Vehicle control device

Abstract

To provide a vehicle control device that prevents a vehicle from moving back on a slope even when all position information of an operator of a shift device is converted into electrical signals sequentially and input.SOLUTION: (a) After failure determination or the like is performed based on a lever position signal POSlev, the operation position of a shift lever 32 is determined, and (b) the operation position of the shift lever 32 temporarily determined based on the lever position signal POSlev before completion of the failure determination or the like is used to determine whether or not a necessary condition for executing hill hold control is satisfied. In this way, before the execution of failure determination or the like to determine the operation position of the shift lever 32 of the shift device 30 is completed, the temporarily-determined operation position of the shift lever 32 is used to determine whether or not it satisfies the necessary condition for executing the hill hold control.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a vehicle control device that converts all position information of an operator of a shift device into an electrical signal and inputs it, and executes hill-hold control. [Background technology]

[0002] There are known vehicle control devices in which position information of an operator of a shift device is converted into an electrical signal and input, such as that described in Patent Document 1. The vehicle control device described in Patent Document 1 determines the operating position of the operator based on the electrical signal.

[0003] Recently, in anticipation of automated driving such as automatic parking and automatic driving, vehicle control devices have appeared in which all position information of the shift device operator is sequentially converted into an electrical signal and input. Meanwhile, so-called hill hold control is known, which uses electronic control with a solenoid valve to prevent the vehicle from rolling back when starting on a slope. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2012-1186 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] In a vehicle control device in which all position information of a shift device operator is sequentially converted into an electrical signal and input, a predetermined process is required to determine the operated position of the operator from the viewpoint of fail-safe, etc., and this process requires a predetermined period of time. Meanwhile, hill-hold control is executed based on the operated position of the operator. Therefore, if a predetermined period of time is required to determine the operated position of the operator, hill-hold control may not be executed properly during that period, which could result in the vehicle rolling backward on a slope.

[0006] The present invention was made against the background of the above circumstances, and its purpose is to provide a vehicle control device that prevents the vehicle from rolling back on a slope even when all position information of the shift device's operating element is converted into electrical signals sequentially and input. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] The gist of the present invention is a vehicle control device in which all position information of an operator of a shift device is sequentially converted into an electrical signal and input, and hill-hold control is executed, wherein (a) the operating position of the operator is determined after a predetermined processing is executed based on the electrical signal, and (b) the operating position of the operator tentatively determined based on the electrical signal before the execution of the predetermined processing is completed is used to determine whether the necessary conditions for executing the hill-hold control are met. [Effects of the Invention]

[0008] According to the vehicle control device of the present invention, (a) the operating position of the operator is confirmed after a predetermined process is performed based on the electrical signal, and (b) the operating position of the operator that is provisionally confirmed based on the electrical signal before the predetermined process is completed is used to determine whether the necessary conditions for executing the hill-hold control are met. In this way, before the predetermined process for confirming the operating position of the operator of the shift device is completed, the provisionally confirmed operating position of the operator is used to determine whether the necessary conditions for executing the hill-hold control are met. This allows hill-hold control to be properly performed without having to wait until the operating position of the operator is confirmed, thereby preventing the vehicle from rolling back on a slope. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a vehicle equipped with an electronic control device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and is also a functional block diagram showing the main parts of control functions for various controls in the vehicle. [Figure 2]2 is an example of a flowchart illustrating a control operation of the electronic control device shown in FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0010] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Note that in the embodiments, the drawings are appropriately simplified or modified, and the dimensional ratios and shapes of the various parts are not necessarily drawn accurately. [Example]

[0011] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a vehicle 10 equipped with an electronic control device 90 according to an embodiment of the present invention, and is also a functional block diagram showing the main parts of control functions for various controls in the vehicle 10.

[0012] The vehicle 10 includes a power source 12 for driving, a pair of drive wheels 14, and a power transmission device 16 provided between the power source 12 and the pair of drive wheels 14, all of which are well known. The power transmission device 16 includes, for example, an automatic transmission 18 and a differential 20. The vehicle 10 also includes a shift device 30 and a brake device 50, all of which are well known. The vehicle 10 also includes an electronic control device 90.

[0013] The shift device 30 employs a so-called shift-by-wire system. The shift device 30 has a well-known configuration, for example, including a shift lever 32. The operating positions of the shift lever 32 are, for example, a P operating position, an R operating position, an N operating position, and a D operating position. The P operating position, the R operating position, the N operating position, and the D operating position are operating positions for selecting well-known shift ranges, namely, a P range (= parking range), an R range (= reverse driving range), an N range (= neutral range), and a D range (= forward driving range), respectively. The shift lever 32 corresponds to the "operator" in this invention.

