JPH09126044A - Vehicle control device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To surely protect a control equipment from thermal damages. SOLUTION: An engine 1 is provided with a fuel injection device of common rail type, and the fuel is injected in each cylinder from the fuel injection device. An ECU 30 is directly loaded on the engine 1 through a cooling plate 5, and the ECU 30 is provided with various driving circuits to be driven by the power supply from a battery B. The cooling plate 5 is provided with a fuel passage to pass the fuel to be fed from a fuel tank 2, and the ECU 30 is cooled by the fuel passing through the fuel passage. A CPU 31 in the ECU 30 judges the deterioration of the cooling capacity by the fuel to the engine 1 from the fuel temperature, and when deterioration of the cooling capacity of the fuel is judged, the control operation is moved from the normal mode to the power reduction mode. More concretely, in the normal mode, the pilot injection prior to the main injection is performed while in the power reduction mode, the pilot injection is prohibited to perform only the main injection.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicle control device having a control device arranged in an engine room of a vehicle.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, a control device including a microcomputer, various drive circuits and the like is often mounted in an engine room, and various techniques for protecting the control device from thermal damage have been proposed. Proposed. As one of them, there is a technique of cooling the control device with the fuel supplied from the fuel tank to the engine. In such a technical configuration, the temperature of the fuel supplied from the fuel tank is approximately the same as the outside air temperature, and the heat of the control device is taken away by this fuel, so that the temperature of the control device is maintained at the allowable temperature.

[0003]

On the other hand, recently, there is a tendency to commercialize the engine and the control device as one unit (especially in the truck industry, where the needs are high), and accordingly the control device is directly attached to the engine. Is being considered. In such a case, the control device reaches the high temperature range,
The control function might be affected. In addition, even if the control device is not directly assembled to the engine, there is a demand for arranging the control device near the engine due to a request for reduction of wire harnesses, and it is necessary to protect the control device from thermal damage.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide a vehicle control device capable of preventing overheating of a control device and reliably protecting the control device. To provide.

[0005]

According to the invention described in claim 1, the control device arranged in the engine room of the vehicle is:
It operates by the power supply from the vehicle battery and drives various actuators. The cooling mechanism cools the control device with the fuel supplied from the fuel tank to the engine. Further, in the vehicle control device having the above configuration, the determination means determines that the cooling capacity of the engine due to the fuel has decreased, and the mode transition means determines that the cooling capacity of the fuel has decreased by the determination means. In this case, the control operation by the control device is shifted from the normal mode to the power reduction mode.

In short, in a device in which the control device is mounted in the engine room of the vehicle and the control device is cooled by the fuel, the cooling degree of the control device changes depending on the cooling capacity of the fuel. Specifically, the fuel cooling capacity can be determined, for example, by the amount of fuel remaining in the fuel tank or the temperature of the fuel as described in claim 2, and when the amount of remaining fuel is low or the temperature of the fuel is high. In this case, the cooling capacity of the fuel may decrease, and the temperature of the control device may exceed the allowable level. Therefore, when the temperature of the control device may exceed a predetermined allowable level and the cooling capacity of the fuel is reduced, the control operation by the control device is shifted from the normal mode until then to the power reduction mode. In this power reduction mode, the amount of heat generated by the various drive circuits in the control device is suppressed to a low level, and the temperature of the control device can be maintained in the allowable temperature range.

More specifically, for example, in the fuel injection control system of a diesel engine, when the pilot injection preceding the main injection is executed in the normal mode,
Although the power consumption of the control device increases as much as the pilot injection is executed, in the power reduction mode, the pilot injection is prohibited and only the main injection is executed. Further, in the power reduction mode, it is conceivable to shorten the energization time of the electromagnetic actuator (for example, the fuel injection valve) as compared with the normal time or to stop the control of the turbo actuator or the like.

According to this structure, overheating of the control device can be prevented, and the control device can be reliably protected from thermal damage. In particular, when the engine and the control device are commercialized as one unit, the above-mentioned configuration works effectively.

According to the third aspect of the invention, in the power reduction mode, when it is determined that the cooling capacity of the fuel has decreased, the number of times each actuator is driven by the control device or the driving load is reduced. Is performed, and the second reduction mode for stopping the operation of the control device is performed in accordance with the subsequent decrease in the cooling capacity. In this case, the control device can be reliably protected even if the fuel cooling capacity continues to decrease despite the execution of the power reduction mode.

