JPH03258633A - Operation environment setting device for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To effectively conduct the automatic setting of operation environment by reading out memorized set values in response to sent operation signals to change operation environment such as steering positions and seat positions when the motion of the start of operation due to opening and closing of a door or the like. CONSTITUTION:An operator sends each signal from each transmitter 10a, 10b carried by oneself, and an receiver 14 receives each signal via an antenna 12 whereby a door lock actuater 32 is controlled via a door control relay 30. A master control unit 40 judges which transmitter 10a, 10b is operated on the basis of each signal from the receiver 14. According to the results of the judgement, the master control unit 40 controls an electric tilt computer 42, a memory mirror computer 44 and a memory seat computer 46 respectively. Thus, a steering, a belt anchor, mirrors are automatically adjusted at optimum positions respectively.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a vehicle driving environment setting device that automatically changes the driving environment such as steering position, seat position, mirror position, etc. according to the driver.

[Background Art] With the recent progress in electronics technology, electronic control devices have come to be employed in various devices. In automobiles as well, various devices such as constant speed running devices and electronic fuel injection control devices are now being electronically controlled.

In addition, the steering wheel position, seat position, mirror position, etc., which were conventionally operated manually by the driver, are now controlled electrically.

Furthermore, when the steering position, seat position, mirror position, etc. are electrically operated, it is also possible to automatically adjust these automatically electronically. For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 58-75217 discloses a system in which the seat position is stored in advance and the seat position is automatically set to the memorized seat position by operating a setting button or the like. Also, JP-A-60-1
Japanese Patent No. 57962 discloses a steering tilting device that stores the steering position and automatically adjusts the steering position.

When such an electronic control device is used, a driver or the like can automatically set a driving environment according to his/her preference by simply operating a button or the like.

On the other hand, with the development of communication devices, transmitters and receivers have become smaller and more sophisticated, and the number of devices equipped with wireless remote control functions is increasing. Therefore, for automobiles as well, a keyless entry system has been proposed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 60-33987, etc., in which doors are locked and unlocked by remote control operation from a transmitter.

If this keyless entry system is used, the door can be locked/unlocked without actually touching the vehicle, so for example, the door can be unlocked in advance while approaching the vehicle.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] As described above, various control devices have been proposed in the past, and adjustment operations for adjusting the states of various devices in a vehicle according to the driver's preferences can be performed very easily. It's starting to look like this. However, even when using the above-mentioned control device for driving environment such as steering position and keyless entry system, after unlocking the vehicle using keyless entry, you must actually get into the vehicle and press the select switch etc. for setting various positions. It was necessary to push and align the position according to the driver.

Although the operation of pressing this select switch is relatively simple, it is quite tedious for the user to press several switches each time for various devices. Therefore, a device that can control these in a unified manner is desired.

Furthermore, the operation corresponding to the wireless remote control tlE using the transmitter is performed before starting the engine. Therefore, it is necessary to minimize the number of operations corresponding to such remote control operations to prevent unnecessary battery consumption.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a vehicle driving environment setting device that can efficiently automatically set various driving environments with a single operation.

[Means for solving the problem] A driving environment setting device according to the present invention has a steering position,
a driving environment changing means for changing the driving environment such as a seat position; a driving environment storage means for storing setting values regarding the driving environment; a receiving means for receiving a signal from a transmitter operated by an operator; a driving environment reading means for decoding the signal obtained by the means and reading out a set value specified by the received signal from the driving environment storage means; and preparation for detecting an operation for starting driving such as opening of the driver's seat door. It is characterized by having a motion detection means.

[Operation] The driving environment setting device according to the present invention has the above-described configuration, and after receiving the driving environment setting signal by the receiving means, performs preparatory actions for starting driving such as opening a door. When the driving environment is detected, the driving environment is set to the setting value read by the driving environment reading means. Therefore, if the driving environment setting operation is not necessary, such as when you stop driving after operating the transmitter, the setting operation will not be performed.
It is possible to prevent wasteful power consumption.

[Embodiments] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described based on the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of the embodiment. The transmitters 10a and 10b are operated by each driver and can transmit a predetermined signal.

Normally, by pressing a button provided on the transmitter 10, radio waves containing a predetermined code are transmitted. Note that this transmitter 10 may use infrared rays, ultrasonic waves, or the like.

In addition, if there are multiple persons who may be driving the vehicle, a plurality of transmitters 10 are provided, and the transmitters 10 are adapted to transmit signals with different codes so as to identify the different drivers. There is.

The radio waves transmitted from the transmitter 10 in this manner are received by the antenna 12. This antenna 12 is mounted on a vehicle, and can also be used in common with other transmitting/receiving antennas (for example, a car phone).

The signal received by this antenna 12 is then supplied to a receiver 14. This receiver 14 detects, amplifies, etc. the radio waves obtained by the antenna, and outputs a signal corresponding to these received signals. That is, the transmitters 10a, 10b
Since the signals from the transmitter are different, the signal will be output depending on the transmitter.