[0014] The shift device 30 has a well-known configuration in which a plurality of contacts are provided that can be switched between a contact and non-contact connected / disconnected state depending on, for example, the operating position of the shift lever 32. Information on the connected / disconnected states of these plurality of contacts is sequentially converted into electrical signals by a lever position sensor 34, which will be described later, and input to the electronic control device 90 as a lever position signal POSlev.

[0015] The braking device 50 includes a brake pedal 42, a master cylinder 52, a brake hydraulic path 54, and a brake main body 70. The master cylinder 52 generates a master pressure Pbm [kPa], which is a hydraulic pressure corresponding to the brake operation amount θbrk [%], and transmits the master pressure Pbm to the brake main bodies 70 provided on all wheels via the brake hydraulic path 54. As a result, the brake main bodies 70 provided on each of the wheels apply a braking torque Tstop [N·m] according to, for example, the force with which the driver presses the brake pedal 42.

[0016] The brake device 50 also functions as a hill-hold device. The "hill-hold device" is a device that implements hill-hold control to prevent the vehicle 10 from rolling back or rolling backward when starting forward on a specified slope. Hereinafter, when the brake device 50 functions as a hill-hold device, it will be referred to as the "hill-hold device 50." For example, if the shift range is in D range and the brake pedal 42 is continuously depressed for several seconds after the vehicle 10 has stopped, the electronic control device 90 controls the solenoid valve of the brake hydraulic path 54 using the master pressure control signal Sbm, regardless of whether the brake pedal 42 is depressed, so that the brake device 50 maintains braking force and keeps the vehicle 10 stopped, thereby implementing hill-hold control.

[0017] The electronic control unit 90 includes, for example, a so-called microcomputer, and executes various controls of the vehicle 10. The electronic control unit 90 corresponds to the "control unit" in the present invention.

[0018] The electronic control device 90 receives various signals (e.g., lever position signal POSlev, accelerator opening θacc [%] representing the amount of acceleration operation required by the driver, brake operation amount θbrk representing the amount of deceleration operation required by the driver, vehicle speed V [km / h], road surface gradient angle θrd [°], etc.) based on detection values ​​from various sensors provided on the vehicle 10 (e.g., lever position sensor 34, accelerator opening sensor 80, brake operation amount sensor 82, vehicle speed sensor 84, road surface gradient angle sensor 86, etc.). The lever position signal POSlev is an electrical signal representing position information of the shift lever 32, and corresponds to the "electrical signal" in this invention.

[0019] The electronic control device 90 outputs various command signals (e.g., an actuator control signal Sact that controls the actuator 22 to switch the shift range of the automatic transmission 18, a master pressure control signal Sbm that controls the braking force of the brake device 50 via the brake hydraulic path 54, etc.) to each device (e.g., the actuator 22, the brake hydraulic path 54, etc.) provided in the vehicle 10.

[0020] The electronic control device 90 functionally comprises a hill determination unit 90a, a brake-on determination unit 90b, a shift position tentative determination unit 90c, a hill-hold control unit 90d, a shift position determination processing unit 90e, and a drive device control unit 90f.

[0021] The slope determination unit 90a determines whether the road is a predetermined slope. A predetermined slope is one where the absolute value of the road surface gradient angle θrd exceeds an angle determination value θrd_jdg (>0). The gradient angle θrd is the angle between the road surface and the horizontal plane in the starting direction, and is, for example, zero on a flat road, a positive value on an uphill road, and a negative value on a downhill road. The angle determination value θrd_jdg is a predetermined determination value determined in advance through experimentation or design in order to determine whether the road is a predetermined slope for which hill hold control should be executed.

[0022] The brake-on determination unit 90b determines whether the driver has applied the brakes, i.e., whether the brakes are on. If the brake operation amount θbrk exceeds an operation amount determination value θbrk_jdg, it is determined that the brakes are on. The operation amount determination value θbrk_jdg is a predetermined determination value determined experimentally or by design in order to determine whether hill-hold control needs to be executed.

[0023] The shift position tentative determination unit 90c executes a determination to tentatively determine the operating position of the shift lever 32 based on the lever position signal POSlev. For example, the operating position of the shift lever 32 is sequentially determined and tentatively determined based on information on the connected / disconnected states of multiple contacts provided in the shift device 30, which information is included in the lever position signal POSlev. The operating position of the shift lever 32 is tentatively determined before the execution of various processes for determining the operating position of the shift lever 32, which will be described later, is completed.

