JPH0573241U - Throttle device for autonomous driving - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] (Modified) [Purpose] Achieve both normal running by operating the accelerator pedal and autonomous running by motor drive at the same time, and in autonomous running, the range below the opening of the throttle valve when autonomous running is set Prevents sudden acceleration and abnormal high speed running. A first throttle valve, which is directly driven by a first motor 4 and is controlled in a closing direction, and a throttle gear 10, which is driven by an accelerator cam 9 or a second motor 15 for autonomous traveling to rotate, selectively. A second throttle valve, which is controlled to open and close via a throttle opening / closing lever 6 that engages and rotates, a normally-closed limit switch that can shut off the drive circuit of the second motor 15, and a pivotal support coaxially with the throttle gear 10. When the limit switch operating lever 18 and the throttle gear 10 are engaged with the throttle opening / closing lever 6, the limit switch operating lever 18 is integrated with the throttle gear 10 so that the limit switch can be turned off by a command signal from the control unit. And an electromagnetic clutch 17.

Description

[Detailed description of the device]

[0001]

[Industrial applications]

 The present invention relates to a throttle device mounted on a vehicle for speed control or the like, and more particularly, to a throttle device for autonomous traveling that is compatible with autonomous traveling without operating an accelerator pedal.

[0002]

[Prior Art]

 In recent years, an autonomous vehicle in which the throttle valve is operated independently of the operation of the accelerator pedal is in the experimental stage, and various autonomous traveling methods have been proposed. As an example, multiple cameras that monitor the front of the vehicle, a controller that processes the images from this camera to issue acceleration and deceleration commands for the vehicle, and a throttle valve that responds to the command signals from this controller are used. It is known to have a motor driven to open and close.

Further, as an autonomous traveling throttle device capable of supporting such an autonomous traveling system, one of a drive-by-wire system in which one throttle valve is directly driven by a motor and one of two throttle valves arranged in series are used. A tandem system (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 1-212623) in which the traction control is performed by controlling the valve in the closing direction is generally known. In addition, a cruise control system that operates the accelerator pedal with an actuator for automatic constant-speed driving has been known.

[0004]

[Problems to be solved by the device]

 By the way, the drive-by-wire type has a safety problem in that the throttle valve may not return to the closed position when the motor fails, resulting in a situation in which the vehicle suddenly accelerates or continues to run at high speed. There was a problem. In the tandem type, there is a problem that the throttle valve always operates only in the closing direction, and the throttle valve cannot be controlled to drive normally as the driver intends. Furthermore, the cruise control system had a problem that the throttle valve could not be controlled below the throttle opening set at the accelerator pedal position, and traction control could not be performed.

As described above, each of the conventional throttle devices for autonomous traveling has merits and demerits, so that both autonomous traveling and normal traveling can be achieved and safety at the time of autonomous traveling cannot be ensured. Is.

Therefore, the present invention can simultaneously achieve normal traveling by operating the accelerator pedal and autonomous traveling by motor driving. In autonomous traveling, rapid acceleration and acceleration are possible in the range of throttle valve opening or less during autonomous traveling set. It is an object of the present invention to provide an autonomous traveling throttle device that can prevent abnormally high speed traveling.

[0007]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

 To achieve this object, the present invention is directed to a first throttle valve which is directly driven by a first traction control motor to be controlled in a closing direction from a fully open state, and an accelerator cam which rotates in association with an accelerator pedal. Alternatively, a throttle opening / closing lever that is selectively engaged with a throttle gear that is rotated by being driven by a second motor for autonomous traveling and is rotated, and opening / closing control is performed via this throttle opening / closing lever, and the first slot valve A throttle device for autonomous traveling, comprising a second throttle valve arranged in series with a normally closed limit switch capable of shutting off the drive circuit of the second motor, and pivotally supported coaxially with the throttle gear. The limit switch operating lever, which is spring-supported so that its front end faces the above limit switch, and the above-mentioned throttle gear are slotted. When engaging the operating lever is a means that an electromagnetic clutch for integrating off operatively the limit switch lever limit switch actuated by a command signal of the controller to slot Torugiya.

