malfunction.

  In the idling stop device, the control means restarts the engine regardless of the establishment of the engine restart condition until the recording of the failure information in the nonvolatile memory by the recording means is completed. It is preferable to prohibit.

  According to such a configuration, the failure is detected during the engine automatic stop, and when the failure information is recorded in the nonvolatile memory, the battery voltage is lowered by prohibiting the restart during the writing. It is possible to prevent the idling stop device from being reset. As a result, loss of failure information can be prevented.

  In the idling stop device, the control means starts recording the failure information in the nonvolatile memory in a state where the engine is automatically stopped, but the writing is not repeated and the writing is repeated many times. Is measured after the restart condition is satisfied, and when the measured time exceeds the set upper limit value, the time to repeat the writing to the nonvolatile memory is measured. It is preferable to forcibly restart the engine without waiting for the end of recording.

  According to such a configuration, when a failure is detected during the automatic engine stop and the failure information is recorded in the nonvolatile memory, if the writing is not completed and the restart is not performed, the writing is not performed. If it continues to fail, it may not be possible to restart the engine. Thus, when the set time has elapsed, priority is given to restart over writing, so that a situation where the engine cannot be restarted can be avoided.

  In the idling stop device, the control means starts recording the failure information in the nonvolatile memory in a state where the engine is automatically stopped, but the writing is not repeated and the writing is repeated many times. The number of repeated writes to the non-volatile memory is counted after the restart condition is satisfied, and when the counted number exceeds the set upper limit value, It is preferable to forcibly restart the engine without waiting for the end of recording.

  According to such a configuration, when a failure is detected during the automatic engine stop and the failure information is recorded in the nonvolatile memory, if the writing is not completed and the restart is not performed, the writing is not performed. If it continues to fail, it may not be possible to restart the engine. Therefore, when failure occurs a plurality of times, priority is given to restart over writing, so that a situation where the engine cannot be restarted can be avoided.

  Further, in the idling stop device, the control means detects the failure during the automatic stop of the engine, and records the failure information in the nonvolatile memory when the failure detection means detects the failure. It is preferable that the recorded failure information is also recorded in the nonvolatile memory.

  According to such a configuration, the failure information recorded in the volatile memory that is not enough to prohibit the automatic engine stop can be recorded and stored in the nonvolatile memory before the engine is restarted. it can.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, even if it is a situation where a control means is reset, the idling stop apparatus which can preserve | save without acquiring the acquired data can be provided.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the idling stop apparatus of 1st Embodiment. It is a timing chart which shows the flow of processing of an idling stop device during engine operation. It is a timing diagram which shows the flow of a process of the idling stop apparatus when an engine stops automatically. It is explanatory drawing which shows the structure of the idling stop apparatus of 2nd Embodiment, and the flow of a process.

<First Embodiment>
A first embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings as appropriate. The same components are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description is omitted.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an idling stop device S1 of the present embodiment and a configuration around it.
The idling stop device S1 of the present embodiment is installed in a vehicle or the like that uses the engine 31 as a power source, and has a function of automatically stopping / restarting the engine 31 while the vehicle is stopped (idling) such as waiting for a signal. .

The engine 31 is driven by using the expansion pressure of combustion gas obtained by burning fuel such as gasoline or light oil. When the idling stop device S1 is stopped or decelerated below the set speed, the engine 31 is automatically stopped, so that fuel consumed during idling is reduced, fuel efficiency is improved, and fuel is discharged during idling. Exhaust gas is reduced. Further, the engine 31 is activated by a starter motor 32.
The starter motor 32 is operated by electric power supplied from the battery 33.
In addition to the starter motor 32, the battery 33 supplies power to various electric devices installed in the vehicle. For example, the battery 33 also supplies power to the idling stop device S1 of the present embodiment and the engine ECU (Electronic Control Unit) 34 that controls the engine 31. Further, the battery 33 stores the electric power generated by the alternator 35.
The alternator 35 is driven by the power of the engine 31 to generate power.

