JP2003206778A - Engine control device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an engine control device which can omit an operation end for regulating an idling speed provided at a driver's seat, regulate the idling speed even when the operation end is omitted, simplify the arrangement of the driver's seat for the economy of the device, reduce the number of parts of the device, and simplify the control of parts for manufacturing and parts for maintenance. <P>SOLUTION: The operational mode of an automatic cruise lever provided in the vicinity of a steering wheel is switched according to a vehicle speed and also used for regulating the idling speed. The software of an engine ECU is constituted so that the automatic cruise lever is used in a conventional manner to change the target control value of the vehicle speed when the vehicle speed exceeds a predetermined value, and operated to regulate the idling speed if the lever is operated when the vehicle speed is very small (or the vehicle is stopped). <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention is used for controlling an engine of an automobile. The present invention relates to an improvement in a device that adjusts an idling speed of engine rotation by an operation from a driver's seat. The present invention simplifies the switches around the driver's seat and makes the device economical.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a vehicle equipped with an engine control device including a program control circuit, information about the temperature of engine cooling water, the engine load of an air conditioner, the engine load of an air compressor, etc. is used as input information.
The idling speed is adapted to be automatically adjusted and controlled. However, it may be necessary to manually adjust and control the idling speed for some reason such as starting the engine at low temperature or driving a power take-off (PTO) device. In consideration of such a need, there is known a technique of providing an idling speed adjusting operation end in a driver's seat (Japanese Patent Publication No. 4-51658: Applicant Isuzu). In this specification, the engine speed when the transmission is in the neutral position and the accelerator pedal is released is defined as "idling speed".

In the above-mentioned conventional apparatus, the operating end by a small rotary knob is provided on the dash board of the driver's seat. When the driver pulls out the knob, the idling speed is switched from the automatic state to the manual state, and the idling speed can be adjusted by rotating the knob. When the manual adjustment of the idling speed becomes unnecessary, the driver pushes in this knob, and the idling speed adjustment returns to the automatic state. This device has been well received by users for large vehicles, work vehicles, vehicles for cold regions, and the like, and has been used for various vehicles.

On the other hand, there is known an auto cruise control means for automatically adjusting the flow rate of fuel supplied to the engine so that the vehicle maintains a set vehicle speed by an auto cruise lever operated by a driver. It has become popular in many vehicles in recent years. An example of the structure and operation will be described. An automatic cruise lever is provided in the vicinity of the steered wheel so that it can be operated by a fingertip of a hand holding the steered wheel. When the driver reaches a desired speed by adjusting the accelerator pedal when the vehicle enters a road surface that can run at a constant speed, the auto cruise control is performed by gently pushing this auto cruise lever in its axial direction. The means is activated. When the auto-cruise control means is activated, even if the driver releases his / her foot from the accelerator pedal, the vehicle automatically adjusts the fuel supply to the engine so as to maintain the speed at the time when the auto-cruise control means is activated. To do.

[0007] If the driver has to approach the preceding vehicle while traveling in this state, the driver needs to decelerate the vehicle and further accelerates to continue traveling at a constant speed. Also occurs. At this time,
The target value of the vehicle speed can be changed little by little by operating the auto cruise lever lightly with the fingertips downward or upward. The auto cruise control means is configured as software inside the engine control device, specifically, in the engine ECU.

[0006]

The technique for adjusting the idling speed described above is a technique for analog circuits.
Many popular constructions utilize a rotary variable resistor as the adjusting end. This is reasonably costly and may break down due to the generation of water droplets, the inclusion of fine particles, or other causes, and for this reason, it is necessary to prepare maintenance parts and arrange them in various places. Since the engine control is now constructed by the digital circuit technology by the program control circuit, it is possible to design not to perform such manual adjustment of the idling speed. However, it is not appropriate to simply abolish the operation end because it is popular with users to provide the operation end as described above.

The present invention has been made against such a background, and it is an object of the present invention to provide an engine control device capable of adjusting the idling speed even if the operating end for adjusting the idling speed is eliminated. To aim. An object of the present invention is to simplify the driver's seat area and to make the apparatus economical. It is an object of the present invention to reduce the number of parts of an apparatus and simplify management of manufacturing parts and maintenance parts.

[0008]

The greatest feature of the present invention is that the operation of adjusting the idling speed is performed using the operating end of the auto-cruise device. The auto cruise device is used while the vehicle is running as described above,
Not used when the engine is running at idle speed. Therefore, the operating end of the auto-cruise device is automatically switched according to the vehicle speed, and when the vehicle speed is low (substantially zero vehicle speed), it is used for manual adjustment of the idling speed, and the vehicle speed is high (substantially It is used for the original adjustment operation of the automatic cruise device. For this reason, the auto cruise device does not require any modification as hardware or software. As means for adjusting the idling speed, we abolished all the hardware at the operating end and modified the software to
The control can be performed by using the input information from the operating end of the auto cruise device.

