JP2011144752A - Engine stop and start control device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To properly perform cranking by a starter. <P>SOLUTION: An ECU 30 automatically stops an engine 20 when a predetermined automatic stop condition is satisfied and then restarts the engine 20 by performing cranking with the starter 10 when a predetermined restart condition is satisfied. Further, the ECU 30 performs a meshing process for meshing a ring gear 22 with a pinion 15 through energization control of a coil 16 after satisfaction of the automatic stop condition and before satisfaction of the restart condition and performs cranking by controlling rotation of the pinion 15 through energization control of a motor 11 with the satisfaction of the restart condition. Particularly, the ECU 30 determines whether or not pinion slipping occurs, in which meshing of the pinion 15 and the ring gear 22 is released after performing of the meshing process and before the satisfaction of the restart condition, and controls driving of the pinion 15 based on the determination result. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an engine stop / start control device.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is known an engine control system having a so-called idle stop function that detects an operation for stopping or starting such as an accelerator operation or a brake operation to automatically stop and restart an engine. By this idle stop control, effects such as engine fuel consumption reduction are achieved.

  In the engine restart, basically, an initial rotation is applied to the output shaft (crankshaft) of the engine by the starter in the same manner as when the engine is started with key operation. That is, first, the pinion provided on the starter is pushed in the axial direction of the pinion rotation shaft, thereby meshing the pinion with the ring gear connected to the crankshaft. And a ring gear is rotated by rotating a pinion by energization control to a starter. Thereby, cranking is started and the engine is restarted.

  As a starter drive control at the time of engine restart, after the engine is automatically stopped and before the engine rotation speed becomes zero, the pinion is meshed with the ring gear in advance for the next engine restart, and the engine restart request is issued. It has been proposed to rotate the pinion while the pinion and the ring gear are engaged with each other (see, for example, Patent Document 1). By doing so, the engine is restarted promptly and the meshing sound when the pinion meshes with the ring gear is suppressed.

JP 2008-163818 A

  If the pinion and the ring gear are meshed in advance after the engine is automatically stopped and before the restart request, the mesh between the pinion and the ring gear may be disengaged after the meshing and before the engine is restarted. Conceivable. When releasing the mesh, when the pinion is rotated in response to the engine restart request in the same manner as the meshing, the pinion is rotated even though the pinion is not meshed with the ring gear. In this case, for example, the rotating pinion meshes with the ring gear that has stopped rotating, so that the meshing sound between the pinion and the ring gear becomes excessive, or the meshing of the two cannot be performed smoothly. Is concerned.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and has as its main object to provide an engine stop / start control device capable of appropriately performing cranking by a starter.

  The present invention employs the following means in order to solve the above problems.

  The present invention has an automatic stop start function that automatically stops the engine when a predetermined automatic stop condition is satisfied, and then restarts the engine by performing cranking by a starter when the predetermined restart condition is satisfied. And a meshing process for meshing the starter pinion with the ring gear connected to the output shaft of the engine by energization control of the meshing drive means after the automatic stop condition is established and before the restart condition is established. The present invention relates to an engine stop / start control device comprising: an engagement control unit configured to rotate; and a rotation control unit configured to rotate the pinion by energization control of the rotation driving unit when the restart condition is satisfied. In particular, in the first aspect of the present invention, after the meshing process by the meshing control means is performed and before the restart condition is satisfied, a pinion omission occurs in which the meshing between the pinion and the ring gear is released. And a drive control means for controlling the drive of the pinion based on the determination result of the pinion loss by the loss determination means.

  In short, in the idle stop control, the pinion may be meshed with the ring gear in advance in preparation for the next engine restart after the engine is automatically stopped and before the engine is stopped. In this case, during the period until the next engine restart after the same meshing, for example, when the output shaft of the engine rotates, there is a possibility that a pinion omission where the meshing between the pinion and the ring gear is released occurs. It is done. Here, when the pinion rotates and the pinion is rotated on the assumption that the pinion is engaged with the ring gear (the teeth are engaged with each other and power is transmitted from the pinion to the ring gear), the pinion and the ring gear are Since the ring gears are not engaged with each other, the ring gear cannot be properly rotated. As a result, it is conceivable that engine cranking is not properly performed.

  In view of this point, in the present invention, when the engagement of the pinion and the ring gear is performed after the engine is automatically stopped, whether or not the pinion is lost after the engagement process is performed and before the engine restart condition is satisfied. Based on the determination result, the driving of the pinion, for example, the meshing between the pinion and the ring gear and the rotation of the pinion are controlled. Thereby, after an engine automatic stop, a pinion can be driven according to the meshing state of a pinion and a ring gear, and cranking by a starter can be performed appropriately.

  Specifically, as the drive control of the pinion based on the determination result of the pinion omission, when it is determined that the occurrence of the pinion omission does not occur as in the invention described in claim 2, The rotation of the pinion is started by the rotation control means, and when it is determined that the pinion is missing, the rotation of the pinion is started after a predetermined delay time has elapsed after the restart condition is satisfied.

