JPH0319091B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a so-called auto-cruise control device that automatically controls the speed of a vehicle, and in particular, it smoothly controls an increase in actual vehicle speed during acceleration control and returns to constant speed driving. The present invention relates to an auto cruise control device that allows smooth transition.

For acceleration control during auto-cruise, the throttle opening degree is increased in response to the acceleration signal input.
It is conceivable to set the throttle opening at that time in response to disappearance of the acceleration signal.

However, since there is a considerable time delay from when the throttle opening increases until the actual vehicle speed increases, with this type of control method, the acceleration rate of the actual vehicle speed at the acceleration start time is small, and the acceleration time There is a delay, which not only makes the system feel frustrating, but also has the disadvantage that the actual traveling vehicle speed continues to increase even after the acceleration signal disappears, and overshoot is likely to occur.

The present invention eliminates the above-mentioned drawbacks, and its purpose is to:
To provide an auto-cruise control device capable of improving the rate of increase in the actual traveling vehicle speed at the start of acceleration and preventing overshooting and hunting of the actual traveling vehicle speed when accelerating the vehicle.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention employs a motor for throttle opening control, and when accelerating during auto cruise, (1) unconditionally, first, the actual vehicle speed at that time - or auto cruise; After temporarily increasing the throttle opening by a predetermined amount according to the target vehicle speed, (2) gradually increasing the throttle opening according to the elapsed time from the generation of the acceleration signal, that is, the duration of the acceleration signal. (3) When the acceleration signal disappears, open-loop control of the throttle opening is performed such that when the acceleration signal disappears, the throttle opening is decreased by a value determined according to the actual traveling vehicle speed at that time. .

The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of one embodiment of the present invention.

In addition, for ease of understanding, in Figure 1,
A configuration for executing control of transition from manual control of vehicle speed to auto cruise is also illustrated, and this will also be explained.

The vehicle speed detector 1 outputs pulses with a period inversely proportional to the actual traveling speed of the vehicle. The pulses are shaped by a waveform shaper 2 and then counted by a vehicle speed counter 3. Therefore, as is clear, the count value of the vehicle speed counter 3 within a certain period of time represents the actual traveling vehicle speed.

The sampling timer 4 generates a timing pulse at regular intervals, transfers the count value of the vehicle speed counter 3 to the latch circuit 5, and latches it.
At the same time, the vehicle speed counter 3 is reset. The actual running vehicle speed temporarily stored in the latch circuit 5 is determined by the timing pulse of the sampling timer 4.
It is stored in the vehicle speed register 6.

When auto cruise set is canceled -
That is, under normal manual speed control, the auto cruise flag 7 (flip-flop) is in a reset state (output "0" state).

Therefore, the output of the inverter 8 becomes high level, and the third multiplexer 9 selects the output of the reference throttle opening degree memory 10 and supplies it to the preset register 11. Standard throttle opening memory 1
The throttle opening corresponding to idling operation of the engine is set to 0.

The comparator 12 compares the value of an up-down counter 13 that stores the current position of the pulse motor 15 with
The value stored in the preset register 11 is compared, and the driver 14 and pulse motor 15 are driven according to the difference.

As a result, the rotational position of the pulse motor 15 -
That is, the throttle opening degree is maintained at a substantially constant position. The control operation of the pulse motor 15 is described in Japanese Patent Application No. 57-38164 and Japanese Patent Application No. 57-38164.
It is explained in detail in the specification of No. 38165.

In this case, the throttle opening degree can be freely controlled by the driver's operation of the accelerator pedal, for example, as shown in each of the above specifications.

When the auto cruise set signal is input from the state of manual control of the traveling vehicle speed as described above, the differentiating circuit 16
produces a pulse output, which sets the autocruise flag 7. The output of the differentiation circuit 16 is simultaneously supplied to the target vehicle speed register 17 via the OR circuit 01.

