JP2007270617A - Sensor module unit and throttle system - Google Patents

Abstract

An object of the present invention is to provide a small sensor module unit having a small mounting area in which a plurality of sensors are incorporated in a compact manner and a throttle system including the sensor module unit.
In one embodiment of the present invention, a sensor module unit 1 has a predetermined thickness, a unit main body 21 attached to a throttle device 2 in the thickness direction, a unit main body 21, and a throttle body A position sensor chamber 23 that houses and holds a position sensor 50 for detecting the opening degree of the throttle valve 18 of the apparatus 2 and an intake pressure sensor 32 that is provided in the unit main body 21 and detects the intake pressure through the intake pipe. The position sensor chamber 23 and the pressure sensor chamber 26 are overlapped with each other in the thickness direction of the unit main body 21.
[Selection] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a sensor module unit incorporating a plurality of sensors for detecting various data essential for fuel supply control and intake flow rate control of an internal combustion engine, and a throttle system including the sensor module unit.

  2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, an internal combustion engine of an automobile including at least a large motorcycle (hereinafter, referred to as “engine” as appropriate) is generally controlled by an electronic control device equipped with a computer.

  In an electronic control device for an engine, various sensors for constantly detecting the operating state and intake state of the engine are arranged in the engine and its peripheral devices, and an ECU (Electronic Control Unit) that centrally controls the engine electronically The engine is optimally controlled based on various data sent from these various sensors.

  The engine mixes fuel such as gasoline with air and burns the air-mixed fuel in the piston to generate rotational torque. Therefore, optimization of intake flow control as well as fuel supply control to the engine is possible. It becomes important.

  The intake air flow supplied to the engine is generally adjusted by a throttle device provided on the intake pipe side connected to the engine. Normally, a throttle device is provided with a throttle valve (throttle valve) inside an intake cylindrical tube, and the air flow rate is adjusted by adjusting the opening of the throttle valve.

  Therefore, it is necessary for the ECU to always accurately detect the opening of the throttle valve in the intake throttle device. This throttle valve opening is detected by a throttle position sensor (Throttle Position Sensor) installed near the throttle valve. : Hereinafter referred to as “TPS” as appropriate).

  In addition to the contact type that detects the opening degree of the throttle valve by attaching the potentiometer to the movement of the throttle valve and contacting the contact with the resistance film, the TPS is broadly classified into the TPS. There is a non-contact type in which the opening degree of the throttle valve is detected using a Hall element or an MR element without directly contacting the movable element interlocked with.

  A contact type TPS using a potentiometer is required to have high positioning accuracy when attached to the throttle body. That is, after temporarily fastening the TPS to the body of the throttle device (hereinafter referred to as the throttle body), it is necessary to adjust its position around the throttle shaft while monitoring the signal output from the TPS. In the case of a multi-cylinder engine, this adjustment must be performed for each throttle body, which makes the assembly work extremely complicated. In addition to the TPS, it is necessary to attach a plurality of sensors such as an intake air temperature sensor and an intake air pressure sensor to the intake pipe side of the engine, but the work of attaching these sensors individually is very complicated, Work efficiency will be reduced.

Therefore, a non-contact type TPS that does not require complicated installation work and adjustment is used, and a sensor-integrated throttle body that is integrally attached to the throttle body together with other sensors, and a plurality of types including a non-contact type TPS. There has been proposed a structure in which a sensor module unit in which a sensor is integrated is detachably attached to a throttle body (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
JP 7-260534 A

  By the way, in the conventional structure in which a sensor module unit in which a plurality of sensors are integrated is attached to a throttle body, various sensors are arranged two-dimensionally (planarly) in the sensor module unit. As a result, the mounting area of the sensor module unit with respect to the throttle body is not less than the sum of the areas of the sensors projected on the plane.

  For this reason, it is difficult to reduce the size of the sensor module unit, and in turn, to reduce the size of the throttle system including the sensor module unit and the throttle body to which the sensor module unit is attached. There is a possibility that it cannot be done.

