JPS6310038B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a detection circuit for a steering angle center in a vehicle.

More specifically, the center position of the steering wheel, which fluctuates in a running vehicle, i.e., the center position of the steering wheel relative to the axis of the vehicle while moving straight, is detected by electric circuit means, and this makes it difficult to accurately determine the center position of the steering wheel in a stationary state due to variations in parts. Further, the steering angle center can maintain the center position, which is low in precision due to various factors during use, with substantially good accuracy, and the center is not affected by the movement of the steering wheel while driving. Regarding a detection circuit.

The steering angle center of a vehicle such as a motorcycle is difficult to set accurately in a stationary state during the manufacturing process because there are usually slight variations in the parts that make up the steering handle. In many cases, it can be set as follows. Furthermore, even if the steering angle center can be set with high precision, the steering angle center may not always be positioned accurately when the vehicle is disassembled and reassembled. As described above, the steering angle center of the vehicle determined by the mechanical configuration is extremely delicate.

For example, if we consider a device that automatically restores the turn signal using the turning angle of the steering wheel, this type of device requires that the turning angle can be stably generated relative to the center position of the steering wheel, or Unless the center position, which serves as a reference for measuring the turning angle, can be accurately set, it is difficult to make the automatic restoring function work reliably. Therefore, apart from automobiles equipped with rotary steering wheels that allow a large steering angle, in motorcycles equipped with bar handles whose steering angle is relatively small, the center position of the steering wheel, that is, the aforementioned steering angle center, is subject to variations in parts and It is necessary to be able to set it stably with good accuracy during cornering without being affected by positional deviation after disassembly and assembly or by movement of the steering wheel while driving.

In this way, even in vehicles such as motorcycles, it is possible to accurately determine the turning angle of the steering wheel when changing course, and thus it is possible to realize the above-mentioned automatic direction indicator restoring device. . Furthermore, the above concept is not limited to just motorcycles, but can be applied to vehicles in general.

In view of the above-mentioned technical problems, the present inventors have created the present invention in order to effectively solve the problems.

The object of the present invention is to utilize the property that the steering angle center, which normally fluctuates while the vehicle is running, is that when the vehicle is traveling straight at a certain speed or higher, the steering angle is almost 0, and a center is generated. Another object of the present invention is to provide a detection circuit for detecting the steering angle center of a vehicle, which is stabilized by an integral circuit and set in an electrical circuit, thereby enabling stable detection at all times.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to be able to set the steering angle center of a vehicle with high precision, thereby realizing an automatic turn signal restoring device that utilizes the steering wheel turning angle of a vehicle such as a motorcycle, and furthermore, to realize An object of the present invention is to provide a detection circuit for a steering angle center in a vehicle that can be adopted in various devices related to a steering angle center used in a vehicle.

A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. This will make the content of the invention clear.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a steering angle center detection circuit according to the present invention, in which a vehicle speed detection circuit 2 is added to a steering angle center detection circuit 1 in a narrow sense.

3 and 4 are power supply terminals, each connected to a battery. Reference numeral 5 denotes a sensor that detects the movement of the steering shaft relative to the vehicle body. This sensor 5 is configured using a potentiometer, and detects, for example, the relative positional relationship between the steering shaft and the head pipe of a motorcycle, that is, the steering wheel of the vehicle body. The position relative to the axis is generated as a predetermined voltage. As for the direction in which the voltage is generated, for example, a reference voltage is set when the steering axis is considered to be at the center position, and when the angle shift due to rotation occurs to the right, the voltage becomes larger than the reference voltage.
Also, a method is adopted in which the voltage becomes smaller than the reference voltage when the angle deviation occurs to the left.

The voltage detected by the sensor 5 is input to an amplifier 6 and sent via the amplifier 6 to the next switch 7. The switch 7 is formed using the switching action of a semiconductor, and its operation is determined depending on the output of the vehicle speed detection circuit 2. A vehicle speed detection circuit 2 consisting of a photocoupler 8, transistors 9 and 10, etc., turns off the transistor 10 and turns off the switch 7 when the vehicle speed is lower than a preset speed.
When the speed is higher than the set speed, the transistor 10 is turned on and the switch 7 is turned on.

Therefore, when the vehicle speed is less than the set speed, the output of the amplifier 6 is not sent to the next stage because the switch 7 is off. When the vehicle speed is higher than the set speed, the switch 7 is on, so the capacitor 11 is charged by the output of the amplifier 6. resistance 12
Since an integrating circuit is formed by the capacitor 11 and the capacitor 11, charging is performed in a time determined by a predetermined time constant. Due to the charging action of the capacitor 11,
The detected voltage of the sensor 5 is held as the terminal voltage of the capacitor 11 and outputted to the terminal 14 via the amplifier 13.

The output voltage of the sensor 5 when the vehicle is running at a speed higher than the set speed is approximately detecting the steering angle center, and thus a reference voltage corresponding to the steering angle center can be detected at the terminal 14. .

