JPH03185250A - Altitude detecting device for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To detect the altitude of a vehicle with no use of barometers, simply and at a low cost, by deciding the altitude basing on a relation between the throttle opening and the air intake volume of an internal combustion engine. CONSTITUTION:The throttle opening of an internal combustion engine (a) is detected with a detecting means (b). And the air intake volume of the engine is detected with a detecting means (c). Then the altitude of a vehicle is decided with a deciding means (d), basing on a relation between detected throttle opening and air intake flow. That is, the altitude can be decided basing on the relation between the throttle opening and the air intake volume which are fundamental elements to be used for proper control of the internal combustion engine. Thereby the altitude can be decided with no use of barometers, simply and at a low cost.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a high-altitude detection device for determining whether a vehicle is used in a high-altitude environment.

BACKGROUND ART Because the air density decreases at high altitudes, the output of the internal combustion engine of vehicles traveling at high altitudes decreases, making it impossible to fully demonstrate predetermined driving performance.

Therefore, by providing a means to detect the high altitude of the vehicle and controlling the drive accordingly when the vehicle is at high altitude, it is possible to set driving conditions that are compatible with the high altitude even if the driving performance cannot be fully brought out. Driving performance can be improved.

A barometer is generally known as a means for detecting high ground, and it is possible to use this barometer to determine high ground.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, when a barometer is used in a vehicle to determine whether the vehicle is at a high altitude, an additional barometer is required, resulting in a significant increase in cost.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of these conventional problems, it is an object of the present invention to provide a high altitude detection device for a vehicle that can reduce the number of parts by determining high altitude based on the operating conditions of an internal combustion engine.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to achieve the above object, the first configuration of the present invention is as follows.
As shown in the figure, the throttle opening detection means for detecting the throttle opening of the internal combustion engine a, the intake air amount detection means C for detecting the intake air amount of the internal combustion engine a, and the throttle opening detection means for detecting the intake air amount of the internal combustion engine a. A high altitude determination means d is provided for determining the high altitude based on the relationship between the throttle opening detected by the intake air amount detection means C and the intake air amount.

In addition, in order to achieve this object, a second configuration of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 2, includes a throttle opening detection means for detecting the throttle opening of the internal combustion engine a. The rotation speed detecting means e and the intake air amount detecting means C detect the intake air amount of the internal combustion engine a, and the throttle opening detecting means 2 detects the rotation speed detecting means e and the intake air amount detecting means C. A high altitude determination means d is provided for determining the high altitude from the relationship between the throttle opening degree, the engine speed, and the intake air ht.

Effect The high altitude detection device for a vehicle of the present invention with the above-described configuration is constructed by paying attention to the fact that air density decreases at high altitudes, and in the first configuration shown in FIG. A value corresponding to the air density can be detected by using the relationship between the throttle opening degree detected by the intake air amount detecting means C and the intake air L1 detected by the intake air amount detecting means C.
By determining whether the altitude is high or not based on this value, it is possible to easily determine whether the altitude is high or not without using an extra barometer.

In addition, in the second configuration shown in FIG. Using the relationship with the intake air amount, the value corresponding to the air density can be detected more accurately, and the high altitude determination means d can more reliably determine the high altitude.

By the way, in the above-mentioned first configuration, the high altitude determination means d presets the data of the reference air amount with respect to the throttle opening, and performs the high altitude determination based on the air amount ratio between the reference air amount and the actual intake air amount. This makes it easier to make decisions.

Further, in the second configuration, the high altitude determination means d presets data on the reference air amount with respect to the throttle opening degree and the engine speed, and determines the high altitude based on the air amount ratio between the reference air amount and the actual intake air amount. By making judgments, you can make decisions more accurately and more easily.

Furthermore, the above 1. In the second configuration, the high altitude determination means d
A more accurate judgment can be made by constantly determining the air amount ratio and correcting the high altitude judgment using the average value.

