JPH06289887A - Engine sound generating device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To hear a desired engine sound by generating an optional engine sound different from the engine sound that the vehicle has in its cabin corresponding to a rotating speed range associated with driver's acceleration operation. CONSTITUTION:This engine sound generating device consists of a power part activity state output part 1 which outputs a signal corresponding to the activity of the power part of the vehicle, an arithmetic processing part 2 which outputs an activity state indication signal corresponding to the activity state on the basis of the output signal, a memory part 7 which stores sound data for generating an engine sound corresponding to the activity state of the power part of the vehicle, and a sound signal generation part 8 which generates sound data read out of the memory part 7 as a sound signal according to the activity state indication signal from the arithmetic processing part 3.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an engine sound producing apparatus which is utilized especially in a vehicle compartment and produces a desired engine sound according to the operating state of the power section of the vehicle and enables sound production.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, the engine sound of a vehicle has a tone color peculiar to the vehicle type of each vehicle, which is especially due to the explosion sound of an internal combustion engine. On the other hand, there is a strong possibility that these engine sounds will become noise,
On the other hand, it is also true that the engine sound gives a sense of exhilaration, and in some cases the muffler of the vehicle may be modified to change the timbre.

Further, especially among young people and enthusiasts, there is an interest in the peculiar engine sound of sports cars and foreign cars with large horsepower, or that of luxury cars. Often asked for a simulated experience at amusement.

Further, due to energy problems and air pollution problems, electric vehicles have recently attracted attention in place of engine-powered vehicles using internal combustion engines that use gasoline as a fuel, and a quiet electric noise generated by a motor is produced. It is impossible to hear the engine sound.

[0005]

Under the circumstances as described above, there is a strong tendency to seek a traditional engine sound, and it causes noise pollution to the surroundings due to the result of crafting the muffler of the own vehicle. Also becomes. In particular, the act of seeking the engine sound of such vehicles, even when luxury vehicles are not available, becomes more and more intense with the transition to electric vehicles.

Further, the quietness of the interior of the vehicle due to the high performance of the vehicle is preferable for those who desire it, but it is becoming less interesting for those who want a feeling of driving by the engine sound. It is also a heavy burden on the vehicle production side to have a vehicle type that meets each of these requirements.

[0007] Therefore, the present invention does not provide an engine sound generating device which can listen to the traditional engine sound, which is found in, for example, a high-class passenger car or a sports car, in the passenger compartment in addition to the engine sound of the own vehicle. It is what

[0008]

[Means for Solving the Problems] A power section operating state output section for outputting a signal corresponding to the operation of a power section of a vehicle, and an output signal from the power section operating state output section are detected, and in response to this state. An arithmetic processing unit that arithmetically outputs an operating state instruction signal, a memory unit that stores audio data for generating an audio signal that produces a desired engine sound of the vehicle and exhibits a tone color change corresponding to the operating state of the power unit, An engine sound generation device is configured by a sound signal generation unit that generates sound data read out from the memory unit as a sound signal based on an operation state instruction signal from the arithmetic processing unit.

The voice data includes pseudo engine sounds, such as raw engine sounds converted into recorded data, and processed as frequency data approximated in advance using a sine wave. The voice data is frequency-modulated. It is configured to cover a wide band with less memory by playing back and playing it, and equipped with an attachment electrode body that extracts the engine ignition noise signal from the cigarette lighter of the vehicle as a power section operating state output section, to the cassette mounting section of the car audio equipment The cassette adapter described above is configured to reproduce and sound a voice signal.