[0010]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram schematically showing a fuel injection control system according to the present embodiment. In this control system, an in-line 6-cylinder diesel engine (hereinafter referred to as an ECU) 30 as a control device is used. Hereinafter, the fuel injection of 1) will be performed. The engine 1 includes a common rail fuel injection device, and fuel (light oil) is injected and supplied from the fuel injection device to the # 1 to # 6 cylinders. The engine 1 is arranged in the engine room of the vehicle. The ECU 30 mainly includes a microcomputer and a drive circuit for driving various other actuators.

On the other hand, FIG. 2 shows the engine 1 and the ECU 30.
FIG. In FIG. 2, the ECU 30
Are assembled to the outer wall of the cylinder block of the engine 1 via the cooling plate 5. The cooling plate 5 is provided with a fuel passage 5a for passing the fuel supplied from the fuel tank 2, and the ECU 30 is cooled by the fuel passing through the fuel passage 5a. The cooling plate 5 and its fuel passage 5a correspond to a cooling mechanism, and the cooling plate 5 and the fuel passage 5a are not limited to the shapes shown in the drawing, and may have any configuration as long as the ECU 30 can be cooled.

In FIG. 1, the fuel in the fuel tank 2 is pumped up by the low pressure pump 3 and supplied to the high pressure pump 6 via the low pressure fuel passage 4 and the cooling plate 5. After that, the fuel compressed by the high pressure pump 6 is
It is introduced into the common rail 8 via the high pressure fuel passage 7.
Electromagnetic fuel injection valves 9a to 9f corresponding to the cylinders # 1 to # 6 of the engine 1 are connected to the common rail 8.

Here, the high pressure pump 6 is connected to the ECU 30.
An electromagnetically driven on-off valve controlled by the above is shown in FIG. In FIG. 3, a substantially cylindrical cylinder 10
Is provided with a plunger 11 that slides in the vertical direction in the figure by a cam (not shown), and the plunger 11 reciprocates once for every two revolutions of the engine. Low-pressure fuel is introduced into the plunger chamber 12 of the cylinder 10 via the fuel introduction pipe 13 and the low-pressure passage 14. A valve body 15 is provided in the middle of the low pressure passage 14, and the seat surface 15 of the valve body 15 is provided.
By contacting a with the valve seat 10a of the cylinder 10, the low pressure passage 14 and the plunger chamber 12 are closed.

An armature 16 is connected to the upper end of the valve body 15, and the valve body 15 is attached to the upper surface of the armature 16.
A compression coil spring 17 for urging the valve is opened. The armature 16 is attracted to the solenoid 18 by the magnetic force when the solenoid 18 is energized, and the valve body 1
5 is moved to the valve closing position.

Further, a check valve 20 which is opened only when the fuel pressure in the plunger chamber 12 becomes equal to or higher than a predetermined pressure is arranged in front of the high pressure passage 19 communicating with the plunger chamber 12.

Therefore, if the solenoid 18 is de-energized when the plunger 11 descends, the valve body 15 is in the valve open position by the urging force of the compression coil spring 17, and the low pressure fuel supplied from the low pressure pump 3 is fuel. It flows into the plunger chamber 12 through the introduction pipe 13 and the low pressure passage 14. When the solenoid 18 is energized while the plunger 11 is moving upward, a suction force larger than the biasing force of the compression coil spring 17 acts on the solenoid 18, and the valve body 15 closes. Therefore, the fuel pressure in the plunger chamber 12 rises. When the fuel pressure becomes equal to or more than the sum of the spring force of the check valve 20 and the fuel pressure in the common rail 8, the check valve 20 opens and the fuel is pumped to the common rail 8 through the high pressure fuel passage 7. After completion of the pressure feeding, the solenoid 18 is de-energized and the valve body 15
Is returned to the valve open position.

In FIG. 1, the common rail 8 is provided with a common rail pressure sensor 21 for detecting the fuel pressure (common rail pressure PC) in the common rail 8. The detection result of the pressure sensor 21 is input to the ECU 30. To be done. The ECU 30 controls the energization of the solenoid 18 based on the common rail pressure PC. The high-pressure pump 6 and the common rail 8 are provided with return pipes 6a and 8a for returning the fuel to the fuel tank 2 when the fuel pressure rises above a predetermined pressure. Also,
In the low-pressure fuel passage 4, the fuel temperature (hereinafter, fuel temperature Tf
A fuel temperature sensor 22 for detecting the above) is provided.

