JP7324161B2 - Vehicle running device - Google Patents

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a vehicle traveling apparatus applied to a vehicle equipped with a manual transmission as a transmission.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in vehicles such as automobiles, various driving assistance techniques have been proposed for reducing the burden on drivers and enabling them to drive comfortably and safely, and some of them have already been put into practical use.

This type of driving assistance is equipped with an adaptive cruise control (ACC) function and a lane keeping control (Lane Keeping) function. It can run automatically. Furthermore, by providing a locator function, the own vehicle can be automatically driven to the destination.

ACC control recognizes the distance to the preceding vehicle using, for example, an on-vehicle camera and various radar sensors mounted on the vehicle, or a forward recognition device consisting of a combination thereof, and causes the vehicle to follow the preceding vehicle. In this ACC control, when the preceding vehicle stops, the own vehicle is stopped with a predetermined inter-vehicle distance, and all vehicle speed follow-up control is performed in which the own vehicle starts following the start of the preceding vehicle.

Such ACC control is generally applied to vehicles equipped with an automatic transmission. In other words, in general, a manual transmission cannot perform creep driving, etc., and it is necessary to entrust the starting and shifting of the vehicle to the driving operation of the driver, so ACC control is not applicable to vehicles equipped with a manual transmission. not. Therefore, in a vehicle equipped with a manual transmission, the driver is forced to carry out the burden of frequently operating the clutch, etc., especially when starting and stopping are repeated, such as in a traffic jam.

Here, a technique has been proposed for reducing the burden on the driver by realizing a running equivalent to the creep running of an automatic transmission even in a vehicle equipped with a manual transmission. For example, in Patent Document 1, an input shaft, a main shaft arranged to be connectable thereto, and a first countershaft arranged parallel to them are provided with a first forward speed and a reverse speed. Each forward gear pair except each gear pair is arranged so as to be selectively connectable between both shafts, and a second counter shaft separate from the first counter shaft is connected to the main shaft. A transmission variable type clutch is arranged between the second countershaft and the first countershaft, and a first speed for forward movement is arranged on the second countershaft and the main shaft. A technique is disclosed in which a gear pair for reverse travel is selectively arranged to be connectable between both shafts.

JP-A-6-265003

However, the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1 above requires the addition of a second countershaft, which may complicate the structure of the manual transmission.

In addition, in the technique disclosed in the above-mentioned Patent Document 1, the gear selection means selects the gear for the first gear in both cases when the driver operates the gear in neutral and when the driver shifts to the first gear. Since it is connected to the main shaft, there is a possibility that the operating feeling at the time of normal starting will be different from the original operating feeling of the manual transmission.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and is capable of realizing vehicle start-up without the need for driver's clutch operation, without impairing the operation feeling of a manual transmission, with a simple configuration. The purpose is to provide an apparatus.

A vehicle running device according to one aspect of the present invention includes an input shaft connected to an engine via a clutch, an output shaft arranged parallel to the input shaft, and either the input shaft or the output shaft. A first gear that is fixed to one shaft and constitutes a speed change gear train for starting, meshes with the first gear, and is rotatable about either the input shaft or the output shaft. a second gear that is supported and constitutes the speed change gear train for starting; and a switching mechanism for enabling or disabling the power transmission of the driver. and an auxiliary clutch that can be engaged between the other shaft and the second gear irrespective of the gear shift operation, and when the manual transmission is in a neutral state, the host vehicle through engagement control or release control of the auxiliary clutch. and a travel control unit that performs travel control at a low speed equal to or lower than the set vehicle speed.

According to the vehicular traveling apparatus of the present invention, it is possible to start the own vehicle without requiring the driver to operate the clutch without impairing the operation feeling of the manual transmission with a simple configuration.

Schematic diagram of travel control device Cross-sectional view of the essential parts of the manual transmission Schematic diagram of driving support device Flowchart showing low-speed driving control routine Flowchart showing low speed follow mode execution subroutine Explanatory diagram showing the relationship between the host vehicle and the preceding vehicle in low-speed travel control mode

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The drawings relate to one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1 is a skeleton diagram showing a manual transmission.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 designates a manual transmission as, for example, a geared transmission. The manual transmission 1 includes a clutch 12 connected to a crankshaft 11, which is the output shaft of an engine 10, and a transmission 20 to which driving force from the engine 10 is input via the clutch 12. ing. Note that the manual transmission 1 in this embodiment is a vertical transmission that is mounted along the longitudinal direction of the vehicle.