[0010]

Operation: For example, by attaching an attachment electrode body to a cigarette lighter, a voltage signal containing engine ignition noise is taken in, and the engine speed is detected based on an operation state output signal proportional to the engine speed that has been waveform shaped. Based on the audio data corresponding to the operating state instruction signal based on the read out from the memory unit, the audio signal generation unit generates an audio signal to be uttered by a speaker such as a car audio device, so that a desired engine sound corresponding to the engine speed is generated. You can easily listen in the car.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 shows the most basic simplified block diagram of an engine sound generating apparatus according to the present invention. A power unit operating state output unit 1 outputs an ignition pulse signal from an engine ignition system, for example. Ignition circuit 1A for output, pickup sensor 1B arranged in engine gear, attachment electrode 1C that can be attached to a cigarette lighter of a vehicle to extract engine ignition noise, and output a signal corresponding to the engine speed by the engine throttle opening A possible valve opening sensor 1D or an output corresponding to the rotational operating state of an engine or a motor which is a power unit of a vehicle such as a motor rotation sensor 1E which outputs a signal corresponding to a motor rotation speed which is a power unit of an electric vehicle. It is composed of those that can obtain a signal.

Here, the structure using the attachment electrode body 1C will be described. A voltage signal on which the ignition noise of the engine is superimposed is output to the electrode of the cigarette lighter, and this voltage is applied to the attachment electrode body 1C. The signal is provided by an electrical connection. Since high-frequency noise is superimposed on this voltage signal in addition to engine ignition noise (a signal corresponding to the engine speed), the electric signal obtained from the attachment electrode body 1C passes through the signal filter circuit 2 and the ignition noise component is It is taken out as a rotation speed signal.

For example, the signal filter circuit 2 can have a filter function of deciding a signal having a width (narrow width) that is impossible as a pulse of engine rotation as noise and ignoring the signal edge. .
This filter function can also be provided by the arithmetic processing unit 3 such as a microcomputer to be described later. For example, in the case of a 4-cycle 4-cylinder engine, the engine ignition period at 15000 rpm (maximum speed) is 2 msec. It is possible to count only the engine speed component signal by determining that a signal below that is an impossible noise signal and ignoring the pulse edge that is the target of count processing by measuring the pulse period when such a signal is input.

Further, as the above-mentioned noise removing method,
Only the pulse signal is passed through the signal filter circuit 2, and the correct characteristic of the engine ignition signal change is stored in the arithmetic processing unit 3 so that the characteristic of the actually input pulse signal (pulse width, pulse degree direction, When the variation amount) deviates from the storage characteristic, it is possible to judge that it is noise and input only the pulse signal satisfying the characteristic as the engine ignition corresponding signal.

The voltage signal including the engine ignition noise signal supplied by the attachment electrode body 1C corresponds to the engine speed through the signal filter circuit 2 as described above or by the input stage determination process in the arithmetic processing unit 3. It is input as a pulse signal. In the engine speed detection in the arithmetic processing unit 3, the counter 4 counts the clock signal from the high-frequency clock signal generating unit 5 for each input pulse signal cycle, and the arithmetic unit 6 calculates each input pulse signal based on this count value. The engine speed is obtained by calculation from the pulse cycle.

The arithmetic unit 6 outputs a predetermined memory address designating signal corresponding to the rotation speed data thus obtained, and reads the designated address storage data of the memory unit (ROM) 7 storing the voice data. The setting of the address designation signal in the arithmetic unit 6 corresponds to the memory address of the voice data stored in the memory unit 7, and the voice data stored in the memory unit 7 changes the engine speed when reproduced as a voice signal. The address capacity is set according to how smoothly the address is changed.

In the present embodiment, the raw engine sound of a high-class sports car is microphone-recorded as the voice data stored in the memory section 7, and the recorded data is subdivided for each rotation speed band by a predetermined resolution and digitized. . That is, the signal shown in FIG. 2 in which the engine speed of a high-class sports car is gradually increased from the idling operation to the accelerator operation to increase the engine speed to the maximum engine speed in actual driving, and the engine sound change accompanying the engine speed increase is recorded as an analog frequency signal. Record as A.