The ECU 30 includes a CPU 31, a ROM 32,
A microcomputer centering on the RAM 33 and the like and various drive circuits (for example, the fuel injection valve drive circuit 40) are provided.
It operates using battery + B as a power source. The ECU 30 inputs necessary data from the engine 1 and the common rail 8 and outputs a drive signal to the high pressure pump 6 and the fuel injection valves 9a to 9f. In addition to the common rail pressure sensor 21 and the fuel temperature sensor 22, the ECU 30 includes an accelerator opening sensor 23 for detecting the opening of the accelerator pedal (accelerator opening Accp), and the rotation speed of the engine 1 (engine rotation speed). A rotation speed sensor 24 for detecting Ne), and a fuel gauge 2 for measuring the remaining fuel amount in the fuel tank 2.
The detection signal from 5 is input.

Further, the ECU 30 includes the fuel injection valves 9a-9
At the time of fuel injection by f, pilot injection preceding main injection is executed (this is referred to as "normal mode").
On the other hand, for example, when the fuel temperature Tf detected by the fuel temperature sensor 22 reaches the excessive rise range, the temperature of the ECU 30 may exceed the allowable level. Therefore, in order to reduce the power consumption of the fuel injection valve drive circuit 40 and suppress the temperature rise of the ECU 30, the ECU 30 prohibits the pilot injection and executes only the main injection (this is referred to as "power reduction mode"). . In the present embodiment, the CPU 31 in the ECU 30 constitutes the determination means and the mode transition means.

Further, the ECU 30 is provided with a fuel temperature Tf and a remaining amount warning lamp 26 which is mortgaged when the remaining fuel amount becomes a predetermined amount or less (for example, 5 liters or less) based on the detection signal from the fuel gauge 25. A fuel temperature warning lamp 27, which is turned on when reaching a predetermined excessive rise range, is connected.

Next, the structure of the fuel injection valve drive circuit 40 as an example of the drive circuit will be described in detail with reference to FIG. In FIG. 4, a capacitor 41 for driving the electromagnetic coil 35 at high speed is connected in the middle of the circuit from the battery + B to the electromagnetic coil 35 of the fuel injection valves 9a to 9f. Further, a transformer 42 for charging the capacitor 41 and a transistor 43 are connected in series to the battery + B. A diode 44 for preventing backflow is connected between the transformer 42 and the capacitor 41. Further, a constant current circuit 45 is provided between the battery + B and the electromagnetic coil 35.
And a diode 46 for preventing the backflow of the capacitor current, and a diode 47 for preventing the backflow of the battery current is also connected to the capacitor 41 side. The battery voltage and the capacitor voltage are the CPU3
1 is being monitored.

Therefore, the transistor 4 is driven by a drive signal for turning on the fuel injection valves 9a to 9f (electromagnetic coils).
When 8 becomes conductive, the peak current due to the charging voltage of the capacitor 41 first flows through the electromagnetic coil 35, and thereafter,
A constant current is supplied by the constant current circuit 45. In this way, the electromagnetic coil 35 is energized, and fuel injection is performed by the fuel injection valves 9a to 9f.

Next, the operation of the fuel injection control system configured as described above will be described. FIG. 5 shows a fuel injection control routine, which is executed by the CPU 31 every fuel injection of each cylinder (every 120 ° CA for 6 cylinders).

Now, when the routine of FIG. 5 starts,
First, in step 100, the CPU 31 determines the common rail pressure sensor 21, the accelerator opening sensor 23, and the rotation speed sensor 2.
The detection signals from 4 and the like are read, and in the following step 110, it is judged from the detection signals whether or not the pilot injection can be permitted. When the pilot injection is permitted, the CPU 31
Reads the fuel temperature Tf calculated from the detection result of the fuel temperature sensor 22 in step 120, and continues to step 130.
Then, it is determined whether or not the fuel temperature Tf exceeds the first determination value Ka. Here, if the fuel temperature Tf exceeds the first determination value Ka, it means that the ECU 30 described later needs to be operated in the fuel reduction mode. The first determination value Ka is
The relationship between the remaining fuel amount in the fuel tank 2 and the fuel temperature Tf (FIG. 8), the margin from the warning to the ECU design guarantee temperature when the fuel temperature Tf excessively rises, and the effect of suppressing the temperature rise obtained by the power reduction mode. It is set based on the degree.
The fuel temperature Tf may have a steeper rising curve as the remaining fuel amount in the fuel tank 2 decreases, and the relationship is shown in FIG.

