JPH0623020B2 - Car constant speed running device - Google Patents

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a constant speed traveling device for an automobile, and more particularly to a constant speed traveling device in which a set vehicle speed is changed according to the amount of rainfall.

(Prior art and its problems) The constant-speed traveling device for automobiles is a device for performing constant-speed traveling with the vehicle speed selected by the operator as the set vehicle speed. It is equipped with a deceleration switch for performing the above and a return switch for returning to the previously set vehicle speed. The above-mentioned set vehicle speed has an upper limit value and a lower limit value, and while traveling within that speed range, if the driver sets the vehicle speed at the time when he / she decides to move to a low speed, The set vehicle speed is maintained and the vehicle moves to a constant speed. If you want to increase the above set vehicle speed during constant speed running, you can continuously increase the speed from the set vehicle speed by turning on the speed increase switch, and if you turn it off, the speed increase stops and the vehicle speed at that point is It is set as a new set vehicle speed. To reduce the set vehicle speed, the deceleration switch may be operated in the same manner. Further, when it is desired to return to the previous set vehicle speed after the vehicle speed is once reduced to the set vehicle speed or less by releasing the low speed running by operating the brake or disengaging the clutch, the return switch may be operated.
A number of proposals have been made for such a constant speed traveling device, but as an example of such a proposal, an actual operation is disclosed in Sho 57-1.
There is one described in Japanese Patent No. 64228.

By the way, the above-mentioned set vehicle speed should be selected according to the situation according to the operator's judgment, but if there is rainfall during traveling, the set vehicle speed can be changed so as to decrease. Sometimes desirable. In such a case, as described above, the deceleration switch can be operated to arbitrarily reduce the set vehicle speed, and the constant speed traveling can be continued at the vehicle speed considered safe. However, if the amount of rainfall is accurately grasped, and the set vehicle speed is appropriately changed or the constant speed traveling is released according to the degree, the safer constant speed traveling can be expected. However, in the conventional constant speed traveling device, there is no means for automatically adjusting the set vehicle speed in response to such rainfall, and improvement thereof is desired.

(Object of the Invention) The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and when the vehicle is traveling at a constant speed, if there is rainfall, the rainfall amount is detected and the set vehicle speed is changed, or the vehicle is traveling at a constant speed. It is an object of the present invention to provide a constant-speed traveling device for an automobile in which the vehicle is released and the vehicle travels at a safer speed.

(Structure of the Invention) The features of the vehicle constant speed traveling device of the present invention are as follows.

An actuator that adjusts the amount of fuel supplied to the engine,
A vehicle speed detecting means for detecting a vehicle speed, a rain amount detecting means for detecting a rainfall amount, and a vehicle speed control means for controlling the actuator so that an actual vehicle speed detected by the vehicle speed detecting means becomes a selected set vehicle speed, The vehicle speed control means receives a signal from the rainfall amount detecting means, changes the set vehicle speed according to the rainfall amount when the rainfall amount is within a predetermined range, and cancels the constant speed traveling when the rainfall amount exceeds the predetermined range. That is, a change control unit is provided.

(Operation) The set vehicle speed selected by the driver is compared and calculated by the vehicle speed control means with the actual vehicle speed detected by the vehicle speed detection means, and the vehicle speed is set so that the vehicle maintains the set vehicle speed based on the calculation result. The control means controls the actuator to adjust the fuel supply amount to the engine, and the vehicle runs at a constant speed at the set vehicle speed. If there is rainfall in the meantime, the rainfall amount is detected by the rainfall amount detecting means, and based on the detected value, the set vehicle speed change control unit changes the set vehicle speed according to the rainfall amount when the rainfall amount is within the predetermined range, and the rainfall amount is set to the predetermined amount. When it exceeds the range, constant speed driving is canceled. Therefore, even if there is rainfall during constant-speed running, it is possible to expect safer running.

(Examples) Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on Examples.
The constant-speed traveling device for an automobile according to the present invention detects the amount of rainfall when there is rainfall during constant-speed traveling, reduces the set vehicle speed according to the degree, and further cancels constant-speed traveling. is there. As shown in FIG. 1, an actuator 1 for adjusting a fuel supply amount, a vehicle speed sensor as a vehicle speed detecting means 2, a rain amount sensor for detecting a rain amount as a rain amount detecting means 3 and the actuator 1 are controlled. Vehicle speed control means 4 for maintaining the vehicle speed at the set vehicle speed, and the vehicle speed control means 4 has a set vehicle speed change control section 5.

This constant speed traveling device is composed of a control system as shown in FIG. In the figure, a power supply circuit 14 guided from a power supply 12 via a main switch 11 via an ignition switch 13 is connected to a vehicle speed control means 4.
The vehicle speed control means 4 calculates the decrease amount of the set vehicle speed and releases the constant speed traveling control based on the rain detection signal from the rainfall sensor 3 such as a piezoelectric type as the rain detection means. It is provided with a change control unit 5 and is composed of a microcomputer. The microcomputer includes a central processing unit (not shown) for performing various calculations, a fixed storage member, and a random access memory for temporarily storing various data.

