JPH05319075A - Self-diagnosis device for motor actuator - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a self-diagnosis device for a motor actuator wherein operation can be inspected in a short time without incorrect determinations. CONSTITUTION:A timer 4 is used to set a sufficient length of time for motor operation such that the operation is not affected by a decrease in battery power, while a shorter time is temporarily set to cause the time to be up prematurely when encoders 13, 15 detect the motor in reaching the end on one side.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a motor actuator self-diagnosis apparatus, and more particularly to a self-diagnosis apparatus capable of performing self-diagnosis in a shorter time while avoiding erroneous determination.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent automobile air conditioners, various doors (for example, intake doors, air mix doors, mode doors, etc.) provided inside the air conditioner body are driven by a motor actuator having a built-in motor. BACKGROUND ART Auto air conditioners, which are widely used, are becoming widespread, in which input signals from switches and sensors are arithmetically processed to automatically and comprehensively control such motor actuators, blower fan motors, and compressors. In addition to the normal automatic air conditioner control, some automatic air conditioners have a self-diagnosis function for automatically performing a failure diagnosis and facilitating the finding of a failure location. A self-diagnosis program usually consists of several self-diagnosis steps.

In the operation inspection of motor actuators (for example, intake door actuators and mode door actuators) using encoders for position detection, these intake door actuators and mode door actuators are conventionally operated by a timer in forward and backward directions. The timer time is, for example, 8 seconds on each side for a total of 16 seconds, and it is determined whether the input signal from the encoder is normal, it is determined whether it is OK or NG, and the result is displayed on the display unit.

[0004]

However, in such a conventional system, the operation of the motor in the motor actuator (normal rotation / reverse rotation) is controlled only by the timer, and the timer time is also set to the normal rotation side. It is set to 16 seconds for each 8 seconds on the reverse rotation side, so it takes about 16 seconds to complete one inspection. Especially in a factory where mass production is performed, the motor actuator in the inspection process etc. A lot of time will be spent on the operation check of.

On the other hand, when the drive voltage supplied to the motor actuator is reduced due to a decrease in the power supply voltage of the vehicle-mounted battery or the like, the operating speed of the motor becomes slower, so the set timer time (about 16 Within a second), the motor cannot operate over the entire angle from the end to the end on both the forward rotation side and the reverse rotation side. Therefore, it is judged that the encoder signal is abnormal (erroneous judgment), and NG is erroneously displayed. May occur.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and provides a self-diagnosis device for an air conditioner for a vehicle, which is capable of performing self-diagnosis in a shorter time while avoiding erroneous determination. The purpose is to do.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION To achieve the above object, the present invention is directed to a motor actuator for driving a driven body by means of a motor, which incorporates position detecting means, and a position detecting means for operating the motor by means of a timer. In the self-diagnosis device for a motor actuator, which includes a control determination unit that determines whether or not there is an abnormality in an input signal from the control unit, the control determination unit can operate the motor over its entire operating range even when the power supply voltage decreases. The timer time is set in advance and the timer time is temporarily reset to a predetermined short time when the position detecting means detects that the motor has reached the extreme end position. And

[0008]

In the present invention thus constructed, even if the operating speed of the motor is slow due to a drop in the power supply voltage, the timer time is sufficient to operate the motor over its entire operating range. Since the time is set, the motor is sure to operate over the entire angle on each of the forward rotation side and the reverse rotation side. Therefore, the risk of misjudgment is greatly reduced.

On the other hand, when the power supply voltage is high and the operating speed of the motor is high, the motor usually reaches its end position within the above-mentioned timer time, but the motor has reached the end position. When the position detection means detects the position, the control determination means temporarily resets the timer time to a short time to make the time increase earlier than planned, and if there is any backward movement, the timer is immediately reset. Reset and continue operating the motor in the same direction. If multiple motor actuators are inspected simultaneously in parallel, the timer time is shortened when it is detected that all the motors have reached the extreme positions. This makes it possible to check the motor actuator in a short time while preventing erroneous determination.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a motor actuator self-diagnosis apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an operation flowchart of the embodiment. Here, an intake door actuator and a mode door actuator are shown as encoder type motor actuators that utilize an encoder for position detection.

As shown in FIG. 1, an autoamplifier 1 for performing overall operation control of an automobile air conditioner includes an input unit 2
And a microcomputer 3 with a built-in timer 4. Each switch 9 provided on the control panel and various sensors 10 provided on each part of the vehicle are connected to the input unit 2, and these input signals are converted into signals that can be processed by the microcomputer 3. By executing the program stored in the memory 5, the microcomputer 3 arithmetically processes input signals from the switches 9 and various sensors 10 and encoders described later, which are directly input via the input unit 2 or not. Then, the operation of each part of the automobile air conditioner is controlled. This microcomputer 3 has a self-diagnosis function in addition to the usual automatic air conditioner control, and when the self-diagnosis mode is selected by operating the switch 9, the operation of an encoder type motor actuator, which will be described later, is automatically inspected. It is designed to perform fault diagnosis. Further, an on-vehicle battery 11 is connected to the microcomputer 3 as a power supply voltage. The control determination means is composed of the microcomputer 3.

