JP2009197599A - Automatic engine start device - Google Patents

Abstract

An object of the present invention is to protect a ring gear and a starter from being subjected to an excessive load when the engine is started.
The present invention relates to an automatic engine starter which automatically starts an engine by operating a button of a push-type engine start switch 7 and repeats restarting up to a specified number of times even if the engine start fails. A start ECU 8 that starts energization of the starter 1 in response to an ON signal from the switch 7 and checks the starter protection conditions after the start, and immediately shuts off the energization to the starter 1 when the starter protection conditions are met. The first condition in which the rotation speed of the starter 1 and the engine is already detected at the start of energization, the second condition in which continuous energization to the starter 1 has passed a predetermined time, and the energization to the starter 1 Is incorporated into the engine ECU 8 as a starter protection condition, where the engine speed is not detected within a predetermined time. .
[Selection] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to an automatic engine starting device.

  Generally, when an engine key is inserted into an automobile's ignition key cylinder and turned, the steering lock is released at the first stage, current flows to accessories such as radio at the second stage, and the key switch is turned on at the third stage. When the current flows through the ignition device and is further turned, the starter switch is turned on and the starter is operated, thereby starting the engine.

  This starter is a device that starts the engine. When the starter switch is turned on by key operation, the pinion is pushed out and meshed with the ring gear on the outer periphery of the flywheel, and then the engine is cranked by the power of the motor to start the engine. Later, the pinion is pulled back and detached from the ring gear.

  FIG. 4 shows an example of a conventional starter circuit for a starter. In the figure, 1 is a starter, 2 is a pinion that can move forward and backward, 3 is a ring gear mounted on the outer periphery of the flywheel on the engine side, and 4 is a starter relay. Reference numeral 5 denotes a battery, and 6 denotes a starter switch. When the starter switch 6 is turned on by key operation, the starter relay 4 is energized and excited to close the contact, thereby energizing the starter 1 from the battery 5. Thus, the starter 1 is operated, and the pinion 2 is pushed out to mesh with the ring gear 3.

As prior art document information related to the present invention, there is the following Patent Document 1.
JP 2003-254210 A

  However, in the starting circuit as shown in FIG. 4, since the starter 1 is always operated when the driver operates the starter switch 6 by key operation, the ring gear 3 and the starter 1 are not yet operated by the driver's erroneous key operation. Even if the inertial rotation continues, the pinion 2 of the starter 1 may jump into the ring gear 3 and cause a mesh failure. There was a risk of waking up.

  In other words, if the engine does not start even if the starter switch 6 is operated by key operation, it is appropriate to leave a certain interval and restart when the inertial rotation of the ring gear 3 and the pinion 2 completely stops. However, if the key operation of the starter switch 6 is repeated continuously without taking a sufficient interval, the ring gear 3 and the starter 1 are still in inertial rotation, but the ring gear 3 still has the starter 1 connected to the ring gear 3. The situation that pinion 2 jumped in could happen.

  In addition, even if the ring gear 3 and the pinion 2 of the starter 1 cause a meshing failure, the driver does not notice that such a situation exists, so the starter switch 6 is kept on for a long time because the engine wants to start the engine quickly. As a result, an excessive load was applied to the motor, pinion 2 and ring gear 3 of the starter 1.

  On the other hand, in the conventional engine start mode by such key operation, for example, for an operation type vehicle such as a delivery service vehicle that repeatedly starts and stops, the ignition key cylinder and starter are worn out and replaced in a short period of time. Therefore, it has been studied to replace the push-type engine start switch as proposed in Patent Document 1 above.

  However, even if such a push-type engine start switch is adopted, if the button operation is repeated continuously without taking a sufficient interval, the ring gear and starter still continue to rotate freely. In addition, there is still a possibility that the starter pinion jumps into the ring gear and causes a meshing failure, and the driver keeps pressing the engine start switch without noticing the meshing failure between the ring gear 3 and the pinion 2 of the starter 1. It will not be resolved.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide an automatic engine starter that can protect a ring gear and a starter from being subjected to an excessive load when the engine is started.