As a result, the target vehicle speed register 17
The output from the latch circuit 5 at that time, that is, the actual traveling vehicle speed, is stored as the subsequent target vehicle speed.

The auto cruise set signal, on the one hand,
It is supplied to the monomulti 18. Said mono multi 1
The throttle opening degree memory 19 is selectively driven by the output pulse No. 8 at the time of setting. The throttle opening degree memory 19 at the time of setting stores a provisional target opening degree of the throttle opening with the target vehicle speed as a parameter.

As this provisional target opening degree, it is desirable to adopt, for example, a throttle opening degree corresponding to the target vehicle speed when the vehicle is traveling on a flat road. An example is shown in FIG. In Figure 2,
The horizontal axis is the vehicle speed, and the vertical axis is the provisional target opening value of the throttle opening.

Since the target vehicle speed has been input to the throttle opening degree memory 19 at the time of setting, at the same time as the auto cruise set signal is input, the throttle opening degree memory 19 at the time of setting reads the provisional target opening value corresponding to the actual traveling vehicle speed at that time. is input to the second multiplexer 20.

The second multiplexer 20 is a monomultiplexer 1
8 output pulse selects the provisional target opening from the throttle opening memory 19 at the time of setting, and supplies this to the third multiplexer 9.

At this time, the auto cruise flag 7 is in the set state, and therefore the output of the inverter 8 is at a low level, so the third multiplexer 9
The output of the multiplexer 20 (ie, the provisional target opening degree) is selected and stored in the preset register 11.

As a result, the pulse motor 15 is driven, and the throttle valve is rapidly moved to the provisional target opening position. At the same time, the stored value of preset register 11 is supplied to adder 21.

On the other hand, as mentioned above, the actual running vehicle speed is determined by the latch circuit 5 at a certain sampling time (for example,
0.5 seconds) is stored in the vehicle speed register 6. This actual traveling vehicle speed is compared with the target vehicle speed from the target vehicle speed register 17 in a subtracter 22, and the difference is supplied to a multiplier 23.

In the multiplier 23, the constant read from the constant memory 24 is multiplied by the difference, and the pulse motor 15 is multiplied by the constant read from the constant memory 24.
is converted into a rotation angle correction amount (positive or negative pulse number). The correction amount is determined by the first multiplexer 24.
It is supplied to the adder 21 via A.

As described above, the output of the preset register 11, that is, the provisional target opening degree is input to the adder 21. Therefore, the addition output is
This corresponds to the rotation angle or position of the pulse motor 15 corresponding to the throttle opening required to obtain the target vehicle speed at that time.

The addition output is stored in the preset register 11 via the second multiplexer 20 and the third multiplexer 9, and is further input to the comparator 12.

Therefore, as described above and easily understood, the rotation angle and throttle opening of the pulse motor 15 are feedback-controlled to the values necessary to maintain the target vehicle speed.

As is clear from the above explanation, in this example,
When setting the auto cruise, adjust the throttle opening.
The opening is initially set to a provisional target opening determined in advance according to the target vehicle speed, and feedback control is executed from that position as a starting point based on the deviation of the actual traveling vehicle speed from the target vehicle speed.

For this reason, the deviation immediately after the auto cruise set is reduced (or averaged out), a drop in vehicle speed and hunting are prevented, and the time to converge to the target vehicle speed is shortened.
The transition from manual control to auto cruise control can be made extremely smooth.

Next, an embodiment of the present invention, that is, a case where the vehicle is accelerated during autocruise will be further described with reference to FIG.

When the driver operates the acceleration switch during autocruise, that is, when the autocruise flag 7 is set, an acceleration signal is generated during the autocruise. Due to the generation of the acceleration signal, the output of the AND gate A1 rises, and the front end monomulti 30 becomes 1.
This pulse is supplied to the delay circuit 31.