  That is, when the pinion omission has not occurred, the state where the pinion and the ring gear are engaged with each other is maintained, so that the pinion is rotated simultaneously with the establishment of the engine restart condition. Thereby, engine restart can be implemented rapidly and startability can be improved. On the other hand, when the pinion is missing, the meshing between the pinion and the ring gear is released, so that the pinion is not immediately rotated when the engine restart condition is satisfied, but the predetermined condition is satisfied when the condition is satisfied. The pinion starts to rotate after a lapse of time. In this case, even if the pinion meshing process is performed again when the engine restart condition is satisfied, the time required for the meshing can be ensured.

  As pinion drive control based on the determination result of pinion omission, when it is determined that the pinion omission has occurred as in the invention according to claim 3, after the same determination and until the restart condition is satisfied The meshing process by the meshing control means may be carried out in the period after the occurrence of missing. In this way, even if the engagement between the pinion and the ring gear is released, they can be engaged again before the engine restart condition is satisfied. As a result, the engine can be restarted promptly.

  In general, the meshing between the pinion and the ring gear is performed using the movement of at least one of them in the rotational direction. Therefore, if the meshing drive means is energized after the occurrence of pinion loss, when the pinion or ring gear moves in the rotational direction due to some factor during the energization period, the movement is used to engage the two. It seems possible. Considering this point, a configuration in which energization / non-energization of the meshing drive means is performed a plurality of times in the period after the occurrence of disconnection (Claim 4), or a configuration in which energization of the meshing drive means is continuously performed in the period after the occurrence of disconnection ( Claim 5). As a result, after the pinion omission occurs, the pinion and the ring gear can be brought into meshing again before the next engine restart condition is satisfied.

  In addition, as in the fourth aspect of the present invention, when energization / non-energization of the meshing drive means is performed a plurality of times during the period after the occurrence of disconnection, it is possible to suitably suppress power consumption. That is, after the engine is automatically stopped, the engine is basically in a rotation stopped state, so that it is considered that the tooth portions of the pinion and the ring gear are less likely to mesh compared with the case where the meshing is performed immediately before the engine stops rotating. . Therefore, wasteful power consumption can be suppressed by intermittently energizing the engagement driving means in such a situation where engagement is difficult.

  In the case where the engagement between the pinion and the ring gear is performed again after the occurrence of the pinion disconnection, as in the invention according to claim 6, there is provided means for detecting the remaining amount of electricity of the battery that supplies power to the engagement driving means. When performing the meshing process in the period after the occurrence of disconnection, the energization state of the meshing drive means may be changed based on the remaining amount of electricity in the battery. By doing so, it is possible to appropriately select whether to give priority to engine startability or to prioritize suppression of battery power consumption according to the remaining battery level.

  According to the present invention, as in the seventh aspect of the present invention, energization of the meshing drive means is stopped after a predetermined period of time has elapsed since completion of the meshing process, and the meshing state between the pinion and the ring gear is stopped in this power-off state. It is desirable to apply a configuration such as maintaining. If the engine stops rotating after the meshing between the pinion and the ring gear is completed, the frictional force of each tooth portion of the pinion and the ring gear, for example, even if the power of the meshing drive means is stopped if the engine rotation stopped state is maintained. Therefore, it is considered that the meshing state can be maintained. Therefore, by using the above configuration, it is possible to effectively save power consumption. However, if the engagement driving means is in a non-energized state when the engine rotation is stopped and the pinion is engaged with the ring gear, the engagement between the pinion and the ring gear is released due to, for example, unintentional engine vibration. It can be easy. Therefore, by applying the above configuration to the present invention, it is possible to suitably obtain the effect that the ring gear is properly rotated by the starter.

1 is an overall schematic configuration diagram of an engine control system. The time chart which shows the specific aspect of starter drive control. The flowchart which shows the process sequence of an engine automatic stop process. The flowchart which shows the process sequence of a pinion omission determination process. The flowchart which shows the process sequence of an engine restart process. The time chart for demonstrating the specific aspect of starter drive control. The time chart which shows transition of a position detection signal and a coil electric current value. The figure which shows the relationship between electric current variation | change_quantity and meshing length.

  DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments of the invention will be described with reference to the drawings. This embodiment is embodied in an engine stop / start control device of an engine control system. In the control system, fuel injection amount control, ignition timing control, idle stop control, and the like are performed with an electronic control unit (hereinafter referred to as ECU) as a center. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall outline of this control system.

  In FIG. 1, a starter 10 is provided with a motor 11 as a rotation driving means, and a motor switch unit 13 that switches between energization / non-energization of the motor 11 between the motor 11 and a battery 12. . The motor switch unit 13 is switched on / off based on a control signal.