The clutch 12 includes a flywheel 12a connected to the crankshaft 11, a clutch disc 12b that can be contacted and separated from the rear side of the flywheel 12a (transmission 20 side), and a clutch cover fixed to the rear side of the flywheel 12a. 12c, a diaphragm spring 12d supported by the clutch cover 12c, a pressure plate 12e for pressing the clutch disk 12b toward the flywheel 12a by the biasing force of the diaphragm spring 12d, and an input shaft interlocking with a release fork (not shown). and a release bearing 12f for releasing the biasing force of the diaphragm spring 12d against the pressure plate 12e by moving in the axial direction of the pressure plate 12e.

The transmission 20 includes an input shaft 21 as a rotating shaft driven by the engine 10, and a hollow output shaft 22 provided parallel to the input shaft 21 and connected to drive wheels. A transmission gear mechanism of the transmission 20 is formed between the input shaft 21 and the output shaft 22 .

That is, the input shaft 21 is fixed with drive gears 31a and 32a for first speed and second speed as transmission gears. Further, the input shaft 21 is rotatably mounted with drive gears 33a to 36a for third to sixth speeds as transmission gears.

On the other hand, driven gears 31b and 32b for the first and second speeds are rotatably attached to the output shaft 22, and driven gears 33b to 36b for the third to sixth speeds are fixed. These driving gears 31a to 36a and driven gears 31b to 36b mesh with each other to form a forward gear train, that is, a gear stage.

A switching mechanism 41 is attached to the output shaft 22 to switch the first gear and the second gear between a power transmission enabled state and a neutral state (power transmission disabled state). Further, the input shaft 21 is provided with a switching mechanism 42 for switching the gear stages of the third and fourth speeds between the power transmission state and the neutral state, and a switching mechanism 42 for switching the gear stages of the fifth and sixth speeds between the power transmission state and the neutral state. A switching mechanism 43 for switching between and is mounted. These switching mechanisms 41 to 43 are synchromesh mechanisms.

The switching mechanism 41 has a synchro hub 41a arranged between the two driven gears 31b and 32b of the first speed and the second speed and fixed to the output shaft 22, and a synchro sleeve 41b which is in constant mesh with the synchro hub 41a. are doing. When the synchro sleeve 41b is meshed with a spline 31c formed integrally with the driven gear 31b, the first speed is set.

The other switching mechanisms 42 and 43 also have a structure similar to that of the switching mechanism 41. Synchro hubs 42a and 43a are fixed to the input shaft 21, and synchro sleeves 42b and 43b are always engaged with the synchro hubs 42a and 43a, respectively. have. By meshing these synchro sleeves 42b, 43b with splines 33c-36c integrally formed on the driving gears 33a-36a, respectively, the speed is set to any one of the third to sixth speeds.

A reverse drive gear 37 a is fixed to the input shaft 21 , and a reverse driven gear 37 b is fixed to the synchro sleeve 41 b of the switching mechanism 41 . An idle shaft 44 arranged parallel to the input shaft 21 is provided with an idle gear 45 which is movable between a position where it meshes with the drive gear 37a and the driven gear 37b for retreat and a position where it disengages. Therefore, when the idle gear 45 is moved to mesh with the drive gear 37a and the driven gear 37b with the synchro sleeve 41b actuated to the neutral position, the drive gear 37a, the driven gear 37b and the idle gear 45 The rotation of the input shaft 21 is reversed and transmitted to the output shaft 22 through the reverse shift stage.

In order to operate the switching mechanisms 41 to 43 by the driver's shift operation, the respective synchro sleeves 41b to 43b are gripped by a shift fork (not shown), and the synchro sleeves 41b to 43b move in the axial direction as the shift fork moves. move to The shift fork and a shift lever (not shown) in the vehicle are connected via a shift rod (not shown), and a desired gear is selected by moving the synchro sleeves 41b to 43b accompanying manual operation of the shift lever. Switched to power transmission state.

