Shift-by-wire device

Abstract

The shift-by-wire device of the present disclosure includes a first sensor driven by a first power source and outputting a first detection signal corresponding to a shift range of a shift lever, a second sensor driven by a second power source different from the first power source and outputting a second detection signal corresponding to the shift range of the shift lever, and a control unit that controls an operating state of a transmission based on a detection signal of at least one of the first sensor and the second sensor.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This disclosure relates to a drive-by-wire gear shifting device. Background Technology

[0002] In recent years, vehicle transmission systems have generally adopted shift-by-wire devices. These devices detect the gear position of the shift lever using sensors and control the transmission's operating state based on the detection signals output from the sensors. Such shift-by-wire devices are described, for example, in Patent Document 1.

[0003] Existing technical documents Patent documents Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2007-198574 Summary of the Invention The problem the invention aims to solve However, in a drive-by-wire system, if the sensor cannot detect the gear position of the shift lever due to malfunction or other reasons, or if the detection accuracy decreases, the transmission may not be able to be properly controlled.

[0004] This disclosure was made in view of the above problems, and provides a drive-by-wire shifting device that can improve the reliability of gear position detection of the shift lever.

[0005] Solution to the problem One aspect of the drive-by-wire shifting device disclosed herein includes: The first sensor is driven by the first power supply and outputs a first detection signal corresponding to the gear position of the gear shift lever; The second sensor, driven by a power source different from the first power source, outputs a second detection signal corresponding to the gear position of the gear shift lever; and The control unit controls the operating state of the transmission based on the detection signal from at least one of the first sensor and the second sensor.

[0006] Invention Effects According to this disclosure, the reliability of gear position detection of the gear shift lever can be improved. Attached Figure Description

[0007] Figure 1 This is an exploded perspective view showing the structure of the shift lever in the embodiment.

[0008] Figure 2 It is a diagram used to illustrate the positional relationship between magnets and digital and analog sensors.

[0009] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram illustrating the gear position in an example of an implementation method.

[0010] Figure 4AThis is a diagram showing the position of the pin when the lever is set to P position.

[0011] Figure 4B This is a diagram showing the position of the pin when the lever is shifted from P to R.

[0012] Figure 4C This is a diagram showing the position of the pin when the lever is set to R position.

[0013] Figure 5 It is an exploded three-dimensional view showing the relationship between the rod shaft and the sensor substrate.

[0014] Figure 6 It is a graph showing the relationship between the digital output from the digital sensor and the gear position.

[0015] Figure 7 It is a graph showing the relationship between the analog output from the analog sensor and the gear position.

[0016] Figure 8 This is a block diagram showing the general structure of a vehicle equipped with a drive-by-wire shifting device according to the embodiment.

[0017] Figure 9 This is a flowchart illustrating the drive-by-wire shifting process of the implementation method.

[0018] Explanation of reference numerals in the attached figures 1. Gear shift lever; 10. Gear shift lever body; 11. Sensor substrate; 12 digital sensors; 13. Analog sensors; 14. Matrix; 15 Connectors; 16. Seals; 20 rod shafts; 21. Rotation axis; 22. Magnet mounting section; 23. Magnets; 24 sales; 30. Guide cover; 31. Positioning protrusion; 40 Top cover; 50. Shift dust cover; 60. Gear shift lever; 100 ECUs; 400 transmission; 500 batteries; 600 DC-DC converter. Detailed Implementation

[0019] The embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0020] Figure 1 This is an exploded perspective view showing the structure of the shift lever 1 according to the embodiment. The shift lever 1 includes a shift lever body 10, a lever shaft 20, a guide cover 30, a top cover 40, a shift dust cover 50, and a shift handle 60.

[0021] Next to the driver's seat, the gear shift lever body 10 is fixed to the vehicle body. The lever shaft 20 has a rotating shaft 21 on its lower side. The rotating shaft 21 is rotatably mounted to the gear shift lever body 10.

[0022] A guide cover 30 is installed at the opening on the upper part of the shift lever body 10. An opening is formed in the center of the guide cover 30 for the shaft portion of the lever shaft 20 to pass through. Thus, the lower root of the lever shaft 20 is accommodated inside the shift lever body 10, while the upper shaft portion protrudes upward from the guide cover 30.

[0023] A gear shift lever 60 is connected to the top end of the upper part of the lever shaft 20. Thus, when the driver operates the gear shift lever 60, the lever shaft 20 rotates around the rotation axis 21 according to the operation.

[0024] The shift dust cover 50 and the top cover 40 are fixed to the vehicle body and have a structure that covers the guide cover 30 in a manner that does not hinder the movement of the shift lever 60 and the shaft 20 during shifting operations.

