JPH1089206A - Engine starting device for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reliably start a diesel engine without complicating constitution of a whole and to suppress power consumption of a battery. SOLUTION: When a control circuit 4 receives a start signal Sa from a transmitter 1, IG relays 8 and 9 are turned ON, and when, with a starting auxiliary circuit energized, a preheat completion waiting time elapses, by turning ON ST relays 10 and 11, a starter circuit is energized. This way effects cranking in a state that a glow plug is preheated. In this case, the control circuit 4 is operated such that when a diesel engine is not started, starting operation of the engine is re-executed in a state that the preheat completion waiting time is varied, and each time the starting of the engine successes, a current preheat completion waiting time is stored at a nonvolatile storage 17. Based on time distribution of ten times preheat completion waiting time, classification of an engine is decided and following preheat completion waiting times are set.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicular engine starting device for starting an engine from a remote place in response to a command from a transmitter.

[0002]

Conventionally, as an engine remote starting device of this kind, a starting auxiliary circuit having a glow plug (an ignition circuit for a gasoline vehicle) is energized when the vehicle to be mounted is a diesel vehicle. There is provided a switch in which the time from when the power is supplied to the starter circuit (for example, 1 second for a gasoline vehicle and 10 seconds for a diesel vehicle) can be arbitrarily set by a switch.

That is, in a diesel vehicle, it is necessary to start the engine with the glow plug preheated, so that 10 seconds can be set as a preheating completion standby time for that purpose.

[0004] However, in a diesel vehicle employing the quick glow, the actual preheating time can be only 2 to 3 seconds. As shown in FIG. 6, the time from when the glow plug is turned off in response to the completion of preheating until cranking is relatively long. For this reason, there is a problem that the preheated glow plug cools before it is cranked, and the startability of the engine deteriorates.

Further, the fact that the glow plug is kept off by the completion of preheating in the energized state of the starting auxiliary circuit means that a large amount of current is consumed depending on the load condition of the starting auxiliary circuit, and the life of the battery is reduced. May be shortened.

Further, the configuration in which the number of types of the preheating completion standby time can be set according to the type of the diesel vehicle has the disadvantage that the number of setting switches increases and the overall configuration becomes complicated.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to make it possible to reliably start a diesel vehicle and suppress power consumption of a battery without complicating the overall configuration. An object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle engine starting device.

[0008]

According to the present invention, there is provided a start detecting means for detecting that a diesel engine has started,
In response to a command from the transmitter, when a predetermined preheating completion standby time has elapsed while the start assist circuit having the glow plug is energized, an engine start operation for energizing the starter circuit is performed, and the engine start operation is performed. Regardless, when the start detection means does not detect the start of the engine, start control means for re-executing the engine start operation with the preheating completion standby time changed is provided, and the start detection means detects the start of the diesel engine. Storage means for storing the preheating completion standby time every time the storage is performed, and when the storage means stores a predetermined number of preheating completion standby times, the type of the diesel engine is determined based on the time distribution of the preheating completion standby time. After the type determining means is provided, the start control means determines the type of the diesel engine determined by the type determining means. It is obtained so as to set the preheat completion waiting time in the descending (claim 1).

According to such a configuration, when starting a diesel engine vehicle from a remote place, the transmitter is operated. Then, the start control means energizes the starter circuit when a predetermined preheating completion standby time elapses while energizing the start assist circuit in response to a command from the transmitter, and performs cranking. At this time, if the preheating of the glow plug of the start assist circuit is not completed or if the time from the turning off of the glow plug to the cranking is long, the engine may not be started. When the start detecting means does not detect the start of the diesel engine, the engine start operation is executed again with the preheating completion standby time changed. Therefore, regardless of the type of the diesel engine (quick glow or general glow), the engine can be started by executing the engine starting operation a plurality of times.

Here, the storage means stores the preheating completion standby time every time the start-up of the diesel engine is detected by the start detection means. Therefore, the storage means stores the predetermined number of preheating completion standby times. If so, the type of the diesel engine is determined based on the time distribution of the preheating completion standby time.