  The present invention is an automatic engine starter that automatically starts an engine by operating a button of a push-type engine start switch, and repeats restart until a specified number of times even if the engine start fails. A start ECU that starts energization of the starter in response to an ON signal from the start switch, checks the starter protection conditions after the start, and immediately shuts off the energization to the starter when the starter protection conditions are met. As a starter protection condition in the start ECU, a first condition in which the starter and the engine speed are already detected at the start of energization, a second condition in which continuous energization to the starter has passed a predetermined time, There is a third condition that allows the starter to be energized but does not detect the engine speed within the specified time. The one in which the features.

  Thus, in this way, the engine is automatically started by the start ECU after the driver operates the button on the engine start switch and confirms the intention to start the engine. This eliminates the possibility of imposing an unreasonable burden on the ring gear and pinion due to the driver's erroneous manual operation.

  In addition, after the starter energization is started, the starter ECU confirms the starter protection conditions, and if the starter protection conditions are met, the starter ECU immediately shuts off the energization of the starter. The load is not applied and it is possible to protect the ring gear and the starter.

  In other words, if the first condition is met, it means that the starter pinion and ring gear are not completely stopped at the start of energization, and the starter continues to be energized and jumps into the ring gear. There is a possibility of causing poor meshing.

  If the second condition is met, it means that the starter has been continuously energized over a predetermined time for some reason. There is a possibility of giving a big burden.

  Furthermore, if the third condition is met, it means that the starter pinion is not meshing well with the ring gear, and the ring gear cannot be rotated and is in a poor meshing state. Even if the operation is continued, an excessive load may be applied to the pinion or the ring gear.

  Therefore, if the starter protection conditions from the first condition to the third condition are confirmed, and if the starter protection condition is met, the power supply to the starter is immediately cut off, the ring gear and the starter pinion In addition to avoiding a meshing failure as much as possible, it is possible to reliably prevent continuous energization beyond a predetermined time to the starter, and even if a meshing failure occurs, the pinion can be pulled back immediately to eliminate the meshing failure instantly.

  Further, in the present invention, the start ECU confirms the start condition for ensuring safety before starting by signal input before the start ECU receives the ON signal from the engine start switch and starts energizing the starter. It is preferable that the starter is allowed to be energized only when all the conditions are met, and when the vehicle is a diesel engine vehicle and each cylinder has a glow plug, A condition for completing the automatic operation of the glow plug may be added as a starting condition.

  In the present invention, the start ECU determines the progress of deterioration of the brush in the motor based on the time and current value when the starter is energized, and issues a maintenance alarm when the progress of the deterioration exceeds a predetermined level. It is preferable to be configured to output, and furthermore, failure determination is performed when engine restart is not successful within a specified number of times, and a failure alarm is output when it is determined that a failure has occurred It is preferable that it is comprised.

  According to the automatic engine starter of the present invention described above, various excellent effects as described below can be obtained.

  (I) According to the invention according to claim 1 of the present invention, since the driver can automatically start the engine by the start ECU only by operating the button on the engine start switch for the first time, This eliminates the possibility of an unreasonable burden on the ring gear and pinion due to manual operation. Moreover, when starting the engine automatically, the first to third conditions are applied after the starter is energized. If the starter protection conditions are confirmed and the starter protection conditions are met, the starter can be immediately de-energized. Continuous energization exceeding a predetermined time can be reliably prevented, and even if a meshing failure occurs, the pinion is immediately pulled back to bite. The fit defective instantaneously can also be eliminated, it is possible to protect the excessive load to and ring gears and the starter pinion is not applied increase the life of.

  (II) According to the invention of claim 2 of the present invention, at least a part of the safety confirmation work that the driver should perform before starting can be performed by confirming the start condition in the start ECU. With regard to the safety confirmation work before starting, it is possible to realize a quick start by significantly reducing the burden on the driver as compared with the prior art.

