JP4641633B2 - Electric bicycle - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an electric bicycle.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Electric bicycles that can easily travel on slopes have already been put into practical use by adding the auxiliary driving force of an auxiliary driving unit such as an electric motor to the driving force by human power. In this type of electric bicycle, for example, the stepping force of a person acting on the pedal is detected as torque, and when the torque value or the changed torque value exceeds a preset value, the auxiliary drive unit is driven. An auxiliary driving force can be applied.
[0003]
However, according to this type of system, the auxiliary driving force is adjusted regardless of the physical strength and fatigue level of the driver, and thus there is a possibility that an appropriate auxiliary driving force that matches the physical strength and fatigue level cannot be obtained.
[0004]
In order to cope with this, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-107267 provides a sensor for measuring a human body index such as a heart rate of the driver while driving, and an auxiliary driving rate corresponding to the human body index is stored in a memory in advance. There is disclosed a bicycle with an electric motor that is stored and applied with an auxiliary driving force at an auxiliary driving rate in accordance with a human body index during travel and a change amount of the human body index.
[0005]
According to this, when the driver's fatigue level increases and the heart rate increases, the auxiliary drive rate is increased, so the auxiliary drive is stopped despite the high fatigue level. This can prevent excessive effort. Further, when the degree of fatigue is small and the heart rate is small, the auxiliary driving force is reduced, so that the function of the human body can be maintained and the physical strength can be increased.
[0006]
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-315377 provides a sensor for measuring a pulse during driving of the driver, and stores a reference pulse rate corresponding to an attribute such as the driver's age in a memory in advance. A bicycle with an electric motor is disclosed in which an auxiliary driving force is applied when the measured pulse exceeds the reference pulse, and the same operation and effect can be obtained by this.
[0007]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, according to the techniques disclosed in the above Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 6-107267 and 9-315377, the human body index such as the pulse rate must be continuously detected by the sensor during running in any case. I must. Therefore, every time you get on and off the electric bicycle, it takes time and effort to attach or remove the sensor to the human body, and it causes a sense of incongruity to keep wearing the sensor while traveling, or the wiring cord connected to the sensor interferes with traveling. There is a risk of becoming. Although it is conceivable to attach a wireless sensor to the human body, even in this case, the sensor is necessary and there is a possibility that the sensor may feel uncomfortable.
[0008]
Also, because the pulse rate and heart rate are easily affected by temporary emotional excitement and mental tension, for example, when a car or a person jumps out, thinking, worrying, etc. sometimes, pulse rate and the heart rate increases, which may cause a variation of such auxiliary driving force increases in this case.
[0009]
Furthermore, at the start of exercise such as when driving an electric bicycle, as shown in FIG. 7, as the load on the driver increases, more time (TA <TB <TC) is required. During this rise time, the driver's pulse rate appears lower than the actual momentum. Here, the hatched portion in FIG. 8 indicates a portion where oxygen is insufficient at the time of rising. It is known that during this period, exercise is performed using anaerobic energy as an emergency instead of oxygen obtained by breathing. In other words, you will borrow oxygen stored in your body and exercise until you can get a certain function through the function of breathing and circulating oxygen. For this reason, when you start driving an electric bicycle, if you use the pulse rate or heart rate as a human body index to determine the auxiliary driving force, the auxiliary driving force is set to be smaller than the driver's fatigue level. Although it is temporary, there is a risk of excessive effort.
[0010]
Also, if you stop suddenly from a state where a heavy load is applied at the end of driving the electric bicycle, you will suddenly stop intense exercise, and the heart's activity will be relaxed with the end blood vessels dilated, so exercise In the process in which various physiological functions that have been promoted return to resting levels, there is a risk of losing harmony between the functions, resulting in symptoms such as nausea, dizziness, and dizziness, resulting in more intense fatigue. There is. This problem cannot be dealt with by the technique disclosed in the above publication.