The auto amplifier 1 also has control units 6 and 7, which are connected to the microcomputer 3, respectively. Each of the control units 6 and 7 receives a command from the microcomputer 3 and supplies a drive current to the intake door actuator 12 and the mode door actuator 14, respectively. Each of these motor actuators 12 and 14 includes a motor M.
₁ and M ₂ and encoders 13 and 15 as position detecting means for detecting the positions thereof are built in. Each motor M
₁ and M ₂ are normally or reversely rotated according to the direction of the drive current from the corresponding control units 6 and 7, and are stopped when the energization is stopped. The operating speed of the motors M ₁ and M ₂ depends on the value of the drive current, and when the battery voltage decreases, the value of the drive current decreases, and the operating speed becomes slow. On the other hand, the encoders 13 and 15 output the current position information in the form of code signals in conjunction with the motors M ₁ and M ₂ , and the encoder signals are directly input to the microcomputer 3. An intake door 16 for selecting inside and outside air as a driven body is attached to the output shaft of the intake door actuator 12, and the output shaft of the mode door actuator 14 is a blower outlet mode as a driven body. Various mode doors (for example, a differential door, a vent door, a foot door) for selecting are attached via links.

Further, the auto amplifier 1 has an output section 8. The output unit 8 performs conversion processing on an output signal for displaying various control contents and calculation results by the microcomputer 3 on the external display unit 18, and outputs the converted output signal to the display unit 18. The determination result of OK or NG of the operation of the motor actuators 12 and 14 diagnosed by the microcomputer 3 in the self-diagnosis mode is displayed on the display unit 18.

[0014] Particularly in this embodiment, as the timer time to operate the motor M _1, M ₂ by the timer 4 when performing the operation check of the motor actuator 12, 14 in the self-diagnosis mode, the motor M ₁ is a voltage lower battery 11 , M ₂ has a small drive current value, the motor M
_Even if the operating speed of ₁ and M ₂ is slow, the motors M ₁ and M ₂ are operated over the entire angle in both the forward and reverse rotation directions to check the entire operating range. Therefore, a sufficient timer time (for example, 30 seconds for each side, 15 seconds in total) is preset in the memory of the timer 4. This is to prevent erroneous determination when the battery voltage is low.

On the other hand, in response to such extension of the timer time, when the motors M ₁ and M ₂ reach the extreme positions within the timer time and the signals of the encoders 13 and 15 to that effect are detected. In order to end the timer, the timer time is reset to a short time (for example, 1 second). This eliminates unnecessary waiting for the timer time to elapse and shortens the determination time. However, as in this embodiment, a plurality of motor actuators 1
When performing inspections 2 and 14 in parallel at the same time, it is detected that all the motors M ₁ and M ₂ have reached the extreme end positions in order to ensure that both can be checked over the entire operating range. The above timer time is shortened when it is turned off.

Further, when the encoder signal at the extreme end position of the operating points of the motors M ₁ and M ₂ cannot be confirmed due to opening or short-circuiting of the lead wires, a normal timer time (30 Second) motor M ₁ ,
After operating M ₂ to check all angles, the judgment result is displayed.

Next, the operation of the present apparatus thus constructed will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
First, as an initial setting, a normal timer time is set to 15 seconds on each side for a total of 30 seconds, and a timer time for ending the timer is set to 1 second.

The microcomputer 3 is a motor actuator 1
When the operation check steps 2 and 14 are started, the timer 4 is started with a timer time of 15 seconds (S1), and
The motor M ₁ in the intake door actuator 12 and the motor M ₂ in the mode door actuator 14 are energized via the control units 6 and 7, respectively, to operate them in the forward direction (normal rotation) (S2). The code signals from the encoders 13 and 15 corresponding to the rotation of ₁ and M ₂ are input (S3).

Next, the microcomputer 3 operates the encoders 1
Each encoder 1 based on the input signals from 3 and 15
It is determined whether or not 3 and 15 have detected the code signals corresponding to the forwardmost end positions of the motors M ₁ and M ₂ respectively (S4 and S5), and as a result of this determination, which encoder 13, 15 is selected. If the end position code on the forward rotation side is also detected from the above, it is determined that the motors M ₁ and M ₂ have both reached the end position on the forward rotation side, and the timer time (one side 1
(5 seconds) even if it has not yet elapsed, set the timer time to 1
Set it again to seconds and end the timer immediately (S
6) Due to this time-up, the energization of the motors M ₁ and M ₂ is stopped to stop them (S7).

