JPH09311093A - Failure diagnostic apparatus for automobile - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a failure diagnostic apparatus in which the operating range of a failure diagnosis by an operating part is expanded and in which a more easily operatable environment can be selected by a method wherein the transfer of information between a failure diagnosis part and the operating part is performed by a radio signal. SOLUTION: A microcomputer 31 detects abnormal data on the basis of data which is input from an engine control device 1, a torque controller 3 and a sensor 5, and it diagnoses the part, the scale and the like of a failure so as to be transmitted from a signal transmission part 25. When a signal is received by an antenna 35 connected to the microcomputer 31, a CPU 11 in the microcomputer 31 detects the signal. The CPU 11 to which data from the engine control device 1, the torque controller 3 and the sensor 5 are input derives diagnostic results (a) to (c) on the basis of the input data by following a program which is stored in advance in a memory 13. In addition, when a signal which is transmitted from an operating part 20 instructs the start of a recorder 33, the recorder 33 is started, data which is input during a running operation is recorded, and the diagnostic results (a) to (c) are derived on the basis of the input data.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a failure diagnosis device, and more particularly to a failure diagnosis device for a vehicle used for failure diagnosis of a failure of a vehicle.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, automobile electronic systems have become more sophisticated and complex, making it difficult to repair them. Some microcomputers of automobile electronic control systems are equipped with a system for diagnosing such failures. FIG. 5 illustrates an appearance of a conventional vehicle failure diagnosis device, and FIG. 4 illustrates a block diagram of the conventional vehicle failure diagnosis device.

The conventional vehicle failure diagnosis apparatus shown in FIG. 5 comprises a main body mounted on the vehicle and a handheld operation unit 2. As shown in FIG. 4, the microcomputer 1 of the main body of the failure diagnosis device for automobiles
0 is incorporated in, for example, an engine control device 1 for electronically controlling an automobile engine, detects an abnormality in the configuration of each part of the automobile or a signal input from an automobile sensor, self-diagnoses the cause of the abnormality, and an engine control device, etc. Drive and diagnose the control device of. The result of this failure diagnosis is output by connecting the connector of the operation unit 2 to the connector provided for exclusive use in the failure diagnosis on the vehicle as shown in the figure, and providing the service technician with information for repairing the failure. are doing.

[0004]

However, in the conventional vehicle failure diagnosing device, since the operating portion 2 is used by being connected to the connector of the vehicle, it cannot be carried freely and the failure diagnosing work is performed. The range to do was limited. For example, if the service technician tries to determine the cause of the failure by using the failure information of the electronic control system provided by the service technician and visual confirmation or abnormality confirmation of the machine configuration by abnormal sound etc. Since it is connected, the degree of freedom to take it out of the vehicle is limited, and it is not possible to perform the work of checking the abnormality of the mechanical configuration while operating the operation unit 2.

In addition, some failures of the electronic control system occur intermittently during traveling and the malfunction phenomenon does not continue. To diagnose such failures, not only failure information but also traveling It is necessary to monitor the condition of the car inside and collect data when a problem occurs.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and it is possible to carry an operation unit freely to carry out work, and to record data of a running car. A diagnostic device is provided.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a vehicle failure diagnosis device, which is attached to a vehicle, inputs failure information of the vehicle, and diagnoses a failure of the vehicle from the failure information. In a failure diagnosis device for a vehicle, which comprises an operation unit for operating the failure diagnosis unit, the operation unit is
The failure diagnosis unit has a transmission unit that wirelessly transmits an output instruction signal that instructs the failure diagnosis unit to output a diagnosis result, and a reception unit that wirelessly receives the diagnosis result output by the failure diagnosis unit, and the failure diagnosis unit, The present invention is characterized by having a receiving unit that wirelessly receives an output instruction signal and a transmitting unit that wirelessly outputs a diagnosis result.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an automobile failure diagnosis device,
The failure diagnosis section has a failure recording section for recording failure information during traveling of the automobile.