That is, the present invention provides an auto cruise control means (2) for automatically adjusting the fuel supply amount to the engine so as to maintain the vehicle speed set by the auto cruise lever (1) operated by the driver. , An engine controller provided with an idling adjusting means (2) for adjusting an idling speed of the engine by a driver's operation when the clutch (3) is in a disengaged state or the transmission (5) is in a neutral position. A condition (2) for switching and setting the auto-cruise lever (1) as an operation input device for the idling adjusting device when a condition including a value (v ₀ km / h) or less is satisfied. Characterize.

The predetermined value is a vehicle speed of zero (v ₀ = 0 km /
h), and the above conditions include: 1. The transmission is in the neutral position, and 2. It is desirable to have a configuration that includes the release of the accelerator pedal. The numbers in the above parentheses are reference numbers in the example drawings described later.

With this structure, the operating end hardware for adjusting the idling speed is eliminated, the structure around the driver's seat is simplified, the number of parts is reduced, and the apparatus is economical. Even if the operating end is eliminated, the manual adjustment of the idling speed is practically possible and there is no inconvenience in use.

[0012]

Embodiments will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the engine control system hardware of the device of the present invention. First, the overall configuration of the engine control system will be briefly described with reference to FIG. The engine 4 has its fuel pump 7
By controlling the governor / actuator 8 by the engine ECU 2, the rotational speed thereof is adjusted and controlled.
The engine ECU 2 is a program control circuit including hardware configured by a micro chip and its peripheral circuits, and software mounted on the micro chip.

The input information of the engine ECU 2 is, as the operation information, the operation information of the starter switch 11, the operation information of the accelerator pedal 6, the operation information of the brake pedal 9, the operation information of the clutch pedal 10 and the parking brake. Operation information of lever 12, operation information of exhaust brake switch 13, and auto cruise
This is the operation information of the lever 1. The auto-cruise lever 1 is a lever for instructing start, stop, acceleration or deceleration of the auto-cruise control means, and the device of the present invention switches the operation input of the auto-cruise lever according to the vehicle speed to adjust the idling. The feature is that it is used as an operation input to the means.

Further, the engine ECU 2 is provided with state information of the neutral switch 18 provided in the transmission,
The operation information of the work accelerator / sensor 19 for controlling the engine and the operation information of the PTO switch 20 are input from other than the driver's seat. Further, the engine ECU 2 receives the detection information of the vehicle speed sensor 14 and the water temperature sensor 1 as input information.
5 detection information, positive and secondary two engine rotation sensors 1
The detection information of 6 and the detection information of the rack position sensor 17 are input.

The power supply system of the engine ECU 2 includes a battery 2
Supplied from 1. The control output of the engine ECU 2 is sent to the fuel pump 7 of the engine 4 as described above, and the air output from the air tank 25 is used for the drive output of the retarder relay 22 and the opening / closing control of the exhaust brake valve 27. The control output of the exhaust / brake solenoid valve 23 and the control output of the stop lamp relay 24 for controlling the blinking of the stop lamp 26 are sent. The interface 30 is a diagnostic monitor connection terminal that is connected to adjust and set the engine ECU 2 during manufacturing and maintenance. The engine stop knob 28 is used when the engine is to be stopped urgently, and is connected to the stop lever 29 by a mechanical wire. Furthermore, this engine ECU
Is supplied to the tachometer 31, the alarm lamp 32, the exhaust brake lamp 33, and the display lamp of the PTO switch 20, which display the engine rotation speed on the driver's seat. The alarm lamp 32 is a display for warning the engine stop and the oil pressure abnormality of the lubricating oil.

Next, the operation of this device will be described.
This device is activated by operating the starter switch 11, and controls the engine speed according to the input information related to the driving operation. The fuel supplied from the fuel pump 7 to the engine 4 is adjusted according to the amount of depression of the accelerator pedal 6. The transmission 5 is set to the running gear and the clutch 3
When the engine is braked in the state where is connected, the exhaust brake switch 27 can be operated to close the exhaust brake valve 27 to enable the exhaust brake. Further, by operating the exhaust brake switch 13, the retarder relay 22 can be activated and the retarder can be operated.

Here, the auto-cruise lever 1 which is a feature of the present invention will be described. FIG. 2 is an external view of the automatic cruise lever 1. The auto-cruise lever 1 is arranged right next to (or near) the steering wheel so that the driver can operate it with the fingertip of the right hand. When the vehicle is traveling at a speed equal to or higher than a predetermined speed (for example, 40 km / h or more) while the auto cruise main S / W is ON, the auto cruise control means is activated by gently pushing the lever upward. The auto-cruise control means is a device configured by software inside the engine ECU 2. When this control means is activated, even if the driver releases his / her foot from the accelerator pedal 6, the vehicle speed is automatically adjusted and controlled so that the vehicle speed at the time of activation is maintained as a target value. To be done. If the auto-cruise lever 1 is lightly pushed upward (in the direction of arrow UP in FIG. 2) while the auto-cruise control means is operating, the target value of the vehicle speed becomes slightly higher. Move the auto cruise lever 1 downward (arrow DOWN in FIG. 2).
A slight push down (in the direction of N) slightly lowers the vehicle speed target. By repeating this operation, the driver can travel while changing the target value of the vehicle speed. By pushing the top of the lever 1 again in the direction of ON / OFF of the arrow, the mode of the auto cruise is terminated, and thereafter, the vehicle speed is adjusted by operating the accelerator pedal 6. This auto-cruise mode ends in conjunction with the operation of the auto-cruise lever 1 in the ON / OFF direction and other operations such as depressing the brake during traveling in the auto-cruise mode.

