JPH01117944A - Throttle valve controller for internal combustion engine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To permit a throttle valve to be surely opened from a motor when anomaly is generated, by installing a mechanical connecting means which can be connected and disconnected according to the operation of an accelerator operating element, when the acting force of the motor is transmitted to the throttle valve. CONSTITUTION:When an accelerator operating element 16 is depressed, a kick lever 34 turns up to the contact with a stopper 38, accompanied with the turn of an accelerating link 20, and the roller 40 of the kick lever 34 turns around the cam region of a relief lever 58 by the revolution of the kick lever 34, and the lever 58 is turned around a pin 56. When the accelerating link 20 turns over a prescribed angle (angle in the contact of the kick lever 34 onto the stopper 38), a motor is drive-controlled on the basis of the output signals of an accelerator position sensor and a throttle position sensor, and a motor lever 64 installed onto an output shaft 66 is turned, Therefore, the relief lever 58 is turned by a throttle lever 52, and a throttle valve 12 is opened.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a throttle valve control device for an internal combustion engine, and more particularly to a control device for a throttle valve driven by a motor (electric motor).

[Conventional technology]

JP-A-51-138235 and JP-A-60-24
Publication No. 0835 discloses that the throttle valve of an internal combustion engine is replaced by an electric motor (
It discloses that the device is driven by a motor).

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

In a configuration where the throttle valve is driven by a motor, the throttle valve is not mechanically connected to the accelerator operator.
By detecting the operation amount of the accelerator operator by the detection means, the motor can be controlled according to the detected value, and the throttle opening degree can be controlled in a desired relationship with respect to the accelerator operator. Such a motor-driven throttle valve control device requires some kind of compensation device because the throttle valve cannot be controlled if an abnormality occurs in the motor and its control circuit.

In order to deal with this, 1.
5 and JP-A-60-240835 between the motor and the throttle valve! A magnetic latch is provided so that if an abnormality occurs in the motor, the electromagnetic clutch is disconnected, the throttle valve is separated from the motor, and the throttle valve can be returned to the fully closed position. However, there is a problem in that once the electromagnetic clutch is disengaged and the throttle valve is returned to the fully closed position, the throttle valve cannot be operated thereafter.

Furthermore, since the electromagnetic clutch itself is controlled by a control device, and considering the possibility that an abnormality may occur in the control device, it is necessary to raise the issue of whether the electromagnetic clutch can be reliably disengaged in an emergency. It will be done. In view of these problems, it is an object of the present invention to provide a throttle valve control device that can separate the throttle valve from the motor at the initial stage of operation of the accelerator operator without providing an electromagnetic clutch.

[Means for solving problems]

A throttle valve control device for an internal combustion engine according to the present invention includes a throttle valve disposed in a throttle body of an internal combustion engine, which is coupled to a motor by a releasable coupling means, and the coupling means is a mechanical coupling between the motor and the throttle valve. and a coupling position in which the coupling can be achieved, and an actuation means interlocked with the accelerator operator, the actuation means interlocking with the accelerator operator. The present invention is characterized in that the decoupling member is placed in the decoupling position during an initial stage of operation, and the decoupling member is placed in the decoupling position after a predetermined amount of operation of the accelerator operator.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 3, the throttle valve control device according to the present invention includes a throttle valve 12 disposed on a throttle body 10, and the throttle valve 12 is attached to a throttle shaft 14. As shown in FIGS. Throttle shaft 14
is rotatably supported by the throttle body 10, and its both ends protrude from the throttle body 10. Further, the vehicle is provided with an accelerator operator 16, and the accelerator operator 16 is connected to an accelerator link 20 by a cable 18. The accelerator link 20 is fixed to one end of an accelerator shaft 22 that extends parallel to the throttle shaft 14 through the outside of the slot Lthoty lO. The accelerator shaft 22 is rotatably attached to the support of the engine.

