JPH08310269A - Autocruise device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To prevent rapid acceleration/deceleration by calculating acceleration from output information of a car speed sensor, and outputting control information with the acceleration in a preset range, in the case of outputting the control information of adjusting a car speed so as to obtain an intervehicle distance in the prescribed value or more. CONSTITUTION: In a program control circuit 3, when autocruise control is set, a vehicle is made to run at a fixed speed. A detection value from an intervehicle distance sensor 1 is input, to confirm whether the detection value exceeds a lower limit value or not. In the case that the detection value is the lower limit value or less, by excessively approaching a leading vehicle, an alarm is generated to execute automatic decelerating control, so as to return to a process of fetching an intervehicle distance. On the other hand, when the detection value exceeds the lower limit value, the alarm is released, and a detection value from a car speed sensor 2 is input, to calculate acceleration for the detection value. As a result, when the calculated acceleration is a lower limit value or less, a control valve 4 is controlled to increase an injection amount of fuel supplied to an internal combustion engine.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention is used as a device for automatically controlling the traveling speed of an automobile. TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an improvement of an automatic cruise device that performs inter-vehicle distance control.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional standard auto cruise device, when a driver inputs an operation input for maintaining the current speed while driving, an automatic control mode of constant speed control is set and a vehicle speed sensor is set. The fuel flow rate to be supplied to the internal combustion engine is automatically adjusted so that the vehicle speed maintains the current speed according to the output information of. The automatic control mode is released by the driver performing a predetermined operation input such as a brake operation.

On the other hand, there is known an automatic cruise device for controlling an inter-vehicle distance. It has an inter-vehicle distance sensor,
The fuel flow rate of the internal combustion engine, the service brake, the exhaust brake, etc. are controlled so that the inter-vehicle distance does not fall below a predetermined value from the output of the inter-vehicle distance sensor. In practice, such inter-vehicle distance control is often set in addition to the automatic control mode of constant speed control as described above.

Therefore, the present invention is applied to an apparatus for controlling an inter-vehicle distance, and is also useful when an apparatus for performing an inter-vehicle distance control is installed together with an apparatus for performing constant speed control or another apparatus.

[0005]

The inventor of the present application has conducted repeated tests on the inter-vehicle distance control. As a result, the inter-vehicle distance with the vehicle traveling in front approaches, and when the inter-vehicle distance becomes an alarm state, sudden deceleration is performed. Also, when the inter-vehicle distance becomes large, such as when the vehicle traveling in front changes the traveling lane, sudden acceleration is performed and the person in the vehicle experiences discomfort. This can be adjusted by adjusting the control of deceleration or acceleration so that sudden deceleration or sudden acceleration that makes a person in a car uncomfortable does not occur. Alternatively, the adjustment standard of the fuel flow rate varies depending on the position of the transmission when acceleration is performed, and therefore the control becomes considerably complicated if only the program control of the fuel is performed.

The present invention has been made against such a background, and an object of the present invention is to provide a device for adjusting so that deceleration or acceleration performed when performing inter-vehicle distance control is not abrupt. The present invention provides a device capable of smoothly decelerating and accelerating when the inter-vehicle distance from a vehicle traveling in front becomes small, or when the vehicle traveling in front suddenly disappears. The purpose is to It is an object of the present invention to provide an inter-vehicle distance control device that can eliminate passenger discomfort.

[0007]

The present invention is characterized in that deceleration or acceleration performed when performing inter-vehicle distance control can be adjusted so as not to become abrupt.

That is, the present invention includes an inter-vehicle distance sensor,
In an auto-cruise device including a vehicle speed sensor and a program control circuit that receives the outputs of these two sensors and outputs control information that adjusts the vehicle speed so that the inter-vehicle distance becomes a predetermined distance or more, the control circuit includes the vehicle speed sensor. And means for calculating the acceleration information from the output information, and means for outputting the control information so that the acceleration falls within a preset range (α _L <dv / dt <α _H ). To do.

The control information is information on the opening degree of a control valve provided in a passage for supplying fuel to the internal combustion engine, includes transmission switching information, and the acceleration exceeds an upper limit value (α _H ). If so, it is desirable to include control information for the exhaust brake and / or service brake.

[0010]

Operation: When the outputs of the inter-vehicle distance sensor and the vehicle speed sensor are taken in and the vehicle speed is adjusted so that the inter-vehicle distance becomes a predetermined value or more, the acceleration information (dv / dt) is calculated from the output information (v) of the vehicle speed sensor. , This acceleration information (dv / d
t) is a preset range (α _L <dv / dt <
The control information is output so that α _H ). Based on this control information, when the acceleration information is a value below the lower limit (α _L ) of the predetermined value, the fuel supply is increased and the upper limit (α _L ) of the predetermined value is increased.
If it exceeds _H ), reduce the fuel supply.

The control information includes opening information of a control valve provided in a passage for supplying fuel to the internal combustion engine and transmission switching information, and controls to keep the relative acceleration constant during acceleration / deceleration. To do.

Further, since the control information relating to the exhaust brake and / or the service brake is included, the exhaust brake, even if the driver's operation is not performed, when the approaching vehicle is informed by the inter-vehicle distance sensor, The service brake automatically performs deceleration control operation.

