JPH10184505A - Starting device for internal combustion engine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a starter device for an internal combustion engine provided with a starter motor which is optimized while considering starting and stopping motions, connectable to a voltage source through a starter relay for operating the internal combustion engine. SOLUTION: A starter relay 14 and/or a starter motor 12 is controlled by means of an electronic control unit 18. Semiconductor output means 20, 22 arranged inside the relay 14 and/or the motor 12 are controlled, in at least starting and stopping motions of an internal combustion engine such that the relay 14 is at an engagement position in the stopping state of the internal combustion engine.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an internal combustion engine provided with a starter motor connectable to a voltage source via a starter relay (insertion relay) and operable to operate the internal combustion engine. For example, the present invention relates to a starting device for starting an internal combustion engine of a vehicle.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As is well known, an internal combustion engine must be started using a starting device. This is because the internal combustion engine cannot start operation by itself. For this purpose, usually a starter motor connected to a voltage source via a starter relay configured as a so-called insertion relay is used, and at the same time the pinion of the starter motor meshes with the ring gear of the flywheel of the internal combustion engine to operate. It is getting started. It is known to control a starter relay via a vehicle ignition switch or a starter switch to switch on the starter relay. The starter relay realizes that the relatively high starter current required for starting the internal combustion engine can be switched using a relatively low control current.

It is also known to equip vehicles with so-called automatic start / stop devices. This makes it possible to automatically shut off the internal combustion engine in the case of a relatively long stop, for example a red light. When the vehicle continues to run,
An automatic restart of the internal combustion engine takes place, and driving can continue. Detection of the stop state or the start state
For example, it can be performed via a suitable sensor that detects the rotational speed of the drive wheels (for a stopped state) or the operation of an accelerator pedal (for a started state).

This automatic start-stop system has the advantage of saving fuel or reducing environmental pollution during periods of shutdown. However, it is disadvantageous in that the internal combustion engine must be renewed via the starter motor each time a new starting process is performed. In each case, the pinion of the starter motor is engaged with the ring gear of the flywheel of the internal combustion engine. This is associated with high mechanical loads on the pinion and the ring gear. This load is caused on the one hand by engagement and on the other hand by an acceleration force (rotational acceleration) occurring during the start period. In addition, each restart causes a time delay. The reason for this is that the pinion must be newly engaged with the ring gear.

[0005]

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a starting device in which these disadvantages are avoided.

[0006]

According to the invention, this object is achieved by an arrangement according to the characterizing part of claim 1.

The starting device according to the invention has the advantage that the engagement process is time-independent of the starting process. The control of the starter relay and / or the starter motor is controlled by the internal combustion engine when the starter relay and / or the semiconductor power output stage assigned to the starter motor is stopped at least during the start / stop operation of the engine. The engagement takes place via an electronic control unit which controls to have an engagement position, so that the engagement is advantageously achieved during the stopping process, so that the starting state of the starting state is It is possible that the pinion is in its engaged state. This allows the engagement to be optimized for a more elaborate, wear-free engagement. This is because the subsequent starting process is not directly imminent, so that, besides the time savings, the wear of the engaged members is minimized. The start-up process is regularly started only when careful engagement of the starter relay (pinion) with the internal combustion engine (ring gear) has already taken place.

[0008] Further advantageous embodiments of the invention are described in the other claims.

[0009]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a starting device 10 for starting an internal combustion engine (not shown). The starting device 10 includes a starter motor 12 and a starter relay (insertion relay) 14. Since the configurations and operations of the starter motor 12 and the starter relay 14 are generally known, they will not be described in detail within the following description. Importantly, the starter relay 14 is energized by operation of the start switch connected to the terminal 16 in FIG. 1, the result is closed the contacts K _B for connecting the starter motor 12 to the supply voltage U in one, which on the other hand Irrespective of this, a pinion (not shown) of the starter motor 12 is engaged with a ring gear (also not shown) arranged on the crankshaft of the internal combustion engine.

The control of the starter relay 14 and the starter motor 12 is performed via a control device 18. This control device is connected between terminal 16 and starter relay 14 or starter motor 12.

Using the control device, the semiconductor power output stage 20
And 22 are controlled. The semiconductor power output stage 22 connects the starter relay 14 to the supply voltage U
Connect to The supply voltage U, which is not only for the starter relay 14 but also for the starter motor 12, is supplied in the vehicle by an on-board power supply network, ie on-board battery or generator.

The semiconductor power output stages 20 and 22 are connected to the terminal 24 and thus the supply voltage only when the corresponding contact unit 26 is triggered via a vehicle start switch, for example an ignition switch, which is connected to the terminal 16. U
Is to be connected to. Since the contact unit 26 is advantageously implemented with a self-holding function,
After the start switch is released, the supply voltage U is still applied to the semiconductor power output stages 20 and 22. An emergency cutoff switch 28 is arranged in the connection between the contact unit 26 and the semiconductor power output stages 20 and 22. Via this switch, the starting device 10 can be decoupled from the supply voltage U.

