JPH11263283A - Auxiliary power type vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent traveling only by a motor output and to improve a driving feeling by comparing a human power corresponding car speed with an auxiliary power corresponding car speed after starting, continuing the driving of a motor if the speed is within an allowable range, and stopping or reducing the driving of the motor if the speed exceeds the allowable range. SOLUTION: The rotational speed of a crank sprocket 11 is detected by a rotational speed sensor 28, and if a motor is not ON, the time of starting is determined, the driving of the motor is immediately started, and the measuring of the passage of time is started. Then, while the crank sprocket 11 is rotated and, if the motor is also driven, a measuring time by a timer is added and, when the time from the measuring start is exceeded, a human power corresponding car speed is calculated, and an auxiliary power corresponding car speed is calculated from a motor rational speed. Then, these are compared with each other and, if the speed is within an allowable range, the driving of the motor is continued and, if the speed exceeds the allowable range, the motor is stopped.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an auxiliary power type vehicle in which wheels are driven by human power applied to a human power drive system and motor auxiliary power from an auxiliary power drive system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in this type of an electric assist bicycle, if it is configured to be able to start only with a motor assist power when no human power is supplied, an excessive load is imposed on a battery and a motor. Therefore, in order to prevent the vehicle from being started only by the motor assist power, a first conventional device has been proposed in which the motor assist power is taken out only when the crank sprocket, which is the rotating mechanism of the manual drive system, is rotating to some extent. Yes
No. 15356).

In the case of the first conventional apparatus, if only the rotational speed of the crank sprocket is used as a motor driving condition,
Even when the crank sprocket is rotated in the reverse direction, the motor is driven, and there is a risk that the vehicle will start using only the motor auxiliary power. In order to solve this problem, a second prior art device has been proposed which detects the rotation direction of a crank sprocket (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 52-9242).

[0004]

By the way, in the second prior art device, the structure for detecting the rotation direction of the crank sprocket is such that the rotation direction is detected by the order of the detection signals output from the two detection elements. ing.
Therefore, for example, by exchanging the above-mentioned two detection elements and signal lines with each other, it is possible to make the reverse rotation of the crank sprocket a normal rotation. Consequently, even in the case of the second conventional example, only the motor power is used without supplying human power. There is a problem that traveling becomes possible and the above-mentioned object cannot be achieved.

In the case of using the two detection elements, the motor does not rotate until both detection signals are output from the two detection elements. Therefore, depending on the positional relationship between the detection element and the non-detection unit, there is a problem that a large deviation occurs between the start of supplying human power and the start of driving of the motor, so that auxiliary power cannot be obtained at the time of starting, and the commercial value is reduced. .

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and it is possible to prevent the vehicle from running only by the motor output, and to improve the driving feeling by matching the driving start timing of the motor with the start timing of manual power supply. It is an object to provide an expression vehicle.

[0007]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, a human-powered driving system and an auxiliary power-driving system are provided in parallel, and the wheels are driven by human-power applied to the human-powered driving system and motor auxiliary power from the auxiliary power-driving system. In an auxiliary power type vehicle that is driven, a human-powered vehicle speed detecting means for obtaining a human-powered vehicle speed corresponding to a rotation speed of a rotation mechanism portion of the human-powered drive system, and an auxiliary corresponding to a motor rotation speed of the auxiliary power drive system The auxiliary power corresponding vehicle speed detecting means for obtaining the power corresponding vehicle speed, and the motor driving is started by detecting the human power corresponding vehicle speed at the time of starting, and after a lapse of a predetermined time after the start, a comparison result between the human power corresponding vehicle speed and the auxiliary power corresponding vehicle speed. And motor control means for stopping or decelerating the driving of the motor when the value exceeds the allowable range. It is a symptom.

A second aspect of the present invention is characterized in that, in the first aspect, the human-powered vehicle speed detecting means obtains a human-powered vehicle speed based on a maximum value of a rotation speed of a rotating mechanism portion of a human-powered drive system.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect, the human-power-responsive vehicle speed detecting means detects a rotational speed of the rotary mechanism by detecting mechanical irregularities on a crankshaft or a crank sprocket. It is characterized by.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect, the human-powered vehicle speed detecting means detects a rotational speed of the rotating mechanism by detecting a change in electromagnetic characteristics of a crankshaft or a crank sprocket. It is characterized by doing.