[0011]
The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and it is not necessary to attach or remove human body index detection means such as a sensor to / from the human body every time when getting on or off an electric bicycle, which affects emotional excitement or mental tension. The purpose of the present invention is to provide an electric bicycle in which the auxiliary driving force does not fluctuate and can obtain an appropriate auxiliary driving force when the electric bicycle starts to be driven or at the end of the driving. To do.
[0012]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to solve the above-described problems, the common configuration of the present invention is that an electric bicycle that can travel by adding an auxiliary driving force of an auxiliary driving unit having an electric motor to a human driving force by a driver's stepping force, such as a pulse rate, etc. Storage means for storing a relationship between a human body index representing the state of the human body and a load amount from the electric bicycle to the driver as a database, and a load amount for detecting an actual load amount from the electric bicycle to the driver Calculated by detection means, human body index calculation means for calculating human body index information corresponding to the load amount detected by the load amount detection means based on the database stored in the storage means, and human body index calculation means And control means for controlling the auxiliary driving force based on the human body index information.
Further, as the human body index to be stored in the storage means, for example, the pulse rate or the heart rate is adopted, and the load amount to be stored in the storage means and the load amount detected by the load amount detection means include the driver's pedaling force and the rotational speed. Is a product of a predetermined constant or a value obtained by multiplying this product by a correction coefficient.
[0013]
According to the above configuration, when the electric bicycle is driven without attaching or removing the human body index detection means to the human body, the human body index information corresponding to the amount of load on the driver at that time is calculated by the human body index calculation means. The auxiliary driving force is controlled based on the human body index information. Therefore, the auxiliary driving force does not fluctuate due to temporary emotional excitement or mental tension.
[0014]
Further, as a more specific configuration, the control means increases the assist rate more than the auxiliary driving force based on the human body index information calculated by the human body index calculation means within a certain time after starting to drive the electric bicycle. It is characterized by controlling.
[0015]
With this configuration, the assist rate of the auxiliary driving force is increased within a certain period of time when the electric bicycle is started. Therefore, an approximate pulse rate and heart rate are calculated as human body index information, and the human body index information is used for assistance. Rather than the case where the driving force is set, it is possible to set an appropriate auxiliary driving force that matches the pulse rate of the driver.
[0017]
Further, in addition to the above configuration, a function to increase the electric assist rate may be added, or the electric assist rate may be increased when the travel distance or calorie reaches a preset value. .
[0018]
In addition to the above configuration, the driver may be able to select to increase the electric assist rate.
[0019]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, an electric bicycle according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
As shown in FIG. 1, in this electric bicycle, in addition to the auxiliary driving unit 1 that has an electric motor 1a and generates auxiliary driving force, a human body index that represents the state of the human body such as a pulse rate and the electric bicycle The storage unit 2 that stores the relationship between the load amount to the driver as a database, the load amount detection unit 3 that detects the actual load amount from the electric bicycle to the driver, and the storage unit 2 Based on the human body index information calculated by the human body index calculation unit 4 and the human body index calculation unit 4 that calculates human body index information corresponding to the work amount detected by the load amount detection unit 3 based on the database. And a control unit 5 having a function of controlling the auxiliary driving force. Here, the load amount detection unit 3 includes a torque detection sensor 3a that detects torque due to the driver's pedaling force, and a rotation speed detection sensor 3b that detects the rotation speed of a crankshaft or the like. In this embodiment, the pulse rate is used as the human body index. The controller 5 adjusts the auxiliary driving force by changing the output voltage of the auxiliary driving unit 1 to the electric motor 1a.
