JPH1178676A - Multiplex communication type head lamp dimmer control device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a multiplex communication type dimmer control device which can make fail-safe of a communication line with less likelihood of being noticed by the driver. SOLUTION: A head lamp dimmer control device of multiplex communication type is structured so that the head lamp 11 being lighted is held at low beam after 10-second duration of the current projecting condition if a fail occurs in the communication line during the lighting of the head lamps 11 and 12 in conformity to the high beam signal and low beam signal fed from the same data line 5, wherein the current projection is maintained so as to use the high beam in priority when the fail is short and fixation to the low beam is made only when the fail is long where the shortness of the time to use the high beam and the temporariness of the fail in the communication line are taken into consideration.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a multiplex communication type headlamp dimmer control device for performing headlamp dimmer control using multiplex communication.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an automobile, the irradiation direction of a headlamp is
A dimmer control device that switches between a high (upward) beam and a low (downward) beam by a driver's operation is attached.

[0003] Such a headlamp dimmer control device uses a dimmer switch having a high beam contact and a low beam contact that conduct according to the forward / backward swinging of a column lever, and the headlamp is switched to a high beam. ,
A structure for switching to a low beam is used.

More specifically, as disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open Publication No. Hei 6-71292, each contact of the dimmer switch is
When the high beam headlamp and the low beam headlamp are connected with a harness, and the driver turns on the high beam contact by operating the column lever, the high beam headlamp is turned on and the low beam contact is also turned on. In this case, a structure in which a low-beam headlamp is turned on is adopted.

[0005]

In an automobile, it is required to reduce the weight of a vehicle body in order to improve running performance and the like. However, in the dimmer control device connected to the high / low beam headlamp via a harness for each contact, the lighting of the high / low beam of the headlamp is determined by the contact position of the dimmer switch. It tends to increase.

[0006] Therefore, a dimmer control device for transmitting multiple signals, for example, transmitting a serial signal to one honeys, and switching between a high beam and a low beam of a headlamp in accordance with the signal is required. It is considered.

Switching of high beam / low beam by multiplex communication is performed in the same way as used in door control systems (power windows, door mirrors, door locks), by inputting on / off signals for high beam and low beam input through the same communication line. Accordingly, the switching between the high beam and the low beam of the headlamp is performed.

Incidentally, the communication line is susceptible to, for example, noise and the like, and there is a possibility that a signal may not be transmitted normally due to the entry of noise, that is, a failure may occur.

Therefore, fail-safe is required. Especially around high beams (oncoming vehicles, pedestrians, etc.)
Therefore, it is required to prevent the high beam from continuing to be turned on unnecessarily or switching from the low beam to the high beam.

[0010] However, communication line failures are often transient, so if the driver is aware of the fail-safe operation, the fail-safe operation frequently occurs, and the driver is inconvenienced. Fail-safe communication lines are difficult.

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 provide a multiplex communication type dimmer control device capable of performing a communication line fail sale as little as possible by a driver. is there.

[0012]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a multiplex communication type headlamp dimmer control device according to the present invention, wherein a headlamp according to a high beam and a low beam signal input from the same communication line. When a failure occurs in the communication line while is lit, the irradiation state of the current headlamp is continued for a predetermined time in accordance with the previous signal, and then the lit headlamp is fixed to the low beam.

That is, a failure in a communication line due to the entry of noise or the like is transient, and the time is almost short in most cases. Therefore, even if the communication line fails while the headlamp is in the high beam, it is almost impossible to return to normal signal communication while the high beam is turned on with a delay from the occurrence of the failure. Almost.

Here, looking at the headlamps running at night, especially in an urban area, the irradiation with the low beam is mostly performed due to the relationship between oncoming vehicles and pedestrians.

[0015] Therefore, only when the remaining high beam lighting time is long and the failure can be continued for a predetermined time, the headlamp is switched from the high beam to the low beam and is held at the low beam.

When a failure occurs in the low beam, the low beam is held so as not to switch to the high beam. When the communication line returns, control returns to multiplex communication.

As a result, it is possible to prevent the high beam from continuing to be turned on unnecessarily or to switch from the low beam to the high beam without being noticed by the driver as much as possible. Therefore, dimming of the headlamp can be performed by multiplex communication while fail-safe of the communication line is performed without giving the driver anxiety. In particular, since most of the time for using the high beam is about 10 seconds, the predetermined time for continuing the current irradiation from the occurrence of the failure is preferably about 10 seconds.

