JPH11208495A - Automatic steering device for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent certainly the illicit use of a vehicle by utilizing an automatic steering device for the vehicle. SOLUTION: When the illicit use of a vehicle against the will of the possessor is sensed (Step 7), for example on the basis of the door being opened by any other means than the use of a regularly specified key, the vehicle speed is sensed by a speed sensing means (Step 8). If the sensed vehicle speed is below 20 km/h (Step 9), a control part puts on a steering actuator on the basis of the data of undue use preventive mode read out of a memory part, and the front wheels are turned to the max. angle either to the left or right so that the vehicle is not capable of moving in any intended direction, and thus illicit use is prevented (Step 10). If the vehicle speed is over 20 km/h, the control part puts on the steering actuator on the basis of the data of undue use preventive mode read out of the memory part, and the front wheels are steered reciprocatively to the left and right in a minor steering angle, and thereby the vehicle is precluded from illicit use (step 11).

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic steering apparatus for a vehicle which automatically performs steering by an actuator without depending on a driver's steering operation.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An automatic steering apparatus for such a vehicle is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No.
No. 74256 and JP-A-4-55168. The automatic steering devices for these vehicles use an actuator of a conventionally known electric power steering device, and control the actuator based on a relationship between a moving distance of the vehicle and a steering angle stored in advance to control the back parking or the like. Parallel parking is performed automatically.

In order to prevent unauthorized use (theft, etc.) of the vehicle by anyone other than the owner, a proper key is registered in the vehicle, and the door is opened by other means without using this key. An unauthorized use prevention device that issues an alarm or prohibits the start of an engine in such a case is known.

[0004]

However, even if the start of the engine is prohibited by the above-mentioned conventional unauthorized use prevention device to prevent the unauthorized use of the vehicle, it is illegal if the vehicle can be moved, for example, by towing. There is a problem that its use cannot be reliably prevented.

[0005] The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has as its object to reliably prevent unauthorized use of a vehicle by using an automatic steering device for the vehicle.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, a first aspect of the present invention is a moving trajectory storing means for storing a moving trajectory of a vehicle, and the trajectory is replaced with a steering operation by a driver. An automatic steering device for a vehicle, comprising: an actuator that steers wheels based on a movement locus stored in a storage unit; and an unauthorized use state detection unit that detects an unauthorized use state of the vehicle. When detected, the actuator steers wheels based on the stored movement trajectory.

[0007] According to the above configuration, when the unauthorized use state detecting means detects that the vehicle has been illegally used, the actuator turns the wheels based on the movement locus stored in the movement locus storage means. A person cannot run the vehicle in the intended direction, thereby preventing unauthorized use. Unauthorized use of the vehicle refers to a situation in which the vehicle is used by a person other than the owner against the will of the owner.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the configuration of the first aspect, the movement trajectory is a movement trajectory given by turning a wheel to a large turning angle. .

According to the above configuration, since the wheels are turned to a large turning angle, the vehicle cannot be driven in the intended direction, and illegal use is reliably prevented. The large turning angle corresponds to the turning angle when the steering wheel is rotated by 360 ° or more from the neutral position in the embodiment, and the value can be set as appropriate.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in addition to the configuration of the second aspect, the movement locus when the vehicle speed is low is given by turning the wheels to a large turning angle. It is a trajectory.

According to the above configuration, when the vehicle speed is low, the wheels are steered to a large turning angle, so that the vehicle cannot travel in the intended direction even at low vehicle speed. The low vehicle speed is a vehicle speed of less than 20 km / h in the embodiment, and its value can be set as appropriate.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the configuration of the first aspect, the moving trajectory is a moving trajectory provided by periodically turning the wheels back and forth at a small steering angle. Features.

According to the above configuration, since the wheels are periodically reciprocated at a small steering angle, the vehicle cannot be driven in the intended direction, and illegal use is reliably prevented. The small turning angle corresponds to the turning angle when the steering wheel is rotated from the neutral position by 20 ° to 90 ° in the embodiment, and the value can be set as appropriate.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the configuration of the fourth aspect, when the vehicle speed is a high vehicle speed, the moving trajectory turns the wheels periodically back and forth at a small steering angle. Characterized in that the movement trajectory is given by

According to the above configuration, when the vehicle speed is high, the wheels are periodically reciprocated at a small steering angle, so that the vehicle cannot travel in the intended direction even at high vehicle speed. . The high vehicle speed is a vehicle speed of 20 km / h or more in the embodiment, and its value can be set as appropriate.

