JPH0740813A - Slope start auxiliary device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To give alarm for notification when a transmission gear is operated to a neutral position in the state that a brake pressure is held by a slope start auxiliary device. CONSTITUTION:When an output from a brake sensor 2 shows a braked condition and a vehicle speed is zero, a control signal to hold a brake pressure is transmitted to a control valve 9 and, when a select lever position shows a neutral position in the state that the control valve holds the brake output, an alarm 25 is given. Thus safety of an on-slope start auxiliary device is increased.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention is used by being installed in an automobile. The present invention relates to a driving assistance device. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a computer-aided driving assistance device that assists a brake pressure release operation when a vehicle starts from a state of being stopped on a slope.

[0002] The present invention is applied to an automobile in which a driver operates a clutch and a transmission gear with a clutch pedal and a select lever. It does not apply to so-called automatic vehicles that are operated manually.

[0003]

2. Description of the Related Art When a vehicle stopped on a slope road is started, the driver temporarily applies a braking force to the vehicle to apply a braking force to the vehicle, selects a shift gear as a start gear, and slowly engages the clutch to accelerate. It is necessary to depress the pedal to increase the output of the engine and to perform a complicated operation of loosening the parking brake. Although such an operation is a basic item for driving an automobile, the operation of a truck, a bus, or the like is greatly different depending on the load, and the engine is apt to stall or reverse.

As a device for assisting such a driving operation, there is known a slope starting assist device disclosed in JP-A-60-11719 or JP-A-4-244462. In addition, such a device has been put into practical use and equipped in an automobile for sale.
It has come to be widely used under the names such as d).

In the conventional hill start assisting device, when the brake pressure exceeds a certain value and the vehicle speed becomes zero, that is, when the vehicle stops after passing a running state (the vehicle may have a gradient in the running direction). If detected, the driver brakes
The brake pressure is automatically maintained even when the foot is released from the pedal. In this state, when the driver selects the select lever to the starting position, engages the clutch, and depresses the accelerator pedal, the device automatically detects it, and automatically at the most appropriate timing. It is configured to release brake pressure. In a vehicle equipped with such a slope start assist device, the driver can perform a slope start operation without operating the parking brake.

Even if there is no gradient in the traveling direction of the vehicle, if the brake pressure is maintained when the vehicle is stopped from the traveling state, the brake pressure is automatically maintained even when the vehicle is stopped such as waiting for a signal. Sometimes it's convenient, and it's used for that.

[0007] The hill start assisting device that is practically used is
After the brake pressure is automatically maintained, the parking
When the brake is applied, the brake pressure is automatically released. That is, when the driving operation is completed and the vehicle is stopped, the temporary holding state of the brake pressure is released so that the temporary holding state of the brake pressure is not used in place of the parking brake. In addition, when the driver tries to leave the seat while the brake pressure is automatically maintained, a safety device such as issuing a large alarm is added.

[0008]

In such a slope start assist device, the shift gear is operated to the start position or the reverse position when the brake pressure is automatically maintained in the normal use state. is there. If the transmission gear is in the neutral position while the brake pressure is automatically maintained, the driver may leave the driver's seat while maintaining the brake pressure on the slope start assist device.

The present invention has been made against such a background, and an object of the present invention is to provide a slope start assisting device capable of warning the driver that it is being used incorrectly. An object of the present invention is to improve the safety of a slope start assist device.

[0010]

The present invention is characterized in that when the speed change gear is operated to the neutral position while the brake pressure is maintained by the slope start assist device, an alarm is issued to the driver's seat. To do. The alarm is an audible alarm and / or an optical alarm.

It is also possible to suppress the alarm output until a few seconds elapse after the transmission gear is operated to the neutral position.

That is, the present invention comprises a brake sensor, a clutch sensor, a rotation sensor, a neutral switch indicating the neutral position of a shift lever, and a gradient sensor, and the control signal is provided even when the brake pedal is released. According to the above, a control valve that holds the brake pressure, and a program control circuit that outputs the control signal by using the output of each sensor as an input, and the program control circuit,
When the brake sensor output indicates braking and the vehicle speed is zero, in a slope start assist device including control means for sending a control signal for holding the brake pressure to the control valve, It is characterized in that it is provided with means for issuing an alarm when the select lever position indicates the neutral position while the brake pressure is being maintained. Here, the rotation sensor is a sensor that detects the vehicle speed and / or the engine rotation speed.