The analog frequency signal thus recorded is
For example, it is divided every several tens of msec, and the divided blocks are allocated and stored in the memory blocks of the memory unit 7. A sampling cycle for sampling and digitizing the analog frequency signal A is set at a finer frequency, for example, a 32 KHz signal cycle for each division unit of several tens of msec.

As shown in FIG. 3, the memory area of the memory unit 7 is divided into memory blocks 7A, 7A corresponding to the division units.
Each memory block 7 is divided into B and 7C configurations.
7A001, 7A002, 7A for storing sampling data for each shorter period such as the 32 KHz signal
An address such as 003 is set, and the analog frequency signal is stored at this address as voice data obtained by sampling and digital conversion.

The voice data stored in the memory unit 7 is read from the memory block of the division unit portion corresponding to the input rotation speed in the arithmetic processing unit 3, and divided by combining the voice data stored at each address in the memory block. It is output to the audio signal generation unit 8 to be reproduced as a frequency characteristic signal of a unit portion.

For example, the memory block 7A of the memory unit 7
The audio data stored in each address of the memory block 7A is stored as the subdivided digital data of the analog frequency signal characteristic of the corresponding division unit portion of FIG. Data can be easily reproduced into an analog frequency signal similar to that shown in FIG. 2 by sequentially performing D / A conversion at a conversion cycle similar to the sampling cycle.

The voice signal thus generated by the voice signal generating unit 8 can be uttered by the sounding body 10 such as a speaker through the amplifier 9, and the input signal to the arithmetic processing unit 3 is at a constant rotation speed. 2 can be uttered as a reproduction signal of the division unit portion shown in FIG. 2 having a frequency corresponding to the number of revolutions, and the arithmetic processing unit 3 responds by changing the frequency (number of revolutions) of the input signal. The address signal (operating state instruction signal) of the divided unit portion is output to the memory unit 7, and the raw data corresponding to the frequency band (rotation speed) of the input signal is read by reading the voice data from the corresponding memory block and generating the voice signal. A timbre change very close to the engine sound can be generated.

By storing the desired engine sound in the memory unit 7 in advance by the basic configuration described above, the engine sound can be easily reproduced, but more smoothly with respect to the change of the input signal. Another embodiment for uttering an engine sound or obtaining an engine sound close to reality and for reducing the capacity of the memory unit 7 will be described below.

FIG. 4 shows a configuration in which the memory section 7 has a smaller capacity so that engine sound can be reproduced.
As shown in, the capacity is extremely large for dividing and storing in the same memory block system for all bands of the engine speed. Since it has to be divided at intervals, it is extremely expensive in terms of capacity. Therefore, it is possible to store comparatively coarse band data and perform frequency modulation processing on the playback frequency based on this stored data and output it. is there.

That is, in the figure, in the memory unit 7, for example, the entire engine speed band is divided into a plurality of parts, and the raw engine sound is recorded and digitized and stored in advance at the center speed within each divided band. Then, based on the stored data, frequency modulation is performed by the actual engine speed and reproduction is performed.

Specifically, engine speed 600 rpm, 2000
A raw engine sound of a vehicle at rpm, 3500 rpm is recorded by a microphone by, for example, an exhaust sound, digital voice data based on the specific rotation speed is stored in the memory unit 7, and an actual input engine rotation speed is obtained by the arithmetic processing unit 3. The specific rotation speed output read from the memory portion 7 by the rotation speed calculation output is modulated by the frequency modulation portion 11, and this modulated signal is reproduced by the audio signal generation portion 8.

In the frequency modulation section 11, the frequency from the memory section 7
The voice data corresponding to 0 rpm is frequency-modulated from 600 to 2000 rpm by the rotation speed calculation output from the calculation processing unit 3, and the voice data of 2000 rpm of the memory unit 7 is
Frequency modulation to 1900 to 3500 rpm is performed, and in the band where the actual engine speed is 3400 rpm or more, 3500 rpm of the memory unit 7
The audio data is frequency-modulated and reproduced. Therefore, the storage capacity of the memory unit 7 can be significantly reduced as compared with the case where audio data is stored in fine division units over the entire band as shown in FIG. However, the number of read cycles from the memory unit 7 is small and the response is improved due to continuous frequency modulation.