[0025] A magnet mounting part 22 is provided on the rod shaft 20. The magnet mounting part 22 is positioned above the rotation shaft 21 and below the shaft body of the rod shaft 20. Figure 2 As shown, the magnet 23 used to detect the rotational position of the rod shaft 20 is fixedly mounted on the magnet mounting part 22.

[0026] Additionally, at a position within the shift lever body 10 opposite to the magnet mounting portion 22, such as Figure 2 As shown by the dashed lines, a sensor substrate 11 is provided. A digital sensor 12 and an analog sensor 13 are provided on the sensor substrate 11. As the digital sensor 12, four Hall effect ICs output the voltage corresponding to the relative position of the magnet 23. As the analog sensor 13, one Hall effect IC outputs the voltage corresponding to the relative position of the magnet 23. Thus, a detection signal corresponding to the rotational position of the rod shaft 20 is output from the digital sensor 12 and the analog sensor 13. Furthermore, the number of Hall effect ICs in the digital sensor 12 and the analog sensor 13 is not limited to... Figure 2 The example shown.

[0027] Figure 3The gear position in this embodiment is shown in the example. Corresponding to the driver's operation of the gear shift lever 60, the gear shift lever 1 is set to one of the following gears: P (Park), R (Reverse), N (Neutral), and D (Drive).

[0028] A surface with a shape resembling a guide cover 30 is formed on the lower surface of the guide cover 30. Figures 4A to 4C Multiple positioning protrusions 31 are shown. On the other hand, a pin 24, serving as an abutment member, is provided on the side of the lever 20 opposite to the positioning protrusions 31. The pin 24 is pressed against the positioning protrusions 31 by the force of a spring. The pin 24 is moved to a certain position on the positioning protrusions 31 in response to the rotation of the lever 20 performed by the driver.

[0029] Figure 4A This is a diagram showing the position of pin 24 when lever 20 is set to P position. Figure 4B This is a diagram showing the position of pin 24 when the lever 20 is shifted from P gear to R gear. Figure 4C This is a diagram showing the position of pin 24 when the lever 20 is set to R (reverse) position.

[0030] The gear position (P, R, N, D) is determined by which recess of the positioning protrusion 31 the pin 24 falls into. Gear shifting is performed by the driver applying a rotational force to the lever 20 that causes the pin 24 to pass over the positioning protrusion 31.

[0031] Figure 5 This is an exploded perspective view showing the relationship between the rod shaft 20 and the sensor substrate 11.

[0032] The sensor substrate 11 is fixed to the base 14, for example, by screws. The base 14 is fixed inside the shift lever body 10, for example, by screws. Thus, the digital sensor 12 and analog sensor 13 of the sensor substrate 11 are configured to work with the magnet 23 of the magnet mounting part 22 (see...). Figure 2 )relatively.

[0033] Additionally, the sensor substrate 11 has a connector 15. The connector 15 is embedded in the through hole 14a of the substrate 14. The vehicle's wiring harness is connected to the connector 15. Thus, power is supplied to the digital sensor 12 and the analog sensor 13 via the wiring harness, and the outputs of the digital sensor 12 and the analog sensor 13 are output to the vehicle's ECU (Electronic Control Unit) via the wiring harness.

[0034] In addition, a sealing element 16 made of a material such as polycarbonate that exhibits excellent performance in terms of strength, non-magnetic properties, and electrical insulation is attached to the surface of the sensor substrate 11 opposite to the magnet mounting portion 22.

[0035] Figure 6 It is a graph showing the relationship between the digital output from digital sensor 12 and the gear position. Figure 7 This is a graph showing the relationship between the analog output from analog sensor 13 and the gear position. Figure 6 In the diagram, “OUT1”, “OUT2”, “OUT3”, and “OUT4” represent the digital signals output from each of the digital sensors 12.

[0036] Furthermore, while there are five digital sensors 12, there are four outputs. This is because, in this embodiment, the outputs of two digital sensors are combined into one output for a set of digital sensors. For example, […]. Figure 2 The outputs of the two digital sensors 12 on the right side are integrated into "OUT4" for output.

[0037] Figure 7 The value shown represents the ratio of the output voltage of the analog sensor (Hall IC) 13 to the input voltage Vdd.

[0038] Figure 8 This is a block diagram showing the general structure of a vehicle equipped with the shift-by-wire device of this embodiment.

