WO2015060137A1

WO2015060137A1 - On-board control device

Info

Publication number: WO2015060137A1
Application number: PCT/JP2014/077123
Authority: WO
Inventors: 義秋長澤; 堀　俊雄; 大西　浩二
Original assignee: 日立オートモティブシステムズ株式会社
Priority date: 2013-10-23
Filing date: 2014-10-10
Publication date: 2015-04-30
Also published as: JPWO2015060137A1; JP6132931B2

Abstract

　An objective of the present invention is to provide, in a vehicle equipped with an idle stop system, a system wherein failures are detected in the meshing function of a pinion gear of a starter when a change-of-mind is implemented, and when such a failure is detected, idol stop control is restricted and starter drive control is switched, preventing problems that can occur during failures, and suppressing the deterioration of fuel consumption.　A failsafe function is provided in this idle stop system that can mesh the pinion gear and perform a restart even during inertial rotation of the engine, the failsafe function determining faults in the starter function from changes in the engine rotation information when a starter is being driven, and switching, on the basis of the results of the determination, the drive method of the starter and the idle stop control.

Description

In-vehicle control device

The present invention relates to a vehicle-mounted control device, and more particularly to a vehicle control device equipped with an idle stop system.

In a vehicle equipped with an idle stop system, when the automatic stop condition of the internal combustion engine is satisfied during the operation, the internal combustion engine is stopped by shutting off the fuel supply. A technique for quickly starting and starting an internal combustion engine when an engine restart condition is satisfied has been put into practical use. In a vehicle equipped with such an idle stop system, it is determined whether to perform idle stop by various determination methods based on the driving state of the vehicle, and fuel consumption is improved by increasing the time for executing idle stop. I am trying to improve.

An example of a fuel efficiency improvement measure for idling stop is to stop the internal combustion engine by shutting off the fuel supply to the internal combustion engine when the vehicle speed falls below a predetermined vehicle speed while braking to stop the vehicle. There is control. By performing such control, fuel consumption can be further reduced and fuel consumption can be improved compared to an idle stop system in which fuel supply is stopped after the vehicle has completely stopped (vehicle speed 0 km / h). I can do it. Hereinafter, such control is referred to as a coast stop and will be described as a kind of control included in the idle stop.

Generally, when an idle stop is performed and then a restart request is received from the driver or the control system while the engine is completely stopped, the normal initial start by the driver's manual operation is performed. Drive with a starter to crank the engine and restart. However, immediately after the idling stop is performed and the fuel cut is performed, when the engine is rotating inertially and the restart is requested, the engine is completely stopped with a general pinion gear dive starter After that, cranking cannot be performed, so there is a time difference between the restart request and the restart execution timing, and the driver restarts at an intersection or the like, giving the driver a sense of discomfort and anxiety. Hereinafter, in the state where the engine immediately after the idling stop is performed and the fuel cut is performed as described above is rotating by inertia, an operation for giving a restart request is referred to as a change of mind.

Here, in order to eliminate the time difference from the change of mind request to the engine restart execution, if the starter motor is forcibly rotated while the engine is rotating by inertia, the starter pinion gear is turned into the engine ring gear. When the gears are meshed with each other, there is a risk of falling into a so-called end-slip state between the gears, in which the gears cannot slide and bite each other or take a long time to bite. When end face slip occurs, abnormal wear and abnormal noise of the gear occur, resulting in a problem that the durability and merchantability are significantly reduced.

As a method of restarting the engine by engaging the starter pinion gear in the ring gear of the engine so that end face slip does not occur while the engine is rotating due to inertia, changing the starter drive method and circuit configuration is patented It is disclosed by reference 1.

For example, in Patent Document 1, two solenoids can be driven with two signals so that the starter pinion gear push-out operation and the starter motor can be driven independently, and when a change of mind request is received, A method is disclosed in which the pinion gear is rotated in advance to reduce the rotational difference from the inertialy rotating ring gear to create an easy-to-engage situation, and then the pinion gear is pushed out and engaged. According to the technology disclosed in Patent Document 1, the engine rotation area that can be restarted in response to a change mind request can be expanded even while the engine is rotating inertially. Time lag) can be reduced.

In general, Patent Document 2 discloses a structure that absorbs a collision sound of a gear by bending a spring when the pinion gear comes into contact with the ring gear.

Japanese Patent No. 4214401 Japanese Patent No. 3749461

In the technique described in Patent Document 1, for example, when an abnormality occurs in the rotational speed acquisition value for either the pinion gear or the ring gear, or when an abnormality occurs in the motor drive circuit, the rotation difference between the gears is reduced. Can not be bitten and the biting performance is reduced. Further, even if the application of the starter described in Patent Document 2 to the control of the engagement between the ring gear and the pinion gear during inertial rotation is studied, abnormalities such as breakage and sticking occur in the spring structure for reducing the collision noise between the gears. In this case, the biting performance similarly decreases. In such a state, when the meshing control between the pinion gear and the ring gear is performed during the inertial rotation of the engine, problems such as end face slippage and abnormal noise between the gears and abnormal gear wear occur. However, none of the patent documents can detect such a state.

The present invention has been made in view of such problems, and an object thereof is to realize an in-vehicle control device capable of detecting a reduction in meshing performance between a starter pinion gear and an engine ring gear. It is in.