The idling stop device S1 includes a control unit 11, a failure detection unit 12, and a recording unit 13.
The control means 11 performs control to automatically stop the engine 31 when a predetermined engine automatic stop condition is satisfied while the engine 31 is operating. The control unit 11 performs control to restart the engine 31 when a predetermined engine restart condition is satisfied while the engine 31 is automatically stopped.
As the engine automatic stop condition for automatically stopping the engine 31, for example, when the vehicle is temporarily stopped due to a signal or the like while the vehicle is running, the vehicle is stopped (vehicle speed is zero) and a brake pedal (not shown) Is being stepped on.
The engine restart condition for restarting the engine 31 in the automatic stop state includes, for example, that the signal has turned blue from the signal waiting state and the foot has been removed from the brake pedal in order to start. .
When the engine automatic stop condition is satisfied, an automatic stop (idling stop) command is output from the control means 11 to the engine ECU 34. Further, when the engine restart condition is satisfied during the automatic stop, an engine restart command is output from the control means 11 to the engine ECU 34.

The failure detection means 12 detects a failure of the engine 31 based on output signals output from various sensors (not shown) installed in the vehicle (not shown) and the engine 31.
The recording unit 13 records information on a failure detected by the failure detection unit 12, and includes a nonvolatile memory 14 and a volatile memory 15.
The non-volatile memory 14 is a memory in which recorded contents are stored even when the power is turned off.
The volatile memory 15 is a memory from which recorded contents are erased when the power is turned off.

Next, the operation of the idling stop device S1 during engine operation will be described with reference to the timing chart of FIG.
First, during engine operation such as when the vehicle is running, as shown at the left end of FIG. 2, the alternator 35 generates power as necessary. For this reason, the voltage supplied to the idling stop device S1 becomes the rated voltage value, and the idling stop device S1 operates without any problem.
As for the automatic stop permission command, automatic stop is permitted on the assumption that no failure has been detected so far.

Next, when a failure is detected by the failure detection unit 12 during engine operation (TS1), the recording unit 13 records the failure information in the volatile memory 15 as needed.
As for the automatic stop permission command, the control unit 11 prohibits the automatic stop when the restart is likely to be difficult after the automatic stop depending on the seriousness of the failure. When the automatic stop is prohibited, even if other engine automatic stop conditions are satisfied, the automatic stop prohibition takes precedence, the engine is not automatically stopped, and the engine 31 continues to operate.

Next, when it is detected by the failure detection means 12 during engine operation (TS2), the recording means 13 records and updates the volatile memory 15 as needed.
As for the automatic stop permission command, the automatic stop is permitted when the failure is resolved.
In addition, about the cancellation of a failure, when a failure is a misdiagnosis by a sensor (not shown), it is a matter of course. Further, since there may be a case where the sticking or the like causing the failure is eliminated due to vibration during driving or temperature rise, it is not a problem to detect that the failure has been eliminated without doing anything.

Next, when a failure is detected again by the failure detection means 12 during engine operation (TS3), the recording means 13 records failure information in the volatile memory 15 at any time as in the previous time (TS1). .
As for the automatic stop permission command, as in the previous time (TS1), even if the engine automatic stop condition is satisfied, the engine is not automatically stopped and the engine is continued to operate.

Then, when the time has elapsed without the failure being resolved and the operation of the engine 31 is finished (TS4), when the ignition is turned off, before the idling stop device S1 is turned off (shutdown: TS5), the recording means 13 Information on the failure recorded in the volatile memory 15 is recorded in the nonvolatile memory 14.
Note that, when the ignition is turned off, the engine 31 is stopped and the power generation of the alternator 35 is also stopped. Therefore, the voltage supplied to the idling stop device S1 becomes the voltage value of the battery voltage.
Then, after confirming that the writing to the nonvolatile memory 14 of the recording means 13 is completed, the recording means 13 is shut down (TS5), the supply voltage becomes zero volts, and the idling stop device S1 stops.
Further, when the supply voltage to the idling stop device S1 becomes zero volts (less than the reset voltage value), the information recorded in the volatile memory 15 is erased (RAM clear).

Next, the operation of the idling stop device S1 when the engine 31 is automatically stopped will be described with reference to the timing chart of FIG.
First, during engine operation such as when the vehicle is running, as shown in the left end of FIG. 3, the alternator 35 generates power as necessary, as in FIG. For this reason, the voltage supplied to the idling stop device S1 becomes the rated voltage value, and the idling stop device S1 operates without any problem.
As for the automatic stop permission command, automatic stop is permitted on the assumption that no failure has been detected so far.

