FR2596712A1 - ELECTRONIC BRAKE SLIDING REGULATOR - Google Patents

Abstract

PROGRAMMED ELECTRONIC REGULATOR, INTENDED IN PARTICULAR FOR MOTOR VEHICLES FOR, FOR EXAMPLE, REGULATING THE BRAKING SLIP AND OR THE TRACTION SLIP, INCLUDING ELECTRONIC CIRCUITS WHICH ALLOW THE GENERATION OF CONTROL SIGNALS, FOR EXAMPLE PRESSURE SIGNALS BRAKING, AS A FUNCTION OF MEASUREMENT SIGNALS IN ACCORDANCE WITH A PREDEFINED PROGRAM CONTAINED IN A MICROPROCESSOR OR IN A MICRO-COMPUTER EQUIPPED WITH CORRESPONDING INTERNAL AND OR EXTERNAL MEMORIES, CHARACTERIZED IN THAT, IN THE MEMORY OR MEMORIES, IS STORED A UNIVERSAL ADAPRE PROGRAM FOR DIFFERENT APPLICATIONS AND OR DESIGNS OF THE SYSTEM, FOR EXAMPLE OF THE BRAKING SYSTEM, CONTROLLED BY THE REGULATOR, AND IN THAT THE REGULATOR INCLUDES AN ADAPTATION CIRCUIT 12, 13 WHICH CAN BE MODIFIED DURING THE MANUFACTURE OF THE REGULATOR AND THAT ADAPTS THE REGULATOR. EXECUTION OF THE PROGRAM TO THE SPECIFIC APPLICATION ANDOR DESIGN.

Description

- 1 The present invention relates to a programmed electronic regulator,

  intended in particular for motor vehicles for, for example, regulating brake slip and / or traction slip, comprising electronic circuits which make it possible to produce control signals, for example brake pressure control signals , as a function of measurement signals in accordance with a predefined program contained in a microprocessor or in a microcomputer equipped with corresponding internal and / or external memories. A programmed electronic regulator of this type is already described in German patent application 32 34 637. It is in this case the regulator of an anti-lock braking system. By means of the known regulator, control signals for the braking pressure are produced according to sensor signals and / or signal signals which correspond to speed and behavior in

  wheel rotation. One embodiment of the regulator described in the patent application contains microcomputers in which the program of the regulator is memorized in a fixed manner. Microcomputers of this type, which consist of a single component and into which the controller program can be introduced by programming by masking, are comparatively advantageous in price.

  It is considered to be a drawback that, for practically all types of vehicles, a regulator program comprising special parameters and individual program steps is necessary, since, for example, the desired optimum variation of the pressure during the slip regulation is influenced by the type of drive, i.e. front, rear or all-wheel drive, by the design of the brakes, and by other construction features. In addition, different types of special equipment, special reactions to specific disturbances, etc. are desired. The number and type of existing sensors, such as wheel sensors, must therefore be taken into account as part of an appropriate program design. It is therefore necessary to develop a special microcomputer for each program variant, which considerably increases the cost of -2

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manufacturing and storage.

  The present invention therefore aims to provide a programmed electronic regulator which can be adapted, simply and inexpensively, to different types of vehicles and to different requirements. It turned out that this goal could be achieved in a simple and technically advanced way by means of a regulator of the type indicated above, the peculiarity of which being that, in the memory or memories, a universal program is stored which can be adapted10 tee to different applications and / or designs of the system, for example the braking system, controlled by the regulator, and in that the regulator includes an adaptation circuit which can be modified during the manufacture of the regulator and which adapts the execution of

  specific application and / or design program.

  According to the present invention, regulators intended for different types of vehicles, braking systems or brake designs can therefore be equipped with one (or more) identical uniformly programmed circuits, that is to say single-chip microcomputers . The adaptation of the regulator to the desired application is carried out by means of a very simple and inexpensive adaptation circuit which can be modified at low cost during the manufacture of the regulator, for example by drilling or interrupting certain tracks. conductive, and which initiates program execution

  desired for the specific vehicle type.

  According to an embodiment of the present invention, the adaptation circuit contains a bridge or resistance circuit network by means of which the potential at inputs of the microprocessor, microcomputer and / or at memory inputs can be determined to adjust or select the desired program. According to another particularly advantageous embodiment of the invention, the adaptation circuit consists of a coding and switching network which, at specific times or at predetermined points in the execution of the program, applies a instruction to adapt to the microprocessor, the microcomputer and / or the memory inputs. The rest of the time, processor, computer and - 3 inputs

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  memory are available to receive or transmit other information.