  (III) According to the invention of claim 3 of the present invention, since energization to the starter is not permitted until the automatic operation of the glow plug is completed, the engine is started after the temperature increase effect by the glow plug is surely applied. Can be performed, and the startability during cold can be remarkably improved to prevent the generation of white smoke.

  (IV) According to the invention according to claim 4 of the present invention, the driver surely grasps that the brush in the motor of the starter has deteriorated beyond a predetermined level by a maintenance alarm from the start ECU. Therefore, it is possible to replace the starter at an appropriate timing before the end of the life of the brush, and it is possible to avoid a situation where the starter cannot be operated and cannot start.

  (V) According to the invention according to claim 5 of the present invention, the driver can surely know that a failure has occurred by the failure alarm from the start ECU, so that no time is left from the occurrence of the failure. The failure can be dealt with quickly.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  1 to 3 show an example of an embodiment for carrying out the present invention, and the portions denoted by the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 4 represent the same items.

  As shown in FIG. 1, in this embodiment, a button-operated engine start switch 7 is employed instead of the key-operated starter switch 6 in the conventional example of FIG. When the starter relay 8 is energized and excited by the start ECU 8 that has received the ON signal, the contact is closed, whereby the starter 1 is energized from the battery 5 to operate the starter 1, the pinion 2 is pushed out, and the ring gear 3. It comes to mesh with.

  Further, in the starting ECU 8, various system information from the engine ECU 9, the immobilizer ECU 10, the periphery monitoring ECU 11, and the alcohol detection ECU 12 is taken in, while the brake switch 13, the parking switch 14, the neutral switch 15, the courtesy switch 16, and the seat belt switch 17. Various switch information from the glow switch 18, the cab lock switch 19 and the emergency changeover switch 20 is taken in.

  In FIG. 1, reference numeral 21 denotes a vehicle power supply relay (which can be replaced by an ECU) which is excited by the button operation of the engine start switch 7 to turn on the vehicle, and 22 denotes a maintenance alarm and a failure alarm which will be described later. The display part of an instrument panel is shown.

  The start ECU 8 automatically starts the engine in response to the button operation of the push type engine start switch 7 according to the control procedure shown in the flowchart of FIG. However, when receiving the ON signal from the engine start switch 7, the ON signal is received after confirming the ID code authentication information from the immobilizer ECU 10. It goes without saying that this is the case.

  That is, the immobilizer is a conventionally well-known device equipped as a vehicle anti-theft measure, authenticates the ID code by wireless transmission between the portable device carried by the driver and the transponder on the vehicle side, and the mutual ID In this system, the engine can be started only after the codes match, but here, the information that the ID code has been authenticated by the immobilizer ECU 10 that controls the immobilizer system is used.

  Thus, the details of the control procedure performed by the start ECU 8 will be described below with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 2. In step S1, various start conditions including start conditions for ensuring safety before starting are set in the system. The process proceeds to the next step S2 only when all the conditions are satisfied, and when all the conditions are satisfied, the flag is reset at step S11. And all control flag stands are reset.

  Here, the specific starting conditions confirmed in step S1 are: engine speed is zero, “vehicle speed is zero”, “starter 1 is stopped”, “neutral state”, “parking brake is applied” "Foot brake pedal", "Seat belt wearing", "Door closed", "No alcohol reaction", "No abnormality around the vehicle", "Immobilizer continues to be authenticated", It is something like “cablock state”.

  “Engine speed is zero” and “vehicle speed is zero” can be determined from the system information of the engine ECU 9, and “starter 1 is stopped” can be determined from monitoring the voltage value to the starter 1 by the start ECU 8, and “neutral” The “state” can be determined from the switch information of the neutral switch 15, “the parking brake is applied” can be determined from the switch information of the parking switch 14, and “the state where the foot brake is depressed” is the switch information of the brake switch 13. From the switch information of the seat belt switch 17, “Door closed” can be determined from the switch information of the courtesy switch 16, and “No alcohol reaction” can be determined from the system information of the alcohol detection ECU 12. As you can see, “no abnormality around the vehicle” means that the system Understand the information, "immobilizer authentication condition continues" is seen from the system information of the immobilizer ECU 10, "cab state" is adapted to be seen from the switch information of cab lock switch 19.

