JP7158809B2 - vehicle controller - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a vehicle control device.

Recently, with the aging of vehicle driver's license holders, accidents involving misapplication of the brake pedal and the accelerator pedal, i.e., the driver's intention to stop the vehicle and mistakenly depress the accelerator and brake pedals, cause the vehicle to stop driving. Many accidents occur due to acceleration against the will of the driver.

Various devices have been developed to suppress the occurrence of this misstep accident.

For example, if a sensor such as a camera, millimeter-wave radar, or laser radar is installed in a vehicle and the sensor detects the presence of an obstacle in front of the vehicle, suppressing the engine output will prevent the accelerator pedal from operating. Devices have been developed to prevent vehicle acceleration due to accidental stepping. However, with this system, if an obstacle in front of the vehicle, such as a fence, is not properly detected by the sensor, or if the accelerator pedal is depressed again after being released once, the re-depression may be due to an erroneous operation. Even if there is, the suppression of the engine output may be canceled.

In addition, the accelerator pedal and the brake pedal are integrated into one pedal, and the operation of stepping on the pedal with the toe while placing the heel on the pedal is regarded as the braking operation, and the pedal is operated by the foot while the heel is placed on the pedal. A device has been developed in which the operation of sliding to the right is an accelerator operation. However, introducing this device into a vehicle is costly and requires familiarity with accelerator operation.

JP 2014-227877 A

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a vehicle control device that can reduce damage caused by an accident where a brake pedal and an accelerator pedal are mistakenly depressed or suppress the occurrence of such an accident with a simple configuration.

In order to achieve the above object, a vehicle control device according to the present invention is a vehicle control device having an accelerator pedal and a brake pedal that are operated by foot, and includes a pedal force detection for detecting a pedal force applied to the accelerator pedal. and driving force suppressing means for suppressing the driving force transmitted to the driving wheels of the vehicle when the pedaling force detected by the pedaling force detecting means is determined to be abnormal.

When the vehicle accelerates against the driver's intention by depressing the accelerator pedal and the brake pedal by mistake, the driver misunderstands that the brakes are not working even though he is depressing the brake pedal, and tries to stop the vehicle. Depress the accelerator pedal strongly. In this case, even if the amount of operation of the accelerator pedal reaches the maximum, the accelerator pedal is further depressed, and an abnormally large depression force is applied to the accelerator pedal.

Therefore, when the pedaling force applied to the accelerator pedal by the stepping operation is detected and the pedaling force is determined to be abnormal, the driving force transmitted to the drive wheels of the vehicle is suppressed. As a result, it is possible to suppress sudden start and sudden acceleration of the vehicle due to misapplication of the accelerator pedal and the brake pedal. As a result, it is possible to reduce the damage caused by the misstep accident or to suppress the occurrence of the misstep accident. Moreover, the hardware added to suppress the driving force is only the configuration (sensor, switch, etc.) for detecting the depression force applied to the accelerator pedal, so the hardware configuration can be simple.

According to the present invention, with a simple hardware configuration, it is possible to suppress sudden start and sudden acceleration of a vehicle caused by misapplication of an accelerator pedal and a brake pedal. can.

It is a figure which shows the structure of the principal part of a vehicle. 4 is a flowchart showing the flow of driving force suppression control;

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Below, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

<Vehicle configuration>
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of the main parts of a vehicle 1. As shown in FIG.

The vehicle 1 is a front-engine front-wheel-drive (FF) type four-wheel vehicle. That is, front left and right front wheels 3L and 3R are provided at the front left and right front portions of the vehicle body 2 of the vehicle 1, respectively, and rear wheels 4L and 4R are provided at the rear left and right rear portions of the vehicle body 2, respectively. An engine compartment is provided in the front part of the vehicle body 2, and an engine 5 and a transmission 6 are arranged in the engine compartment. The output of the engine 5 is shifted by the transmission 6, transmitted to a differential gear (not shown), and transmitted from the differential gear to the front wheels 3L, 3R via left and right drive shafts 7L, 7R, respectively.

The engine 5 is provided with an electronic throttle valve for adjusting the amount of intake air into the combustion chamber of the engine 5, an injector (fuel injection device) for injecting fuel into the intake air, and a spark plug for generating electric discharge in the combustion chamber. It is The engine 5 is also provided with a starter for starting the engine.