As shown in FIG. 1, the accelerator link 20 is formed as a plate-like member, and includes a circular arc portion 24 for attaching one end of the cable 18, and a lever portion extending on the opposite side of the circular arc portion 24 with respect to the accelerator shaft 22. A small plate-shaped engagement piece 28 extends parallel to the accelerator shaft 22 from approximately the tip of the lever portion 26 toward the intermediate side of the shaft (FIG. 3). In this case, the lever portion 26 is arranged to generally face the direction of the throttle shaft 14. Furthermore, an accelerator return spring 30 is installed between the accelerator link 20 and the throttle body 10 or the support of the engine, and 20 in a direction that returns the accelerator link 20 relative to the direction in which the accelerator operator 16 is depressed.Furthermore, the stopper 32 defines the fully closed position of the accelerator link 20 with respect to the accelerator return spring 30.

A kick lever 34 is rotatably attached to the accelerator shaft 22 at a position closer to the inside than the accelerator link 20. The free end of the kick lever 34 is the accelerator link 2
The lever part 26 faces almost the same direction as the lever part 26 of 0.
It is formed to extend longer than the tip of 6. The retaining piece 28 extending from the lever part 26 is connected to the kick lever 34.
can be engaged with one side of the The locking spring 36 is wound around the accelerator shaft 22, and one end thereof is locked to the accelerator link 20 and the other end is locked to the kick lever 34, thereby locking the kick lever 34 into the engagement of the accelerator link 20. It is pressed toward the piece 28.

Therefore, the kick lever 34 is held by the accelerator link 20 and rotates therewith. Further, a stop flange 38 is provided so as to come into contact with the extension of the kick lever 34 from the same side as the engagement piece 28.

Therefore, when the accelerator link 20 is rotated counterclockwise as seen in FIG.
When the kick lever 34 hits the stopper 38, the kick lever 34 stops at the contact position and only the accelerator link 20 continues to rotate.

Conversely, when the accelerator operator 16 is returned, only the accelerator link 20 returns halfway, and after passing the contact point with the stopper 38, the accelerator link 20 takes the kick lever 34 and returns to the contact point with the stopper 32. moreover,
A roller 40 is rotatably attached to the tip of the kick lever 34.

As shown in FIG. 3, a lever 42 is attached to the left end of the throttle shaft 14, and a throttle return spring 44 is hung between the lever 42 and the throttle body 10, so that the throttle shaft 14 is connected to the throttle valve 12. It is biased in the closing direction. Further, this lever 42 faces outward and engages with a detection portion of a throttle position sensor 46 attached to the throttle body 10 so as to cover the end of the throttle shaft 14. Therefore, the rotation angle of the throttle valve 12, that is, the throttle opening degree can be detected. Similarly, a lever attached to the left end of the accelerator shaft 22 engages with an accelerator position sensor 48, so that the operation amount of the accelerator operator 16, that is, the accelerator opening degree can be detected. Note that these sensors 4
The detected value of 6°48 is input to an electronic control unit (ECU) 50 including a microprocessor.
) 50 controls a motor which will be explained later. The electronic control unit (HCII) 50 can also receive other signals representing the operating status of the vehicle and internal combustion engine, such as front and rear wheel speeds, engine load, rotational speed, and temperature.

A throttle lever 52 is fixed to the right end of the throttle shaft 14. The stopper 54 is connected to the throttle valve 12 biased by the throttle return spring 44.
The throttle lever 52 is arranged so as to come into contact with the throttle lever 52 at the fully closed position. A pin 56 is erected near the free end of the throttle lever 52, and the relief lever 58 is attached to this pin 56.
rotatably mounted on. Further, a relief spring 60 is wound around the pin 56, one end of which is locked to the throttle lever 52, and the other end is locked to the relief lever 58, so that the relief lever 58 is rotated counterclockwise around the pin 56. That is, it is biased in the direction toward the kick lever 34 as seen in FIG. Therefore, the relief lever 58 is always engaged with the roller 40 at the tip of the kick lever 34.