[0016]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described based on embodiments of the present invention shown in the accompanying drawings.

FIGS. 1 to 5 show an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is an overall structural view of a vehicle provided with an automatic steering device, FIG. FIG. 4 shows a mode selection switch and an automatic parking start switch, FIG. 4 is a flowchart of an unauthorized use prevention program,
FIG. 5 is a graph showing the steering angle at the time of unauthorized use.

As shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle V has a pair of front wheels W
f, Wf and a pair of rear wheels Wr, Wr. The steering wheel 1 and the front wheels Wf, Wf, which are the steered wheels,
A steering shaft 2 that rotates integrally with the steering wheel 1, a pinion 3 provided at the lower end of the steering shaft 2, a rack 4 meshing with the pinion 3, left and right tie rods 5, 5 provided at both ends of the rack 4, and a tie rod 5 , 5 are connected by left and right knuckles 6, 6. A steering actuator 7 composed of an electric motor is connected to the steering shaft 2 through a worm gear mechanism 8 in order to assist the driver in operating the steering wheel 1 or to perform automatic steering for preventing automatic parking and unauthorized use as described later. You.

The steering control device 21 includes a control unit 22 and a storage unit 2
3 which are composed of, the control unit 22, the front wheels Wf based on a rotation angle of the steering wheel 1, a steering angle detecting means S ₁ for detecting the steering angle of Wf theta, steering torque of the steering wheel 1 Torque detecting means S for detecting
₂ , the front wheel rotation angle detecting means S ₃ , S ₃ for detecting the rotation angle of the left and right front wheels Wf, Wf, the brake operation amount detecting means S ₄ for detecting the operation amount of the brake pedal 9, and the selection lever 10. has been shifted range ( "D" range, "R" range, "N" range, the "P" range, etc.) and shift range detecting means S ₅ for detecting the front of the vehicle V,
Signals from a total of eight object detection means S ₆ provided at the central part and the rear part, and vehicle speed detection means S ₁₀ , S ₁₀ for detecting the vehicle speed based on the rotational speeds of the left and right rear wheels Wr, Wr. Is entered. The object detecting means S ₆ comprises a known sonar, radar, television camera or the like. The lines connecting the eight object detecting means S ₆ to the control unit 22 are omitted to avoid complication of the drawing.

The driver in order to prevent the said vehicle V is unauthorized to while away the vehicle V, unauthorized use preventing switch S ₉ is connected to the control unit 22. The control unit 22 is provided with unauthorized state detecting means 24, the unauthorized state detecting means 24 detects an unauthorized use of the vehicle V when the unauthorized usage prevention switch S ₉ is turned ON, the control unit 22 will be described later The operation of the steering actuator 7 is controlled based on the data of the two types of unauthorized use prevention modes, and the front wheel W is controlled.
f and Wf are automatically steered.

Referring to FIG. 3 together, it is apparent that
In order to perform the automatic parking of the vehicle V, the mode selection switch S ₇ and automatic parking start switch S ₈ is operated by the driver is connected to the control unit 22. Mode selecting switch S ₇ is operated to select later-described four types of parking mode, i.e. reverse parking / right mode, reverse parking / left mode, one of the parallel parking / right mode and parallel parking / left mode It has four buttons. Automatic parking start switch S ₈ is operated to start automatic parking according to any of the mode selected by the mode selection switch S _7.

The storage section 23 constituting the movement locus storage means of the present invention stores the data of four types of parking modes and the data of two types of unauthorized use prevention modes in the moving distance X of the vehicle V.
Is stored in advance as a table representing the relationship between the reference steering angle θref and the reference steering angle θref. The moving distance X of the vehicle V is obtained by multiplying the known circumference of the front wheel Wf by the rotation angle of the front wheel Wf detected by the front wheel rotation angle detecting means S ₃ , S ₃ . The moving distance X is calculated using a high select value, a low select value, or an average value of the outputs of the pair of left and right front wheel rotation angle detecting means S ₃ , S ₃ .

Thus, the control unit 22 controls each of the detection means S
The operation of the steering actuator 7 based on signals from _{1 to} S ₆ and S ₁₀ and switches S ₇ , S ₈ and S ₉ , the parking mode data and the improper use prevention mode data stored in the storage unit 23. And the operation of the operation stage teaching device 11 including a liquid crystal monitor, a speaker, a lamp, a chime, a buzzer, and the like.