In order to solve the above problems, an in-vehicle control device of the present invention includes a rotating shaft, a motor that rotates the rotating shaft, a pinion gear that transmits the rotational force of the rotating shaft to an engine ring gear, the rotating shaft, and the pinion gear. In-vehicle control that controls a starter that includes a pinion shift mechanism that engages the pinion gear and the ring gear, and issues a meshing instruction to the pinion shift mechanism during the engine speed reduction period In the apparatus, the operating state of the engine is acquired or estimated, and a state in which the engine speed does not increase is detected based on the operating state of the engine after the meshing instruction to the pinion shift mechanism.

According to the present invention, even when an abnormality occurs in the function of the starter and the engagement performance between the pinion gear and the ring gear decreases, it is possible to detect a decrease in the engagement performance, and thus notify the driver of the abnormality. Further failure occurrence can be suppressed by encouraging repairs or performing predetermined fail-safe control with a limited idle stop function.

1 is a system configuration example of an idle stop vehicle according to the present invention. It is a functional block diagram of the vehicle-mounted control apparatus of this invention. It is a control flowchart with a pre-mesh function. It is a control flowchart without a pre-mesh function. It is the other system configuration example of the idle stop vehicle of this invention. It is a block diagram of the pinion shift mechanism part of a starter. It is a functional block diagram of the vehicle-mounted control apparatus of this invention. It is a control flowchart. It is a control flowchart including failure diagnosis of a starter function. It is a flowchart of a failure diagnosis. It is a failure diagnosis time chart of the starter function of the present invention. It is a failure diagnosis time chart using a sensor.

Embodiments of a vehicle start control device according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a vehicle equipped with a vehicle start control device of the present invention. In FIG. 1, the part relating to the description of the vehicle start control device according to the present invention is mainly described, and the other parts are omitted. The vehicle includes a multi-cylinder engine (internal combustion engine main body) 1, an idle stop starter system 10, and an ECU (on-vehicle controller) 21.

The engine 1 ignites the fuel injected from the fuel injection valve 15 by the ignition coil 14a and the ignition plug 14b to obtain an explosive force, and rotates the crankshaft 1a.

A signal plate 3 engraved with a predetermined pattern for detecting a crank angle signal is attached to one of the crankshafts 1a of the engine 1, and a ring gear 2 integrated with a drive plate for transmitting driving force to the transmission is attached to the other. It has been.

In the vicinity of the signal plate 3, a crank angle sensor 36 for detecting the unevenness of the pattern and outputting a pulse signal is attached. Based on the pulse signal output from the crank angle sensor 36, the ECU 21 calculates the rotational speed of the engine 1 (engine rotational speed).

The idle stop starter system 10 includes a starter body (starter) 9 of a pinion gear extrusion type and a semiconductor switching element 13 and is controlled by the ECU 21. The semiconductor switching element 13 may be replaced with a mechanical magnet switch that operates with an ON / OFF signal. The starter body 9 includes a starter solenoid 5 driven by a semiconductor switching element 13, a pinion transfer lever 6, a pinion gear 4, a one-way clutch 4 a, a pinion gear sensor 38, and a starter motor 7.

The pinion gear 4 is a gear that can mesh with the ring gear 2 and is provided on the pinion shaft (rotating shaft) 8 of the starter motor 7 through the one-way clutch 4a so as to be movable in the axial direction. The starter solenoid 5 is an electric actuator for moving the pinion gear 4 in the axial direction of the pinion shaft 8 via the pinion transfer lever 6. The starter motor 7 is a motor for cranking the engine 1 via the ring gear 2 and starting it as will be described later. The pinion gear sensor 38 is a sensor for detecting the rotational speed of the pinion shaft 8.

When the pinion transfer command of the ECU 21, that is, the meshing instruction of the pinion gear 4 and the ring gear 2 is input to the gate terminal of the semiconductor switching element 13 a for driving the pinion transfer actuator, the power of the battery 12 is supplied to the starter solenoid 5. As a result, the starter solenoid 5 moves the pinion gear 4 to the right in the drawing, that is, the ring gear 2 side via the pinion transfer lever 6, so that the pinion gear 4 meshes with the ring gear 2.

When the motor drive command from the ECU 21 is input to the gate terminal of the semiconductor switching element 13b for driving the starter motor, the power of the battery 12 is supplied to the starter motor 7. As a result, the starter motor 7 rotates the crankshaft 1 a via the pinion gear 4 and the ring gear 2 to crank the engine 1.

Note that a transmission 16 is connected to the crankshaft 1a via a drive plate integrated with the ring gear 2. The transmission 16 transmits the rotational driving force generated by the engine 1 to the road surface via the drive shaft 17 and the tire 18. In addition, a vehicle speed sensor 33 that detects a rotation pulse of the output shaft is attached to the transmission 16. The ECU 21 calculates a vehicle speed value by performing conversion using a predetermined coefficient based on an output signal from the vehicle speed sensor 33.

In this embodiment, an example in which the ECU 21 controls both the engine 1 and the idle stop starter system 10 will be described, but the present invention is not limited to this. The engine control ECU and the starter control ECU may be configured separately, and the detection values from the pinion gear sensor 38, the crank angle sensor 36, the vehicle speed sensor 33, and the like may be shared and controlled via a network.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing various input signals such as sensors for inputting the system configuration of the ECU 21 and various output signals output from the ECU 21 to a control device or the like.

