KR101694043B1 - Control method of intergrated flow control valve - Google Patents

Abstract

The integrated flow control valve control method according to the present invention is an integrated flow control valve control method for controlling the flow of engine cooling water, comprising: a first learning step for learning a rotation position of a motor for rotating the integrated flow control valve at an initial startup of an ECU ; A first re-learning step of re-learning the rotational position of the motor when the ECU is in the second or later start and the accumulated error value between the engine coolant target temperature and the actual temperature exceeds a first set value; And a second re-learning step of re-learning the rotational position of the motor when the engine coolant error accumulated value is equal to or less than a first set value and the number of times of travel exceeds a second set value.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD [0001] The present invention relates to an integrated flow control valve,

The present invention relates to an integrated flow control valve control method, and more particularly, to an integrated flow control valve control method for controlling a discharge amount and a discharge direction of cooling water passing through an automobile engine.

In order to cool down the engine, the coolant must circulate between the radiator and the engine, releasing the heat of the engine to the radiator. At this time, the cooling water discharged from the engine is transferred to the radiator through the integrated flow control valve.

BACKGROUND ART Recently, techniques for improving fuel economy by rapidly warming up a cold engine by using heat of an engine have been actively developed and applied. The actual output obtained through combustion in an internal combustion engine is about 30% of the theoretical thermal efficiency, which is due to losses occurring in the engine. The main losses that occur in the engine are cooling loss, exhaust loss, unburned loss, mechanical friction loss, and pumping loss. The heat management control of the engine refers to a technique that uses the heat generated by the engine during the cold start to warm up the engine as much as possible, thereby achieving the fuel consumption, the output improvement, and the exhaust gas reduction effect. Engine thermostat technologies include electronic thermostats, variable separation cooling, integrated flow control valves, variable water pumps, and flow improvements.

The integrated flow control valve controls the flow of engine cooling water according to the engine conditions. It is an electronic control technology that includes functions such as electronic thermostat and variable separation cooling. In the case of the integrated flow control system, the motor type flow control valve is used, but accurate information about the hardware position of the motor is required for precise control of the cooling water temperature. That is, the rotation angle of the integrated flow control valve must be precisely adjusted to precisely control the flow rate of the cooling water.

In order to do this, it is required to learn the motor position of the motor that rotates the integrated flow control valve, and to learn the motor to operate based on the position.

A conventional valve for regulating the cooling water discharged from the engine is disclosed in "Cooling water control valve (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2013-249810 (Dec.

The present invention is for sensing the position of a motor during initial learning by mounting a stopper on an actuator that drives a valve body. However, according to the present invention, a precise initial position value can be obtained by sensing the position of the motor during the initial learning, but there is a limit in that when the position of the valve is shifted during operation of the vehicle, it can not be detected and the error can not be compensated.

Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2013-249810 (Dec. 12, 2013)

It is an object of the present invention to provide an integrated flow control valve control method capable of precisely controlling cooling water temperature by determining a position re-learning timing of an integrated flow control valve have.

In order to achieve the above object, an integrated flow control valve control method according to an embodiment of the present invention is a integrated flow control valve control method for controlling the flow of engine cooling water, An initial learning step of learning the rotation position of the motor; A first re-learning step of re-learning the rotational position of the motor when the ECU is in the second or later start and the accumulated error value between the engine coolant target temperature and the actual temperature exceeds a first set value; And a second re-learning step of re-learning the rotational position of the motor when the engine coolant error accumulated value is equal to or less than a first set value and the number of times of travel exceeds a second set value.

The first re-learning step is performed again in the second re-learning step when the accumulated engine cooling water error value is equal to or less than the first set value and the number of running times is equal to or less than the second set value.

The initial learning step is performed after the initial assembly of the vehicle or the replacement of the ECU.

The number of times of travel is added every time the start is switched from ON to OFF.

The error accumulation value is determined by determining whether the difference between the target temperature and the actual temperature of the engine coolant water is 5 ° C or more in a predetermined cycle.

The integrated flow control valve control method according to the present invention has the following effects.

First, by knowing the position of the integrated flow control valve, cooling water temperature can be precisely controlled.

Second, by re-learning the position of the integrated flow control valve only in certain situations, the noise generated during learning can be minimized.

FIG. 1 is a view showing the state of the integrated flow control valve and its outlets,
2 is a graph showing changes in the amount of opening (Y-axis) of each outlet according to the angle (X-axis) of the integrated flow control valve,
3 is a flow chart according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to limit the invention. The singular forms as used herein include plural forms as long as the phrases do not expressly express the opposite meaning thereto. Means that a particular feature, region, integer, step, operation, element and / or component is specified, and that other specific features, regions, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and / And the like.

Unless otherwise defined, all terms including technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. Commonly used predefined terms are further interpreted as having a meaning consistent with the relevant technical literature and the present disclosure, and are not to be construed as ideal or very formal meanings unless defined otherwise.

Hereinafter, a method of controlling an integrated flow control valve according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The present invention is a method for controlling the rotation of an integrated flow control valve for regulating the flow of engine cooling water.