  When the engine automatic stop condition is satisfied (TS6), it is confirmed that the automatic stop permission command permits the automatic stop, and then the engine 31 is automatically stopped (idling stop). During the automatic engine stop, since the power generation by the alternator 35 is not performed, the voltage supplied to the idling stop device S1 is the voltage value of the battery voltage.

Next, when an engine failure is detected by the failure detection means 12 during the automatic engine stop (TS7), the recording means 13 immediately notifies the failure information together with the information recorded in the volatile memory 15. Is recorded in the nonvolatile memory 14.
Note that if the failure information is being written to the nonvolatile memory 14 by the recording means 13, the restart of the engine 31 is prohibited until the writing is completed regardless of the establishment of the engine restart condition.
Then, upon completion of writing by the recording means 13, the automatic stop permission command prohibits the automatic stop of the engine. That is, the restart of the engine 31 is permitted. In response to this, the control means 11 issues a command to the engine ECU 34 to forcibly restart the engine 31 without waiting for the engine restart condition to be satisfied.

However, the engine restart condition is satisfied in the state where the engine 31 is automatically stopped and the failure information is recorded in the nonvolatile memory 14 but the writing is not completed and the rewriting is repeated many times. In this case, the control unit 11 measures the time during which writing to the nonvolatile memory 14 is repeated after the restart condition is established. Then, when the measured time exceeds the set upper limit value, the engine 31 is forcibly restarted without waiting for the completion of recording in the nonvolatile memory 14.
In the control method of the present embodiment, as a condition for forcibly restarting the engine 31 without waiting for completion of recording in the nonvolatile memory 14, the nonvolatile memory Although the time when the writing to 14 is repeated is measured, it is not limited to such a control method.
For example, after the engine restart condition is satisfied, the number of times the writing is repeated is counted, and when the counted number exceeds the set upper limit value, without waiting for the completion of recording in the nonvolatile memory 14 A control method for forcibly restarting the engine 31 may be used.
Further, both the time and the number of times are measured and counted, and when either one exceeds the upper limit value or when both exceed the upper limit value, the engine 31 is not waited for completion of recording in the nonvolatile memory 14. It is good also as a control method which forcibly restarts.
In this embodiment, the engine is forcibly restarted after the writing is completed. However, after the writing to the nonvolatile memory 14 by the recording unit 13 is completed, the engine restart is permitted and the engine is restarted. It is good also as a control method which restarts the engine 31 after starting conditions are satisfied.

Next, when the engine 31 is restarted from the engine automatic stop state (TS8), cranking is performed by the starter motor 32, and the engine 31 is started.
Since the starter motor 32 consumes a large current at the time of starting, when the battery 33 is weak, the voltage value (battery voltage) supplied to the idling stop device S1 is restarted (reset). May temporarily drop to the reset voltage value. When the battery voltage falls to the reset voltage value and the idling stop device S1 is reset, the information recorded in the volatile memory 15 is erased (RAM clear). In this embodiment, failure information is recorded in the non-volatile memory 14 before restarting the engine in order to prevent such loss of failure information due to RAM clearing.

  When the restart of the engine is completed (TS9) and the operation is stabilized, when power generation by the alternator 35 is started, the voltage supplied to the idling stop device S1 gradually approaches the rated voltage value.

  In addition, when a failure is detected during the engine automatic stop and the engine 31 is forcibly restarted, and the engine automatic stop condition is satisfied (TS10), the automatic stop permission command prohibits the automatic stop. The operation of the engine 31 is continued.

Next, the effect of the idling stop device S1 according to this embodiment will be described.
If a failure is detected during the automatic engine stop, the failure voltage is written in the nonvolatile memory 14 before the engine 31 is restarted, so that the battery voltage is low, and the volatile memory is caused by the voltage drop at the time of the engine restart. In this case, the failure information can be stored even in a situation where the failure information is lost.

  Since the non-volatile memory 14 has a limit on the number of times of writing, in order to reduce the number of times of writing as much as possible, failures that occur during engine operation are recorded in the volatile memory 15, and when the failure occurs during automatic stop, Write to the non-volatile memory 14 only at the end of the operation 31. As a result, the number of times of writing to the nonvolatile memory 14 can be reduced, and the reaching of the limit number of times of writing can be delayed.