A center differential unit 50 is connected to the rear end of the output shaft 22 . The center differential unit 50 is connected to a front differential device 48 via a front wheel output shaft 46 inserted through the hollow output shaft 22 . Furthermore, the center differential unit 50 is connected to a rear differential device (not shown) via a transfer gear train 51 and a rear wheel output shaft 49 . Note that the center differential unit 50 is provided with, for example, a hydraulic multi-plate type differential limiting mechanism 50a. Dynamic rotation is suppressed.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, in such a transmission 20, the driven gear 31b that constitutes the first speed gear train, which is the gear train for starting, does not use the switching mechanism 41. to the output shaft 22 in a power-transmissible state.

Specifically, in this embodiment, the driving gear 31a constituting the first speed gear train (shift stage), which is the gear train for starting, corresponds to the first gear, and the driven gear 31b corresponds to the first gear. 2 gears. The hydraulic multi-plate clutch 55 is provided on the output shaft 22 on the side opposite to the switching mechanism 41 with the driven gear 31b interposed therebetween.

As shown in FIG. 2, the hydraulic multi-plate clutch 55 is composed of, for example, a clutch drum 55a fixed to the output shaft 22 and a clutch hub 55b fixed to the driven gear 31b. a plate row 55c composed of a plurality of drive plates and driven plates disposed between the clutch drum 55a and the clutch hub 55b; It includes a piston 55d and a hydraulic chamber 55e formed between the clutch drum 55a and the piston 55d.

By slip-controlling the hydraulic multi-plate clutch 55, the manual transmission 1 transmits the driving force from the engine 10 to the output shaft 22 without using the switching mechanism 41 when in the neutral state. It is possible to realize extremely constant speed running corresponding to creep running by using the first gear stage. Furthermore, after the vehicle starts at an extremely constant speed, the hydraulic multi-disc clutch 55 is controlled to be engaged, so that the manual transmission 1 uses the first gear stage to achieve a predetermined low speed running. It is possible to In other words, even when the transmission 20 is in the neutral state, the manual transmission 1 of the present embodiment maintains the set vehicle speed ( For example, it is possible to realize low-speed running (including creep running) at 20 km/h or less.

As the starting auxiliary clutch, an electromagnetic clutch may be used instead of the hydraulic multi-plate clutch. Further, the hydraulic multi-disc clutch 55 as a starting auxiliary clutch can be provided side by side with the driven gear 32b constituting the second speed gear train, which is another starting gear train. Furthermore, in a configuration in which the driven gear of the gear train for starting is fixed to the output shaft 22 as the first gear, the hydraulic multi-plate clutch 55 as the auxiliary clutch for starting is provided in parallel with the drive gear as the second gear. It is also possible to

A driving support device 70 is provided in the vehicle M of the present embodiment in which such a manual transmission 1 is mounted. As shown in FIG. 3 , the driving assistance device 70 includes a navigation unit 71 , a camera unit 81 as a forward driving environment recognition device, and a driving control unit 91 .

The navigation unit 71 has a map locator calculation section 72 and a road map database 76 as a map information storage section. The map locator calculation section 72, the forward travel environment recognition section 81d, which will be described later, and the travel control unit 91 are composed of a well-known microcomputer having a CPU, a RAM, a ROM, a nonvolatile storage section, etc., and peripheral devices thereof. The ROM stores in advance programs to be executed by the CPU and fixed data such as tables and maps.

Here, the road map database 76 is a large-capacity storage medium such as an HDD, and stores well-known road map information. This road map information stores information indicating road conditions such as road types (general roads, expressways, etc.), road shapes, road directions, lane widths, and intersections (crossroads, T-shaped roads).

A GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) receiver 73 and an autonomous sensor 74 are connected to the input side of the map locator calculator 72 . The GNSS receiver 73 receives positioning signals transmitted from a plurality of positioning satellites. In addition, the autonomous sensor 74 estimates the position of the vehicle in an environment where the reception sensitivity from the GNSS satellites is low and the positioning signals cannot be effectively received, such as when traveling in a tunnel. It consists of sensors and the like. The map locator calculation unit 72 performs localization based on the travel distance and direction based on the vehicle speed detected by the vehicle speed sensor, the yaw rate (yaw angular velocity) detected by the yaw rate sensor, and the longitudinal acceleration detected by the longitudinal acceleration sensor.