The transmission 6 is an automatic transmission, and may be a stepped automatic transmission (AT: Automatic Transmission) or a continuously variable transmission (CVT: Continuously Variable Transmission). Also, the transmission 6 may be a power split type continuously variable transmission. A power split type continuously variable transmission, for example, is equipped with a belt-type continuously variable transmission mechanism that changes the power steplessly by changing the gear ratio, and divides the power into two paths between the input shaft and the output shaft. It is a transmission that can be transmitted by

A driver's seat is provided in the vehicle compartment separated by the engine compartment and the dash panel, and between the driver's seat and the dash panel is an accelerator pedal 8 that is operated by stepping to accelerate the vehicle 1, A brake pedal 9 that is stepped on for braking the vehicle 1 is provided.

Further, the dash panel is provided with a meter panel 10 on the passenger compartment side. The meter panel 10 is provided with meters for displaying vehicle speed and engine speed, as well as indicators such as a liquid crystal display for displaying various types of information.

The vehicle 1 is equipped with an ECU (Electronic Control Unit) including a microcomputer (microcontroller unit). A microcomputer contains, for example, a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, and a data flash (flash memory). Although only one ECU 21 is shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle 1 is equipped with a plurality of ECUs having the same configuration as the ECU 21 in order to control each part. A plurality of ECUs including the ECU 21 are connected so as to be capable of two-way communication using a CAN (Controller Area Network) communication protocol.

The ECU 21 is connected to various sensors necessary for control, such as a wheel speed sensor 22 and a pedaling force sensor 23 . The wheel speed sensors 22 are provided in association with the front wheels 3L, 3R and the rear wheels 4L, 4R, and output pulse signals synchronized with the rotation of the wheels as detection signals. A pedaling force sensor 23 outputs a detection signal corresponding to the pedaling force applied to the accelerator pedal 8 .

The ECU 21 calculates the wheel speeds of the front wheels 3L, 3R and the rear wheels 4L, 4R from the detection signals of the respective wheel speed sensors 22. And the vehicle speed is calculated from the average value of the wheel speeds of the rear wheels 4L and 4R. Further, the ECU 21 detects the pedaling force applied to the accelerator pedal 8 from the detection signal of the pedaling force sensor 23 .

The ECU 21 incorporates engine control logic for controlling the engine 5 and shift control logic for controlling the transmission 6 . The engine control logic controls an electronic throttle valve, injectors, spark plugs, and the like provided in the engine 5 for starting, stopping, adjusting the output of the engine 5, and the like. Various valves included in a hydraulic circuit for supplying hydraulic pressure to each part of the transmission 6 are controlled by the shift control logic in order to control the gear ratio of the transmission 6 and the like. Further, the display of the meter panel 10 is controlled by the ECU 21 .

<Driving force suppression control>
FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the flow of driving force suppression control.

In order to suppress the occurrence of an accident due to misapplication of the accelerator pedal 8 and the brake pedal 9, while the ignition switch of the vehicle 1 is on, the ECU 21 executes driving force suppression control shown in FIG.

In the driving force suppression control, the pedaling force applied to the accelerator pedal 8 is detected from the detection signal of the pedaling force sensor 23 (step S1).

Then, it is determined whether or not the detected pedaling force exceeds a preset abnormality determination value (step S2).

When the vehicle 1 accelerates against the intention of the driver due to the mistake of depressing the accelerator pedal 8 and the brake pedal 9, the driver misunderstands that the brake does not work even though he is depressing the brake pedal 9, and the vehicle is damaged. 1 is to be stopped, the accelerator pedal 8 is strongly stepped on. In this case, even if the amount of operation of the accelerator pedal 8 reaches the maximum, the accelerator pedal 8 is further depressed and an abnormally large depression force is applied to the accelerator pedal 8 . Therefore, the abnormality determination value is set to a value that exceeds the pedaling force applied to the accelerator pedal 8 when the accelerator pedal 8 is further stepped on after being fully stepped on.

If the pedaling force does not exceed the abnormality determination value (NO in step S2), the subsequent processing is not executed, and the driving force suppression control is terminated. At a predetermined timing after the driving force suppression control ends, the driving force suppression control is executed again.

