JPS6251776B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an automatic turn signal canceling device for a vehicle, and in particular detects the traveling direction of the vehicle using a direction sensor, and determines whether to turn off the turn signal based on the rate of change in the traveling direction. The present invention relates to an automatic turn signal canceling device for a vehicle.

Unlike automobiles, automatic turn signal canceling devices used in vehicles such as motorcycles require more advanced technology due to the special nature of their driving operations. For example, a car with a rotating steering wheel is configured to automatically turn off the turn signal when the steering wheel is returned to a predetermined angle or more at the end of a corner, but a motorcycle with a bar handle is configured to automatically turn off the turn signal when the steering wheel is returned to an angle greater than a predetermined angle at the end of a corner. is small, so the above method cannot be adopted.

In view of the above technical problems, the inventors of the present invention,
The present invention has been made to effectively solve this problem.

The purpose of the present invention is to constantly measure the vehicle's heading using a direction sensor that uses geomagnetism, focus on changes in the heading when changing direction, and cancel the turn signal by measuring whether or not there is a change in the heading. An object of the present invention is to provide an automatic turn signal canceling device for a vehicle.

A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The operating principle will be explained with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. FIG. 1 is a plan view of the motorcycle making a U-turn, and FIG. 2 shows changes in the output of the azimuth sensor provided on the motorcycle while making a U-turn. In the vehicle K making a U-turn, three states occur: a constant azimuth A, a variable azimuth B, and a constant azimuth C, as shown in FIG. This property always occurs when changing the direction of travel of the vehicle. Looking at this state in terms of the output characteristics of the orientation sensor, three states occur: constant output A', output variation B', and constant output C', and each state corresponds to the above-mentioned states A, B, and C. Therefore, by observing the change in the output value of the vehicle from constant to change to constant using the azimuth sensor, it is possible to determine when the azimuth change has ended. That is,
When the output value of the direction sensor changes from stable to unstable to stable, it is possible to uniquely find the time point b at which the direction change ends with respect to the time point a when the turn signal is turned on when the vehicle is stable.

FIG. 3 shows a block diagram of a device that automatically cancels turn signals using the above principle.

Reference numeral 1 denotes a direction sensor, which is composed of a known sensor of flux gate type using earth's magnetism, a circuit for smoothing the output of this sensor, and an amplifier.

The orientation sensor 1 is attached to an appropriate location on the vehicle, and continuously outputs a predetermined voltage value representing the traveling orientation of the vehicle. The analog output of the direction sensor 1 is digitized by an A/D converter 2 and input to a calculator 3.

The calculator 3 calculates the rate of change in the output of the orientation sensor 1. The output change rate is determined as the ratio ΔV/Δt of the time change Δt and the output change ΔV, when the function is expressed by V for the output of the orientation sensor. Various methods can be used to calculate ΔV/Δt, but the basic principle of the calculation according to the present invention is to calculate ΔV/Δt for a certain period of time.
The output change rate ΔV/Δt at Δt is determined by sampling an arbitrary number of outputs from the orientation sensor 1 at t and comparing the plurality of sampled output values. Output change rate ΔV
If /Δt is larger than the setting value of the setting device 5 provided in the comparator 4, it is judged that the direction of travel of the vehicle is changing, and if it is smaller than the setting value, it is judged that it is not changing.

After the turn signal switch 6 is turned on, the calculator 3
The calculation operation is started and the calculated output change rate is sent to the comparator 4. The comparator 4 does not output a signal in the initial stable state, but sends a signal instructing the arithmetic unit 3 to continue calculation, and eventually the output change rate ΔV/Δt increases and becomes larger than the set value, but during that time It is configured to output a calculation continuation signal and, when the output change rate ΔV/Δt becomes smaller than the reference value again, to output a cancel signal. The arithmetic unit 3 and comparator 4 having the above-mentioned functions may be integrally formed with a computer or the like, or the change in travel distance may be used instead of Δt.

The cancel signal outputted from the comparator 4 is temporarily stored by an output circuit 7 consisting of a flip-flop, etc., and is further sent to a blinker relay 8 to activate it. When the turn signal relay 8 is activated, the turn signal is automatically canceled.

As described above, the present invention utilizes the characteristics of a series of changes in the direction-related signal after turn signal operation, such as stable → unstable → stable, and automatically cancels the turn signal when stability occurs for the second time. It is configured as follows. A device based on this principle can also be used in conjunction with an automatic turn signal canceling device of the direction difference detection type.

As is clear from the above description, according to the present invention,
It is possible to reliably find the end of a turn by focusing on the rate at which the direction of travel is changing, and this makes it possible to realize an automatic turn signal canceling device for vehicles such as motorcycles, and furthermore, it can be used universally for vehicles in general. Effects such as being able to realize a usable device for detecting the end of a turn when changing direction of travel can be realized.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1 is a plan view of the moving state of the vehicle during a U-turn. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the output characteristics of the direction sensor during a U-turn. FIG. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an automatic turn signal canceling device according to the invention. In the drawings, 1 is a direction sensor, 2 is an A/D converter, 3 is an arithmetic unit, 4 is a comparator, 5 is a setting device, 6 is a turn signal switch, 7 is an output circuit, and 8 is a turn signal relay.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. Measuring the vehicle's heading using a azimuth sensor that uses geomagnetism, stabilizing the rate of change in the heading,
An automatic turn signal cancel device for a vehicle, characterized in that the turn signal is canceled by measuring instability.