Here, there are various methods for controlling the magnitude of the motor auxiliary power in the present invention. For example, a constant value of auxiliary power set in advance regardless of the running speed or according to the running speed is supplied. It is also possible to employ an auxiliary power that changes at a predetermined change rate set in advance regardless of the running speed or according to the running speed.

[0012]

According to the auxiliary power type vehicle according to the present invention, the vehicle speed corresponding to the human power corresponding to the rotation speed of the rotation mechanism of the human power drive system and the motor rotation speed of the auxiliary power drive system are controlled. Detects the corresponding auxiliary power corresponding vehicle speed, and starts the motor by detecting the human power corresponding vehicle speed at the time of starting, and after a lapse of a predetermined time after starting, the comparison result between the human power corresponding vehicle speed and the auxiliary power corresponding vehicle speed is set in advance If it is within the allowable range, the driving of the motor is continued, and if it exceeds the allowable range, the driving of the motor is stopped or decelerated. The driving feeling can be improved by matching the start timing with the human power supply start timing. When the vehicle is decelerated, a method of maintaining the decelerated speed thereafter can be adopted.

That is, in the present invention, the motor drive is continued only when the comparison result between the human-powered vehicle speed and the auxiliary power-enabled vehicle speed is within a predetermined allowable range. Even so, it is extremely difficult to synchronize the pedal rotation speed and the motor rotation speed, and it is virtually impossible to run only with the motor power.

At the time of starting, the motor drive is started only by detecting the vehicle speed corresponding to human power. In addition, for example, gear-shaped irregularities are provided at a small pitch on the rotation mechanism portion of the human power drive system, and this is detected. As a result, the detection accuracy of the human-powered vehicle speed can be easily increased, so that the delay of the motor drive start timing at the start of the pedaling can be easily reduced, and the driving feeling can be improved.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the vehicle speed corresponding to human power obtained based on the maximum value of the rotation speed of the rotation mechanism portion of the human power drive system is compared with the vehicle speed corresponding to auxiliary power obtained based on the motor speed. Thus, the continuation, stop, or deceleration of the motor drive is determined, so that the problem that the motor frequently decelerates or stops due to fluctuations in the rotational speed of the pedaling can be avoided, and the driving feeling can be improved.

That is, the pedal rotation speed due to pedaling is not always synchronized with the vehicle speed. In particular, the pedal rotation speed is often delayed from the actual vehicle speed in the vicinity of the top dead center and the bottom dead center of the crank rotation. Depending on the method of detecting the corresponding vehicle speed, there is a possibility that the motor drive may be decelerated or stopped at the time when the pedal rotation speed is delayed, but in the present invention, based on the maximum value of the rotation speed of the rotation mechanism portion of the manual drive system Such a problem does not occur because a human-powered vehicle speed is determined. Note that the maximum value is often generated at a position rotated 90 ° from the top dead center.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the change in the electromagnetic characteristics of the crankshaft or the crank sprocket is detected by detecting the mechanical unevenness of the crankshaft or the crank sprocket. By detecting, the rotational speed of the rotation mechanism portion is detected, and the human-powered vehicle speed is obtained, so that the human-powered vehicle speed can be detected without making a large change to the bicycle frame having the normal structure.

[0018]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. 1 to 5 are views for explaining an auxiliary powered vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a side view of an electric assisted bicycle as the auxiliary powered vehicle, and FIG. FIGS. 3 and 4 are block diagrams of the auxiliary power supply device for the bicycle, and FIGS.
FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining the auxiliary power supply operation of the bicycle.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes an electric assist bicycle as an auxiliary power type vehicle according to the present invention,
Denotes a head pipe 3 and a pair of upper and lower down tubes 4a, 4b extending obliquely downward and rearward of the vehicle body from the head pipe 3.
A seat tube 5 extending substantially upright from the rear ends of the down tubes 4a, 4b;
A pair of left and right chain stays 6 extending substantially horizontally rearward from a connection portion between the chain stay 6 and the down tube 4b, and a left and right pair of connecting the rear ends of the chain stays 6 and the upper end of the seat tube 5 to each other. And a seat stay 7. The seat tube 5, the down tube 4b, and the chain stay 6 are welded to a bottom bracket 4c, which is a connection pipe arranged with its axis oriented in the vehicle width direction.