In the headlamp dimmer control device,
In order to prevent unnecessary discharge of the battery, it is preferable to turn off the headlamp when the ignition switch is turned off during a communication line failure.

[0019]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, the present invention will be described based on one embodiment shown in FIGS. FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of a multiplex communication type dimmer control device mounted on, for example, an automobile (vehicle). In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a switch module corresponding to a lighting operation unit.

The switch module 1 includes a headlamp switch 2 that is turned on and off by operating a lighting operation column lever (not shown) disposed on a side of a steering handle, and a dimmer switch that outputs a high beam / low beam switching signal. 3 (for example, a momentary switch that outputs a pulse signal once each time the column lever is rocked) is connected to the transmission side 4a of the multiplex communication circuit unit.

The transmitting side 4a of the multiplex communication circuit has a function of transmitting the data of the on / off signals of the headlamp switch 2 and the dimmer switch 3 as a serial signal to, for example, one data line 5 serving as a communication line. The information necessary for lighting is multiplexed and transmitted from the same communication line.

On the other hand, reference numeral 10 denotes an EC constituting the dimmer control unit.
U. The ECU 10 includes: a receiving side 4b of a multiplex communication circuit that receives a serial signal transmitted from the data line 5;
A switch section 11a for turning on / off the high beam headlamp 11 and the low beam headlamp 12 of the automobile,
12a is built in. The microcomputer 10 is built in the ECU 10.

The microcomputer 13 has a function of discriminating between ON / OFF of the headlamp switch 2 and high / low of the dimmer switch 3 based on the data received on the receiving side 4b of the multiplex communication circuit. It has a function of operating the head lamps 11a and 12a, and turns on / off and turns on / off the head lamp according to an on / off signal of the head lamp switch 2 and a high / low switching signal of the dimmer switch 3 input from the switch module 1. The low beam lighting can be switched. In addition,
Reference numeral 14 denotes a battery that supplies power to the headlamp.

The microcomputer 13 has a fail determining function for determining whether a failure has occurred in the communication line depending on whether the cycle of transmitted data is normal or not, for example, during a lighting operation of the headlamp. Then, the irradiation state (high beam or low beam) of the current headlamp is changed from the previous signal for a predetermined period of time
For example, a continuation function for continuing (delaying) for 10 seconds, and a low beam holding function for holding the lighting of the low beam headlamp 12 in the event of a failure thereafter (both corresponding to low beam holding means) are set.

With this setting, the headlamp is switched from the high beam to the low beam to hold the low beam, and the low beam is not switched to the high beam only when the lighting time of the high beam is long and the failure lasts for a predetermined time (10 seconds). So that the low beam is held. When the communication line returns, control by multiplex communication is performed.

The microcomputer 13 is also provided with an extinguishing function (corresponding to an extinguishing means) for extinguishing the headlamp when the ignition switch of the car is turned off during a failure, so that unnecessary illumination of the headlamp is prevented. is there.

In such a multiplex communication type dimmer controller,
A communication line fail sale can be performed without being noticed by the driver. The control of this dimmer control device is shown in the flowchart of FIG.

Next, control of the dimmer control device will be described with reference to a flowchart. Now, suppose that the ignition switch is turned off, the engine is started, and the vehicle runs at night.

At this time, the driver operates the lighting operation column lever to secure the view,
The headlamp switch 2 is turned on. Then, the process proceeds to step S1, where the normal control of the headlamp according to the multiplex signal is performed.

That is, an ON signal of the headlamp switch 2 and a dimmer switch 3
Is multiplexed on the transmission side 4a of the multiplex communication circuit and transmitted as a serial signal to the same data line 5.

The ECU 10 determines the lighting operation from the received multiplexed data, for example, determines that the lighting is low beam lighting.
Only the switch section 12a is turned on, and the low beam headlamp 12 is turned on.

Then, it is assumed that the driver operates the dimmer switch 3 with the lighting operation column lever during driving because the high beam is needed. Then, the microcomputer 13 determines that the high beam is turned on according to the pulse signal transmitted from the transmission side 4a of the multiplex communication circuit, turns on the switch section 11a, and turns on the high beam headlamp 11
Lights up.

When the dimmer switch 3 is operated once more by the lighting operation column lever, the microcomputer 13 determines that the low beam is on, and turns on the low beam headlamp 12. A timer is set as in step S2, and a 10-second timer, which is a predetermined time, is set.