[0020]
An input display device 10 is attached to a handle (not shown) of the electric bicycle. As shown in FIG. 2, the input display device 10 is provided with a display unit 11 such as a liquid crystal for displaying various information and an input unit 12 including various input buttons. The input unit 12 includes a gender selection button 13 for selecting gender, a confirmation button 14 for confirming various types of information, an increase button 15 and a decrease button 16 for increasing / decreasing input data such as set age, and learning to be described later. A learning travel button 17 for traveling, mode selection buttons 18, 19, 20 for selecting various operation modes (rehabilitation mode, physical strength maintenance mode, physical strength enhancement mode), and pressing when approaching the destination A cooling down button 22 for increasing the electric assist rate is provided. The input display device 10 is detachably connected to an earlobe type pulse sensor (or a finger insertion type pulse sensor) 21 that measures a pulse rate as a human body index of the driver.
[0021]
The storage unit 2 stores a plurality of regression databases representing the relationship between the human body index (the pulse rate in this embodiment) and the load on the driver in the electric bicycle. That is, for each gender and age (for example, 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, over 60s), a plurality of steady states (in FIG. 3, steady state “a” and steady state). Based on the value representing the relationship between the pulse rate and the load amount (torque and rotation speed) in “A”), regression equations indicating regression lines as shown in FIG. 4 are stored. In general, the pulse rate and the load amount have a positive correlation as shown in FIG. 4, and as the elderly person becomes older, the pulse rate at rest becomes lower and the inclination becomes larger as shown in FIG. Note that α and β in FIG. 5 indicate the maximum heart rate of an elderly person and a middle-aged person, and usually correspond to [220−age] or [210−age × 0.8].
[0022]
The driver sets the human body condition corresponding to his / her gender and age using the gender selection button 13, the increase button 15, the decrease button 16, the confirmation button 14, and the like.
Further, by performing in advance the following learning travel, and it is capable of storing data of the human body indicators suitable for the driver in the storage unit 2. That is, with the pulse sensor 21 attached, the learning travel button 17 is pressed to cause the control unit 5 to recognize that the test travel is performed in order to store the human body index, and a flat road and slopes with different slopes (load amount) 3), each of the places where a plurality of load amounts can be obtained is run, and as shown in FIG. 3, the pulse rate and the load amount (torque and rotation speed) in a state where the load amounts are different are stored. In addition, a regression equation corresponding to the regression line passing through the plurality of points is derived by arithmetic processing, and the regression equation is added to the database and stored as personal data.
[0023]
When the discrepancy with the general regression equation is extremely large during execution of the learning run, an error display may be performed so that the learning run is performed again, or correction may be made so as to approach the general regression equation. . Further, a plurality of personal data may be stored, and the corresponding human body index information may be selected.
[0024]
In addition, the control unit 5 determines that the assist rate (auxiliary drive rate) is higher than the auxiliary drive force based on the pulse rate calculated by the human body index calculation unit 4 within a certain time (for example, about 5 minutes) when driving the electric bicycle. ) To increase control.
[0025]
Moreover, the rehabilitation mode in the said operation mode is provided for elderly people. That is, in general, in order to prevent disuse atrophy (bedridden), it is more important to move the muscle itself than to exercise, so a constant light load (for example, , 20% of the maximum exercise capacity described later).
[0026]
Here, as a guideline for selecting the driving mode, the maximum exercise capacity can be estimated approximately from [220-age], which is the above-described formula for calculating the maximum heart rate. In this embodiment, in principle, control is performed so that the amount of exercise is 60% or less of the maximum exercise capacity by driving an electric bicycle. This is based on the fact that the threshold for starting anaerobic exercise, which is considered undesirable for elderly people and people with weak physical strength, is usually 60% of the maximum exercise capacity. For example, when the three modes (rehabilitation mode, physical strength maintenance mode, physical strength enhancement mode (see FIG. 6)) are set as described above, the amount of exercise is 20% or less of the maximum exercise capacity in the rehabilitation mode. It is desirable that the amount of exercise is 20 to 40% of the maximum exercise capacity in the physical strength maintenance mode, and the operation is performed for 30 minutes to 1 hour. In the physical strength enhancement mode, it is desirable to perform an operation for 30 minutes or less at an exercise amount of 40 to 60% of the maximum exercise capacity.