[0008]

[Action]

 In the throttle device for autonomous traveling adopting such means, the first throttle valve is normally fully opened, and the second throttle valve in series with this is at the idling opening. Then, when the accelerator pedal is operated, the accelerator cam rotates, and the throttle opening / closing lever engages with this to rotate, whereby the opening / closing of the second throttle valve is controlled. Further, in the autonomous traveling set state, the throttle motor is driven by the second motor to rotate, and the throttle opening / closing lever engages with this to rotate, whereby the second throttle valve is controlled to open / close. As described above, the throttle opening / closing lever selectively engages the accelerator cam or the throttle gear to control the opening / closing of the two throttle valves, so that the normal running by operating the accelerator pedal and the autonomous running by driving the second motor are simultaneously performed. compatible.

[0009] Here, when the normal traveling is set by the operation of the accelerator pedal to the autonomous traveling, the electromagnetic clutch is engaged at the time when the throttle gear is engaged with the throttle opening / closing lever located at the rotation position corresponding to the opening degree of the second throttle valve. Is activated by a command signal from the controller, and the limit switch operating lever is integrated with the throttle gear. Therefore, when the throttle gear further rotates in the opening direction of the second throttle valve, the tip of the limit switch operating lever turns off the limit switch to shut off the drive circuit of the second motor. Therefore, the autonomous traveling by driving the second motor is performed within the range of the opening degree of the second throttle valve or less when the autonomous traveling is set.

[0010]

【Example】

 Hereinafter, one embodiment of the throttle device for autonomous traveling according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. 1 and 2 showing a schematic structure of one embodiment, reference numeral 1 is a throttle body, 2 is a first throttle valve for traction control installed in an intake passage 1a of the throttle body 1, and 3 is a first throttle valve. 2 shows the second throttle valves installed in the intake passage 1a downstream of the first throttle valve 2.

The first throttle valve 2 is formed by directly connecting a valve shaft 2a to a rotary shaft 4a of a first motor 4 for traction control attached to a throttle body 1. By controlling the rotation of the first motor 4 according to the slip state of the front and rear wheels, the intake passage 1a is closed from the fully opened state by the required angle. The opening of the first throttle valve 2 is detected by a first throttle opening sensor 5 attached to the throttle body 1 and fed back to the controller.

The second throttle valve 3 is for normal traveling and autonomous traveling, and the valve shaft 3a thereof has an engaging portion 6a which is bent in an L shape and extends along the axial direction of the valve shaft 3a. The throttle opening / closing lever 6 is fixed. The second throttle valve 3 opens and closes the intake passage 1a in response to the rotation of the throttle opening / closing lever 6, and the opening thereof is detected by the second throttle opening sensor 7 attached to the throttle body 1. To feed back to the controller. The throttle opening / closing lever 6 is rotated back to its original position by a return spring 8 to close the second throttle valve 3.

A fan-shaped accelerator cam 9 and a throttle gear 10 are rotatably supported on the valve shaft 3a of the second throttle valve 3, and these are respectively supported by return springs 11 and 12. It rotates in the same direction as the throttle opening / closing lever 6 and returns to the original position.

The accelerator cam 9 is linked to an accelerator pedal 14 via an accelerator cable 13, and is adapted to rotate against the return spring 11 when the accelerator pedal 14 is stepped on. The second opening / closing lever 6 is opened by engaging the engaging portion 6a of the opening / closing lever 6 to rotate the throttle opening / closing lever 6.

A pinion gear 16 fixed to a rotary shaft 15a of a second motor 15 for autonomous traveling is meshed with the throttle gear 10, and the second motor 15 is rotationally controlled by a command signal from a controller. As a result, the throttle gear 10 rotates against the return spring 12, and at that time, it engages with the engaging portion 6a of the throttle opening / closing lever 6 to rotate the throttle opening / closing lever 6, It is designed to open the throttle valve 3. The second motor 15 is supported by an engine body (not shown).

As shown in FIG. 3, a limit switch operating lever 18 is coaxially attached to the throttle gear 10 via an electromagnetic clutch 17, and when the electromagnetic clutch 17 is connected by a command signal from a controller. The limit switch operating lever 18 is integrated with the throttle gear 10. The tip portion 18a of the limit switch operating lever 18 is supported in a balanced state by the left and right coil springs 20 and 20 stretched between the support pins 19 and 19 fixed to the engine body and the like. It maintains a fixed position when the clutch 17 is disengaged.