Thus, it is possible to make adjustment so that deceleration or acceleration that is performed when performing inter-vehicle distance control is not performed rapidly. That is, when the inter-vehicle distance with the vehicle traveling in front becomes small, or when the vehicle traveling in front changes the lane and suddenly disappears, it is possible to smoothly perform deceleration and acceleration, The passengers and passengers can be prevented from feeling uncomfortable.

[0014]

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

According to the embodiment of the present invention, an inter-vehicle distance sensor 1, a vehicle speed sensor 2, and a program control circuit 3 for outputting control information for adjusting the vehicle speed so that the inter-vehicle distance becomes a predetermined value or more by inputting these two sensor outputs. As a feature of the present invention, the program control circuit 3 outputs means for calculating acceleration information from the output information of the vehicle speed sensor 2 and the control information so that the acceleration information falls within a preset range. And means for doing so. The control information includes the opening information of the control valve 4 provided in the passage for supplying the fuel to the internal combustion engine, the transmission switching information, and the exhaust brake when the acceleration exceeds the upper limit value (α _H ). And service brake and / or control information thereof.

A display device 5 is connected to the program control circuit 3, and the display device 5, the inter-vehicle distance setting switch 7, the follow-up switch 8 and the main switch 9 are connected to the display device 5.
And are provided.

Next, the operation of the embodiment of the present invention configured as described above will be described. FIG. 2 is a flow chart showing the flow of operation of the embodiment of the present invention.

When the automatic cruise control is set, the program control circuit 3 runs the vehicle at a predetermined constant speed. While traveling at this constant speed, the detection value S of the inter-vehicle distance sensor 1 is taken in and it is confirmed whether or not the detection value S exceeds a predetermined lower limit value L.

When the detected value S is less than or equal to the lower limit value L, the vehicle is too close to the preceding vehicle, an alarm is generated, the automatic deceleration control is executed, and the process returns to the inter-vehicle distance acquisition process. If the detected value S exceeds the lower limit value L, the alarm is released, the vehicle speed v is taken from the vehicle speed sensor 2, and the acceleration α =
The calculation of dv / dt is performed.

If the calculated acceleration α = dv / dt is less than or equal to the preset lower limit value α _L , the control valve 4 is controlled to increase the injection amount of the fuel supplied from the fuel injection pump to the internal combustion engine. Automatic acceleration control is performed to exceed _L. If the set acceleration upper limit value α _H is exceeded, automatic deceleration control is executed.

By such control, the calculated value d of the acceleration α
When v / dt becomes equal to or lower than the lower limit value α _L , it is confirmed whether the gear position of the transmission is acceptable at present, and if the gear position needs to be changed, the gear position is displayed on the display unit 6 of the display device 5. Display changes. If the gear position is good at present, the constant speed control is continued as it is.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing the flow of operation of automatic deceleration control in the embodiment of the present invention. This figure is shown in Figure 2.
The operation between P and Q shown in FIG.

In the automatic deceleration control, first, the control valve 4 is controlled to reduce the injection amount of the fuel supplied from the fuel injection pump to determine whether or not deceleration is urgently required by the inter-vehicle distance S and the calculated acceleration α = dv. Determined by / dt. When it is not urgent, whether or not the deceleration control is continuously performed is determined by the loop β ₁ of FIG. 2, and when the deceleration control is not continued, the automatic deceleration control operation is ended. When continuing, the process is returned to the control of the fuel injection amount.

When urgent, an exhaust brake control is executed in addition to the fuel injection control, and whether or not urgent is needed is determined based on the inter-vehicle distance S and the calculated acceleration α = dv / dt. When it is not urgent, whether or not to continue the deceleration control is determined by the loop β _{2 in} FIG. 2. When the deceleration control is not continued, the deceleration control operation is ended. When continuing, service brake control is executed, and it is determined whether or not deceleration control is executed. If not continuously executed, the automatic deceleration control is ended, and if continuously executed, the process is returned to the fuel injection control and the same control operation is repeated.

[0025]

As described above, according to the present invention, there is an effect that the deceleration or the acceleration performed when performing the inter-vehicle distance control can be automatically adjusted so as not to become abrupt. This makes it possible to smoothly perform deceleration and acceleration, which is performed when the distance between the vehicle traveling in front and the distance between the vehicle traveling in front and the vehicle traveling in front changes suddenly and disappears. , It is possible to prevent passengers from feeling uncomfortable.

[Brief description of drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a flow of an automatic cruise control operation in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a flow of automatic deceleration control in the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 inter-vehicle distance sensor 2 vehicle speed sensor 3 program control circuit 4 control valve 5 display device 6 display unit 7 inter-vehicle distance setting switch 8 follow-up switch 9 main switch

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An automatic cruise device comprising a vehicle distance sensor, a vehicle speed sensor, and a program control circuit which receives the outputs of these two sensors and outputs control information for adjusting the vehicle speed so that the vehicle distance becomes a predetermined distance or more. In the control circuit, the control circuit outputs the control information so that the acceleration is calculated from the output information of the vehicle speed sensor and the acceleration is within a preset range (α _L <dv / dt <α _H ). An auto-cruise device comprising means. 2. The control information is opening degree information of a control valve provided in a passage for supplying fuel to the internal combustion engine.
The described auto cruise device. 3. The auto cruise device according to claim 2, wherein the control information includes transmission switching information. 4. The auto cruise device according to claim 1, wherein the control information includes control information for an exhaust brake and / or a service brake when the acceleration exceeds an upper limit value (α _H ). .