An input circuit 224 of the ECU 21 is sucked into an accelerator opening sensor 30 that detects the amount of depression of an accelerator pedal (not shown), a throttle opening sensor 31 that detects an opening amount of a throttle valve (not shown), and a cylinder of the engine 1. An airflow sensor 32 for measuring the amount of intake air to be detected, a vehicle speed sensor 33 for detecting the traveling speed of the vehicle, a brake switch 34 for detecting an operation of a foot brake (not shown), ignition of the engine 1, calculation of injection timing, and cylinder determination. A cam angle sensor 35 for detecting the cam angle signal and the crank angle signal, a crank angle sensor 36, and a pinion gear sensor 38 for detecting the rotational speed of the pinion shaft 8 are connected. The output circuit 226 is connected to the ignition coil 14a, the fuel injection valve 15, and the semiconductor switching element 13. The ignition coil 14a generates an ignition signal output from the output circuit 226 based on the ignition timing calculated from the signals of the cam angle sensor 35 and the crank angle sensor 36 based on a predetermined algorithm read out from the ROM 241 by the arithmetic processing unit 223. Upon reception, high voltage power is supplied to the spark plug 14b in order to ignite the air-fuel mixture in the cylinder by the ignition coil 14a. When the fuel injection valve 15 receives a valve opening signal output for a predetermined time at a predetermined timing via the output circuit 226, the fuel injection valve 15 injects fuel. The ECU 21 calculates the amount of fuel injected by the fuel injection valve 15 from the amount of intake air measured by the airflow sensor 32 and determines the valve opening time.

When the switching element 13 receives the PWM drive signal output via the output circuit 226, the switching element 13 drives the starter solenoid 5 and the starter motor 7, respectively. The switching element 13 a drives the starter solenoid 5, and the switching element 13 b drives the starter motor 7. The ECU 21 outputs a PWM drive signal via the output circuit 226 when receiving a drive request to the starter body 9.

FIG. 3 shows a case where the rotational speed synchronous pre-mesh control is performed in which the rotational speed of the engine 1 and the rotational speed of the pinion gear 4 are synchronized during idle stop and the engine 1 is stopped while the pinion gear 4 is engaged with the ring gear 2. It is an example of a flowchart. The processing of the operation shown in this control flowchart is repeatedly executed by the arithmetic processing unit 223.

A general idle stop is, for example, when the vehicle is stopped (vehicle speed = 0 km / h), the throttle opening is fully closed, and the engine 1 is in a no-load operation, in step 101, the vehicle speed sensor 33, the brake switch 34, etc. Each input condition is executed when the idle stop permission condition is satisfied. In addition, the coast stop that performs an idle stop while the vehicle is decelerating is replaced with the “vehicle is stopped (vehicle speed = 0 km / h) state”, for example, “the vehicle speed condition is 13 km / h or less, and a brake pedal (not shown) It is said that it has been stepped on. If the idle stop condition or the coast stop condition is satisfied, in step 102, the drive of the fuel injection valve 15 is stopped, and the fuel supply of the engine 1 is cut off (fuel cut).

Due to the fuel cut operation described above, the engine speed gradually decreases, and in step 103, when the judgment condition becomes a predetermined value A (for example, the engine speed is 600 rpm) or less, the routine proceeds to step 104, where the pinion pre-rotation operation is performed. That is, the starter motor 7 is energized, the pinion gear rotation number calculated from the pinion gear sensor 38 is increased to a predetermined value, and the energization is stopped.

In this case, since the above-described pinion pre-rotation operation rotates with no load, the pinion gear rotation speed gradually decreases with time due to inertia after stopping energization. On the other hand, since the engine speed decreases while pulsating by repeating suction → compression → expansion → exhaust, the engine speed calculated from the crank angle sensor 36 and the pinion gear speed that gradually decreases due to the pinion pre-rotation operation. When the pre-mesh condition is satisfied in step 105, the process advances to step 106 to execute the pinion gear transfer, that is, the energization of the starter solenoid 5 is started, and the rotating pinion gear 4 is pinned to the ring gear 2. A so-called pre-mesh state is established in which the transfer lever 6 is engaged. As the pre-mesh condition, for example, “the difference between the engine speed 30 ms predicted from the engine speed and the actual speed of the pinion gear 4 is within ± 100 rpm” can be mentioned.

If it is determined in step 107 that there is no so-called change-of-mind request from the driver, for example, that his / her foot is released from a brake pedal (not shown), the process proceeds to step 108 and the pre-mesh state is maintained. Then, the engine 1 is completely stopped, and the process proceeds to step 109 and waits until a restart request is received.

In the standby state of Step 109, when a restart request is received due to the driver's operation or the like, the process proceeds to Step 111, the starter motor 7 is energized, fuel injection is restarted, and the internal combustion engine is restarted.

If it is determined in step 107 that there is a change of mind request from the driver, the process proceeds to step 110 to determine whether or not the predicted rotation speed of the engine 1 is in the normal rotation range. If the predicted engine speed is in the normal rotation range, the process proceeds to step 111, and a drive command is issued to the starter. When the predicted engine speed is in the reverse rotation range, the process waits until the predicted engine speed enters the normal rotation range. As a result of the determination in step 110, it is possible to prevent the engine 1 from being cranked in the region where the engine 1 is rotating without being over the compression top dead center immediately before stopping, so that the semiconductor element 13 and the starter motor 7 are overloaded and damaged. It is possible to avoid doing this.