  A pinion shaft 14 that is rotationally driven by energization of the motor 11 is connected to the motor 11, and a pinion 15 is supported at one end of the pinion shaft 14. The pinion 15 is integrated with a one-way clutch that intermittently transmits power between the pinion shaft 14 and the pinion 15. When the pinion shaft 14 is rotated by energization of the motor 11, the pinion 15 is rotated with the rotation of the pinion shaft 14.

  Further, the starter 10 is provided with a coil 16 for reciprocating the pinion shaft 14 in the axial direction by energization control, and switching between energization / non-energization of the coil 16 between the coil 16 and the battery 12. A coil switch unit 17 is provided. The coil switch unit 17 switches the energization / non-energization state of the coil 16 based on the control signal.

  Specifically, an iron core 18 is inserted into the hollow portion of the coil 16 so as to be capable of reciprocating in the axial direction of the coil 16. When the coil 16 is not energized, the pinion 15 is not in contact with the ring gear 22 connected to the crankshaft 21 of the engine 20. In this case, power transmission from the pinion 15 to the ring gear 22 is not performed. When the coil 16 is energized in this state, the iron core 18 moves along the axial direction of the coil 16. As the iron core 18 moves, the lever 19 is actuated to push the pinion shaft 14 (pinion 15) toward the ring gear 22. Thereby, the tooth part of the pinion 15 and the tooth part of the ring gear 22 mesh with each other, and power transmission from the pinion 15 to the ring gear 22 becomes possible.

  In this system, an IG switch 23 is provided. When the IG switch 23 is turned on, the motor 11 and the coil 16 are switched to a state where energization is possible. Further, the crank angle sensor 24 that outputs a rectangular crank angle signal at every predetermined crank angle of the engine 20 (for example, at a cycle of 30 ° CA), the coolant temperature sensor that detects the temperature of the engine coolant, and the operation of the accelerator pedal 25 Various sensors such as an accelerator sensor 26 for detecting the amount, a clutch sensor 28 for detecting an operation amount (clutch stroke) of the clutch pedal 27, and a wheel speed sensor 29 for detecting a wheel speed are provided.

  The ECU 30 is an electronic control device including a known microcomputer or the like. Based on detection results of various sensors provided in the system, the ECU 30 performs intake air amount control, fuel injection amount control, idle stop control, and the like. Various engine controls and drive control of the starter 10 are performed. Regarding the drive control of the starter 10, the ECU 30 includes an output port P1 that outputs an on / off signal to the motor switch unit 13, and an output port P2 that outputs an on / off signal to the coil switch unit 17, and the output port P1. , P2 to switch the energization state of the motor 11 and the coil 16 respectively.

  The idle stop control performed in the above system configuration will be described in detail. In the idle stop control, the engine 20 is automatically stopped when a predetermined automatic stop condition is satisfied during the idling operation of the engine 20, and then the engine 20 is restarted when a predetermined restart condition is satisfied. The engine stop condition is, for example, that the accelerator operation amount has become zero (becomes idle), that the brake pedal has been depressed, or that the vehicle speed has decreased to a predetermined value or less. Is included. The engine restart condition includes, for example, at least one of an accelerator depressing operation and a brake operation amount becoming zero.

  In this system, in restart after the engine 20 is automatically stopped, when the engine speed at the time of the engine restart request is higher than the first speed NE1 (for example, 500 rpm or less), the combustion control of the engine 20 is restarted. The engine 20 is restarted (by self-recovery). On the other hand, when the engine rotation speed at the time of the engine restart request is equal to or lower than the first rotation speed NE1, the engine 20 is restarted using the cranking by the starter 10.

  Specifically, regarding the starter drive control at the time of engine restart, the ECU 30 is based on a comparison result between the engine rotation speed at the time of engine restart request (when the restart condition is satisfied) and the second rotation speed NE2 (for example, 200 rpm). The driving mode is changed. Specifically, when the engine rotation speed at the time of the engine restart request is higher than the second rotation speed NE2, first, the pinion 15 is increased to the rotation speed (engine rotation speed) of the ring gear 22 by energization of the motor 11, and then By energizing the coil 16, the pinion 15 is pushed toward the ring gear 22 in a rotationally synchronized state. That is, after the engine 20 is automatically stopped, if there is a request for restarting the engine while the engine speed is relatively high, the pinion 15 and the ring gear 22 are turned on while the engine is rotating (during inertial rotation after the engine is automatically stopped). Engage and crank. Thereby, the engine 20 is restarted quickly without waiting for the engine 20 to stop rotating.