  The present invention has been made paying attention to such a current situation, and an object of the present invention is to provide a small sensor module unit having a small mounting area in which a plurality of sensors are incorporated in a compact manner and the sensor module unit. Is to provide a throttling system.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, the invention described in claim 1 is directed to a sensor module unit attached to an intake flow rate adjusting throttle device provided in an intake pipe connected to an internal combustion engine. A unit main body attached to the throttle device in the thickness direction thereof, and a plurality of sensor chambers provided in the unit main body for accommodating and holding predetermined sensors, At least two of the above are characterized in that at least a part thereof overlaps with each other in the thickness direction of the unit main body.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, at least two of the plurality of sensor chambers overlap each other in the thickness direction of the unit body, that is, in the mounting direction with respect to the throttle device. That is, in the sensor module unit, at least two predetermined sensors are three-dimensionally arranged in the thickness direction (attachment direction) of the unit body. Therefore, the mounting area of the sensor module unit with respect to the body of the throttle device (throttle body) can be made equal to or less than the sum of the areas of these sensors projected on the plane, and as a result, the sensor module unit can be made compact. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the size of the throttle system including the sensor module unit and the throttle body to which the sensor module unit is attached.

  Moreover, according to the said structure, it becomes possible to attach a sensor module unit compactly with respect to a small throttle body. In other words, a small sensor module unit with a small mounting area can be provided, and the sensor module unit can be mounted on a throttle body of various sizes, increasing the degree of design freedom and making it much more convenient than before. Can be improved.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the plurality of sensor chambers accommodate and hold position sensors for detecting the opening degree of the throttle valve of the throttle device. A position sensor chamber and a pressure sensor chamber that houses and holds an intake pressure sensor for detecting an intake pressure through the intake pipe, and at least a part of the position sensor chamber and the pressure sensor chamber is included. The unit main bodies overlap each other in the thickness direction.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, at least a part of the position sensor chamber and the pressure sensor chamber overlap each other in the thickness direction of the unit main body, that is, the mounting direction with respect to the throttle device. That is, in the sensor module unit, the position sensor and the intake pressure sensor are three-dimensionally arranged in the thickness direction (attachment direction) of the unit body. Therefore, the mounting area of the sensor module unit with respect to the body of the throttle device (throttle body) can be made equal to or less than the sum of the areas of these sensors projected on the plane, and as a result, the sensor module unit can be made compact. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the size of the throttle system including the sensor module unit and the throttle body to which the sensor module unit is attached.

  The invention described in claim 3 is the invention described in claim 2, wherein the position sensor chamber and the pressure sensor chamber have openings that open in opposite directions in the thickness direction of the unit body. It is characterized by having each.

  According to the invention described in claim 3, the same effect as that of the invention described in claim 2 can be obtained, and the position sensor chamber and the pressure sensor chamber are opposite to each other in the thickness direction of the unit body. Since each opening has an opening, it is easy to assemble the sensor into these sensor chambers.

  That is, when the position sensor chamber and the pressure sensor chamber overlap with each other in the thickness direction of the unit main body, the sensor chambers in the overlapping direction (thickness direction of the unit main body). If the openings of the sensor chambers are open in the same direction, the opening area of each sensor chamber is limited depending on the degree of overlap between the sensor chambers, and it may be difficult to assemble the sensor into the sensor chamber. There is sex. However, as described in the claims, if the openings of the sensor chambers are opened in opposite directions, the sensor chambers are not restricted to each other, and a large opening area of the opening is secured. Therefore, the sensor can be easily assembled to the sensor chamber through the opening.

  In the invention described in claim 3, since the opening of each sensor chamber is opened in the thickness direction of the unit body, that is, in the mounting direction with respect to the throttle device, the mounting direction and the detection direction can be easily matched. As a result, the detection accuracy can be increased.

  According to a fourth aspect of the invention, there is provided the invention according to the second or third aspect, wherein the position sensor and the intake pressure sensor are provided between the position sensor chamber and the pressure sensor chamber. An electrical line to be connected is arranged.

  According to the invention described in claim 4, the same effect as that of the invention described in claim 2 or claim 3 can be obtained, and the electric lines of each sensor can be accommodated in a compact manner close to the sensor. In addition, it is possible to avoid a situation in which downsizing of the sensor module unit is hindered by securing the installation space of the electric line.

  In the present invention, in addition to the sensor module unit configured as described above, a throttle system including the sensor module unit is provided.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the small sensor module unit with a small attachment area formed by incorporating a some sensor compactly, and a throttle system provided with this sensor module unit can be provided.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 shows a throttle system S composed of a sensor module unit 1 and a throttle device 2 according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 shows a sensor according to the present embodiment removed from the throttle device 2. A module unit 1 is shown.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the sensor module unit 1 is attached to the side surface of the throttle body 20 in the vicinity of the throttle shaft 15 in the throttle device 2. In FIG. 1, the left side of the throttle shaft 15 is the intake upstream side (air filter side), and the right side of the throttle shaft 15 is the intake downstream side (engine side).