The map locator calculation unit 72 acquires the current position coordinates (latitude, longitude) of the own vehicle M based on the positioning signal received by the GNSS receiver 73, map-matches the position coordinates on the map information, and maps the roads. The position of the vehicle (current position) on the map is estimated, the lane is specified, and the direction of travel (direction of the vehicle) is obtained from the movement history of the position of the vehicle.

In addition, the map locator calculation unit 72 operates based on information from the autonomous sensor 74 in an environment in which the GNSS receiver 73 cannot receive effective positioning signals from the positioning satellites due to a decrease in the sensitivity of the GNSS receiver 73, such as driving in a tunnel. Do localization.

On the other hand, the camera unit 81 is fixed to the upper center of the front part of the vehicle interior of the vehicle M, and the main camera 81a is arranged at a position symmetrical with respect to the center in the vehicle width direction (the center of the vehicle width). and a sub-camera 81b (stereo camera), an image processing unit (IPU) 81c, and a forward running environment recognition section 81d. The camera unit 81 captures reference image data with a main camera 81a and captures comparison image data with a sub-camera 81b. Then, the IPU 81c performs predetermined image processing on both of the image data.

The forward running environment recognition unit 81d reads the reference image data and the comparison image data image-processed by the IPU 81c, recognizes the same object in both images based on the parallax, and recognizes the distance data (from own vehicle M). distance to the object) is calculated using the principle of triangulation to recognize forward driving environment information.

The forward driving environment information includes the road shape of the lane (driving lane) in which the vehicle M travels (the lane dividing the left and right, the road curvature [1/m] at the center between the lanes, and the width between the left and right lanes. (lane width)), intersections, traffic lights, road signs, and forward obstacles (preceding vehicles on the lane in which the vehicle M is traveling, pedestrians crossing, bicycles, utility poles, utility poles, parked vehicles, etc.) These are recognized using a well-known technique such as pattern matching.

The travel control unit 91 has, on the input side, an accelerator opening sensor 92 that detects the accelerator opening, a brake switch 93 that turns on when the brake pedal is depressed, a clutch switch 94 that turns on when the clutch pedal is depressed, A shift position sensor 95 and a congestion follow-up switch 96 for allowing the driver to execute congestion follow-up control are connected.

Further, on the output side of the travel control unit 91, there are a brake control section 100 for decelerating the own vehicle M by forced braking, an acceleration/deceleration control section 97 for controlling the vehicle speed of the own vehicle M, and a notification device for notifying the driver of various information. 98 are connected.

The cruise control unit 91 has an ACC (Adaptive Cruise Control) function as one of the driving support control functions. Therefore, when the camera unit 81 does not capture the preceding vehicle on the target travel route, the travel control unit 91 causes the own vehicle M to run at the set vehicle speed, and when the preceding vehicle is captured, the travel control unit 91 maintains the predetermined inter-vehicle distance. Follow the preceding vehicle in this state. Here, in the vehicle M of the present embodiment equipped with the manual transmission 1, when the ACC function is executed, for example, the engine is controlled through the acceleration/deceleration control unit 97, and through the indicator provided in the notification device 98, etc. , and appropriately instructs the driver to shift the manual transmission 1 .

This ACC is also applied to congestion time control that is executed when the host vehicle M approaches the last vehicle Pe in the congested train.

In this traffic congestion time control, the travel control unit 91 basically operates when the last vehicle (preceding vehicle) Pe is detected (captured) based on the travel environment information acquired by the camera unit 81, which is an autonomous sensor. is a first control target distance required to stop the own vehicle M in front of the last vehicle Pe using a preset deceleration (basic deceleration a_acc preset in ACC control). Distance Z_acc is calculated, and deceleration control (following deceleration control) using deceleration a_acc is performed when inter-vehicle distance Z to the last vehicle Pe is less than follow stop distance Z_acc. When the vehicle-to-vehicle distance Z reaches the following stop distance Z_acc, the travel control unit 91 instructs the driver to switch the manual transmission 1 to neutral through, for example, an indicator of the notification device 98. The own vehicle M is stopped through control over the brake control unit 100 .