Thereafter, the routine proceeds to step 112, where it is determined whether or not the engine speed is equal to or greater than a predetermined value C (for example, the engine speed is 500 rpm). Proceeding to 113, the drive of the starter body 9 is turned off.

As described above, by performing the rotational speed synchronous pre-mesh operation of the pinion gear 4 and the ring gear 2, the operation of causing the pinion gear 4 to be engaged with the ring gear 2 is not required at the next restart, so a restart request is issued. The starting time from when the engine 1 is received until the engine 1 reaches the complete explosion can be shortened, and noise when the pinion gear 4 is engaged with the ring gear 2 can be reduced.

FIG. 4 shows a flowchart when the pre-mesh operation is omitted in the above process and simplified. If it is determined in step 203 that there is a change of mind request from the driver, and if the engine speed at that time is equal to or greater than a predetermined value A (for example, the engine speed is 500 rpm), the engine rotates by inertia. In order to make the differential rotation with the ring gear 2 being small, in step 208, only the starter motor 7 is energized in advance to cause the pinion gear 4 to pre-rotate. The control in step 208 is executed regardless of whether there is a change of mind request. When there is no change of mind request, the rotation of the starter motor 7 is stopped without causing the pinion gear 4 to be engaged with the ring gear 2. May be. After that, if the predicted rotational speed of the engine 1 that is the standard of the jumpable range of the pinion gear 4 is within a predetermined range B3 to B4 (for example, the engine rotational speed after 30 ms is 0 to 300 rpm) in step 209, the starter is driven in step 210 It is turned on, the pinion gear 4 is jumped into the ring gear 2, the starter motor 7 is driven, and the engine 1 is cranked.

Thereafter, the process proceeds to step 211, where it is determined whether or not the engine speed is equal to or higher than a predetermined value C (for example, the engine speed is 500 rpm). Proceeding to 212, the drive of the starter body 9 is turned OFF.

The above is the operation from the idle stop to the restart without the pre-mesh operation in the idle stop system of FIG.

3 and 4 are implemented by a system including a starter and a control device that can independently control the jumping-in operation of the pinion gear 4 of the starter and the driving operation of the starter motor 7 by two drive signals, respectively. The biting performance can be improved by performing the biting in a situation where the difference in rotational speed between the pinion gear 4 and the ring gear 2 is small. As a result, it is possible to cause the pinion gear to be engaged with the ring gear during the period in which the engine 1 immediately after idle stop is rotating by inertia, and this corresponds to a change of mind that restarts from that state.

Fig. 5 shows an example of a system corresponding to the change of mind with a simpler configuration than the system described in Figs.

FIG. 5 shows that the idle stop starter system 10 shown in FIG. 1 has a simple configuration, and the pinion gear 4 can be engaged with the ring gear 2 during the period when the engine 1 is rotating by inertia. This is an example of a start control device replaced with a starter body 9 capable of performing The starter body 9 includes a motor contact 11 that opens and closes power supply to the starter motor 7 and a starter solenoid 5 that drives the pinion transfer lever 6, and a one-way clutch 4 a and a pinion gear 4 that are connected to the pinion shaft 8 of the starter motor 7. Yes.

In the conventional starter, the pinion gear 4 and the one-way clutch 4a are integrally structured and pushed out to the ring gear 2 by the pinion transfer lever 6, but the starter of FIG. 5 has a separate structure. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 6 (a), a vertical groove spline shaft 43 is fixed to the one-way clutch 4a, and a pinion gear 4 provided with a vertical groove spline on the inside for securing a certain clearance with the spline is described above. The shaft 43 is movable in the axial direction.

The pinion gear 4 is pressed by the spring 44 in the right direction in the drawing, that is, in the ring gear 2 side, and stopped while being pressed against the stopper 45.

Further, as an alternative to the structure of FIG. 6A, as shown in FIG. 6B, a damper mechanism is connected to the link 42a via a spring 44 between the movable core 42 and the pinion transfer lever 6. And may be connected to the pinion transfer lever 6.

In the system configured as described above, when a starter drive command is issued from the ECU 21 in response to a restart request from the change of mind, the contact of the starter relay 41 is closed and power is supplied to the starter solenoid 5. The starter solenoid 5 is an electromagnetic solenoid. When a current flows through the coil, an electromagnetic force acts on the movable iron core 42 to attract the pinion transfer lever 6 to the left side in the figure and close the motor contact 11 when a certain stroke is reached. To power the motor and rotate the pinion gear.

6B, when the pinion transfer lever 6 is sucked, the pinion gear unit 4b is pushed out to the ring gear 2 side, and when the pinion gear 4 comes into contact with the ring gear 2, the repulsive force when the spring 44 is bent for a moment is used. Thus, the biting can be completed quickly. That is, the moving speed of the pinion gear 4 due to the repulsive force of the spring 44 is faster than the moving speed of the pinion transfer lever 6, and the phase of the pinion gear 4 and the ring gear 2 can be engaged with each other by using the repulsive force of the spring 44. When it becomes, you can bite instantly.