  On the other hand, when the engine rotation speed at the time of the engine restart request is equal to or lower than the second rotation speed NE2, the coil 16 is first energized at a predetermined timing to push the pinion 15 toward the ring gear 22. Then, the pinion 15 is rotated by energizing the motor 11 with the establishment of the engine restart condition. That is, after the automatic stop of the engine 20, if the rotation of the engine 20 is almost stopped before the restart request is made, the pinion 15 is immediately before the restart request and immediately before the restart of the engine 20. Engagement with the ring gear 22 is performed. Then, when there is an engine restart request, the pinion 15 is rotated to perform cranking. Thereby, cranking by the motor 11 is started simultaneously with the engine restart request so that the engine 20 is restarted quickly. Further, according to this engine restart, since the meshing between the pinion 15 and the ring gear 22 is performed immediately before the engine is stopped, an increase in meshing noise is suppressed.

  FIG. 2 is a time chart showing a specific mode of the starter drive control when the pinion 15 and the ring gear 22 are engaged in advance before the restart request. In FIG. 2, when the engine speed NE decreases due to the engine 20 being automatically stopped, the coil switch unit 17 is turned on at a timing t11 immediately before the engine 20 stops rotating if the engine restart condition is not yet satisfied. In this state, the pinion 15 is pushed out toward the ring gear 22. As a result, the pinion 15 and the ring gear 22 are engaged. More specifically, when the pinion 15 is pushed toward the ring gear 22, the pinion 15 comes into contact with the side surface of the ring gear 22, and after the contact, the ring gear 22 moves in the rotation direction due to inertia of the engine rotation. 15 and the ring gear 22 are meshed with each other.

  Thereafter, when the rotation of the engine 20 is completely stopped, the coil switch unit 17 is switched to the OFF state at the timing t12, and the energization of the coil 16 is stopped. At this time, if the engine rotational speed NE is zero, that is, if the rotation stop state of the ring gear 22 is maintained, the urging force of a spring (not shown) provided in the starter 10 and the tooth portions of the pinion 15 and the ring gear 22 are mutually connected. The meshing state is maintained after the coil 16 is switched from the energized state to the non-energized state by the frictional force. As described above, in this system, by stopping the energization of the coil 16 after the rotation of the engine 20 is completely stopped, the power consumption of the battery 12 and the heat generation of the coil 16 are suppressed.

  After the engagement of the pinion 15 and the ring gear 22, the system waits in that state until the engine restart condition is satisfied. Then, at t13, which is the timing when the restart condition of the engine 20 is satisfied, the coil switch unit 17 is turned on and the motor switch unit 13 is turned on. That is, the motor 11 is rotationally driven simultaneously with the establishment of the restart condition, and cranking by the pinion 15 is performed.

  At this time, when the ring gear 22 changes from the rotation stop state to the rotation state in accordance with the rotation drive of the motor 11, when the non-energized state of the coil 16 is maintained, the spring of the starter 10 acts and the pinion 15 is moved to the coil side. (In a direction away from the ring gear 22), the engagement between the pinion 15 and the ring gear 22 is released. For this reason, at timing t13, the coil switch unit 17 is switched to the on state, thereby suppressing the occurrence of pinion disengagement in which the engagement between the pinion 15 and the ring gear 22 is released due to the start of rotation of the engine 20.

  When the engine rotation speed NE becomes equal to or higher than the predetermined rotation speed by the combustion control of the engine 20 after the cranking is started, the energization of the coil 16 is stopped and the energization of the motor 11 is stopped at the timing t14.

  By the way, when the meshing between the pinion 15 and the ring gear 22 is performed in advance before the engine restart request, the pinion 15 and the ring gear are in a standby state after the meshing is performed (in the period of timing t12 to t13 in FIG. 2). It is conceivable that a pinion omission where the meshing with 22 is released occurs.

  More specifically, the coil 16 is in a non-energized state during the period from the timing t12 to t13, and the ring gear 22 is in some period during this period (for example, the crankshaft 21 is moved due to the engine 20 swinging, the vehicle moving backward, or the like). ), The frictional force of each tooth portion of the pinion 15 and the ring gear 22 is released, whereby the spring of the starter 10 acts and the pinion 15 is displaced in a direction away from the ring gear 22. It is possible. In this case, pinion omission occurs. In such a case, when the motor 11 is driven in response to the engine restart request, the pinion 15 is rotated even though the pinion 15 and the ring gear 22 are not actually engaged with each other, and as a result, inconvenience occurs in cranking by the starter 10. It is possible.

  More specifically, the coil 16 is energized at the engine restart request timing t13 (see FIG. 2). Therefore, when pinion disconnection occurs before timing t13, the pinion 15 is pushed toward the ring gear 22 by energization, and the pinion 15 and the ring gear 22 are engaged. However, since the motor 11 is rotated simultaneously with the engine restart request, the pinion 15 in the rotating state is meshed with the ring gear 22 in the rotation stopped state when the pinion is lost. In such a case, there is a concern that the meshing between the two cannot be performed quickly or the meshing sound increases.

  Therefore, in the present embodiment, it is determined that a pinion omission has occurred after the meshing process between the pinion 15 and the ring gear 22 is performed and before the engine restart condition is satisfied, and the meshing between the pinion 15 and the ring gear 22 is released. Then, the drive of the pinion 15 is controlled based on the determination result. More specifically, when it is determined that pinion omission has occurred, the motor 11 is rotationally driven after a predetermined delay time has elapsed after the start of energization of the coil 16 in response to an engine restart request.

