JPH0893899A - Control device of automobile - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To avoid nonconformity to suspend or to prohibit a control while travelling by informing that an abnormal state takes place and stopping the control by way of moving it to the safe side at the time when a logical discrepancy is found in signals respectively output from a gear-in switch and a neutral switch. CONSTITUTION: A program control circuit 4 takes in output of a neutral switch 3 and confirms whether it is an off state or not. If it is the off state, it returns a control as it is a gear-in state. In the case of an on state, it takes in output of a gear-in switch 2 as it is at a neutral position and confirms whether the gear-in switch 2 is in an on state or not. If it is the on state, alarm output is delivered as abnormality is found in both or either of the switches 2, 3. A fail-safe program to move the control to the safe side is practiced, and after this practice is confirmed, all the program control is stopped.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention is used as a driving assistance device for automobiles. INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention is used as an automatic shift control device, a slope start assist device, and other control devices equipped with a program control circuit that executes the arithmetic control of taking in the state of hardware. The present invention relates to a technique for alerting a contradiction when a signal captured from hardware has a contradiction.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As an example, a hill start assist device maintains a brake pressure even when a driver releases a brake pedal when the brake is depressed and the vehicle speed becomes substantially zero.
It is a device that controls to automatically release the brake pressure when the gear is engaged and the clutch is connected. This equipment is equipped with a gear-in switch that is turned on when the start gear or reverse gear is applied to the transmission by the driver's operation, and the information of the gear-in switch is taken into the program control circuit. It is a control condition.

As another example, in an automatic shift control device, a gear ratio to be set in a transmission is calculated by inputting speed information and an accelerator pedal depression amount while a vehicle is running, and a gear ratio change limit is reached. When the clutch
This is a device that controls an actuator and a transmission actuator to automatically change and control a gear ratio set in the transmission. In this device, since the transmission is switched and controlled by the actuator, the input of the control circuit is equipped with a gear-in switch for detecting the rotation angle and the axial position of the gear selection shaft of the transmission.

[0004]

Since the gear-in switch or the neutral switch as described above is composed of solid hardware, its failure is extremely rare, and the failure of the gear-in switch or the neutral switch has hitherto been made. No detection circuit was provided.

On the other hand, as described above, one transmission has a structure in which both a neutral switch and a gear-in switch are provided (Japanese Patent Application No. 6-
No. 130573, unpublished at the time of filing this application). In that case, there can be no logic state in which the neutral switch indicates the neutral position and the gear-in switch indicates gear-in at the same time. This is a failure of the neutral switch or gear-in switch,
Although it rarely happens, smooth control cannot be performed when such a logical state exists.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a device for detecting a failure of a gear-in switch and / or a neutral switch. It is an object of the present invention to provide a device for issuing an alarm when a logic contradiction occurs in the output signals of the gear-in switch and the neutral switch. An object of the present invention is to monitor a control circuit mounted on an automobile so as to perform smooth and proper operation. It is an object of the present invention to provide a device that controls the safe side and stops its operation when the input logic is inconsistent.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a device for issuing an alarm and reporting an abnormality when a logical contradiction occurs between output signals of a gear-in switch and a neutral switch. , A gear-in switch indicating that the gears are in mesh with each other and a neutral switch indicating that the gears are in a neutral position, and a vehicle equipped with a program control circuit that takes in the outputs of the two switches and executes a program operation. In the control device, the control circuit includes means for outputting an alarm output when the output of the gear-in switch indicates a gear-in state and the output of the neutral switch indicates a neutral position. It is desirable that the control circuit sends out the alarm output and controls its arithmetic control to a safe side to stop it.

[0008]

When a transmission is equipped with both a gear-in switch and a neutral switch, the gear-in switch indicates gear-in and the neutral switch is activated regardless of the state of the transmission. There can be no situation that indicates a neutral position. The gear-in switch is not gear-in, but neutral.
It is possible that the switch is not in the neutral position.
This is a possible state when the drawing (drawing) is in the position indicated by diagonal lines.

When such an impossible state is detected, it is an input error from the hardware and an alarm is issued. Further, it is desirable to prohibit the control. Prohibition of control is not always safe to interrupt or prohibit control immediately while the vehicle is running,
It is desirable to configure to execute by executing a fail-safe program that safely stops control.

[0010]

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 main part of the embodiment of the present invention.