  The throttle body 20 is formed in a cylindrical shape and is provided in an intake pipe (not shown) connected to the internal combustion engine. The throttle body 20 has an air horn 10A at the left end and a flange 10B at the right end. The outside air taken in from the air intake is filtered by an air filter (not shown), and the filtered air is supplied to the throttle device 2 from the air horn 10A side. The throttle device 2 controls the intake air flow rate to the engine by narrowing or widening the passage area of the filtered air, that is, the opening of the throttle valve 18. Specifically, a throttle shaft 15 is provided substantially at the center of the side surface of the throttle body 20, and a throttle valve 18 that adjusts the intake air flow rate is coupled to the throttle shaft 15. The opening degree of the throttle valve 18 is detected by, for example, a non-contact type position sensor (TPS) 50 including a hall element 31 as will be described later.

  As shown in FIG. 1, an intake air temperature sensor 33 that detects the temperature of the air sucked through the intake pipe is disposed on the intake upstream side of the throttle valve 18, and the intake air sensor 33 is disposed on the downstream side of the throttle valve 18. An intake pressure sensor 32 that detects the pressure of air sucked through the pipe is disposed. Further, between the intake air temperature sensor 33 and the intake pressure sensor 32, the above-described TPS 50 that detects the opening degree of the throttle valve 18 is disposed. In this case, the TPS 50, the intake pressure sensor 32, and the intake temperature sensor 33 are housed and held in the position sensor chamber 23, the pressure sensor chamber 26, and the temperature sensor chamber 24 provided at predetermined positions of the unit body 21 of the sensor module unit 1, respectively. Has been. In the present embodiment, the pressure sensor chamber 26 that accommodates and holds the intake pressure sensor 32 is formed by a rectangular frame-shaped peripheral wall 26b (shown clearly in FIG. 3).

  The unit main body 21 has a predetermined thickness H, and is attached to the throttle body 20 of the throttle device 2 in the thickness direction. When the unit main body 21 is attached to the throttle body 20, the sensors 32, 33, 50 are automatically positioned at predetermined measurement positions in the throttle device 2. Specifically, a substantially cylindrical fitting portion 60 is formed in the throttle body 20, and a substantially cylindrical peripheral wall portion 59 that forms the position sensor chamber 23 is fitted in the fitting portion 60. It is like that. The temperature sensor chamber 24 is formed by a conduit 24 a protruding from the unit main body 21 with a length reaching the inner wall of the throttle body 20 of the throttle device 2, and the conduit 24 a is a through hole 20 a provided in the throttle body 20. It is designed to be inserted into. Then, the substantially cylindrical peripheral wall portion 59 of the position sensor chamber 23 and the conduit 24a of the temperature sensor chamber 24 are fitted into the fitting portion 60 and the through hole 20a of the throttle body 20, respectively. The sensors 32, 33, and 50 are automatically positioned at predetermined measurement positions in the throttle device 2 (the intake air temperature sensor 33 is located on the upstream side of the intake of the throttle valve 18). (The intake pressure sensor 32 is disposed at a predetermined position on the intake downstream side of the throttle valve 18 and the TPS 50 is positioned at a predetermined valve detection position described later).

  The unit main body 21 is formed with a pressure sampling passage 13 as an intake pressure measurement passage that communicates the inside of the flow path 40 of the throttle body 20 with the intake pressure sensor 32 side. In addition, the unit body 21 is provided with screw holes 14 into which screws for fixing the unit body 21 to the throttle body 20 are screwed in two places across the TPS 50 (see FIG. 3). .

  In the present embodiment, at least a part of the position sensor chamber 23 and the pressure sensor chamber 26 (in the present embodiment, only a predetermined amount W) overlaps each other in the thickness H direction of the unit body 21. That is, an area defined by the peripheral wall portion 59 forming the position sensor chamber 23 and an area defined by the rectangular frame-shaped peripheral wall 26 b forming the pressure sensor chamber 26 are mutually in the thickness H direction of the unit body 21. It overlaps partially. In this case, the position sensor chamber 23 and the pressure sensor chamber 26 have openings 23 a and 26 a that open in opposite directions in the thickness H direction of the unit body 21. An electric line L connected to the TPS 50 and the intake pressure sensor 32 is disposed between the position sensor chamber 23 and the pressure sensor chamber 26.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a circuit board 30 is fixedly provided at a predetermined location in the unit main body 21 of the sensor module unit 1. A hall element 31 constituting the TPS 50 is directly attached to the circuit board 30 and an intake pressure sensor 32 is electrically connected thereto. In addition, a lead wire 34 from the intake air temperature sensor 33 provided at the distal end opening of the conduit 24 a of the temperature sensor chamber 24 is also electrically connected to the circuit board 30. These elements 31, 32, and 33 that are electrically connected to or mounted on the circuit board 30 are not shown through an electronic control circuit (not shown) via terminals of a connector 28 (see FIG. 3) formed on the unit body 21. Is electrically connected.

