Vehicle controller

Abstract

To provide a vehicle controller that ensures high output performance of an engine while suppressing high-frequency vibration during circuit driving.SOLUTION: A vehicle controller equipped with an engine as a driving power source, comprises: a determination unit that determines whether or not a vehicle is on a circuit course; and an engine control unit that, when the determination unit makes a positive determination, retards ignition timing of the engine compared to a case where the determination unit makes a negative determination, thereby increasing an amount of intake air into the engine.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a vehicle control device. [Background technology]

[0002] There is a technique for determining whether the vehicle is located on a circuit course (see, for example, Patent Document 1). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2015-199382 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] When driving on a circuit, the engine load increases, which can cause high-frequency vibrations in the vehicle. This can then be transmitted to the vehicle's components, potentially affecting them. Furthermore, high engine output performance is desirable when driving on a circuit.

[0005] SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a vehicle control device that ensures high engine output performance while suppressing high frequency vibrations during circuit driving. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The above object can be achieved by a control device for a vehicle equipped with an engine that is a driving power source, the control device for the vehicle including: a judgment unit that judges whether the vehicle is on a circuit course; and an engine control unit that, if the judgment unit makes a positive judgment, retards the ignition timing of the engine more than if the judgment unit makes a negative judgment, thereby increasing the amount of intake air of the engine. [Effects of the Invention]

[0007] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a vehicle control device that ensures high engine output performance while suppressing high frequency vibrations during circuit driving. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the general configuration of a vehicle. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating high-frequency vibration suppression control executed by the ECU. [Figure 3] FIG. 3A is an example diagram of a circuit map that specifies the ignition timing and a normal map, FIG. 3B is an example diagram of a circuit map that specifies the intake air amount and a normal map, and FIG. 3C is an example diagram of engine torque versus engine speed during circuit driving and normal driving. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0009] [Vehicle outline] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a vehicle 1. The vehicle 1 includes an engine 10, an ECU (Electronic Control Unit) 30, and drive wheels 40. The engine 10 is a gasoline engine that serves as a power source for driving the vehicle 1. Air is drawn into a combustion chamber 11 of the engine 10 through an intake passage 12, and fuel injected from a fuel injection valve 13 is supplied. When a spark plug 14 ignites an air-fuel mixture consisting of the intake air and the injected fuel, the mixture burns, causing a piston 15 to reciprocate and rotate a crankshaft 16 of the engine 10. The combusted air-fuel mixture is discharged as exhaust gas from the combustion chamber 11 of the engine 10 to an exhaust passage 17. The rotational power of the crankshaft 16 is transmitted to the drive wheels 40 via a transmission (not shown).

[0010] The ECU 30 executes various controls for driving the vehicle 1. The ECU 30 includes a central processing unit that executes various arithmetic processes related to the various controls, a non-volatile memory that stores programs and data required for the calculations, a volatile memory that temporarily stores the calculation results of the central processing unit, an input port and an output port for inputting and outputting signals to and from the outside, and the like.

[0011] Various sensors are connected to the ECU 30. These sensors include an accelerator position sensor 31, a throttle position sensor 32, an air flow meter 34, a crank angle sensor 35, and an ignition switch 36. The accelerator position sensor 31 detects the accelerator position, which is the amount of depression of the accelerator pedal 18. The throttle position sensor 32 detects the opening of the throttle valve 19 provided in the intake passage 12. The air flow meter 34 detects the amount of intake air passing through the intake passage 12. The crank angle sensor 35 detects the rotation speed of the crankshaft 16, i.e., the rotation speed of the engine 10. The ignition switch 36 is operated to start or stop operation of the engine 10.

[0012] A navigation device 50 is connected to the ECU 30. The navigation device 50 has a built-in memory in which map data is stored, and a built-in GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver that acquires position information of the hybrid vehicle 1.

[0013] The ECU 30 grasps the operating conditions of the engine 10, such as the rotation speed and load, based on output signals from various sensors. The ECU 30 controls the opening of the throttle valve 19, the amount of fuel injected from the fuel injection valve 13, the ignition timing of the air-fuel mixture by the spark plug 14, etc., according to the grasped operating conditions. The ECU 30 functionally realizes a determination unit and an engine control unit, which will be described in detail later. The ECU 30 is an example of a vehicle control device.

[0014] [High-frequency vibration suppression control] 2 is a flowchart illustrating high-frequency vibration suppression control executed by the ECU 30. The ECU 30 determines whether the vehicle 1 is located at a racing circuit (step S1). More specifically, it determines whether the position of the vehicle 1 detected by the GPS of the navigation device 50 is located at a racing circuit on the map data of the navigation device 50. Step S1 is an example of processing executed by the determination unit.

[0015] If the result of step S1 is Yes, the ECU 30 determines whether the load factor of the engine 10 is equal to or greater than a predetermined value (step S2). Here, the predetermined value is set to the minimum value of the load factor at which high-frequency vibrations may occur in the vehicle 1.

[0016] If the answer is Yes in step S2, the ECU 30 uses the circuit map to control the ignition timing and the intake air amount (step S3). Step S3 is an example of a process executed by the engine control unit. If the answer is No in step S1 or S2, the ECU 30 uses the normal map to control the ignition timing and the intake air amount (step S4).

[0017] FIG. 3A is an example diagram of a circuit map that specifies ignition timing and a normal map. The vertical axis represents the crank angle relative to 0° ATDC (After Top Dead Center). The horizontal axis represents engine speed. The circuit ignition timing is specified to be more retarded than the normal ignition timing. Retarding the ignition timing during circuit driving reduces the combustion speed and the maximum cylinder pressure. This suppresses high-frequency vibrations and reduces their impact on components installed in the vehicle 1. FIG. 3B is an example diagram of a circuit map that specifies intake air volume and a normal map. The vertical axis represents the intake air volume. The horizontal axis represents engine speed. The circuit air volume is specified to be larger than the normal air volume. Increasing the intake air volume during circuit driving ensures torque equivalent to that during normal driving. The retarded ignition timing is achieved by delaying the timing of energization of the spark plug 14. The amount of intake air is increased by increasing the opening of the throttle valve 19 .

[0018] FIG. 3C is an example diagram of engine torque versus engine speed during circuit driving and normal driving. The vertical axis represents engine torque, and the horizontal axis represents engine speed. As shown in FIG. 3C, the output performance of engine 10 is approximately the same during circuit driving and normal driving. In this way, high-frequency vibrations during circuit driving are suppressed while ensuring high engine output performance.

[0019] The vehicle 1 is an engine vehicle equipped with only an engine 10 as a power source for running, but is not limited to this. The vehicle 1 may also be, for example, a hybrid vehicle equipped with a motor in addition to the engine 10 as a power source for running.

[0020] Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above, the present invention is not limited to such specific embodiments, and various modifications and variations are possible within the scope of the gist of the present invention as defined in the claims. [Explanation of symbols]

[0021] 1 vehicle 10 Engine 30 ECU (control unit, judgment unit, engine control unit)

Claims

[Claim 1] A control device for a vehicle equipped with an engine that is a driving power source, a determination unit that determines whether the vehicle is on a circuit course; and an engine control unit that, when the determination unit makes a positive determination, retards the ignition timing of the engine more than when the determination unit makes a negative determination, thereby increasing the amount of intake air of the engine.

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