In addition, this receiver 14 is connected via a power switch 16,
Power source B is connected, and power is supplied from here. Furthermore, the receiver 14 includes an unlock warning switch 18. which indicates whether or not a key is inserted into the cylinder of the ignition switch. Three switches are connected: a courtesy switch 20 that indicates opening/closing of the door, and a lock/unlock detection switch 22 that indicates locking/unlocking of the door. Therefore, the receiver 14 can recognize whether these three switches 18, 20, and 22 are on or off.

A door lock actuator 32 is connected to the receiver 14 via a door control relay 30. Therefore, when the receiver 14 receives a signal from the transmitter 10, it supplies an unlock signal or a lock signal to the door control relay 30. The door control relay 30 controls the door lock actuator 32 to lock or unlock the door.

In this way, when a signal is transmitted from the transmitter 10, the receiver 14 supplies a predetermined signal to the door lock actuator 32 via the door control relay 30, and the door is locked or unlocked.

Further, a mask control unit 40 is connected to the receiver 14 . The mask control unit 40 is supplied with two signals, KSa and KSb, from the receiver 14. These signals KSa and KSb indicate whether the signal is received from the transmitter 10a or 10b. In this example, when the signal from the receiver 10a is received, KSa is rHJ.
Therefore, when the signal from the transmitter 10b is received, the signal KSb becomes rHJ. Therefore, the mask control unit 4
0, which transmitter 10 is determined by this signal KSa, KSb.
It is possible to recognize whether a signal has been received from. Note that in this example, the number of transmitters 10 and signals KS is two, but the number can be increased as necessary.

The mask control unit 40 includes an electric tilt computer 42. It is connected to a memory mirror computer 44 and a memory seat computer 46, and these computers 42, 44, 46 control electric tilt actuators 50. Belt anchor actuator 52. Electric mirror actuator 54. The operation of the power seat actuator 56 is controlled.

That is, when the mask control unit 40 recognizes which transmitter 10 has been operated, a corresponding signal is supplied to the electric tilt computer 42, memory mirror computer 44, and memory seat computer 46.

Then, the electric tilt computer 42 reads out the steering position and belt anchor position stored in the built-in memory in advance according to the type of the transmitter 10, and uses this data to control the electric tilt actuator 50. Controls belt anchor actuator 52. Therefore, the steering position and the seat belt anchor position are automatically adjusted to pre-stored positions.

Further, the signal from the mask control unit 40 is supplied to a memory mirror computer 44, which reads out the mirror position stored for each transmitter and sets the electric mirror to that mirror position. The actuator 54 is controlled.

Furthermore, the memory sheet computer 46 responds to a signal indicating the type of transmitter supplied from the mask control unit 40,
The seat position is read, and the power seat actuator 56 is controlled to take the seat position.

In this way, the mask control unit 40 controls the signals KSa,
Based on KSb, a signal is sent to each computer 4244.46, and each computer 4244.46 controls the actuators 50, 52, 54.56 based on data such as the position stored in memory, and adjusts the driving environment. can be set automatically.

In particular, in this example, when the receiver 14 receives a signal for keyless entry from one transmission [10], the driving environment is set in addition to the door unlock control. Therefore, once the driver operates the accident transmitter 10, when the driver actually rides the vehicle, the adjustment has already been made to suit the driver. Since each computer 42, 44, 46 reads corresponding data depending on the type of transmitter 10, the operating environment can be set depending on the type of transmitter. Therefore, the transmitter 10
By having each driver separately, it is possible to automatically make adjustments tailored to each driver.

A select switch (not shown) for performing normal electric positioning is connected to the mask control unit 40, and position setting by each computer 42, 44, 46 can also be performed by operating this switch. It looks like this.

However, according to the above-described position setting method, the actuator operates immediately after receiving a signal from the transmitter regarding the setting of the operating environment. However,
Although the transmitter has given the command, if the driver stops riding, the actuator's operation will be wasted.

Such an actuator operation is performed before the driver gets on the vehicle, that is, before the engine is started. Therefore, there is a problem that battery consumption increases due to the operation of the actuator. Therefore, it is necessary to suppress this wasteful operation to the minimum possible.

Therefore, in this embodiment, the receiver 14 uses the timer 14.
a, and after determining whether or not the driver actually intends to start driving using the signals from the timer 14a and the door courtesy switch 20, the actuators 50, 52, and 52 for setting the driving environment are activated. 54 and 56 to prevent unnecessary power consumption.

Therefore, the operation of the receiver 14 for this purpose will be explained based on FIG.

First, it is determined whether all the doors are closed by turning on/off the courtesy switch 23 (Sl)
. If even one door is open, there is no need to lock/unlock the command from the transmitter 10, so the process returns to the start, and if all the doors are closed, the unlock warning switch 18 is turned on. It is determined whether or not (S2).

