SE505276C2 - Arrangement for eliminating the rest position of a manually actuated actuator of a motor vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

The determination system includes sensors (21,39) to determine the current setting of various vehicular manual controllers, e.g. accelerator and gear lever. A memory (23) stores at least the sensor data under idle conditions, under control of a regulator (9). The regulator is connected to other sensor outputs (25,41,45) so that idle data from the first sensor is only stored if corresponding logic conditions apply, e.g. only store accelerator data if brake pedal is operated. Pref. the regulator is linked to a vehicle speed sensor (29) so that accelerator data are only stored if, additionally to the actuation of the brake pedal, the vehicle velocity is greater than a predetermined threshold. ADVANTAGE - Automatic storage of data during vehicle operation.

Description

40 505 276 2 lever operation, which sensor senses the movement of the grip handle and initiates the disengagement of the clutch for the subsequent shifting process. Similar problems can also occur with sensors that sense the gearbox gear position. Such sensors are known, for example, from DE-A-38 36 145 and DE-A-39 15 218. These adjustment problems also occur with these sensors in connection with the rest position of the gear lever. However, it is known from DE-A-38 36 145 to "set" limit value information, which represents a predetermined equipment or movement of the gear lever, by storing the position information in a data memory in a manner not further described. The object of the invention is to provide a method in which a comparatively frequent updating of stored sleep position data of an actuator can be carried out automatically during the operation of the vehicle.

This object is solved according to the invention in that the control is connected to sensor means which react to the control of a prescribed mode of operation by the same hand or by the same foot as the first-mentioned actuator, manually operable second actuators from its rest position or to a change in the position of the second actuator and that the controller stores the idle state data of the first actuator in the data memory only when the sensor means emit signals which represent a current actuation of the second actuator.

The idea underlying the invention is to manually ensure by means of the second actuator to be actuated that at the time of actuation of the second actuator the driver of the vehicle does not simultaneously maneuver also the first actuator, the rest position of which is to be sensed. If the first actuator is actuated or actuated with the foot, the second actuator must also be an actuator which must be actuated by the same foot of the driver. The same applies to controls that must be operated by hand. In this context, it is understood that the term "manual actuation of the actuators" refers to both maneuvering by foot and maneuvering by hand.

According to a preferred further development, the invention is used for determining or ascertaining the rest position of the accelerator pedal, which is operated in the usual manner by the driver with the right foot. The vehicle's brake is also usually operated with the right foot. The rest position data for the accelerator pedal is thus stored in the data memory only during the operation of the foot brake pedal.

Especially in the case of automated clutch or in the case of automatic transmission, many drivers use e.g. in queues the left foot for braking, while the right foot later maneuvers the accelerator pedal. In order to ensure in such an operation no falsified position data is stored in the data memory, it is ensured according to a preferred embodiment that the control is connected to a travel speed sensor of the vehicle and that the position data for the accelerator pedal is stored in the data memory only when in addition to the operation predetermined threshold. The threshold is expediently so high that it does not normally appear through the travel speeds determined therefrom in the ranking area. Suitable values are between 20 and 50 km / h, preferably between 30 and 40 km / h.

A further measure by which the storage or entry of incorrect data in the shunting area with brake actuated by the left foot can be prevented is that the control is connected to a gear position sensor which senses the gear position of a gearbox for the motor vehicle and that standby data is stored in the data memory only then in addition to the operation of the front brake pedal a gear separate from a starting gear, ie. for example, the first gear or reverse gear, is engaged. This measure may optionally be arranged in addition to the speed threshold described above.

When using the invention of a gear lever sensor in the gear lever of a manually connectable gearbox in connection with an automated clutch, it is ensured according to a preferred embodiment of the invention that the second operating member is formed by an ignition switch or a parking brake lever. in the motor vehicle. In accordance with the invention, the ignition switch and the parking brake lever are arranged in such a way against the vehicle that they can be actuated or operated by the same hand as the person in charge of the transmission. The control stores or enters the standby data for the gear lever only during the manual operation of the ignition switch or the parking brake lever in the data memory. Since the ignition switch and the parking brake lever are elements which can be manually switched or switched between at least two positions, it is expediently ensured that the time of the beginning or end of the actuating movement or the attainment of a certain intermediate position, by which the ignition switch or 276 4 the parking brake lever is moved, sensed and used to enter sleep data into the data memory.

The position sensors for the first actuator can mostly be analog sensors, for example potentiometers or the like, which emit a voltage signal which is proportional to the position of the actuator connected to the sensor. Since the rest position can be "learned" in accordance with the methods described above, it is superfluous to adjust this either mechanically or electrically to the actual rest position of the actuator during mounting of the sensor. According to a preferred further development, however, it is ensured that the control compares the position data's position data with an upper and / or lower tolerance limit and inputs or stores the associated hibernation data in the data memory only when in addition for operating the second control the resting position data is below the upper tolerance limit resp. above the lower tolerance limit. In this way, the area within which the idle mode can swing is limited to a sub-area of the total sensor area or range.

