JPH02185630A - Device for controlling throttle valve of engine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To get rid of the rush of a vehicle even when an electric motor, etc., becomes an unoperatable condition and improve safety by limiting the controlling range of the opening of a throttle valve by means of the motor to less than the opening by means of the step-in of an accelerator pedal. CONSTITUTION:At the time of carrying out constant speed traveling by turning on an automatic operation switch 26, if an unoperatable condition caused by the failure of an electric motor 6 or the loosening or breakage of a belt 10 is judged by the output of an opening sensor 23 or if failure occurs in an electronic control device 27 itself, the control device 27 turns off the electrification to a solenoid valve 201 and opens an atmospheric port 204 to carry out the opening/closing control of a throttle valve 2 by operating an accelerator pedal 18. At this time, the rotation of a throttle lever 4 in the direction of opening the throttle valve 2 will not cause the throttle valve 2 to open more than the opening corresponding to the step-in quantity of the accelerator pedal 18 by means of the motor 6, due to the contact between a rotating range limiting window and a stopper pin 14. Thereby, even if the motor, etc., becomes unoperatable, the rush of a vehicle will not take place enabling safe traveling.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a throttle valve control device for an engine, and more particularly, to a throttle valve control device for controlling the output of an engine for an automobile using an electronically controlled actuator.

[Prior Art] The intake air amount of an automobile engine is generally controlled by opening and closing a throttle valve provided in an intake passage. and,
Normally, this throttle valve is mechanically controlled to open and close in conjunction with the accelerator pedal.

By the way, recently, with the aim of improving the driving feeling and running performance of a car, instead of simply mechanically connecting the throttle valve and accelerator pedal with a wire cable etc. as in the past, electronic control has been introduced between the throttle valve and the accelerator pedal. A means is used to convert the accelerator depression amount into an electrical quantity (,: a signal (accelerator depression m signal) that is converted into an electrical quantity, and represents other engine operating conditions or vehicle running conditions such as an engine rotation speed signal, a gear position signal, a wheel slip signal, etc.) This throttle valve control device sequentially calculates an optimal throttle opening degree in response to a control signal, and opens and closes a throttle valve using an electronically controlled actuator that operates based on the calculated electric signal corresponding to control 1. Development is underway.

However, in such electric throttle valve control devices, if the electronic control actuator or electronic control device for driving the throttle valve fails while the vehicle is running, the throttle valve remains open regardless of the driver's will. This may cause a situation where the vehicle runs out of control. Therefore, it is necessary to provide a safety device that can avoid such a dangerous situation.

Conventionally, for example, as described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 61-54933, in an engine equipped with an electric throttle valve control device, a throttle valve is connected in series with a first throttle valve that is driven and controlled by an electronically controlled actuator. It has been proposed that a second throttle valve is disposed in conjunction with the accelerator pedal, and the second throttle valve functions as a safety throttle valve in case the first throttle valve remains open. . Also, JP-A-61-603
Publication No. 31 discloses that a first throttle valve linked to an accelerator pedal and an electric second throttle valve are arranged in series in the intake passage of an engine, and slip and slip control during vehicle acceleration is performed using an electric second throttle valve. This is performed by opening and closing the second throttle valve, and if the second throttle valve drive control means fails, the first throttle valve is driven by accelerator operation to maintain safety. has been done.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] As described above, two throttle valves are arranged in series in the intake passage, one throttle valve is linked to the accelerator pedal, and the other throttle valve is driven and controlled by an electronically controlled actuator. With this system, even if the throttle valve controlled by the electronically controlled actuator becomes inoperable, the throttle valve linked to the accelerator pedal can prevent the vehicle from running out of control.
Safety can be ensured. However, arranging two throttle valves in series inevitably requires a large intake system, which poses a problem in that it is difficult to arrange the intake system in a narrow engine room. Furthermore, when the above-mentioned conventional technology is applied to a control device for automatic operation of an engine that automatically makes a vehicle run at a constant speed, the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Publication No. 61-5493
Both the method disclosed in Publication No. 3 and the method disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 61-60331 operate the accelerator pedal when opening and closing the electric throttle valve, so it is not possible to simply apply these conventional techniques. Another problem is that it is not possible to obtain a throttle valve control device that can automatically operate the engine without operating the accelerator pedal.