  3 to 5 are flowcharts showing the processing procedure of the engine automatic stop process and the restart process of this system. Hereinafter, each process is demonstrated in order.

  First, the precondition of the engine automatic stop process will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. This process is executed at predetermined intervals by the microcomputer of the ECU 30.

  In FIG. 3, in step S101, it is determined whether or not a predetermined automatic stop condition for automatically stopping the engine 20 is satisfied. If the automatic engine stop condition is satisfied, the process proceeds to step S102, and ignition is performed. And stop fuel injection. In subsequent step S103, it is determined whether or not the engine restart condition is satisfied, and the process proceeds to step S104 and subsequent steps on condition that the restart condition is not satisfied.

  In step S104, it is determined whether the coil 16 is energized. At this time, if the coil is not energized, the process proceeds to step S105, and it is determined whether or not the pinion 15 is to be pushed out. In this embodiment, the pinion 15 is pushed out immediately before the rotation of the engine 20 is stopped. Specifically, the engine rotation speed detected based on the output value of the crank angle sensor 24 is a predetermined low rotation speed (for example, 100 rpm). The timing is as follows.

  If it is not time to push out the pinion 15, this routine is temporarily terminated. On the other hand, in the case of the push-out timing of the pinion 15, the process proceeds to step S106, and energization of the coil 16 is started. Thereby, the pinion 15 is pushed out toward the ring gear 22 immediately before the rotation of the engine 20 is stopped, and the engagement between the pinion 15 and the ring gear 22 is performed.

  In a succeeding step S107, it is determined whether or not the engine 20 is in a rotation stopped state. Here, it is determined that the engine 20 has stopped rotating when a state where the engine rotational speed NE is less than a predetermined rotational speed near zero (for example, several rpm) continues for a predetermined time. When the engine 20 has stopped rotating, the process proceeds to step S108, the energization of the coil 16 is stopped, and this routine is terminated.

  Next, pinion loss determination processing in this system will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. This process is executed at predetermined intervals by the microcomputer of the ECU 30.

  4, in step S201, it is determined whether or not the engine 20 is automatically stopped. If the engine is automatically stopped, in step S202, the pinion 15 and the engine 20 are stopped after the engine is automatically stopped and immediately before the rotation of the engine 20 is stopped. It is determined whether or not the meshing process with the ring gear 22 has been performed. If the meshing process has been performed, the process proceeds to step S203, and it is determined whether or not pinion loss has occurred.

Regarding determination of pinion omission, in this embodiment, a requirement that can be regarded as release of meshing between the pinion 15 and the ring gear 22, specifically,
-It has been detected that the engine 20 has rotated forward or reverse based on the output value of the crank angle sensor 24-The torque in the reverse rotation direction of the engine 20 has been detected-Based on the output value of the wheel speed sensor 29 When at least one of the requirements for detecting that the vehicle has moved backward is satisfied, it is determined that the engagement between the pinion 15 and the ring gear 22 has been released, and it is determined that the pinion is missing.

  In the case of a system having an inclination angle detecting means for detecting an inclination angle of the road surface using an acceleration sensor or the like for detecting an acceleration accompanying the movement of the vehicle, the road surface is an uphill whose predetermined inclination angle is equal to or greater than the predetermined inclination angle. Alternatively, it may be determined that pinion omission has occurred when it is detected that the vehicle is on a downhill. Alternatively, if the vehicle is equipped with a navigation system, it is determined that a pinion omission has occurred when it is detected that the road surface is an uphill or downhill with a predetermined inclination angle or more based on map information of the navigation system. Also good.

  If it is determined that no pinion omission has occurred, the process proceeds to step S204, the pinion omission occurrence flag Fp is set to 0, and if it is determined that pinion omission has occurred, the process proceeds to step S205, where the pinion omission occurs. The value 1 is set in the generation flag Fp, and this routine ends.

  Next, the process procedure of the engine restart process of this system will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. This process is executed at predetermined intervals by the microcomputer of the ECU 30.

  In FIG. 5, in step S <b> 301, it is determined whether or not an engine restart condition is satisfied after the engine 20 is automatically stopped. When the engine restart condition is satisfied, the process proceeds to step S302, and it is determined whether or not the engine rotational speed NE at the time when the restart condition is satisfied is equal to or lower than the first rotational speed NE1 (for example, 500 rpm). When the engine speed NE is higher than NE1, the process proceeds to step S303, and the engine 20 is restarted by restarting fuel injection and ignition (self-recovery).