  The alcohol detection ECU 12 controls an alcohol detection system (not shown), and is an ECU that automatically detects the alcohol concentration in the atmosphere of the driver's seat and determines whether the driver is ingesting alcohol. This type of alcohol detection system has already been put into practical use and is well known.

  The periphery monitoring ECU 11 controls a periphery monitoring system using a camera (not shown). The periphery monitoring ECU 11 captures the periphery of the vehicle with the camera and analyzes the image data to determine the presence of a person in the surrounding area. This type of peripheral monitoring system has already been put into practical use and is well known.

  Further, particularly in the present embodiment, it is assumed that the vehicle is a diesel engine vehicle and each cylinder has a glow plug, and “automatic operation of the glow plug is completed” that can be understood from the switch information of the glow switch 18. Conditions are also added as starting conditions.

  In other words, a glow plug provided in a diesel engine vehicle is an electric heater that warms the combustion chamber in order to facilitate compression ignition in the cold state. It operates automatically based on the water temperature.

  However, even if the glow plug is in operation, if the driver operates the starter switch with keys, the engine will be forcibly started even in a situation where the combustion chamber is not yet warm and compression ignition is difficult, resulting in poor ignition. In this case, the condition “automatic operation of the glow plug is completed” is also added as a starting condition.

  Then, in step S2 which proceeds when all the starting conditions are satisfied, the progress of deterioration regarding the brush in the motor is determined based on the time and current value when the starter 1 is energized, and the progress of the deterioration is predetermined. When the level is exceeded, the process proceeds to the next step S3, and a maintenance alarm is output to the display unit 22 of the instrument panel as a result that the life of the brush is almost exhausted. As long as the progress status is still within the allowable range, the process skips step S3 and proceeds to step S4.

  In this step S4, a subroutine as shown in a separate flowchart in FIG. 3 is assembled. In the subroutine of FIG. 3, the starter relay 4 is energized to start energizing the starter 1 in step S41. After the start, in the next step S42, whether or not the starter 1 and the engine speed have already been detected at the start of energization is confirmed as the first condition of the starter protection conditions. Yes.

  Further, in the next step S43, it is confirmed as a second condition of the starter protection conditions whether or not the continuous energization to the starter 1 has passed the predetermined time T. Further, in the next step S44, the starter 1 Whether or not the engine speed is detected within a predetermined time T even though energization is permitted is confirmed as a third condition among the starter protection conditions.

  Further, in the example shown here, it is confirmed in step S45 after confirming the starter protection conditions from the first condition to the third condition whether or not the forced termination operation has been performed by the driver. For example, when the driver wants to stop the engine for some reason after operating the button on the engine start switch 7 to indicate the intention to start the engine, the engine start switch 7 is held for about 1 second or longer. When it is possible to command the start ECU 8 to forcibly terminate by pressing, it is confirmed whether or not such a long press on signal has been input.

  Then, when at least one of the first to third starter protection conditions is met (in the case of Yes), or when an input of an on signal for a long press of about 1 second or more of the engine start switch 7 is confirmed. In the case of (Yes), the process proceeds to step S46, and the energization to the starter relay 4 is stopped immediately to interrupt the energization to the starter 1.

  On the other hand, if none of the determinations from step S42 to step S45 apply, the process proceeds to step S5 in the flowchart of FIG. 2 to check whether the engine has been successfully started. When it is confirmed that the engine has been successfully started, the routine proceeds to step S6, where all the control flags are reset.

  If the engine start has not been successful in the previous step S5, the process proceeds to step S7, where a restarting flag is set, and then in step S8, the next restart is performed a limited number of times (here, 3 times). ), And if the next restart exceeds the limit number (if it is the fourth), it will end without restarting further restarts. .