Next, the operation of the embodiment of the present invention having the above configuration will be described.

No automatic parking or unauthorized use prevention
Normal mode (the mode selection switch S ₇Or illegal use
Prevention switch S₉The steering is not operated)
The control device 21 is a general power steering control device.
Function. Specifically, the driver turns the vehicle V
When the steering wheel 1 is operated in order to
Torque detecting means S_TwoIs input to the steering wheel 1.
The detected steering torque is detected, and the control unit 22 determines the steering torque.
Control of the steering actuator 7 based on the
I do. As a result, driving of the steering actuator 7
The left and right front wheels Wf, Wf are steered by the force, and the driver
-The steering operation is assisted.

Next, the contents of the automatic steering control will be described by taking a back parking / left mode (a mode in which the vehicle is parked while backing to a parking position on the left side of the vehicle V) as an example.

First, as shown in FIG. 2 (A), the vehicle V is moved to the vicinity of the garage to be parked by the driver's own steering operation, and the left side of the vehicle body is brought as close as possible to the garage entrance line. Predetermined criteria (for example, marks or side mirrors inside doors)
Stops the vehicle V at a position (start position) that coincides with the center line of the garage. Then, ON the automatic parking start switch S ₈ with to select the back parking / left mode by operating the mode selection switch S ₇ Then, the automatic steering control is started. While the automatic steering control is being performed, the operation stage teaching device 11 switches the current position of the own vehicle, surrounding obstacles, the parking position, the expected movement trajectory of the own vehicle from the start position to the target position, and forward to reverse. The turning position and the like are displayed, and various instructions and warnings such as operation of the select lever 10 at the turning position are given to the driver by voice from the speaker.

[0028] by the automatic steering control, driver of alone without operating the steering wheel 1, which is selected by the mode selection switch S ₇ back parking / left mode to creep running the vehicle V loosen the brake pedal 9 data , The front wheels Wf, Wf are automatically steered. That is, the front wheels Wf, Wf are automatically steered to the right while the vehicle V moves forward from the start position to the turning position, and the front wheels Wf, Wf are automatically steered to the left while the vehicle V moves backward from the turning position to the target position. .

As is apparent from FIG. 2B, while the automatic steering is being performed, the control unit 22 reads the reference steering angle θref of the back parking / left mode read from the storage unit 23 and detects the steering angle. It calculates the deviation E (= θref-θ) based on the has been steered angle theta input from the means S _1, the deviation E to control the operation of the steering actuator 7 so that 0. At this time, the data of the reference turning angle θref is the vehicle V
Is set in accordance with the moving distance X of the vehicle V, the vehicle V always moves on the moving locus even if the vehicle speed of the creep running varies slightly.

Since the above-mentioned automatic steering control is executed while the vehicle is creeping while the driver depresses the brake pedal 9, when the driver finds an obstacle, the driver depresses the brake pedal 9 immediately to move the vehicle V. Can be stopped.

The automatic steering control described above, the driver but is released when OFF the mode selecting switch S _7, if the driver also has otherwise takes his foot from the brake pedal 9, the driver operates the steering wheel 1 If you, either object detecting means S ₆ is released if an obstacle is detected, to return to normal power steering control.

Next, the contents of the unauthorized use prevention program will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

Firstly, if unauthorized use prevention switch S ₉ in step S1 is not turned ON, the automatic parking begins described above in step S2, followed by terminating the program when the automatic parking in step S3 is completed. On the other hand, if the unauthorized use prevention switch S ₉ at step S1 is turned ON, the automatic parking begins described above in step S4, the automatic parking is completed at step S5, the unauthorized use preventing program proceeds to step S6 Activate.

In a succeeding step S7, it is determined whether or not the unauthorized use of the vehicle V is detected by the unauthorized use state detecting means 24. The occurrence of unauthorized use is detected, for example, when the door is opened by other means without using a proper key. If unauthorized use of the vehicle V is detected, it detects the vehicle speed by a vehicle speed detecting means S _10, S ₁₀ in step S8. In this case, the vehicle V may be running with its own engine, or may be running towed by another vehicle.

In the following step S9, the detected vehicle speed becomes 2
If it is less than 0 km / h, the process proceeds to step S10, and the control unit 22 activates the steering actuator 7 based on the data of the unauthorized use prevention mode read from the storage unit 23 (see the solid line in FIG. 5). As a result, the front wheels Wf, W
f is turned to one of the left and right at a large turning angle, so that the vehicle V cannot move in the intended direction, thereby preventing unauthorized use. The large turning angle corresponds to, for example, a turning angle when the steering wheel 1 is rotated by 360 ° or more from the neutral position.