  On the other hand, when the engine rotational speed NE is equal to or lower than NE1, the process proceeds to step S304, and it is determined whether or not the engine rotational speed NE when the restart condition is satisfied is equal to or lower than the second rotational speed NE2 (for example, 200 rpm). If the engine rotational speed NE is greater than NE2, the process proceeds to step S305, where the motor 11 is energized to synchronize the rotational speed of the pinion 15 with the rotational speed of the ring gear 22 (engine rotational speed). By energizing 16, the pinion 15 is pushed out toward the ring gear 22 in a synchronized state.

  If the engine speed NE when the restart condition is satisfied is equal to or lower than NE2, the process proceeds to step S307, and it is determined whether or not the value 1 is set in the pinion omission occurrence flag Fp. At this time, if the value 0 is set in the pinion omission occurrence flag Fp, the process proceeds to step S308, where the coil 16 is energized and the motor 11 is energized.

  On the other hand, when the value 1 is set in the pinion omission occurrence flag Fp, the process proceeds to step S309 and the coil 16 is energized. At this time, the motor 11 is not energized. Thereby, the pinion 15 is pushed out toward the ring gear 22 in the rotation stop state. In step S310, it is determined whether or not a predetermined delay time TD has elapsed since the start of energization of the coil 16 (from the time when the engine restart condition is satisfied). If the delay time TD has not elapsed, the coil 16 is energized and the motor 11 is de-energized and waits. If the delay time TD has elapsed, an affirmative determination is made in step S310, the process proceeds to step S311 and energization of the motor 11 is started. Thereby, the pinion 15 is rotated and cranking of the engine 20 is started.

  In this embodiment, the delay time TD is determined as a required time from the start of energization of the coil 16 until the pinion 15 reaches the position of the ring gear 22.

  Thereafter, in step S312, it is determined whether or not the engine rotation speed has reached a predetermined rotation speed by restarting the fuel injection and ignition of the engine 20 executed in a separate routine, and whether or not the engine 20 has completely exploded. In step S313, energization of the coil 16 is stopped and energization of the motor 11 is stopped. Further, the pinion omission occurrence flag Fp is reset to 0. Then, this routine ends.

  FIG. 6 is a time chart for explaining a specific mode of starter drive control in the present system.

  In FIG. 6, when the engine 20 is automatically stopped, the engine rotation speed NE is decreased. When the rotation immediately before the rotation is stopped, energization of the coil 16 is started at the timing t21. Thereby, the pinion 15 is pushed out and meshed with the ring gear 22. Further, when the rotation of the output shaft of the engine 20 is completely stopped, the energization of the coil 16 is stopped at the timing t22. At this time, during the period TA in which the engine speed is kept at zero, the pinion 15 and the ring gear are caused by the biasing force of a spring (not shown) provided in the starter 10 and the frictional force of each tooth of the pinion 15 and the ring gear 22. The meshing state with 22 is maintained.

  However, when the meshing between the pinion 15 and the ring gear 22 is maintained in a state where the coil is not energized, for example, when reverse rotation of the engine 20 occurs, it is determined that the pinion is missing, and the pinion missing flag Fp is detected at the timing t23. The value 1 is set to. Thereafter, when the restart condition of the engine 20 is established, the energization of the coil 16 is started at the establishment timing t <b> 24, whereby the pinion 15 is pushed out toward the ring gear 22. Further, energization of the motor 11 is started at timing t25 when the delay time TD has elapsed from timing t24, and cranking of the engine 20 is started.

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

  After the engagement process between the pinion 15 and the ring gear 22 is performed and before the engine restart condition is established, it is determined that a pinion dropout that releases the engagement between the pinion 15 and the ring gear 22 has occurred, and based on the determination result Since the drive of the pinion 15 is controlled, the pinion 15 can be driven according to the meshing state of the pinion 15 and the ring gear 22 after the engine is automatically stopped. As a result, cranking by the starter 10 can be properly performed.

  In particular, when it is determined that the pinion is missing, the motor 11 is rotationally driven after a predetermined delay time has elapsed after the start of energization of the coil 16 in response to the engine restart request. Even when the engagement process of the pinion 15 is performed again with establishment, the time required for the engagement can be secured. As a result, there is no inconvenience that the engagement between the pinion 15 and the ring gear 22 cannot be performed quickly or the engagement sound is increased.

  Since the engagement state between the pinion 15 and the ring gear 22 is maintained while the energization of the coil 16 is stopped after a predetermined period has elapsed since the completion of the engagement process, there is a concern that the pinion may be disconnected while the energization is stopped. However, according to the present embodiment, the starter drive control at the time of the next engine restart is performed in consideration of the occurrence of pinion omission, and thus the effect of appropriately performing cranking by the starter 10 is further enhanced. be able to.

(Other embodiments)
The present invention is not limited to the description of the above embodiment, and may be implemented as follows, for example.