As mentioned above, when the output of AND gate A1 rises, flip-flop 32 (flip-flop) has not yet been set, so AND gate A2 produces a "1" output. By this,
The acceleration initial incremental memory 33 is selected and its read data, ie, the incremental addition value, is supplied to the adder 21 via the first multiplexer 24A.

Therefore, the value stored in the preset register 11 increases by the above-mentioned incremental value, the pulse motor 15 rotates by an angle corresponding to this, and the throttle opening also increases, realizing acceleration of the actual traveling vehicle speed. be done.

Note that the incremental addition value stored in the initial acceleration incremental memory 33 uses the actual traveling vehicle speed at that time as a parameter.

When the output of the front end monomulti 30 delayed by the delay circuit 31 is input to the set terminal of the flip-flop 32, this is set. At this time, since the acceleration signal is still continuing, the output of AND gate A3 rises and AND gate A4 is opened.

As a result, the timer 34 counts timing pulses from the sampling timer 4. That is, the output of the timer 34 represents the elapsed time since the incremental acceleration immediately after the acceleration was performed.

On the other hand, the acceleration pattern memory 35 is selected by the "1" output of the AND gate A3, and at the same time, the first multiplexer 24A is switched to output the data read from the acceleration pattern memory 35.

The acceleration pattern memory 35 stores an incremental acceleration value necessary for acceleration using the elapsed time as a parameter. This incremental addition value is further supplied to the preset register 11 via the second multiplexer 20 and the third multiplexer 9.

As a result, the comparator 12 produces an output, drives the pulse motor 15, and increases the throttle opening at each sampling time of the sampling timer 4.

When the desired acceleration is completed and the acceleration signal disappears and falls to a low level, the output of the AND gate A5 becomes a high level, and the "1" signal is applied to the rear end monomulti 36 to trigger it.

At the same time, the output of AND gate A5 is input to AND gate A6, so that the output of A6 rises. Since the output of "1" from the AND gate A6 is supplied to the target vehicle speed register 17 via the OR gate 01, the target vehicle speed register 17 stores the actual traveling vehicle speed at that time as the target vehicle speed.

At the same time, the post-acceleration decrement memory 37 is selected by the output of the AND gate A6, and the first multiplexer 24A selects the post-acceleration decrement memory 37.
The read data of is selectively output. The post-acceleration decrease memory 37 stores the amount of throttle opening correction in the closing direction that should be executed immediately after the acceleration signal disappears, using the actual traveling vehicle speed as a parameter.

Therefore, when acceleration is completed, the closing direction correction amount is added to the adder 21 via the first multiplexer 24A, and the corrected throttle opening target value is added via the second multiplexer 20 and the third multiplexer 9. and stored in the preset register 11.

In this manner, the throttle opening degree is reduced by a certain amount determined by the actual traveling vehicle speed at that time after the acceleration signal disappears.

The output pulse of the rear end monomulti 36 is delayed by a predetermined time in a delay circuit 38, and is input to the reset terminal of the flip-flop 32 to reset it. This closes AND gates A3 and A6.

Thereafter, autocruise control for the new accelerated target vehicle speed is executed in the same manner as described above.

FIGS. 3A and 3B are diagrams showing an example of changes in vehicle speed and throttle opening in the acceleration control described above.

The period from time T0 to time T1 is a normal autocruise period, and the actual traveling vehicle speed and throttle opening are kept almost constant. The period from time T1 to time T2 is a period in which the driver operates the acceleration switch and an acceleration signal is generated.

At time T1, the throttle opening rapidly increases by Δ1 of data read from the initial acceleration incremental memory 33, and the actual traveling vehicle speed also increases accordingly. Thereafter, in accordance with the data read from the acceleration pattern memory 35, the throttle opening degree increases at regular intervals, and the actual traveling vehicle speed also continues to increase.

In this case, it is desirable that the amount of increase in the throttle opening degree for each fixed period of time is set to decrease as time passes.