This invention was made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and is small and highly safe.Moreover, when applied to an automatic constant speed traveling device, it can automatically operate the engine without operating the accelerator pedal. The object of the present invention is to obtain a throttle valve control device for an engine that can perform the following steps.

[Means for Solving the Problems] A throttle valve control device according to the present invention includes a throttle lever disposed on a valve shaft of a throttle valve, and a first throttle lever disposed coaxially with the valve shaft and driven by an electric motor. a rotary plate rotatably disposed on the valve shaft; a second pulley disposed on the rotary plate and connected to the first pulley by a belt or chain;
a link mechanism that connects the second boob and the throttle lever; a limiting member that limits the rotation range of the throttle lever with respect to the rotating plate; and a limiting member that rotates the rotating plate in response to an operation by the driver. It is equipped with means for moving.

[Function] In this invention, when the throttle valve becomes uncontrollable due to a failure of the electric motor, etc., the opening degree of the throttle valve is limited to the opening degree corresponding to the depression of the accelerator pedal or less, and as a result, the vehicle runaway is prevented.

[Example] Examples will be described below based on the drawings.

Figure 1 shows a vehicle equipped with an inter-vehicle distance sensor that detects the distance between the vehicle in front and the vehicle in front, and adjusts the opening of the throttle valve to maintain the vehicle's running speed at a set speed. This figure shows an embodiment of the present invention applied to an automatic constant speed traveling system for a vehicle that controls the opening of a throttle valve so as to maintain an appropriate inter-vehicle distance.

In this embodiment, an intake passage (1
) has a throttle valve (2) that opens and closes the intake passage (1).
is provided. The valve stem (3) of this throttle valve (2)
) protrudes outside the intake passage (1), and a throttle lever (4) is fixed to one end thereof. And the valve stem (3)
A first pulley (5) is arranged coaxially with the intake passageway (1), and an electric motor (6) fixed to the intake passage (1) side is drivingly connected to the first pulley (5). Further, a rotary plate (7) is rotatably provided on the valve shaft (3). A pulley shaft (8) is fixed to this rotary plate (7) at a position away from the shaft center, and a belt (10) is connected to the first pulley (5) on the pulley shaft (8). A second pulley (9) connected and driven is rotatably arranged. Also, a connecting pin (
! l) is fixedly installed, and on the other hand, a connecting pin (12) is also fixedly installed at the end of the throttle lever (4), so that the second pulley (9) and the throttle lever (4) are connected to each other. They are mutually connected by a link plate (13) rotatably connected to connecting pins (11) and (12). As shown in FIG. 2 (cross-sectional view taken along the line ■-■ in FIG. 1), the throttle lever (4) is provided with a rotation range limiting window (4a) that extends a predetermined distance in the circumferential direction, and 7) has a stopper pin (
14) is fixedly installed. When one end of the rotation range limiting window (4a) comes into contact with the stopper pin (14),
The rotation range of the throttle lever (4) relative to the rotation plate (7) is limited.

A return spring (1) is attached to the side of the rotation plate (7).
5) One end is held. The other end of this return spring (15) is held on the intake passage (1) side, and as a result, a torque in the direction of returning the throttle valve (2) to the closed position is applied to the rotating plate (7).

It is applied to the valve stem (3) via a stopper pin (14) and a throttle lever (4). Further, one end of a back spring (16) is held on the side surface of the rotating plate (7) opposite to the side holding the return spring (15). The other end of the back spring (16) is held by the throttle lever (4), thereby applying a torque in the direction (opposite to arrow A in FIG. 2) that brings the throttle lever (4) into contact with the stopper pin (14). is added.