[0027]
In the above configuration, the driver selects a condition (gender and age) that suits him / her in advance, or designates his / her own registered human body index information. Then, as the next stage, any one of the mode buttons 18, 19, and 20 for selecting various operation modes is pressed to select one of the rehabilitation mode, the physical strength maintenance mode, and the physical strength enhancement mode.
[0028]
In this state, when the driver drives the electric bicycle, the auxiliary driving force is controlled so that the work amount corresponds to the selected mode. For example, when the driver drives the electric bicycle with the physical strength maintenance mode selected, the torque generated by the stepping force detected by the torque detection sensor 3a, the rotation speed detected by the rotation speed detection sensor 3b, and a predetermined constant from the product, the calculated amount of load to the driver, the pulse rate corresponding to the load by the body index calculation unit 4 is calculated. For example, when the driver is a man in his 50s, the rotation speed is 45 rpm, and the torque due to the stepping force is 17 Nm, the load amount of the driver is calculated based on these values, and this load is calculated. Based on the quantity, it is calculated that the corresponding pulse rate is 103. It should be noted that at the time of high speed rotation or low speed rotation, the above product may be multiplied by a predetermined correction coefficient so that the calculated pulse rate approaches the actual pulse rate. If the calculated pulse rate is within the range of the pulse rate 86 to 107 corresponding to the physical strength maintenance mode (40 to 60% of the maximum exercise capacity), the auxiliary driving force is maintained as it is ( As described above, the case where the pulse rate is 103 corresponds to this, and the auxiliary driving force is maintained as it is), but the calculated pulse rate is smaller than the minimum pulse rate 86 corresponding to the physical strength maintenance mode. For example, control is performed in a direction in which the auxiliary driving force decreases (an assist rate decreasing direction (for example, the assist rate is reduced from 50% to 30%)), and the load on the driver is increased. Further, if the calculated pulse rate is larger than the maximum pulse rate 107 corresponding to the physical strength maintenance mode, the assist driving force increases (increases the assist rate (for example, increases the assist rate from 50% to 60%). )) To reduce the load on the driver. That is, load amounts c (20% of the maximum exercise capacity) to d (40% of the maximum exercise capacity) corresponding to the pulse rates C (86) to D (107) in FIG. 6 showing the regression equation of the selected mode. The auxiliary driving force is controlled (increased or decreased or maintained) so that the pulse rate is suitable for maintaining the physical strength within the range, and the load on the driver is adjusted.
[0029]
FIG. 9 shows the approximate relationship between the driver's load (momentum), pulse rate, and exercise intensity with respect to maximum exercise capacity when the driver is a man in his 50s and the rotation speed is 50 rpm. Show.
[0030]
Instead of this, the auxiliary driving force is further finely controlled, and if the calculated pulse is an average pulse rate (referred to as a reference pulse rate) corresponding to the physical strength maintenance mode, the auxiliary driving force is used as it is. If the calculated pulse rate is smaller than the reference pulse rate in the physical strength maintenance mode, control is performed in the direction in which the auxiliary driving force decreases (the assist rate decreasing direction) by the difference, thereby increasing the load on the driver. In addition, if the calculated pulse rate is larger than the reference pulse rate in the physical strength maintenance mode, control is performed in the direction in which the auxiliary driving force increases (the assist rate increasing direction) by the difference, and the load on the driver is increased. It may be small.
[0031]
In addition, when the selected mode is the rehabilitation mode, the auxiliary driving force is controlled so that a constant light load (for example, 40 W) is applied to the driver regardless of the travel location. The person can travel comfortably without difficulty.
[0032]
With this configuration, when the electric bicycle is driven without attaching or removing the human body index detecting means such as the pulse sensor 21 to the human body, the auxiliary driving force is generated based on the human body index information calculated by the human body index calculating means 4. Well controlled.