At time T2, when the operation of the acceleration switch is stopped, the value Δ2 corresponding to the actual traveling vehicle speed at that time is determined based on the data read from the post-acceleration decrease memory 37.
The throttle opening is suddenly closed, and normal autocruise is resumed from that state.

In the block diagram of FIG. 1, instead of using the vehicle speed as a parameter, the setting throttle opening degree memory 19 can also use the position of the transmission gear and the engine speed as parameters.

In addition, the throttle opening degree memory 19 at the time of setting, the incremental memory 33 at the beginning of acceleration, and the acceleration pattern memory 3
5. Prepare multiple types of memories such as post-acceleration reduction memory 37. In other words, each memory is configured to have multiple different types of data for parameters with the same value, and Alternatively, the data read from these memories may be subjected to appropriate correction such as addition or multiplication before being supplied to the subsequent circuit.

In this way, the transition state from manual vehicle speed control to auto cruise control (slow and smooth transition or rapid transition, etc.) and acceleration state (slow acceleration or rapid acceleration, etc.) can be changed. ) can be selected according to the driver's preference and driving situation.

Furthermore, in the above, the speed control of the vehicle is switched from manual control by the driver to automatic control (so-called auto-cruise), and furthermore, acceleration control in the auto-cruise state is implemented by hardware using an individual logic circuit. Although the case has been described, it is clear that the present invention can also be implemented by a computer or the like.

The processing procedure in this case will be explained below with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

Step S1...When the engine ignition switch is turned on and this system starts, the throttle opening is driven to the reference opening position (a position approximately equivalent to the opening during idling operation).

Step S2...Determine whether an auto cruise signal has been input. In normal manual speed control mode, this signal is not input, so the process advances to step S3.

Step S3...Determine whether the auto cruise flag is set. In the manual speed mode, this flag is not set, so the procedure returns to step S1. Therefore, in manual speed control mode, step S1 → step S2 →
A loop from step S3 to step S1 is cycled.

Step S4...If the auto cruise signal is input in the judgment of step S2, the step
Proceeding to S4, the actual traveling vehicle speed is read, the auto cruise flag is set, and the actual traveling vehicle speed is read into the target vehicle speed register.

Step S5: According to the target vehicle speed, a provisional target opening degree is read from the throttle opening degree memory at the time of setting.

Step S6: The provisional target opening degree is supplied to the drive circuit, and the throttle valve is driven to that position.

Step S7: Determine whether the acceleration flag is set. If not set, proceed to step S8.

Step S8...Determine whether an acceleration signal is input.

Step S9...Determine whether an auto-cruise cancellation signal is input. If no input has been made, the process advances to step S10.

Step S10: Determine whether the vehicle speed sampling timer has generated an output. If there is no output, the process returns to step S7, and then cycles through a loop of step S8, step S9, and step S10, waiting for the sampling timer to generate an output. When the timer output is generated, the process advances to step S11.

Step S11...The actual running vehicle speed is read,
A throttle opening correction value is calculated from the deviation of the actual traveling vehicle speed from the target vehicle speed. Alternatively, read the value from memory.

Step S12...The throttle opening correction value is supplied to the drive circuit, and the throttle valve is corrected and driven.

The process then returns to step S7 and
Auto-cruise control of the vehicle is executed through a loop of S7→Step S8→Step S9→Step S10→Step S11→Step S12.

When an acceleration signal is input during such auto-cruise control, the determination in step S8 becomes true. Therefore, the process is performed in step S13.
Proceed to.

Step S13: The actual running vehicle speed at that time is read, and the throttle opening increase amount is read from the initial acceleration incremental memory.

Step S14...Set the acceleration flag.

Step S15: An acceleration signal duration time measurement timer counter for measuring the time since the acceleration signal is input is reset.

Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S12, where the throttle opening increase amount read in the previous step S13 is supplied to the drive circuit to increase the opening of the throttle valve.

Then, when the process returns to step S7 again,
Since the acceleration flag has been set, the process proceeds to step S16.