That is, as described above, in the configuration of the present control system, when the fuel compressed by the high-pressure pump 6 becomes excessive in the pump 6 and the common rail 8, the fuel passes through the return pipes 6a, 8a and the fuel tank. 2 (see FIG. 1). Then, it is pumped up again by the low-pressure pump 3 and supplied to the high-pressure pump 6 and the common rail 8.
In this case, the fuel returned from the high-pressure pump 6 and the common rail 8 is at a high temperature, and the fuel temperature T in the fuel tank 2 is T.
This leads to an increase in f. In particular, when the remaining fuel amount decreases, the fuel temperature Tf rises significantly as shown in FIG.

When the fuel temperature Tf becomes equal to or lower than the first determination value Ka (Tf≤Ka) in step 130, the CPU 21
Executes fuel injection in the normal mode in step 140. That is, when Tf ≦ Ka, pilot injection is executed prior to the main injection, and this routine is ended. Here, the fuel injection process in the normal mode will be described with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 6, the CPU 31 executes step 1
At 41, the valve opening time TP1 and the valve closing time TP2 of the fuel injection valves 9a to 9f for the pilot injection and the valve opening time TM1 and the valve closing time TM2 of the fuel injection valves 9a to 9f for the main injection are well known. Calculate with the method. Then the CPU
31 waits until the valve opening time TP1 for pilot injection is reached in steps 142 and 143, and then the fuel injection valves 9a to 9a.
While energizing 9f, steps 144, 14
5 until the valve closing time TP2 is reached and the fuel injection valves 9a ...
The energization of 9f is completed. Thus, steps 142 to 1
Pilot injection is executed at 45.

The CPU 31 also executes steps 146, 1
At 47, after waiting for the valve opening time TM1 for the main injection to start energizing the fuel injection valves 9a to 9f,
After the valve closing time TM2 is reached in steps 148 and 149, the energization of the fuel injection valves 9a to 9f is terminated. In this way, the main injection is executed in steps 146 to 149.

Returning to FIG. 5, the fuel temperature Tf is the first judgment value K.
If it exceeds a (Tf> Ka), the CPU 31 turns on the fuel temperature warning lamp 27 in step 150, and continues in step 16
At 0, it is determined whether the fuel temperature Tf is less than the second determination value Kb. Here, the second determination value Kb is set to a value higher than the first determination value Ka and slightly lower than the ECU design guarantee temperature. The fuel temperature Tf is the second
If the determination value is less than Kb (Tf <Kb), the CPU 31
Ends the routine after performing fuel injection in the power reduction mode in step 170. Here, the fuel injection process in the power reduction mode will be described with reference to FIG. 7.

In FIG. 7, the CPU 31 executes step 1
At 71, the valve opening time TM1 and the valve closing time TM2 for the main injection are calculated by a known method. After that, CPU3
1 starts the energization of the fuel injection valves 9a to 9f after the valve opening time TM1 for the main injection is reached in steps 172 and 173, and the valve closing time TM2 is reached in steps 174 and 175. After waiting, the power supply to the fuel injection valves 9a to 9f is terminated. Thus, only the main injection is executed in steps 172-175.

On the other hand, at step 160 in FIG. 5, the fuel temperature Tf
Is determined to be equal to or greater than the second determination value Kb (T
f ≧ Kb), the CPU 31 returns E in step 180.
A CU operation stop command is issued and this routine ends. If the pilot injection is not permitted in step 110, the CPU 31 proceeds to step 160, where the fuel temperature T
The step 170 or step 180 is selectively executed depending on whether or not f is less than the second determination value Kb.

FIG. 9 is a time chart for explaining the above processing more specifically. At time t1 in FIG.
The remaining amount warning lamp 26 lights up as the remaining fuel amount decreases (for example, the remaining fuel amount <5 liters). Normally, the driver refuels according to the lighting of the remaining amount warning light 26, but if the fuel refueling is not carried out, the fuel temperature Tf will increase remarkably after the time t1 and the fuel temperature Tf will be the first fuel temperature Tf at the time t2. Exceeds the judgment value Ka. (Note that, in the present embodiment, it is premised that the fuel temperature Tf does not excessively rise if the fuel of 5 liters or more remains in the fuel tank 2.) Therefore, at the time t2, the normal mode until then is used. Is switched to the fuel injection control in the power reduction mode, and the remaining amount warning lamp 27 is turned on. That is, while pilot injection was performed before time t2, pilot injection is prohibited after time t2.

After time t2, the power consumption of the ECU 30 (mainly the power consumption in the fuel injection valve drive circuit 40) is reduced by performing the fuel injection control in the power reduction mode.
The temperature rise of the CU 30 is suppressed. That is, when the fuel injection in the normal mode is continued after the time t2, the ECU 3
The temperature of 0 (ECU temperature) rises from time t2 to t3 as shown by the chain double-dashed line, exceeds the temperature allowable level Ktemp, and becomes E.
The operation of the CU 30 may be impaired. However, by switching to the power reduction mode at time t2, E
The CU temperature slightly increases from time t2 to t3 as shown by the solid line, and does not reach the temperature allowable level Ktemp.

After that, if the fuel is replenished at time t3, the fuel temperature Tf is rapidly reduced. Therefore, the cooling plate 5
EC passing through the fuel passing through the fuel passage 5a (see FIG. 2) of the EC
U30 is cooled, and the ECU temperature is the allowable temperature level Ktem.
It begins to fall before reaching p. At the time t3, the fuel injection is switched from the power reduction mode to the normal mode, and the fuel temperature warning lamp 27 is turned off. Note that FIG. 9 shows an example in which the vehicle continues to run until the remaining fuel amount becomes small despite the warning by the remaining amount warning light 26.
Normally, fuel is replenished immediately after the warning by the remaining amount warning lamp 26, and therefore it is considered that the fuel temperature Tf rarely exceeds the determination values Ta and tb. Although not shown, when the fuel temperature Tf exceeds the second determination value Kb, the operation of the ECU 30 is stopped at that time.

As described above in detail, in this embodiment, E
If a decrease in the cooling capacity of the fuel for cooling the CU 30 is determined based on the fuel temperature Tf and a decrease in the cooling capacity of the fuel is determined (fuel temperature Tf> first determination value Ka), the ECU 30 The control operation by is changed from the normal mode to the power reduction mode. More specifically,
In the normal mode, pilot injection preceding the main injection is performed, and in the power reduction mode, the pilot injection is prohibited and only the main injection is performed (routine in FIG. 5).

According to the above structure, the ECU 30 based on fuel is used.
Even when the amount of fuel decreases, which reduces the cooling efficiency of
The amount of heat generated by U30 is suppressed to a low level, and the ECU 30
Can be reliably protected from thermal damage. This effect is achieved by the engine 1 and the engine E as embodied in this embodiment.
This is particularly effective when commercializing the CU 30 as one unit.

In addition, as a power reduction mode, the ECU 30
When the temperature exceeds the predetermined permissible level (Ka <fuel temperature Tf ≦ Kb), the pilot injection is prohibited as the “first reduction mode”, and as the temperature rises thereafter (fuel temperature Tf
≧ Kb) The operation of the ECU 30 is stopped in the “second reduction mode”. As a result, the ECU 30 can be reliably protected even if the temperature of the ECU 30 continues to rise despite the execution of the power reduction mode.

Further, in this embodiment, the remaining amount warning light 26 gives a warning in advance that the remaining amount of fuel in the fuel tank 2 has decreased, that is, the temperature of the ECU 30 may rise. If the temperature Tf rises, the fuel injection control in the power reduction mode is performed. Therefore, normally, the increase in the fuel temperature Tf is suppressed by the fuel supply performed according to the warning of the remaining amount warning lamp 26. Therefore, the pilot injection is continuously performed, and the combustion noise can be reduced and the exhaust gas can be effectively purified.

The present invention can be embodied in the following modes other than the above embodiment. (1) In the above embodiment, the pilot injection is prohibited as the process in the power reduction mode, but the power may be reduced by another method.

In the diesel engine, exhaust gas purification (particulate reduction) is performed by increasing the pressure of the injected fuel, and this is realized by lengthening the on time (driving time) of the high pressure pump 6. In contrast to this configuration, in the power reduction mode, the on time of the high pressure pump 6 is shortened to the extent that a limp home can be realized. in this case,
As in the above embodiment, the power consumption by the ECU 30 is reduced, and the heat generation amount of the ECU 30 can be suppressed to a low level. Further, the amount of fuel returned from the common rail 8 or the like to the fuel tank 2 is reduced, and the rise in the fuel temperature Tf can be suppressed.