[0011] The start control means sets the subsequent preheating completion standby time according to the type of the diesel engine determined by the type determination means. Thus, the engine can be reliably started regardless of the type of the diesel engine.

In the above configuration, when the start control means sets the preheating completion standby time according to the type of the diesel engine, the start detection means starts the engine after the start control means supplies power to the starter circuit. A correction means for correcting the subsequent preheating completion standby time based on the start start time until the detection may be provided (claim 2).

According to such a configuration, the startability of the engine corresponds to the start start time from when the starter circuit is energized to when the start detection means detects the start of the engine. By correcting the preheating completion standby time, the diesel engine can be reliably started without being affected by the ambient temperature.

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 schematically shows the entire electrical configuration. In FIG. 1, a portable transmitter 1 is carried by a driver of an automobile, and according to the operation thereof, a start signal Sa and a stop signal S of predetermined codes for instructing start and stop of an engine of the automobile.
b is selectively generated, and the generated signal is transmitted, for example, as a radio signal.

The receiving unit 2 is provided with a receiving device 3 installed in a place where the radio wave receiving condition is good in the interior of a vehicle (a diesel vehicle in this embodiment). From the start signal Sa and the stop signal Sb. The receiving unit 2 includes, in addition to the receiving device 3, a control circuit 4 that receives the command signals Sa and Sb received by the receiving device 3 (start detection unit, start control unit, type determination unit, and correction unit of the present invention). And ACC relays 7, IG relays 8, 9, and ST relays 10, 11, which are controlled by the control circuit 4.

In this case, the power supply relays 5 and 6
The power supply circuit is formed by being connected to the vehicle-mounted battery in the closed state of a and 6a. The ACC relay 7 is configured to connect a vehicle accessory (air conditioner, audio, etc.) of the vehicle to the vehicle battery via the power supply relay 5 when the contact 7a is closed.

The IG relays 8, 9 have two starting auxiliary circuits (having glow plugs which are preheated by energization and turned off by completion of preheating) when the contacts 8a, 9a are closed.
Is connected to a vehicle-mounted battery. When the vehicle to be mounted is a gasoline-powered vehicle, two ignition circuits are connected to the vehicle-mounted battery through the contacts 5a and 6a of the power supply relays 5 and 6, respectively.

The ST relays 10, 11 are provided with contacts 10a, 1
The two starter circuits for energizing an engine starter (not shown) in the closed state of 1a are provided with power supply relays 5 and 5, respectively.
6, and is connected to a vehicle-mounted battery through contacts 5a and 6a.

On the other hand, the parking brake switch 12
Outputs the brake operation signal Sc in a state where the parking brake of the automobile is in the operation position. The shift position switch 13 outputs a parking signal Sd in a state where the automatic transmission of the vehicle is in the parking position. The hood switch 14 outputs a hood closing signal Se when the hood of the automobile is closed. The door lock detection switch 15 outputs a door lock signal Sf when all the door lock mechanisms of the vehicle are in a locked state. In this case, the signals Sc
To Sf are respectively given to the control circuit 4.

From the L terminal of the alternator 16 for generating electric power for charging the battery in accordance with the rotation of the engine, a signal which goes high when the engine is started is output to the control circuit 4.

The control circuit 4 includes a microcomputer and a non-volatile memory 17 as storage means, and each of the input signals Sa, Sb, Sc to S
The operation of each of the relays 5 to 11 is controlled based on f and a preset program. In the following, the control contents of the control circuit 4 and the operation of the parts related thereto will be described with reference to FIGS. This will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. Note that, as an explanation, it is assumed that the present apparatus starts from an initial state in which the apparatus is mounted on a diesel vehicle. Also,
For simplification of the description, the operation related to turning on / off the ACC relay 7 is omitted.

When the power is turned on (when the battery is connected), the control circuit 4 initializes the number of start histories and sets it to "0" (step S1). The number of times of the start history is the number of times the start history indicating the start state is stored when the start of the engine is successful, as described later.