As described above, since the voice data corresponding to a plurality of central rotation speeds is stored in all the engine rotation speed bands and the frequency modulation is performed on the sound data, the heterogeneous sound from the low rotation speed region to the high rotation speed region is obtained. Since the sound can be reproduced for each band of the sound range based on the basic sound data, it is possible to reduce the storage capacity of the memory unit 7 and reproduce the sound close to the raw engine sound.

As the voice data explained so far, the one in which the engine sound of the vehicle is actually recorded by a microphone and digitized and stored is used, but in addition to the one that reproduces such a raw engine sound more faithfully, It is also possible to reproduce the pseudo engine sound by frequency-analyzing such raw engine sound in advance and preparing multiple sine waves of multiple frequencies to synthesize them. In the sound system, it is also possible to reproduce any sound that is different from the engine sound of an actual vehicle, for example, to reproduce a sound imitating a jet engine sound as a pseudo engine sound that changes according to the engine speed input. Is possible.

For example, the wavelength (msec) is 66.668, 3
A plurality of sine wave data of 3.334, 22.222, 16.667, 11.111, 8.335 are stored in the memory unit 7, and the arithmetic processing unit 3
It is possible to reproduce the pseudo engine sound by selectively synthesizing the sine wave data of each wavelength with the actual engine speed calculation output obtained in step 1 or by performing frequency modulation as described above. Compared with the method of reading and synthesizing the divided data corresponding to the number of rotations, there is an advantage that the change of the reproduced sound with respect to the increase / decrease can be continuously obtained.

Further, as described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3,
While changing the rotation speed of the raw engine sound and recording with a microphone, this is digitized and stored as voice data in the memory unit 7.
In the case of storing in a real time, the actual engine speed control causes a large variation in the density of voice data when a rapid change or a relatively slow change occurs with time, and only a single change data is generated. Then, the reproduced sound becomes monotonous.

For example, even when the rotation speed is increased, the change sound is greatly different between the case of sudden acceleration and the case of silently increasing the speed, or the change in rotation speed is greatly controlled by the accelerator operation when the rotation speed is increased. On the other hand, when the engine speed decreases, the engine sound also changes depending on the actual driving situation in which the normal operation does not change as rapidly as when the engine speed increases.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, the voice data in a plurality of change patterns are stored in correspondence with the difference in the change rate of the rotational speed with respect to time, and the change rate of the actual engine rotational speed input is stored. The corresponding change pattern data is selected and reproduced.

In the figure, the memory unit 7 is divided into three ROMs 7.
It is composed of 1, 72 and 73, and the ROM 71 stores the voice data digitized by recording the raw engine sound when the engine is slowly rotated and raised by the same sampling method as shown in FIG. Similarly, the ROM 72 stores voice data when the rotation speed rapidly increases, and
In 73, the voice data corresponding to the engine sound when the engine is once raised to the maximum rotation range and then naturally descended by opening the accelerator is stored.

The storage format in each ROM may be the same as that shown in FIG. 3, and the actual engine speed is arithmetically output by the arithmetic processing unit 3 and the change rate thereof is arithmetically output at the same time, and the increase thereof is performed. , The corresponding ROM of the memory unit 7 is selected by the identification output including the descending, and the audio data of the corresponding memory block of the selected ROM is read by the rotational speed calculation output and reproduced by the audio signal generation unit 8. To be done.

Therefore, a more realistic engine sound can be reproduced, and an engine sound exhibiting a voice change similar to the operation feeling of the driver who performs the accelerator control can be obtained. In addition, in order to approximate the engine sound that corresponds to the actual driving situation, it is sufficient to memorize the engine sound variously according to such a situation, attach the microphone to the muffler and fix it, and actually drive on the highway. Record all engine sound changes,
It becomes possible by storing and reproducing as digitized voice data.