This unlock warning switch is a switch that detects that the key plate is inserted into the key cylinder part (ignition switch) of the steering lock.If this unlock warning switch is on, the key is inserted. It means that there is. Then, since the key is inserted, there is no need to perform a remote control operation according to the signal from the transmitter 10, so the process returns to the start.

On the other hand, if the unlock warning switch is not on, it is then determined whether there is a signal from the transmitter 10 (S3). If there is a signal from the transmitter 10, the signal is decoded and it is determined whether or not it is a code for the own vehicle (S4).

In this way, when it is determined that a predetermined signal has been transmitted from the transmitter 10, an action must be taken in accordance with this. Therefore, first, it is determined whether all the doors are locked or not based on whether the lock/unlock detection switch 22 is on (S5).

Here, if all the doors are not locked, it is assumed that the command from the transmitter 10 is a command requesting door locking, and lock control is performed (S6). This lock control is performed by supplying a lock signal to the door control relay 30, and in response to this, the door lock actuator 32 locks the door. Then, the control is ended.

On the other hand, if all doors are locked,
It is assumed that the command from the transmitter 10 is a command for unlocking the door, and unlocking control is performed (S7). This unlock control is performed by supplying an unlock signal from the receiver 14 to the door control relay 30 , and the door lock actuator 32 is activated by the door control relay 30 .
This is done by driving.

Next, after outputting the unlock signal, the receiver 14 outputs the 3
It is determined whether the door is opened within 0 seconds (S8). For this purpose, the receiver 14 starts operating the built-in timer 14a together with sending out the above-mentioned unlock signal.
Before 4a counts a predetermined time (for example, 30 seconds), whether or not the door is opened is determined by turning the courtesy switch 20 on and off.

If the door does not open within 30 seconds after unlocking, it is determined that the operator has stopped entering the vehicle, and a lock signal is supplied to the door control relay 30 to automatically lock the door ( S'9), the process ends.

On the other hand, if the door opens within 30 seconds, it is determined that the driver has actually entered the vehicle and started driving, so the driving environment such as the steering wheel, seat, and mirrors must be controlled to suit the driver. No.

Therefore, the receiver 14 decodes the received signal received by the antenna 12 and determines which of the transmitters 10a and 10b has transmitted it (S10). Then, if the signal is from the transmitter 10a, the signal KSa is output (S12), and if the signal is from the transmitter 10b, the signal KSb is output (S12).

These signals KSa and KSb are supplied to the master control unit 40, and the mask control unit 40 controls each computer 42.
．． In order to supply signals depending on the type of transmitter 10 to the transmitter 44 and 46, various operation environment setting operations as described above are performed.

In this manner, in this embodiment, it is determined whether the door has been opened within 30 seconds after performing the unlock control based on the received signal from the transmitter 10 as described above. and,
The operating environment setting operation is performed only when it is detected that this door is opened. Therefore, if the driver does not actually get into the vehicle, the various actuators do not operate. Therefore, unnecessary consumption of the battery can be prevented.

Here, it is preferable that a predetermined input means is connected to the mask control unit 40, and the driving environment (steering position, etc.) is stored based on the input from the input means.

In the above-described embodiment, whether or not the driver actually got into the vehicle was determined based on whether or not the door was opened. The determination may be made by turning on the unlock warning switch (on), starting the engine, setting the seat belt, etc. Further, instead of determining whether or not the driver actually starts driving by using the software of the receiver 14 as described above, the determination is made using the signal KSa.

KSb may be supplied to the mask control unit 40 via a buffer, and output from this buffer may be performed only when the door is opened within a predetermined time.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the vehicle driving environment setting device according to the present invention, the driving environment can be automatically set by the signal from the transmitter, and the operation for starting driving can be performed. Since the actuator is driven only when the power is on, wasteful consumption of power can be prevented.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the embodiment. 10a, 10b -... Transmitter 12... Antenna 14... Receiver 18... Unlock warning switch 20
... Courtesy switch 22 ... Lock/unlock detection switch 30
... Door control relay 32 ... Door lock actuator 40 ... Mask control unit 42 ... Electric tilt computer 44 ...
Memory mirror computer 46... Memory seat computer 9 0 2 4 6 Electric tilt actuator Belt anchor actuator Electric mirror actuator Power seat actuator

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] Driving environment changing means for changing the driving environment such as steering position and seat position; driving environment storage means for storing set values regarding the driving environment; and signals from a transmitter operated by an operator. a receiving means for receiving the signal; a driving environment reading means for decoding the signal obtained by the receiving means and reading out the set value specified by the received signal from the driving environment storage means; a preparatory operation detection means for detecting an operation for starting, and after receiving the driving environment setting signal by the receiving means,
and control means for controlling the driving environment changing means to set the driving environment to the setting value read by the driving environment reading means when the preparatory movement detecting means detects the operation for starting operation. A vehicle driving environment setting device characterized by: