JPH09296772A - Engine start device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To decide a proper drag time according to a ambient temperature so as to improve startability by deciding an optimal drag time on the basis of a temperature measured by a temperature sensor and a data memorized in a collection data memorizing unit, and carry out engine start treatment using the optimal drag time. SOLUTION: In an engine start device for starting an engine by remote operation, when a signal for supporting engine start received from a transmitter is received by an antenna 4, an ignition switch 5 and a stator switch 7 are turned on by an engine start control unit 10, engine start is detected by a signal transmitted from an alternator 20 after cranking, and the starter motor 9 is separated after a prescribed drag time is lapsed. Output data of an engine oil temperature sensor 1, a cooling water temperature sensor 2, and an outside air temperature sensor 3 and the data of a memory 12 are collated with each other, and a standard drag time is collected so as to decide the drag time.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an engine starting device, and more particularly to an engine starting device for starting an engine by remote control.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Currently, an engine starting device for starting an engine by remote control is put into practical use. Most of such engine starting devices consist of a transmitter carried by an occupant and a main body attached to an automobile, and the occupant transmits a signal for instructing to operate the transmitter to start the engine and receives the signal. The main body equipped with a vessel receives and turns on the ignition switch and the starter switch of the automobile to automatically perform the engine starting process.

The engine starting device disconnects the starter motor and the crankshaft when the engine is started by the engine starting process. Generally, the starter motor is disconnected about 0.5 seconds after the engine start is detected. ing. This time of about 0.5 seconds from the start of the engine until the starter motor is disconnected is referred to as "drag time" in this specification.

Immediately after the engine start is detected, the engine rotation is often relatively unstable. The dragging time is provided in order to more reliably start the engine by delaying the timing of disconnecting the starter motor and the crankshaft with respect to the timing of engine start detection. Even in the engine starter that starts the engine by remote control, the drag time is set in the memory, and the starter motor is disconnected from the crankshaft after the set drag time has elapsed after the engine start was detected. There is.

[0005]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention]
It is known that the factors that depend on the ambient temperature are large. Especially when the temperature is low, the atomization state of the fuel is bad, and the viscosity of the engine oil, which is the lubricant of the moving friction part of the engine, increases to increase the load related to the engine rotation, and the capacity of the battery decreases, so the engine starts. It will be difficult.
In such a case, it is desirable to set the drag time longer than usual.

If the dragging time is too long,
A sound is generated between the starter motor and the crankshaft that rub against each other, and this sound makes us imagine an engine abnormality,
There is a problem of being uncomfortable. A standard drag time is set in the engine starter that starts the engine by remote control, but if the drag time is insufficient, especially if the engine is difficult to start, or if the engine is easy to start, Occurrence of an unpleasant sound for a relatively long time hindered smooth engine starting processing.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an engine starter capable of setting an appropriate drag time according to the ambient temperature. is there.

[0008]

An engine starting device according to claim 1 is a device for starting an engine, comprising a temperature sensor for measuring a temperature related to the engine, a dragging time and a dragging time at the time of starting the engine. A correction data storage unit that stores correction data according to the temperature of the temperature sensor, and an optimum drag time determination unit that determines the optimum drag time based on the temperature measured by the temperature sensor and the data stored in the correction data storage unit. It is characterized in that the engine starting process is performed using the optimum dragging time determined by the dragging time determining means.

An engine starter according to a second aspect of the present invention includes a plurality of the temperature sensors, and the correction data storage unit stores the drag time corrected by the correction data for each temperature measured by the plurality of temperature sensors. It is characterized in that it has weight correction data to be corrected by weight.

According to the first aspect of the invention, the dragging time can be determined in consideration of the temperature related to the engine.

According to the second aspect of the invention, the dragging time can be determined in consideration of a plurality of temperatures related to the engine.

[0012]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION There are two embodiments, which will be described below as a first embodiment and a second embodiment.

First Embodiment FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an engine starting device common to the first and second embodiments.