As a method of storing the voice data in the memory unit 7, sufficient engine sound generation can be obtained by storing specific voice data in advance when the whole apparatus is manufactured. , Engine voice data is stored in a separate recording medium such as an IC card, and is optionally mounted in the memory unit 7 or mounted in a separate reading device, and data is stored in the memory unit 7 for transfer and storage. You can also

With this configuration, for example, an IC card in which various engine sounds are stored is prepared in advance, and a desired engine sound is designated from the stored contents and transferred to the memory unit 7 for storage. , Or multiple ICs
I memorize and prepare different engine sounds on the card.
It is possible to transfer and store desired engine sound data by replacing the C card or the like, and it is possible to arbitrarily generate an engine sound according to the mood and running environment of the driver of the day.

FIG. 6 shows a typical apparatus structure when the system configuration of the present invention described so far is actually applied to a vehicle. In the figure, reference numeral 12 is an attachment electrode body which is attached to a cigarette lighter of a vehicle and which is connected to its electrode to take out an engine ignition noise signal corresponding to the engine speed, which corresponds to 1C in FIG.

The attachment electrode body 12 is connected to the engine sound generator 13 by a cord, and the engine ignition noise signal from the cigarette lighter is input through a filter or the like, or after noise generation processing is performed on the generator 13 side. It is calculated by the rotation speed signal.

The engine sound generator 13 is configured to include processing circuit units such as the arithmetic processing unit 3, the memory unit 7 and the audio signal generation unit 8 shown in FIG. 1, and the IC card 14 as described above is mounted, for example. In addition to the IC card slot 15 that can be used, a switch section 16 for selecting a voice type and a display section 17 for displaying the selection contents thereof are provided.

The engine sound generator 13 configured as above
Outputs an analog-converted audio signal, and a cassette adapter 18 outputs an engine sound using a vehicle audio device via a cord.

The cassette adapter 18 has a structure which is structurally settable in a cassette tape mounting portion of an audio device, and is adapted to be in contact with its reading head to transfer an audio signal to a reproducing portion of the audio device. It can be configured with a structure, and it is not necessary to specially prepare other reproducing amplifiers and speakers in many situations in which the vehicle is used, which is advantageous in terms of vehicle interior space and has a high utility value.

The specific structure of such an apparatus can be variously configured by a structure in which the engine sound generator 13 is provided with a dedicated small speaker together with a detection unit for obtaining the actual engine speed and motor speed. Therefore, the design can be freely selected according to the usage.

Further, as the detection of the engine speed, in addition to the one using the noise signal from the cigarette lighter as described above, various detection methods shown in FIG. 1 are possible, and more accurate speed corresponding to each of them is possible. For detection, the audio data time length in units of division shown in FIG. 2 is set to the reciprocal of the lowest frequency as audible audio included in the data so that low-frequency audio is also reliably reproduced. It is possible to reproduce a more faithful engine sound by performing various compensation processes such as, and to design the product according to the content of the reproduced sound required, and to add variations to its commercial characteristics. It will be possible.

[0046]