In the power reduction mode, it is possible to prohibit the fuel increase for increasing the torque, such as during acceleration. Further, a reduced-cylinder operation may be performed in which combustion of some of the cylinders is stopped, or an upper limit of the engine speed may be set. In either case, the power consumption of the ECU 30 can be reduced.

The power consumption of the ECU 30 may be reduced by stopping a control not necessary for the limp home, such as a turbo controller (not shown). -In addition, the various power reduction processes described above may be selectively executed according to the temperature level of the fuel temperature Tf. For example, the range between the determination values Ka and Kb of the fuel temperature Tf may be divided into a plurality of temperature ranges, and the power reduction process may be increased one by one as the temperature range approaches the second determination value Kb. Specifically, only the pilot injection is initially prohibited as the fuel temperature Tf rises, then the on-time of the high-pressure pump 6 is shortened, and if the fuel temperature Tf further rises, the drive of the turbo controller is stopped. (This is an example, and the order is arbitrary). In this case, the gradient of the increase in the ECU temperature in the power reduction mode (time t2 to t3 in FIG. 9) can be gradually reduced, and the increase in the ECU temperature can be more reliably suppressed.

(2) In the above embodiment, the control device (EC
Although the fuel temperature Tf was used in determining the temperature of (U30), this may be changed. For example, the above determination may be performed using the remaining fuel amount, or the above determination may be performed using the relationship between both the fuel temperature Tf and the remaining fuel amount. ECU3
A temperature sensor may be installed directly at 0, and the above determination may be performed from the sensor output result.

(3) In the above embodiment, when the fuel cooling capacity for the ECU 30 is lowered (fuel temperature Tf> K
(in the case of a), the fuel temperature warning lamp 27 is turned on, and E
Although the driver was warned that the CU temperature might rise, this may be changed. For example, the fuel temperature warning lamp 27 may be blinked according to the level of the fuel temperature Tf, or the blinking interval may be changed. Further, if the liquid crystal display unit is provided, it is possible to display a message that the cooling capacity of the fuel has decreased.

(4) In the above embodiment, a specific example in which the ECU 30 is directly mounted on the diesel engine has been described. However, even if the ECU 30 is not directly mounted on the diesel engine, the ECU 30 is arranged in a place where thermal damage is likely to occur in the engine room. The present invention can be applied to such cases. Further, it may be embodied in a gasoline engine as well as a diesel engine.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an outline of a fuel injection control system according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a state where an ECU is attached to an engine.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing a simplified main part of a high-pressure pump.

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram showing a fuel injection valve drive circuit.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a fuel injection control routine.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a fuel injection process in a normal mode.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a fuel injection process in a power reduction mode.

FIG. 8 is a graph showing the relationship between the remaining fuel amount and the fuel temperature Tf.

FIG. 9 is a time chart more specifically showing the process of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Engine, 2 ... Fuel tank, 5 ... Cooling plate as cooling mechanism, 5a ... Fuel passage as cooling mechanism, 9a-9f ... Fuel injection valve as actuator,
30 ... ECU (electronic control unit) as a control device, 31
... CPU as judging means and mode shifting means, + B ... battery.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A control device which is arranged in an engine room of a vehicle and operates by electric power supply from an on-vehicle battery to drive various actuators, and a cooling mechanism which cools the control device by fuel supplied from a fuel tank to the engine. In a vehicle control device including: a control unit that determines that the cooling capacity of the fuel passing through the cooling mechanism is decreased, and the determination unit determines that the cooling capacity of the fuel has decreased. And a mode shift means for shifting the control operation by the control mode from the normal mode to the power reduction mode. 2. The vehicle control device according to claim 1, wherein the determining means determines the cooling capacity of the fuel based on at least one of the remaining amount of fuel or the temperature of the fuel in the fuel tank. 3. The power reduction mode is set with a first reduction mode for reducing the number of times of driving or a driving load of various actuators by the control device, and a second reduction mode for stopping the operation of the control device. When it is determined that the cooling capacity of the fuel has decreased, the first reduction mode is selected if the cooling capacity at that time is relatively high, and the second reduction mode is selected if the cooling capacity at that time is relatively low. The vehicle control device according to claim 1 or 2.