In the embodiment of the present invention, one transmission 1 is provided with a gear-in switch 2 which indicates that the gears are in mesh with each other and a neutral switch 3 which indicates that the gear is in the neutral position. A program control circuit 4 that takes in the outputs of the switch 2 and the neutral switch 3 and executes a program operation, and an alarm device 5 that issues an alarm. Further, as a feature of the present invention, the program control circuit 4 sends a warning output when the output of the gear-in switch 2 indicates the gear-in state and the output of the neutral switch 3 indicates the neutral position, and its calculation. Means for controlling and stopping the control on the safe side.

Further, the alarm device 5 is provided with an alarm buzzer 6 for generating an alarm by sound and an alarm lamp 7 for emitting an alarm by lighting. The alarm buzzer 6 may be an audio alarm device.

The program control circuit 4 executes various controls performed on condition that the gear of the transmission 1 is in the neutral position. The control includes hill start assist control, automatic shift control, and the like having the configuration shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a view showing a state in which the gear-in switch and the neutral switch in the embodiment of the present invention are attached to the transmission. As described above, the gear-in switch 2 and the neutral switch 3 are fixed to the upper cover provided in the transmission 1, and detect whether the position of the gear shift lever is in the gear-in position or in the neutral position. , Its detection output is sent to the program control circuit 4.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the neutral region and the gear-in region of the transmission according to the embodiment of the present invention.
The neutral switch 3 is in an on state when the position of the shift lever is in a region surrounded by a broken line, and is in an off state when outside the region. Further, the gear-in switch 2 is in the ON state when the position of the gear shift lever is in the area surrounded by a solid line on the left side corresponding to the first, third, and fifth speeds or on the right side corresponding to the reverse (R), second, fourth, and sixth speeds. Next to
When it goes out of this area, it is turned off.

A hatched area between the neutral area and the left and right gear-in areas is an area in which the neutral switch 3 is off and the gear-in switch 2 is also off. That is, it indicates that the gear-in switch 2 is not geared in this region,
It indicates that the neutral switch 3 is not in the neutral position, but it does indicate that the gear-in switch 2 is in the gear-in state and does not indicate that the neutral switch 3 is in the neutral position.

According to the present invention, when the neutral switch is turned on and the gear-in switch is also turned on, an alarm is output as an abnormal input, indicating that the input is abnormal. FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing the flow of the control operation.

The program control circuit 4 is a neutral
The output of the switch 3 is taken in and it is confirmed whether or not it is in the off state. If it is in the off state, the control is returned to the gear in state. If it is not in the OFF state, it is assumed that the gear-in switch 2 is in the neutral position, the output of the gear-in switch 2 is taken, and it is confirmed whether or not the gear-in switch 2 is in the ON-state. If it is not in the on state, the gear-in state is not shown, so the control is returned to the original state. If it is in the on-state, the gear-in switch 2 is put in the gear-in state even though the neutral switch 3 is in the neutral position. Therefore, an alarm output is sent as if the neutral switch 3 and / or the gear-in switch 2 or both of them have an abnormality. Then, a fail-safe program that transfers control to the safe side is executed, and after confirming its execution, all program control is stopped. By executing this fail-safe program, a dangerous situation in which control is immediately interrupted or prohibited while the vehicle is running is avoided, and control is stopped in a safe state.

The alarm device 5 receives an alarm output from the program control circuit 4, sounds the alarm buzzer 6 and turns on the alarm lamp 7 to notify that an abnormal condition has occurred. The alarm may be issued by either the alarm buzzer 6 or the alarm lamp 7.

[0020]

As described above, according to the present invention, when a logical contradiction occurs in the signals output by the gear-in switch and the neutral switch, the logical contradiction is detected and an abnormal state occurs. Can be reported. Further, by detecting the logical contradiction, the fail-safe program can be executed to shift the control to the safe side and stop it, so that the control is prevented from being interrupted or prohibited during traveling.

[Brief description of drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example in which the embodiment of the present invention is applied to a slope start assist device.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing how the gear-in switch and the neutral switch are attached to the transmission in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a neutral region and a gear-in region of the transmission according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a flow of control operation in the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Gearbox 2 Gear-in switch 3 Neutral switch 4 Program control circuit 5 Alarm device 6 Alarm buzzer 7 Alarm lamp

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A transmission is provided with a gear-in switch that indicates that gears are in mesh with each other and a neutral switch that indicates that the gears are in a neutral position. In a vehicle control device having a program control circuit for executing, the control circuit outputs an alarm output when the output of the gear-in switch indicates a gear-in state and the output of the neutral switch indicates a neutral position. A vehicle control device comprising means. 2. The vehicle control device according to claim 1, wherein the control circuit sends out the alarm output and controls its arithmetic control to a safe side to stop it.