[0013]

It is not the correct way to use the hill start assisting device to hold the brake pressure by the hill start assisting device and then operate the transmission gear to the neutral position. At this time, the hill start assist device may be used for operations other than hill start, which may be dangerous. Therefore, the device of the present invention issues an alarm in this state to call the driver's attention.

It is troublesome that the alarm is immediately issued even when the neutral position is once reached while the driver is operating the gear shift lever. Therefore, in order to avoid this, the alarm is issued after a margin of several seconds from the detection of the neutral position. You can also do so.

[0015]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the embodiment of the present invention.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the clutch hydraulic switch 1 is used.
, A brake sensor 2, a clutch sensor 3, a rotation sensor 5 for detecting a vehicle speed and / or an engine rotation speed, and a neutral position indicating a neutral position of a speed change lever.
A control valve 9 including a switch 6 and a gradient sensor 7 for holding a brake pressure according to a control signal even when the brake pedal 11 is released, and a program control for outputting the control signal by using the output of each sensor as an input. The program control circuit 10 sends a control signal for holding the brake pressure to the control valve 9 when the output of the brake sensor 2 indicates a braking state and the vehicle speed is zero. As a feature of the present invention, a control unit is provided, and a unit for issuing an alarm to the alarm device 25 when the select lever position indicates the neutral position while the control valve 9 holds the brake pressure is provided. The alarm device 25 is provided with an alarm buzzer 25a for generating an audible alarm and an alarm lamp 25b for generating an optical alarm.

In the driver's seat, a control unit 20 is provided at a position where the driver can operate while driving. The control unit 20 is provided with a main switch 21, a 7-segment display 22, a release adjustment switch 23, and an initial adjustment switch 24.

The main switch 21 is for opening and closing the power supply to the apparatus. In this example, if the switch knob is raised, it is closed to drive the apparatus, and if it is lowered, it is stopped. 7-segment display 22 is the decimal point 2
It is a 7-segment numeral display with 5, and the numeral is displayed during the adjustment process.

The brake release point is adjusted as follows. The driver presses the initial adjustment switch 24 for several seconds, and the program control circuit 10 enters the initial adjustment mode.
The driver keeps pressing the initial adjustment switch 24,
When you press the clutch pedal, the clutch hydraulic switch 1
When is activated, the detection value of the clutch sensor 3 at that time is fetched and stored. The driver operates the shift lever to set the shift gear. Then, the neutral switch 6 detects this. In this state, the driver slowly releases the clutch pedal and releases the initial adjustment switch 24 at the optimum half-clutch position. The position of the half clutch where the hand is released is stored as the release point. An operation test is performed in this state, and the position of the release point is changed by operating the release adjustment switch 23. That is, if it is considered that the release point should be at a position where the clutch pedal is further depressed, the release adjustment switch 23 is pushed upward once. If it is considered that the release point should be at the position where the clutch pedal is returned, the release adjusting switch 23 is pushed once downward. This operation is repeated while conducting an operation test. The adjustment step from the initial value at this time is displayed on the 7-segment display 22. When the adjustment step is downward (minus direction), the decimal point 25 of the 7-segment display 22 is turned on.

The program control circuit 10 receives outputs from the clutch hydraulic pressure switch, stop lamp switch, back switch, door switch, parking brake switch, key switch, etc. in addition to the outputs from the aforementioned sensors. Since these outputs are not directly related to the present invention, description and description thereof in the drawings are omitted here.

Next, the operation of the embodiment of the present invention thus constructed will be described. FIG. 2 is a flow chart showing the flow of the brake holding operation of the program control circuit in the embodiment of the present invention.