This has the advantage that defective sensors or incorrectly installed sensors can be recognized.

The invention is described in the following with reference to a drawing, in which Fig. 1 shows a schematic block diagram of an arrangement for automatic operation of a friction clutch of a motor vehicle, whereby the rest position of an accelerator pedal and a gear lever can be automatically "learned"; Fig. 2 shows a diagram of the output voltage of an accelerator pedal sensor; and Figs. 3a and b show diagrams of the output voltage of a gear lever sensor.

Fig. 1 shows the driveline of a motor vehicle, the engine 1 of which is connected via a friction clutch 3 to a manual gearbox 5. The clutch 3 is disengaged resp. is switched on both when starting and when changing the gearbox 5 from an actuator 7 and is controlled by a control 9 in accordance with the driving situation. The control responds to a plurality of operating parameters of the motor vehicle sensed by sensors, for example to the speed of the engine 1 sensed by means of a speed sensor 11 and to the gear input speed sensed by means of a speed sensor 13. Coupling control methods used in this case are known, for example from DE-A-39 35 439.

The engine 1 comprises a power adjusting means, for example a throttle damper 15 or an injection pump, which or which in normal vehicle operation, with closed clutch 3, is regulated in dependence on the instantaneous position of an accelerator pedal. 19, the position of which is sensed by means of a position sensor 21. The signals of the position sensor 21 can also be used in a manner known per se for regulating the clutch 3 during start-up or during shifting. However, for the control of the actuator 17 and the throttle 15 and the actuator 7 of the clutch 3, knowledge of the size of the sleep position data of the sensor 21 in the mechanical rest position of the accelerator pedal 19 is assumed. The sleep pedal data of the accelerator pedal 19 is stored in a data memory 23 of the control 9.

Controlled from the control 19, data can be input to the data memory 23 in the mechanical rest position of the accelerator pedal 19, which are proportional to the output signal of the sensor 21 in the rest position. To determine the input time for sleep mode data, the controller 9 responds to a sensor 25, which monitors the operation of a foot brake pedal 27 of the motor vehicle. Since the accelerator pedal 19 and the foot brake pedal 27 are normally operated by the driver by means of his foot during normal operation, it can be assumed that when the foot brake pedal 27 is actuated, the accelerator pedal 19 is released and is in the mechanical rest position.

Since the automatic clutch operation makes a clutch pedal unnecessary, many drivers operate the brake pedal 27 with the left foot during shunting of the motor vehicle, while the right foot 19 equips the accelerator pedal 19 from the rest position. In order to prevent erroneous sleep position data from being entered into the data memory 23 in this mode of operation, the control 9 senses: by means of a travel speed sensor 29 the instantaneous travel speed of the motor vehicle, and by means of a gear position sensor 31 it is sensed whether in gear 5 gear, for example the first gear or reverse gear or whether a higher gear intended for operation while driving is set. The sleep position data of the sensor 21 is entered into the data memory only if the foot brake pedal 27 is operated, the travel speed is greater than a predetermined threshold of, for example, 30-40 km / h and no gear is allowed to start with the automated clutch.

The sensor 21 without mechanical adjustment is built in relative to the accelerator pedal 19. In order to be able to detect any installation faults, the control 9 monitors the output signal of the sensor 21, whether this is within predetermined tolerance limits. The tolerance limits are selected in such a way that the maximum stroke or range of the sensor 21 is always within the voltage range or operating range processed by the control 9. If, for example, the voltage stroke of the sensor 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 505 276 6 21 at maximum control of the accelerator pedal 19 amounts to 3.5 V and if the voltage stroke processed from the control 9 is equal to 5 V, the lower tolerance limit is set, as shown in Fig. 2, expediently at 0.5 V and the upper tolerance limit is set at 1.5 V. The lower tolerance limits deviating from 0 V allow detection of short circuits of the sensor 21. The control 9 feeds or stores the sensor 21, the sleep mode data in the data memory 23 only if, in addition to the conditions described above, the output signal of the sensor 21 is between said lower and upper tolerance limits.

The coupling process during gearbox shifting is triggered by touching and insignificantly equipping a grip button 33 of a gear lever 35 of the gearbox 5. The grip button or handle 33 is stored slightly movable at rest of the gear lever 35 and is held by springs 37 in a rest position. The control of the grip button 33 against the force of the springs 37 is sensed depending on the direction of control of a sensor 39. Details of the sensor 39 are described in DE-A-39 218, to which reference is made.