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY As described above, the present invention can be easily used in the passenger compartment of a vehicle and differs from the engine sound of the own vehicle on the basis of the signal input proportional to the engine speed from a cigarette lighter or the like. Since it is possible to generate and utter a desired engine sound with a change corresponding to the engine speed,
For example, engine sounds of high-end passenger cars and expensive sports cars are digitized by microphone recording etc. in advance and stored as voice data, so that the engine sounds of the sports cars etc. linked to the accelerator operation of the own vehicle engine are produced. It is also possible to eliminate the monotonousness of driving, and it can be used as an alternative means in terms of increasing the noise of the own vehicle engine by tuning up the muffler etc. and making it a noise, and driving with a sense of play It is possible to contribute to the improvement of the driving environment of the driver.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a circuit block diagram of a representative embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an engine sound voltage waveform diagram showing audio data sampling of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of an audio data storage area of a memory unit that constitutes the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a circuit block diagram of a main part showing another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a circuit block diagram of a main part showing still another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a structural diagram showing an example of a device structure configured as a specific structure of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 power unit operating state output unit 3 arithmetic processing unit 4 counter 5 clock signal generation unit 6 arithmetic unit 7 memory unit 8 audio signal generation unit 9 amplifier 10 sounding body 11 frequency modulation unit 12 attachment electrode body 13 engine sound generator 14 IC card 15 IC card slot 17 Display 18 Cassette adapter

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Ryuji Igarashi 1-1190, Fujihashi, Nagaoka City, Niigata Prefecture 1 R & D Center, Nippon Seiki Co., Ltd. (72) Katsuji Sakai 1 Fujihashi, Nagaoka City, Niigata Prefecture 190-chome 1 Nihon Seiki Co., Ltd. in R & D Center (72) Inventor Koichi Katori 2069 Hanamachi, Niigata City, Niigata Prefecture Nihon Seiki Co., Ltd. Niigata Technical Center (72) Inventor Nobuyoshi Yoshikawa Niigata 2069 Hanamachi, Niigata City, Japan Niigata Technical Center, Nippon Seiki Co., Ltd.

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A power unit operating state output unit that outputs a signal that changes in response to the operation of a power unit of a vehicle, and an operating state of the power unit is detected based on an output signal from the power unit operating state output unit. Then, an arithmetic processing unit that arithmetically outputs an operating state instruction signal according to this state, and voice data for generating a voice signal that produces a desired engine sound of the vehicle and exhibits a tone color change corresponding to the operating state of the power unit. A memory unit that stores
An engine sound generation device including a sound signal generation unit that generates, as a sound signal, sound data read from the memory unit based on an operation state instruction signal from the arithmetic processing unit. 2. The engine voice data stored in the memory unit is obtained by recording raw engine sound of a vehicle and converting the data, or pseudo engine sound generation data that can be generated in a pseudo manner by combining predetermined electric signals. The engine sound generation device according to claim 1, wherein 3. The engine voice data stored in the memory unit is a plurality of sine wave signal data of different frequencies, and the voice signal generation unit is configured to output a predetermined plurality of signatures based on an operating state instruction signal from the arithmetic processing unit. The engine sound generating device according to claim 1, wherein the wave signal data is synthesized to generate a sound signal. 4. The memory unit is divided into a plurality of areas, the voice data corresponding to each operating area obtained by dividing the operating state of the power unit into a plurality of areas is stored, and the arithmetic processing corresponding to each operating area is stored. 2. The engine sound generating apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a voice data modulator that frequency-modulates the voice data read based on the operating state instruction signal from the unit according to the operating state instruction signal. . 5. The power unit operating state output unit is an attachment electrode body configured to be attachable to a cigarette lighter of a vehicle and capable of outputting an engine ignition noise signal superimposed on a cigarette lighter electrode. Item 1. The engine sound generation device according to item 1. 6. The engine sound generating apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a sounding unit that generates an engine sound based on the sound signal via a driving unit such as an amplifier at an output of the sound signal generating unit. 7. A cassette adapter, which is connected to the audio signal generation unit and is attachable to a cassette mounting portion of an audio device mounted on a vehicle, is provided with a voice signal to a sounding body of the audio device via the cassette mounting portion. The engine sound generating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the engine sound generating apparatus is reproducible. 8. A recording medium such as an IC card for storing the voice data is provided, and a mounting portion capable of mounting the recording medium is provided in an engine sound generator including the arithmetic processing unit and the memory unit, and the recording is performed. The engine sound generating device according to claim 1, wherein the sound data generated by mounting the medium on the mounting portion is changeable.