Similarly, in the configuration shown in FIG. 6B, the spring 44 is bent to produce the same effect. In addition, as long as the pinion gear 4 can be moved faster than the moving speed of the pinion transfer lever 6, other elastic bodies such as a rubber material or other structures that generate a repulsive force may be employed instead of the spring. By using this operation, it is possible to engage the ring gear rotating with inertia immediately after the idle stop by replacing the conventional starter controlled by a single standard drive signal. The change and simple configuration can improve the biting performance between gears.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing various input signals such as sensors for inputting the system configuration of the ECU 21 of the starting system shown in FIG. 5 and various output signals output from the ECU 21 to a control device or the like.

2 is that the starter relay 41 and the starter body 9 connected to the output circuit 226 drive the starter with a single drive signal.

FIG. 8 is a control flowchart when performing from the idle stop to the restart in the starting system shown in FIG. The processing of the operation shown in this control flowchart is repeatedly executed by the ECU 21.

When the input conditions such as the vehicle speed sensor 33 and the brake switch 34 satisfy the idle stop permission condition in step 301, the fuel cut process is executed in step 302. Thereafter, in step 303, it is determined that there is a change of mind request from the driver, and in step 306, the predicted rotational speed of the engine 1, which is a guideline of the jumpable range of the pinion gear 4, is within a predetermined range B5 to B6 (for example, 30 ms later). If the engine speed is within 0 to 180 rpm), the starter drive is turned on in step 307, the pinion gear 4 is jumped into the ring gear 2 to drive the motor, and the engine 1 is cranked.

Thereafter, the process proceeds to step 308, where it is determined whether or not the engine speed is equal to or greater than a predetermined value C (for example, the engine speed is 500 rpm). If the engine speed is equal to or greater than the predetermined value C, the process proceeds to step 309 and the starter body 9 is driven. Set to OFF.

If there is no change of mind request in step 303, the process proceeds to step 304, and the engine is stopped and is in a standby state. If a restart request is received in step 305, the process proceeds to step 307 and the starter is driven to restart. It is.

In the system in which the jumping-in operation of the starter pinion gear 4 and the driving operation of the starter motor 7 described in FIG. 1 can be independently controlled by two drive signals, respectively, as described in FIG. You may further combine the structure which improves biting performance by the repulsive force of an elastic body.

Here, in the idle stop system described so far with reference to FIGS. 1 and 5, etc., when the pinion gear 4 is to be engaged with the rotating ring gear 2, an abnormality occurs in the starter and the ring gear is engaged. When the performance deteriorates, the gears slip when the pinion gear and the ring gear come into contact with each other, and it takes a long time to complete the engagement, a destructive friction noise occurs, or the gear wears abnormally. .

As the contents of the abnormality that occurs in the starter, in the case of the system of FIG. 1, it is conceivable that the rotation difference from the ring gear increases due to insufficient rotation or excessive rotation due to poor pinion pre-rotation operation. The failure in the pre-rotation operation may be caused by, for example, the failure of the pinion gear sensor 38 and the ECU 21 not being able to recognize the rotation speed of the pinion gear 4.

In the case of the system shown in FIG. 5, the slide mechanism of the pinion gear 4 is fixed when foreign matter is caught or the vehicle is left standing for a long period of time and the spring 44 is not bent, or the spring 44 is broken or the spring 44 is deteriorated. An abnormality such as a drop in repulsive force can be considered. If the spring 44 becomes abnormal as described above, the repulsive force of the spring cannot be obtained, and even if the phase of the pinion gear 4 and the ring gear 2 is in the meshable position, it cannot be instantaneously engaged, so that end face slip occurs. Therefore, the biting performance will be reduced.

Therefore, in this embodiment, a starter failure diagnosis is performed to detect a decrease in starter biting performance. When it is determined that there is a failure, the deterioration of the idle stop function can be minimized by performing predetermined processing such as notification to the driver and fail-safe control, and deterioration of fuel consumption due to the failure can be prevented.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart when the starter function diagnosis is added to the operation flowchart of FIG. 8 in the system of FIG. 5, and is an example in which the starter function diagnosis control is added in step 310 after the starter driving is turned on in step 307. Similarly, in the operation flowcharts of FIGS. 3 and 4, the diagnosis is executed after the starter drive is turned on. Note that the process of step 310 may be performed each time the process of FIG. 9 is executed, or the execution frequency and timing may be appropriately changed according to the driving state of the vehicle.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating the function diagnosis control in step 310.

As a condition for executing the diagnosis, when a change of mind request is received in step 401 and the starter operates in step 402, abnormality determination is performed in step 403 based on the engine operating state such as engine rotation information. The processing in step 403 will be described later with reference to FIG. If the starter function is diagnosed as normal in

steps

403 and 404, the diagnostic control is terminated.

In step 405, the number of times diagnosed as abnormal is counted up. Thereby, misdiagnosis can be suppressed. In step 406, the fail-safe control in step 408 and the control at the time of temporary failure in step 410 are switched based on the number of times of diagnosis NG. The process of step 410 is to notify the driver of an abnormality by a warning light or the like, and step 408 is to switch the fail-safe control depending on the degree of failure as a process of both the restriction of the idle stop function and the abnormality notification to the driver. However, it is not limited to this.

FIG. 11 shows an example of a time chart for determining the abnormality of the starter function described in step 403 of FIG. First, a description will be given of means for performing the determination under the following condition (1) as a condition for determining the abnormality of the starter function.
(1) After a change of mind request, the start speed of the starter motor 7 is detected. The engine speed after a predetermined time T1 (for example, 200 ms) from the starter ON command is detected, and the value is less than the predetermined value D (for example, 300 rpm). Be.