An accelerator switch 15 is provided on the input side of the vehicle speed control means 4.
a, a coast switch 15b, and a resume switch 16 are connected. The accelerator switch 15a
Is a constant speed running mode setting function for setting the vehicle speed at that time to the constant speed running as the set vehicle speed by turning on when the desired vehicle speed is reached when the vehicle speed is within the range of 40 to 100 km / h. In addition, if the switch is kept on during the constant speed traveling, the constant speed traveling is temporarily released and the speed increasing control is performed. When the switch is turned off, the constant speed traveling state is restored again. Further, the coast switch 15b is used when decelerating during traveling at a constant speed, and the vehicle speed during the ON operation decreases. In this way, the accelerator switch 15a and the coast switch 15b constitute a set vehicle speed change command means. On the other hand, when the constant speed running control is canceled due to a cause other than the turning off of the main switch 11, the resume switch 16 is turned on to restore the set vehicle speed before the cancellation.

On the input side of the vehicle speed control means 4, in addition to the above-mentioned switches, a clutch switch 17 and a brake switch 18 as constant speed travel canceling means for canceling the constant speed travel control are provided in parallel with the power supply circuit 14. The switches 17 and 18 are turned on when the clutch is disengaged and the brake is actuated to input a release signal to the vehicle speed control means 4. Further, a vehicle speed sensor 2 for detecting the actual vehicle speed and a rainfall sensor 3 for detecting the rainfall amount are connected to the input side of the vehicle speed control means 4. On the other hand, the output side of the vehicle speed control means 4 is connected to the drive circuit 19 of the actuator 1 which controls the fuel supply amount to the engine. In the vehicle speed control means 4, the switches 15a, 15 described above are provided.
Based on the signal from b or 16 and the vehicle speed sensor 2, a control signal is output to the drive circuit 19 to drive the actuator 1 to perform constant speed traveling control, speed increase control, deceleration control, or the like. Then, at the time of rainfall, the rainfall amount is detected by the rainfall amount sensor 3, the detection signal is input to the set vehicle speed change control unit 5 in the vehicle speed control means 4, and as shown in FIG. 4, according to a control program stored in advance. The decrease amount S of the set vehicle speed is calculated according to the rainfall amount and the current set vehicle speed, and the set vehicle speed is newly calculated.

Next, the operation of the vehicle constant speed traveling device of this embodiment will be described.

When the vehicle is traveling at a constant speed, in the flowchart shown in FIG. 3, when the vehicle is traveling at the set vehicle speed V at a constant speed (step 1, hereinafter referred to as S1), if there is rainfall, the amount of rainfall is detected. (S2). It is asked whether the detected rainfall amount is within a predetermined range. If it is within the predetermined range (S
3) As shown in FIG. 4, the set vehicle speed decrease amount S suitable for the rainfall amount is calculated (S4). The set vehicle speed V is reduced by the decrease amount S, and the vehicle runs at a constant speed at the vehicle speed V = VS (S5). If the amount of rainfall detected in step 3 exceeds the predetermined range, the constant speed traveling control is canceled (S
6) The driver is entrusted with the driving operation.

(Effects of the Invention) As can be seen from the above description of the embodiments, according to the present invention,
In the constant speed running control, when the amount of rain falls within a predetermined range, the set vehicle speed is changed according to the amount of rain, and when the amount of rain exceeds the predetermined range, the above constant speed running is released, so it is extremely safe to handle the amount of rain. It is possible to realize highly reliable traveling.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a vehicle constant-speed traveling device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a control system diagram in an embodiment, FIG. 3 is a flowchart during constant-speed traveling, and FIG. 4 is a current set vehicle speed and rainfall amount. It is a graph which shows the amount of reduction of the set vehicle speed. 1 ... Actuator, 6 ... Vehicle speed detecting means (vehicle speed sensor), 3 ... Rain amount detecting means (rain amount sensor), 4 ... Vehicle speed control means, 5 ... Set vehicle speed change control section.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An actuator for adjusting a fuel supply amount to an engine, a vehicle speed detecting means for detecting a vehicle speed, a rain amount detecting means for detecting a rainfall amount, and an actual vehicle speed detected by the vehicle speed detecting means. A vehicle speed control means for controlling the actuator so as to achieve a vehicle speed, the vehicle speed control means receiving a signal from the rainfall amount detecting means, and changing the set vehicle speed according to the rainfall amount when the rainfall amount is within a predetermined range. A constant-speed traveling device for an automobile, comprising: a set vehicle speed change control unit that cancels constant-speed traveling when the amount of rainfall exceeds a predetermined range.