The springs 37 hold the grip part 33 in a central position, from the outside of which preferably substantially equal forces are required for the equipment in both coupling directions. The control, on the other hand, senses the equipment on the basis of predetermined voltage thresholds, which are predetermined symmetrically to the hibernation data stored in the data memory 23. Fig. 3 shows for an output voltage of the sensor 39 and a standby voltage of 2.5 V voltage limits at 1.5 V and 3.5 V, which are achieved by control forces of 20 N each when controlled from the rest position. If, as shown in Fig. 3b, the 2.7 V sleep mode voltage provided for the input or stored sleep mode data is shifted, without symmetrical correction of the voltage thresholds in an actuator would be required only. a force of 15 N for triggering the gear position, while in the other direction 25 N is required. This would adversely affect the operating comfort.

The controller 9 also regulates the learning and updating of the sensor 39 sleep mode data. The learning time is determined by operating an ignition lock 41 of the motor vehicle, which ignition lock is arranged in the motor vehicle so that it must be operated with the same hand as the gear lever 35. Alternatively, the learning time is also determined by operating a handbrake lever 43, a sensor 45 of the control monitors whether the handbrake lever 43 is moved out of the rest position or a predetermined intermediate position is exceeded. The input time is appropriately placed at the beginning of the equipment or at the time of exceeding the intermediate position. The parking brake lever 43 is also arranged in the motor vehicle in such a way that during normal operation it must be operated with the same hand as the gear lever.

In accordance with the tolerance limit monitoring of the sensor 21, the control 9 also monitors the sensor 39 as to whether the rest position signal of the sensor 39 is between or below an upper tolerance limit.

The tolerance range plotted in Fig. 3a is again selected so that the voltage interval or stroke here can be used to a maximum in both directions. The control 9 allows the input device triggered by the actuation of the ignition lock 41 or the parking brake lever 43 only if at the same time the rest position signal is within the tolerance range.

It will be appreciated that the idle state of additional actuators may also be monitored accordingly. For example, the neutral position of the gear lever 35 can be sensed in a corresponding manner by means of an analog gear position sensor, as this is described, for example, in DE-A-38 36 145.

Claims (7)

10 15 20 25 30 35 40 505 276 8 Patent claims Arrangement for determining data representing the rest position of at least one manually actuable actuator (19, 35) of a motor vehicle, comprising a position sensor (21, 39) sensing the instantaneous position of the actuator (19, 35), a data memory (23) for storing at least the data output in the idle state from the position sensor (21, 39) and a control (9) which regulates the entry of the idle state data in the data memory (23), characterized in that the control (9) is connected to sensor means (25). , 41, 45), which respond to the control of a second operating means (27, 41, 43) from its rest position or on a prescribed mode by means of the same hand or by the same foot as the first-mentioned actuator (19, 35) from its rest position or to a changing the position of the second actuator (27, 41, 43) and that the control (9) inputs the idle position data of the first actuator (19, 35) into the data memory (23) only when the sensor means emit signals which represent a current maneuvering of the second actuator (27, 41, 43). Arrangement according to claim 1, characterized in that the first actuator is an accelerator pedal (19) of the motor vehicle and the second actuator is a foot brake pedal (27) of the motor vehicle and that the control (9) enters sleep mode data in the data memory (23) only during operation of the foot brake pedal (27). Arrangement according to claim 2, characterized in that the control (9) is connected to a travel speed sensor (29) of the motor vehicle and that the sleep position data of the accelerator pedal (19) is entered in the data memory (23) only then in addition to the operation of the foot brake pedal (27) the vehicle speed is greater than a predetermined threshold. Arrangement according to claim 3, characterized in that the threshold is between 20 and 50 km / h. Arrangement according to any one of claims 2-4, characterized in that the steering (9) is connected to a gear position sensor (21) which senses the gear position of a gearbox (5) for the motor vehicle and that said rest position data can be entered in the data memory (23) only when, in addition to the operation of the foot brake pedal (27), a gear other than a starting gear is engaged. Arrangement according to one of Claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the first actuator is a gear lever (35) of a gearbox (5) for the motor vehicle and in that the second actuator is an ignition switch (41). or a parking brake lever (43) of the motor vehicle and that the control (9) inputs said standby data for the gear lever (35) into the data memory (23) only during the manual operation of the ignition switch (41) or of the parking brake lever (43). Arrangement according to any one of claims 1-6, characterized in that the control (9) compares the position data of the position sensor (21, 39) with an upper and / or a lower tolerance limit and that said sleep position data is entered in the data memory (23) only when, in addition to the actuation of the second actuator (27, 41, 43), said rest position data is below the upper tolerance limit resp. above the lower tolerance limit.