Of the configuration shown in FIG. 1, the battery 6, the starter switch 7 and the starter motor 9, the ignition switch 5, the ignition plug 8, and the engine 1 are included.
9 and the alternator 20 are provided in the automobile independently of the engine starter.

The starting detection device of this embodiment is provided with an engine oil temperature sensor 1, an engine cooling water temperature sensor 2, and an outside air temperature sensor 3 as sensors for monitoring the engine temperature. This sensor may be provided especially for the engine starting device, but the engine oil temperature sensor is used to measure the engine oil temperature by attaching the temperature sensor to the oil cooler that cools the engine oil in the car for competition. However, the engine cooling water temperature is input to an engine control device of an automobile (not shown) that controls overall processing related to the engine, and the outside air temperature sensor 3 may be provided in the car air conditioner. It is also possible to use such a sensor.

The type of temperature sensor can be increased or decreased as necessary. For example, only one of the illustrated sensors may be attached and the drag time may be determined using the data measured by one type of sensor, or the temperature measured by several types of sensors may be used by attaching multiple sensors. Then, the dragging time may be determined.

The engine starting device body of the present embodiment is
Engine start control unit 1 having CPU 11 and memory 12
0 and an antenna 4 which is a receiver. The engine start control unit 10 receives a signal, which is transmitted from a transmitter (not shown), instructing to start the engine, turns on the ignition switch 5 and the starter switch 7 by the antenna 4, and starts the engine by a signal emitted by the alternator 20. It controls a series of processes related to engine start of detecting and disconnecting the starter motor 9 from a crank shaft (not shown) after the dragging time has elapsed.

Further, the engine start control unit 10 is connected to the input ports of the engine oil temperature sensor 1, the engine cooling water temperature sensor 2 and the outside air temperature sensor 3 described above, and the temperature measured by each sensor is input. It is supposed to do. The CPU 11 collates the input temperature with the data in the memory 12, corrects the standard dragging time, and determines the dragging time considered to be appropriate for each measured temperature. Hereinafter, this data will be referred to as drag time correction data.

Here, the drag time correction data will be described.

FIG. 7 shows a qualitative relationship between engine oil temperature, engine cooling water temperature, outside air temperature and dragging time. As shown in FIG. 7, the dragging time tends to take a longer time when the temperature is lower than any of the temperatures of the engine oil, the engine cooling water, and the outside air. Further, the viscosity of engine oil is a factor that is closely related to the drag time. That is, if the viscosity of the engine oil becomes high, the resistance applied to the sliding of each part of the engine becomes high and the engine becomes difficult to start, and it requires a longer drag time. It is considered that the engine is easily started because the resistance is reduced.

The table shown in FIG. 2 illustrates the qualitative relationship between each temperature and the dragging time shown in FIG. 7 and the dragging time correction data obtained from the experimental rule. The upper part of each table shows the temperature measured by each sensor, and the lower part shows the correction coefficient of the dragging time at the temperature shown in the upper part. The dragging time correction coefficient is to be multiplied by the dragging time defined as the standard dragging time.

For example, when the standard drag time is 0.5 second and the engine oil temperature is measured to be 60 ° C. or lower, the correction coefficient is 1.2. Therefore, the dragging time at this time is 0.6 seconds. Similarly for engine cooling water temperature and outside air temperature, check the measured temperature by comparing it with the upper row of the table, and multiply the standard drag time by the correction coefficient in the lower row of the column that describes the applicable temperature range A suitable drag time has been determined.

According to the first embodiment described above, the optimum drag time for the engine can be determined by determining the drag time in consideration of the engine and the temperature acting on the engine.

Second Embodiment In the first embodiment, the drag time is determined based on any one of the data of engine oil temperature, engine cooling water temperature, and outside air temperature. The second embodiment uses a plurality of measurement data of this sensor to determine the drag time.

When the dragging time is determined by simultaneously using the temperatures measured by a plurality of types of temperature sensors, the dragging time used for the starting process is calculated by averaging the dragging times corrected based on the temperature measured by each sensor. The time may be determined, but weighting may be considered in consideration of the influence of the temperature measured by each sensor on the dragging time.