Furthermore, the above 1. In the second configuration, the internal combustion engine a
By providing a cooling water temperature detection means and configuring the system so that high altitude determination is not performed when the cooling water temperature is lower than the warm-up state,
Misjudgment of high altitude can be prevented in an unstable state immediately after the engine starts.

Example Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail based on the drawings.

FIG. 3 shows a first embodiment of the high-altitude detecting device 10 of the present invention, and the case where the high-altitude detecting device 10 is applied to an automatic transmission 12 will be described below as an example.

That is, the high altitude detection device 10 includes a throttle opening sensor 20 as a throttle opening detection means for detecting the opening of the throttle valve 18 provided in the intake passage 16 of the internal combustion engine 14, and a throttle opening sensor 20 that is provided in the intake passage 16. The intake air fit sensor 24 serves as an intake air star detection means that detects the amount of intake air passing through the air flow meter 22, and the detection signals of the throttle opening sensor 20 and the intake air amount sensor 24 are inputted to determine the high altitude. The high altitude determination means 26 is also provided.

The high altitude determination means 26 also includes a water temperature sensor 2 as a cooling water temperature detection means for detecting the cooling water temperature of the internal combustion engine 14.
A detection signal from 8 is input.

The highland/lowland determination result determined by the highland determination means 26 is output to the shift condition setting means 30 of the automatic transmission 12, and the shift condition determined by the shift condition setting means 30 is determined by the traveling gear determination means 32. The driving gear determining means 32 outputs a gear position signal to the automatic transmission 12.

The driving gear determining means 32 is manually supplied with a throttle opening signal from the throttle opening sensor 20 and a vehicle speed signal from a vehicle speed sensor 36 provided on the output shaft 34 of the J dynamic transmission 12, and is then manually inputted with Judgment is about to be made.

The functions of the vehicle high-altitude detection device 10 of this embodiment having the above configuration will be explained with reference to FIGS. 4 to 10.

4, 5, 7, 9, and 10 show flowcharts respectively executed by the high altitude determination means 26, and FIGS. 6 and 8 show data used in the processing process. .

That is, FIG. 4 shows a routine that periodically calculates the ratio between the preset reference air amount and the intake air amount. First, in step 100, the throttle opening degree TvO is read.
For example, as shown in FIG. 5, the O reading is A/D converted every 5 m5ec.

In the next step 102, a reference air amount Qa' is determined from the reference air amount table shown in FIG. 6 based on the read throttle opening degree TVO.

In the next step 104, the intake air amount of the internal combustion engine 14 is
As shown in Fig. 7, the A/D converted signal is read every 5 m5ec, and in step 106, an abnormality check is performed on the intake air amount signal.If it is determined to be abnormal in step 108, the process proceeds to step 110 to check the abnormality. Perform processing and end the calculation.

Incidentally, as the abnormality processing at this time, for example, the continuous flag is set and a "lowland" determination is made.

On the other hand, if it is determined to be normal in step 108, the process proceeds to step 112, where the A/D value of the intake air amount is converted into Qa according to the linearization characteristic of the intake air amount sensor shown in FIG. Perform linearization.

Next, in step 114, an air amount ratio is calculated from the reference air ff1Qa' and the actual intake air amount Qa based on the following equation.

Air amount ratio -Q a/Q a'...■ Then, in step 116, the air amount ratio obtained in step 114 is averaged using a weighted average or a moving average.

FIG. 9 shows a routine for performing high altitude determination processing, and this processing is performed subsequent to the air amount ratio calculation processing shown in FIG. 4 above.

That is, in this highland determination process, first, in step 120, the average value of the air volume ratio is read, and in step 122, it is determined whether the previous state was "highland" or "lowland". The process proceeds to step 124, and in the case of "lowland", the process proceeds to step 126.

In the above step 124, the average value read in the above step 120 is compared with a first predetermined value set in advance, and it is determined whether "average value>first predetermined value", and the average value is is larger than the first predetermined value, step 1
Proceeding to step 28, the previous determination of "highland" is changed to "-lowland", and if the average value is less than or equal to the first predetermined value, the process returns as is.