An accelerator wire (17) is hung on the outer periphery of the rotating plate (7), and the other end of the accelerator wire (17) is connected to an accelerator pedal (18). When the accelerator pedal (!8) is depressed, the rotating plate (7) rotates against the spring force of the return spring (15), and the throttle valve (! 2) Move the valve stem (
3) Rotate.

An accelerator sensor (I9) is attached to detect the amount of depression of the accelerator pedal (18). Further, a negative pressure responsive actuator (20) is connected to the accelerator pedal (18). What is this actuator (20)? IXM1 valve (2
0.1), a diaphragm (202), and a negative pressure chamber (203) partitioned by the diaphragm (202),
The negative pressure chamber (203) is communicated with the intake passage (1) downstream of the throttle valve (2) through a pipe (21).

Also, diaphragm (202) and accelerator pedal (18)
) is connected by a diaphragm wire (22). ? I solenoid valve 201) is connected to the pipe (2
1), and when energized, the negative pressure chamber (203
) is closed to apply negative intake pressure to the diaphragm (202), and when the current is cut off, the atmospheric hole (204) is opened to bring the inside of the negative pressure chamber (203) to approximately atmospheric pressure. It is configured to do so.

When the solenoid valve (201) is energized and negative pressure acts on the diaphragm (202), the accelerator pedal (1) is moved in the direction of opening the throttle valve (2) via the diaphragm wire (22).
8) is driven.

An opening sensor (23) is attached to the throttle valve (2). This opening sensor (23) can be composed of, for example, a potentiometer.

The vehicle (not shown) includes an inter-vehicle distance sensor (24) for detecting the inter-vehicle distance to the vehicle in front, and a vehicle speed sensor (25).
An automatic operation switch (26) for instructing automatic operation of the engine is also provided. The inter-vehicle distance sensor (24) can be configured with, for example, a radar device. The vehicle is also equipped with an electronic control device (27) that drives and controls the electric motor (6) and controls the solenoid valve (201) on and off. The electronic control device (27)
are the above-mentioned inter-vehicle distance sensor (24) and vehicle speed sensor (25).
, the switch signal of the automatic operation switch (26), and the output signal of the opening sensor (23) are input. The electronic control device (27) performs predetermined arithmetic processing based on this input information and outputs control signals to the electric motor (6) and the solenoid valve (201).

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be explained.

During normal operation when the automatic operation switch is not operated, power to the solenoid valve (201) is cut off.

At this time, the pressure inside the negative pressure chamber (203) of the actuator (20) is close to atmospheric pressure, so the diaphragm (20
2) is not activated, allowing free operation of the accelerator pedal (!8). Therefore, by operating the accelerator, the rotating plate (7) is rotated against the return spring (15), and the second pulley (9) and the throttle lever (4), which rotate integrally with the rotating plate (7), are rotated. Intermediate valve shaft (3
) to open and close the throttle valve (2). This adjusts the intake air amount of the engine and controls the output.

In addition, when driving at a constant speed at a desired vehicle speed (for example, 100 km/h), operate the accelerator pedal (18) to adjust the vehicle speed to the desired vehicle speed, and then press the automatic driving switch (26).
to operate automatically. As a result, the solenoid valve (201)
is energized, the air hole (204) is closed, and the intake passage (
Intake negative pressure is introduced from 1) into the negative pressure chamber (203) of the actuator (20) via the pipe (2 positions) and acts on the diaphragm (202). As a result, the diaphragm (
202) drives the accelerator pedal (18) against the spring force of the return spring (I5), and rotates the rotating plate (7) regardless of the operation of the accelerator pedal (18) by the driver.
) until the throttle valve (2) is fully open. Also, at this time, the electronic control device (27) is connected to the vehicle speed sensor (25).
The motor (6) is controlled to rotate so that the vehicle speed reaches the desired vehicle speed. This electric motor (6)
The rotation of the first pulley (5), the belt (!0) and the second
is transmitted to the throttle lever (4) via the pulley (9), which rotates the valve shaft (3) of the throttle valve (2).