  In the above embodiment, when it is determined that the pinion is missing, the coil 16 is energized to push out the pinion 15 in response to the engine restart request, but this is changed so that the pinion is missing. If it is determined that there is, the configuration is such that immediately after the determination, the coil 16 is energized to push out the pinion 15. According to this configuration, the pinion 15 and the ring gear 22 can be engaged with each other before the engine restart request is made, and as a result, the engine restart is promptly performed when the engine restart request is made. Can do. That is, the startability of the engine 20 can be improved.

  When the pinion 15 is pushed out immediately after the determination that the pinion is missing, the coil 16 is continuously energized until the engagement between the pinion 15 and the ring gear 22 is performed again, that is, the coil 16 is energized and released. The configuration is as follows. The meshing between the pinion 15 and the ring gear 22 is basically performed using the movement of the pinion 15 or the ring gear 22 in the rotational direction. Specifically, the pinion 15 moves toward the ring gear 22 by energization of the coil 16. After being pushed out and brought into contact with the side surface of the ring gear 22, the teeth of the pinion 15 and the ring gear 22 are engaged with each other by the movement of the ring gear 22 in the rotational direction. Therefore, when the engine 20 is shaken after the occurrence of pinion omission, the rotation of the crankshaft 21 (ring gear 22 of the ring gear 22) is caused when the engine 20 is shaken after occurrence of pinion omission. The pinion 15 and the ring gear 22 can be engaged with each other using rotation.

  When the pinion 15 is pushed out immediately after the determination that the pinion is missing, the coil 16 is energized intermittently, that is, the coil 16 is energized and de-energized a plurality of times. Also in this case, when the engine 20 sways after the occurrence of the pinion omission, the pinion 15 and the ring gear 22 can be engaged by utilizing the rotation of the crankshaft 21 accompanying the sway. it can. However, the meshing between the pinion 15 and the ring gear 22 is performed by using, for example, the rotation of the crankshaft 21, but in principle, the engine 20 may sway during the period from the meshing process to the engine restart. In rare cases, it is conceivable that the pinion 15 and the ring gear 22 cannot be meshed even if the coil 16 is continuously energized during the same period. Therefore, by adopting this configuration, it is possible to suppress energization of the coil 16 and suppress power consumption in a situation where there is a low possibility that the pinion 15 and the ring gear 22 are engaged.

  When the pinion 15 is pushed out immediately after it has been determined that the pinion is missing, the energization mode of the coil 16 is changed according to the remaining amount of electricity in the battery 12. Specifically, for example, when the remaining amount of electricity in the battery 12 has a margin, the energization of the coil 16 is continued until the engagement between the pinion 15 and the ring gear 22 is performed again after the occurrence of pinion disconnection. . Thereby, priority is given to ensuring startability of the engine 20. On the other hand, if this is not the case, the coil 16 is energized and de-energized a plurality of times after the occurrence of pinion omission. Thereby, priority is given to suppression of the power consumption of the battery 12. By doing so, the pinion 15 and the ring gear 22 can be engaged while considering the balance between ensuring engine startability and suppressing power consumption of the battery 12.

  After determining that the pinion is missing, the coil 16 is energized when it is detected that the engine 20 has moved (rotation of the ring gear 22) based on the output value of the crank angle sensor 24, for example. The energization mode of the coil 16 at this time is not particularly limited, but it is desirable to continue energization of the coil 16 until the engagement between the pinion 15 and the ring gear 22 is performed again. In particular, if the movement of the engine 20 is detected, for example, the vehicle is on a slope, and it can be said that there is a high possibility that the engine 20 will shake again. Therefore, the above configuration is suitable for meshing the pinion 15 and the ring gear 22 before the engine restart request.

  In the above embodiment, the pinion 15 disconnection determination is performed based on the success or failure of the requirement that can be regarded as the disengagement of the pinion 15 and the ring gear 22, but this is changed to detect the position of the pinion 15 relative to the ring gear 22. Position detection means is provided, and the pinion 15 is judged to be missing based on the position detection means. For example, various position sensors such as an optical type and a magnetic type may be disposed in the vicinity of the pinion 15 or the ring gear 22, and the completion of the engagement of both may be detected by the sensor. Alternatively, it may be configured such that when the pinion 15 and the ring gear 22 are engaged, energization is possible between the two gears, and it is determined that the engagement process between the pinion 15 and the ring gear 22 is completed when the energization occurs.

  In this configuration, for example, after the engagement of the pinion 15 and the ring gear 22 after the automatic engine stop, a predetermined position detection signal is put on the drive current of the pinion 15 and the pinion 15 is disconnected based on the current generated by the position detection signal. Make a decision.

  7 and 8 are explanatory diagrams for determining whether the pinion 15 is missing based on the position detection signal. Among these, FIG. 7 is a time chart showing the transition of the current waveform of the coil 16 flowing corresponding to the position detection signal and the signal. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the relationship between the current change amount Are and the meshing state (meshing length) of the pinion 15 and the ring gear 22.