A front fork 8 is pivotally supported on the head pipe 3 so as to be rotatable left and right. A front wheel 9 is pivotally supported at the lower end of the front fork 8, and a steering handle 10 is fixed at the upper end. A saddle 12 is attached to the upper end of the seat tube 5. Further, a rear wheel (wheel) 13 is supported at the rear end of the chain stay 6.

In the bicycle 1 of the present embodiment, a human-powered drive system for transmitting the pedaling force (human power) applied by the occupant to the rear wheel 13 and an auxiliary power drive system for transmitting the motor auxiliary power to the rear wheel are arranged in parallel. In preparation.

The above-mentioned manual drive system has the following structure. A crankshaft 16 is inserted through the bottom bracket 4c located at the lower end of the center of the vehicle body frame 2 and is rotatably supported. A pedal 16b is rotatable at the tip of a crank arm 16a attached to both ends of the crankshaft 16. And a rear sprocket mounted on a rear wheel shaft via a one-way clutch 40 that transmits only driving force from the crank shaft side to the rear wheel side (see FIG. (Not shown) by a transmission chain 30.

The above-mentioned auxiliary power drive system is a one-way clutch which transmits the rotation of the electric motor 17 incorporated in the drive mechanism 55 mounted on the rear wheel shaft portion only to the speed reducer 41 and the driving force from the motor side to the rear wheel side. The transmission is transmitted to the rear wheel axle through the rear wheel shaft 42.

A battery 21 serving as a power source for the electric motor 17 and the like is accommodated in a rectangular parallelepiped case disposed below a carrier (loading bed) 31 behind the seat tube 5. This battery 21 is formed by connecting a number of unit cells in series. 32 is the carrier 31
It is a support frame that supports.

A controller 22, which functions as a motor control means for variably controlling the auxiliary power from the motor 17, is mounted between the down tubes 4a and 4b near the seat tube 5 side. It is fixed on the tube 4b.

On the right side of the controller 22, a rotation speed sensor 28 for detecting the rotation speed of the Kunks sprocket 11, which is a rotation mechanism of a human-powered driving system, is provided. The detection unit 28 of the rotation speed sensor 28
“a” detects the number of spokes 36 formed on the crank sprocket 11. The rotation mechanism of the manual drive system is not limited to the crank sprocket 11, and may be, for example, the crankshaft 16.

The detection signal from the rotation speed sensor 28 is sent to the MPU of the controller 22 via the I / F 51.
50 is input. The MPU 50 functions as a human-powered vehicle speed calculating means for obtaining a maximum value of the rotation speed of the crank sprocket 11 from the rotation detection signal from the rotation speed sensor 28 and calculating a human-powered vehicle speed from the maximum value.

The MPU 50 obtains the rotation speed of the motor 17 from the voltage / current values measured by the voltage / current sensor 29 during rotation of the motor and changes thereof, and calculates a vehicle speed corresponding to auxiliary power from the rotation speed. It functions as an auxiliary power corresponding vehicle speed calculating means.

Further, the MPU 50 determines that the vehicle is starting when the vehicle speed corresponding to human power changes from zero to a predetermined value or more based on the rotation detection signal from the rotation speed sensor 28, and waits for detection of the vehicle speed corresponding to auxiliary power. The driving of the motor 17 is started immediately, and when a predetermined time has elapsed after the start, the calculated vehicle speed corresponding to human power and the vehicle speed corresponding to auxiliary power are compared, and a difference or ratio between the two as a result of the comparison is set in advance. If it is within the allowable range, the motor continues to be driven, and if it exceeds the allowable range, it also functions as a motor control means for stopping or decelerating the driving of the motor 17 to gradually reduce the output.

More specifically, the drive control of the motor is performed by supplying a current corresponding to the calculation result from the battery 21 to the electric motor 1.
7 by outputting a control signal to the motor driver 66.

Next, the control operation of the motor 17 will be described in more detail with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First, the rotation speed sensor 28 detects the crank sprocket 11
When the rotation speed of the motor 17 is detected and the motor 17 is not turned on (steps S1 and S2), it is determined that the vehicle is starting, and the motor 17 is immediately started to be driven and the timer function in the MPU 50 is started. Is turned on to start measuring the elapsed time (steps S3, S4).

When the rotation of the crank sprocket 11 is not detected in the step S1, such as when the rider stops rowing before or after the start,
The motor 17 is turned off (step S5).