Referring to FIG. 3, a motor (electric motor) 62 is attached to the throttle body 10, and a motor lever 64 is attached to the output shaft 66 of the motor 62. Motor lever 6
A roller 68 is attached to the tip of the motor lever 4, and a return spring 70 is arranged to return the motor lever 64 toward the fully closed stopper 72. The roller 68 at the tip of the motor lever 64 can come into contact with the relief lever 58 from the side opposite to the kick lever 34. Further, the output shaft 66 of the motor 62 is arranged close to the axis of the throttle shaft 14.

While the kick lever 34, throttle lever 52, and motor lever 64 are formed into substantially straight shapes, the relief lever 58 is formed into a hat-shaped cross section. That is, as shown in FIG. 4, the relief lever 58 has two continuous cam areas l relative to the kick lever 34.

1 and a retaining area 2 for the motor lever 64, and the middle cam area 2 is bulged to correspond to the raised part at the center of the hat. More specifically, the cam region (2) is approximately straight or gently curved, the cam region (2) is circular, and the retention region (2) is approximately straight or gently curved. The engagement area (2) does not necessarily have to be on the same plane as the cam area (2), and the formation of the engagement area (2) can be modified as desired with respect to the arrangement of the motor lever 64.

The operation of the throttle valve control device having the above configuration is as follows.

FIG. 1 shows a state in which the accelerator operator 16 is not depressed at all. At this time, the accelerator link 20 is in contact with the accelerator stopper 32, and the kick lever 34 is in a position floating above the kick stopper 38. On the other hand, the throttle lever 52 contacts the throttle stopper 54, and therefore the throttle valve 12 is fully closed. Also, motor 6
2 is a chair to which driving torque is applied, a motor lever 64
is brought into contact with the motor stopper 72 by the motor return spring 70, and returned to an angle past the parallel relationship with the engagement region (2) of the relief lever 58. At this time, the relief lever 58 is biased counterclockwise by the relief return spring 60 and comes into contact with the roller 40 of the kick lever 34 in the cam region I. In the initial state shown in FIG. 1, the relief lever 58 occupies a position away from the roller 68 of the motor lever 64, so even if the motor lever 64 rotates, the roller 68 at the tip thereof is relief lever 58
It is designed so that it will not hit you.

Therefore, even if the motor 62 or its control device 50 becomes abnormal while the accelerator operator 16 is not depressed, the throttle valve 12 will not open.

``If the accelerator operator 16 is depressed from the state shown in FIG. 1, the state shown in FIG. 5 will occur. FIG. 5 shows that as the accelerator link 20 rotates, the kick lever 34 rotates until it comes into contact with the kick stopper 38, and the roller 40 of the kick lever 34 is transferred along the cam area (2) of the relief lever 58 to the cam area (2). It shows where it has been reached. As the roller 40 of the kick lever 34 moves along the cam area (■) of the relief lever 58, the relief lever 58 is pushed clockwise and rotates around the pin 56, forming the cam area (■) of the relief lever 58. The center of the circle becomes coaxial with the throttle shaft 14, and the engagement area (2) protrudes to a position where it contacts the roller 68 of the motor lever 64. Note that during this time, the relief lever 58 is connected to the pin 5.
6, the throttle lever 52 does not rotate even if the relief lever 58 rotates, and therefore the throttle valve 12 remains fully closed.

First, the electronic control device 50 sets the rotation angle of the accelerator link 20, that is, the accelerator opening to a predetermined angle θ. We are determining whether it has become. This predetermined angle θ. corresponds to the angle at which the kick lever 34 contacts the kick stopper 38 as shown in FIG. Electronic control bag 2
50, when the accelerator opening is less than a predetermined angle 80, the current supply to the motor 62 is cut as described above, and the accelerator opening is at a predetermined angle θ. When this happens, substantial control of the motor 62 is started to bring the throttle valve 12 to an opening corresponding to the accelerator opening. The motor 62 is controlled by comparing the position detected by the throttle position sensor 54 with a target position.