On the other hand, step 4 or step 5
As a result of the determination, if at least one of the encoders 13 and 15 does not detect the end position code on the forward rotation side, it is further determined that the motor is at a position outside the end position of the operating range. It is determined whether or not the encoder signal shown is detected (S8), and if the signal is detected as a result of this determination, the motor for which the signal is detected has already passed the forwardmost end position. And stop the motor immediately (S
7) If not, it is judged that the motor has not reached the end position on the forward rotation side yet and it is judged whether the time is up or not (S9). If the time is up, the process proceeds to step 7, If the time is not up, the normal rotation operation is being performed in the determination in step 10, so the process returns to step 2 and the normal rotation is continued.

Through the above operation, the two motors M ₁ and M
_When both ₂ are in the stopped state (S7), that is, when the check on the forward rotation side is completed, the microcomputer 3 resets the timer 4 to start checking the reverse rotation side of the motor through the determination of step 11, and the timer time 15 It is started in seconds (S12), and at the same time, the motors M ₁ and M ₂ are energized via the control units 6 and 7, respectively, to operate them in the opposite direction (reverse rotation) (S13), and the operations of step 4 and subsequent steps are executed. Check the reverse side. Since the operation during this period is the same as the case of the forward rotation side, its explanation is omitted.

When the two motors M ₁ and M ₂ are stopped after finishing the check on the reverse rotation side (S 7), the microcomputer 3 judges in step 11 that the checks on both the forward rotation side and the reverse rotation side have been completed. , Encoders between them 1, 1
It is judged whether there is an abnormality in the input signal from 5, and OK or NG
The determination result is displayed on the display unit 18 via the output unit 8 (S14).

As described above, in this embodiment, the timer time is set to, for example, 15 seconds on one side, and the motors are driven even if the operating speed of the motors M ₁ and M ₂ is slow due to the decrease in the battery voltage. Since the timer time is long enough to operate over all angles, the motors M ₁ and M ₂ are always covered in the full range from end to end regardless of the battery voltage value. It will be possible to operate and check over. Therefore, especially when the battery voltage drops, the motor does not run out of full range within the timer time as in the conventional case, and the risk of erroneous determination due to this can be greatly reduced. ..

Further, in this embodiment, while the timer time is extended, the encoders 13 and 15 are used to drive the motor M ₁
And when it is detected that M ₂ has reached the extreme end position,
The timer time was temporarily reset to 1 second so that it would be timed up even if the initial timer time (15 seconds on each side) did not elapse, so it would be possible to avoid extending the diagnosis time by extending the timer time. In addition to this, more aggressively, the time is immediately increased when the motor reaches the extreme end position, so that a necessary operation time corresponding to the operation speed of the motor can be secured. Therefore, in combination with the extension of the timer time, it is possible to perform the operation check of the motor actuators 12 and 14 in a short time while preventing an erroneous determination.

In the present embodiment, the intake door actuator 12 and the mode door actuator 14 are taken as an example to operate them in parallel and inspect their operation, but the present invention is not limited to this. Of course, the present invention can be applied to the case where three or more encoder type motor actuators are inspected at the same time or the case where they are inspected one by one.

Further, the numerical value of the timer time in this embodiment is merely an example, and an appropriate arbitrary value should be selected in relation to the performance of the motor actuator itself and the function of the system in which the motor actuator is incorporated. Is natural.

[0027]

As described above, according to the present invention, the motor is surely operated over the entire operating range and the time is set to be increased when the motor reaches the end position even within the initial timer time. It is possible to check the operation of the motor actuator in a short time while preventing the determination.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a motor actuator self-diagnosis apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an operation flowchart of the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Auto amplifier 3 ... Microcomputer (control determination means) 4 ... Timer 11 ... Battery 12 ... Intake door actuator (motor actuator) 13, 15 ... Encoder (position detection means) 14 ... Mode door actuator (motor actuator) 16 ... Intake door (Driven object) 17 ... Mode door (Driven object) 18 ... Display section M ₁ , M ₂ ... Motor

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A motor (M
Motor actuator (12,14) that drives the driven body (16,17) by (1, M2) and the position detection means (13,15) by operating the motor (M1, M2) by the timer (4). In a motor actuator self-diagnosis device having a control determination means (3) for determining whether or not there is an abnormality in an input signal from the control determination means (3), the motor (M1, The timer time for operating M2) over its entire operating range is preset, and the motor (M1, M2) has reached its extreme position by the position detecting means (13, 15). A self-diagnosis device for a motor actuator, wherein when it is detected, the timer time is temporarily reset to a predetermined short time.