The semiconductor power output stages 20 to 22 are assigned to freewheel diodes 30 and 32. These diodes take on the freewheel current generated when the starter relay 14 or the starter motor 12 (inductive load) is cut off.

The control device 18 is connected via a connection line 34 to control connection terminals of the semiconductor power output stages 20 to 22.

The control device 18 includes a microprocessor 36
And an erroneous connection prevention unit 3 which is simply shown here.
8. High voltage setter (Hochsetzsteller) 40, voltage regulator 42, buffer 44, voltage limiter 46, control driver 4
8 as well as circuit components such as the supercharging pump 50. Further, a disconnection detection unit 52 connected to the contact unit 26 and a transceiver (hereinafter, the whole is referred to as a bus system 56) connected to a bus system 56 of the vehicle are provided. Further, a temperature detector 58 is provided. The individual circuit components of the control device 18, for example the anti-misconnection 38, are only used for the internal operation of the control device 18 and are not required for the actual control functions of the starting device 10.

The starting device 10 shown in FIG. 1 functions as follows: First, the vehicle having the starting device 10 starts in a so-called start-stop operation. That is, the internal combustion engine of the vehicle itself has already started and automatically shuts off when the vehicle stops. For this,
Before the internal combustion engine shuts off, a delay time to be waited can first be predetermined. For example, the signal is transferred to a bus system 5
6, via a sensor element that can be supplied to
During the stop state, the control device 18 detects the stop state of the crankshaft of the internal combustion engine. Based on this, the control device 18 supplies a signal to the semiconductor power output stage 22 which controls the starter relay 14, so that the semiconductor power output stage is closed and the starter relay 14 is connected to the supply voltage U via the contact unit 26. I do. Contact unit 2 via connection terminal 60
At 6, it is signaled that the vehicle as a whole is in start / stop mode. On the other hand, ie when the internal combustion engine is stopped, for example when the vehicle is parked, the contact unit 26 is open, so that a connection to the supply voltage U is not possible.

The semiconductor power output stage 22 includes the starter relay 1
4, which controls to engage the pinion of the starter motor 12 to the ring gear of the internal combustion engine, whereas since contact closing of K _B is not performed, the starter motor 12 remains inoperative. Therefore, at first, the engagement in the stop state is performed without knowing when the stop state shifts to the start state. Thus, the engagement process is not time-critical. This is because the engagement is not directly followed by a starting process. The engagement can therefore be optimized for an optimal, that is, especially careful and wear-free, engagement of the pinion with the ring gear. Since the starter relay 14 remains engaged during the entire stop state, the start-up process of the internal combustion engine can be started upon triggering of the start-up state, i.e. without the time loss associated with engagement. For this purpose, the control of the starter motor 12
The control unit 18 controls the semiconductor power output stage 20 and thereby influences the main current of the starter motor 12.

By controlling the starter motor 12 via the semiconductor power output stage 20, the start-up characteristics of the starter motor 12 can very advantageously be influenced by the control device 18. That is, for example, so-called soft start of the starter motor 12 can be realized. That is, the starter motor increases its rotation speed with the characteristic curve that increases with the start of the starting state. Due to this, there is still play between the pinion of the starter motor 12 and the ring gear of the internal combustion engine.
Before 2 reaches its maximum torque, it can first be made to compensate slowly. Maximum torque, a semiconductor power output stage 22 is fully conductive control, and thus the contact K _B
Is realized by closing. The control of the semiconductor power output stage 20 can then be interrupted. This achieves a significant reduction in the wear of the mechanical part of the starting device 10. This is because a shock load between the pinion and the ring gear due to a sudden start with the highest torque is avoided. Further, since the starting short-circuit current of the starter motor 12 can be limited, the load on the vehicle-mounted voltage supply unit of the vehicle is reduced. At the same time, the armature rotational acceleration is limited by the soft start of the starter motor 12, so that the load on the starter motor 12 is similarly reduced as a whole. Therefore, as a whole, the endurance time of the starting device 10 is further increased.

A current sensing element 62 is provided to provide the control unit 18 with information about the current state of the starter relay 14 and / or the starter motor 12, so that the information provided by the current sensing element 62 is provided. The control of the starting process via the control device 18 is possible via the feedback connection of.

The self-sustained rotation of the internal combustion engine, ie the start of the internal combustion engine, has been successfully completed and can be detected by the control unit 18 itself, for example by evaluating voltage and current signals,
Alternatively, it can be supplied to the control device from the outside via the bus system 56, for example. Since the control device controls the semiconductor power output stage 22 based on this, the semiconductor power output stage 22 is opened. Since the starter relay 14 is restored on the basis of this, the pinion contacts K _B is opened and the starter motor 12 is disengaged from the ring gear.
Accordingly, the starting process of the internal combustion engine is automatically interrupted. The disengagement of the pinion from the ring gear is controlled by the control device 18.
Time optimized by This makes it possible to dispense with the provision of an additional mechanical freewheel device at the pinion. By omitting this additional mechanical freewheel device, on the one hand the weight is reduced,
On the other hand, the mass to be accelerated by the starter relay 14 during the engagement is small,
Can be designed electrically for a correspondingly smaller lead input. This is because it is not necessary to move the mechanical freewheel device with the pinion during the engagement or disengagement process.