Step S16: Determine whether the acceleration signal is still being input continuously. If it continues, proceed to step S17.

Step S17: Determine whether the acceleration signal duration measurement timer has occurred. When no output is generated, steps S16 and S17 are cycled to wait for output to occur.

Step S18...When it is determined in step S17 that a timer output occurs, 1 is added to the timer counter.

Step S19...The throttle opening correction value is read from the acceleration pattern memory using the count value of the timer counter as a parameter.

Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S12 again, where the throttle opening correction value read in the previous step is supplied to the drive circuit, and the opening of the throttle valve is gradually increased.

The process returns from step S7 to step S16, and continues at step S17 while the acceleration signal continues.
→ Step S18 → Step S19 → Step S12 → Step S7 → Step S16.

Step S20...If the acceleration signal has disappeared in the judgment of step S16, the actual traveling vehicle speed at that time is read, and the throttle opening reduction amount is read from the post-acceleration reduction memory.

Step S21...Reset the acceleration flag.

Step S22...The actual traveling vehicle speed read in step S20 is read into the target vehicle speed register.

After that, the process proceeds to step S12, and
The throttle opening reduction amount read in S20 is supplied to the drive circuit to drive the throttle valve in the direction of closing the opening.

When the process returns to step S7 again, the acceleration flag has already been reset, so the process proceeds to step S8. Also, since the acceleration signal has disappeared, further processing is performed at step S9 →
A loop of step S10→step S11→step S12 is cycled.

In this way, autocruise control is executed with the actual traveling vehicle speed after acceleration as the target.
When the auto-cruise cancellation signal is input during auto-cruise control as described above, the determination in step S9 becomes true, so the process proceeds to step S23.

Step S23...The auto cruise flag is reset, and the process returns to step S1. Here, the throttle valve is driven to the reference opening position to return to the initial manual speed control mode.

