Braking control device for a motor vehicle

Abstract

TITLE: Braking control device for a motor vehicle. Device comprising: a base (1), flat with bearings for a shaft (21), a pad (2) mounted on the shaft (21) above the base (1), to receive the push (F) from the driver's foot, a torsion spring (3) the body (33) of which is freely fitted onto the shaft (21) and one arm (31) of which is connected to the pad (2) to follow the pivoting movement on the shaft, the other arm (32), active, bearing by its end (321) on the top of the base (1), a flexible pad (41) held by the top (11) of the base (1) under the bearing end (321) of the active arm (32), a force sensor (4) under the pad (41) receiving the push from the active arm (32) via the pad (41),and a processing circuit (5) receiving the signal (S1) from the sensor (4) to process it and provide the processed signal (ST) to the central unit (6) generating the control signal (SC) applied to the braking system. Figure 1,

Description

Title of the invention: Braking control device for a motor vehicle

[0001] 1 SCOPE OF THE INVENTION

[0002] The present invention relates to an electrically cable-linked brake control device for the braking system of a motor vehicle. STATE OF THE ART

[0003] Manufacturers are increasingly turning to wired control functions that were traditionally provided by mechanical links via articulated pedals. However, electrical controls make it possible to significantly reduce the size of components and to have more space for other vehicle elements.

[0004] Various concepts of skates or pedals are already known. Some use force as the sole means of control without mechanical movement, and others use force with movement to ensure better control and allow the use of position sensors in addition to force sensors to improve reliability.

[0005] Some principles are based on articulated kinematic pedals, while others rely on linear movement relative to a guide plane. Both solutions have advantages and disadvantages. Pedal-type devices are necessarily bulky but offer greater comfort for the driver. Push-type "linear" devices are more compact but have the disadvantage of depending on friction resulting from the offset of the input thrust applied by the driver.

[0006] PURPOSE OF THE INVENTION

[0007] The present invention aims to develop a wire-based braking control device for a vehicle, without a mechanical link between the control device consisting of a pad operated by the driver and the vehicle's braking system, reducing bulk and complexity and improving driver comfort, in particular the pedal feel and the braking effect felt, as well as control capabilities and flexibility.

[0008] DESCRIPTION AND ADVANTAGES OF THE INVENTION

[0009] To this end, the invention relates to a braking control device for a motor vehicle comprising: a base, flat with bearings for an axle, a pad mounted on the axle above the base, to receive the push from the driver's foot, a torsion spring whose body is freely fitted onto the axle and one arm of which is connected to the pad to follow the pivoting movement on the axle, the other branch, active, resting by its end on the top of the base, a flexible pad held by the top of the base under the support end of the active branch, a force sensor under the pad receiving the thrust of the active branch via the pad, and a processing circuit receiving the signal from the sensor to process it and provide the processed signal to the central unit generating the control signal applied to the braking system.

[0010] The device according to the invention has the advantage of limiting the displacement of the pad by the spindle rotating around its axis. This avoids the effects of friction related to the offset of the thrust applied to the pad thanks to the lever arm of the point of thrust application on the pad and its axis of rotation. The movement is smooth, without any slippage effect, unlike a linear movement of the push-button type. Indeed, linear guidance, being sensitive to environmental contamination, requires appropriate protection in the form of a compressible element or a means for receiving the stroke. Articulated mechanisms, being less sensitive, require less protection, which facilitates the isolation and protection of the electronic components in the lower part of the chassis. Furthermore, linear compression systems have a compression spring to meet the required characteristics.Such springs require a significant vertical space to provide the necessary thrust and ensure reliability. However, the combination according to the invention of compression springs with an angular displacement of the pad facilitates the integration of the spring function into a more compact, or even very compact, design.

[0011] According to another feature, the device includes a rotation sensor combined with the skate to detect the pivoting movement of the skate relative to the base and provide a signal transmitted to the processing circuit.

[0012] According to another feature, the control device includes a split torsion spring, associated by its respective active branch with a respective flexible plate for each of the force sensors, to provide two detection signals to the processing circuit. Brief description of the drawings

[0013] The present invention will be described in more detail below with reference to embodiments of a braking control device for a motor vehicle according to the invention shown in the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0014] [Fig.1] Side view of an example of a control device,

[0015] [Fig.2] Schematic top view of the device in [Fig.1],

[0016] [Fig.3] Cross-sectional view of a variant of the control device,

[0017] [Fig.4] Top view of the device in [Fig.3],

[0018] [Fig.5] Cross-sectional view of another embodiment,

[0019] [Fig.6] Top view of the embodiment of [Fig.5].