[0039] The shift-by-wire device includes a magnet mounting section 22, a sensor board 11, and an ECU 100 as a control unit. As described above, the magnet mounting section 22 includes a magnet 23. The sensor board 11 includes a digital sensor 12 and an analog sensor 13. The ECU 100 controls the engine 200, the torque converter (T / C) 300, and the transmission 400. The ECU 100 controls the transmission 400 to, for example, one of the following operating states: P, R, N, and D.

[0040] For digital sensor 12, the power supply is a battery voltage (12V) input from battery 500. In contrast, for analog sensor 13, the power supply is a voltage that is stepped down from 12V to 5V by DC-DC converter 600.

[0041] In other words, the digital sensor 12 is supplied with the voltage of the first power supply system, while the analog sensor 13 is supplied with the voltage of the second power supply system, which is different from the voltage of the first power supply system. Additionally, the ECU 100 is also supplied with the voltage of the second power supply system (5V).

[0042] The detection signal output from digital sensor 12 and the detection signal output from analog sensor 13 are sent to ECU 100. ECU 100 controls the operating state of transmission 400 based on at least one of the detection signals output from digital sensor 12 and analog sensor 13.

[0043] Specifically, ECU100 will Figure 6 and Figure 7 The relationship between the outputs (detection signals) of the digital sensor 12 and the analog sensor 13 and the gear position is stored as a table. The ECU 100 refers to this table to determine which gear position the input detection signal corresponds to. Then, the ECU 100 controls the transmission 400 to make the transmission 400 operate in a state corresponding to the gear position determined by the determination result.

[0044] As a key component, ECU100 is equipped with a processor consisting of a CPU (Central Processing Unit), ROM (Read Only Memory), and RAM (Random Access Memory). ECU100 executes a prescribed program to output control signals for controlling the engine 200, torque converter (T / C) 300, and transmission 400. Furthermore, all or part of ECU100 can also be constructed from hard-wired circuits such as ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) or FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array).

[0045] Next, use Figure 9 The flowchart illustrates the drive-by-wire shifting process in this embodiment.

[0046] In step S1, ECU100 acquires detection signals from digital sensor 12 and analog sensor 13.

[0047] In the subsequent step S2, the ECU 100 compares the detected signal with the stored signal pattern to determine the gear. Specifically, the ECU 100 compares the detected signal with... Figure 6 and Figure 7 The signal patterns shown are compared to determine which gear the input detection signal corresponds to.

[0048] In the subsequent step S3, ECU100 selects the detection signal for control.

[0049] If the gear based on the detection signal of digital sensor 12 and the gear based on the detection signal of analog sensor 13 are the same in the determination result in step S2, then in step S3, ECU 100 selects any one of the detection signals from digital sensor 12 and analog sensor 13. For example, if it has been preset to prioritize the detection signal of digital sensor 12 over the detection signal of analog sensor 13, then the detection signal of digital sensor 12 is selected.

[0050] In contrast, if the gear position based on the detection signal of the digital sensor 12 is different from the gear position based on the detection signal of the analog sensor 13 in the determination result in step S2, the ECU 100 determines which sensor has higher reliability and selects the detection signal with higher reliability.

[0051] For example, ECU 100 diagnoses the reliability of digital sensor 12 and analog sensor 13 based on whether abnormal values ​​appear in the detection signals. That is, ECU 100 has the function of diagnosing digital sensor 12 and analog sensor 13, and based on the results of its diagnosis, selects the detection signal for the control of transmission 400 from the detection signals of digital sensor 12 and analog sensor 13.

[0052] In the subsequent step S4, the ECU100 controls the transmission 400 based on the detection signal selected in step S3.

[0053] In the subsequent step S5, the ECU100 determines whether the power switch (also known as the "ignition switch") is off. If the power switch is off, the drive-by-wire shifting process ends. Conversely, if the power switch is not off, the ECU100 returns to step S1 and repeats the above process.

[0054] As explained above, the following methods can be adopted according to this embodiment.

[0055] (1) One embodiment of the drive-by-wire shifting device includes: a first sensor (digital sensor 12) driven by a first power supply and outputting a first detection signal corresponding to the gear position of the shift lever 1; a second sensor (analog sensor 13) driven by a second power supply different from the first power supply and outputting a second detection signal corresponding to the gear position of the shift lever 1; and a control unit (ECU 100) that controls the operating state of the transmission 400 based on the detection signal of at least one of the first sensor and the second sensor (digital sensor 12 and analog sensor 13).

[0056] Therefore, since the first and second sensors are driven by different power supplies, even if one of the power supplies fails, the gear position of the shift lever 1 can still be detected based on the detection signal from the sensor driven by the unfailed power supply. As a result, the reliability of gear position detection for the shift lever 1 can be improved.