The magnitude of the influence of the temperatures measured by the three types of sensors used in the present embodiment on the dragging time is in the order of engine oil temperature, engine cooling water temperature, and outside air temperature. Therefore, the weighting of the dragging time corrected by the measured temperature of each sensor is also performed in this order. In the present embodiment, together with the drag time correction data, the weighting data for performing this weighting is also stored in the memory 3.

Of the three temperature sensors of this embodiment,
There are four possible combinations of temperature sensors used to determine the dragging time. That is, a combination that determines the dragging time in consideration of data of all temperature sensors (weighting data of this combination is shown in FIG. 3 as data 1), an engine oil temperature and an engine cooling water temperature (weighting data of this combination are data. 2) or the engine oil temperature and the outside air temperature (the weighted data of this combination is shown in FIG. 3 as data 3), and the combination of the engine cooling water temperature and the outside air temperature (the weighted data of this combination is Data 4 is shown in FIG. 3).

FIG. 3 shows weighting data corresponding to each of the four combinations described here. The weighting data indicates the ratio of the dragging time corrected by the temperature measured by each temperature sensor to the dragging time determined from a plurality of data as 100, as a percentage. The ratio of the temperature measured by each temperature sensor is determined in consideration of the order of magnitude of the influence on the dragging time described above.

For example, when the dragging time is determined in consideration of the measured temperatures of all the temperature sensors, the engine oil temperature is 80 ° C., the engine cooling water temperature is 50 ° C.,
It is assumed that the outside air temperature is 20 ° C. When the drag time is obtained from the data measured by each temperature sensor based on the drag time correction data, the drag time obtained from the engine oil temperature is 0.55 seconds, and the drag time obtained from the engine cooling water temperature is 0. 6 seconds, the dragging time obtained from the outside air temperature is 0.5 seconds.
The standard dragging time used for this calculation is 0.5 seconds as in the first embodiment.

Furthermore, when these three drag times are multiplied by the weight of data 1 and added, 0.385 + 0.1
2 + 0.05 = 0.555, and the final dragging time is determined to be 0.555 seconds.

Next, the processing for determining the dragging time in the first embodiment and the second embodiment will be described with reference to the flowcharts shown in FIGS. 4 and 5.

The engine starting process of the present embodiment is started when the engine start control unit 10 receives a signal instructing to start the engine (S1). When the engine start control unit 10 receives the signal instructing to start the engine,
Determine the number of data that determines the drag time. The determination of the number of data is set in advance so that the number of data can be written in the memory 13, and the number of sensors of the vehicle is written when the engine starting device is attached to the vehicle. Alternatively, the number of data may be recognized from the potential applied to the CPU and the input port.

When the number of recognized data is 3 (S
2) The CPU 11 corrects the standard dragging time based on the dragging time correction data of each temperature (S3). Further, the dragging time is determined based on the data 1 of the weighting data shown in FIG. 3 from the corrected dragging time (S4).

In step 2, when the CPU 11 recognizes that the number of data is a number other than 3, the number of data is 2 or 1. When the number of data is 2 (S5), the drag time is determined in the drag time determination subroutine (S6). If the number of data is not 2, the number of data is considered to be 1. Therefore, the standard dragging time is corrected based on the dragging time correction data of the corresponding temperature sensor, and the corrected dragging time is kept as it is. It is used for engine starting processing (S7).

In the drag time determination subroutine, the data is first determined in order to recognize the combination of data that determines the drag time when it is started.
And the engine cooling water temperature Tw are combined (S11). If the data is this combination,
The standard dragging time is corrected based on the dragging time correction data for the engine oil temperature and the dragging time correction data for the engine cooling water temperature (S12), and the dragging time is determined according to data 2 of the weighting data (S13).

