JPS636382B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an automatic turn signal cancel device for a vehicle that cancels the operation of a turn signal device at an appropriate timing when changing direction.

Vehicles such as motorcycles change direction by tilting the vehicle body toward the direction to be changed when turning left or right, or are equipped with a bar handle whose displacement matches that of the front wheel. Motorcycles have a characteristic unique to motorcycles in that it is not possible to obtain a sufficiently large turning angle of the steering wheel, and by extension, a sufficiently large angle of return of the steering wheel when changing direction. Therefore, it is difficult to realize a device that can detect the turning angle and return angle of the steering wheel when changing direction and cancel the operation of the turn signal device based on the predetermined return angle of the steering wheel after turning the steering wheel. be. In addition, this vehicle may temporarily slow down or stop when changing direction, and the steering wheel may wobble from side to side at such low speeds, so if Even if it were possible to realize an automatic turn signal canceling device that detects the turning angle and return angle of the steering wheel, a problem arises in that it is extremely difficult to cancel the turn signal device at an appropriate timing.

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

An object of the present invention is to provide a sensor such as a potentiometer between a steering section and a vehicle body in a vehicle such as a motorcycle, and to generate a signal responsive to the turning angle of a steering wheel based on an output signal of the sensor. The electric circuit is designed to process the signal related to the steering wheel turning angle when changing direction at normal speed as a cancel signal, and to process the variable signal related to the steering wheel turning angle due to the wobbling of the steering wheel that occurs at low speeds as noise. To provide an automatic turn signal cancel device for a vehicle, which automatically cancels the operation of the turn signal device at an appropriate timing on the condition that the angle returned after turning the steering wheel is equal to or greater than a predetermined angle. It is in.

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

FIG. 1 is a system diagram of an automatic turn signal canceling device according to the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a specific circuit diagram.
The overall configuration will become clearer from Figure 1.

In FIGS. 1 and 3, A is a detection unit that detects the relative position of the steering wheel (steering unit) with respect to the vehicle body and outputs the position as a voltage signal,
Actually, it consists of a potentiometer (hereinafter referred to as a sensor) 1 interposed between the vehicle steering section and the vehicle body. A voltage is applied to the sensor 1 via a battery terminal 2 and a regulator 3. The output of sensor 1 is transmitted to noise removal circuit B at the next stage. Noise removal circuit B is controlled by vehicle speed detector C.

The noise removal circuit B is constituted by a cascade connection of a buffer amplifier 4, a semiconductor switch 5, an integrating circuit 8 consisting of a resistor 6 and a capacitor 7, and an amplifier 9. The on/off operation of the semiconductor switch 5 is controlled by the output of the vehicle speed detector C. As a result, the time constant of the integrating circuit 8 apparently changes depending on the vehicle speed, as will be described later.

Vehicle speed detector C operates transistor 1 by operation of reed switch 10, which is turned on and off by a magnet (not shown) that rotates in conjunction with the wheel.
1 is turned on and off, and when the terminal voltage of the capacitor 12 caused by the charging and discharging action in the capacitor 12 becomes less than the voltage set by the resistors 13 and 14, the amplifier 15 outputs a high level output. It is configured to be released. Therefore, the output of the vehicle speed detector C is maintained at a high level until the reed switch 10 changes from the on state to the off state and the capacitor 12 is discharged and then charged again to the above-mentioned set voltage. Switch 5 is turned on. As the vehicle speed increases, reed switch 1
Since the period in which switch 0 is turned on is shortened, the proportion of time that switch 5 is in the on state is small at low speeds.
At high speeds, the effect is that the proportion of time increases.

The terminal voltage of the capacitor 7 becomes the output of the noise removal circuit B, and the output is input to the comparison circuit D. In the comparator circuit D, a reference voltage set by resistors 16 and 17 is input. The reference voltage is equal to the voltage output from the sensor 1 when the vehicle is traveling straight, and is a voltage corresponding to the steering angle sensor. Therefore, the voltage and reference voltage output from the noise removal circuit B are input to each of the differential amplifiers 18 and 19, and by taking the difference between the respective voltages, the amplifier 1
At the outputs 8 and 19, a voltage corresponding to the actual steering angle at the time of direction change is output.
Two amplifiers 18 and 19 are provided for right turns and left turns. The outputs of amplifiers 18 and 19 are input to one input of amplifier 22 via diodes 20 and 21. The other input of the amplifier has a resistor 2
The voltage set by 3 and 24 is input. This set voltage corresponds to a predetermined steering wheel turning angle that is a standard for canceling the operation of the turn signal device.
Therefore, the comparator circuit D is configured such that the output of the amplifier 22 is at a low level when the voltage responsive to the actual steering wheel turning angle exceeds the set voltage, and becomes a high level when the voltage is below the set voltage.

E is an output circuit, when the output of the amplifier 22 becomes low level, the capacitor 25 is discharged, and when the output of the amplifier 22 becomes high level again, current flows through the capacitor 25 to the transistor 26, and the transistor 27 is discharged. The solenoid 28, which will be described later, is energized by making it conductive.

The turn signal device itself, which has conventionally been installed in vehicles, is separate from the above-mentioned turn signal cancel device, and includes a turn signal switch 29, a switch 30 that works with the turn signal switch 29, turn signal lamps 31, 32, and turn signal lamps 31, 3.
It consists of a turn signal relay 33 etc. that causes the blinker to operate. Turn signal switch 29, switch 30
The solenoid 28 operates to return to its original position by energizing the solenoid 28.

The operation of the turn signal cancel device configured as described above will be explained below.