  If a failure is detected during the automatic engine stop, the engine 31 is restarted due to the failure detected during the automatic stop by forcibly restarting the engine 31 without waiting for the engine restart condition to be satisfied. It is possible to prevent as much as possible from starting.

  When the failure is detected during the automatic engine stop and the failure information is recorded in the nonvolatile memory 14, the idling stop device S <b> 1 is reset in a situation where the battery voltage is lowered by prohibiting restart during writing. Can be prevented. As a result, loss of failure information can be prevented.

  When a failure is detected while the engine is automatically stopped and the failure information is recorded in the nonvolatile memory 14, if the writing is not completed and the restart is not performed, if the writing continues to fail, the engine 31 May not be able to restart all at once. Therefore, when failure occurs a plurality of times, priority is given to restart over writing, so that a situation in which the engine 31 cannot be restarted can be avoided.

Also, minor failure information recorded in the volatile memory 15 that does not prohibit the automatic stop of the engine can be recorded and stored in the nonvolatile memory 14 before the engine 31 is restarted.

Second Embodiment
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings as appropriate. Constituent elements similar to those in the first embodiment are given the same reference numerals, and redundant descriptions are omitted.
A configuration that is greatly different between the present embodiment and the first embodiment is that the idling stop device S2 is installed in two cases.
The configuration in which the idling stop device S2 includes the control unit 11, the failure detection unit 12, and the recording unit 13 is the same as that in the first embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 4, the two cases where the idling stop device S2 is installed are an engine ECU 44 (first case) and a transmission ECU 46 (second case).
In the first embodiment, the idling stop device S1 is combined into one configuration, and the idling stop device S1 and the engine ECU 34 are configured separately. However, in the present embodiment, the control means 11 is installed in the engine ECU 44, and the failure detection means 12 and the recording means 13 are installed in the transmission ECU 46.

The engine ECU 44 controls the engine 31 in the same manner as the engine ECU 34 of the first embodiment.
The transmission ECU 46 controls an automatic transmission (not shown).
The engine ECU 44 and the transmission ECU 46 are electrically connected.

When a failure is detected by the failure detection unit 12 of the transmission ECU 46 during the automatic stop of the engine 31 (see TS7 in FIG. 3), the recording unit 13 of the transmission ECU 46 immediately writes the failure information in the nonvolatile memory 14. Further, since the idling stop device S2 is separately installed in the engine ECU 44 and the transmission ECU 46, a signal “being written” is transmitted from the transmission ECU 46 to the control means 11 of the engine ECU 44.
Then, the control means 11 of the engine ECU 44 prohibits the restart of the engine 31 when receiving the “writing” signal.

Further, when the writing of the failure information by the recording means 13 of the transmission ECU 46 is completed, a signal of “writing complete” is transmitted from the transmission ECU 46 to the control means 11 of the engine ECU 44.
Then, the control means 11 of the engine ECU 44 restarts the engine 31 when receiving the “write complete” signal.

  In other words, even when the idling stop device S2 is separately installed in the engine ECU 44 and the transmission ECU 46, only the exchange of signals between the engine ECU 44 and the transmission ECU 46 is added, and the vehicle is stopped such as waiting for a signal (during idling). The function of automatically stopping / restarting the engine 31 is the same as that of the first embodiment.

By the way, when the idling stop device S2 is separately installed in the engine ECU 44 and the transmission ECU 46, the engine ECU 44 and the transmission ECU 46 may be energized separately during factory inspection before shipment. In such a case, since communication with each other cannot be performed, it is determined that there is a failure, and the failure information may be written in the nonvolatile memory 14.
In addition, when the operation of each sensor is checked, the failure information may be written in the nonvolatile memory 14 even when it is determined that it is a failure.

However, in the present invention, the control is “when the failure is detected by the failure detection unit 12 during the engine automatic stop, the recording unit 13 immediately records the failure information in the nonvolatile memory 14”. ing.
As a result, during the inspection at the factory, since it is not during automatic stop (idling stop), the failure information detected by the failure detection means 12 is not recorded in the nonvolatile memory 14.