  The regulator described in the German patent application indicated above 32 34 637 contains two microcomputers operating in parallel, between which an exchange of data takes place during the execution of the program, in particular to control the consistency of the circulation of data and to analyze this consistency as a criterion for proper functioning. Another embodiment of the present invention is provided for circuits of this type and similar circuits, which consists in that the network

  coding and switching is connected to the data exchange lines and / or to the data exchange bus. The data exchange bus, which, in any case, is provided between the two microprocessors, can therefore be used to connect the adaptation circuit. Consequently, the means necessary to provide in addition to a conventional regulator are limited to the very simple additional coding and switching network.

  The various objects and characteristics of the invention will now be detailed in the description which follows, given by way of nonlimiting example, with reference to the appended figures

  which represent: FIG. 1, in the form of a simplified block diagram, the main circuits of a regulator according to the invention, intended for an anti-lock braking system,

  - Figure 2, in the form of a flowchart, a possibility of integration, into the program, of the functions of the coding and switching network in accordance with Figure 1.

  In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the regulator of an anti-lock braking system contains two micro-or30 dinators operating in parallel (MC1, MC2). Via bus 3, 4, signals are transmitted to the inputs of the two microcomputers 1, 2, these signals being collected by wheel sensors S1 to S4, for example by inductive sensors, and analyzed in a circuit 5. The inputs of the two microcomputers 1, 2 are connected in parallel. So they both get -4

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  the same information, in particular on the behavior in rotation of the different wheels of the vehicle.

  In the microcomputer 1, all the input data are logically combined and processed according to a predefined program m6mo5 stored in the microcomputer. At the output A1 of the microcomputer 1 are finally available brake pressure control signals which, via the line system 6 of an amplification circuit 7 and via the lines 8, are transmitted to brake pressure control valves 9. By means of these 10 valves, which are usually designed as multidirectional valves with electromagnetic control, the brake pressure prevailing in the brakes of wheels with controlled slip is reduced, maintained at a constant level and increased in good time, to prevent the wheels from locking up and achieving as efficient braking of the vehicle as possible over a short braking distance,

  while maintaining driving stability. So-called main valves, which allow pressure liquid to flow back in known manner into the braking circuits and therefore to replace the volume of pressure liquid taken off when the pressure drops, are also provided in the arrangement of valves 9.

  In the regulation circuit shown, the sensor signals formed in the trigger circuit 5 are processed in the second microcomputer 2 in the same way, in particular according to the same program, as in the microcomputer 1. Pat the middle 25 of a system of lines 10 and an adaptation stage 11, the

  signals produced by the microcomputer 1 are retransmitted at the output A2 of the second microcomputer 2 after having passed through the amplifier 7. In addition, the two microcomputers 1, 2 are connected to each other by a data exchange bus 27. Due to this interconnection, external and internal signals from the two microcomputers 1, 2 can be compared constantly. If the signals do not match, this translates into an error, so that in this case the slip regulation is switched off by a monitoring circuit (not shown), which guarantees that normal braking, 35 c ' that is to say, not regulated, remains possible.

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  In the embodiment shown in Figure 1, the

  adaptation circuit, which is essential to the invention, that is to say a coding and switching circuit 12, 13, is connected to the data exchange bus 27. In this case, the network of coding 12 5 consists only of a series of ohmic resistors connected in parallel R1 and / or R2 to R8 which are connected, on the one hand, via a common line 14, to a voltage source + UB and, on the other hand, via a common line M to ground.

  Each resistor R1 to R8 is connected to a line of the data exchange bus by means of an open switch al to a8 located at

  inside the switching network 13.

  To code the adaptation circuit 12, 13, the pre-established connection of the resistors Rn with the ground wire M in the coding network 12 is either deleted or separated. In the present case, the resistors R1 to R8 are housed in a printed circuit, so that the separation of the connection with the wire M can be carried out very simply by piercing (holes 15, 16, 17, 18) the conductive track __

link.

  When the switches a1 to an of the switching network 13 are closed, the various conductors of the data exchange bus 27 are connected either, via the coding network 12, to ground, or, via resistors Ri to R8, at voltage + UB. In the example shown, the voltage is applied via the switches a1, a3, a4 and a7, while the switches a2, a5, a6 and a8 are connected. to the ground wire M. Par__ via the switching network 13, an instruction predefined in a fixed manner by the coding of the coding network 12 can therefore be transmitted, via the data exchange bus 27, to the microcomputer 1, 2. Since eight switches and links are provided, there are a total of 256 possible combinations; 256 different instructions can therefore be carried out by the

coding and switching 12, 13.