When the diesel engine is started remotely, a start signal Sa is transmitted by operating the portable transmitter 1. Then, when the control circuit 4 receives a start signal from the portable transmitter 1 (step S2:
YES), in order to start the engine, first, it is determined whether the engine start conditions are satisfied (step S3).
In this case, the engine start conditions include a brake operation signal Sc, a parking signal Sd, and a hood closing signal S.
e, that all of the door lock signals Sf have been input, that is, that the parking brake is operating, that the automatic transmission is in the parking position, that the hood of the automobile is closed, The engine start condition is satisfied when all of the locked states of the mechanism are satisfied.

At this time, if the engine start condition is satisfied (step S3: YES), it is determined that it is safe to form a power supply circuit for starting the engine, and the power supply relays 5, 6 are turned on. (Step S4). As a result, the vehicle battery is connected to the ACC relay 7, the IG relays 8, 9 and the ST relays 10, 11 through the power supply relays 5, 6.

Subsequently, when executing the engine start operation, the control circuit 4 first determines whether or not the vehicle type determination has been completed (step S5). This vehicle type determination is to determine the type (quick glow or general glow) of the start assist circuit based on the start history as described later. In this case, since the vehicle type determination has not been performed yet (step S5: NO), the preheating completion standby time (from the start of the preheating of the glow plug to the cranking of the engine based on the preheating completion standby time table shown in FIG. 4). Is set (step S6). At this time, since there is no reception history up to the first reception since the power is turned on, the first time is set to 1 second as the preheating completion standby time TGLOW,
Set the fourth time to 4 seconds and the third time to 8 seconds.

Subsequently, the IG relays 8 and 9 are turned on (step S8). Thereby, the contact 8 of the IG relays 8 and 9
Since the vehicle battery is connected to the starting assist circuit through a and 9a and is energized, the glow plug of the starting assist circuit is preheated.

When 1 second, which is the preheating completion standby time TGLOW, has elapsed since the power was supplied to the starting auxiliary circuit (step S9: YES), the control circuit 4 turns on the ST relay (step 10). Then, the starter circuit is energized to perform cranking.

In this case, when the vehicle to be mounted is a gasoline-powered vehicle, the startability of the engine is good, but the startability of the engine is poor in a quick glow or general glow diesel vehicle. Although the engine starts in the case of a gasoline-powered vehicle due to the operation, in the case of a diesel vehicle of a quick glow and a diesel vehicle of a general glow, there is a low possibility that the engine will start due to insufficient preheating time of the glow plug.

Therefore, when the engine is mounted on a diesel vehicle as in this embodiment, the possibility of starting the engine is low. Therefore, as shown in FIG. Remains at the low level. Therefore, the control circuit 4 turns off the ST relays 10 and 11 when the set time (for example, 5 seconds) has elapsed (step S12: YES) (step S1).
3) Stop supplying power to the starter circuit.

When the engine has not been started in the first engine start operation, the control circuit 4 determines whether the engine start operation has been executed three times (step S1).
4). At this time, since only the first engine start operation has been executed, the second engine start operation is executed. That is, the electric power is supplied to the starter circuit four seconds after the electric power is supplied to the starting assist circuit, and the cranking is performed.

In this case, when the vehicle to be mounted is a quick glow vehicle, the glow plug is completely heated and turned off within a few seconds after energizing the start-up assist circuit, and cranking starts immediately after the glow plug is turned off. As a result, the alternator 17 starts power generation in response to the energization of the starter circuit as shown in FIG. 5, and the L terminal of the alternator 17 goes high. Therefore, the control circuit 4
Can determine that the engine has started.

When the vehicle to be mounted is a general glow diesel vehicle, preheating is in progress, and although the engine may start, the possibility is lower than that of the quick glow plug. Therefore, when the engine does not start in the second engine start operation, the control circuit 4
A third engine start operation is performed. That is, the power is supplied to the starter circuit 8 seconds after the power is supplied to the start-up assist circuit.

In this case, when the vehicle to be mounted is a general glow diesel vehicle, cranking is performed immediately after the glow plug is turned off after completing the preheating in accordance with the energization of the start-up assist circuit. Start.