  If the next restart is still within the limited number of times, the process proceeds to step S9 to make a failure determination. If no failure is determined in particular, the process returns to step S1 and is reconfirmed from the start condition. However, if a failure is determined, the process proceeds to step S10 to output a failure alarm to the display unit 22 of the instrument panel, and then the process ends after resetting the flag in step S11. It is supposed to be.

  The failure can be determined from, for example, the battery voltage waveform. If there is any failure, the battery voltage waveform is not stable. It is possible to determine a failure when it is significantly different from the comparison.

  Thus, if the engine start is controlled by the start ECU 8 in this way, the engine is automatically started by the start ECU 8 after the driver has operated the engine start switch 7 to confirm the intention to start the engine. As a result, there is no possibility of an excessive burden imposed on the ring gear 3 and the pinion 2 due to an erroneous manual operation of the driver.

  In addition, after the starter 1 is energized, the starter ECU 8 confirms the first to third starter protection conditions in the subroutine of FIG. 3, and if the starter protection condition is met, the starter ECU 8 immediately starts the starter protection condition. Since the energization to 1 is cut off, an excessive load is not applied to the ring gear 3 and the starter 1, and the ring gear 3 and the starter 1 can be protected.

  That is, if the first condition is met in step S42 in FIG. 3, it means that the pinion 2 and the ring gear 3 of the starter 1 are not completely stopped at the start of energization. If the pinion 2 jumps into the ring gear 3 by continuing energization, there is a possibility that a meshing failure may occur.

  Further, if the second condition is satisfied in step S43 in FIG. 3, it means that the starter 1 is continuously energized over a predetermined time T for some reason, as it is. Furthermore, continuing energization may give a large burden to the starter 1.

  Further, if the third condition is met in step S44 of FIG. 3, the pinion 2 of the starter 1 is not meshed well with the ring gear 3, and it is in a poorly meshed state where the ring gear 3 cannot rotate. This means that even if energization of the starter 1 is continued as it is, an excessive load may be applied to the pinion 2 or the ring gear 3.

  Therefore, if the starter protection conditions from the first condition to the third condition are confirmed, and the starter 1 is immediately turned off when the starter protection conditions are met, the ring gear 3 and the starter 1 In addition to avoiding poor meshing with the pinion 2 as much as possible, continuous energization beyond the predetermined time T to the starter 1 is reliably prevented, and even if a meshing failure occurs, the pinion 2 is immediately pulled back to eliminate the meshing failure instantly. It becomes possible to do.

  In an emergency situation where the engine cannot be restarted due to an engine stall at a railroad crossing or the like, the emergency changeover switch 20 is used to switch the control, and while the driver continues to press the engine start switch 7, the starter 1 Of course, the vehicle can be moved.

  As described above, according to the above-described embodiment, since the driver can automatically start the engine by the start ECU 8 only by operating the engine start switch 7 first, the driver's erroneous manual operation is performed. Can eliminate the risk of overloading the ring gear 3 and the pinion 2, and the automatic start of the engine from the first condition to the third condition after the starter 1 is energized. If the starter protection condition is confirmed and the starter protection condition is satisfied, the power supply to the starter 1 can be cut off immediately, so that the meshing failure between the ring gear 3 and the pinion 2 of the starter 1 is avoided as much as possible. In addition, continuous energization exceeding a predetermined time T to the starter 1 can be reliably prevented. Can also be eliminated instantaneously poor meshing pulled back down 2 can be protected, which prevents any excessive load to the pinion 2 of the ring gear 3 and the starter 1 increase the life of.

  Further, in this embodiment, before the start ECU 8 starts energization to the starter 1 upon receiving an ON signal from the engine start switch 7, a start condition for ensuring safety before starting is input by signal input. Since it is configured to permit energization of the starter 1 only when all conditions are confirmed and confirmed, at least a part of the safety confirmation work that the driver should perform before starting is performed by the start ECU 8. By confirming the starting conditions, it is possible to perform a quick start by significantly reducing the burden on the driver with respect to the safety check work before starting.