As is clear from the above explanation, according to the present invention, the throttle opening is rapidly increased in response to the acceleration signal input during auto-cruise control, so that the delay in starting acceleration is improved, and furthermore, when the acceleration signal disappears, the throttle opening is rapidly increased. Since the throttle opening is suddenly closed by a predetermined amount according to the actual vehicle speed, overshoot of the actual vehicle speed is reduced, hunting is also prevented, and the transition from the end of acceleration to auto cruise control is smooth. It can be carried out.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG.
The figure is a graph showing an example of the relationship between the actual running vehicle speed and the provisional target value of the throttle opening. Figure 3 is a graph showing an example of how the actual running vehicle speed and the throttle opening change over time when accelerating in auto cruise mode. ,
1 and 2 in FIG. 4 are diagrams showing an example of a flowchart when the present invention is implemented by a computer. 1...Vehicle speed detector, 3...Vehicle speed counter, 4...
...Sampling timer, 5...Latch circuit, 6...
...Vehicle speed register, 7...Auto cruise flag (flip-flop), 9, 20, 24...Multiplexer, 11...Preset register, 12...
... Comparator, 13 ... Up-down counter, 14
...Driver, 15...Pulse motor, 16...
Differential circuit, 17...Target vehicle speed register, 19...
Throttle opening degree memory during setting, 21... Adder, 22... Subtractor, 23... Multiplier, 30...
Front end mono multi, 31, 38...Delay circuit, 32
...Flip-flop, 33...Incremental memory at the beginning of acceleration, 34...Timer, 35...Acceleration pattern memory, 36...Rear end monomulti, 37...Decrement memory after acceleration.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. Means for sampling the actual traveling speed of the vehicle at scheduled time intervals, and in response to input of an auto cruise set signal,
means for storing the actual traveling vehicle speed at that time as a target vehicle speed; means for obtaining a deviation of the actual traveling vehicle speed from the target vehicle speed; and throttle opening correction based on the deviation so that the actual traveling vehicle speed matches the target vehicle speed. In an auto-cruise control device equipped with a means for calculating the amount and a means for controlling the throttle opening based on the correction amount, the auto-cruise control is temporarily canceled in response to the occurrence of the correction, and the vehicle is accelerated; an acceleration signal generating means for generating an acceleration signal for restarting the auto-cruise control by setting the actual running vehicle speed at the time of the disappearance as a new target vehicle speed for the auto-cruise control; and a throttle opening increase amount at the start of acceleration using the actual running vehicle speed as a parameter. an acceleration initial increment memory that stores the acceleration signal, a timer that measures the duration of the acceleration signal, an acceleration pattern memory that stores the amount of increase in throttle opening using the acceleration signal duration as a parameter, and an acceleration pattern memory that stores the actual traveling vehicle speed as a parameter. a post-acceleration decrease memory that stores the throttle opening decrease amount when the acceleration signal disappears, and a throttle opening increase amount that corresponds to the actual traveling vehicle speed from the acceleration initial increment memory in response to the generation of the acceleration signal. means for reading out a throttle opening correction amount as a throttle opening correction amount; means for reading out a throttle opening correction amount from the acceleration pattern memory in response to the continuation of the acceleration signal as a throttle opening correction amount; and an acceleration signal. means for reading out a throttle opening reduction amount corresponding to the actual traveling vehicle speed from the post-acceleration reduction memory as a throttle opening correction amount in response to disappearance of the throttle opening correction amount; An auto cruise control device comprising means for controlling the throttle opening from generation to disappearance of the signal, and means for storing the actual traveling vehicle speed at that time as a target vehicle speed in response to the disappearance of the acceleration signal. . 2. means for sampling the actual traveling speed of the vehicle at scheduled time intervals, and in response to the input of the auto cruise set signal;
means for storing the actual traveling vehicle speed at that time as a target vehicle speed; means for obtaining a deviation of the actual traveling vehicle speed from the target vehicle speed; and throttle opening correction based on the deviation so that the actual traveling vehicle speed matches the target vehicle speed. In an auto-cruise control device equipped with a means for calculating the amount and a means for controlling the throttle opening based on the correction amount, the auto-cruise control is temporarily canceled in response to the occurrence of the correction, and the vehicle is accelerated; an acceleration signal generating means for generating an acceleration signal for restarting the auto-cruise control by setting the actual running vehicle speed at the time of the disappearance as a new target vehicle speed for the auto-cruise control; and a throttle opening increase amount at the start of acceleration using the actual running vehicle speed as a parameter. an acceleration initial increment memory that stores the acceleration signal, a timer that measures the duration of the acceleration signal, an acceleration pattern memory that stores the amount of increase in throttle opening using the acceleration signal duration as a parameter, and an acceleration pattern memory that stores the actual traveling vehicle speed as a parameter. a post-acceleration decrease memory that stores the throttle opening decrease amount when the acceleration signal disappears, and a throttle opening increase amount that corresponds to the actual traveling vehicle speed from the acceleration initial increment memory in response to the generation of the acceleration signal. means for reading out a throttle opening correction amount as a throttle opening correction amount; means for reading out a throttle opening correction amount from the acceleration pattern memory in response to the continuation of the acceleration signal as a throttle opening correction amount; and an acceleration signal. means for reading out a throttle opening reduction amount corresponding to the actual traveling vehicle speed from the post-acceleration reduction memory as a throttle opening correction amount in response to disappearance of the throttle opening correction amount; The present invention comprises means for controlling the throttle opening degree from generation to disappearance of the signal, and means for storing the actual traveling vehicle speed at that time as a target vehicle speed in response to the disappearance of the acceleration signal, and using the actual traveling vehicle speed as a parameter. At least one of the acceleration initial increment memory, the post-acceleration decrease memory, and the acceleration pattern memory in which the duration of the acceleration signal is used as a parameter stores a plurality of different throttle opening correction amounts for parameters having the same value. An auto cruise control device characterized in that any one of the following is read out and output according to manual selection by a driving vehicle.