When the vehicle changes its direction of travel at a predetermined running speed (a running speed other than low speed), the output of the vehicle speed detector C determines that the percentage of time that the semiconductor switch 5 is on is large. In order to achieve generates a voltage responsive to the steering angle of the amplifier 1.
It is input to terminals 8 and 19, respectively.

Therefore, when driving straight at relatively high speed with the turn signal device activated before changing direction, sensor 1 outputs a voltage corresponding to the steering angle center, and this voltage is passed through noise removal circuit B. It is input to amplifiers 18 and 19, but resistors 16 and 17
Since it is equal to the reference voltage given by the amplifier 18,
The output of the switch 19 becomes 0, so that no low-level output is output from the amplifier 22, and the turn signal device is not canceled. When the vehicle starts changing direction while maintaining the speed state described above, the output of the noise removal circuit B changes in accordance with the output of the sensor 1. Therefore, either the amplifiers 18 or 19 outputs a voltage corresponding to the steering wheel turning angle that actually occurs, and this voltage is compared with the set voltage. When the voltage exceeds the set voltage, that is, when the actual steering wheel turning angle exceeds the steering angle predetermined as the setting voltage, the output of the amplifier 22 becomes low level.
This output signal causes the capacitor 25 of the output circuit E to be discharged. When the direction change is almost completed and the driver begins to return the turned steering wheel to its original position, the steering wheel turning angle becomes smaller, and when the voltage falls below the set voltage, the output of the amplifier 22 becomes high level again. When the output of the amplifier 22 becomes high level, the capacitor 25 discharged during the direction change starts to charge, and this charging current causes the transistors 26 and 2 to be charged.
7 is made conductive, thereby energizing the solenoid 28. When the solenoid 28 is energized, the turn signal switches 29 and 30 are restored to their old neutral positions, thereby automatically canceling the operation of the turn signal device that was activated before the direction change.

The above effects occur on the condition that the output of the noise removal circuit B follows the output of the sensor 1 in a predetermined relatively high-speed running state other than a low-speed state. I can do things. In other words, as shown by signal states F and G in FIG. It occurs following the output state F, and the change in the output at the sensor 1 is transmitted relatively directly to the amplifiers 18 and 19, although there is a slight time delay, thereby eliminating the original cancellation. It is possible to obtain a signal indicating that the direction change has been completed.

However, at low speeds, the steering wheel wobbles irrespective of the vehicle's original direction change operation, and the sensor 1 generates a signal responsive to this type of steering wheel turning angle. It looks like H shown in FIG. When the vehicle is in a low speed state, as described above, the time percentage of the semiconductor switch 5, which is controlled by the output of the vehicle speed detector C, is in the on state becomes small, so the time constant of the integrating circuit 8 becomes apparently large, and as a result, At the output of the noise removal circuit B, the signal state H is attenuated to be below the set voltage as shown in I. Therefore, for example, after the turn signal device is activated, the vehicle slows down for some reason before changing direction, and at this time the steering wheel wobbles, and a signal H related to the steering wheel turning angle, which occurs for a short period of time, is sent to the sensor 1. Even if the signal H
is attenuated as I through noise removal circuit B,
That is, since the signal from the sensor 1 related to the steering wheel turning angle that may occur in the above state is removed as noise, the operation of the turn signal device will not be canceled by this signal. In other words, the operation of the turn signal device will not be canceled by mistake due to the wobbling of the steering wheel at low speeds, which is characteristic of motorcycles, and the operation of the turn signal device will always be activated at the appropriate timing based on the steering wheel turning angle that occurs during cornering. Operation can be canceled automatically.

In the above explanation, the automatic turn signal cancel device has been specifically limited to motorcycles, but
It goes without saying that the device according to the present invention is not limited to motorcycles, but can be used for general vehicles including bicycles.

As is clear from the above description, according to the present invention, it is possible to realize a device that automatically cancels the operation of a turn signal device by detecting a predetermined steering wheel turning angle and return angle when changing direction, and particularly at low speeds. Since the electrical circuit is configured to remove the steering wheel turning angle caused by wobbling etc. as noise, it is possible to automatically cancel the turn signal device at an extremely appropriate timing based on the turning angle and return angle of the steering wheel when changing direction. This effect is achieved.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show one embodiment of the present invention, in which Fig. 1 is a system diagram of an automatic turn signal canceling device, Fig. 2 is a diagram showing the states of output signals of the sensor and noise removal circuit, and Fig. 3 is a specific electric circuit. It is a diagram. In the drawing, 1 is a sensor, 5 is a semiconductor switch,
8 is an integration circuit, 10 is a reed switch, 28 is a solenoid, 29 is a turn signal switch, B is a noise removal circuit, C is a vehicle speed detector, D is a comparison circuit, E
is the output circuit.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A sensor that is interposed between the vehicle steering section and the vehicle body and outputs their relative positions as voltage signals;
A vehicle speed detector that uses the charging and discharging action of a capacitor based on the operation of a switch that turns on and off in conjunction with the rotational motion of a wheel to output a pulse whose cycle becomes shorter as the vehicle speed increases; a noise removal circuit that inputs the output of the sensor and has a switch means whose on/off operation is controlled by the output and an integration circuit; and a noise removal circuit that inputs the output of the noise removal circuit and has a reference voltage and a set voltage. A comparator circuit detects the amount of displacement of the steering section based on a reference voltage, compares it with a set voltage, and outputs a high level or low level output when the amount of displacement of the steering section is equal to or higher than the set voltage. 1. An automatic turn signal canceling device for a vehicle, comprising means for stopping blinking of the turn signal when the turn signal reaches a low level or a low level and becomes a low level or a high level again.