[0033]
Therefore, it is not necessary to attach or detach the sensor for detecting the actual pulse rate to / from the human body every time when getting on / off the electric bicycle as in the prior art. There is no possibility that the wiring cord connected to the sensor will interfere with the running. In addition, because it is controlled based on the calculated human body index information, it causes emotional excitement and emotional tension, for example, when a car or a person jumps out or is engaged in mental activities such as thinking or worrying. in case the pulse rate of the driver has become actually larger also, the auxiliary driving force prevents such variation, driving performance is stabilized.
[0034]
In addition, since the assisting ratio of the auxiliary driving force is increased within a certain period of time when the controller 5 starts driving, the pulse rate is calculated as the human body index information, and the auxiliary driving force is set simply by using the human body index information. Thus, an appropriate auxiliary driving force that matches the driver's fatigue level is set. In other words, at the start of driving, the driver's pulse rate appears low, and the situation is likely to be temporarily fatigued, but the assist rate of the auxiliary driving force is increased as described above, so that the driver does not feel fatigue A comfortable auxiliary driving force is obtained and the vehicle can travel comfortably.
[0035]
Alternatively, the electric assist rate may be increased by pressing the cooling down button 22 when the vehicle is close to the destination and is about to reach the destination in a few minutes. Furthermore, before driving, it is possible to set the travel distance and calorie consumption corresponding to the travel distance (or load integrated amount) in advance, and the cumulative travel distance calculated from the integrated rotation speed of the pedal and the corresponding calorie consumption. May be calculated at any time during travel, and the electric assist rate may be increased when the travel distance or calorie consumption reaches the set value.
[0036]
When the driving is finished with the electric assist rate being increased when the cooling down button 22 is pushed or the travel distance or the calorie consumption is reached, the work is gradually reduced and then stopped. Therefore, the exercise function that has been increased is gradually led to a resting level, as in the case of the so-called cooling down, where light exercise is performed at the end of exercise, and symptoms such as nausea, dizziness, and dizziness on standing up appear. Can be reliably prevented.
[0037]
In the above-described embodiment, the storage unit 2 stores in advance human body index information for each gender and each age (in this embodiment, a pulse regression equation) as the first database, Although the case where the driver's own human body index information (second database) can be obtained by performing the learning travel has been described, the present invention is not limited to this, and only one of the databases is stored in the storage unit 2. Needless to say, the first database is not limited to the above-described embodiment in terms of age classification and the like. Further, the operation mode at the time of traveling is not limited to the above embodiment, and more types of modes may be selected or may be fixed to only one mode.
[0038]
Further, the human body index is not limited to the pulse rate, and instead of this, a heart rate, blood pressure, body temperature, or the like may be adopted. In addition, the case where the torque and the number of revolutions by the pedal force are used as the load on the driver has been described. However, there is an advantage that the increase in cost can be suppressed to the minimum when the thing used as an electric bicycle is also used. And what can detect load, such as torque and running speed, should just be used.
[0039]
In addition, since the pulse rate and heart rate tend to increase as the outside air temperature and body temperature increase, a sensor for measuring the outside air temperature and a sensor for measuring body temperature (for example, embedded in a grip portion held by a hand) are installed on an electric bicycle. And the driver's load amount calculated from the torque value based on the rotation speed and the stepping force may be corrected so as to be closer to the actual pulse based on the value of the sensor. can do.
[0040]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, the relationship between the human body index representing the state of the human body such as the pulse and the load on the driver on the electric bicycle is stored in the storage means, and the database stored in the storage means is stored in the database. A human body index information corresponding to the load amount detected by the load amount detection means is calculated based on this, and a sensor for detecting an actual pulse is attached to the human body by controlling the auxiliary driving force based on the human body index information. Alternatively, the auxiliary driving force is favorably controlled without being removed. Therefore, the sensor itself becomes unnecessary during normal driving, and it is not necessary to attach or remove the sensor to / from the human body every time when getting on and off the electric bicycle as in the past. There is no risk of discomfort or the wiring cord connected to the sensor getting in the way of running. Even when emotional excitement or mental tension occurs, the driving performance does not fluctuate, so that driving performance is stabilized.