  As shown in FIG. 7, in this configuration, after the automatic stop of the engine 20, after the timing t <b> 31 when the coil energization for pushing out and meshing the pinion 15 is finished and before the engine restart request, a predetermined value is given. The position detection signal is repeatedly output at a predetermined cycle. Then, the pinion 15 removal determination is performed based on the current change amount Are of the coil 16 corresponding to the position detection signal.

  Specifically, in this system, the inductance of the coil 16 is changed according to the position of the pinion 15 in the axial direction (the amount of the iron core 18 entering the coil 16), and the engagement between the pinion 15 and the ring gear 22 is caused by the coil inductance. The state is to be detected. Specifically, in this system, when the pinion 15 and the ring gear 22 are engaged with each other (when the engagement length is large), the pinion 15 is displaced to a position that protrudes further from the starter 10 (into the coil 16). The coil inductance increases, and as a result, the current flowing through the coil 16 decreases. On the other hand, when the engagement between the pinion 15 and the ring gear 22 is disengaged (when the engagement length is small), the pinion 15 is displaced to the position where it is pulled back to the starter 10 (the amount of the iron core 18 entering the coil 16 is reduced). As a result, the coil inductance is reduced, and as a result, the current flowing through the coil 16 is increased. FIG. 8 shows this relationship. Therefore, as shown in the time chart of FIG. 7, when the meshing of the coil 16 and the ring gear 22 is released at the timing t32, the current change amount Are of the coil 16 corresponding to the position detection signal is compared with that before the release. Becomes larger. In view of this, in this configuration, when the current change amount Are is larger than the determination value Ath, it is determined that the pinion 15 is missing.

  In FIG. 7, the position detection signal is set so that a positive current and a negative current flow through the coil 16. However, the position detection signal is not limited to this, and the position detection signal is set so that a positive current or a negative current flows through the coil 16. May be set.

  In the case where the position detection unit determines whether the pinion 15 is disconnected, it can be determined that the pinion 15 and the ring gear 22 are engaged based on the detection result of the position detection unit. Therefore, after the occurrence of pinion omission, it is determined by the position detection means that the pinion 15 and the ring gear 22 are engaged, and energization control of the coil 16 is performed based on the determination result.

  Specifically, when it is determined that the pinion is missing after the engine is automatically stopped, the coil 16 is energized immediately after the determination to push out the pinion 15. Further, during the energization of the coil, the position detection means performs the engagement determination of the pinion 15. When it is determined that the engagement of the pinion 15 is completed, the energization of the coil 16 is stopped after a predetermined time has elapsed from the determination. By doing so, waste of power consumption after completion of meshing can be suppressed.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Starter, 11 ... Motor (rotation drive means), 13 ... Motor switch part, 14 ... Pinion shaft, 15 ... Pinion, 16 ... Coil, 17 ... Coil switch part, 18 ... Iron core, 20 ... Engine, 21 ... Crankshaft 22 ... Ring gear, 30 ... ECU.

Claims (7)

An automatic stop start function that automatically stops the engine when a predetermined automatic stop condition is satisfied, and then restarts the engine by performing cranking by a starter when the predetermined restart condition is satisfied; Engagement control means for performing an engagement process for engaging the pinion of the starter with the ring gear connected to the output shaft of the engine by energization control of the engagement drive means after the automatic stop condition is satisfied and before the restart condition is satisfied. And an engine stop / start control device comprising: rotation control means for rotating the pinion by energization control of the rotation drive means when the restart condition is satisfied;
A disconnection determining means for determining that a pinion disengagement has occurred after the meshing process by the meshing control means is performed and before the restart condition is established, and the disengagement of the pinion and the ring gear has occurred.
Drive control means for controlling the drive of the pinion based on the determination result of the pinion omission by the omission judgment means;
An engine stop / start control device comprising:   When it is determined that the pinion omission has not occurred, the drive control means starts the rotation of the pinion by the rotation control means when the restart condition is satisfied, and it is determined that the pinion omission has occurred. The engine stop / start control device according to claim 1, wherein the rotation of the pinion is started after a predetermined delay time has elapsed since the restart condition is satisfied.   The drive control means performs the meshing process by the meshing control means in a period after the judgment and after the occurrence of missing until the restart condition is satisfied, when it is judged that the pinion missing has occurred. The engine stop / start control device according to 1 or 2.   4. The engine stop / start control device according to claim 3, wherein the drive control unit performs energization and non-energization of the meshing drive unit a plurality of times in a period after the occurrence of the loss.   The engine stop / start control apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the drive control means continuously energizes the mesh drive means after the start of energization in the period after the disconnection occurs. Means for detecting the remaining amount of electricity in the battery for supplying power to the meshing drive means;
The said drive control means changes the electricity supply state of the said mesh drive means based on the electrical residual amount of the said battery, when implementing the said mesh process in the period after the said omission | release occurrence. The engine stop / start control device described.   The engine stop / start control device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the meshing control unit stops energization of the meshing drive unit after a predetermined period has elapsed from completion of the meshing process.

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