[0020] 1 DESCRIPTION OF IMPLEMENTATION METHODS OF THE INVENTION

[0021] According to [Fig. 1], the invention relates to a braking control device 100 for a motor vehicle. The device 100 consists of a flat, thin base 1, which is placed on the floor of the passenger compartment at the usual position of a brake pedal or at a position more suitable for this new type of brake pedal. The device 100 is actuated in the usual way by a push F from the driver's foot.

[0022] The flat-shaped base 1 is provided with a top 11, for example, a cover carrying, via a bearing 12, the shaft 21 of a pad 2 receiving the thrust (F) from the driver's foot. In this example, the bearing 12 is split at both ends of the shaft 21.

[0023] The skate 2 is combined with a two-arm torsion spring 3 31, 32, the body of which 33 is fitted onto the shaft 21. One arm 31 is fixed to the skate 2 and the other arm 32, active, rests by its end 321 on a flexible plate-shaped element 41 integrated into the top 11 of the base 1 to receive the end 321 when the skate 2 is subjected to a thrust F.

[0024] The plate 41 is connected directly or via a rigid push button 42 to a flat force sensor 4, installed in the base 1, on the plate of a printed circuit board forming the processing circuit 5. The circuit 5 receives the signal SI from the sensor 4. The active arm 32, shorter than the pad 2 incorporating the arm 31 (or integral with it), allows the pad 2 to have dimensions similar to those of a brake pedal, for reasons of comfort and safety of use; the active arm 32, shorter than the arm 31, is less bulky on the top of the cover 11. The plate 41 constitutes the receiving surface for the thrust exerted by the end 321 of the active arm 32.The thrust thus exerted on the contact area of ​​the end 321 with the plate 41 can be considered as a thrust perpendicular to the top 11, transmitted by the pusher 42; this is only an intermediate element of very low height located on the inner side of the cover 11 and in contact with the top of the sensor 4. The sensor 4 itself is supported through the circuit plate 5 against the bottom lia in the base 1 without stressing the circuit plate 5. The plate 41 makes the transmission of the thrust independent of the size of the sensor 4.

[0025] Starting from the signal SI received from the force sensor 4, the circuit 5 forms the processed signal ST supplied to the central management unit 6 generating the control signal SC of the braking system (not shown) acting on the wheel brakes and the transmission (dynamic braking).

[0026] The sensitive electronic components of the processing circuit 5, for example, the printed circuit board, are protected by the lid-shaped top 11 which provides sealing and integrates the wafer 41. The electronic components do not require dynamic movement for the thrust detection by the force sensor 4. According to one embodiment, the cover 11 is a simple elastomer membrane or a rigid plate with a flexible wafer 41 locally, integrated in a sealed manner so as not to influence the transmission of the thrust to the sensor 4.

[0027] The top view ([Fig. 2]) shows a variant of the device 100 comprising the torsion spring 3 and its two arms 31, 32, as well as the flexible plate 41 for transmitting the thrust F to the force sensor 4, but which, in addition to the force sensor 4, includes a rotation sensor 7 for detecting the position of the pad 2. This detection is contactless, achieved by a magnet 71 fixed to the shaft 21 and cooperating with a magneto-sensitive detection element 72, which is fixed and provides a signal S2. The shaft 21 is rotationally fixed to the pad 2.

[0028] The processing circuit 5 receives the SI and S2 signals to form the processed signals STI, ST2, which are transmitted to the central unit 6. The rotation sensor 7 is, to some extent, redundant with the force sensor 4 to verify the consistency of the sensor's SI signal. This verification and its consequences, for example, in the event of a sensor 4 failure, allow the control unit 6 to control the braking system.

[0029] Depending on the degree of development of the processing circuit 5, the signals SI, S2 are combined according to data combination rules so that the processing circuit 5 provides a single output signal ST sent to the control unit 6.