On the other hand, a limit switch 21 capable of interrupting the drive circuit of the second motor 15 is provided so as to be supported by the throttle body 1 or the like. The limit switch 21 has a normally closed contact portion 21a in close proximity to the tip end portion 18a of the limit switch operation lever 18, and by connecting the electromagnetic clutch 17, the tip end portion 18a of the limit switch operation lever 18 becomes a throttle. When the throttle opening / closing lever 6 is rotated together with the gear 10 toward the engaging portion 6a side, the contact portion 21a is opened by engaging with this.

FIG. 4 shows a block configuration of the autonomous traveling system. The first motor 4, the second motor 15 and the electromagnetic clutch 17 are connected to the output side of the controller 22, respectively. The first throttle opening sensor 5, the second throttle opening sensor 7, and the limit switch 21 are connected to the input side of the controller 22, respectively. Further, the input side of the controller 22 is connected with an image data processing unit 24 for inputting an image signal from the camera 23 and an autonomous traveling switch 25.

The cameras 23 are a plurality of cameras that monitor the front of the vehicle, and the image data processing unit 24 that inputs an image signal from the cameras 23 is an inter-vehicle distance to a preceding vehicle traveling in front of the vehicle. Is detected and the detection signal is output to the controller 22. Further, the autonomous traveling switch 25 outputs a signal for starting the opening / closing control of the second throttle valve 3 by the second motor 15 to the controller 22. Then, the controller 22 which receives the signal from the autonomous traveling switch 25 outputs to the second motor 15 an acceleration or deceleration command signal according to the detection signal from the image data processing unit 24.

Next, the operation of the throttle device for autonomous traveling according to the embodiment configured as described above will be described together with the operating state of the vehicle. First, in the autonomous traveling throttle device, in the initial state, the first throttle valve 2 is fully opened to open the intake passage 1a. At this time, as shown in FIG. 5 (a), the throttle opening / closing lever 6, the accelerator cam 9 and the throttle gear 10 are returned to their original positions by the return springs 8, 11 and 12, respectively. The throttle valve 3 is maintained at the idling opening degree.

Then, when the accelerator pedal 14 is depressed, the accelerator cam 9 rotates through the accelerator cable 13 against the return spring 11. At that time, as shown in FIG. The throttle opening / closing lever 6 is rotated by engaging with the engaging portion 6a of No.6. By the rotation of the throttle opening / closing lever 6, the second throttle valve 3 opens the intake passage 1a according to the depression amount of the accelerator pedal 14, and thus the vehicle normally runs according to the operation of the accelerator pedal 14.

When the autonomous traveling switch 25 is turned on at a predetermined speed during the normal traveling by operating the accelerator pedal 14, the autonomous traveling of the vehicle is started. FIG. 6 shows the control procedure of the controller 22 when shifting to this autonomous running. When the autonomous running switch 25 is turned on (S1), the controller 22 accelerates in accordance with the detection signal from the image data processing unit 24. Alternatively, the second motor 15 is driven by outputting a deceleration command signal to the second motor 15 (S2). Then, the controller 22 checks the increasing tendency of the drive current of the second motor 15 (S3), and when the current value suddenly increases (S4), outputs a command signal to the electromagnetic clutch 17 and connects it (S5). ..

On the other hand, in the operation system of the second throttle valve 3, the throttle gear 10 is rotated by the drive of the second motor 15 via the pinion gear 16. The throttle gear 10 is brought into contact with and engages with the engaging portion 6a of the throttle opening / closing lever 6 which is in a rotating position corresponding to the opening degree of the second throttle valve 3, as shown in FIG. 5 (c). Therefore, even if the accelerator pedal 14 is released, the second throttle valve 3 is controlled to open / close in response to the driving of the second motor 15, and the autonomous running of the vehicle is thus started.

Here, as described above, when the throttle gear 10 rotates and engages with the engaging portion 6 a of the throttle opening / closing lever 6, the load of the return spring 8 is changed to the second load via the throttle opening / closing lever 6. Since it is added to the motor 15, the current value of the second motor 15 rapidly increases. Then, the electromagnetic clutch 17 is connected by a command signal from the controller 22, and thereafter the limit switch operating lever 18 is integrated with the throttle gear 10 via the electromagnetic clutch 17. Therefore, when the throttle gear 10 is further rotated in the opening direction of the second throttle valve 3 by the second motor 15, the tip portion 18a of the limit switch operating lever 18 opens the contact portion 21a of the limit switch 21. The drive circuit of the second motor 15 is cut off, and the autonomous traveling by driving the second motor 15 is performed within the range of the opening of the second throttle valve 3 at the start of the autonomous traveling.