On the other hand, after the own vehicle M stops following the last vehicle Pe, the travel control unit 91 performs low speed travel ( It is possible to control traveling in low speed following mode). Therefore, in this embodiment, the acceleration/deceleration control unit 97 is connected to a hydraulic control valve 99 for controlling the hydraulic pressure supplied to the hydraulic multi-plate clutch 55 . Although details are omitted, the hydraulic control valve 99 also performs hydraulic control for the differential limiting mechanism 50a of the center differential unit 50. FIG.

Traveling in this low-speed travel mode is performed, for example, in order to cause the own vehicle M to follow the preceding vehicle Pe during traffic congestion or the like. is executed on the condition that the manual transmission 1 is in the neutral state, the clutch pedal is off (engaged), and the preceding vehicle Pe is recognized in front of the own vehicle M.

Next, low-speed travel control using the hydraulic multi-plate clutch 55, which is executed in the travel control unit 91 during traffic jams, etc., will be described with reference to the flowchart of the low-speed travel control routine shown in FIG.

This routine is repeatedly executed at set time intervals. When the routine starts, the travel control unit 91 first checks in step S101 whether or not the traffic congestion follow-up switch 96 is turned on.

Then, when it is determined in step S101 that the traffic jam follow-up switch 96 is turned off, the travel control unit 91 exits the routine as it is.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S101 that the traffic congestion follow-up switch 96 is turned on, the travel control unit 91 proceeds to step S102, and based on the signal from the vehicle speed sensor of the autonomous sensor 74, the own vehicle speed is "0". Check whether or not

If it is determined in step S102 that the vehicle speed is not "0" and the vehicle M is running, the travel control unit 91 exits the routine.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S102 that the vehicle speed is "0", the travel control unit 91 proceeds to step S103, and based on the signal from the shift position sensor 95, the manual transmission 1 is currently in the neutral state. Check if there is.

Then, in step S103, if it is determined that the manual transmission 1 is not in the neutral state, that is, if it is determined that either the forward or reverse gear stage of the manual transmission 1 is selected by the driver's shift operation. , the running control unit 91 exits the routine as it is.

On the other hand, when it is determined in step S103 that the manual transmission 1 is in the neutral state, the travel control unit 91 proceeds to step S104 and determines whether or not the clutch switch is turned off based on the signal from the clutch switch 94. investigate.

Then, in step S104, when it is determined that the clutch switch 94 is turned on, that is, when it is determined that the clutch is operated by the driver and the clutch 12 is released, the travel control unit 91 continues the routine. go through.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S104 that the clutch switch 94 is turned on, that is, if it is determined that the driver is not operating the clutch and the clutch 12 is engaged, the travel control unit 91 performs step S104. Proceeding to S105, it is checked whether or not a preceding vehicle is recognized ahead (immediately) on the travel path of the vehicle.

Then, in step S105, when it is determined that the preceding vehicle is not recognized in front of the own vehicle traveling road, the traveling control unit 91 exits the routine as it is.

On the other hand, when it is determined in step S105 that a preceding vehicle is recognized ahead of the vehicle traveling road, the driving control unit 91 executes the low-speed following mode for the recognized preceding vehicle Pe, and exits the routine. .

Here, the low speed follow-up mode of step S106 is performed, for example, according to the low speed follow-up mode execution subroutine shown in FIG. When this subroutine starts, the traveling control unit 91 first checks in step S201 whether or not conditions for canceling the low-speed follow-up mode are satisfied.

This release condition may be, for example, when the clutch switch is turned on by the driver's clutch operation (including when the shift is changed to either forward or reverse by the driver's shift operation), or set by the preceding vehicle. This applies to cases such as when the vehicle starts traveling at a vehicle speed (for example, 20 km/h) or higher, and the inter-vehicle distance from the preceding vehicle becomes greater than or equal to a set distance.

In step S201, the travel control unit 91 proceeds to step S202 when determining that the cancellation condition is not satisfied, and proceeds to step S207 when determining that the cancellation condition is satisfied.

When proceeding from step S201 to step S202, the travel control unit 91 checks whether or not the host vehicle M is currently following the vehicle.

If it is determined in step S202 that the own vehicle M is not following the vehicle, i.e., if it is determined that the own vehicle M is stopped, the travel control unit 91 proceeds to step S203 to control the current preceding vehicle Pe. is greater than or equal to a preset first inter-vehicle distance Zth1 (see FIG. 6B).