The program control circuit 10 takes in the output from the brake sensor 2 and determines whether or not the value of the preset depression amount is exceeded. If it does not exceed the set value, it means that the vehicle is not stopped by braking, and therefore the sending of the control signal to the control valve 9 is prohibited and the assisting operation for starting the slope is stopped. If it exceeds the set value, the output from the rotation sensor 5 is taken in and it is determined whether or not the vehicle speed is zero. If the vehicle speed is not zero, the vehicle is running, so the sending of the control signal to the control valve 9 is prohibited and the auxiliary operation for starting the slope is stopped.

When the vehicle speed is zero, the output from the gradient sensor 7 is taken in and it is determined whether or not the current gradient exceeds the set predetermined value S. If the slope exceeds the predetermined value S, it is determined that the vehicle is on a road where the ability to start the slope is not reached, and the control signal is not sent to the control valve 9 to stop the auxiliary operation. If it does not exceed the predetermined value S, the control signal is sent to the control valve 9 assuming that the vehicle is on a road capable of starting uphill, and the control valve 9 is driven to operate the brake valve 12 to execute the auxiliary operation for starting uphill. .

Next, the brake releasing operation will be described. FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing the flow of the brake release operation of the program control circuit in the embodiment of the present invention.

When the vehicle is in the brake holding state on a slope, the outputs from the clutch sensor 3 and the neutral switch 6 are taken in and the clutch is depressed to move the gear to the forward start position (low or second) or reverse position. It is determined whether it has been set.

When the clutch is stepped on and the gear is set to the starting state, it is determined from the output of the clutch sensor 3 whether or not the stroke is equal to or less than a predetermined stroke. When the stroke is equal to or less than the predetermined stroke, it is assumed that the vehicle is started, and the sending of the control signal to the control valve 9 is prohibited and the brake is released. When the gear is not set to the start state or the amount of depression of the clutch is equal to or greater than the predetermined stroke, the control signal is continuously sent to the control valve 9 to maintain the brake holding state. When the brake pressure is maintained by the control valve 9, it is determined whether the select lever position is in the neutral position. That is, the fact that the gear is in neutral when the hill start assisting operation is being performed is a contradiction of the driving operation such as the driver trying to leave the seat. Therefore, when the gear is in the neutral position, the alarm device 25 is operated. A warning signal is sent to the alarm buzzer 25a, an audible alarm is generated from the warning buzzer 25a, and the warning lamp 25b is turned on to notify the driver of the abnormal condition.

Initial setting of the clutch and the brake can be arbitrarily performed by adapting to the preference of the driver or a change due to wear of the brake and the clutch. The set stroke values of the clutch pedal and the brake pedal 11 are held until they are reset. If each stepping stroke does not exceed the set reference value, the program control circuit 10 prohibits the sending of a control signal to the control valve 9 to stop the starting assist operation, and each stepping stroke is set. If it exceeds the reference value, the start assist operation is continued. When the main switch 21 is turned off, the power supply to the device is stopped and the starting assist operation is not performed.

[0028]

As described above, according to the present invention, when the shift gear is operated to the neutral position while the brake pressure is maintained by the slope start assist device, an alarm is generated to notify the driver. To do. That is, there is an effect that the driver is warned of an erroneous operation of driving and the safety of the slope starting assist device can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a flow of a brake holding operation of a program control circuit in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a flow of a brake release operation of the program control circuit in the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Clutch hydraulic switch 2 Brake sensor 3 Clutch sensor 5 Rotation sensor 6 Neutral switch 7 Gradient sensor 9 Control valve 10 Program control circuit 11 Brake pedal 12 Brake valve 20 Control unit 21 Main switch 22 7-segment display 23 Release adjustment Switch 24 Initial adjustment switch 25 Alarm device 25a Alarm buzzer 25b Alarm lamp 26 Decimal point

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A brake sensor, a clutch sensor, a rotation sensor, a neutral switch indicating a neutral position of a shift lever, and a gradient sensor, the brake pressure according to a control signal even when the brake pedal is released. And a program control circuit that receives the output of each sensor as an input and sends out the control signal. This program control circuit is provided when the brake sensor output indicates a braking state and the vehicle speed is zero. In the slope starting assist device provided with a control means for sending a control signal for holding the brake pressure to the control valve, in the state where the control valve holds the brake pressure, the select lever position is An apparatus for starting up a slope, comprising means for issuing an alarm when indicating a neutral position.