JPH09301264A - Auxiliary driving device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To change the set quantity of addition quantity of auxiliary power even in traveling by providing such a constitution as to change the addition quantity of auxiliary power according to the operating position of an accelerator lever in an auxiliary driving device capable of adding the auxiliary power by a motor in addition to the driving operation by manpower. SOLUTION: In an auxiliary driving device for bicycle having the sprocket of a motor 14 installed into a basket 10 to the sprocket 17 of a front wheel 8 by a chain 16, an accelerator lever 19 is arranged near the left grip of a handle 2, and a brake lever and a brake operation detecting switch are arranged near the right grip thereof. An accelerator lever operation detecting switch is arranged on the accelerator lever 19, and a proximity switch and a pedal driving force detecting sensor are provided on a crank shaft 5. The output signals of these switches and sensor are inputted to a microcomputer, and an output showing an assist quantity of the magnitude according to the manual operating quantity of the accelerator lever 19 is imparted to the motor 14.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an auxiliary drive device capable of adding an auxiliary power by a motor in addition to a driving operation by human power, for example, an auxiliary drive device for a bicycle.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIGS. 5 (a) and 5 (b) are explanatory views of a conventional auxiliary drive device, in which the relationship between pedal drive force by human power and auxiliary power and pedal rotational position is shown in coordinates. In the figure, a
Is the uppermost position of the pedal, b is the horizontal position, c is the lowermost position, the range of the curve F shows the normal pedal driving force, and the semicircular portion G shows the upper limit set value. In this auxiliary drive device, the motor is driven by an amount corresponding to the pedal drive force that exceeds the upper limit set value, and the shaded portion I in FIG. 5 (a) is the drive portion of the motor. The shaded area J in (b) is. This is the pedal driving force when the auxiliary power is on.

To determine the upper limit set value, a mode setter (assist level setter) is used to read and set the data already written in the ROM of the microcomputer, or write it to the RAM newly and read the data. To set. When the auxiliary power is on, the pedal position and the pedal driving force are input to the microcomputer every moment, and the microcomputer compares these with the upper limit set value to perform subtraction processing, and the motor is output according to the subtracted value. To drive.

[0004]

In the conventional auxiliary drive device, it is necessary to use an assist level setter for setting the upper limit set value, and once set and running, the assist level is changed during running. Was difficult. An object of the present invention is to make it possible to easily set the auxiliary power addition amount in the auxiliary drive device and to change the set amount of the auxiliary power addition amount even during traveling.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, in an auxiliary drive device capable of adding auxiliary power by a motor in addition to driving operation by human power, the amount of auxiliary power added is changed according to the operation position of an accelerator lever. What has been done is configured. The present invention is configured as described above, wherein the auxiliary power addition operation is performed only when the pedal is being operated, the brake is not operated, and the accelerator lever is operated.

[0006]

1 to 4 show an embodiment of an auxiliary drive device of the present invention. FIG. 1 (a) is a side view of a bicycle equipped with an embodiment of an auxiliary drive device of the present invention. A bicycle is a normal bicycle including a frame 1, a handle 2, a crank 3, a pedal 4, a crankshaft 5, a crank gear 6, a chain 7, a front wheel 8, a rear wheel 9, a basket 10 and the like. In this bicycle, a control device 12, a motor driver 13, a motor 14 and a secondary battery 15 are mounted on a basket 10, and a sprocket 17 of the front wheel 8 and a sprocket of the motor 14 are connected by a chain 16. An accelerator lever 19 is provided near the left grip of the handle 2 (see FIG. 1 (a)), and a brake lever 21 and a brake operation detection switch 22 are provided near the right grip 20 (see FIG. 1 (b)). ) See). An accelerator lever operation detection switch (not shown) is arranged on the accelerator lever 19 so as to be interlocked with each other. The accelerator lever operation detection switch has a built-in variable resistor, and the resistance value changes according to the operation amount of the accelerator lever 19. Change. A back spring is provided on the accelerator lever 19 so that the accelerator lever 19 returns to its original position unless the lever is held by a finger.