  The TPS 50 includes a substantially annular magnet M fixed to the rotor 11 that rotates together with the throttle valve 18, a Hall element 31 that detects a change in the magnetic field accompanying the rotation of the rotor 11, and a magnet between the magnet M and the Hall element 31. And a substantially cylindrical stator 55 which is provided substantially concentrically with M and forms a magnetic circuit to control the magnetic field around the Hall element 31.

  More specifically, the hall element 31 is disposed in a substantially cylindrical stator accommodating portion 62 formed in the unit main body 21. In addition, a stator 55 made of a magnetic material formed in a predetermined shape is disposed in the stator housing 62 in order to control the magnetic field around the Hall element 31. A rotor 11 constituting the TPS 50 is connected to the throttle shaft 15. In this case, the rotor 11 is fixed to the throttle shaft 15 by screws 16 and rotates integrally with the throttle shaft 15. The throttle shaft 15 passes through the throttle body 20 and crosses the approximate center of the throttle body 20. The throttle shaft 15 passing through the throttle body 20 is connected to the throttle lever 17 at the end opposite to the rotor 11. A throttle valve 18 is attached to the throttle shaft 15 in the flow path 40 in the throttle body 20, and the amount of intake air passing through the flow path 40 is adjusted according to the position (angle) of the throttle valve 18. That is, the rotation angle of the rotor 11 correlates with the opening degree of the throttle valve 18. Here, a return spring 19 is engaged with the throttle shaft 15 via a throttle lever 17. A magnet M is provided on a part of the inner peripheral surface of the rotor 11 along the circumferential direction. The magnet M is arranged along the outer periphery of the stator housing portion 62 when the sensor module unit 1 is mounted on the throttle body 20.

  Thus, the TPS 50 can detect the position of the throttle valve 18 by detecting the change in the magnetic field due to the rotation of the rotor 11 according to the position of the throttle valve 18 by the Hall element 31.

  As described above, in the sensor module unit 1 of the present embodiment, at least a part of the position sensor chamber 23 and the pressure sensor chamber 26 is mutually in the thickness H direction of the unit body 21, that is, in the mounting direction with respect to the throttle device 2. They are overlapping. That is, in the sensor module unit 1, the TPS 50 and the intake pressure sensor 32 are arranged three-dimensionally in the thickness direction (attachment direction) of the unit body 21. Therefore, the mounting area of the sensor module unit 1 with respect to the throttle body 20 of the throttle device 2 can be made equal to or less than the sum of the areas of the sensors 32, 33, and 50 projected onto the plane. As a result, the sensor module It is possible to reduce the size of the unit 1 and, in turn, the throttle system S including the sensor module unit 1 and the throttle body 20 to which the sensor module unit 1 is attached. Further, according to such a configuration, the sensor module unit 1 can be compactly attached to the small throttle body 20. That is, a small sensor module unit 1 with a small mounting area can be provided, and the sensor module unit 1 can be mounted on the throttle body 20 of various sizes, which increases the degree of design freedom and is more convenient than before. The sex can be greatly improved.

  Further, in the sensor module unit 1 of the present embodiment, the position sensor chamber 23 and the pressure sensor chamber 26 have openings 23a and 26a that open in opposite directions in the thickness direction of the unit body 21, respectively. The sensors 50 and 32 can be easily assembled to the holding portions 23 and 26.

  That is, when the position sensor chamber 23 and the pressure sensor chamber 26 overlap each other in the thickness direction of the unit main body 21 as in the present embodiment, these holding portions in the overlapping direction (thickness direction of the unit main body 21). If the opening portions 23a and 26a of the holding portions 23 and 26 are opened in the same direction, the opening areas of the opening portions 23a and 26a of the holding portions 23 and 26 are restricted according to the overlapping degree of the holding portions 23 and 26. Therefore, it may be difficult to assemble the sensors 50 and 32 to the holding portions 23 and 26. However, if the openings 23a and 26a of the holding portions 23 and 26 are opened in opposite directions as in the present embodiment, the holding portions 23 and 26 are not restricted to each other, and the openings Since the opening areas of 23a and 26a can be secured large, the sensors 50 and 32 can be easily assembled to the holding parts 23 and 26 through the openings 23a and 26a.