[0041]
In addition, by increasing the assist rate of the auxiliary driving force within a certain period of time when driving is started, an appropriate auxiliary driving force that does not cause the driver to feel fatigue can be obtained and the vehicle can travel comfortably.
In addition, it is possible to add a function to increase the power assist rate, or when the mileage or calorie reaches a preset value, this function is demonstrated when it reaches the immediate vicinity of the destination. As a result, the increased motor function can be gradually brought to a resting level, and symptoms such as nausea, dizziness and dizziness on standing can be prevented.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of an electric bicycle according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a front view of an input display unit of the electric bicycle.
FIG. 3 is a view showing a change state of a pulse during learning running of the electric bicycle.
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a relationship between a pulse and a work amount.
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the relationship between the pulse and the work amount of an elderly person and a middle-aged person.
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a relationship among a pulse, a work amount, and an operation mode.
FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a relationship between a pulse and a running time.
FIGS. 8A and 8B are time charts at the start of operation and at the end of operation and a state of a pulse at that time.
FIG. 9 shows data on the relationship between the driver's load (momentum), pulse rate, and exercise intensity with respect to maximum exercise capacity when the driver is a man in his 50s and the rotation speed is 50 rpm. FIG.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Auxiliary drive part 1a Electric motor 2 Memory | storage part 3 Work amount detection part 3a Torque detection sensor 3b Rotation speed detection sensor 4 Human body parameter | index calculation part 5 Control part 10 Input display apparatus 11 Display part 12 Input part 21 Pulse sensor

Claims (6)

In an electric bicycle that is capable of traveling by adding the auxiliary driving force of an auxiliary driving unit having an electric motor to the human driving force by the driver's stepping force, the driving is performed from the human body index representing the state of the human body such as the pulse rate and the electric bicycle. Storage means for storing the relationship between the load amount to the driver as a database, load amount detection means for detecting the actual load amount from the electric bicycle to the driver, and the database stored in the storage means. Based on the human body index calculation means for calculating the human body index information corresponding to the load amount detected by the load amount detection means, and for controlling the auxiliary driving force based on the human body index information calculated by the human body index calculation means And the human body index stored in the storage means is a pulse rate or a heart rate . In an electric bicycle that is capable of traveling by adding the auxiliary driving force of an auxiliary driving unit having an electric motor to the human driving force by the driver's stepping force, the driving is performed from the human body index representing the state of the human body such as the pulse rate and the electric bicycle. Storage means for storing the relationship between the load amount to the driver as a database, load amount detection means for detecting the actual load amount from the electric bicycle to the driver, and the database stored in the storage means. Based on the human body index calculation means for calculating the human body index information corresponding to the load amount detected by the load amount detection means, and for controlling the auxiliary driving force based on the human body index information calculated by the human body index calculation means and means, load detecting at a load amount and load amount detection means in the storage means, correction factor to the product or the product of the rotational speed and a predetermined constant and depression force of the driver Electric bicycle is a value obtained by multiplying the. 3. The control unit according to claim 1, wherein the control unit performs control so that the assist rate is higher than the auxiliary driving force based on the human body index information calculated by the human body index calculation unit within a certain period of time when driving the electric bicycle. Electric bicycle. The electric bicycle according to any one of claims 1 to 3 , wherein a function of increasing an electric assist rate can be added. The electric bicycle according to claim 4 , wherein the electric assist rate is increased when the travel distance or calorie reaches a preset value. The electric bicycle according to claim 4 or 5 , wherein the driver can select to increase the electric assist rate.

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