With the configuration of the control device 18 having the microprocessor 36, the control device 18 can be realized intelligently. That is, the microprocessor 3
With the aid of 6, the time course of the start-up of the internal combustion engine, in particular the engagement and / or disengagement of the starter motor 14, can be recorded and evaluated. This allows for an automatic alignment of the controls for the individual components of the starter 10 over the life of the starter 10. In particular, parameterization of the control signals for controlling, for example, the semiconductor power output stages 20 and 22 can be performed. Thus, for example, by allowing the increased wear of certain components to be taken into account in the starting system, the control characteristics can be adjusted to the starting device 10.
Can vary over the life of the device. The file of parameters that determines the control of the individual components of the starting device 10 can be provided in a non-volatile, operationally programmable memory, for example an EEPROM. By connecting the control device 18 to the bus system 56 of the vehicle, information and / or signal exchange with other components of the vehicle can very advantageously take place. For example, it is possible to receive data for signaling a stop or start state of the internal combustion engine. Further, the starter motor 1
Thus, information on the spontaneous rotation of the internal combustion engine causing the disengagement of 2 can be obtained in this simple manner. In addition, internal and / or external diagnostics of the entire starting device 10 can be performed via the bus system 56 for possible false monitoring or false detection.

FIG. 2 shows another block diagram of the starting device 10. 1 have the same reference numbers and are not described again. Therefore, refer to the description of FIG. 1 for its function.

In contrast to the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, here the starter relay 14 is realized as a bistable relay. That is, the armature of the starter relay 14 can be positioned at two defined end positions. The end position is predetermined on the one hand by the engagement position and on the other hand by the disengagement position. With a corresponding control, the armature of the starter relay 14 can change its position accordingly. Thus, unlike the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the starter relay 14 must be energized during the entire stop state of the internal combustion engine, and only a control pulse needs to be sent to the starter relay 14. There is the advantage that there is. In this case, the starter relay changes its position by the control pulse. For this purpose, it is possible, for example, to provide a bridge circuit for effecting a corresponding switching of the starter relay 14 in order to urge the armature movement in one or the other direction.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block circuit diagram of a first embodiment of a starting device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block circuit diagram of a second embodiment of the starting device according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

Reference Signs List 10 starter, 12 starter motor, 14 starter relay, 18 controller, 20, 22 semiconductor power output stage, 26 contact unit, 36 microprocessor, 56 bus system

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Albert Geiger Germany Eberdingen Novalisweg 8 (72) Inventor Bernhard Stephan Ludwigsburg Germany Reichstrasse 25 (72) Inventor Manfred Ackermann Germany Oppenweiler Mittelgasse 3

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. A starting device for starting an internal combustion engine, comprising a starter motor connectable to a voltage source via a starter relay (insertion relay) and operable to operate the internal combustion engine. , The starter relay (14) and / or the starter motor (1)
The control of 2) is performed via an electronic control unit (18), which is connected to the starter relay (14) and / or the starter motor (12). At least in the start / stop operation of the internal combustion engine.
(4) A starting device for starting the internal combustion engine, wherein the starting device is controlled to have the engaged position when the internal combustion engine is stopped. 2. The engine for starting an internal combustion engine according to claim 1, wherein the starter relay is energized to a stopped engine so that the starter relay remains in its engaged position. Starting device. 3. A starting device for starting an internal combustion engine according to claim 1, wherein said starter relay (14) is bistable, wherein the two switching positions are determined by an engaged position and a disengaged position. . 4. The motor according to claim 1, wherein the starter motor is controlled via the control device such that a soft start with a rising rotational speed characteristic curve is performed. A starting device for starting an internal combustion engine according to claim 1. 5. The engine for starting an internal combustion engine according to claim 1, wherein the starting short-circuit current of the starter motor can be limited via the control device. Starting device. 6. The control device according to claim 1, wherein said starter relay is electrically shifted to a disengaged position when said internal combustion engine runs independently. A starting device for starting an internal combustion engine according to claim 1. 7. The control device (18) has a microprocessor (36) which monitors and detects the entire starting and stopping process, so that the intelligent operation of the starting device (10) is achieved. The starting device for starting an internal combustion engine according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the control can be performed. 8. A microprocessor, wherein a non-volatile, in-service programmable memory is assigned to the microprocessor for parameterizing components of the starter over the operating duration of the starter. A starting device for starting an internal combustion engine according to any one of claims 1 to 7. 9. The control device according to claim 1, wherein the control device is connected via a bus system to other devices of the vehicle for information and / or signal exchange. A starting device for starting the internal combustion engine according to any one of the preceding claims.