When the control circuit 4 determines that the engine has been successfully started by the engine start operation as described above (step S11: YES), the control circuit 4 cranks the voltage and then outputs the voltage of the L terminal of the alternator 16. After the start start time TSTR (see FIG. 5) until the signal becomes high level is measured (step S15), the ST relays 10 and 11 are turned off (step S16) to stop the cranking.

Then, the stop signal Sb is input before the set time elapses from the portable transmitter 1 (step S17: YES), or when the set time elapses without inputting the stop signal (step S18). ), Turn off all relays (step S19). Thus, the warm-up operation of the diesel engine can be ended.

Subsequently, it is determined whether or not the vehicle type determination has been completed (step S20). If the vehicle type determination has not been completed, the engine start history is stored in the nonvolatile memory 17 (step S21). The start history stores the preheating completion standby time when the engine is successfully started. That is, when the engine is started in the first cranking, the start history of “1 second” is stored, and when the engine is started in the second cranking, “2 seconds” is stored.
Second start history is stored, and when the engine is started in the third cranking, a start history of "3 seconds" is left. In this case, a start history of "1 second" means that there is a high possibility that the vehicle is a gasoline vehicle, and a start history of "4 seconds" is likely to be a quick glow diesel vehicle or a general glow type diesel vehicle. Means that
A start history of “8 seconds” means that it is highly likely that the vehicle is a general glow diesel vehicle.

The control circuit 4 storing the starting history as described above determines whether or not the starting history has been stored ten times (step S22). If the starting history has not been stored, the process returns to step S2 to start. It waits for reception of signal Sa.

When the control circuit 4 receives the next start signal Sa from the portable transmitter 1, the control circuit 4 executes an engine start operation based on the stored start history and preheating completion standby time table. In other words, if there is a history of starting in "1 second", it is highly likely that the vehicle is a gasoline-powered vehicle. Therefore, the first time is set to 1 as the preheating completion standby time (time from energization to the ignition circuit to cranking).
Second, set the second time to 4 seconds, and set the third time to 8 seconds. this is,
In the case of gasoline-powered vehicles, it is highly possible that the engine will start even if the ignition circuit is energized for one second. is there.

When the start history of "4 seconds" is stored, the control circuit 4 has the highest possibility that the vehicle to be mounted is a quick glow diesel vehicle, and then the general glow diesel vehicle. Since it is highly probable that the first time of the preheating completion
Second, set the second time to 4 seconds, and set the third time to 2 seconds. this is,
In a quick glow diesel vehicle, when the energizing time to the start-up assist circuit is 8 seconds, cranking is performed in a state where the glow plug is cold, and there is a high possibility that the engine will not start. In immediately after the preheating of the glow plug is completed, cranking is performed,
Since it is highly possible that the engine will start, it is necessary to determine whether the engine will start with an energization time of 8 seconds to the start-up assist circuit to determine whether it is a quick glow diesel car or a general glow diesel car. Because it can be.

In this case, in the case of a quick-glow diesel vehicle, the engine does not start in the first engine start operation (8 seconds), but in the second (4 seconds) or third (2 seconds) engine start operation. The engine starts.

Accordingly, "2 seconds" or "4 seconds" is stored as the start history for a quick glow vehicle, and "8 seconds" is stored for a general glow diesel vehicle.

When the starting history of "8 seconds" is stored, the control circuit 4 presumes that the vehicle to be mounted is a general glow diesel vehicle. The first time is 2 seconds as the completion waiting time,
Set the second time to 4 seconds and the third time to 8 seconds. This is because, in a general glow diesel vehicle, when the energization time to the start-up assist circuit is 2 seconds, the preheating of the glow plug is not completed, the engine startability is poor, and there is a high possibility that the engine will not start. By confirming that the engine does not start in two seconds, the reliability of the determination that the vehicle is a general glow diesel vehicle can be increased.

As described above, when the control circuit 4 stores the start history 10 times in response to the successful start of the engine 10 times in response to the start signal Sa from the portable transmitter 1, S22: YES), the type of the engine of the vehicle to be mounted is determined based on the starting history. That is, when the vehicle to be mounted is a quick glow diesel vehicle, the engine does not start when the preheating completion standby time is 8 seconds, and it is highly possible that the engine will start in 2 or 4 seconds. If the engine is started five times or more in two or four seconds (step S23: YES),
Judge as a quick glow diesel vehicle.