In the system shown in FIG. 1, the starter ON command referred to here is an energization start timing (for example, step 111 in FIG. 3) of the starter motor 7 after the pinion shift command (energization start to the starter solenoid 5) timing. In the system shown in FIG. 5, the motor energization start timing or the pinion shift command timing which can be detected by detecting the battery voltage drop amount can be set.

Also, the pinion shift command timing itself can be used as a starting point. In this case, since the pinion gear 4 is transferred and the motor energizing contact is closed and the motor is driven, a time difference of 10 or more ms is generated. If the detection window of the engine speed is set short, the detection accuracy of the end face slip can be improved.

As a method for setting the predetermined value D, for example, it may be set to a value corresponding to the cranking rotation speed when the starter motor 7 cranks the engine 1. As a result, when the starter function is normal, the engine speed does not increase to a value corresponding to the cranking speed even when the time for successful meshing has elapsed, and a state in which the pinion gear 4 and the ring gear 2 are not meshed occurs. Can be judged. Further, the predetermined value D may be set to a value between the rotational speed corresponding to the first explosion of the engine 1 and the rotational speed corresponding to the complete explosion. Further, the inclination of the rotational speed may be used for the determination, and it may be determined that the state in which the pinion gear 4 and the ring gear 2 are not engaged with each other is caused by the fact that the rotational speed does not change suddenly after the first explosion of the engine 1.

According to this determination condition, since the failure is determined by a simple determination method using the existing rotation sensor signal, the failure can be detected without complicated logic and cost increase.

Other conditions for determining the abnormality of the starter function include the following means (2) to (4).
(2) After a predetermined time T1 (for example, 200 ms) has elapsed from the starter ON command, the engine speed at the predetermined crank angle phase F (for example, compression top dead center 0 degree) is not within the predetermined range D1 to D2 (for example, 100 to 300 rpm). thing.

The predetermined crank angle phase can be determined by looking at other phases, but since the angular acceleration at the compression top dead center is the lowest, it is possible to obtain a stable rotational speed and perform determination with higher accuracy. it can.

In addition, since the ring gear is decelerated due to the friction between the gears during the period when the end face slip occurs, the engine rotation decrease inclination tends to become gentle, so the inclination of the engine speed in the phase of the compression stroke is reduced. It can be used for determination.

In addition, although the example which performs determination using an engine speed as a parameter was demonstrated as an example, it is also possible to detect and determine the change of the ionic current and combustion pressure based on an engine 1 cylinder combustion state as an alternative method. That is, the crank angular velocity can be calculated from the interval of signals detected by the ion current sensor or the combustion pressure sensor and used for the determination.

(3) The engine rotation behavior when the pinion gear successfully engages the ring gear from the starter operation command at the time of change of mind operation is memorized in time unit or crank angle unit, and the stored engine Comparing the rotational behavior with the current engine rotational behavior, the difference in rotational speed should be greater than or equal to a predetermined value.

According to this determination condition, since the failure is accurately determined using the existing rotation sensor signal, a highly accurate failure diagnosis can be performed without increasing the cost.

(4) Using a newly added physical sensor such as a pinion stroke sensor, a strain sensor, a sound sensor, or a position switch, the amount of movement of the pinion gear is detected or estimated, and the detected or estimated amount of movement has elapsed for a predetermined time. Do not reach the travel distance when fully bitten.

FIG. 12 illustrates an example in which the amount of movement of the pinion gear is estimated based on the outputs of the strain sensor and the sound sensor. When the pinion gear moves in response to the pinion gear transfer command and comes into contact with the ring gear, a sensor output peak appears and the contact position can be known. After that, it stays in the contact position until the end surfaces of the gears are in a state where they can bite while sliding. After that, when the gears mesh with each other, the gear starts to move again, and finally moves to the complete meshing position.

According to this determination condition, since the failure is determined by detecting or estimating the movement amount of the pinion gear by the sensor, the failure can be detected more reliably as compared with the methods (1) to (3).

If it is determined that there is an abnormality by the above method, the number of times that the abnormality is diagnosed in step 405 in FIG. 10 is counted up. Next, the number of times that an abnormality is diagnosed is determined in step 406, and if it is equal to or greater than a predetermined value E, the abnormality is determined in step 407, and fail-safe control is performed in step 408.

In addition, when the number of times diagnosed as abnormal in step 406 is less than the predetermined value E, it is determined in step 409 that there is a temporary failure, and in step 410, control at the time of temporary failure is performed.

In addition to the above-described abnormality determination, it may be determined that the rotation speed of the engine 1 does not increase due to another factor, and the abnormal state may be determined. For example, a state in which the rotation speed of the engine 1 does not increase due to the starter motor 7 not rotating, the starter motor 7 rotating early, or the wear or loss of the ring gear 2 or the pinion gear 4 is detected. As the method, for example, the battery voltage drop may be monitored to detect that the motor is rotating regardless of the starter ON command, that the motor is rotating with no load, or the like. Further, it is conceivable to detect disconnection or the like of the peripheral circuit of the semiconductor switching element 13 or to confirm the coincidence between the output of the pinion gear sensor 38 and the starter ON command. When these misdiagnosis modes are applicable, they are excluded from the contents of the failure diagnosis shown in FIG. 10 and another fail-safe control is performed.