[0030] Figures 3 and 4 show another embodiment 300 corresponding to that of [Fig. 2] supplemented by a stroke sensor 8 cooperating with a rod 81 fixed to the pad 2 as schematically represented. The signal S3 from the stroke sensor 8 is used in parallel with the signal SI from the force sensor 4 to confirm the validity of this signal. This comparison also makes it possible to detect any malfunctions.

[0031] According to the braking management mode, a single processed signal ST is transmitted by the processing circuit 5 receiving the two signals SI, S2 and taking into account them according to the rules of their management and consideration or transmission separately after processing to the control unit 6.

[0032] Figures 5 and 6 show a cross-sectional view and a top view of a device 400 splitting the torsion spring and the force sensor of the first embodiment 100.

[0033] The split torsion spring, associated with the single shaft 21, is formed of two springs 3a,b to actuate two force sensors 4a,b by means of the two active arms 32a,b bearing on two plates 4la,b; each transmits the thrust F to a sensor 4a,b located under a respective, separate plate 4la,b; each sensor 4a,b provides a signal SI, SI' to the processing circuit 5, which provides the processed signal ST to the central unit 6, generating the control signal SC for the braking system. The signals SI, S' from the sensors can also be processed and provided separately to the central unit 6, which interprets them to generate the control signal SC.

[0034] The splitting 4a,b of the sensor allows the use of smaller sensors since they will each only have to process half of the thrust on the pad 2. This pair of sensors 4a,b can be combined with a rotation sensor 7 to detect the pivoting movement of the pad 2 by that of the axis 21 to which the pad 2 is attached and provide a control signal.

[0035] Generally, the single or double force sensors 4 can be combined with a rotation sensor 7 or a stroke sensor 8, or a combination thereof, depending on the desired level of redundancy. The signals SI, SI', S2, S3 are processed by the circuit 15, which provides the processed signals to the central unit 6.

[0036] NOMENCLATURE OF MAIN ELEMENTS

[0037] 100 Control device

[0038] 200 Control device

[0039] 300 Control device

[0040] 400 Control device

[0041] 1 Base

[0042] 11 Top / lid

[0043] 12th Bearing

[0044] 13 Below

[0045] 2 Skate

[0046] 21 Axle carrying the skate

[0047] 22 Below

[0048] 23 Above

[0049] 3 Spring

[0050] 31Branch connected to the skate

[0051] 32 Active branch

[0052] 321 End

[0053] 33 Torsion spring body

[0054] 4 Force sensors

[0055] 41 Flexible plate

[0056] 42 Pushbutton

[0057] 5 Processing circuit

[0058] 6 Central processing unit

[0059] 7 Rotation sensor

[0060]

[0061]

[0062]

[0063]

[0064]

[0065]

[0066]

[0067]

[0068]

[0069]

[0070]

[0071] 71 Magnet 72 Fixed magneto-sensitive element 8 Stroke sensor 81 Pushrod connected to pad 2 82 Flexible pad integrated into the base F Push exerted by the driver's foot SI Force sensor signal SI' Force sensor signal S2 Rotation sensor signal S3 Stroke sensor signal ST Processed signal SC Braking system control signal

Claims

Demands

1. A motor vehicle braking control device comprising: - a flat base (1) with bearings for a shaft (21), - a pad (2) mounted on the shaft (21) above the base (1) to receive the force (F) from the driver's foot, - a torsion spring (3) whose body (33) is freely fitted onto the shaft (21) and of which * one arm (31) is connected to the pad (2) to follow the pivoting movement on the shaft, characterized in that * the other arm (32) of the torsion spring is an active arm, bearing by its end (321) on the top of the base (1), - a flexible pad (41) held by the top (11) of the base (1) under the bearing end (321) of the active arm (32), - a force sensor (4) under the pad (41) receiving the force from the arm active (32) via the platelet (41),and - a processing circuit (5) receiving the signal (SI) from the sensor (4) to process it and provide the processed signal (ST) to the central unit (6) generating the control signal (SC) applied to the braking system.

2. Control device according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises: - a rotation sensor (7) combined with the pad (2) to detect the pivoting movement of the pad (2) relative to the base and provide a signal (S2) transmitted to the processing circuit.

3. Control device according to claim 2, characterized by a split torsion spring (3a, 3b), associated by its respective active branch (32a,b) to a respective flexible plate (4la,b) for each of the force sensors (4a,b), to provide two detection signals (SI, SI') to the processing circuit (5).

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