If the vehicle to be mounted is a general glow diesel vehicle, the engine will not start if the preheating completion standby time is 2 seconds and it will likely start in 4 or 8 seconds. If the vehicle is started five times or more in four or eight seconds (step S24: YES), it is determined that the vehicle is a general glow diesel vehicle.

If the above condition is not satisfied, the start history is set to zero, and the start history is stored again until the start history reaches ten times. Based on the start history and the preheating completion standby time table, the start history is stored. Execute the engine start operation.

When the control circuit 4 determines the type of the vehicle to be mounted as described above, the control circuit 4 sets a preheating completion standby time TGLOW in the subsequent engine starting operation based on the determination result. That is, when it is determined that the mounting target is a quick glow vehicle, the first time is set to 2 seconds, the second time is set to 3 seconds, and the third time is set to 4 seconds as the preheating completion standby time TGLOW in the subsequent engine starting operation (step S2
5). Therefore, although the probability that the engine is started by the first engine start operation is extremely high, even when the engine is not started, the engine can be reliably started by the second and third engine start operations. .

When it is determined that the vehicle to be mounted is a general glow diesel vehicle, the first preheating completion waiting time TGLOW in the subsequent engine starting operation is 4 seconds,
The second time is set to 6 seconds, and the third time is set to 8 seconds (step S2)
6). Therefore, although the probability that the engine is started by the first engine start operation is extremely high, even when the engine is not started, the engine can be reliably started by the second and third engine start operations. .

In the case of a gasoline-powered vehicle, the engine can be started even if the time from energizing the ignition circuit to cranking is short, so that the ON time of the IG relays 8 and 9 is 1 second for the first time. The second time is 4 seconds,
For the third time, set 8 seconds.

In a diesel vehicle, the engine can be started by the preheating completion standby time TGLOW determined as described above. However, when the ambient temperature is low as in winter, the preheating completion standby time TGLOW In addition, the preheating of the glow plug may not be completed, and the startability of the engine may be deteriorated. In addition, when the ambient temperature is high as in summer, the time from completion of preheating in a short time during the preheating completion standby time TGLOW to cranking becomes longer, so that the energization time to the start-up assist circuit becomes longer. The power consumption of the battery may increase.

Therefore, in this embodiment, if the vehicle type determination has been completed when the engine has been successfully started by the engine starting operation (step S20: YES), the process proceeds to step S20.
The subsequent preheating completion standby time TGLOW is corrected based on the start time TSTR measured at 15.

That is, the control circuit 4 sets the preheating completion standby time T
If GLOW is less than 1 second (step S27: YES),
Judging that the preheating completion standby time of the glow plug is excessive and power consumption of the battery is large, the preheating completion standby time TGLOW is set to 1
It is reduced by seconds (step S28). Therefore, it is determined that the vehicle to be mounted is a quick-glow diesel vehicle, and the first time is 2 seconds and the second time is 3 seconds as the preheating completion standby time TGLOW.
When the second and third times are set to 4 seconds, the first preheating completion waiting time TGLOW is corrected to 1 second for the first time, 2 seconds for the second time, and 3 seconds for the third time.

Similarly, when it is determined that the vehicle to be mounted is a general glow diesel vehicle and the preheating completion standby time TGLOW is set to 4 seconds for the first time, 6 seconds for the second time, and 8 seconds for the third time, The first preheating completion waiting time TGLOW is set to 3 seconds for the first time, 5 seconds for the second time, and 7 seconds for the third time.

If the start time TSTR is 1 to 3 seconds (step S29: YES), it is determined that the startability of the engine is substantially good and the power consumption of the battery is substantially appropriate. Continue the preheating completion standby time TGLOW.