On the other hand, in step 126, the average value and a second predetermined value (provided that the first predetermined value ≧ the second predetermined value) are determined.
There is a relationship between the predetermined values of . ) and then calculate the average value
If the average value is smaller than the second predetermined value, the process proceeds to step 130, and the previous value is the predetermined value.
If the average value is greater than or equal to the second predetermined value, the process returns as is.

In addition, here, the highland judgment is made in two stages, 1 highland and 1 lowland 1, but it is not limited to this and may be judged in 3 or more stages, and the degree of highland can be expressed using the average value itself. Good too.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, in order to prevent erroneous judgments during the engine warm-up process, high altitude judgment is prohibited at low temperatures using the flowchart in FIG. It looks like this.

That is, in the flowchart of FIG. 10, first step 1
40, the A/D converted output of the water temperature sensor 28 is read as the water temperature T, and in the next step 142, the water temperature T and preset temperature data TWm are read. , and if Tw≧T V+++*l, step 1
Proceeding to step 44, the highland determination process shown in FIG. 9 above is executed.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step 142 that T w < T w, .
The high altitude judgment is prohibited, and the judgment result is set to "low ground" and the air volume ratio is set to "1".

1-The result determined by the high altitude determining means 26 is output to the shift condition setting means 30 shown in FIG. 3, and the shift condition setting means 30 outputs the shift condition to the shift gear determining means 32. The speed change state of the automatic transmission 12 is set to the optimum state in accordance with the output of the internal combustion engine 14.

That is, the flowcharts from FIG. 11 to FIG. 13 show the process for controlling the speed change state of the automatic transmission 12, and FIG. 11 is the main routine, which starts with step 150.
The determination result calculated in the flowchart of FIG. 9 above, that is, whether it is "highland" or "lowland" is read in, and in the next step 152, the speed change condition is selected based on the determination result.

That is, the selection of this shift condition involves selecting a shift pattern table prepared in advance for "highland J" and "lowland". As the shift pattern table, for example, the shift pattern table shown in FIG. 14 is selected. An upshift boundary line (solid line) and a downshift boundary line (dashed line) are set based on the relationship between vehicle speed VSP and throttle opening TYO. Items with different positions are available.

Then, when the shift pattern table is selected from the second steering wheel 152 (-), the throttle opening TVO and vehicle speed VSP are read in steps 154 and 156.

The above throttle opening degree TyO is read, for example, at the 12th
As shown in the figure, the A/D converted data is read every 5 m5ec, while the vehicle speed vSP is read by the vehicle speed sensor 3 as shown in FIGS. 13(a) and 13(b).
It is calculated by counting the pulse signals from 6 for a predetermined time (100 m5ec).

Next, in step 158, the throttle 154.15 is
The TVO and VSP read in step 6 are referred to the selected shift pattern table to determine the driving gear, and in step 160, a control signal is output to the shift solenoid of the automatic transmission a12 based on the determined gear. do.

In addition, in the automatic transmission 12, there are two shift solenoids 3.
By switching 8.40 ON and OFF, two corresponding shift valves (not shown) can be switched.
(Refer to Japanese Patent No. 47), by switching the shift valve, a friction element built into the gear train is engaged or released, and the gear ratio is switched.

With the above configuration, in this embodiment, the high altitude detection device 1
Since the shift state of the automatic transmission 12 is corrected based on the result determined by 0, the internal combustion engine 14 is
Even when there is a lack of output, the optimum shift state can be set.

By the way, in the high altitude detection device 10 of this embodiment, focusing on the fact that air density decreases at high altitudes, the intake air roof sensor 24 and the throttle opening sensor 20, which are normally provided in the internal combustion engine 14 of a vehicle, are installed. Since then, high altitude judgment has been made by detecting the change in the amount of intake air for a given throttle opening, thus eliminating the need for extra equipment such as an air IE meter used for conventional high altitude judgment. Therefore, significant cost reductions can be achieved.