Further, when the failure information is recorded in the volatile memory 15 when the engine is shut down from the ignition OFF at the end of the inspection in the factory inspection, the failure information may be written in the nonvolatile memory 14. is there.
However, in the factory inspection, the engine ECU 44 and the transmission ECU 46 are connected to an inspection connector (not shown) prepared for factory inspection. After completion of the inspection, the inspection connector is pulled out from the engine ECU 44 and the transmission ECU 46 without following the normal engine stop procedure (ignition OFF (TS4) → shutdown (TS5)), and the power is turned off. For this reason, there is no timing at which failure information is recorded in the nonvolatile memory 14 at the end of the factory inspection.

That is, in the present invention, when the failure is detected by the failure detection unit 12 during the automatic engine stop, the recording unit 13 immediately records the failure information in the nonvolatile memory 14. Therefore, it is not necessary to incorporate a control mode for avoiding writing to the nonvolatile memory 14 only for factory inspection.
As a result, when the factory inspection control mode is prepared, the necessary mode switching is not required, so that it is not necessary to take measures against forgetting to switch from the factory inspection mode to the normal mode after the inspection is completed.
Also, since there is no factory inspection control mode and there is only one normal control mode, the user switches to the factory inspection mode for some reason while the user is on board, and the failure cannot be detected. This phenomenon does not occur.

Therefore, in the idling stop device S2 of the present application, erroneous writing to the nonvolatile memory 14 in the production line can be prevented.
In addition, in the idling stop device S2 of the present application, since it is not necessary to prepare a so-called factory inspection mode, it is possible to prevent occurrence of problems such as forgetting to switch modes and failure to detect failure, and to improve reliability and quality. Control system creation man-hours can be reduced.

1 Engine 13 Connecting rod 13a Head side edge portion 21 Piston 22 Head portion 26 Cooling channel 26b Discharge port 27 Boss portion 27c Piston pin 28 Sliding wall portion C27c Shaft center H28 Total height L27c Straight line L13 Straight line

Claims (7)

When a predetermined engine automatic stop condition is satisfied while the engine is operating, control is performed to automatically stop the engine,
In a state where the engine is automatically stopped, when a predetermined engine restart condition is satisfied, an idling stop device including a control unit that performs control to restart the engine,
A failure detection means for detecting a failure of the engine;
A non-volatile memory for storing recorded contents even when the power is turned off is provided. When the failure detecting means detects a failure during the automatic stop of the engine, the failure information is recorded in the non-volatile memory. Recording means;
With
The control means includes
When a failure of the engine is detected during the automatic stop of the engine by the failure detection means, the engine is restarted in response to the end of recording of the failure information in the nonvolatile memory. Idling stop device characterized by allowing. The recording means includes
It has a volatile memory that erases recorded content when the power is turned off.
Information on failures occurring during operation of the engine is recorded in the volatile memory as needed,
2. The idling stop device according to claim 1, wherein when the ignition is turned off and the operation of the engine is terminated, the failure information recorded in the volatile memory is recorded in the nonvolatile memory. The control means includes
When the failure detection means detects the failure of the engine during the automatic stop of the engine, in response to the end of recording of the failure information in the nonvolatile memory, the engine restart condition The idling stop device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the engine is forcibly restarted without waiting for establishment. The control means includes
The restart of the engine is prohibited regardless of the establishment of the engine restart condition until the recording of the failure information in the nonvolatile memory by the recording unit is completed. The idling stop apparatus of any one of Claims. The control means includes
In the state where the engine is automatically stopped, the recording of failure information in the nonvolatile memory is started, but the writing is not completed and the writing is repeated many times.
Measure the time for repeated writing to the non-volatile memory after the restart condition is satisfied,
5. The engine is forcibly restarted without waiting for completion of recording in the nonvolatile memory when the measured time exceeds a set upper limit value. The idling stop apparatus of any one of these. The control means includes
In the state where the engine is automatically stopped, the recording of failure information in the nonvolatile memory is started, but the writing is not completed and the writing is repeated many times.
Count the number of times the nonvolatile memory was repeatedly written after the restart condition was established,
5. The engine is forcibly restarted without waiting for the end of recording in the nonvolatile memory when the counted number exceeds a set upper limit value. The idling stop apparatus of any one of these. The control means includes
When the failure detection means detects a failure and records the failure information in the nonvolatile memory during the automatic stop of the engine, the failure information recorded in the volatile memory is also combined with the nonvolatile memory. It records on memory, The idling stop apparatus of any one of Claims 2-6 characterized by the above-mentioned.

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