Further, when executing the function diagnosis in step 310, the push-out condition of the pinion gear 4 may be varied to make it easier to detect a state where the gears are not engaged with each other. For example, the predicted engine speed range in step 209 may be temporarily set high. This is because the higher the number of revolutions of the engine 1, the more conspicuous the gears do not mesh with each other.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to detect a decrease in the meshing performance even when the meshing performance between the pinion gear 4 and the ring gear 2 is reduced, and thus notify the driver of the abnormality. Further failure occurrence can be suppressed by encouraging repairs or performing predetermined fail-safe control with a limited idle stop function.

Next, an example of fail-safe control when a decrease in starter meshing performance is detected will be described. Description of parts common to the first embodiment will be omitted, and description will be made focusing on parts different from the first embodiment.

In the present embodiment, for example, the following controls (1) to (6) are executed as specific examples of the fail-safe control in step 408 and the control at the time of temporary failure in step 410 in FIG.

(1) Idle stop is prohibited.

(2) Prohibit coast stop, which performs idle stop while the vehicle is decelerating.

(3) Prohibit restart by the change of mind, and execute the restart after the engine is completely stopped.

(4) Change the setting range of the engine speed that permits the starter biting command by the change of mind. For example, what is permitted at -50 to 200 r / min when the function is normal is set to 0 to 100 r / min when the function is lowered.

(5) In the system including the semiconductor switching element 13 of FIG. 1 as in the first embodiment, when the pinion gear comes into contact with the ring gear 4, the energization current to the motor is limited to suppress the rotation increase of the pinion gear 4. , So that the gears do not slip.

(6) The failure details are stored in the start control device, and the indicator in the meter panel is turned on or blinked to notify the driver of the abnormality.

According to the fail-safe control (1) and (2) above, the starter is not used except for the initial start by the driver's key operation or the restart after the engine 1 is completely stopped. Wear and the like can be prevented.

According to the fail-safe control (3) above, the idle stop after the engine 1 is completely stopped can be executed, so that deterioration of fuel consumption can be suppressed.

According to the fail-safe control of (4) above, the timing at which the pinion gear 4 is bitten is delayed by, for example, several tens of ms because the biting permission rotational speed is low, but the rotational speed of the engine 1 is decreasing. Therefore, the deterioration of fuel consumption can be suppressed while ensuring the restart response.

According to the fail-safe control of (5) above, by changing the current control of the semiconductor switching element 13, it is possible to suppress the initial pinion rotation and prevent end face slipping, and the period during which the rotational speed of the engine 1 is decreasing Since the idling stop can be executed, deterioration of fuel consumption can be suppressed while ensuring responsiveness of restart.

According to the fail-safe control of (6) above, it is possible to notify the driver that there is a failure and encourage inspection and maintenance, thus preventing the vehicle that has been damaged from being used for a long time or over a long distance. Can do.

Further, a plurality of these failsafe controls may be executed simultaneously, or the failsafe controls may be switched in stages according to the degree of failure. For example, if it is determined in step 409 in FIG. 10 that there is a temporary failure, the control in (4) or (5) is executed in step 410 to continue the coast stop in a state where some functions are limited. If it is determined in step 407 that the abnormality has been confirmed, the idle stop during the period when the engine 1 is rotating is limited, and only the idle stop after the engine 1 is completely stopped is performed. Then, the control (2) or (3) is executed.

Further, the determination of the degree of failure is not limited to the determination based on the number of diagnosis NGs described in step 406 in FIG. For example, as the abnormality in the starter function becomes more prominent, the time required for the pinion gear 4 and the ring gear 2 to be engaged increases. Therefore, the degree of decrease in the engagement performance may be determined based on this time.

As described above, according to the embodiment described in detail, the following excellent effects can be obtained.

For vehicles equipped with an idle stop system, even if the starter function malfunctions during a change-of-mind operation and the meshing performance with the ring gear is reduced, the control is switched by fail-safe to the driver. Abnormality notification can be performed, and it is possible to execute idle stop with a limited function of idle stop, preventing deterioration of fuel consumption compared to when prohibiting idle stop completely can do.

1 Engine 1a Crankshaft 2 Ring gear 3 Crank angle signal plate 4 Pinion gear 4a One-way clutch 4b Pinion gear unit 5 Starter solenoid 6 Pinion transfer lever 7 Starter motor 8 Pinion shaft 9 Starter body 10 Idle stop starter system 11 Motor contact 12 Battery

14a Ignition coil

14b Spark plug 15 Fuel injection valve 16 Transmission 17 Drive shaft 18 Tire
21 ECU (control unit, control device)
33 Vehicle speed sensor 36 Crank angle sensor 38 Pinion gear sensor 41 Starter relay 42 Movable iron core 42a Link 43 Spline shaft 44 Spring 45 Stopper