On the other hand, in step S9, the vehicle speed is 20 km / h
If so, the process proceeds to step S11, and the control unit 22 operates the steering actuator 7 based on the data of the unauthorized use prevention mode read from the storage unit 23 (see the broken line in FIG. 5). As a result, the front wheels Wf, Wf are reciprocated to the left and right at a small steering angle, so that the vehicle V cannot move in the intended direction, thereby preventing unauthorized use. The small turning angle corresponds to, for example, a turning angle when the steering wheel 1 is rotated by 20 ° to 90 ° from the neutral position.

[0037] Subsequently, in step S12, it is determined whether or not the vehicle speed detected by the vehicle speed detecting means S _10, S ₁₀ becomes 0 (that is whether the vehicle V is stopped), if the vehicle V is stopped Move to step S13. Then, if a predetermined time (for example, several minutes) elapses in step S13, it is determined that the unauthorized use of the vehicle V has been completely prevented, and the unauthorized use prevention program ends in step S14.

As described above, the storage unit 23 for storing the data of the parking mode for performing the automatic parking is used, and the data of the unauthorized use prevention mode is also stored therein. By steering the front wheels Wf, Wf using the steering actuator 7, the unauthorized use of the vehicle V can be reliably prevented at low cost.

Although the embodiment of the present invention has been described above, various design changes can be made in the present invention without departing from the gist thereof.

For example, in the embodiment, the unauthorized use prevention device is constituted by using the automatic steering device for automatic parking. However, the unauthorized use prevention device may not have the automatic parking function. In the standard steering angle data in the unauthorized use prevention mode shown in FIG. 5, the movement distance X on the horizontal axis can be changed to time.

[0041]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, when the unauthorized use state detecting means detects that the vehicle has been illegally used, it is based on the movement locus stored in the movement locus storage means. As a result, the actuator steers the wheels, so that an unauthorized user cannot run the vehicle in the intended direction, thereby preventing unauthorized use.

According to the second aspect of the present invention,
By turning the wheel to the large turning angle, the vehicle cannot be driven in the intended direction, and illegal use is reliably prevented.

According to the third aspect of the present invention,
Since the wheels are steered to a large turning angle when the vehicle speed is low, the vehicle cannot travel in the intended direction even at low vehicle speeds.

According to the invention described in claim 4,
The wheels are periodically steered back and forth at a small steering angle, so that the vehicle cannot be driven in the intended direction and illegal use is reliably prevented.

According to the invention described in claim 5,
When the vehicle speed is high, the wheels are periodically turned back and forth at a small steering angle, so that the vehicle cannot travel in the intended direction even at high vehicle speed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a vehicle including an automatic steering device.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of an operation in a back parking / left mode.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a mode selection switch and an automatic parking start switch.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of an unauthorized use prevention program.

FIG. 5 is a graph showing a steering angle at the time of unauthorized use.

[Explanation of symbols]

7 steering actuator (actuator) 23 storage unit (movement trajectory storage means) 24 unauthorized use state detection means V vehicle Wf front wheel (wheel)

Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code FI B62D 119: 00

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A trajectory storage means (23) for storing a trajectory of a vehicle (V), and a wheel (5) based on a trajectory stored in said trajectory storage means (23) instead of a steering operation by a driver. An actuator (7) for steering the vehicle (Vf), an unauthorized use state detecting means (24) for detecting an unauthorized use state of the vehicle (V) is provided. An automatic steering apparatus for a vehicle, wherein an actuator (7) turns a wheel (Wf) based on the stored movement trajectory when a use state is detected. 2. The automatic steering apparatus for a vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the trajectory is a trajectory given by turning a wheel (Wf) to a large turning angle. 3. The moving locus according to claim 2, wherein the moving locus when the vehicle speed is low is a moving locus given by turning the wheel (Wf) to a large turning angle. Automatic vehicle steering system. 4. The automatic steering of a vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the trajectory is a trajectory given by periodically reciprocatingly turning a wheel (Wf) at a small turning angle. apparatus. 5. The trajectory when the vehicle speed is high is a trajectory given by periodically turning the wheel (Wf) back and forth at a small steering angle. 5. The automatic steering device for a vehicle according to 4.