If the crank sprocket 11 is rotating and the motor 17 is also driving, the time measured by the timer is added (step S).
6) If the elapsed time from the start of the measurement in step S4 exceeds a predetermined T1, the crank sprocket 3
The vehicle speed corresponding to human power is calculated from the maximum value of the rotation speed of No. 5, and the vehicle speed corresponding to auxiliary power is calculated from the motor rotation speed (steps S8 and S9).

Then, the calculated vehicle speed corresponding to human power and the vehicle speed corresponding to auxiliary power are compared. If the difference or ratio between the two vehicle speeds is within a predetermined allowable range, the driving of the motor 17 is continued. Steps S8 and S9
Is repeated, and when the value exceeds the allowable range, the motor 17 is stopped (steps S10 and S11).

As described above, in the electric assisted bicycle 1 of the present embodiment, the difference or ratio between the vehicle speed corresponding to human power obtained from the maximum value of the pedal rotation speed and the vehicle speed corresponding to auxiliary power obtained from the motor rotation speed is set in advance. When the vehicle exceeds the allowable range, the drive of the motor 17 is stopped. Therefore, if the pedal is rowed in the reverse direction and the vehicle is started, it is extremely difficult to synchronize the vehicle speed corresponding to human power and the vehicle speed corresponding to auxiliary power. For this reason, the motor is practically stopped, so that it is possible to prevent the vehicle from running using only the motor power. In addition, when rowing is stopped during traveling, the motor stops because the difference or ratio exceeds the allowable range.

Further, since the spoke portion 36 is formed on the side surface of the crank sprocket 11, and the vehicle speed corresponding to human power is obtained by detecting the number of the spoke portion 36, the formation pitch of the spoke portion 36 is set small. By doing so, the detection accuracy can be easily increased, so that the deviation of the motor drive start timing from the manual power supply start timing can be easily reduced, and the driving feeling can be improved.

In the above-described embodiment, the spoke portion as the mechanical unevenness formed on the side surface of the crank sprocket 11 is detected.
Alternatively, a change in the electromagnetic characteristics of a portion such as the crankshaft 16 which is rotated by manual power supply may be detected, and the human-powered vehicle speed may be obtained from the detected value.

It is also possible to change the assisting force of the motor according to the vehicle speed calculated by the above method, and in such a case, the driving feeling can be further improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view of an electric assist bicycle as an auxiliary power type vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of a main part of the bicycle.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the auxiliary power supply device for the bicycle.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the auxiliary power supply device for a bicycle.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining the auxiliary power supply operation of the bicycle.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF REFERENCE NUMERALS 1 electric assist bicycle (auxiliary power vehicle) 13 rear wheel (wheel) 17 motor 28 rotation detection sensor (human-powered vehicle speed detection means) 29 voltage / current detection sensor (auxiliary power-compatible vehicle speed detection means) 35 crank sprocket (rotation mechanism part) ) 50 MPU (motor control means)

Claims (4)

[Claims] An auxiliary power type vehicle comprising a human power drive system and an auxiliary power drive system in parallel, wherein wheels are driven by human power applied to the human power drive system and motor auxiliary power from the auxiliary power drive system. A human-powered vehicle speed detecting means for obtaining a human-powered vehicle speed corresponding to the rotation speed of the rotating mechanism portion of the human-powered drive system, and an auxiliary power-compatible vehicle speed detecting means for obtaining an auxiliary power-compatible vehicle speed corresponding to the motor rotational speed of the auxiliary power drive system When starting, the motor starts to be driven by the detection of the human-powered vehicle speed, and after a lapse of a predetermined time from the start, if the comparison result between the human-powered vehicle speed and the auxiliary power-compatible vehicle speed is within a preset allowable range. Continue driving the motor,
An auxiliary power type vehicle comprising: motor control means for stopping or decelerating the driving of the motor when the driving force exceeds an allowable range. 2. An auxiliary powered vehicle according to claim 1, wherein said human-powered vehicle speed detecting means obtains a human-powered vehicle speed based on a maximum value of a rotation speed of a rotation mechanism portion of a human-powered driving system. 3. An auxiliary vehicle according to claim 1, wherein said human-powered vehicle speed detecting means detects a rotational speed of said rotary mechanism by detecting mechanical unevenness of a crankshaft or a crank sprocket. Powered vehicle. 4. A vehicle speed detecting means according to claim 1, wherein said human-power-responsive vehicle speed detecting means detects a rotational speed of said rotary mechanism by detecting a change in an electromagnetic characteristic of a crankshaft or a crank sprocket. Auxiliary powered vehicle.