When the second pulley (9) rotates in the direction of arrow B in Figure 2, the throttle lever (4) connected by the link plate (13) rotates in the direction of arrow A against the back spring (6). However, the throttle valve (2) is driven to the closing side. Further, when the second pulley (9) rotates in the direction opposite to arrow B, the throttle lever (4) rotates to the side opposite to arrow A, that is, to the side that opens the throttle valve (2). In this way, the throttle valve (2) is adjusted so that the desired vehicle speed is achieved.
The opening degree is controlled. Also, during this automatic driving, the distance between the vehicle and the vehicle in front became shorter.
4), the electronic control device (27) drives the throttle valve (2) toward the closing side and performs deceleration control to maintain an appropriate inter-vehicle distance regardless of the desired vehicle speed. Then, when the inter-vehicle distance to the preceding vehicle becomes sufficiently long, the vehicle resumes constant-speed driving at the desired vehicle speed.

In such a constant speed traveling device, the electric motor (6) or the electronic control device (27) may break down, or the belt (
10) becomes inoperable due to loosening or disconnection, such an abnormal condition is detected by the output signal of the opening sensor (23), the power to the solenoid valve (201) is immediately cut off, and the air hole (204) ) is released. This allows the accelerator pedal (18) to be operated freely, so that the driver can control the opening and closing of the throttle valve (2) by operating the accelerator pedal (18). At that time, the throttle valve (2) should be moved in the direction of opening the throttle valve (2).
Since the rotation of is limited by the - end of the rotation range limiting window (4a) coming into contact with the stopper bin (14), the electric motor (6) causes the throttle valve (2) to respond to the depression of the accelerator pedal (18). It will not open beyond the desired opening. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the vehicle from running out of control.

In this embodiment, an automatic constant speed traveling system equipped with an inter-vehicle distance sensor has been described, but the present invention can of course be applied to an apparatus without an inter-vehicle distance sensor.

Further, the present invention can be applied to other than automatic constant speed traveling devices.

Further, in the above embodiment, the second pulley (9) and the throttle lever (4) are connected by a link plate (13), but a rod, a wire, etc. may be used in place of the link plate. Further, the belt (10) may be a toothed belt, a chain, etc., in addition to the belt (1), and in any case, the same effects as in the above embodiment are achieved.

C. Effects of the Invention As described above, according to the present invention, the control range of the throttle valve by the electric motor is limited to less than the opening degree caused by depressing the accelerator pedal. It is possible to obtain a throttle valve control device that is highly safe and does not cause the vehicle to run out of control even if the vehicle falls into a certain condition, but also enables automatic operation.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a throttle valve control device showing one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line H--■ in FIG. 1. In the figure, (1) is the intake passage, (2) is the throttle valve, (3) is the valve shaft, and (4) is the throttle lever (4a
) is the rotation range limiting window, (5) is the first pulley, (6) is the electric motor, (7) is the rotating plate, (9) is the second pulley, (10) is the belt, and (I3) is the link plate. , (I4) is a stopper bin, (15) is a return spring, (17
) is the accelerator wire, (18) is the accelerator pedal, (2
0) is the actuator, (23) is the opening sensor, (26
) is the automatic operation switch.

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) A valve shaft for opening and closing a throttle valve that controls the output of the engine, and a throttle lever disposed on the valve shaft;
a first pulley disposed coaxially with the valve shaft and driven by an electric motor; a rotary plate rotatably disposed on the valve shaft; and a first pulley disposed on the rotary plate and driven by an electric motor.
a second pulley connected to the pulley by a belt or chain, a link mechanism connecting the second pulley and the throttle lever, and a limiting member that limits the rotation range of the throttle lever with respect to the rotating plate. A throttle valve control device for an engine, comprising: means for rotating the rotating plate in response to an operation by a driver.