1, the integrated flow control valve 1 has three outlets of a heater outlet 10, an engine block outlet 20, and a radiator outlet 30. When the integrated flow control valve 1 is rotated by the motor, the opening amounts of the respective discharge ports are changed.

The change in opening amount of the discharge port due to the rotation of the motor is shown in Fig. As shown in FIG. 2, the cooling water is basically prevented from being discharged to the radiator during warm-up, and the amount discharged to the radiator is maximally increased during forced cooling. In addition, when heating, the amount of cooling water supplied to the heater is maximized to heat the heater more effectively.

For this control, the current position of the integrated flow control valve 1, that is, the angle of rotation, must be precisely grasped.

FIG. 3 shows conditions for performing initial learning and re-learning thereafter.

When the ECU is replaced or the vehicle is started for the first time after it is first assembled, the initial learning is performed. When the present position of the integrated flow control valve 1 is learned by learning, the control of the cooling water flow is performed based on this.

After the initial learning, that is, the second or later ECU start, the re-learning of the integrated flow control valve 1 is basically not performed. The re-learning condition is divided into two types: irregular re-learning performed when there is a problem in the control of the cooling water temperature, that is, a first re-learning step and a regular re-learning performed every predetermined number of times, The learning phase is that.

The first re-learning step increases the error accumulation value when the difference between the target temperature and the actual temperature of the cooling water discharged from the engine exceeds the predetermined temperature, The re-learning is performed.

It is preferable to increase the error accumulation value when the difference between the target temperature of the cooling water and the actual temperature exceeds 10 degrees.

In the re-learning, noise is generated while the valve is operated repeatedly. Therefore, if the re-learning condition is relaxed, the cooling water temperature can be more reliably controlled, but the frequency with which the passenger perceives the noise frequently becomes frequent. Therefore, the standard that can prevent the occurrence of the problem of the cooling water on control while minimizing the noise recognized by the occupant is the above-mentioned 10 degree difference. The temperature difference criterion may vary depending on the vehicle type, engine, and driving environment. However, even if these variables are taken into consideration, if the difference exceeds 10 degrees, the error accumulation value should be increased by recognizing the problem as a clear problem rather than a temporary disturbance.

If the cooling water control is given priority over the passenger comfort, the difference between the cooling water target temperature and the actual temperature may be set to be narrower. For example, the error accumulation value may be increased if the difference between the cooling water target temperature and the actual temperature exceeds 5 degrees.

Next, in the second re-learning step, re-learning is performed when the accumulated error value is equal to or less than the first set value but the number of times of operation exceeds the second set value.

This second re-learning step is also a re-learning performed regularly because it is performed every predetermined number of times of driving. Even if the target temperature of the cooling water and the actual temperature do not vary greatly, the position is slightly changed depending on the use of the valve. Accumulation of these errors may eventually cause problems in the valve operation, so that re-learning is performed as a kind of preventive maintenance.

The number of times of operation is added every time the start is switched from ON to OFF, and re-learning is performed when this value exceeds the second set value. The second set value may be changed depending on the type of vehicle or the total running time, but is preferably set to 20 in general. That is, re-learning is performed after 20 runs.

The second re-learning step is preferably performed immediately after startup as in the initial learning step.

If the re-learning determination is not made in the first learning step and the second learning step, it is preferable to repeat the first learning step until the startup is turned off. However, instead of performing this continuously, the target temperature of the cooling water is compared with the actual temperature at a predetermined interval to increase the error accumulation value. In this process, if the accumulated error value exceeds the first set value, re-learning is performed.

While the present invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be practical exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but, on the contrary, You will understand.

It is therefore to be understood that the above-described embodiments are illustrative in all aspects and not restrictive. The scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims rather than the detailed description, and all changes or modifications derived from the meaning and scope of the claims and their equivalents should be interpreted as being included in the scope of the present invention .

1: Integrated flow control valve 10: Heater outlet
20: Engine block outlet 30: Radiator outlet

Claims (5)

An integrated flow control valve control method for controlling the flow of engine cooling water,
An initial learning step of learning the rotational position of the motor for rotating the integrated flow control valve at the initial startup of the ECU;
A first re-learning step of re-learning the rotational position of the motor when the ECU is in the second or later start and the accumulated error value between the engine coolant target temperature and the actual temperature exceeds a first set value; And
And a second re-learning step of re-learning the rotational position of the motor when the engine coolant error accumulation value is less than or equal to the first set value and the number of travel times exceeds the second set value.
The method according to claim 1,
Learning step is performed again when the engine cooling water error accumulation value is equal to or lower than the first set value and the number of times of travel is equal to or lower than the second set value in the second re-learning step .
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the initial learning step is performed after the initial assembly of the vehicle or the replacement of the ECU.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the number of times of travel is added every time the start-up is switched from ON to OFF.
5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
Wherein the error accumulation value is determined by determining whether a difference between a target temperature and an actual temperature of the engine coolant water is equal to or greater than 5 DEG C at a predetermined cycle, Control method.

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