When the accelerator operator 16 is further depressed from the state shown in FIG. 5, the accelerator link 2 is moved as shown in FIG.
The opening degree of 0 is the predetermined angle θ. , and the accelerator link 20 rotates further with the kick lever 34 remaining. The electronic control device 50 is the accelerator position sensor 4
In response to the accelerator opening detected by 8, a drive signal corresponding to the accelerator opening is sent to the motor 62. motor 62
rotates the motor lever 64, and the rotation of the motor lever 64 is transmitted via the roller 68 to the engagement area (2) of the relief lever 58. In this case, the upright position of the kick lever 34 is fixed against the kick stopper 38, and the position of the roller 40 is also fixed. Therefore, the roller 40 of the kick lever 34 acts as the fulcrum of the relief lever 58. The engagement area of the relief lever 58 becomes
When is pushed by the roller 68 of the motor lever 64, the opposite end of the relief lever 58 on the pin 56 side moves. Since the pin 56 is connected to the throttle lever 52, the throttle lever 52 eventually rotates together with the throttle shaft 14 to open the throttle valve 12. Note that since the roller 40 of the kick lever 34 is engaged with the cam region (2) of the relief lever 58, the relief lever 58 will rotate approximately around the axis of the throttle shaft 14, and the opening degree of the throttle valve 12 will vary. It is equal to the rotation t of the motor lever 64 multiplied by the arm ratio. If the cam area (2) of the relief lever 58 has a shape other than circular, the center of rotation will shift, and the relationship between the opening degree of the throttle valve 12 and the amount of rotation of the motor lever 64 will become more complicated.

When returning the accelerator operator, contrary to the explanation just now, press the 6th
The opening degree of the throttle valve 12 decreases from the state shown in the figure until it is fully closed in the state shown in FIG. 5, and then the throttle valve 12 is separated from the transmission path of the motor 62 while remaining in the fully closed state.

Next, a case where an abnormality occurs in the motor 62 or the control device 50 will be described. If the driver senses something abnormal, he will loosen the accelerator operator 16. Then, the driving torque of the motor 62 becomes smaller, and the motor lever 64 is returned by the motor return spring 70, so that the throttle valve 12 can be fully closed and separated from the transmission path of the motor 62, similar to the closing operation described above. However, even if the accelerator operator 16 is loosened, the driving torque of the motor 62 will not decrease, and the motor lever 64 may become locked at the position it is in, but the throttle valve 12 can be closed even in this case. be.

In this case, when the accelerator operator 16 is released, the kick lever 34 mechanically returns to the position shown in FIG. 1 and attempts to escape from the relief lever 58. The position of the roller 40 of the kick lever 34 in FIG. 1 is shown by broken lines in FIG. The throttle lever 52 is connected to the throttle return spring 44
In addition, the relief lever 58 receives the force of the relief return spring 60, so when the kick lever 34 escapes, the relief lever 58 follows, and at this time, the throttle lever 52 also returns due to the force of the throttle return spring 44. . Therefore, no matter what position the motor lever 64 is locked in, the throttle lever 52 and the relief lever 58 will return to the positions shown in FIG.

Then, when the relief lever 58 returns, the relief lever 58 includes a movement to the left as seen in FIG. In this way, the throttle valve 12 can be reliably fully closed. In this case, in addition to fully closing the throttle valve 12, if there is no bypass for idling, an opening equivalent to idling is allowed.

Throttle lever 52 and relief lever 58 are thus returned, and the position of roller 68 of motor lever 64 in FIG. 6 is indicated by dashed line 68 in FIG.

If the abnormality in the motor 62 or the control device 50 is restored in this state, the roller 68 of the motor lever 64 can return to its original initial position. Also, the roller 6 of the motor lever 64
If 8 remains at the position indicated by the broken line, the minimum throttle opening required for driving the vehicle by depressing the accelerator operator 16 can be secured. This time, the roller 68 shown by the broken line becomes a fulcrum, and the throttle lever 52 can be rotated together with the relief lever 58 by moving the kick lever 34 until it comes into contact with the stopper 38.