  In the present embodiment, since the openings 23a and 26a of the holding portions 23 and 26 are opened in the thickness direction of the unit body 21, that is, in the direction of attachment to the throttle device 2, the attachment direction and the detection direction can be easily set. Therefore, the detection accuracy can be improved.

  In the present embodiment, an electric line L connected to the TPS 50 and the intake pressure sensor 32 is disposed between the position sensor chamber 23 and the pressure sensor chamber 26. Therefore, the electric lines L of the sensors 50 and 32 can be compactly accommodated close to the sensors 50 and 32, and the size of the sensor module unit 1 can be prevented from being reduced by securing the space for arranging the electric lines L. Such a situation can be avoided.

  Needless to say, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and can be variously modified without departing from the scope of the invention. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the position sensor chamber 23 and the pressure sensor chamber 26 overlap each other in the thickness H direction of the unit main body 21, but the position sensor chamber 23 and the temperature sensor chamber 24 have a thickness of the unit main body 21. The pressure sensor chamber 26 and the temperature sensor chamber 24 may overlap each other in the thickness H direction of the unit main body 21, and three sensor chambers 23, 24, 26 may overlap each other in the thickness H direction of the unit main body 21. The number of sensors is arbitrary and is not limited to three. In short, a plurality of sensor chambers for accommodating and holding predetermined sensors are provided in the unit main body 21, and at least a part of at least two of the plurality of sensor chambers overlap each other in the thickness direction of the unit main body 21. It should be.

  The present invention can be applied to any sensor module unit in which a plurality of sensors are integrated.

1 is a cross-sectional view of a throttle system including a sensor module unit and a throttle device according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is sectional drawing of the sensor module unit of FIG. 1 removed from the throttle apparatus. It is a top view of the sensor module unit of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Sensor module unit 2 Throttle device 18 Throttle valve 21 Unit main body 23 Position sensor chamber 26 Pressure sensor chamber 32 Intake pressure sensor 50 Position sensor

Claims (8)

In a sensor module unit attached to a throttle device for adjusting an intake air flow rate provided in an intake pipe connected to an internal combustion engine,
A unit body having a predetermined thickness and attached to the throttle device in the thickness direction;
A plurality of sensor chambers provided in the unit body for accommodating and holding predetermined sensors;
With
At least two of the plurality of sensor chambers at least partially overlap each other in the thickness direction of the unit main body. The plurality of sensor chambers house a position sensor chamber for housing and holding a position sensor for detecting the opening of the throttle valve of the throttle device, and an intake pressure sensor for detecting the intake pressure through the intake pipe. Holding pressure sensor chamber,
2. The sensor module unit according to claim 1, wherein at least a part of the position sensor chamber and the pressure sensor chamber overlap each other in a thickness direction of the unit main body.   3. The sensor module unit according to claim 2, wherein the position sensor chamber and the pressure sensor chamber have openings that open in opposite directions in the thickness direction of the unit main body. 4.   4. The sensor according to claim 2, wherein an electrical line connected to the position sensor and the intake pressure sensor is disposed between the position sensor chamber and the pressure sensor chamber. 5. Module unit. A throttle system comprising a throttle device for adjusting an intake air flow rate provided in an intake pipe connected to an internal combustion engine, and a sensor module unit attached to the throttle device,
The sensor module unit is
A unit body having a predetermined thickness and attached to the throttle device in the thickness direction;
A plurality of sensor chambers provided in the unit body for accommodating and holding predetermined sensors;
With
At least two of the plurality of sensor chambers are at least partially overlapped with each other in the thickness direction of the unit body. The plurality of sensor chambers house a position sensor chamber for housing and holding a position sensor for detecting the opening of the throttle valve of the throttle device, and an intake pressure sensor for detecting the intake pressure through the intake pipe. Holding pressure sensor chamber,
The throttle system according to claim 5, wherein at least a part of the position sensor chamber and the pressure sensor chamber overlap each other in the thickness direction of the unit body.   The throttle system according to claim 6, wherein the position sensor chamber and the pressure sensor chamber each have openings that open in opposite directions in the thickness direction of the unit body.   The throttle according to claim 6 or 7, wherein an electric line connected to the position sensor and the intake pressure sensor is disposed between the position sensor chamber and the pressure sensor chamber. system.

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