As described above, in the throttle device for autonomous traveling according to the embodiment, the accelerator cam 9 or the throttle gear 10 selectively engages with the engaging portion 6a of the throttle opening / closing lever 6 to open / close the second throttle valve 3. Therefore, the normal traveling by operating the accelerator pedal 14 and the autonomous traveling by driving the second motor 15 are compatible with each other. In either normal running or autonomous running, when slippage occurs in the front and rear wheels of the vehicle, the command signal from the controller 22 controls the rotation of the first motor 4 according to the slip state. (1) The throttle valve 2 closes the intake passage 1a from the fully opened state by a required angle to reduce the engine output, and thus traction control is performed.

[0026]

[Effect of the device]

 As described above, according to the present invention, the second throttle valve is controlled to open and close by rotating the accelerator cam by the operation of the accelerator pedal and engaging the throttle opening / closing lever to rotate the accelerator cam. In the set state of autonomous traveling, the second motor is driven to rotate the throttle gear, and the throttle opening / closing lever engages with this to rotate, whereby the opening / closing control of the second throttle valve is performed. In this way, the throttle opening / closing lever selectively engages the accelerator cam or the throttle gear to control the opening / closing of the two throttle valves, so that the normal running by operating the accelerator pedal and the autonomous running by driving the second motor are performed. At the same time, both can be achieved, and even if the second motor fails, normal running can be performed by the accelerator pedal.

Here, when the normal traveling is set by the operation of the accelerator pedal to the autonomous traveling, the electromagnetic clutch is engaged at the time when the throttle gear is engaged with the throttle opening / closing lever which is in the rotational position corresponding to the opening degree of the second throttle valve. Is activated by the command signal from the control unit, and the limit switch operating lever is integrated with the throttle gear. Therefore, when the throttle gear further rotates in the opening direction of the second throttle valve, the tip of the limit switch operating lever turns off the limit switch to shut off the drive circuit of the second motor. Therefore, the autonomous driving by the drive of the second motor is performed within the range of the opening of the second throttle valve or less when the autonomous driving is set, and sudden acceleration and abnormal high speed traveling are prevented to ensure safety. can do.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an overall schematic structure of an embodiment of an autonomous traveling throttle device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing the overall schematic structure of one embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a partial front view showing a main part structure of one embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a block configuration diagram of an autonomous traveling system in one embodiment.

5 (a), (b) and (c) are partial front views of the essential part showing the operation of one embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the operation of one embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Throttle Body 2 First Throttle Valve 3 Second Throttle Valve 4 First Motor 5 First Throttle Opening Sensor 6 Throttle Open / Close Lever 7 Second Throttle Opening Sensor 8 Return Spring 9 Accelerator Cam 10 Throttle Gear 11 Return Spring 12 Return Spring 13 accelerator cable 14 accelerator pedal 15 second motor 16 pinion gear 17 electromagnetic clutch 18 limit switch operating lever 19 support pin 20 coil spring 21 limit switch 22 controller 23 camera 24 image data processing unit 25 autonomous traveling switch

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁵ Identification code Internal reference number FI Technical indication location F02D 11/10 Q 8614-3G 29/02 301 B 9248-3G 41/22 310 E 9039-3G

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A first throttle valve which is directly driven by a first motor for traction control and is controlled from a fully open state to a closing direction, an accelerator cam which rotates in association with an accelerator pedal, or a second for autonomous traveling. A throttle opening / closing lever that is selectively engaged with a throttle gear that is driven by a motor to rotate and that rotates, and a second opening / closing control device that is controlled to open / close via the throttle opening / closing lever and is arranged in series with the first throttle valve. An autonomous traveling throttle device including a throttle valve, which is a normally closed limit switch capable of shutting off a drive circuit of the second motor, and a tip end of which is pivotally supported coaxially with the throttle gear to face the limit switch. When the throttle switch is engaged with the throttle opening / closing lever and the limit switch operating lever that is spring-supported, An throttle device for autonomous traveling, comprising: an electromagnetic clutch that integrates the limit switch operating lever with a throttle gear so that the limit switch can be turned off by operating in response to a command signal from a troller.