Here, it is assumed that a failure occurs in the communication line while the high beam headlamp 11 is lit, for example, a failure occurs in which noise mixes into the data line 5 and affects the data cycle.

Then, the computer 13 proceeds to step S
From the determination of the presence or absence of the failure shown in 3 to step S4 and thereafter, the fail-safe function is activated. That is, the microcomputer 13 starts counting the timer for 10 seconds from the occurrence of the failure at the start of the timer counting in step S5.

During this time, the headlamp continues to be lit in the current irradiation state, that is, in the high beam, according to the previous signal. Here, the failure in the communication line is transient,
Most of the time is short.

For this reason, while the high beam is turned on for a predetermined time of 10 seconds after the occurrence of the failure, most of the lights are returned to normal signal communication before the predetermined time, ie, 10 seconds, elapses in step S6. I do.

Here, when driving a car at night, especially in an urban area, the irradiation with a low beam is mostly performed due to the relationship between oncoming vehicles and pedestrians, and there are few opportunities to irradiate a high beam and the time is short. It is assumed that the time is long and the failure has continued for a predetermined time, that is, 10 seconds.

At this time, from step 6 to step S
At 7, the microcomputer 13 switches from the high beam to the low beam and fixes (holds) the low beam. As a result, the vehicle travels at night with a beam that does not affect the surroundings, that is, a low beam.

Of course, when a failure occurs in the low beam, the microcomputer 13 fixes the low beam so as not to switch to the high beam. After the lapse of 10 seconds, if the communication line returns to normal, the process returns to step S1, and the normal lighting (high, beam) of the headlamp according to the multiplex communication is performed.

When the ignition switch is turned off during the communication line failure, the microcomputer 13
Determines that it is not necessary to turn on the headlamp, proceeds from step S4 to step S8, and turns off the lit low-beam headlamp.

As described above, in consideration of the short time during which the high beam is used and the temporary failure of the communication line, when the failure is short, the current irradiation is performed to give priority to the use of the high beam. It keeps the high beam from turning on or switching from the low beam to the high beam only when the failure lasts for a long time, so that the communication line is kept as little as possible, that is, without anxiety to the driver, as much as possible. Fail sale can be performed.

Therefore, a multiplex communication type headlamp dimmer control device excellent in fail-safe can be realized. In particular, most of the time for using the high beam is about 10 seconds, so the predetermined time for continuing the current irradiation from the occurrence of a failure is 1 second.
0 seconds is good.

When the communication line returns to normal, the headlamp always starts lighting from the low beam.
There is no careless irradiation of the high beam. In addition, during the communication line failure, the headlamp was turned off with the ignition switch turned off,
Unnecessary discharge of the battery is prevented, and the performance of the dimmer control device can be improved.

In the above-described embodiment, an example has been described in which an electric signal is transmitted on the same communication line. However, a dimmer control may be performed by transmitting an optical signal on the same communication line.

[0046]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the time when the high beam is used is short, and the failure of the communication line is short in consideration of the transient failure of the communication line. At times, the current irradiation is maintained to prioritize the use of the high beam, and the low beam is maintained only when the failure is long, so that the high beam is kept on and switching from the low beam to the high beam is suppressed, so the driver is as much as possible The communication line can be failed without being noticed.

As a result, the communication line can be fail-safe without giving the driver anxiety, and a multiplex communication type headlamp dimmer control device excellent in fail-safe can be provided. Moreover, when the communication line returns to normal, the headlamp always starts lighting from the low beam, so that the high beam is not accidentally irradiated.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining a schematic configuration of a multiplex communication type dimmer control device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining a fail-safe function of the multiplex communication type dimmer control device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Switch module (lighting operation part) 2 ... Headlamp switch 3 ... Dima switch 5 ... Data line (communication line) 10 ... ECU (Dima control part) 11 ... High beam headlamp 12 ... Low beam headlamp 13 ... Microcomputer (Low beam holding means).

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A multiplex communication type dimmer control unit that performs lighting switching between a high beam and a low beam of a headlamp according to a high beam signal and a low beam signal input from a lighting operation unit through the same communication line; A multiplex communication type headlamp dimmer control, comprising: a low beam holding means for fixing the headlamp to a low beam after the previous signal is continued for a predetermined time when a line fails. apparatus.