FIG. 15 shows a second embodiment of the high-altitude detection device 10a of the present invention, in which the same components as in the first embodiment are given the same reference numerals and redundant explanations will be omitted.

That is, in this second embodiment, a rotation speed sensor 50 is provided as rotation speed detection means for detecting the rotation speed of the internal combustion engine 14,
By outputting the detection signal of the rotation speed sensor 50 to the high altitude determination means 26, the high altitude determination by the high altitude determination means 26 is performed based on the engine rotation speed in addition to the throttle opening TvO and intake air ff1Qa described in the first embodiment. By adding Ne, more accurate high altitude judgment can be made.

In this embodiment, the high altitude judgment is performed using the same control as in the above embodiment, except that instead of the air f'st ratio averaging processing routine executed in FIG. 4 of the first embodiment,
In the second embodiment, the averaging processing routine shown in FIG. 16 in which the engine speed Ne is introduced is used.

The averaging processing routine shown in FIG. 16 will be described below, with the same reference numerals given to the same processing parts as in the flowchart shown in FIG. 4, and redundant explanations will be omitted.

That is, in the routine of FIG. 16, the process of reading the engine speed Ne in step 101 is introduced between step 100 and step 102.

The reading of the engine speed Ne mentioned above is as shown in Fig. 17(a).
, (b), a value calculated by counting the number of pulses of the signal from the rotation speed sensor 50 for a predetermined period of time (for example, 100 m5ec) is used.

In addition, the yλ quasi-semi-acute air quantity table shown in FIG. 18 is used to calculate the reference air quantity for the steering wheel and brake 102, and the reference air quantity Qa' is calculated from the relationship between the engine speed Ne and the throttle opening TVO. is required.

The processing from step 104 onwards is performed in the same manner as in the embodiment (2), and the high altitude determination routine uses the one shown in FIG. 9.

By the way, even in this second embodiment, it is also possible to prohibit high altitude determination at low temperatures using cooling water as shown in FIG.

Incidentally, in each of the embodiments described above, a case has been disclosed in which the determination result of the high altitude detection device 10.10a is used to control the gear change state of the automatic transmission 12, but the present invention is not limited to this. It goes without saying that the determination result can be used for other controls.

As described in detail, in the high altitude detection device for a vehicle of the present invention, in claim 1, high altitude detection is performed based on the relationship between the throttle opening degree and the intake air amount, which are elements used for the original control of the internal combustion engine. Since this is done, it is possible to easily determine the high altitude without using a barometer, resulting in the effect that a significant cost reduction can be achieved.

In addition, in claim 2, the engine speed is used in the high altitude judgment in addition to the throttle opening degree and intake air amount used in claim 1, so the output state of the internal combustion engine can be more accurately grasped, and more accurate information can be obtained. This has the effect of being able to make high altitude judgments.

Furthermore, in claim 3, in the above-mentioned claim 1, the high altitude determination means presets data of a reference air amount with respect to the throttle opening, and performs the high altitude determination based on the air amount ratio between the reference air amount and the actual intake air amount. This has the effect that more accurate and quick judgments can be made.

Furthermore, in a fourth aspect of the present invention, the high altitude determination means in the above-mentioned claim 2 presets reference air amount data for the throttle opening degree and engine speed, and determines the air amount ratio between the reference air amount and the actual intake air amount. By making a high-altitude judgment based on this, it is possible to make a more accurate and quick judgment.

Further, in claim 5, in claim 3 or 4, the high altitude determination means constantly obtains the air amount ratio and corrects the high altitude determination using the average value, thereby making a more accurate determination in each case. It has the effect of being able to.