If the pedal force exceeds the abnormality determination value (YES in step S2), it is determined whether or not the vehicle speed is equal to or lower than a predetermined vehicle speed (step S3). If, for example, the front wheels 3L and 3R, which are driving wheels, go over the wheel stoppers in the parking lot due to the accelerator pedal 8 and the brake pedal 9 being depressed incorrectly, the front wheels 3L and 3R will idle, and the wheel speed of the front wheels 3L and 3R will be is used to calculate the vehicle speed, the vehicle speed may not be accurately detected. Therefore, the vehicle speed used for this determination may be the vehicle speed calculated from the average value of the wheel speeds of the front wheels 3L, 3R and the rear wheels 4L, 4R. It is preferably calculated from the average value.

If the vehicle speed is not equal to or lower than the predetermined vehicle speed, that is, if the vehicle speed exceeds the predetermined vehicle speed (NO in step S3), the subsequent processing is not executed, and the driving force suppression control is terminated.

If the vehicle speed is equal to or lower than the predetermined vehicle speed (YES in step S3), the road surface on which the vehicle 1 is located has a slope, and it is determined whether or not the driving range in the direction of climbing the road surface is selected ( step S4). The transmission 6 has shift ranges including a P (parking) range, an R (reverse) range, an N (neutral) range and a D (drive) range. When the road surface on which the vehicle 1 is located is inclined forward upward, if the shift range of the transmission 6 is the D range (travel range in the forward direction), it is determined that the travel range in the uphill direction is selected. . Further, when the road surface on which the vehicle 1 is located is sloping rearward upward, if the shift range of the transmission 6 is the R range (running range in the backward direction), it is determined that the running range in the uphill direction is selected. be done.

If the running range in the uphill direction is not selected (NO in step S4), the opening of the electronic throttle valve is set so that the output (driving force) of the engine 5 is relatively greatly suppressed (step S5). It is reduced by a first predetermined amount.

On the other hand, if the traveling range in the uphill direction is selected (YES in step S4), the opening of the electronic throttle valve is set to the first degree so that the output of the engine 5 is relatively small (step S6). It is reduced by a second predetermined amount that is less than the predetermined amount.

Then, a message such as "the accelerator pedal is being depressed too strongly" is displayed on the meter panel 10, or is notified by voice, or is notified by both the display and voice (step S7), and driving force suppression control is performed. is terminated.

<Effect>
As described above, when the pedaling force applied to the accelerator pedal 8 by the stepping operation is detected and determined to be an abnormal value exceeding the abnormality determination value, the output of the engine 5 is suppressed and the vehicle 1 is detected. The driving force transmitted to the front wheels 3L and 3R, which are the driving wheels of the vehicle, is suppressed. As a result, sudden start and sudden acceleration of the vehicle 1 due to misstepping of the accelerator pedal 8 and the brake pedal 9 can be suppressed. Moreover, since the only hardware required for driving force suppression control is the pedal force sensor 23, the hardware configuration can be simple.

Therefore, it is possible to suppress sudden start and sudden acceleration of the vehicle 1 due to misapplication of the accelerator pedal 8 and the brake pedal 9 with a simple hardware configuration, and as a result, it is possible to reduce the damage caused by misapplication or suppress the occurrence of misapplication. .

<Modification>
Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention can also be implemented in other forms.

For example, the pedaling force sensor 23 is not limited to a configuration that outputs a detection signal corresponding to the pedaling force applied to the accelerator pedal 8. For example, when the pedaling force applied to the accelerator pedal 8 exceeds an abnormality determination value, the contact is closed. , the switch may be a switch that outputs a signal with a different level than when the contact is open.

In addition, various design changes can be made to the above configuration within the scope of the matters described in the claims.

1: Vehicle 3L, 3R: Front wheels (driving wheels)
8: accelerator pedal 9: brake pedal 21: ECU (control device, driving force suppressing means)
23: pedaling force sensor (pedaling force detection means)

Claims (1)

A control device for a vehicle comprising an engine, foot operated accelerator and brake pedals, comprising:
a pedaling force detection means for detecting a pedaling force applied to the accelerator pedal;
When the pedaling force detected by the pedaling force detection means is determined to be abnormal, it is determined whether or not the road surface on which the vehicle is located has a slope and a running range in the direction of climbing the road surface is selected. However, when the running range in the climbing direction is not selected , the opening of the electronic throttle valve of the engine is set to the first position so that the driving force transmitted to the driving wheels of the vehicle is relatively greatly suppressed. The degree of opening of the electronic throttle valve is set to the first position so that the driving force transmitted to the driving wheels is relatively small when the travel range in the direction of climbing is selected. and driving force suppression means for reducing the driving force by a second predetermined amount that is less than the fixed amount .

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