  Via the control links 19 to 20, the switching network 13 is actuated at defined times and the instruction predefined by the coding of the network 12 - in the reset mode.

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  Representation shown, in the form of an 8-bit data word

  is therefore transmitted in the data exchange bus 27.

  In the regulator according to FIG. 1, the two microcomputers 1, 2 are connected to each other by means of the data exchange bus 5 via which, in particular, signals, which represent, for example, intermediate results of the data processing carried out inside the microcomputer 1 or 2, are compared in terms of their consistency with the corresponding data processed in the other microcomputer.

  Figure 2 shows the execution of the program when the

  adapter network 12, 13-shown in Figure 1 is used.

  After applying the control instruction 21 to the switching network 13 - see FIG. 1 -, the switches a1 to a8 are closed and therefore connected to the coding network 12; this is symbolized by the program step 22 in FIG. 2. In this embodiment shown, the instruction determined by the coding of the network 12 is therefore transmitted to the data exchange bus 27 in the form of a word 8-bit data and is expressed as indicated in figure 24 - by a selection of specific parameters, of no specific program or of other characteristic quantities which influence the execution of the regulator program stored in the microcomputers 1, 2. The duration of the pressure reduction or establishment pulses during certain regulation phases can, for example, be determined by means of the instruction coded in the network 12. It is also possible to adapt the program regulator when conditions change depending on whether it is front, rear or all-wheel drive. A correction of the yaw torque, undertaken for example by limiting the maximum pressure differences between the two wheels of an axle by combining the corresponding pressure build-up times or similar parameters, can be "switched on" or prevented by the coding of the network 12 if corresponding program steps are stored in the microcomputer 1, 2. The adaptation of the signal processing to the wheel sensors S1 to S4 capable of being used, in particular to the correspondence 35 between the pulse frequency and the angular speed of the wheels and

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  many other variables depending on the type of vehicle and / or

  of brake design, is also done by coding.

  The selection of data 24 is followed by the initialization of the regulator program which then takes place in the appropriate manner for the type of vehicle or design used. The coding of the duration of the pulses, which are used to control the establishment and reduction of the braking pressure, to the characteristic of the wheel brakes used. The triggering of additional functions, for example traction control, etc., can also be influenced

by coding.

  Depending on the embodiment of the regulator, the instruction predefined by the coding of the network 12 is transmitted to the data exchange bus 27 according to long time intervals, for example during each switching on of the ignition, or at a predetermined time within each signal processing cycle. Outside these entry moments, i.e. after l -e

  coding network 12 has been disconnected & by opening the switches of network 13, the data exchange bus 27 is available without restriction for other functions and / or data transmissions.

  The use of the adaptation network 12, 13 in accordance with the invention therefore makes it possible, with very little implementation of means, to take an important step towards the production of a regulator for universal use. Of secondary importance is the fact that the memory space requirements can be increased as a result of the universal program, which must be permanently stored in the microcomputer, since the current components for microcomputers

  have sufficient memory capacity.

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Claims (4)

  1. Programmed electronic regulator, intended in particular   to motor vehicles for, for example, regulating brake slip and / or traction slip, comprising electronic circuits which make it possible to produce control signals, for example brake pressure control signals, in accordance of measurement signals in accordance with a predefined program contained in a microprocessor or in a microcomputer equipped with corresponding internal and / or external memories, characterized in that, in the memory or memories, is stored a universal program able to be adapted to different applications and / or designs of the system, for example the braking system, controlled by the regulator, and in that the regulator comprises an adaptation circuit (12, 13) which can be modified during the manufacture of the regulator and which tailors program execution to specific application and / or design.   2. Regulator according to claim 1, characterized in that the adaptation circuit (12, 13) contains a bridge circuit or resistance network (12) by means of which the potential at inputs of the microprocessor, of the micro- computer (1, 2) and / or memory inputs can be determined depending on the application   and / or the design of the system controlled by the regulator.   3. A regulator according to claim 1, characterized in that the adaptation circuit (12, 13) consists essentially of a coding network (12) and a switching network (13) which , at specific times or at predetermined points in   the execution of the program, applies an adaptation instruction to the microprocessor, to the microcomputer (1, 2) and / or to the memory inputs.   4. Regulator according to claim 3, comprising-more than 30 microprocessors or microcomputers (1, 2) between which a data exchange takes place during the execution of the program, characterized in that coding and switching network (12, 13) is connected to the data exchange lines (27) and / or to the data exchange bus.