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view of a hanger portion of a bicycle, in which a crankshaft 5 is rotatably supported by bearings 26 in a hanger pipe 25, and cranks 3 are connected to both ends of the shaft 5. A large number of protrusions 24 are formed on the outer peripheral surface of the right end portion of the crankshaft 5, and the tip of the proximity switch 27 arranged on the hanger pipe 25 is opposed to the protrusion 24. The output of the proximity switch 27 is input to the microcomputer 35 of FIG. 3, and it is determined whether or not the pedal 4 is rotating. Further, a pedal driving force detection sensor (strain gauge) is provided at an intermediate portion of the crankshaft 5.
29 are provided, and slip rings 30A and 30B for taking out signals are formed on the crankshaft 5 on both sides thereof. An input voltage is supplied to the pedal driving force detection sensor 29 through the contact Vin and the slip ring 30A, and the output voltage of the pedal driving force detection sensor 29 is the slip ring 30B and the contact Vou.
Input to the microcomputer 35 through t. Based on the output of the pedal driving force detection sensor 29, the pedaling operation is detected depending on whether the pedal is operated.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a system configuration of an embodiment of the auxiliary drive unit of the present invention. The microcomputer 35 has a built-in ROM and RAM, and outputs of the proximity switch 27, the pedal driving force detection sensor 29, the brake operation detection switch 22, and the accelerator lever operation detection switch are input to the microcomputer 35. The output indicating the amount of assistance (the amount of auxiliary power added) from the microcomputer 35 is output to the motor driver 13,
In the motor driver 13, the pulse width of the output signal of the assist amount is changed to control the electric power supplied to the motor, and the output to the motor 14 is adjusted. In this system,
An input signal corresponding to the manual operation amount of the accelerator lever 19 is input from the accelerator lever operation detection switch, and the microcomputer 35 outputs an output indicating the amount of assist corresponding to the manual operation amount of the accelerator lever. The assist amount can be changed by manual operation of the accelerator lever 19 at any time during the operation of the system. However, for safety, the amount of assist is limited to within the range of the pedal effort.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing the processing operation of the embodiment of the auxiliary drive unit of the present invention. When a power switch (not shown) is turned on, the program starts.
First, in step S1, it is determined whether or not the pedal 4 is being operated. When it is determined that the pedal is being operated, the process proceeds to step S2, and when it is determined that the pedal is not being operated, the process proceeds to step S5. There are two reasons to judge whether or not the pedal is operated. One of the reasons is to judge the necessity of assisting by driving the motor and prevent the waste of the assist by not performing the rotation of the motor when the pedal is not operated when the assist is not necessary. That is. Reason 2 is that according to the current rules for moped bicycles,
This is because it is determined that the bicycle is a motor-assisted bicycle if the assist is performed without pedal operation, and such a determination is avoided. When it is determined that the bicycle is a motorized bicycle, for example, a helmet must be worn, a number must be registered, and the road must be driven.

In step S2, it is determined whether or not the brake operation is performed. If it is determined that the brake operation is being performed, the process proceeds to step S5, and if it is determined that the brake operation is not being performed, the process proceeds to step S3. The reason for determining whether or not the brake is operated is to prevent danger during traveling. This is because it is dangerous to prevent the motor from being assisted while assisting the motor drive while trying to operate the brake to stop the vehicle while traveling.

In step S3, it is determined whether or not the accelerator lever 19 is on (in operation). If it is on, the process proceeds to step S4, and if it is not on, the process proceeds to step S5.
Whether or not the accelerator lever 19 is turned on is determined by a signal from the variable resistor of the accelerator lever operation detection switch. Then, the process proceeds to step S4 only when all three conditions of the pedal being operated, the brake not being operated, and the accelerator lever being on are satisfied.

In step S4, assist is executed, and the process proceeds to step S1. As described above, the output signal of the assist amount from the microcomputer 35 has a magnitude corresponding to the manual operation amount of the accelerator lever 19, and the motor driver 13 performs pulse width modulation according to this output signal to drive the motor 14. Therefore, the motor 14 outputs an auxiliary driving force corresponding to the manual operation amount of the accelerator lever 19. Then, normally, the control from step S1 to step 4 and from step S4 to step S1 are repeated, and in that case, the motor
The driving of 14 continues until an assist stop command is issued or the power switch is turned off in step S6 described later.

In step S5, it is determined whether or not assisting is in progress. When it is determined that assisting is in progress, the process proceeds to step S6, and when it is determined that assisting is not in progress, the process proceeds to step S1. In step S6, the assist is stopped,
Go to step 1. As described above, when the power switch is on and the pedal is not being operated, the brake is being operated, or the accelerator lever is not being operated, the motor 14 is driven when any of the three conditions is satisfied. Is dangerous, so it is controlled not to assist. And not pedal operation, brake operation,
Alternatively, while the state in which the accelerator lever is not operated continues, the control from step S1 to step S3 to step S5 / step S1 is repeated.

When it is desired to change the additional amount of auxiliary power by driving the motor 14 while traveling in the assist execution state, the assist amount can be freely changed by changing the operation position of the accelerator lever 19. it can. For example,
When feeling fatigued or approaching a climbing slope, the operating position of the accelerator lever 19 can be changed to a positive value according to the preference of the operator, and the amount of auxiliary power added can be increased to a desired degree. Then, when the driver feels that the amount of auxiliary power added is too large during traveling, the operation position of the accelerator lever 19 is changed to reduce the amount of assist, and an appropriate amount of auxiliary power is realized and maintained. be able to.

[0015]

According to the present invention, the auxiliary power addition amount can be changed according to the operation position of the accelerator lever, so that the auxiliary power addition amount can be easily set and the auxiliary power addition amount can be set even while traveling. You can change the amount. Although there are individual differences in the desired value of the amount of auxiliary power to be added, in the present invention, the user of the auxiliary drive device changes the operation position of the accelerator lever to change the amount of auxiliary power to be added. It is possible to easily realize the desired amount of auxiliary power addition. Further, in the present invention, since the auxiliary power addition operation is performed only when the pedal operation is being performed, the brake operation is not performed, and the accelerator lever is operated, the three conditions are satisfied. High safety.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 (a) is a side view of a bicycle equipped with an auxiliary drive device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1 (b) is a partial plan view showing the vicinity of a right grip of the bicycle.

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view of a hanger portion of the bicycle shown in FIG. 1 (a).

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of the system according to the embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a processing operation according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a conventional auxiliary drive device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 14 Motor 19 Accelerator lever

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An auxiliary drive device capable of adding auxiliary power by a motor in addition to driving operation by human power, wherein the amount of auxiliary power added is changed according to the operation position of an accelerator lever. Drive. 2. The auxiliary drive device according to claim 1, wherein the auxiliary power addition operation is performed only when the pedal is being operated, the brake is not operated, and the accelerator lever is operated.