While the vehicle is running, the voltage detected by the sensor 5 slightly fluctuates due to the movement of the steering wheel, but this has almost no effect on the voltage at the terminal 14 due to the integration circuit described above.

Also, when turning the steering wheel when cornering,
The time constant of the integrating circuit is determined to be sufficiently larger than the time it takes to turn the steering wheel.

For the above reasons, the voltage at terminal 14 can be regarded as approximately representing the steering angle center. Thereafter, when the vehicle speed becomes lower than the set speed, the switch 7 is turned off, but the voltage at the terminal 14 is not changed because the terminal voltage of the capacitor 11 is maintained as it is.

In the above configuration, the switch 7 is turned on and off depending on the set vehicle speed, but this means that if you try to find the steering angle center using only the integration circuit,
This is to eliminate this problem since if the steering wheel is left in a turned state, that state will be output as the steering angle center.

FIG. 2 shows a circuit diagram of an automatic direction indicator restoring device as an example using the steering angle center detection circuit. 5 is the sensor, 2 is the vehicle speed detection circuit, 15 is the distance detection circuit, and 1 is the steering angle center detection circuit, and the circuit 1 outputs a voltage corresponding to the steering angle center as described above.

The output voltage of circuit 1 is input to respective amplifier terminals of differential amplifiers 16 and 17 as shown.
The detection voltage of the sensor 5 is input to the other terminals of the amplifiers 16 and 17, and the steering angle (steering wheel turning angle) determined as the deviation from the steering angle center at the time of course change is determined by either the amplifiers 16 or 17. Measured as voltage. The outputs from the amplifiers 16 and 17 are input to a comparator 18, and when the voltage related to the steering angle in the comparator 18 becomes larger than the voltage given by the resistors 19 and 20, a high level output is produced, and the voltage If it is smaller than , it will produce a low level output. In the state before the course change, that is, in the straight forward state, the output of the comparator 18 outputs a low level state.

When the driver turns on the turn signal switch 21 to the left or right when changing course, the switch 22 is interlocked and a turn signal relay 23 is operated to cause a predetermined turn signal lamp 24 to blink.
At this time, the input terminal 25a of the NAND circuit 25 is set to high level.

When the turn signal switch 21 is turned on and the vehicle is traveling straight, the output of the comparator 18 is at a low level, so the NAND circuit 25 outputs a high level output.
The counter 26 is maintained in a reset state. When the vehicle starts to change its traveling direction after traveling straight, a voltage related to the steering angle obtained with reference to the steering angle center is generated at point b by either the amplifiers 16 or 17, and this voltage is provided as a dead band of the comparator 18. When the voltage exceeds the set voltage, the output of the comparator 18 becomes high level. The set voltage is for reading when the steering wheel is turned off to change direction. When the output of comparator 18 becomes high level, NAND circuit 2
The output of 5 becomes low level and the counter 26 is set. The set counter 26 counts the pulses generated from the distance detection circuit 15, outputs an output after counting a predetermined number of pulses, sets the flip-flop 27, and causes the flip-flop 27 to generate a high level output. When the flip-flop goes high, capacitor 28 is charged. When the vehicle almost completes its course change and returns to the straight-ahead state again, the output of the comparator 18 becomes a low level, which causes the output of the NAND circuit 25 to become a high level.
The counter 26 and flip-flop 27 are reset. Reset flip-flop 27
Since the output becomes a low level, the transistor 29 is turned on by the terminal voltage of the capacitor 28 charged as described above, and as a result, the transistor 30 is turned on.
turns on and current flows through the solenoid 30, which turns on the turn signal switch 21 and the switch 22.
to return to its old position before the operation. In this way,
The blinker lamp 24 will be automatically restored.

In the above embodiment, an example in which the steering angle center detection circuit according to the present invention is used in an automatic direction indicator restoration device has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and various devices related to the steering angle center can be used. Of course, it can be used for.

As is clear from the above description, according to the present invention,
The steering angle center can be determined in a stable state while the vehicle is running, so even if a less accurate steering angle center is used, it can be corrected and obtained. In particular, if the present invention is used, the steering angle center will not be affected by fluctuations caused by the movement of the steering wheel while driving, so it is possible to realize an automatic restoration device for a direction indicator that uses steering angle detection and has good operational performance. can be achieved.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram of a steering angle center detection circuit, and FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram of an automatic direction indicator restoring device. In the drawings, 1 is a steering angle center detection circuit in a narrow sense, 2 is a vehicle speed detection circuit, 5 is a sensor, and 15 is a distance detection circuit.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A sensor that outputs a signal corresponding to the turning angle of the steering wheel, and a memory element provided with a delay means that delays and inputs the output signal of this sensor and stores it in memory.
a switch means interposed between the storage element and the sensor, and a vehicle speed detection means for detecting the speed of the vehicle, and the switch means is configured to switch the switch means based on an output signal of the vehicle speed detection means when the vehicle is running. A steering angle center detecting circuit for a vehicle, characterized in that the sensor is configured to close the sensor and output the output signal of the sensor as a signal representing the steering angle center via a storage element.