A feature of the present invention is that the auto-cruise lever 1 is used to set the idling speed. That is, when the vehicle is stopped (or the vehicle speed is extremely low) and the engine 4 is at the idling speed,
When the lever tip is turned in the UP direction and the DOWN direction, the manual mode is set and the idle speed can be adjusted. The arrow on the top of this auto cruise lever 1 /
By pushing in the OFF direction, the engine ECU 2 cancels the manual idling speed setting mode and enters the auto idle mode.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing the procedure for mode switching by operating the auto-cruise lever 1. That is, the operating mode of the auto-cruise lever 1 is the idling speed setting mode on condition that the engine is started, the vehicle speed is zero, and the engine is idling. When this condition is not established, the auto-cruise lever 1 is in a standby mode for setting the vehicle speed target value of the auto-cruise control means as usual. This mode switching is executed by the software set in the engine ECU 2.

When the operation of the auto-cruise lever 1 is in the idling speed setting mode, the tip of the auto-cruise lever 1 is rotated clockwise (in the direction of arrow UP in FIG. 2) to set the idling speed. The target value of is 1 step higher. By turning counterclockwise (in the direction of DOWN in FIG. 2), the target value of the idling speed is lowered by one step. According to this operation, the engine ECU 2 changes the flow rate of fuel supplied to the engine 4 and controls so as to maintain the rotation speed of the new target value.

Continuously increase the auto cruise lever 1
By operating in the direction, the target value of the idling speed increases during that time at a rate of several steps per second. Similarly, by continuously operating in the DOWN direction, the target value of the idling speed decreases at a rate of several steps per second during that period. When the target value of the idling speed reaches the preset minimum value, it does not fall below that. The driver can perform an operation of changing the target value of the idling speed while observing the tachometer 31 that displays the rotation speed of the engine on the driver's seat.

The idling speed setting mode is completed by pushing the top of the auto-cruise lever 1 again in the direction of the arrow ON / OFF in FIG. At the same time, the target value of the idling speed changed by the operation returns to the standard target value originally set in the engine ECU 2. In addition to operating the top of the auto-cruise lever 1 in the ON / OFF direction, when the clutch pedal 10 is depressed, the accelerator pedal 6 is depressed, and other driving operations for starting are performed, In conjunction with the operation, the control by the set idling speed of the engine 4 is stopped. At this time, in conjunction with this, the mode for setting the target value of the idling speed by the auto cruise lever 1 ends. After that, the rotation speed of the engine 4 is controlled according to the driving operation.

[0023]

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an engine control device capable of adjusting the idling speed even if the operating end for adjusting the idling speed is eliminated.
According to the present invention, the configuration around the driver's seat can be simplified and the device can be made economical. Further, according to the present invention, it is possible to reduce the number of parts of the apparatus and simplify management of manufacturing parts and maintenance parts.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block configuration diagram of an apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a structural diagram of an auto-cruise lever of a device according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a control flowchart of a main part of the apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Auto cruise lever 2 engine ECU 3 clutch 4 engine 5 gearbox 6 accelerator pedal 7 Fuel pump 8 Governor actuator 9 Brake pedal 10 clutch pedal 11 Starter switch 12 Parking brake lever 13 Exhaust brake switch 14 vehicle speed sensor 15 Water temperature sensor 16 rotation sensor 17 Rack position sensor 18 Neutral switch 19 Work accelerator and sensor 20 PTO switch 21 batteries 22 Retarder relay 23 Exhaust brake solenoid valve 24 stop lamps and relays 25 air tank 26 stop lamps 27 Exhaust brake valve 28 Engine stop knob 29 Stop lever 30 interfaces 31 tachometer 32 alarm lamp 33 Exhaust brake lamp

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Tomoyuki Sugaya             3-1, Hinodai, Hino City, Tokyo 1 Hino             Inside the automobile corporation F-term (reference) 3D044 AA50 AB01 AB04 AB07 AD02                       AE01                 3G084 BA03 CA03 DA13 EA03 FA05                       FA06 FA10                 3G093 AA08 BA27 CA04 DA06 DB05                       DB12 EA03 EC01 FA02

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An automatic cruise control means for automatically adjusting a fuel supply amount to an engine so as to maintain a vehicle speed set by an automatic cruise lever operated by a driver, and a clutch disengaged state or a transmission. In an engine control device provided with an idling adjusting means for adjusting an idling speed of the engine by a driver's operation when in a neutral position, a condition including that the vehicle speed is equal to or lower than a predetermined value (v ₀ km / h) is satisfied. At this time, the engine control device is provided with means for switching and setting the auto cruise lever as an operation input means for the idling adjusting means. 2. The predetermined value is a vehicle speed of zero, and the conditions include (1) the transmission is in a neutral position, and (2) the accelerator pedal is released. The engine control device described.