If the start time TSTR exceeds 3 seconds (step S30: YES), it is determined that the preheating time is insufficient and the startability of the engine is poor, and the preheating completion standby time T
GLOW is extended by one second (step S31). Therefore, when it is determined that the installation target vehicle is a quick glow diesel vehicle and the first preheating completion standby time TGLOW is set to 2 seconds, the second time is 3 seconds, and the third time is 4 seconds, the next preheating completion time is set. The waiting time TGLOW is 3 seconds for the first time, 4 seconds for the second time,
Correct the third time to 5 seconds.

Similarly, when it is determined that the vehicle to be mounted is a general glow diesel vehicle and the preheating completion standby time TGLOW is set to 4 seconds for the first time, 6 seconds for the second time, and 8 seconds for the third time, The first preheating completion waiting time TGLOW is set to 5 seconds for the first time, 7 seconds for the second time, and 8 seconds for the third time.

As a result of the calculation, the preheating completion standby time TGLOW
Becomes "0", the calculation is invalidated and the engine start operation is executed with the preheating completion standby time TGLOW before the calculation.

According to the above configuration, the portable transmitter 1
The engine start operation is performed with a predetermined preheating completion standby time in response to a start signal Sa from the vehicle, and the type of the diesel vehicle is determined based on a time distribution of a predetermined number of preheating completion standby times when the engine is successfully started. (Quick glow vehicle or general glow vehicle) is determined, and the subsequent preheating completion standby time is set based on the determination result. It is possible to prevent the startability of the engine from deteriorating due to the extremely long or short standby time, and to prevent unnecessary power consumption of the battery.

Further, since the preheating completion standby time set according to the type of the diesel vehicle is corrected in accordance with the startability of the engine, the preheating completion standby time becomes inappropriate due to the influence of the ambient temperature. Even in this case, the diesel engine can be reliably started by the engine start operation by correcting the preheating completion standby time to an appropriate time.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, but can be modified or expanded as follows. A gasoline-powered vehicle or a diesel-powered vehicle may be set as the vehicle to be attached, and when a diesel-powered vehicle is set, the type of the diesel vehicle may be determined.

[0060]

As is apparent from the above description, the vehicle engine starting apparatus according to the present invention has an effect. According to the first aspect, the type of the diesel engine is determined based on the time distribution of the preheating completion standby time when the start of the diesel engine is successfully performed a plurality of times by the engine starting operation. Since the engine start operation is performed with the preheating completion standby time set accordingly, the diesel engine can be reliably started with a simple configuration regardless of the type of diesel engine, and the power consumption of the battery is suppressed. Can be.

According to the second aspect, the preheating completion standby time set in accordance with the type of the diesel engine is corrected in accordance with the startability, so that the diesel engine can be reliably operated without being affected by the ambient temperature. Can be started.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an overall electrical configuration according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of a control circuit;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the control circuit;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing a preheating completion standby time table;

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing changes in battery voltage and alternator voltage;

FIG. 6 is a diagram corresponding to FIG. 5 showing a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 is a portable transmitter, 4 is a control circuit (start detection means, start control means, type determination means, correction means), and 17 is a non-volatile memory (storage means).

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A start detecting means for detecting that a diesel engine has started, and when a predetermined preheating completion standby time has elapsed in a state in which a start auxiliary circuit having a glow plug is energized in response to a command from a transmitter. Performs an engine start operation to energize the starter circuit, and restarts the engine start operation with the preheating completion standby time changed when the start detection means does not detect the engine start regardless of the engine start operation. Starting control means to be executed, storage means for storing a preheating completion standby time every time the start of the diesel engine is detected by the start detection means, and when the storage means stores a predetermined number of preheating completion standby times, Type determination means for determining the type of the diesel engine based on the time distribution of the preheating completion standby time, the start control Stage, the vehicle engine starting apparatus characterized by setting the preheating completion waiting time in later according to the type of diesel engine in which the type determination means determines. 2. When the start control means sets a preheating completion standby time according to the type of a diesel engine, the start control means supplies power to a starter circuit and then the start detection means detects the start of the engine. 2. The vehicle engine starting device according to claim 1, further comprising a correction unit configured to correct a subsequent preheating completion standby time based on the starting start time until the start.