FIG. 2 shows an example of the relationship between the throttle opening and the accelerator opening, where the accelerator opening is at a predetermined angle θ. Until this point, the throttle opening is 0, but the accelerator opening is at angle θ. This indicates that the throttle opening changes as a function of the accelerator opening. In this manner, the throttle opening degree can be set in advance as a function of the accelerator opening degree, and the throttle opening degree is appropriately controlled by controlling the drive position of the motor 62. In addition, the second
In the figure, the throttle opening is shown in a linear relationship with the accelerator opening, but any relationship other than the linear relationship may be used. Furthermore, the throttle opening degree can also be corrected using vehicle and engine parameters other than the accelerator opening degree. For example, when slip is detected by detecting the difference in speed between the front and rear wheels, control is performed to reduce the throttle opening in order to suppress the engine output, or
Control is performed to smoothly increase the engine output when the accelerator operator 16 is fully depressed instantaneously, or when the engine is shifted up to reduce the torque shock of the vehicle when shifting the transmission. It is possible to perform controls such as reducing the engine speed and increasing the engine speed during downshifts.

Furthermore, the time it takes for the opening degree of the accelerator link 20 to reach the predetermined opening degree θ0 corresponds to an initial short period of operation of the accelerator operator, and the driver feels that this period is a dry depression of the accelerator operator. Instead, they are confused by the degree of play in the accelerator pedal. In addition, when the accelerator link 20 is opened, the accelerator return spring 30
Only the spring force is applied, and then the predetermined opening degree θ is applied. After that, the spring force of the kick return spring 36 is added, and the pedal force of the accelerator operator reaches a predetermined value e0.
This changes in a step-like manner, and the driver can feel this change. Then, you can feel that the first stage is a play, and that the throttle control is actually being performed after the pedal force increases.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, according to the present invention, not only is it possible to optimally control the opening degree of the throttle valve using a motor, but also when transmitting the operating force of the motor for driving the throttle valve to the throttle valve. By interposing a mechanical connection means that can be connected and opened in accordance with the operation of the accelerator operator by a person, the throttle valve is reliably released from the motor in the event of an abnormality, and the abnormal operation of the motor is not transmitted to the throttle valve. can do.

[BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS] FIG. 1 is a side view of the throttle valve control device according to the present invention with the motor removed, as seen from arrow I in FIG. A diagram for explaining the relationship between the throttle opening and the accelerator opening, FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing the throttle valve control device according to the present invention, FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the relief lever of FIG. 1, and FIG. A similar view to FIG. 1 showing the device shown in FIG. 1 with the accelerator link rotated by a predetermined angle, and FIG. 6 showing the device shown in FIG. 1 with the accelerator link further rotated from FIG. 5. FIG. 2 is a diagram similar to FIG. 1 shown in FIG. 1G... Throttle body, 12... Throttle valve, 14... Throttle shaft, 16... Accelerator operator, 20... Accelerator link, 34... Kick lever, 38... Stopper, 52 ...Throttle lever, 56...Pin, 58
... relief lever, 62 ... motor, 64
...Motor lever. 14... Throttle shaft 20... Accelerator link 34... Kick lever 38... Kick stop horn e 52°... Throttle lever 56... Bi1 58... Relief lever 64°° Motor lever 66 ...Motor output shaft Figure 2 Figure 4 Departure Figure 5

Claims (1)

[Claims] A throttle valve disposed on a throttle body of the internal combustion engine is coupled to the motor by a releasable coupling means, the coupling means achieving a release position and coupling which releases the mechanical coupling between the motor and the throttle valve. a decoupling member capable of assuming a decoupling position in which the decoupling member can assume a decoupling position in which the decoupling member can be moved to the decoupling position; A throttle valve control device for an internal combustion engine, characterized in that the connection release member is set to the release position and the connection release member is set to the connection position after the accelerator operator is operated by a predetermined amount.