Then, when it is determined in step S203 that the current inter-vehicle distance Z to the preceding vehicle Pe is equal to or greater than the first inter-vehicle distance Zth1, the travel control unit 91 proceeds to step S204 and starts following the preceding vehicle Pe. After that, the process returns to step S201.

That is, the traveling control unit 91 releases the brake by controlling the brake control section 100 and performs throttle control by controlling the acceleration/deceleration control section 97 . Further, the traveling control unit 91 performs engagement control (including slip control) for the hydraulic multi-plate clutch 55 by performing hydraulic control for the hydraulic control valve 99 through the acceleration/deceleration control section 97 . As a result, the host vehicle M starts traveling following the preceding vehicle Pe.

On the other hand, when it is determined in step S203 that the current inter-vehicle distance Z to the preceding vehicle Pe is less than the first inter-vehicle distance Zth1, the travel control unit 91 maintains the stopped state of the host vehicle M. remain) returns to step S201.

If it is determined in step S202 that the host vehicle M is following the vehicle, the travel control unit 91 proceeds to step S205, and sets the current inter-vehicle distance Z to the preceding vehicle Pe to a preset second distance. It is checked whether or not the vehicle-to-vehicle distance is less than Zth2 (see FIG. 6(C)). Here, as is clear from FIGS. 6B and 6C, the second vehicle-to-vehicle distance Zth2 is set to a value smaller than the first vehicle-to-vehicle distance Zth1.

Then, in step S205, when it is determined that the current inter-vehicle distance Z to the preceding vehicle Pe is less than the second inter-vehicle distance Zth2, the travel control unit 91 stops the host vehicle M immediately before the preceding vehicle Pe. After the follow-up stop control is performed, the process returns to step S201.

That is, the travel control unit 91 performs brake control through the brake control unit 100 and throttle control through the acceleration/deceleration control unit 97 to stop the own vehicle M immediately before the preceding vehicle Pe. At this time, the travel control unit 91 performs hydraulic control on the hydraulic control valve 99 through the acceleration/deceleration control section 97 to perform slip control on the hydraulic multi-plate clutch 55 , and then releases the hydraulic multi-plate clutch 55 .

On the other hand, when it is determined in step S205 that the current inter-vehicle distance Z to the preceding vehicle Pe is equal to or greater than the second inter-vehicle distance Zth2, the travel control unit 91 continues to operate (that is, the subject vehicle M follows the preceding vehicle Pe). while maintaining the running), the process returns to step S201.

Further, when proceeding from step S201 to step S207, the traveling control unit 91 exits the subroutine after canceling the low-speed follow-up mode. With such control, when the low-speed following mode is started after the own vehicle M stops immediately after the preceding vehicle Pe (see FIG. 6A), the own vehicle follows the preceding vehicle Pe and starts (see FIG. 6 ( B)) and stop following (see FIG. 6C) are repeated. Then, for example, when the preceding vehicle Pe accelerates to a vehicle speed equal to or higher than a predetermined vehicle speed due to, for example, a traffic jam, and the inter-vehicle distance from the preceding vehicle Pe becomes equal to or larger than the set inter-vehicle distance (see FIG. 6(D)), low-speed follow-up control is performed. is released, and the shift operation and the like are entrusted to the driver.

According to such an embodiment, the driven gear is rotatably supported by the output shaft 22 and the switching mechanism 41 is disposed on one side thereof, and constitutes the first speed gear train which is the gear train for starting. 31b is provided with a hydraulic multi-plate clutch 55 that can be engaged between the output shaft 22 and the driven gear without depending on the shift operation of the driver. , the hydraulic multi-disc clutch 55 is controlled to engage or disengage, and the vehicle M is controlled to travel at a low speed below the set vehicle speed. It is possible to realize the start of the host vehicle M that does not require the

That is, since the hydraulic multi-plate clutch 55 is arranged on the other side of the driven gear 31b opposite to the one side on which the switching mechanism 41 is arranged, a second countershaft or the like is added. With such a simple configuration, it is possible to realize starting and low-speed running without depending on the driver's shift operation.