According to the first aspect of the present invention,
It becomes possible to give and receive the output of the diagnosis result and the failure information and the information of the diagnosis result between the failure diagnosis section and the operation section by the wireless signal.

[0010] By configuring as in claim 2,
The failure diagnosis unit can perform failure diagnosis of the vehicle using the failure information while the vehicle is running.

[0011]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an automobile failure diagnosis apparatus according to this embodiment.

The failure diagnosis device for an automobile according to the present embodiment is
The failure diagnosis unit 30 is composed of a failure diagnosis unit 30 attached to a vehicle and an operation unit 20 for operating the failure diagnosis unit.
And the operation unit 20 wirelessly exchange signals. The operation unit 20 is generally placed in, for example, a service factory or the like for repairing an automobile, and when a vehicle is to be diagnosed for a failure, an automobile repair engineer operates the operation unit 20 in the service plant or the like. Is operated to display the diagnosis result of the failure diagnosis unit 30 and analyze the failure of the vehicle.

The failure diagnosis unit 30 includes an engine control unit 1,
A torque converter (hereinafter referred to as “torque converter”) 3 and a sensor 5 for electronically controlling other systems are connected,
Information for failure diagnosis is input to the failure diagnosis unit 30. The engine control device 1 is a device that controls the overall electronic system of the engine, and data such as the engine speed, the traveling speed of the vehicle, and the cooling water temperature of the engine are constantly input. The engine control device 1 has a built-in microcomputer for controlling such engine-related data.

The torque converter 3 is an automatic transmission in an automatic vehicle and provides the failure diagnosis unit 30 with data relating to the shift of the vehicle. Further, it is conceivable to use, for example, a temperature sensor or the like for automatically controlling the air conditioner mounted in the vehicle as the sensor 5.

The failure diagnosing section 30 of the present embodiment comprises a microcomputer 31, a recorder 33, an antenna 35 and a signal transmitting section 25.
And The microcomputer 31 detects abnormal data from the data input from the engine control device 1, the torque converter 3, and the sensor 5, diagnoses the location of failure, the scale, etc., and transmits the data from the signal transmission unit 25.

In order to detect this abnormal data, for example, since the data input to the failure diagnosis section 30 is often given as a voltage in practice, it is considered that the data input is normal data for each configuration. The upper limit value and the lower limit value of the voltage value to be determined are stored in advance in the memory of the microcomputer 31, and the voltage value input from each component is compared with this data to determine whether there is an abnormality or not, and to identify the abnormal location. Possible ways to do this. Further, the input cycle of the signal or the like may be taken into consideration as the criterion of judgment.

In addition, some of the failures that occur in a vehicle may or may not occur depending on the state of the vehicle that is running. In order to diagnose such a failure, data on the state of the vehicle when the failure occurs is necessary. The recorder 33 is configured to record data to be input to the failure diagnosis unit 30, and is used for diagnosis of a failure that cannot be analyzed by the failure diagnosis performed by stopping the automobile.

When the recorder 33 is activated to drive the automobile, the input data from each component is also input to the recorder 33 together with the microcomputer 31. Therefore, when a failure occurs during traveling, data indicating the state of the vehicle at that time is recorded in the recorder 33, and the microcomputer 31 can analyze the failure using the recorded data.

The operation unit 20 has an antenna 35, a signal transmission unit 25 and a display unit 27. The signal transmission unit 25
It has a mechanism capable of transmitting a plurality of types of signals giving instructions to the failure diagnosis unit 30, and can arbitrarily select information desired to be instructed to the failure diagnosis unit 30. Further, the antenna 35 transmits the failure diagnosis result output from the signal transmission unit 25 of the failure diagnosis unit 30 and displays it on the display unit 27.

Next, with reference to FIG. 2, a description will be given of transmission / reception of radio signals performed by the failure diagnosis unit 30 and the operation unit 20 of the present embodiment.