  Further, in this embodiment, since the condition for completing the automatic operation of the glow plug is added as a starting condition, energization to the starter 1 is not permitted until the automatic operation of the glow plug is completed. The engine start can be executed after the temperature increase effect by the glow plug is applied, and the startability in the cold state can be remarkably improved and the generation of white smoke can be prevented.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the start ECU 8 determines the progress of deterioration related to the brush in the motor based on the time when the starter 1 is energized and the current value, and performs maintenance when the progress of the deterioration exceeds a predetermined level. Since it is configured to output an alarm, the driver in the instrument panel display unit 22 confirms that the maintenance alarm from the start ECU 8 has deteriorated the brush in the motor of the starter 1 beyond a predetermined level. Since the starter 1 can be exchanged at an appropriate timing before the end of the life of the brush can be surely grasped, it is possible to avoid a situation where the starter 1 becomes unable to operate and becomes unable to start. it can.

  Further, in this embodiment, since it is configured to perform a failure determination when the engine restart is not successful within a specified number of times and to determine that a failure has occurred, a failure alarm is output. The driver can surely recognize that a failure has occurred by the failure alarm from the start ECU 8 on the display unit 22 of the instrument panel, and can quickly deal with the failure without taking time from the occurrence of the failure. it can.

  The automatic engine starter according to the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment. The circuit configuration that can start energization of the starter by the start ECU and appropriately cut off the energization is not necessarily shown in FIG. Of course, the present invention is not limited to the drawings, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.

It is a connection diagram which shows roughly an example of the form which carries out the present invention. It is a flowchart which shows the control procedure in start ECU of FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the detail of the subroutine of step S4 of FIG. It is a connection diagram which shows a prior art example.

Explanation of symbols

1 Starter 2 Pinion 3 Ring Gear 4 Starter Relay 5 Battery 7 Engine Start Switch 8 Start ECU
9 Engine ECU
10 Immobilizer ECU
11 Perimeter monitoring ECU
12 Alcohol detection ECU
13 Brake Switch 14 Parking Switch 15 Neutral Switch 16 Courtesy Switch 17 Seat Belt Switch 18 Glow Switch 19 Cabor Switch 20 Emergency Switch 21 Vehicle Power Relay 22 Display

Claims (5)

  An automatic engine starter that automatically starts the engine by operating a button on the push-type engine start switch, and repeats the restart until the specified number of times even if the engine start fails. A start ECU that starts energization of the starter in response to the ON signal, and confirms the starter protection conditions after the start, and immediately shuts off the energization to the starter when the starter protection conditions are met, the start ECU As a starter protection condition, the first condition in which the starter and the engine speed are already detected at the start of energization, the second condition in which continuous energization to the starter has passed a predetermined time, and energization to the starter A third condition is incorporated in which the engine speed is not detected within a predetermined time even though Automatic engine starting device that.   Before the start ECU receives the ON signal from the engine start switch and starts energizing the starter, the start condition for ensuring safety before starting is confirmed by signal input and all conditions are satisfied. 2. The automatic engine starter according to claim 1, wherein the automatic engine starter is configured to permit energization of the starter only in a case.   The automatic engine starter according to claim 2, wherein when the vehicle is a diesel engine vehicle and each cylinder has a glow plug, a condition for completing the automatic operation of the glow plug is added as a start condition. .   The start ECU is configured to determine the progress of deterioration related to the brush in the motor based on the time when the starter is energized and the current value, and to output a maintenance alarm when the progress of the deterioration exceeds a predetermined level. 4. The automatic engine starting device according to claim 1, 2, or 3.   The start ECU is configured to perform a failure determination when the engine restart is not successful within a specified number of times, and to output a failure alarm when it is determined that a failure has occurred. The automatic engine starting device according to claim 1, 2, 3, or 4.

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