[0057] (2) In one embodiment of the drive-by-wire shifting device, in (1) above, the first sensor is composed of multiple sensors, and is a digital sensor 12 that outputs a digital signal corresponding to the gear position of the shift lever 1 from the multiple sensors, and the second sensor is an analog sensor 13 that outputs an analog signal corresponding to the gear position of the shift lever 1.

[0058] Thus, by setting the first sensor and the second sensor as sensors with different structures, the probability of both sensors failing simultaneously can be reduced, thereby further improving the reliability of gear position detection of the shift lever 1.

[0059] (3) In one embodiment of the drive-by-wire shifting device, in (1) above, the voltage of the first power supply is equal to the voltage of the battery 500, and the voltage of the second power supply is equal to the power supply voltage of the control unit (ECU100).

[0060] (4) In one embodiment of the drive-by-wire shifting device, in (1) above, the first power source belongs to the power system of the battery 500 (first power system), and the second power source belongs to the power system of the control unit (ECU100) that stepped down the voltage of the battery 500 (second power system).

[0061] This reduces the probability of both the first and second power supplies becoming unusable due to wire breaks, thereby further improving the reliability of gear position detection for the gear shift lever 1. In other words, since the power system of the battery 500 (first power system) and the power system of the control unit (ECU 100) (second power system) use different wiring, the possibility of both power systems experiencing wire breaks is low, and therefore the probability of both the first and second power supplies becoming unusable is low.

[0062] (5) In one embodiment of the drive-by-wire shifting device, in (1) above, the control unit (ECU100) has the function of diagnosing the first sensor (digital sensor 12) and the second sensor (analog sensor 13), and selects a detection signal for controlling the transmission 400 from the first detection signal and the second detection signal based on the diagnosis result.

[0063] The above embodiments are merely examples of specific implementations of this disclosure, and the technical scope of the present invention should not be limited to these embodiments. That is, the present disclosure can be implemented in various forms without departing from its essential points or main features.

[0064] In the above embodiments, the case where the first sensor is a digital sensor 12 and the second sensor is an analog sensor 13 has been described, but it is not limited to this; both the first sensor and the second sensor may be digital or analog sensors. However, as mentioned above, if the first sensor and the second sensor are made into sensors with different structures, it has the advantage of reducing the probability of both sensors malfunctioning simultaneously.

[0065] In the above embodiment, the case where the digital sensor 12 is driven by the battery voltage (12V) and the analog sensor 13 is driven by the same voltage as the ECU 100 (5V) has been described, but it is not limited to this. For example, the digital sensor 12 may be driven by the same voltage as the ECU 100 (5V) and the analog sensor 13 may be driven by the battery voltage (12V). Furthermore, both the digital sensor 12 and the analog sensor 13 may be driven by the same voltage. In short, the first sensor and the second sensor can be driven by power supplies from different power systems. Here, different power systems refer to power supplies supplied via different wiring harnesses.

[0066] In the above embodiments, the application of the shift-by-wire device of this disclosure to a vehicle having an engine 200 was described, but it is not limited thereto. The shift-by-wire device of this disclosure can also be applied, for example, to an electric vehicle having a transmission.

[0067] Industrial applicability The shift-by-wire device disclosed herein can be widely used in situations where the transmission is controlled according to the gear position of the shift lever.

Claims

1. A drive-by-wire gear shifting device, characterized in that, have: The first sensor is driven by the first power supply and outputs a first detection signal corresponding to the gear position of the gear shift lever; The second sensor is driven by a second power source different from the first power source and outputs a second detection signal corresponding to the gear position of the shift lever; as well as The control unit controls the operating state of the transmission based on the detection signal from at least one of the first sensor and the second sensor.

2. The drive-by-wire shifting device as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The first sensor is composed of multiple sensors, and is a digital sensor that outputs digital signals corresponding to the gear position of the gear shift lever from the multiple sensors. The second sensor is an analog sensor that outputs an analog signal corresponding to the gear position of the gear shift lever.

3. The drive-by-wire shifting device as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The voltage of the first power source is equal to the battery voltage. The voltage of the second power supply is equal to the power supply voltage of the control unit.

4. The drive-by-wire shifting device as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The first power source belongs to a battery power system. The second power source belongs to the power system of the control unit, which steps down the voltage of the battery.

5. The drive-by-wire shifting device as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The control unit has the function of diagnosing the first sensor and the second sensor, and selects a detection signal for controlling the transmission from the first detection signal and the second detection signal based on the diagnosis results.

Images