When the signal transmission unit 25 of the operation unit 20 transmits a signal and the signal is received by the antenna 35 connected to the microcomputer 31, the CPU 11 in the microcomputer 31 detects this. CP
U11 is an engine control device 1, a torque converter 3, a sensor 5
Data is input from each configuration such as, and the diagnostic results a to c are derived based on the input data according to a program stored in advance in the memory 13. In addition, the operation unit 20
If the signal transmitted from the device indicates the activation of the recorder 33, the recorder 33 is activated, the data to be input during driving is recorded, and after the recording is completed, the diagnostic result a based on the input data is recorded. Derive c.

When the operation unit 20 gives an instruction to display the diagnosis result, one or more of the diagnosis results a to c are sent from the signal transmission unit 25 of the failure diagnosis unit 30 to the operation unit 20 according to the instruction of the signal. It is transmitted to the antenna 35 and displayed on the display unit 27. It is also possible to display the data input from the engine control device 1, the torque converter 3, and the sensor 5 in addition to the diagnostic results a to c by the instruction of the signal from the operation unit 20.

In this embodiment described above, a case has been described in which one failure diagnosis unit is connected to a configuration for inputting data relating to a plurality of failures. However, the present invention is not limited to such a configuration, and for example, as shown in FIG. 3, the engine control device 1, the torque converter 3, and the sensor 5 each include a microcomputer 31, a recorder 33, a signal transmission unit 25, and an antenna 35. It is also possible to add and add and to exchange signals with the operation unit 20 wirelessly.

In the above-described embodiment, wireless communication can be performed between the vehicle failure diagnosis device and the operation section, so that the failure diagnosis section mounted on the vehicle can transmit and receive wirelessly. In this case, you can carry out the operation of the failure diagnosis while carrying the operation unit. Therefore, the degree of freedom of work is expanded, and work is facilitated.

Further, in the present embodiment, by providing the recorder for recording the data of the running vehicle, it is possible to obtain and diagnose the data of the failure which occurs intermittently depending on the running state of the vehicle.

[0026]

According to the vehicle failure diagnosis apparatus of the first aspect of the present invention, by exchanging information between the failure diagnosis section and the operation section by a radio signal, the work range for performing the failure diagnosis by the operation section is widened, and more It is possible to select an environment where it is easy to work.

A failure diagnosis device for an automobile according to claim 2 is
Since the failure diagnosis unit can perform failure diagnosis of the vehicle using the failure information while the vehicle is running, it is possible to perform failure diagnosis that occurs only while the vehicle is running.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an automobile failure diagnosis device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining signal transmission / reception of the automobile failure diagnosis device of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is another block diagram of the vehicle failure diagnosis device of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a conventional vehicle failure diagnosis device.

FIG. 5 is an external view of a conventional vehicle failure diagnosis device.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Engine control device, 3 ... Torque converter, 5 ... Sensor,
10 ... Microcomputer 11 ... CPU, 13 ... Memory 20 ... Operation part, 25 ... Signal transmission part 27 ... Display part, 30 ... Failure diagnosis part, 31 ... Microcomputer,
33 ... Recorder, 35 ... Antenna.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A failure diagnosis unit (30, 31) attached to a vehicle for inputting failure information of the vehicle and diagnosing a failure of the vehicle from the failure information, and an operation unit for operating the failure diagnosis unit ( 20) A vehicle failure diagnosis device comprising the operation unit (20), wherein the operation unit (20) is the failure diagnosis unit (30, 31).
And a receiving unit (35) for wirelessly receiving the diagnostic result output by the failure diagnosis unit (30, 31). The failure diagnosis device for an automobile, wherein the failure diagnosis unit (30, 31) includes a reception unit (35) that wirelessly receives an output instruction signal and a transmission unit (25) that wirelessly transmits a diagnosis result. . 2. The failure diagnosis section (30, 31) is a failure recording section (3) for recording failure information while the vehicle is running.
3. The vehicle failure diagnosis device according to claim 1, further comprising 3).