Further, since the traveling control unit 91 can perform start control via the hydraulic multi-plate clutch 55 only when the manual transmission 1 is in the neutral state, even in a configuration in which the hydraulic multi-plate clutch 55 is added, the driver It is possible to prevent impairing the operation feeling of the manual transmission 1 without affecting the normal shift operation performed by.

In this case, the hydraulic multi-plate clutch 55 is used for the control by the driving support device 70 to control the running in the low-speed running mode, so that the vehicle follows the preceding vehicle and runs at a speed equal to or lower than the set vehicle speed, such as in a traffic jam. And in a driving situation where it is necessary to repeatedly stop the vehicle, the driver does not need to operate the clutch frequently, so that the driver's fatigue due to the clutch operation can be reduced.

Here, even if the preceding vehicle Pe is not recognized in front of the own vehicle M, the travel control unit 91 may set the manual transmission 1 to the neutral state, for example, when the vehicle speed of the own vehicle is "0". In addition, when the clutch pedal is turned off (engaged), the host vehicle M is driven in the low-speed driving mode without depending on the shift operation on the condition that the driver operates a start switch (not shown) or the like. is also possible.

In the above-described embodiment, the map locator computing section 72, the forward running environment recognizing section 81d, and the running control unit 91 are implemented by a well-known microcomputer having a CPU, RAM, ROM, nonvolatile storage section, etc., and its peripherals. Although an example of configuration using equipment has been described, the present invention is not limited to this. The processing may be realized by an electronic circuit such as FPGA.

The invention described in the above embodiments is not limited to those forms, and various modifications can be made at the stage of implementation without departing from the scope of the invention. Furthermore, the above forms include inventions at various stages, and various inventions can be extracted by appropriate combinations of the disclosed constituent elements.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Manual transmission 10... Engine 11... Crankshaft 12... Clutch 20... Transmission 21... Input shaft 22... Output shaft 31a... Drive gear 31b... Driven gear 31c... Spline 32a... Drive gear 32b... Driven gear 32c... Spline 41 ... Switching mechanism 41a ... Synchro hub 41b ... Synchro sleeve 55 ... Hydraulic multi-plate clutch 55a ... Clutch drum 55b ... Clutch hub 55c ... Plate row 55d ... Piston 55e ... Hydraulic chamber 70 ... Driving support device 71 ... Navigation unit 72 ... Map locator calculation Unit 73 : GNSS receiver 74 : Autonomous sensor 76 : Road map database 81 : Camera unit 81a : Main camera 81b : Sub camera 81d : Forward driving environment recognition unit 91 : Driving control unit 92 : Accelerator position sensor 93 : Brake switch 94 ... Clutch switch 95 ... Shift position sensor 96 ... Congestion follow-up switch 97 ... Acceleration/deceleration control unit 98 ... Notification device 99 ... Hydraulic control valve 100 ... Brake control unit M ... Vehicle (own vehicle)
Pe … Leading vehicle

Claims (3)

An input shaft connected to an engine via a clutch, an output shaft arranged parallel to the input shaft, and a transmission gear fixed to either the input shaft or the output shaft for starting. A first gear that forms a train, and a transmission gear train that meshes with the first gear and is rotatably supported by the other of the input shaft and the output shaft to constitute the starting speed change gear train. and a switching mechanism disposed on one side of the second gear for enabling or disabling power transmission between the other shaft and the second gear according to a shift operation of a driver. A vehicle traveling device applied to a vehicle equipped with a manual transmission having
an auxiliary clutch disposed on the other side of the second gear and capable of engaging between the other shaft and the second gear without depending on the shift operation of the driver;
a running control unit that controls running of the vehicle at a low speed equal to or lower than a set vehicle speed through engagement control or release control of the auxiliary clutch when the manual transmission is in a neutral state. running device. Equipped with a driving environment recognition device that recognizes the driving environment ahead and recognizes the preceding vehicle on the driving lane in which the vehicle is traveling,
When the vehicle speed of the host vehicle is "0", the manual transmission is in a neutral state, the clutch pedal is off, and the preceding vehicle is recognized ahead of the host vehicle. 2. The vehicular running device according to claim 1, wherein said running control for following said preceding vehicle is performed. 3. The vehicle traveling apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the auxiliary clutch is a hydraulic multi-plate clutch.

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