Claims

A rotation axis;
A motor for rotating the rotating shaft;
A pinion gear for transmitting the rotational force of the rotary shaft to the ring gear of the engine;
Moving the rotating shaft and the pinion gear toward the ring gear;
A pinion shift mechanism for meshing the pinion gear and the ring gear;
A starting device comprising:
In the vehicle-mounted control device that issues a meshing instruction to the pinion shift mechanism during the engine speed reduction period,
Based on the operating state of the engine when the motor is energized after the meshing instruction to the pinion shift mechanism,
A vehicle-mounted control device that detects a state in which the engine speed does not increase.
The in-vehicle control device according to claim 1,
The starting device includes an elastic body that bends when the pinion gear and the ring gear come into contact with each other and moves the pinion gear relative to each other, and biases the pinion gear toward the ring gear.
The vehicle-mounted control device is based on the operating state of the engine after the meshing instruction to the pinion shift mechanism, the pinion gear and the ring gear are not meshed with each other, the pinion gear cannot be relatively moved, or the elastic body A vehicle-mounted control device that detects at least one of abnormal states and performs fail-safe control.
The in-vehicle control device according to claim 2,
The pinion gear is relatively movable in the axial direction of the rotary shaft;
The vehicle-mounted control device, wherein the elastic body biases the pinion gear toward the ring gear in the axial direction of the rotating shaft.
The in-vehicle control device according to claim 2,
The in-vehicle controller controls the relative movement of the pinion gear when the rotational speed of the engine does not correspond to the rotational speed of the motor even after a predetermined time has elapsed from the start of energization to the motor or the meshing instruction to the pinion shift mechanism. A vehicle-mounted control device, characterized in that it is determined that an inadequate fixing state or an abnormality of the elastic body has occurred.
The in-vehicle control device according to claim 2,
The in-vehicle control device moves the pinion gear relatively when the rotational speed of the engine at a predetermined crank angle phase is not within a predetermined range after a predetermined time has elapsed from the start of energization to the motor or the meshing instruction to the pinion shift mechanism. A vehicle-mounted control device, characterized in that it is determined that an inadequate fixing state or an abnormality of the elastic body has occurred.
The in-vehicle control device according to claim 2,
The in-vehicle control device stores in advance the engine speed behavior when the pinion gear and the ring gear are successfully engaged during the engine speed reduction period, and the stored engine speed behavior and the pinion shift mechanism A vehicle-mounted control device that detects a fixed state in which the pinion gear cannot move relative to each other or an abnormality of the elastic body by comparing with a rotational speed behavior of the engine after a meshing instruction is made.
The in-vehicle control device according to claim 2,
The starting device includes a sensor that detects a movement amount of the pinion gear;
The vehicle-mounted control device detects a fixed state in which the pinion gear cannot be moved relative to each other or an abnormality of the elastic body based on a detection value of the sensor.
The in-vehicle control device according to claim 2,
The in-vehicle control device detects a state where the pinion gear and the ring gear do not mesh a plurality of times during a period until the start of the engine is completed, and detects a state where the pinion gear and the ring gear do not mesh more than a predetermined number of times It is determined that the pinion gear is in a fixed state where the pinion gear cannot relatively move, or that an abnormality of the elastic body has occurred.
The in-vehicle control device according to claim 2,
The in-vehicle control device includes an idle stop function for automatically stopping the engine when a predetermined automatic stop condition is satisfied,
The vehicle-mounted control device according to claim 1, wherein the fail-safe control is an automatic stop prohibition of the engine by the idle stop function.
The in-vehicle control device according to claim 9,
The automatic stop of the engine by the idle stop function includes an automatic stop when the vehicle is in a running state,
The vehicle-mounted control device, wherein the fail-safe control is prohibition of automatic stop when the vehicle is in a traveling state.
The in-vehicle control device according to claim 2,
The in-vehicle control device includes an idle stop function for automatically stopping the engine when a predetermined automatic stop condition is satisfied, and a restart between the satisfaction of the engine automatic stop condition and the stop of the engine. A restart function for restarting the engine on demand,
The vehicle-mounted control device according to claim 1, wherein the fail-safe control is a starting prohibition of the engine from when the automatic engine stop condition is satisfied until the engine stops.
The in-vehicle control device according to claim 2,
The in-vehicle control device includes an idle stop function for automatically stopping the engine when a predetermined automatic stop condition is satisfied,
The in-vehicle control device performs a meshing instruction to the pinion shift mechanism when the engine speed is within a predetermined setting range,
The vehicle-mounted control device, wherein the fail-safe control is a change of the setting range.
The in-vehicle control device according to claim 2,
The on-vehicle control device according to claim 1, wherein the fail-safe control is a restriction of an energization current to the motor after the pinion gear comes into contact with the ring gear.
The in-vehicle control device according to claim 2,
The in-vehicle control device characterized in that the fail-safe control performs switching or combination of a plurality of processes based on a degree of reduction in meshing performance between the pinion gear and the ring gear.
The in-vehicle control device according to claim 2, wherein the in-vehicle control device acquires an operation state of the engine from outside via an in-vehicle network.
A rotation axis;
A motor for rotating the rotating shaft;
A pinion gear for transmitting the rotational force of the rotary shaft to the ring gear of the engine;
A pinion shift mechanism that moves the rotating shaft and the pinion gear to the ring gear side, and meshes the pinion gear and the ring gear;
Controlling a starting device comprising: an elastic body that bends when the pinion gear and the ring gear come into contact with each other and moves the pinion gear relative to each other and urges the pinion gear toward the ring gear;
In the control method of the starting device for instructing meshing to the pinion shift mechanism during the engine speed reduction period,
At least one of a state in which the pinion gear and the ring gear do not mesh with each other, a fixed state in which the pinion gear cannot relatively move, or an abnormal state of the elastic body based on the operating state of the engine after the meshing instruction to the pinion shift mechanism And a fail-safe control.