[0024] When the hill determination unit 90a determines that the vehicle is on a predetermined hill, the brake-on determination unit 90b determines that the brake is on, and the shift position tentative determination unit 90c tentatively determines that the operating position of the shift lever 32 is in the D position, the hill-hold control unit 90d executes hill-hold control. The necessary conditions for executing hill-hold control are, for example, that all three of the following are met: (a) the hill determination unit 90a determines that the vehicle is on a predetermined hill, (b) the brake-on determination unit 90b determines that the brake is on, and (c) the shift position tentative determination unit 90c tentatively determines that the operating position of the shift lever 32 is in the D position. In this way, the determination of whether the necessary conditions for executing hill-hold control are met uses the tentatively determined operating position of the shift lever 32 based on the lever position signal POSlev before the completion of the fault determination, priority processing, and other processes described below.

[0025] The shift position determination processing unit 90e executes various processes for determining the operating position of the shift lever 32 based on the lever position signal POSlev, and determines the operating position of the shift lever 32. The various processes performed by the shift position determination processing unit 90e to determine the operating position of the shift lever 32 include, for example, failure determination and priority processing (hereinafter referred to as "failure determination, etc."). Failure determination is, for example, determining whether the lever position sensor 34 is malfunctioning based on the lever position signal POSlev. For example, if all contacts provided in the shift device 30, including those included in the lever position signal POSlev, indicate a contact state, it is determined that a malfunction has occurred. Priority processing is, for example, a process for determining the shift range when it is determined that the lever position sensor 34 is malfunctioning, or a process for determining the shift range when the lever position signal POSlev repeatedly changes within a short period of time. In this case, from a fail-safe perspective, the operating position of the shift lever 32 is determined to be a predetermined operating position, for example, the N operating position, and the shift range is set to the N range. These failure determinations, etc., correspond to the "predetermined processing" in this invention.

[0026] After the shift position determination processing unit 90e determines the operating position of the shift lever 32, the drive device control unit 90f controls the drive device including the power source 12 and the power transmission device 16 (e.g., automatic transmission 18) based on the determined operating position of the shift lever 32.

[0027] Fig. 2 is an example of a flowchart illustrating the control operation of the electronic control device 90 shown in Fig. 1. The flowchart in Fig. 2 is executed, for example, when the lever position signal POSlev changes due to the shift lever 32 of the shift device 30 being operated.

[0028] First, in step S10 (hereinafter, "step" will be omitted), it is determined whether the road is a predetermined slope. If the determination in S10 is YES, it is determined in S20 whether a brake-on state has been detected. If the determination in S20 is YES, a determination is made in S30 to provisionally determine the operating position of the shift lever 32. After execution of S30, it is determined in S40 whether the provisionally determined operating position of the shift lever 32 is the D operating position. If the determination in S40 is YES, hill hold control is executed in S50. If the determination in S40 is NO or after execution of S50, a failure determination or the like is started in S60 to determine the operating position of the shift lever 32. After execution of S60, it is determined in S70 whether the failure determination or the like has been completed. If the determination in S70 is NO, S70 is executed again. The operating position of the shift lever 32 is determined in S70 at a point later than the provisional determination of the operating position of the shift lever 32 in S30. If the determination in S70 is YES, then in S80, various controls are executed on the drive device based on the confirmed operating position of the shift lever 32. If the determination in S10 is NO, if the determination in S20 is NO, or after S80 is executed, the process returns.

[0029] According to this embodiment, (a) after a failure determination or the like is performed based on the lever position signal POSlev, the operating position of the shift lever 32 is determined, and (b) the operating position of the shift lever 32 provisionally determined based on the lever position signal POSlev before the completion of the failure determination or the like is used to determine whether the necessary conditions for executing hill-hold control are met. In this way, before the completion of the failure determination or the like for determining the operating position of the shift lever 32 of the shift device 30, the provisionally determined operating position of the shift lever 32 is used to determine whether the necessary conditions for executing hill-hold control are met. As a result, hill-hold control is properly performed without having to wait until the operating position of the shift lever 32 is determined, thereby preventing the vehicle 10 from rolling backward on a slope.

[0030] The above-described embodiments of the present invention are merely illustrative, and the present invention can be embodied in various forms with various modifications and improvements based on the knowledge of those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the present invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0031] 10: vehicle, 30: shift device, 32: shift lever (operator), 90: electronic control device (control device), POSlev: lever position signal (electrical signal)

Claims

[Claim 1] A vehicle control device in which all position information of an operator of a shift device is sequentially converted into an electrical signal and input, and hill-hold control is executed, After a predetermined process is performed based on the electrical signal, the operation position of the operator is determined; The operation position of the operator that is provisionally determined based on the electrical signal before the execution of the predetermined process is used to determine whether the necessary conditions for executing the hill-hold control are met. A vehicle control device characterized by:

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