Furthermore, in claim 6, in any one of claims 1 to 5, a cooling water temperature detection means for the internal combustion engine is provided, and when the cooling water temperature is lower than the warm-up state, high altitude determination is not performed. This has the effect of preventing misjudgment of high altitude in an unstable state immediately after the engine starts.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a first configuration of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a second configuration of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a first configuration of the present invention.
4 is a flowchart showing an air amount ratio averaging routine used for control in the first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the throttle opening reading in the flowchart of FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the A/D conversion routine for calculating the 7J quasi-air amount in the flowchart of FIG. FIG. 8 is a linearization characteristic diagram of the intake air 51 signal in the flowchart of FIG. 4. FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a high altitude judgment routine used for control of the first embodiment of the present invention. , FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a high altitude judgment prohibition routine based on the cooling water temperature used for control of the first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 11 is a shift state of the automatic transmission used for control of the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing the ^/D conversion routine for reading the throttle opening in the flowchart of FIG. 11, and FIGS. 13(a) and (b) are the first
1 is a flowchart showing a routine for reading the vehicle speed in the chart 70 in FIG. 1, FIG. 14 is data showing an example of the shift condition table used in the flowchart in FIG. FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing the air amount ratio averaging routine used for the control of the second embodiment, and FIGS. 17(a) and (b) are the diagrams shown in FIG. A flowchart showing a routine for reading the engine speed in the flowchart, FIG. 18 is a flowchart showing the routine for reading the engine speed. This is data for finding jt. 10.10a... High altitude detection device, 12... Automatic transmission, 14... Internal combustion engine, 20... Throttle opening sensor (throttle opening detection means), 24... Intake air amount sensor ( intake air star detection means), 26... high altitude judgment means, 28... water temperature sensor (cooling water temperature detection means), 5
0... Rotation speed sensor (rotation speed detection means). Fig. 1 Fig. 3 Fig. 10... High altitude detection device 20... Throttle opening sensor (throttle opening detection means) 24... Intake air amount sensor (intake air amount detection means) 28... Water temperature sensor ( Cooling water temperature detection means) Fig. 4 Throttle opening Fig. 7 Now Fig. 8 Qa signal AD value large - Fig. 9 0 boats Fig. 10 Fig. 11 Fig. 12 Fig. 13 (a) (b) 14 Figure Vehicle speed (vsp) Figure 15 10a... High altitude detection means 50... Rotation speed sensor (rotation speed detection means) Figure 16

Claims (6)

[Claims] (1) Throttle opening detection means for detecting the throttle opening of the internal combustion engine, intake air amount detection means for detecting the intake air amount of the internal combustion engine, and detection by these throttle opening detection means and intake air amount detection means. A high-altitude detection device for a vehicle, comprising: high-altitude determination means for determining high altitude based on the relationship between throttle opening and intake air amount. (2) Throttle opening detection means for detecting the throttle opening of the internal combustion engine, rotational speed detection means for detecting the rotational speed of the internal combustion engine, intake air amount detection means for detecting the intake air amount of the internal combustion engine, and A high altitude determination means is provided for determining the high altitude based on the relationship between the throttle opening detected by the throttle opening detection means, the rotation speed detection means, and the intake air amount detection means, the engine rotation speed, and the intake air amount. High altitude detection device for vehicles. (3) The high altitude determination means is characterized in that data on a reference air amount for the throttle opening is set in advance, and the high altitude determination is made based on the air amount ratio between the reference air amount and the actual intake air amount. The vehicle high altitude detection device described in . (4) The high altitude determination means is characterized in that data on a reference air amount with respect to throttle opening and engine speed is set in advance, and the high altitude determination is made based on the air amount ratio between the reference air amount and the actual intake air amount. The high altitude detection device for a vehicle according to claim 2. (5) The high-altitude detection device for a vehicle according to claim 3 or 4, wherein the high-altitude determination means constantly obtains the air amount ratio and corrects the high-altitude determination using an average value thereof. (6) The high altitude detection device for a vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 5, further comprising a cooling water temperature detecting means for the internal combustion engine, and the high altitude determination is not performed when the cooling water temperature is lower than a warm-up state. .