In step 11, the CPU 11 uses the data of the engine oil temperature To and the engine cooling water temperature Tw as data.
When it is recognized that the data is not a combination of the engine oil temperature To and the outside air temperature Ta, it is determined whether the data is a combination of the engine oil temperature To and the outside air temperature Ta (S14). When the data is this combination, the standard dragging time is corrected based on the dragging time correction data for the engine oil temperature and the dragging time correction data for the outside air temperature (S15), and the dragging time is calculated according to the data 3 of the weighting data. Is determined (S16).

When the CPU 11 recognizes in step 14 that the data is not the combination of the engine oil temperature To and the outside air temperature Ta, the combination of the data should be the combination of the engine cooling water temperature Tw and the outside air temperature Ta. Therefore, the standard drag time is immediately corrected based on the drag time correction data for the engine cooling water temperature and the drag time correction data for the outside air temperature (S1).
7) The dragging time is determined according to the data 4 in the weighting data (S18). The drag time determination subroutine returns to the main routine when the drag time is determined irrespective of the combination of data, and in the main routine, the CPU 11 performs the engine start process using the determined drag time (S8) engine start control. The processing in the unit 10 ends.

As described above, the viscosity of the engine oil is an important factor for determining an appropriate drag time according to the engine condition. Since the viscosity of the engine oil depends on the temperature of the engine oil, the memory 12
If the data relating the temperature and the viscosity of the engine oil are provided in, it becomes possible to determine the dragging time in consideration of the viscosity of the engine oil. However, the viscosity of engine oil with respect to temperature generally differs depending on its type and grade. Therefore, it is desirable from the viewpoint of versatility of the engine starter that the memory 12 be provided with viscosity data with respect to the engine oil temperature for a plurality of types of engine oil.

FIG. 6 exemplifies viscosity data with respect to engine oil temperatures for a plurality of types of engine oil. In order for the CPU 11 to recognize the type of engine oil of the vehicle in which the CPU 11 is mounted, the CPU 11 is set so that the type of engine oil can be written in the memory 12, and is used in the vehicle when the engine starting device is attached to the vehicle. The type of engine oil used may be written.

The present embodiment described above further enhances the reliability of the determined dragging time by determining the dragging time in consideration of the data relating to the plurality of dragging times related to the engine.

[0041]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the engine starting process can be smoothly performed by starting the engine according to the optimum drag time at the temperature measured by the temperature sensor.

In the engine starting device according to the second aspect, the engine starting process can be performed more smoothly by starting the engine with the optimum dragging time in consideration of the temperatures measured by the plurality of temperature sensors.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram exemplifying data for correcting a drag time according to the present invention by temperature.

FIG. 3 is a diagram exemplifying data for correcting the dragging time according to the present invention by weighting.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a drag time determination process of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a drag time determination process of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of viscosity data of engine oil of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a qualitative relationship between temperature and dragging time.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Engine oil temperature sensor, 2 ... Engine cooling water temperature sensor, 3 ... Outside air temperature sensor, 4 ... Antenna 5, Ignition switch, 7 ... Starter switch, 8 ... Ignition plug, 9 ... Starter motor, 10 ... Engine start control section , 11 ... CPU, 12
... memory, 20 ... alternator.

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code Office reference number FI technical display location F02D 45/00 314 F02D 45/00 314P

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A device for starting an engine, comprising: a temperature sensor (1,
2, 3), a dragging time at the time of starting the engine and a correction data storage unit (12) for storing correction data according to the temperature of the dragging time, a temperature measured by the temperature sensor (1, 2, 3), and An optimum dragging time determining means (11) for determining an optimum dragging time based on the data stored in the correction data storage part (12), and using the optimum dragging time determined by the optimum dragging time determining means. An engine starter characterized by performing an engine start process. 2. A plurality of the temperature sensors (1, 2, 3) are provided, and the correction data storage section (12) stores the drag time corrected by the correction data in the plurality of the temperature sensors (1, 2). 2. The engine starting device according to claim 1, wherein the engine starting device has weight correction data that is corrected by the weight of each temperature measured by each of the temperature correction units.